The Lok Sabha fight of West Bengal’s Krishnanagar has a royal touch this time as the Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded “Ranima” Rajmata Amrita Roy against Trinamool Congress’s Mahua Moitra who won the seat in 2019. 62-year-old Roy spoke to News18, stating that the call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a “divine moment” in her life and her fight is not against candidate Moitra but corruption. Edited excerpts:
‘Ranima’ Rajmata Amrita Roy as a Lok Sabha election candidate…How did it all start?
‘Rajmata’ is not the right term to use. If a kingdom was there, and my son would have been the Raja, then I would have been Rajmata…People here call me Ranima out of love, nobody told them to…I was not keen on joining politics, but several discussions helped me to decide.
Did the BJP approach you?
Yes, they did, from the local unit, and talks went on for some time. Finally, I relented.
From handling the Rajbari (palace) to now serving the people…
Well, you can see people all around, and they are supporting me. And I mix with them, they connect easily, and the other way round, it’s not difficult for me too. When I married Somesh Chandra Roy, I knew it was a big responsibility. When I was very young, I said to The Statesman newspaper that I was married to the people of Nadia. I have to be connected. My mother-in-law was in ‘parda’ (veil). I am the first ‘bahu’ (daughter-in-law) who has come out of it.
Mahua Moitra is your opponent. She is always in the news. How do you see her?
I don’t know how people will take this…I don’t consider her to be my competitor. My fight is against corruption. It’s about how people can be uplifted. I need to find a solution to how people can get their legitimate demands. Today people do not talk because someone’s son will get picked up or someone’s house bombed. I am fighting against corruption. People have stopped talking. It can be against Mahua or anybody there.
What was your feeling when Modiji called you?
Oh, it was divine. I never thought that a person with the PM’s stature would call me and I was just elated. I am an ordinary person. I am a spiritual person. It was a great feeling. He spoke to me as if he knew me for ages or I knew him for ages, there was no hesitation. I was suddenly told the PM may call you.
He said to you that he is thinking and getting legal opinion on how money recovered by the ED can be given to the people…
He actually told me to tell the people that Rs 3,000 crore ED has recovered from corrupt people, he wants to give it to the people of Bengal.
One thing that is used against you and the Rajbari is that the King sided with the British to oust Siraj-ud-Daulah…
That’s done and dusted. Whatever happened 300, 500, or 1,000 years ago, how does it matter now? If you talk about Siraj-ud-Daulah, the chief minister always talks about ‘Bohiragoto’ (outsiders). He too was an outsider. He was from one of the branches of serving the Mughal empire, not even from the family. He was an outsider. This should not be an ugly thing to deal as this has no relation. The CM is my CM too. She can only speak on party’s point of view in her party office but can’t say in public. She says all this in public and that’s not good when they don’t know history. His actual name was Mirza Muhammad, grandson of Alivardi. He used to rape women and throw them in the water, and used to observe how they looked. What’s this? It’s perversion. If he comes to marry someone from the royal family, someone will definitely protest.
What’s your take on the Sandeshkhali issue?
Sandeshkhali is not a one-off incident. There are so many incidents like that. The women are courageous enough to raise their voices there, otherwise, how would people know?
People say Shajahan is equivalent to what used to happen in history…
Yes, definitely.
You have been saying that you are also fighting for Sanatan Dharma…
I will not say it like this, but wherever people are saying that I would like to tell them that in 1947, when Partition took place, and Nadia went to East Pakistan, this royal family and Syama Prasad Mukherjee and NC Chatterjee brought it back to India. We would have to think about how Nadia was brought back to India. That is something we have to remember. How did we get it back from Pakistan…
Will CAA have an effect on the voting?
CAA has been misinterpreted by the TMC. First, let me tell you that nobody’s citizenship will be taken away, but it will be given. The Matua are friendly people.
Minority voters are there in this constituency; how will you get their votes?
A lot of them have joined us. We have been meeting them. They told me that this state government has only used them and they want to get rid of them.
Are you confident of winning?
I am a first-timer but I am clean. I want to work for the people, that’s why I am confident. I have the support of many people because they know I will not cheat. They know I am from these people who have always served the public and I will fight corruption.