- Ratna Debnath, mother of the doctor raped and killed in RG Kar hospital, is the BJP candidate from Panihati
- BJP supports Debnath strongly, with former Union MInister Smriti Irani attending her nomination filing
- Debnath said she approached the BJP offering to cotest, aiming to protect young women’s safety in Bengal
The Panihati Assembly constituency - part of the North 24 Parganas district -- is located a short distance from Kolkata. It is from here the BJP has fielded the mother of the woman doctor whose rape and murder in the RG Kar hospital almost two years ago had infuriated the state and massively stirred up sentiments against the Mamata Banerjee government.
Ratna Debnath is an ordinary woman with no prior connection to politics. Yet she now finds herself in the electoral arena.
The BJP has thrown its full weight behind her -- a fact underscored by the presence of former Union Minister Smriti Irani when she filed her nomination on April 9.
Through Smriti Irani, the BJP is actively working to consolidate the women's vote. The former minister is fluent in Bengali and delivers her election speeches in Bengal exclusively in the language.
Asked if the BJP had approached her regarding a ticket, or it was the other way round, Debnath said she was the one who had approached the BJP.
"We wish to contest the election. We wrote a letter to the BJP," she said, asserting that she is 200 per cent certain that she would win this election.
The victory, she added, will not be hers alone. "It will be a victory for the entire Panihati assembly constituency and the people of all of Bengal," she said, underscoring that her battle is to safeguard the next generation. "Our daughter is gone, but the responsibility for the safety of other young women now rests upon our shoulders," she said.
A woman participating in the campaign said: "All of Bengal stood by Ratna in her fight for justice. If she wins from here, it will be a victory for her daughter."
The mood is strongly against Trinamool. "The Chief Minister tells young women not to step out after 8 pm. Well, we say the Chief Minister should also step down from her chair after 8 pm," said a woman at the rally.
The sitting MLA Nirmal Ghosh, who belongs to the ruling Trinamool Congress, has been holding the seat for most of the years since 1996. The first time he won on a Congress ticket, and subsequently - in 2001, 2011, 2016, and 2021 - from the Trinamool Congress.
The exception was in 2006, when Nirmal Ghosh was defeated by a CPI candidate.
However, Ghosh is not contesting this election; instead, the Trinamool Congress has fielded his son, Tirthankar Ghosh.
This marks Tirthankar's electoral debut, and he finds himself embroiled in a tough political battle. The Congress and the CPM have also fielded candidates in Panihati. But the real battle will be between Debnath and Tirthankar Ghosh.
