KOLKATA: For Chandana Bauri, BJP’s MLA in Saltora, West Bengal, defeating the TMC candidate in the recent Assembly elections was easier than bowing to her party’s decision to provide all BJP Bengal legislators with central force personnel security cover.
Chandana, the wife of a daily wage earner, found it impossible to offer the four central force jawans, who were sent for her security, daily meals or make arrangements for accommodation for them. Reason: the MLA’s husband, who is jobless because of the lockdown, and her two children reside in a dilapidated single-room hut with tiled-roof without running water or even a toilet.
Touched by their protectee’s plight, the jawans have started buying vegetables from local groceries using their own money and giving it to the MLA for arranging meals for them and her family as well. “My husband is a mason. Our daily average earning is Rs 400. Because of lockdown, the source of income has dried up. My husband and I are MGNREGA card holders,” she said. Chandana bagged victory from Saltora defeating her contender, a TMC veteran in the area, by 4,145 votes.