Mimi Chakraborty,30
Trinamool Congress, Jadavpur
Actor and now MP, Mimi Chakraborty was with Nusrat Jahan when they walked into Parliament on May 27 and posed for photographs, displaying their identity cards. The trolls came alive soon after, many of them going after Chakraborty for turning up in Parliament in her white shirt and jeans.
Like Nusrat Jahan, Chakraborty has been at the receiving end of trolls since the Trinamool Congress announced her candidature from Jadavpur, where Chakraborty defeated her BJP rival Anupam Hazra by 2.94 lakh votes.
Dismissing the trolls, Chakraborty says, “We talk about equality, women’s empowerment… yet we are now being trolled for wearing jeans. I haven’t heard of male MPs being criticised for their clothes but when a woman MP wears jeans, that bothers an entire nation. We will talk about things youth need, including jobs.”
Chakraborty, who has worked in both television and films, is a graduate in English Honours from Ashutosh College in Kolkata.
Most of her family members, she says, are “active Trinamool members”. “My uncles, grandfather and great grandfather have all been active in politics at some point or the other. So probably I am only taking that family legacy forward,” she says.
On the issues she plans to raise in Parliament, Chakraborty says, “There are many issues that bother me, three of which are on my priority list, but I will simply not talk about them now. When I raise it in Parliament, you will know.”
— Sweety Kumari
Nusrat Jahan Ruhi, 29
Trinamool Congress, Basirhat
It was on May 27, when Nusrat Jahan walked into Parliament for the first time, that the enormity of her election win sunk in. “When I walked in, it felt like I was entering a temple — a temple of democracy. I realise how huge my responsibility is now,” she says.
Jahan, one of several film stars to be fielded by the Trinamool Congress, won from Basirhat, defeating BJP’s Sayantan Basu by a margin of 3.5 lakh votes. In 2017, Baduria in Basirhat had witnessed violent communal clashes after a teenager allegedly posted a derogatory meme on the Prophet on Facebook, following which mobs set vehicles on fire and vandalised shops despite appeals for peace by community leaders and clerics. Jahan, who is often seen taking part in Durga puja celebrations, had been projected as the Trinamool’s answer to the BJP’s minority appeasement charge against the party.
Born to a Bengali family in Kolkata, Jahan started her modeling career after winning a beauty contest in 2010, following which she soon made her movie debut. Nine years later, as she talks of her newest role, Jahan says, “My films help me connect with my audience but now that I am an MP, I am connected to every household in Basirhat.”
Dismissing the trolls that she has faced ever since her candidature was announced, Jahan says, “Trolls talk about me because I am famous.”
For now, she says she has her task cut out. “Like any other woman who handles home and work, I will have to work for my people besides completing my film assignments. I may have a few sleepless nights but I am not afraid to multitask,” she says.
— Sweety Kumari