If appearances could be deceiving, Mamata Banerjee has been deceiving them.
This frail chief, wearing a plain cotton sari, a tough bun, and a disarming chappal, can also be the one who defeats many highly effective rivals. The indomitable 71-year-old road fighter is West Bengal’s caring ‘didi’ (sister) and loving ‘maykei’ (daughter), championing the women-first agenda of Kanyashree Prakalpa, Laxmier Bandar and Swastya Sati.
Throughout the get together, we’ve a powerful chain of ladies leaders from sales space stage to elected positions. Ladies have additionally been on the forefront of main agitations within the TMC, whether or not in Singur or Nandigram, successful as much as 40 per cent of electoral votes, by far the very best among the many main political events.
Mamata, at the moment the one lady chief within the nation with full management of the get together and the federal government, is looking for a fourth time period in energy, surrounded by a core group of ladies leaders from the streets of Kolkata to the corridors of energy in Delhi.
Chandrama Bhattacharya, 70 years outdated
Bhattacharyya, who can also be the TMC spokesperson and state president of the ladies’s wing, is likely one of the most senior members of the CM’s ladies’s brigade. As Minister of State in Mamata’s authorities, Bhattacharya is chargeable for quite a lot of areas, from finance (unbiased cost) and well being, household welfare to land reform, refugees and rehabilitation.
Bhattacharya was not an early follower of Mamata and remained within the Congress when the TMC was fashioned. Bhattacharya grew to become near Mamata and finally joined the TMC in 2009 through the Singur and Nandigram actions that gave Mamata the momentum to get rid of the CPI(M) in Bengal.
Bhattacharya, a skilled lawyer, labored as an advocate within the Kolkata Excessive Court docket till 2011, when he fought in opposition to Dumdum Uttar as an MLA and gained.
In 2016, Bhattacharya misplaced the seat to CPI(M)’s Tanmay Bhattacharya. Nevertheless, in a present of Mamata’s confidence, she fielded Bhattacharya from Dakshin Kanti within the 2017 polls. As soon as she gained, Mamata reappointed her as MoS.
Shashi Panja (63)
Pandya, a physician by coaching, is the daughter-in-law of former Union minister Ajit Pandya, who cut up from the Congress and fashioned the TMC with Mamata.
When the TMC first fashioned the federal government in 2011, Mamata didn’t take into account the MLA from Champukur for the ministry. Nevertheless, in 2013, Ms. Pandya was given the duty of the Ladies and Youngster Growth Division as MoS. This seems to be necessary as Pandya pilots Mamata’s pet ‘Kanyashree’.
Within the outgoing authorities, she is Minister of Trade, Commerce and Company Affairs in addition to head of the Ministry of Ladies, Youngster Growth and Social Welfare.
Get together insiders mentioned Mamata appreciated Pandya’s kindness in talking each English and Bengali, making her one of many TMC’s prime spokespersons.
Pandya is competing once more from Champecourt.
Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, 66 years outdated
Dastidar, an MP from Barasat, additionally belongs to a political household and, like Panja, is a physician by coaching. Her maternal grandfather was the postmaster basic of West Bengal, her paternal uncle Arun Moitra was as soon as the state Congress president, and her maternal uncle Gurdas Dasgupta was a member of Congress and a widely known face of the CPI.
One among Mamata’s oldest associates, Dastidar, who was among the many first to supply medical help throughout violent confrontations with the Left authorities throughout her Youth Congress days, adopted Mamata to kind TMC in 1998.
Dastidar, who has served as a four-time MP, has confronted a number of controversies. Her identify got here up within the Narada case, however her assertion that the Park Road sexual assault was “not rape” however “a misunderstanding between the girl and her shopper” brought about a stir.
Dora Sen, 59 years outdated
The Rajya Sabha MP, who was as soon as certainly one of Mamata’s key behind-the-scenes lieutenants, is now the general public face alongside the CM.
Mr. Sen first got here to prominence as a commerce union chief at Kanoria jute mills with sympathies with the Naxals. It was this affiliation that introduced her nearer to Mamata through the Singur and Nandigram actions, the place she impressed the TMC chief by drawing nationwide figures like Medha Patkar and leftist intellectuals to her trigger.
Later, as different workers left the corporate, Mr. Sen joined TMC. She is at the moment the top of the Bengal department.
Within the 2021 meeting elections, when Mamata confronted a battle for status in opposition to her arch-rival Suvendu Adhikari from Nandigram, she appointed Sen to supervise her marketing campaign. Though Mamata misplaced, Sen’s efforts have been appreciated.
Mr. Sen fought in opposition to Mr. Asansol within the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and misplaced, however was instantly despatched to the Lok Sabha by the TMC and stays one of many get together’s key voices within the Higher Home.
Bilbach Hansda, 43 years outdated
Hansda, a widely known identify within the Santhali movie trade, comes from a political household with each her dad and mom being former MLAs.
She was first elected to parliament in 2021 after dropping three elections in native authorities, meeting and meeting polls. However as quickly as she gained, Mamata appointed her as MoS, Forest.
Hansda’s movie profession has been fairly profitable with 19 movies to her credit score, together with the tremendous hit Bardu, and he or she has gained the Greatest Actress Award from the ‘All India Santali Movie Society’ seven instances.
Not too long ago, Hansda spearheaded the TMC protests in opposition to President Draupadi Murmu’s claims that she was ignored by the Mamata authorities throughout her go to to North Bengal.
Hansda is collaborating from Binpur seat.
Lata Banerjee, 59-60
Lata, mom of TMC quantity two Abhishek Banerjee, is Mamata’s trusted ‘boudi’ or sister-in-law (spouse of Mamata’s brother Amit). “Even when Mamata was at residence together with her mom, Lata was by her aspect,” mentioned a veteran TMC chief.
Since then, Lata has been a continuing presence at each stage of Mamata’s political life, from her days as railway minister to when she grew to become CM. Not too long ago, Lata accompanied Mamata on a overseas go to.
In the course of the investigation into the college recruitment rip-off in Bengal, the Enforcement Directorate summoned Lata, her husband Amit and others for questioning. The couple are administrators of Leaps & Bounds, a subsidiary of ED Scanner.
Krishna Chakraborty, 61 years outdated
Mamata’s affiliation with Chakraborty goes again 4 a long time, when the then Youth Congress leaders hand-picked her from New Alipore Faculty in 1984.
In the identical 12 months, when the Congress fielded Mamata from Jadavpur as its Lok Sabha candidate in opposition to CPI(M) stalwart Somnath Chatterjee, Chakraborty was by her aspect at each marketing campaign occasion. When Mamata gained and moved to Delhi, Chakraborty additionally moved and stayed together with her for the subsequent 5 years.
When Chakraborty acquired married, Mamata was additionally current. And when Chakraborty was pregnant, she was with Mamata. Chakraborty typically describes their relationship as that of a mom and daughter.
When Mamata fashioned TMC in 1998, Chakraborty had no official position. At present, she is vice chairman of TMC ladies’s wing, president of Vidhannagar Municipal Company and second solely to Mamata in political rallies.
Chakraborty’s husband Samir is a TMC candidate from Pandua in Hooghly district.
Mahua Moitra, 51 years outdated
Moitra is as completely different from Mamata as she is as a politician. She can also be the voice of Mamata’s Delhi and packs a punch effectively above her weight.
Moitra, an funding banker who has additionally labored abroad, was introduced into the Congress by Rahul Gandhi however was quickly transferred to the TMC. In 2016, he gained Nadia from Karimpur and have become an MLA. Nevertheless, Mamata realized that her expertise have been an ideal match for Delhi and contested from the Krishnagar Lok Sabha seat in 2019 and gained.
Shortly thereafter, Moitra addressed Parliament on the “Seven Early Indicators of Fascism” and stood her floor regardless of fixed heckling. Since then, she has remained one of many opposition’s main voices within the Home of Representatives, the place the Bharatiya Janata Get together has an awesome majority. Mr. Moitra additionally confronted off in opposition to the federal government within the Supreme Court docket over points such because the Citizenship (Modification) Act.
On December 8, 2023, Moitra was expelled from Parliament on prices of ‘question-and-answer’. However in 2024, TMC once more fielded her from Krishnagar and he or she returned as an MP.
Moitra’s draw back is that he tends to be controversial. These embody tense instances when Mamata belittled him for his alleged misbehavior with get together staff, and a public spat with fellow TMC chief Kalyan Banerjee.
However Moitra nonetheless stands tall.
Sagarika Ghose, 61 years outdated. Menaka Guruswami, 51 years outdated
The 2 Rajya Sabha MPs are the rising faces of the TMC in Delhi and have been chosen by Mamata for the {qualifications} they convey to the desk. Whereas Mr. Ghose is a former journalist and well-known face within the media, Mr. Guruswamy is a outstanding Supreme Court docket lawyer with a observe file of defending civil rights.
Each have been a part of current talks between TMC and Election Fee of India (ECI), which led to a disagreement between the 2 sides.
Ghose entered politics and joined India’s prime ministership in 2024, whereas Guruswami solely took workplace this week. By the way, when she was nonetheless a journalist, Ghose confronted Mamata throughout a debate on reside TV and a business ran out of the present.
