Wife campaigns for jailed BJP candidate

Maya Roy during a campaign for her
husband, Sukumar Roy (below),
who is the BJP candidate
in the Cooch Behar North constituency.
Picture by Main Uddin Chist

TT, Cooch Behar, April 26: Archana Mitra of Kamarhati and Maya Roy of Kalarayer Kuthi village in Cooch Behar district do not know each other.

They have, however, one thing in common. Both are campaigning for their spouses, who are behind bars, in the Assembly polls.

While Archana, along with her daughter-in-law Swati and sons, had extensively campaigned for her husband Madan Mitra, a former minister and the Trinamul candidate of Kamarhati Assembly segment, Maya has been touring Cooch Behar North constituency seeking votes for her spouse Sukumar Roy of the BJP.

Madan has been in Alipore Central Jail for his alleged involvement in the Saradha default scam. Sukumar, a known face of the BJP in Cooch Behar, is behind bars as an accused in a murder case.

Maya, a homemaker from a nondescript village in Cooch Behar district, had no connection with politics. But she has been catapulted into the hustle and bustle of election campaign in Cooch Behar North thanks to her husband's absence.

"My life has changed a lot since November 29 last year. Right from my husband to my sons, all of us have faced consistent attacks by Trinamul following a murder. Trinamul leaders have falsely implicated my husband in a murder case and he is in prison now," said Maya, 35.

"Like my husband, there are several workers and supporters of the BJP and other political parties whom the Trinamul government has implicated wrongly in criminal cases and jailed."

"It is true that I was never in politics but as BJP leaders decided to field my husband in the seat, I felt it necessary to walk out of my house and seek justice from people. I had never spoken in any forum earlier but circumstances have forced me to address public meetings. During the campaign, I seek votes from people, mentioning how my husband and my family have faced Trinamul's atrocities," she added.

On November 29, Narayan Mahanayak, a Trinamul worker of Pundibari, on the outskirts of Cooch Behar town, was shot dead.

"My father was not there in Pundibari when the incident took place. However, he was made the number one accused in the case. Our family runs a roadside eatery in Pundibari and after the murder, it was ransacked by Trinamul workers. Trinamul-backed criminals also looted our house. We went to police but no steps have been taken so far," said Dipankar, a Class X student and the eldest son of Sukumar and Maya.

Sources said 34 people had been named in the FIR and Roy was the prime accused.

After the incident, Sukumar stayed away from the house and surrendered before a court on February 26. Since then, he has been behind bars.

"As district and state BJP leaders banked on my father and made him the candidate, we felt it necessary to campaign for him. My mother is into full-fledged campaign these days and we are also helping her in whatever manner we can," Dipankar said.

A district BJP leader sounded disgruntled when asked about the similarity between Roy's campaign and Madan Mitra's.

"Madan Mitra is behind bars as he made money from Saradha. Sukumar is a popular face in the area and the ruling party wanted to keep him away from elections. So, Trinamul brought baseless charges against him. He was nowhere near the spot where a Trinamul worker was murdered," said Nikhil Ranjan Roy, the Cooch Behar BJP general secretary and the candidate in Cooch Behar South seat.

In 2011, Nagen Roy of the Forward Bloc had defeated Prasenjit Burman of Trinamul by 2,197 votes. However, in the 2014 Parliament polls, Trinamul managed to secure a lead of 1,903 votes over the Bloc in Cooch Behar North. The BJP secured 34,306 votes and was in the third position.

Cooch Behar district will go to polls on May 5.

"Our contest is against the Bloc. We are ignoring the BJP candidate, particularly because he was involved in the murder of one of our active workers. He is in jail now," said Parimal Burman, the Trinamul candidate of Cooch Behar North. "It is true that the Bloc had won here in 2011 but they don't have the minimum support now."

Nagen Roy, who has been fielded by the Bloc again, said: "We are giving importance to all candidates. It is up to the people to decide whom they should vote for. We are confident of retaining this seat."