BJP announced its candidates for the upcoming West Bengal Assembly bypolls on Monday, with particular attention on the Bagdah assembly segment in North 24 Parganas district. The party’s Central Election Committee emphasized choosing Binay Kumar Biswas to contest against Trinamool Congress’ Madhuparna Thakur, daughter of TMC Rajya Sabha member Mamata Bala Thakur and a prominent figure in the Matua community. Sources within the Bengal BJP had recommended three candidates for Bagdah, expecting consideration for Soma Thakur, wife of Minister of State for Ports Santanu Thakur, but were surprised by the final decision.
A leader from the Bengal BJP, who didn’t want to be named, said they thought there would be a contest between Matua candidates in Bagdah. The Matua community is big there and across the district. The party sent three names, as they usually do. The leader was surprised that they didn’t pick a Matua candidate for the seat.
According to BJP sources, they decided not to give a ticket to Soma Thakur to avoid accusations of practicing dynasty politics, which they often criticize the opposition for. During the last Lok Sabha election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to dynasty politics as a threat to democracy. By not choosing Soma Thakur, a BJP leader from Delhi argued, the party retains its ability to criticize this issue.
A contest between two Matua candidates in a Matua-dominated constituency would be evenly matched. It’s very challenging for the BJP to field a regular candidate against a member of the influential Matua first family,” explained the BJP leader mentioned earlier.