Will Krishnanagar's 'Queen' Amrita Ray Dethrone TMC's Mahua Moitra in BJP's Prestige Fight?

2024 Lok Sabha Elections: In a surprise move, the BJP has named Amrita Ray from the erstwhile royal family in Krishnanagar in a bid to dethrone the expelled Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has chosen to bestow her trust upon Moitra even as the cash-for-query row has left the party red-faced. Speculations were rife as the 'Rajmata' visited two Kali temples, built by Raja Krishnachandra Ray back in the 18th century, last week. What followed was hectic parleys at the royal family with Bengal Legislative Assembly's Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari visiting ahead of BJP declaring the fifth list, according to local reports. Soon after, she joined BJP in the presence of Suvendu.

Krishnanagar has turned into a prestige battle for the BJP.  Moitra became embroiled in the cash-for-query row when BJP MP Giriraj Singh and her estranged partner Nishikant Dubey alleged that she had given her Parliament login credentials to businessman Darshan Hiranandani, violating Parliamentary ethics. Soon after, Moitra was expelled from the Lower House and is currently under CBI's scanner. With the Rajmata pitted against her, Moitra is certainly not going to get a walkover like last time with the tables turned against her this time around.

An interior designer by profession, the 'Rajmata', addressing reporters last week, said that although she doesn't understand anything about politics, she wants to uplift the people of Bengal. Her family was not only known for providing brave resistance against the Mughal rule in the 18th century but was also involved in bringing about an artistic revolution in the region. Even though the name of former Advocate-General of Bengal Soumendra Nath Mookherjee, ex-Krishnanagar MP and Union Minister Satyabrata Mookherjee's son, was doing the rounds, the Central Leadership chose to field the ‘Rajmata’ to everybody's surprise.