BJP fields 85-year-old Uma Rani Mishra 'Modi fan' as a candidate in panchayat polls

In 1993, octogenarian and her late husband Kuber Mishra fought rural polls when BJP did not have much presence in Bengal

Uma Rani Mishra, the octogenarian BJP candidate for rural polls in West Burdwan: Picture by Dipika Sarkar

Abhijeet Chatterjee, TT, Durgapur, 25.06.23 : Uma Rani Mishra, 85, is unable to walk without a stick or hear properly. She also has several age-related ailments.

But the octogenarian will contest the July 8 rural polls for the BJP, which has called her a symbol of “youthful enthusiasm”.

The BJP has fielded Uma Rani from Amlajora gram panchayat to contest against the ruling party, prompting Trinamul to allege that the saffron camp couldn’t find a suitable candidate in the West Burdwan hamlet. The BJP countered with allegations of Trinamul terror in the locality.

“We were not getting any candidate at Amlajora as the Trinamul has terrorised the locality. No one was ready to contest for BJP fearing torture by Trinamul. Given the circumstances, our oldest party supporter from the village was brave enough to come forward and agree to contest,” said Lakshman Ghorui, BJP MLA from Durgapur (West).

Trinamul’s Kanksa block president Bhabani Bhattacharya denied charges of intimidating BJP workers.

“The BJP didn’t find any suitable candidate. No one in the village agreed to contest against the massive development of the Mamata Banerjee government. If the BJP approached us we could have supplied them with a candidate. It is unfortunate that an ailing octogenarian widow was forced to contest,” he said.

The BJP has fielded 13 candidates out of 27 seats at Amlajora in Kanksa block. In the district, the BJP has fielded 535 candidates out of 1,020 seats.

This is not the first time Uma Rani is contesting in the rural polls. In 1993, she and her late husband Kuber Mishra fought the rural polls when the BJP did not have much presence in Bengal.

Uma Rani lives in a tiled-roof house with her younger son, who works as a labourer, and survives on widow pension. “I did not get a house under the housing scheme because of my political connections (with the BJP),” she said. “My son was denied work under the 100 days’ job scheme.” She added that her husband was a devoted BJP worker. “I am a fan of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” she said.

She charged the Trinamul with denying central government schemes to Bengal’s poor.“The central government gave free rations during the lockdown, cooking gas and houses but many people here did not get those. I am contesting against corruption that has gripped the state,” she said.

Asked if her age would go against her, Uma Rani said: “My age will not come in the way of serving people. If the election is conducted properly I will win.”

Local BJP workers said they were confident about Uma Rani’s prospects. “In the 2021 Assembly polls, Chandana Bauri from a family of masons was fielded in Bankura’s Saltora. She won,” said Ashim Ghorui, a BJP worker in the village. “BJP always springs surprises.”