FIREWORKS were guaranteed in the Krishnanagar seat in West Bengal, given how the BJP and sitting Trinamool Congress 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.
So if its chief line of attack against the suave TMC MP is her lifestyle — with Moitra making it clear she won’t be apologetic about it — the BJP has picked someone who will match her at least in this department. Hence comes in ‘Rajmata’ Amrita Roy, belonging to the erstwhile Krishnanagar royal family; at 63, somewhat late to be making a political debut, but with her lineage, an evergreen candidate.
The BJP campaign is projecting the student of Kolkata’s posh La Martiniere School for Girls and Loretto College as, yes, a representative of the “Moharaja’r poribar (Maharaja’s family)” but also a “ghorer bou (ideal housewife)”.
An extra touch was added when Prime Minister Narendra 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 same day as 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. Besides, the alleged corruption of the state’s ruling TMC leaders is one of the main planks of the BJP in West Bengal.
“Krishnachandra Roy’s Samaj-sudhar works used to be taught to us” – Hon’ble PM @narendramodi tells BJP Krishananagar candidate
Confused between Social Reformer Raja Rammohan Roy & Krishnachandra?
Bad homework, Sir . Tch. Tch. pic.twitter.com/L6kYndrReq— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) March 28, 2024
Moitra had won the Krishnanagar seat, falling in Nadia district, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by over 63,000 votes over Kalyan Choubey of the BJP. TMC chief Mamata Banerjee had given the ticket to her over sitting MP and matinee idol Tapas Paul, now deceased.
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.
Before marriage, Roy herself pursued fashion design. “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: “Everyone knows about the contributions of Raja Krishna Chandra to the history of Nadia and Bengal. Everyone knows our family, and I have confidence that the people of Krishnanagar will bless me.”
Historian Swadesh Roy who has studied the Krishnanagar royalty says, “Many people say Krishnanagar is named after Maharaja Krishna Chandra Roy, but that’s not true. The old name of Krishnanagar was Reui, populated by Vaishnavs of the Gopi caste (Nadia was the epicentre of the Vaishnavite movement in Bengal). As Reui was dominated by devotees of Lord Krishna, the town that came up around it became known as Krishnanagar.”
The Maharaja, who ruled in the 18th century, remains a towering figure in Bengal because of his patronage of the arts and contributions to the culture of the state. He is credited with starting the grand 10-day Durga Puja celebration, now the most important event in the Bengali calendar, as well as Krishnanagar’s second most important festival, Jagaddhatri Puja. He patronised Bharatchandra Ray, who wrote the epic Annadamangal, which is considered an important milestone in the development of the Bengali language, and also backed composer Ramprasad Sen.
The corpus of witty stories involving court jester Gopal Bhar — Bengal’s equivalent of Mulla Naseeruddin, Birbal and Tenali Raman — are woven around Krishna Chandra’s court, and paint him as a whimsical but benevolent ruler.
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-ud-Daluah’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 later and especially Clive, who went on to become the Governor of Bengal. 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”.
