PM Modi speaks with Sandeshkhali victim and BJP candidate Rekha Patra: 'Shakti swaroopa'
Patra campaign preparations, support among people for BJP and more. Meanwhile, Patra detailed the ordeals faced by women in Sandeshkhali, the report added. Rekha Patra will contest the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 on a BJP candidate from Basirhat in West Bengal.
The BJP candidate had raised voice against the alleged atrocities by local Trinamool Congress (TMC) strongman Shajahan Sheikh and his associates. There were allegations of sexual atrocities on women and land grabbing against Sheikh and his cohorts. Sandeshkhali is a village in Basirhat subdivision, which falls under the North 24 Parganas district.
Basirhat, one of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, is currently represented by the TMC. Sheikh and some of his associates were arrested in connection with attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials and are in Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody. Sheikh was suspended by the TMC in connection with allegations against him.
Rekha Patra is an alleged victim of torture at the hands of arrested and now-suspended TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh and his aides, news agency PTI reported. She was among the most vocal protestors of Sandeshkhali. The police arrested Shibu Hazra, a local muscleman and Shajahan Sheikh's associate, based on her complaint.
Patra is also believed to have been part of the group that met PM Modi on the sidelines of his public meeting in Barasat on March 6 and narrated the plight of Sandeshkhali women to the PM. The BJP had earlier shared a picture of Patra participating in Sandeshkhali aandolan with her child in arms. According to PTI, handwritten posters appeared in a few places in Sandeshkhali area, denouncing the candidature of BJP Lok Sabha poll nominee Rekha Patra.
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