3 women sour Mamata's Women's Day in Bengal

On a day when the Trinamool supremo took to the streets of Kolkata along with her women candidates and a host of women supporters to mark International Women's Day and drive home the message that the ruling party of Bengal stands with women, three of Mamata's choicest women in the party spoilt her day by switching over to the BJP, writes ETV Bharat's News Coordinator Dipankar Bose.

Kolkata/Malda: It is literally an International Women's Day whammy for Mamata Banerjee.

On a day when the Trinamool supremo took to the streets of Kolkata along with her women candidates and a host of women supporters and workers to mark the day and drive home the message that the ruling party of Bengal stands with women, three of Mamata's choicest women in the party decided to quit Trinamool.

Driving the wedge deeper, all three switch over to BJP.

In a bizarre twist to the poll picture of Bengal, Sarala Murmu, the Trinamool Congress candidate from Malda's Habibpur, joined the saffron brigade.

Party insiders in Malda say, Sarala belongs from the Old Malda area of the district and had been the Zilla Parishad president on a Congress ticket in 2013.

Waters flowed down the Ganges and by 2016, Sarala quit Congress and joined Trinamool Congress.

Political watchers in Malda say, Sarala Murmu always nurtured the idea of getting back her Zilla Parishad president's post, which TMC denied her in 2018, though she had won the civic polls.

A peeved Sarala wanted a party ticket in the 2021 polls, but from a seat of her choice.

Trinamool made her a candidate from the Habibpur seat, which is reserved for Scheduled Tribes. But, Sarala wanted a seat in the Old Malda area (Englishbazar or Malda seat), which is her stronghold.

The party didn't oblige her. Sarala walk out and entered the BJP camp. Will she be made a candidate from a seat in Malda district by the saffron party? Gobinda Chandra Mondal, BJP district president says, “No way. There is a process behind every move and candidate choice is a diligent process, which can't happen or be changed overnight.”

Incidentally, the Habibpur seat used to be Red bastion in a predominantly Congress-influenced Malda district.

From 1972 to 2016, it was always the CPI(M) which used to win from the seat, barring once.

In 1972, the seat was won by a CPI candidate. Khagen Murmu, who had won on a CPI(M) ticket from Habibpur for four consecutive terms till 2016, had switched sides and joined BJP.

In the Lok Sabha polls of 2019, BJP fielded him from Malda Uttar seat, which he won. Alongside Murmu, by-elections happened in the Habibpur Assembly constituency and the seat went to BJP's Joyel Murmu. For the first time, BJP had made its mark in Habibpur.

In a haste, Trinamool has changed its candidate from Habibpur and Pradip Baske will be contesting the polls now in place of Sarala Murmu.

Sonali Guha, the name was usually taken with the same breath as with Mamata Banerjee.

Virtually inseparable from Banerjee, Guha was literally in woman in Mamata's household. First elected to the Assembly in 2001 from Satgachia seat defeating CPI(M)'s Gokul Bairagi, Sonali went on to become Bengal's first woman Deputy Speaker of the state Assembly. Sonali's win from Satgachia had made a ripple of sorts as the seat was held for five consecutive terms by none other than Jyoti Basu, since 1977. Basu didn't contest the 2001 polls due to health reasons and Trinamool bloomed its flowers.

So, what happened between Sonali and Mamata that the Trinamool supremo denied her a ticket for a fifth straight term?

Did Mamata take refuge behind Sonali's ill health and chose Mohan Chandra Naskar in her place for the crucial 2021 polls? Which ever way, a tearful Sonali bid farewell to the party and went to the BJP.

The curious case of Shampa Daripa from Bankura has baffled many. Shampa was always known as a politician who belonged to the camp of Mukul Roy.

She had joined Trinamool Congress on Mukul's insistence, but by the time it was 2016, Shampa had grown cold feet about her party and switched to Congress.

She contested the Assembly polls and won as a Congress candidate.

In the meantime, Mukul Roy had donned the saffron robes and Shampa gradually started drifting towards Trinamool, again. But, the party did not offer her a ticket in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, which she aspired.

Shampa was again started drifting away from TMC, but had pinned her hopes for a party ticket in the 2021 Assembly polls.

Things fell apart from Shampa on February 5 when Mamata chose actress Sayantika Banerjee over Shampa from Bankura.

Daripa is now back to her mentor Mukul Roy, in BJP.

For the record, five sitting Trinamool Congress MLAs who were denied tickets this time have signed up for BJP today.

Sonali Guha of Satgachia, Sital Sardar of Sankrail, Jatu Lahiri of Shibpur, Rabindranath Bhattacharya of Singur and Dipendu Biswas of Basirhat Dakshin.

Will the exit of three women make any change in Trinamool's prospects in the districts?

Is Mamata betting heavily on newbies than her old hands this summer? May 2 holds the answer.