Trinamool Congress MP Nusrat Jahan Ruhi Jain on Tuesday grabbed the media spotlight after she appeared in parliament to take the oath of office. She’s found herself under considerable media attention ever since she won from West Bengal’s Bashirhat Lok Sabha seat defeating BJP candidate Sayantan Basu by a margin of 3.5 lakh votes. Jahan had received 782078 votes, while Basu polled 431709 votes.
The last time the actress-turned-politician caused quite a media frenzy in Delhi when she turned up with her actress friend and also a first-time Trinamool MP, Mimi Chakraborty, in the national capital to obtain her MP ID card. The topic around her and Mimi then was focussed around their glamorous background.
Nusrat and Mimi also became a topic of intense social media discussions when they did not turn up to take oath as MPs when the new parliament convened after the 17th Lok Sabha polls. This was because Nusrat had traveled to Turkey to get married to her boyfriend Nikhil Jain and Mimi was absent since she too had to be there at her friend’s wedding.
But the conversation around Nusrat took a controversial turn on Tuesday when the Trinamool MP from Bashirhat turned up in parliament. Attired in a traditional Bengali saree and sporting sindoor, which often signifies marriage for Hindu women, Nusrat took the oath in the name of Ishwar and concluded by chanting Vande Mataram. She then quickly proceeded towards the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to touch his feet.
Her acts instantly made the Trinamool MP a darling of the Hindutva brigade even though they despised the political ideologies of the Trinamool, accusing it to be pro-Muslim. She was immediately declared as the symbol of what a true Indian should look and sound like.
But, the reaction from Muslims wasn’t that generous. They trolled her incessantly accusing her of abandoning her Muslim faith. While some said that it was no one’s business to interfere in Nusrat’s life, many appeared incensed, daring her to face voters of Bashirhat, a Muslim-dominated parliamentary constituency.
One Facebook user, Shabbir A Mazumdar, wrote, “It’s not about her life. She is a rep of the people of Bashirhat who def did not vote her to utter Vande Mataram and offer obeisances to Sanghis in the parliament. (sic)” Another user Salmaan Wasim wrote on Facebook, “Yes it’s her life… But why she hide it before Polling? Was she averse that Muslims won’t vote her if they get to know about her relationship.” “Then she should not have sought votes clearly indicating her Muslim identity. Kyon uchala ussne apne muslim name? She should not have done that. Now she must face the music. But we as Muslims are the worst as a community. Leaderless. At the same time every lane in a Muslim locality will have multiple leaders,” commented another user.
#WATCH: TMC’s winning candidate from Basirhat (West Bengal), Nusrat Jahan takes oath as a member of Lok Sabha today. pic.twitter.com/zuM17qceOB
— ANI (@ANI) June 25, 2019
Nusrat has been one of the most popular actresses in Bengali cinema. She has clearly started to dominate the media coverage even before starting her stint as an MP.