TMC's Alo Rani Sarkar reacts post HC nails 'Bangladeshi' citizenship; to challenge verdict

After the Calcutta High Court ruled that she is a Bangladeshi national, TMC's 2021 Assembly poll candidate Alo Rani Sarkar decided to challenge this verdict before a division bench of the HC. Speaking to the media, she expressed dissatisfaction with the judgment of the single bench of Justice Bibek Chaudhuri. Mentioning that she was born in India in 1969, Sarkar claimed that she moved to Baidyabati in the Hooghly district of West Bengal 5 years later. While disputing the charge that she was not Indian, the TMC leader conceded that she has ancestral property in Bangladesh. 

Embarrassment for TMC

The Calcutta HC's order came on Alo Rani Sarkar's petition against the victory of her Bangaon Dakshin opponent Swapan Majumdar in the 2021 election. Majumdar, a BJP candidate beat her by over 2000 votes. However, in a big embarrassment for TMC, Justice Chaudhuri ruled that her plea is liable to be dismissed as the petitioner is not an Indian. While observing that Sarkar had claimed to be an Indian based on her voter ID, PAN card and Aadhaar card, he stressed that these documents were not proof of citizenship and were not acquired as per the provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955.

The High Court revealed that her name still exists in the Electoral Roll of Bangladesh. It ruled, "From the documents annexed with the application filed by the respondent as well as the documents annexed with the written objection by the petitioner, it is crystal clear that the petitioner is a Bangladeshi national on the date of filing nomination paper and on the dates of election and declaration of the result. From the face of the petitioner's own document, it is found that the petitioner had no right to contest the assembly election of 2021".

As per Indian law, a foreigner is not eligible to fight elections. "On 5th November 2020, she made an application for cancellation of her name from the national identity card and the electoral roll of Bangladesh. In her application, she stated that she is an Indian citizen by birth. However, she became the citizen of Bangladesh after her marriage with Harendra Nath Sarkar. The principle of dual citizenship is not applicable in India. A person having obtained the citizenship of another country, automatically ceases to be the citizen of India," it added. Meanwhile, it rejected the contention that she was a citizen of India by birth.