The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday fielded the mother of the doctor who was raped and murdered at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital and Medical College in August 2024 as a candidate for the West Bengal Assembly elections.

The mother of the doctor will contest the polls from the Panihati constituency in the North 24 Parganas district. Her name was among 19 names announced by the BJP on Wednesday.

The constituency had been held by Trinamool Congress’ Nirmal Ghosh since 2011. For the upcoming election, the TMC has fielded his son Tirthankar Ghosh from the seat.

The doctor’s mother said that she was contesting the polls “to fight for justice for my daughter” and for the women’s safety in the state, The Indian Express reported on Thursday.

“Women’s safety is my only concern,” she told the newspaper. “I will raise my voice for those who have forgotten how to protest…”

She added: “If I can serve people, my daughter will also be happy. I want the lotus [the BJP’s election symbol] to bloom across West Bengal and the TMC to be uprooted.”

The elections will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29. The votes will be counted on May 4.

On August 9, 2024, the 31-year-old trainee doctor was found dead on the premises of the state-run hospital. The incident had sparked protests across the country.

Sanjoy Roy, who was convicted for the doctor’s rape and murder, was sentenced to life imprisonment in January 2025.

In February 2025, the Calcutta High Court admitted an appeal filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation seeking a death sentence for Roy.

After the incident of rape and murder came to light, the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front led protests for several weeks, demanding the resignation of senior officials and an end to the “threat culture” in the state’s medical centres.

Healthcare services across West Bengal were hit for several weeks as protesting doctors at state-run hospitals held a strike against the incident.

The CBI is separately looking into alleged tampering of evidence in the case, and alleged corruption at the medical facility. Those accused in the case include the hospital’s former principal Sandip Ghosh and an ex-officer-in-charge of the Tala police station.