Kolkata, May 4 (PTI) R G Kar rape-murder victim’s mother Ratna Debnath and Rekha Patra, the face of Sandeshkhali protests, both of whom have been projected as the embodiment of the BJP’s fight against atrocities on women in West Bengal, drubbed their TMC opponents comfortably.
Ratna Debnath, a political greenhorn, defeated the Trinamool Congress’ Tirthankar Ghosh by 28,836 votes, with 87,977 electors of the Panihati assembly segment voting in her favour.
The TMC candidate in the seat is the son of incumbent MLA Nirmal Ghosh, who was accused of unsuccessfully trying to hastily cremate the body of the young R G Kar medic, who was raped and murdered in the hospital on the night of August 9 in 2024.
Debnath debuted in politics with the BJP fielding her in the Assembly polls. She is a resident of the Pansila area of Sodpur, which falls under the Panihati Assembly segment she is contesting.
In every poll meeting, Debnath had been flagging the issue of women’s safety and security in the state and underscored her commitment to ensuring that not a single woman faces atrocities any more.
Once elected, she had also pledged to do her bit in ensuring that the RG Kar probe widened and those behind the larger conspiracy are brought to book.
During the hustings, she courted controversy by blaming the CPI(M) and TMC candidates in the seat for politicising the protest against the R G Kar incident. However, the BJP stood by her, pointing out the agonies of a grief-stricken mother.
On the other hand, Patra, a housewife from Sandeshkhali and an alleged torture victim of arrested TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh and his cohorts, hit national headlines when she walked massive rallies against her oppressors carrying her girl child.
Although Patra lost from Basirhat in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP gave her another chance, fielding her from the Hingalganj Assembly seat.
She did not disappoint this time, winning the constituency by a margin of 5,421 votes. Patra polled 1,00,207 votes against TMC’s Ananda Sarkar, who got 94,786 votes.
The BJP’s West Bengal unit chief, Samik Bhattacharya, commended both over their wins. “Ratna Debnath and Rekha Patra are two spearheads of the BJP’s campaign against the atrocities committed by a section of TMC leaders against women as police and administration looked the other way,” he said. PTI SUS NSD
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