Sangita Roy, the Trinamool candidate for the Sitai Assembly bypoll, has been accused by her rivals of concealing facts related to her husband, Cooch Behar MP Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia, in her nomination papers.
Harihar Roy Singha, the Congress candidate, said: “The TMC candidate had contested in last year’s panchayat elections. At that time, she mentioned her husband’s name in the affidavit and furnished details of the properties owned by her and her husband."
“This time, in her affidavit for the bypoll, she didn’t name her husband. She mentioned her late father. Also, she did not provide details of her and her husband’s properties. We feel this hides facts and thus want her nomination cancelled,” added Singha, a lawyer by profession.
In 2023, Sangita won a panchayat poll to become the sabhapati (head) of the Sitai panchayat samiti.
In Sitai, the bypoll will be held with five other Assembly seats of Bengal. The seat fell vacant as Trinamool leader Basunia, who had won the seat in 2021, resigned after being elected as the MP this year.
Sangita's bypoll affidavit doesn’t bear Basunia’s name. Instead, she has introduced herself as the daughter of late Samar Ranjan Roy.
A local BJP leader added: "Sangita's panchayat poll affidavit mentioned Basunia as her husband. Basunia's Lok Sabha poll affidavit mentioned one Suktara as his wife. Now, Sangita's bypoll affidavit omits Basunia entirely. Can the TMC reply to this?"
Arun Kumar Barma, the Forward Bloc candidate, added: “We also want the returning officer to check if she has an authentic Scheduled Caste (SC) certificate as the Assembly seat is reserved for SC candidates. The returning officer should also show us the certificate."
The Congress and Forward Bloc candidates have complained in writing to the returning officer against Sangita. The BJP, however, raised the issue only on social media.
Trinamool appeared to dismiss the charges.
Rabindranath Ghosh, a state vice-president of Trinamool, who is based in Cooch Behar, accused the BJP, the Congress and the Left of resorting to “cheap politics" ahead of the by-election.
“Leaders of these parties are well aware that their candidates will lose, which is why they are launching personal attacks on our candidate and trying to malign her image. Such strategies will not work,” he said.
