West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had a “surprise meeting” with BJP Rajya Sabha member Ananta Maharaj on Tuesday, leading to speculation that a close aide of his will be the TMC candidate for Sitai assembly by-election.
Mamata Banerjee came to north Bengal’s Cooch Behar, offered prayers at the famous Madanmohan Mandir, and directly went to meet Ananta Maharaj, who has great influence among the Rajbongshi community.
Rajbongshi votes are crucial during elections in north Bengal. The community forms about 40 per cent of the electorate in the Cooch Behar Lok Sabha constituency and has a significant presence in almost all north Bengal seats. Ananta Maharaj played a crucial role in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections because of which the Rajbongshi vote mainly went to the BJP. Sources said that this time he, in fact, criticised the BJP before the polls and also gave favourable signals to the TMC. The fact that Mamata Banerjee came to Cooch Behar to meet him soon after the election results reveals a lot, they said.
According to TMC sources, Haradhan Das, who is considered a close aide of Ananta Maharaj, might contest the Sitai assembly bypoll on a Trinamool ticket. The constituency has been vacated by MLA Jagdip Basunia after he won the Cooch Behar Lok Sabha seat for the TMC, defeating BJP’s Nisith Pramanik.
In 2021, union home minister Amit Shah visited Ananta Maharaj’s home. Relations between Maharaj and the BJP were blossoming. The party backed his successful Rajya Sabha bid. But, observers said, Maharaj started feeling that the BJP did nothing for Rajbongshis and started criticising the party publicly.
With inputs from News18
