Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday spoke to Sandeshkhali survivor Rekha Patra, two days after the Bharatiya Janata Party named her as its candidate from the Basirhat Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal.
Modi lauded Patra as a "Shakti Swaroopa” and spoke about her campaign preparations and the support for the BJP among voters. ‘Shakti’ is a term in Hinduism associated with goddesses like Durga and Kali.
The prime minister also appreciated Patra for her fight against injustice towards women.
Patra narrated the ordeal of women in Sandeshkhali and said she feels good that Modi is standing by them. "It is like Ram ji is with us,” she said.
Patra also told the prime minister that she hails from a poor family and her husband works in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
"Some TMC women were against my candidature...We have no enmity with them....We will fight for all...We will try and make sure that the honour is returned," she said.
Sandeshkhali, which falls under Basirhat Lok Sabha constituency, grabbed national headlines last month after scores of women took to the street, accusing Trinamool Congress leader Shahjahan Sheikh and his associates of land grab and sexual harassment.
Sheikh, who has been suspended by the TMC, and some of his aides have been arrested in connection with attacks on ED officials and are in CBI custody.
Basirhat is currently represented by Nusrat Jahan of the ruling Trinamool Congress.
West Bengal, which has 42 Lok Sabha seats, goes to polls in seven phases from April 19. The results will be announced on June 4.
In the 2014 general elections, the Trinamool Congress bagged 34 seats while the BJP managed to win only two.
