R G Kar rape victim's mom Ratna Debath wins big :::: Cut Money to split in Muslim votes resulted in Trinamool debacle

The rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in August 2024 unleashed a wave of grief.

There was fury - and something like that Kolkata had rarely seen. On May 4, 2026, rhe election results including defeat of Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur suggest those wounds have not healed.

“My daughter comes home late from college. As a mother, I’m genuinely worried — and I shouldn’t have to be. Instead of ensuring women’s safety, Mamata said women shouldn’t stay out on the roads at night. That is shameful,” said Soumi Roy, an advocate at Alipore court.

As results poured in, in effect she bought sweets outside the court compound and as expected -- she was smiling as her face smeared with saffron abir.

After the RG Kar outrage, as women across West Bengal demanded that every hour of the day be made safe for them, the government’s response was to limit women’s night shifts wherever possible. For many voters, that response said everything. 

The grievances were not only urban. Deep in a South 24-Parganas village, a fisherman said the local Trinamool leader routinely harassed his wife in his absence. 

“We are helpless,” he said.

As a gesture of concern for women safety, the BJP ha fielded the ill-fated young medico's mother. BJP's Ratna Debnath has won the Panihati seat with a commanding margin of 28,836 votes. Ms Debnath humbled her closest rival Tirthankar Ghosh of Trinamool Congress. 

The 'women safety' was a major issue in the just concluded election this year. 

Split in Muslim votes spells doom for Trinamool Congress

The split of Muslim votes came to the advantage of the BJP and the party’s candidates were seen either winning or leading in six of the 12 seats in Malda, where the electorate is 50% Muslims. 

It was the shifting away of the Muslim vote from the Left Front to the Trinamool Congress that brought Mamata Banerjee to power in 2011. 

Now, about 15 years later, a split in the minority vote became one of the reasons why the Trinamool Congress was decimated in 2026. 

The Muslim vote bank which remained steady with the Trinamool over the past several elections saw a spilt in the 2026 Assembly polls, with the Left-ISF alliance, the Congress and Humayun Kabir’s Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) spoiling the Trinamool party.  

Issues like women safety and Corruption were common to Muslims; and this is something the TMC never appreciated. 

BJP had campaigned well on the issue and its president Samik Bhattacharya's remarks "Marchhey Musalman, Morchche Musalman (Muslims are perpetrators as well as victims of violence) made impact among Muslims.