Mahua Moita won the Bengal Krishnanagar Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 elections (File).
New Delhi:
Trinamool leader Mahua Moitra must overcome the challenge from Bharatiya Janata Party debutant Amrita Roy, the matriarch of a local royal family, if she is to win back the Krishnanagar Lok Sabha seat from which she was so controversially ousted last year.
Rajmata (or Queen Mother) Amrita Roy was named in the BJP’s fifth list on Sunday, which contained quite a few surprises; Actors Kangana Ranaut and Arun Govil will take on Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi and Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut, while Varun Gandhi has been dropped from UP’s Pilibhit.
Mahua Moitra, 49, emerged victorious in Krishnanagar in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and secured 45 percent of the votes, putting him over 60,000 votes ahead of the BJP’s Kalyan Chaubey.
Since then, the former investment banker has emerged as one of the BJP’s fiercest critics, making impassioned speeches in Parliament backed by sharply worded comments on social media, causing her to clash with union ministers, saffron party leaders and right-wing parties. trolls.
Krishnanagar has been in the hands of the Trinamool since 2009, when Tapas Paul wrested it from the CPIM, which ruled here unchallenged from 1971 to 1999. The left party is unlikely to be a contender in these elections, which will be a straight fight. the rajmatawhich is backed by the BJP looking for a big win over Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool.
Trinamool’s reappointment of Mahua Moitra from Krishnanagar is being seen as an act of defiance against the BJP – a throwing down of the gauntlet after her hugely controversial expulsion on corruption charges.
READ | By retaining Mahua Moitra as poll holder, Trinamool’s defiant message is to the BJP
It took some time for the party to come to Ms Moitra’s aid, but it has now firmly rallied to her side. Ms Banerjee has described her plunder as ‘murder of democracy’.
For the Trinamool, Ms Moitra has emerged as one of the central figures in this battle against the BJP – a repeat of the (in many cases) warfare that marked the 2021 state elections.
READ | ‘Mahua will win the battle’: Mamata condemns Trinamool MP’s expulsion
Mamata Banerjee’s party is on paper a member of the INDIA opposition bloc.
On the ground, however, the Trinamool is fighting on its own; there is no seat-sharing agreement with INDIA members, which in Bengal includes the CPIM and Congress.
Bengal has 42 Lok Sabha seats – the most after Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra – making it a key state for a BJP looking to win more than 370 seats on its own.
A good score in Bengal – where it achieved 18 last time – is crucial.
Mahua Moitra was expelled. What happened?
Just under four months ago, Ms Moitra was deported on corruption charges.
READ | Mahua Moitra expelled from parliament: “Her behavior is immoral and indecent”
She allegedly accepted Rs 2 crore in cash and ‘luxury gift items’ from a businessman – Darshan Hiranandani – to raise critical questions about the government in Parliament. She was also accused of sharing login details on her confidential account on the parliament’s website.
She has denied the bribery allegations (but said she did share the portal’s login details, arguing that this is common practice among MPs). The Supreme Court will hear this case in May.