Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Meet Rekha Patra, Sandeshkhali survivor who will contest from BJP

The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) which has released its fifth list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections 2024 on Sunday, has fielded Rekha Patra for the Basirhat Lok Sabha constituency. Rekha who spearheaded the demonstrations against Sheikh Shahjahan, the leader of the now-suspended Trinamool Congress, in Sandeshkhali, West Bengal. She will compete against Haji Nurul Islam of the Trinamool Congress, who was chosen to replace current MP and Bengali star Nusrat Jahan.

For the past three months, Sandeshkhali, which is under the Basirhat Lok Sabha seat, has been in the news due to protests led by many women who accused Sheikh Shahjahan and his aides of sexual assault and land grabbing.

Rekha is known for being a victim of the violence that took place in Sandeshkhali and news reports indicate she was the first person to file a legal case against the accused. After this an FIR was filed against Shibu Hazra and Uttam Sardar at Sandeshkhali police station and both of them were arrested by the West Bengal Police in February.

Rekha Patra: A surprise candidate in BJP’s fifth list

In its fifth list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has included 111 names in total, 19 of them are from West Bengal. After being nominated in the list, Rekha thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the candidature and assured that she would keep on raising her voice for Sandeshkhali victims. 

Abhijit Ganguly, a former judge of the Calcutta High Court and recent BJP member, was nominated from Tamluk Lok Sabha constituency, which is a stronghold of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari and his family.

In addition to Patra, Jayanta Ray received a second nomination in Jalpaiguri, while Tapas Ray, a former leader of the TMC who just joined the BJP, was given the ticket for Kolkata North.

Amrita Roy, a member of the Krishnanagar royal family, has been nominated to contest against Mahua Moitra of the TMC.