Since 1995, Mala Roy has been the councillor of ward number 88 of the Kolkata municipal corporation (KMC). She is the Trinamool Congress’s first woman KMC chairperson. Recently, the party offered Roy a golden opportunity, fielding her in the Kolkata South Lok Sabha constituency. The constituency will vote on May 19.Significantly, the Trinamool supremo and Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee herself has represented this constituency between 1991 and 2011, winning six times.Mala Roy. Credit: Sourodipto SanyalIn 2011, after defeating the Left front government and becoming the chief minister, the TMC leader vacated the seat to contest the Bhabanipur assembly by-elections.The Wire met Mala Roy at the KMC flat on Bawali Mandal Road. Roy says she didn’t expect to be the candidate from what she believes is a safe seat for the TMC.“Didi must have thought this through and done it, but I was very surprised,” she says.Until recently, this situation would have been inconceivable. Roy left the TMC in 2005, rejoining in 2015, on the eve of the KMC elections. She contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from the Kolkata South constituency on behalf of the Congress. She finished fourth, behind the TMC, BJP and the CPI(M). Trinamool’s Subrata Bakshi defeated Roy by more than three lakh votes. Roy is confident of winning the seat this time.The contest, however, is not bereft of challenge.The BJP has fielded Chandra Kumar Bose, the grandnephew of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, from the seat this time. Boses’s credentials have not dampened Roy’s enthusiasm. “He can be related to Subhash Chandra Bose, but he is not Subhash Chandra Bose. Not everyone in the family will have the same character as Netaji,” she says.Also Read: A Lacklustre Roadshow Could Hurt the Congress Candidate in Kolkata NorthChandra Kumar Bose contested from the Bhabanipur seat in the 2016 assembly elections. He finished third, behind the TMC and the Congress.Does the ground reality match Roy’s enthusiasm?It is five minutes past 4 pm at Golpark in South Kolkata. A roadshow is being organised by the Kolkata South All India Mohila Trinamool Congress. Nearly 2,000 women, majority of them middle-aged, are lining up in two rows: to participate in the show and canvass for Roy. At the front are women wearing the quintessential TMC sari, striped with the party’s twin flower symbol. At the back, several enthusiastic women in burqas and hijabs can be seen.Women in TMC sarees. Credit: Sourodipto SanyalThe women will walk two-and-a-half kilometres, crossing Rashbehari avenue and winding up at Hazra Mor, just a few hundred metres from Banerjee’s residence on Harish Chatterjee Street.The visibility of women in the party isn’t just restricted to the streets of Kolkata. Banerjee has made gender representation integral to her party’s campaign.Also Read: In the North Kolkata Constituency, LGBTQ Community Finds its VoiceShe announced a 41% quota for women – the highest so far by any mainstream political party. Even in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the TMC fielded the the highest percentage of women candidates and sent the second highest number of women MPs to the Lok Sabha.The roadshow bears testimony to the TMC’s mobilisation of women. The impressive show of strength and colourful procession, resonating with ululation and the sound of conch shells, is reminiscent of Bengali Hindu weddings and the Durga Puja celebrations. Some young women in hijabs chant ‘Vande Mataram,’ a common slogan often heard at rallies of political parties across the ideological spectrum.Women participate in the roadshow. Credit: Sourodipto Sanyal“Who will mothers and sisters vote for on May 19?” asks a woman coordinating the procession. “For the joda flower (twin flower),” chant the others.After walking for 100 metres, the procession merges with the jeep carrying Mala Roy. She is set to begin her campaign. A small blue fan has been attached to the open-vehicle where she is standing. She is joined by Chandrima Bhattacharya, the state’s current health and family welfare minister. While Roy greets the crowds, Bhattacharya urges everyone to vote for her.As the women move ahead, three men observe the roadshow. When asked who is likely to win, one of them replies, “Maa. Mati. Manush (the TMC’s slogan). Always.” The other two agree with him. They don’t think any other party is in the reckoning.A young man and a loyal CPI(M) voter on Rash Behari Avenue also agrees the TMC will win. “But margin will reduce,” he says. He expects the BJP to come second.Sourodpito Sanyal is a freelance journalist.
