Jyotipriya Mallick: Mamata Banerjee’s old aide, holds influence in North 24 Parganas

Mallick is credited with implementing the Digital Ration Card in the state and Mamata Banerjee’s dream project of providing one kg rice for Rs 2 to the downtrodden sections.

Jyotipriya Mallick, Minister for Food & Supplies in West Bengal government

One of Mamata Banerjee’s oldest aides, Jyotipriya Mallick holds the Food & Supplies portfolio in the state Cabinet. An MLA from Habra constituency in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, Mallick will contest from the same seat in the upcoming elections.

Popularly known as ‘Balu Da’, Mallick belongs to Burdwan’s ‘Agoori’ community – a warrior community with links to Burdwan’s maharaja whose ancestors came from Rajasthan. Over the years, he has gained considerable influence over the state’s Matua community, the majority Scheduled Caste community in West Bengal, which has impact over poll results in about 70 constituencies in Bengal.

The president of the North 24 Parganas district unit of the Trinamool Congress, Mallick is said to have introduced Mamata Banerjee to Matua community’s ‘Baro Ma (Binapani Devi). In the 2011 Assembly elections, the Trinamool Congress got overwhelming support from the community and Mamata Banerjee became CM.

After the 2011 victory, Mamata Banerjee made Mallick Minister of the Food and Supplies department, and he continues to hold the post. He is credited with implementing the Digital Ration Card in the state and Mamata Banerjee’s dream project of providing one kg rice for Rs 2 to the downtrodden sections.

However, in recent days, the BJP has increased its efforts to gain support of the Matuas and is trying to reach out to voters in the North 24 Parganas district as well. In the upcoming polls, Mallick’s primary challenge is to hold on to regions where he has influence and secure a win for his party

Atri Mitra

Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal. Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur. He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More