The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
In Bengal battle royale, ‘villains’ of past meet present
PM Modi’s call to Roy, promising to return “looted money”, spices up fight
FIREWORKS WERE guaranteed in the Krishnanagar seat in West Bengal, given how the BJP and sitting Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra slugged it out in the outgoing Lok Sabha. The BJP has added an extra spark with its choice of candidate to take on Mahua.
The Narendra Modi-led party has picked ‘Rajmata’ Amrita Roy, belonging to the erstwhile Krishnanagar royal family. The BJP campaign is projecting the student of Kolkata’s posh La Martiniere School for Girls and Loretto College as a representative of the "Moharaja’r poribar (Maharaja’s family)" but also a "ghorer bou (ideal housewife)".
An extra touch was added on Wednesday when Modi himself called up Roy -- a conversation the BJP immediately made viral -- and told her he was working to ensure that the money "looted from the poor people of West Bengal" and attached by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is returned to them. The conversation happened on the day Moitra received another ED summons over an alleged Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) contravention case, part of a cash-for-questions allegations case over which she was suspended from the Lok Sabha last year.
Moitra had won the Krishnanagar seat, falling in Nadia district, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by over 63,000 votes over the BJP’S Kalyan Choubey. TMC chief Mamata Banerjee had given the ticket to her over sitting MP and matinee idol Tapas Paul.
Roy was married into the Krishnanagar royalty, with her husband Soumish Chandra Roy, a descendant of Raja Krishna
Chandra Roy. She goes by the title of "Rajbari’r Rajmata, or the Queen Mother of the Royal Palace of Krishnanagar”.
While Roy was born and brought up in Kolkata, she originally belongs to Chandannagar in Hooghly district, and comes from an illustrious family herself. "Many of my family members are advocates or lawyers by profession. My grandfather Sudhangshu Shekhar Mukherjee was a famous criminal lawyer. My father Kishore Prasad Mukherjee and uncle Shaktinath Mukherjee are also well-known barristers in Kolkata," she says.
"I never thought I would enter politics, but someone whom I respect a lot, proposed, and I accepted it," she tells The Indian Express, adding that she has confidence that the people of Krishnanagar “will bless” her.
Historian Swadesh Roy who has studied the Krishnanagar royalty says the kingdom had been crucial to Bengal, particularly in the 18th century, because of patronage of the arts and contributions to the culture of the state.
However, at least one part of the family history has now been seized upon by the TMC. Like many minor royalties, the Krishnanagar family was a vassal of the Mughal Empire, under
Nawab Siraj ud-daulah. But when the British East India company started eyeing the East, Krishna Chandra joined Jagat Seth brothers, Mir Jafar, Omi Chand, Rai Durlabh and others in colluding with it and its General Robert Clive to bring down Siraj ud-daulah in the famous Battle of Plassey. Siraj-uddaluah’s loss marked the first great win of British East India Company, and a milestone in its rise.
Krishna Chandra remained on friendly terms with the British . This relationship served the Maharaja well in the 1760s, when new Bengal Nawab Mir Qasim ordered his execution. Not only did Clive overrule it, but also gifted Krishna Chandra five British cannons, the title of ‘Maharaja’ and the zamindari of Krishnanagar.
Referring to this, the TMC posted on X on Wednesday: "1757: Maharaja Krishnachandra conspired with Mir Jafar, Jagat Seth & Umi Chand and sold himself out to the British like a spineless traitor... 2024: ‘Rajmata’ Amrita Roy, his family member, has shamelessly embraced the Bangla-birodhi BJP, sealing a pact to once again deceive the people of Bengal... The faces may have changed but their JOMIDARI still persists... They were not trustworthy then, and they sure won’t be now."
While Modi’s conversation with Roy also referred to this, telling its Krishnanagar candidate to not be affected by such charges, the BJP also very quickly framed a reply. The Maharaja’s actions had actually "contributed immensely to protect Sanatan Dharma", the party said, "against the onslaught of both the British and Siraj-ud-daulah". Roy said, had he not done what he did, "we would not be Hindus today".