News Brief
Kuldeep Negi
Mar 26, 2024, 11:29 AM | Updated 11:30 AM IST
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The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has accused the family of BJP Lok Sabha candidate from West Bengal's Krishnanagar, Rajmata Amrita Roy, of colluding with the British during colonial times.
TMC leader Kunal Ghosh alleged that Raja Krishnachandra Roy, the king of Krishnanagar, had helped the British forces when Nawab of Bengal Siraj-ud-Daulah was fighting against the British rule.
"History says the royal family of Krishnanagar helped the Britishers when Siraj-ud-Daulah fought against the British. Raja Krishnachandra Roy had helped the British forces," Ghosh was quoted as saying by India Today.
"It's quite obvious that (Veer) Savarkar's party, which is responsible for the killing of Mahatma Gandhi, would nominate someone from a family, which supported the British. On the other hand, Mahua Moitra is fighting against corruption in the country," Ghosh said, taking a dig at the BJP.
The BJP candidate, Amrita Roy, rebutted these allegations, questioning the survival of Hinduism and Sanatana Dharma in the region without her ancestor's actions.
She defended the historical decision, suggesting it was a strategic move to protect the local culture and religion from external threats
"This is something that I think every Bengali and every Indian will agree that whatever is being told about my family is entirely false. The allegation is Raja Krishnachandra Roy had sided with the British. Why did he do that? It's because of the torture of Siraj-ud-Daullah," she said.
"If he had not done that, would Hinduism have survived here? Would Sanatana Dharma have survived? No. Then, he would have been transformed into another identity. If that's the case, why can’t we say that the Maharaja saved us from an anti-communal strike," Roy added.
Kuldeep is Senior Editor (Newsroom) at Swarajya. He tweets at @kaydnegi.