‘Don’t want what happened to my daughter to be repeated’: RG Kar victim’s mother says she agreed to be BJP candidate from Bengal’s Panihati
The mother of the junior doctor who was raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital may be fielded by the BJP as a candidate from the Panihati constituency of West Bengal.
The mother of the junior doctor who was raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata in 2024 said Thursday that she has spoken to the Bharatiya Janata Party and expressed her interest in contesting on the BJP’s ticket in the West Bengal Assembly elections.
She may be fielded by the BJP as a candidate from the Panihati constituency in the West Bengal Assembly elections in April. The BJP is expected to announce its second list of candidates later today.
“It wasn’t a last-minute decision. From the beginning, they were telling us, but I was not ready. But then I realised that for women’s safety and security, and the corruption that has spread in every aspect of Bengal, no one is happy, and so to overthrow the TMC, I joined the BJP,” she told reporters.
“I had only called and said I want to be a candidate. The fight for justice has become tough. All parties have made offers, but to get justice, we need to stay with the BJP. We are still unhappy with CBI as they are not working. I don’t want what happened to my daughter to ever happen to another woman,” she added.
The victim’s father said the offer had come earlier, but the family took time to decide.
“We want justice for our daughter, so we are with the BJP. We had said that we won’t allow anyone to do politics with our child’s death. What did the Left do other than just protest? It has instead done things so that we don’t get justice. The way the Left ran the state in the past and now they are helping the TMC to stay in power. We don’t want to know who the candidate is who is to fight against us.”
Other candidates in Panihati
Recently, former Barrackpore MP and BJP leader Arjun Singh visited their residence and held a long discussion with the family. However, neither side disclosed details of the conversation, with Singh stating that he had visited to check on the family.
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The ruling Trinamool Congress has announced Tirthankar Ghosh, the son of Nirmal Ghosh, as its candidate from the constituency. Nirmal Ghosh has won this seat five times and defeated his opponent by about 25,000 votes in the 2021 election. This time, the party has placed its trust in his son.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has fielded Koltan Dasgupta, a prominent face of the RG Kar protest movement.
Panihati in the state’s North 24 Parganas will vote in the second phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections on April 29.
The RG Kar rape-murder case
The postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College was raped and murdered on August 9, 2024. A civic volunteer, Sanjoy Roy, was arrested the next day. The Calcutta High Court later transferred the investigation from the Bengal Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
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CBI filed the chargesheet before the trial court on October 7, 2025, and the charges against Roy were framed on November 4, 2025. The trial court on January 20, 2025, sentenced Roy to life imprisonment after convicting him in the case. However, the doctor’s family has been alleging that he was not alone in committing the crime.
Both the state government and CBI approached the High Court in January 2025, seeking the death penalty for Roy. In February 2025, the court rejected the state’s appeal but admitted the central agency’s plea, noting its role as the investigating and prosecuting authority.
Earlier this , the Division Bench of Justice Debangshu Basak and Justice Md Shabbar Rashidi of the Calcutta High Court released all three petitions related to the 2024 RG Kar rape-murder case, saying it would not be able to hear the case on a regular basis as desired by the petitioners.
Tanusree Bose is a dedicated journalist reporting for The Indian Express from Kolkata. Her work focuses sharply on the complex administrative, political, and judicial developments across West Bengal, establishing her as an authoritative voice in regional news coverage.
Experience
Current Role: Reports for the prestigious national daily, The Indian Express, providing her content with a high level of Trustworthiness.
Geographical Expertise: Provides focused, in-depth coverage of West Bengal, demonstrating an intimate knowledge of the state's news and political nuances.
Core Authority: Her reporting portfolio highlights deep Expertise in crucial, often sensitive, beats, including:
State Politics and Governance: Covering the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), opposition strategies (BJP), and internal political controversies.
Judicial and Administrative Affairs: Closely monitoring key developments in the Calcutta High Court, particularly major rulings related to employment, education, and social issues.
Education Sector: Extensive reporting on significant controversies, such as teacher recruitment irregularities and administrative actions by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE).
Social & Electoral Issues: Covering public events, community tensions (e.g., religious/political gatherings), and election-related processes like the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll.
Tanusree Bose's consistent output and focus on high-stakes regional issues for a trusted media outlet underscore her status as a reliable and authoritative source for news from West Bengal. ... Read More
