From family disputes to election battles, Madhurparna, a member of the Thakur family and daughter of Trinamul Congress Rajya Sabha MP Mamata Bala Thakur, hit bull’s eye in her first political innings today by securing her win from Bagdah Assembly constituency.

After 13 years TMC has managed a win here. Madhurparna is cousin of senior BJP leader and Union minister of state for ports, shipping and waterways Shantanu Thakur.

Advertisement

The newly-elected candidate will be the youngest MLA in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. Bagdah in North 24-Parganas is synonymous with the Matua community. BJP candidate Biswajit Das had won in the last Assembly election. This by-election was necessitated due to his subsequent defection to Trinamul. Not just the last Assembly election, BJP was ahead in Bagdah in the last Lok Sabha election as well, with a margin of over 20,000 votes. So, it was a challenge for the ruling party to reclaim this seat.

Special attention was given to candidate selection and Madhurparna was chosen. A greenhorn in politics, Madhurparna left BJP behind as soon as she entered the fray, said political observers. Trinamul was ahead in Bagdah right from the start of counting. By the end of the sixth round, the margin stood at over 14,000 votes, and it continued to increase over time. Finally, Madhurparna won by defeating BJP candidate Dr Binay Kumar Biswas by 33,000 votes. As soon as she was declared victorious, the leaders and workers celebrated outside the counting station.

Madhurparna expressed her happiness by saying that she was grateful for the trust placed on her by the people of the area. MLA Narayan Goswami said, “People have understood that we are not in favour of wrongdoing and corruption. That is why they chose us. The entire picture is clear to the people.” However, a month ago, Trinamul was trailing in this seat. On this, the MLA said, “There were some problems, no denying that. But we overcame them. The people are with us.” Trinamul Congress candidate Madhurparna Thakur received 107,577 votes, while BJP candidate Dr Binay Biswas received 74,109 votes, a margin of 33,468 votes. Madhurparna is 25 years old and will be the youngest MLA in the Assembly. Subrata Mukherjee became an MLA at the age of 26. In the parliamentary election, BJP’s Shantanu Thakur once again won from the Bongaon Lok Sabha constituency, securing a large portion of the Matua votes. There was uncertainty until the last moment about whether these votes would swing towards Trinamul. However, in the end, it was Shantanu’s cousin, Madhurparna of the Trinamul, who had the last laugh.

Trinamul workers and supporters are happy to have regained the Matua stronghold after a long time. The youngest MLA expressed that their victory is due to the people’s support. Even before Lok Sabha polls, differences between BJP leader and the Union minister and her aunt, Trinamul Congress RS MP Mamata Bala Thakur have come out in the open at Thakurnagar, the headquarters of All India Matua Mahasangha.

Madhuparna had staged a dharna in front of Barama’s temple, as the lock of the temple and residence of Barama Binapani Devi was allegedly broken by Shantanu for taking possession.