Interview/ Agnimitra Paul, women and child development minister, West Bengal
AGNIMITRA PAUL was sworn in as cabinet minister on May 9. The 51-year-old, vocal on atrocities against women, was given two portfolios—women and child development and social welfare, along with municipal affairs.
The combative leader, who has retained her Asansol Dakshin seat, will now leave behind her life as a fashion designer to start “designing the life of people”. The mother to two sons says her immediate concerns are women’s safety, law and order, and the rollout of the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat scheme in Bengal. Excerpts from an interview:
Q/ How are you feeling after the win?
I would not say it is a dream come true, because I never dreamt of being part of politics. I joined the BJP because I wanted to work under the leadership of Narendra Modi ji.
I remember the day I had gone to Birbhum to meet Modi ji. I had designed a Modi coat for him. I had told Kailash Vijayvargiya (senior BJP leader) about the coat, but somehow the Special Protection Group wasn’t informed. The 2019 Lok Sabha campaign was on, and the SPG did not allow me in. My whole life as a designer, I was going to red carpets and premiers. This was one month after I had joined the BJP, and not being let in was kind of insulting. Then Kailash ji got me the permission and I gave Modi ji the coat. It was white with red embroidery, and in black thread I had written Kavi Guru’s (Rabindranath Tagore’s) lines: ‘Where the mind is without fear, and the head is held high.’ I think we have achieved that now. Today, Modi ji knows me by name. What more can I ask for?
Q/ You always wanted to make Asansol proud. How have the people there reacted?
I am the only woman minister, till date, from that area. It is a surreal feeling. When we go to Santiniketan, we say, ‘This is Kavi Guru Rabindranath Tagore’s house.’ It was amusing that people were standing in front of my Asansol house and saying, ‘Agnimitra Paul lives here.’
A lot of women were there, and they were so happy that one of their representatives was going to the secretariat. It was the same feeling when Mamata Banerjee had become chief minister. We didn’t know that she would do a 180.
Q/ You have often spoken about women’s safety, especially during protests against the rape and murder of a doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College. Mamata Banerjee, however, has brought up the cases in Unnao and Hathras to say that such incidents happen in BJP-ruled states, too.
Of course you have to speak about Unnao and Hathras. But first look at the women being killed, burnt and raped in your own state. You don’t have the time to send one of your ministers to that person’s house. You have become so overconfident and so proud of yourself. Your colleagues started telling you that you are Maa Sarada, our goddess. You never stopped them because you thought you were bigger than God. That is the reason for your downfall.
Q/ There are several cases against you. Were you intimidated at any point?
I am from the creative world. I am not a terrorist or a criminal. But whenever you tried to question the previous government, you would be named in a case. I have 23 cases and I am proud of it.
Q/ Why?
Because we know we stood by the people of Bengal. We spoke against what was wrong. In the assembly, we repeatedly asked the speaker to give us time to discuss [cases of atrocities]. But we were stopped, expelled, suspended. We were thrown out by the marshal, our mics were muted.
Q/ What do you want to do differently? You have spoken about the safety of Muslim women as well.
Everybody is important to us. Muslim women shouldn’t be looked at differently. A woman is a woman. Our first priority is law and order. Then infrastructure. My sisters (voters) are still living in mud houses. There is only a month left for monsoon and their ceilings will leak.
In my constituency, I have seen buckets hanging from the ceiling in such houses. I have to give them a house. I have to give them bathrooms. In villages, women can still go to the fields, but in urban areas, they get up at 3am to use the open drains [to relieve themselves]. I need to give them water, too. Sand has been stolen from all the rivers and the water level has gone down. Ayushman Bharat needs to start immediately. Mamata didn’t allow the scheme in Bengal.
Q/ How has the transition from fashion to politics been?
When I was a designer, I used to wear a lot of lovely dresses, gowns, skirts and saris. People used to look up to my dressing style. I was so passionate about my designing. Today, I am passionate about designing the life of the people. I want to give them water, houses, roads, nutritious food in government schools and good health care in primary health centres.
Q/ So you don’t miss fashion?
I cannot go back to that life. I am now looking forward to doing something more for the people, and I have got that opportunity. When I was campaigning, women used to say that they had made me an MLA, but they did not get houses or water. I told them this time they had to change the government because the Trinamool Congress runs the Asansol Municipal Corporation, the panchayat and the state government.
They listened to me. They had faith in Modi ji and the BJP. There is huge work to be done and we have just five years. So, the entire team is going to work 365 days, 24×7, no holidays, nothing. Just working for the people of Bengal.
Q/ Are you promising Sonar Bangla (Golden Bengal)?
Of course. When the entire team works, there will be zero tolerance to corruption, infiltrators and atrocities. Sonar Bangla will be re-established. We have heard [Gopal Krishna] Gokhale saab say, ‘What Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow.’ We will make that happen.