KOLKATA: Dipsita Dhar, a young leader of Communist Party of India (Marxist), has expressed disappointment over the RG Kar hospital rape-murder victim’s mother wanting to contest the West Bengal Assembly elections on a BJP ticket, but said her emotional focus in the polls remains centred on the fight for justice for the tortured medical intern.
The 32-year-old Left candidate from the Dum Dum Uttar seat on the northern fringes of Kolkata said her poll plank extends to the broader fight for women in the state, who continue to face gender-based violence.
Dhar, who is contesting against Chandrima Bhattacharya of the All India Trinamool Congress, said the elections provide her another opportunity to seek justice for “Abhaya” (fearless), the name given by protesters to the RG Kar victim.
Her constituency borders Panihati in North 24 Parganas district, where the victim’s family resides. The victim’s mother is being seen as a potential candidate for the Bharatiya Janata Party, although the party has not confirmed her candidacy.
“This, to me, was an emotional election from day one. Because right next to my constituency lived a woman, a wannabe doctor, whose dreams were cruelly shattered. And despite the outrage on the streets, justice wasn’t delivered. The probe was a sham and the real culprits remain free,” Dhar said.
She added that her stance has not changed even after the victim’s mother indicated she may join the electoral fray on a BJP ticket.
“To me, this is an election to put forward the demand that women of Bengal are not disposable, who can be raped or killed at will,” Dhar, a public advocate and gender rights activist, said.
Responding to allegations from the victim’s parents that the Left used the case for political gain, Dhar said, “I have no issues with it. It’s her right. But I will say this: the CPI(M) stood beside the family or took to the streets demanding justice for the victim, not because it wanted to reap electoral benefits,” while admitting she was saddened by the mother’s political choice.
“Justice for Abhaya was never meant to be restricted only to the victim or her family. It was a call against injustice to all women facing gender violence under the current TMC government. We did what we did because it was the right thing to do and to expose the rot in the system,” she said, referring to the party’s role in the protests.
A student and researcher from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Dhar had earlier contested the 2021 Assembly polls from Bally but was unsuccessful.
She alleged that the SIR exercise has sidelined key public issues such as declining health and education sectors, poor civic infrastructure, and unemployment.
“SIR has eliminated legitimate voters in the name of logical discrepancy, specifically targeting vulnerable sections like the Matuas, working class, Muslims, and women,” she claimed.
According to Dhar, the exercise has created an “atmosphere of fear,” with concerns about being labelled doubtful voters or facing detention, pushing real issues to the background.
A sharp critic of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Dhar said the latter’s opposition to the roll revision exercise was “eyewash.”
“The role that Mamata Banerjee promised to play — like ‘SIR over my dead body’ — was merely empty rhetoric. Whatever constructive steps she could have taken through bureaucracy or legislation were avoided,” she alleged.
Dhar also criticised the chief minister’s appearance in the Supreme Court of India against SIR implementation, saying it failed to inspire voter confidence.
“If those posturings really worked, so many people would not be left confused about whether they are rightful citizens or not,” she said.
She added that her party’s key challenge is to regain votes lost to the BJP in previous elections and rebuild its presence in the Assembly.
“People disillusioned with TMC saw BJP as a viable option. But they have now seen how agencies handled cases like RG Kar and other scams without punishing perpetrators. I believe many will now gravitate towards us,” she said.
Dhar also expressed hope of gaining support from the Matua community following alleged disenfranchisement under SIR.
On facing Bhattacharya, she said individual candidates do not matter. “They will be held accountable for the party’s performance, questioned over the Abhaya case, and asked why jobs were taken away from the youth. Our fight is political,” she said.
Asked about the defection of her former associate Pratikur Rahaman to the TMC, Dhar said she now considers him a political opponent.