Asansol: Yesteryear star actress Moon Moon Sen is the celebrity candidate that West Bengal's ruling party Trinamool Congress has fielded from the Asansol Lok Sabha seat. She will take on Union minister Babul Supriyo, who is also a Bollywood singer, of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). While Babul Supriyo is the sitting MP from Bankura, Moon Moon is the incumbent lawmaker from the Bankura seat.
The tug of war in Asansol is between two celebs, but Moon Moon is not pleased at all. She speaks to Onmanorama about her chances.
Excerpts from a chat.
Why do you think you are going to lose? Do you think that BJP candidate Babul Supriyo is stronger than you?
Babul is a sitting MP from this constituency. But that is not worrying me much. I am worried and disturbed as people within my party are saying that I am going to lose it to BJP.
What is the response that you are getting while you are campaigning?
I am overwhelmed by the response that I am getting. People are attending in large numbers. People really love me, especially women, and if all that love gets converted to vote then I will win for sure. But I am miffed with the TMC organisers as sometimes they take me to villages at night, where there are still no street lights. People don’t get to see my face properly.
Do you think that your mother Suchitra Sen’s image is of help in the campaign? All the posters have your mother’s picture?
My mom is a Goddess for all Bengalis. She was a great human being too. May be her image being larger than life will help me gain more votes.
In almost all the rallies you have urged people to vote for you so it would bring peace to your mother’s departed soul. Are you trying to tap the Bengali’s ‘Uttam- Suchitra’s’ sentiment?
I am Suchitra Sen’s daughter. When I come to Asansol, I feel her beside me. She was iconic. There was a time when Bengal was completely in love with her. Perhaps they still are. People also love my daughters, so they will also campaign for me.
(Moon Moon' actress daughters Raima Sen and Riya Sen campaigned at Asansol on April 24).
You have been a giant slayer and have defeated CPM's Basudeb Acharya, a nine-time MP from Bankura. Why do you think that you have been asked to contest from Asansol instead of Bankura?
I don’t know much. I have been hearing complains that I didn’t work much from Bankura so my constituency has been changed. But it was more fun amongst the tribals in Bankura. I miss it very much. I have done my utmost to uplift the status of the tribals in Bankura. I stay in Kolkata, but whenever I have been asked I had gone there. I had also utilised the MPLAD funds (for Bankura). But if still some people think I have done nothing, then it is up to them.
BJP state vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar has been saying Pakistan PM Imran Khan, who is your old friend, will be campaigning for you in Asansol. What do you have to say about that?
If needed, I will talk to my old ‘friend’ Imran Khan, the Pakistan prime minister. But whether he will campaign for me or not is not known to me. BJP is playing dirty politics and is trying to unnecessarily establish that TMC does ‘appeasement’ politics. This is not true. TMC is for everyone. The kind of divisive politics that is going on (over nationalism with reference to Pakistan) is very dangerous.
If voted to power will you talk to Khan for peace treaty between the two countries?
Why not? I will again talk to him given the atmosphere of animosity between the two nations. After all, he is a friend. But yes, I would never go on my own to talk to him and I am sure I would never be asked to do so. There are several astute politicians. Mamata Banerjee is a very astute politician and she would never exploit my friendship with Imran. He has a lot of friends in Kolkata. My husband is also his friend.
You have praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi once for boosting India’s image abroad, but regretted that while doing so he had forgotten the issues plaguing his own country, especially unemployment. What would you like to tell the PM to do if voted to power again?
First of all the chances of BJP again forming the government are bleak. There are several astute politicians in the Federal Front. Next time, if I get to meet Modi and if BJP forms the government then I would ask him to create more job opportunities in the country. As a parliamentarian, I think he has not been very regular. I have not seen him much. May be he had other important things to do. I have heard his two or three speeches in Parliament but they were more or less like campaign speeches. I think he, as PM, has given us a good image abroad, but he had forgotten the issues in his own country.
What would you like to do first if you become the MP again?
The first thing that I would do is to curb pollution. Asansol is very polluted. After that I would like to complete all the works that the BJP had promised here, but didn’t do. TMC doesn’t give false promises but work for the benefit of the people. I will also give special emphasis on financial empowerment of women.
Will you let your daughters Riya Sen and Raima Sen, who too are well-known actors, join politics in future?
It's up to them to decide. I have never forced them to do anything. They will have to decide on that. But yes, serving mankind is serving God. So if they serve mankind I will be happy.
Voting will be held in Asansol on April 29.
