KOLKATA: The high-profile constituency of Krishnanagar in West Bengal’s Nadia district where the TMC’s Mahua Moitra is seeking re-election has been mired in a controversy dating back to 1757. The latest row erupted after the BJP released an audio recording of a telephonic conversation between PM Modi and BJP candidate Amrita Roy, the current head of Krishnanagar’s former royal family. In the conversation, PM Modi praised the former Maharaja as a great social reformer and a great son of India. The TMC hit back by denouncing the Maharaja, claiming he was a stooge of the East India Company and a betrayer of the nation.Dredging out the history of the royal family, the TMC’s Kunal Ghosh alleged that Raja Krishnachandra Roy who ruled from 1728 to 1783 had helped the British when Siraj-ud-Daulah was fighting against British rule. “History says the royal family of Krishnanagar helped the Britishers when Siraj-ud-Daulah fought against the British. 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.Roy dismissed the allegations, saying they were “false”. “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-Daulah,” 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 said.
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