In August 2024, a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor was raped and murdered inside RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. The case shook the country. Protests erupted across Bengal and beyond, drawing comparisons to the national outrage that followed the Nirbhaya gang-rape in Delhi in 2012. The Mamata administration's early handling of the case drew sharp criticism, and the anger never fully subsided.

Her mother has now won a seat in the West Bengal Assembly.

Ahead of the second phase of voting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a BJP rally in Panihati, a Trinamool Congress stronghold in North 24 Parganas, and vowed to ensure women's safety in the state. Standing beside him was Ratna Debnath, the BJP's candidate for the seat and mother of the RG Kar victim. The symbolism was hard to miss. Monday's result showed it was also devastatingly effective.

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Debnath, contesting her first election, defeated TMC candidate Tirthankar Ghosh by 28,836 votes. She polled 87,977 votes to Ghosh's 59,141.

After her win, Debnath dedicated the mandate to the people and to the Prime Minister. "This victory is the victory of the people of Panihati, of the entire Bengal. I dedicate this victory to Prime Minister Modi. I have been able to free the people from the misgovernance of the Ghosh family. I thank the people; I could not have done this alone," she said.

A calculated move on enemy turf

Fielding Debnath from Panihati was not accidental. It was a direct challenge to the TMC on its own ground, with a candidate whose personal grief had become a political symbol, in a case in which the Mamata government was widely criticised for its initial response.

The RG Kar example was used to go after Mamata Banerjee's most reliable voter base, women. While the TMC had spent years building loyalty through direct benefit schemes like Lakshmir Bhandar, the BJP turned women's safety into the defining counter-narrative of this election.

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Journalist Parul Kulshrestha captured the mood on X: "RG Kar Rape case shook Bengalis to the core. I know many hardcore Communist Bengalis who voted for TMC but expressed anger at the way this case was handled by Mamata and protested on the streets. Female safety is a sensitive issue in our country (rightly so)."

Throughout her campaign, Debnath pledged to push for a deeper investigation into the RG Kar case and ensure that those behind what she described as a larger conspiracy are held accountable.

Another face of resistance wins

Debnath was not the only woman whose political debut was shaped by Bengal's recent wounds. Rekha Patra, who became a national face of the Sandeshkhali protests against alleged atrocities by TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh and his associates, won the Hingalganj Assembly seat by 5,421 votes. She polled 1,00,207 votes against TMC's Ananda Sarkar, who polled 94,786. Patra had contested from Basirhat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and lost; this time, she won.

Published on: May 5, 2026 9:39 AM IST