No Toilets, No Drinking Water, Meet BJP’s ‘Poorest’ Candidate, Chandana Baury

Chandana Baury, a BJP candidate for the Shaltora Assembly seat in Bankura in the 2021 West Bengal elections is reported to be one of the poorest candidates in the election. She lives in a mud house with no drinking water or proper toilet.

According to the poll affidavit, Baury’s gross immovable property is valued at Rs 31,975. Inside her mud house with no drinking water or toilet, there are two rooms which has an aluminium box, a table, a ceiling fan, wooden planks put together for a bed, and school books. The family had three goats, three cows (one of which is dowry for remarriage), and a small shelter for cows and goats.

The immovable property of her husband Shravan Baury, is worth Rs 30,311. Since she submitted her candidacy, Chandana said she now has only Rs 8,335 in her bank account and her husband has Rs 1,561 in his account, according to her affidavit. The husband and wife duo has not responded to details of their landholdings. Shravan worked as a mason and was a daily labourer. He would earn 400 rupees per day. The work, however, is not suitable when it rains.

The Shaltora seat in Bankura is reserved for Scheduled Castes candidates this year. The news of Chandana’s nomination reached her late. After hearing the news on television, her neighbours told her that she is now the face of the BJP in Shaltora centre.

Chandana believes she has a good chance of winning. Speaking to the media, she condemned the rising number of rape cases in the city and has promised that once the BJP gains office, crimes against women will come to a halt.

The BJP, she claims, is a woman-friendly party. Chandana said that as an MLA, she would fight for the need and her main goal will be to assist them in their growth.

Staring at the books littered around on one side of the bed, Chandana who dropped out of the Shaltora Higher Secondary School said she is found of reading. “I had an urge to read. But I was unable to do so. My father died while I was only in high school. I got married, then I moved up to class XI, and Sravan became ill.”

Chandana, a mother of three, hopes that her children will be able to resume their education soon.