New Delhi:
Violence returned to West Bengal in the Lok Sabha Elections’ fourth round with massive clashes being reported from Asansol. When quizzed about it, Trinamool Congress’ candidate from the seat, Moon Moon Sen had most bizarre reaction. According to an NDTV report, Sen refused to talk about the poll violence in Bengal in recent years and claimed that many people don’t know what used to happen during Communist rule. The yesteryear star said that she had not heard anything. “They gave me my bed tea very late…Aar ki bolbo, bolo,” Sen was quoted as saying.
Sen, known as giant slayer, had defeated CPM heavyweight Basudeb Acharya, a nine-time MP, in Bankura in 2014. But in surprising turn of events, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee had asked her to take on Union Minister Babul Supriyo in Asansol. Supriyo had won the seat last time with a margin of 70,000 votes.
“She is very unpopular. The local TMC leaders in the area have long been complaining that she is hardly ever present in the seat and TMC’s popularity has waned. The BJP, meanwhile, has been making steady inroads,” said a TMC district leader from Bankura as quoted by News 18. Therefore, fielding Sen from Asansol is seen as serving purpose of neutralising the existing factions within the Trinamool in the area.
The BJP made heavy inroads into Asansol, registering a vote share of 31.19% in 2014 Lok Sabha polls while Trinamool suffered a dip of 9.95%. The CPM failed to retain the seat after seven terms, its vote bank eroding by 26.3%. Asansol has a considerable chunk of Hindi speaking voters who have migrated from neighbouring Jharkhand and Bihar.
Sen has to her credit Bengali, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi and Kannada films. She joined the Trinamool Congress in 2014 and is the daughter of legendary Bengali actress Suchitra Sen and Dibanath Sen, the great grandson of the Diwan of Tripura. After completing her graduation from Somerville College in Oxford and her Masters from Jadavpur University, Sen made her film debut in 1984. Supriyo, on the other hand, was a popular Bollywood playback singer with hits such as Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai under his belt. He joined politics in 2014.
