Priyanka Tibrewal: From lawyer to BJP’s challenger to Mamata

After much speculation and debate in the party, the BJP has finally decided to field its Yuva Morcha leader Priyanka Tibrewal in the Bhabanipur Assembly by-election. She will face the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Born in 1981, Tibrewal (41) studied in the Welland Gouldsmith School. She is an alumna of the Hazra Law College in the city and obtained her MBA degree from Thailand’s Assumption University. She started her political journey in 2014 and became a member of the BJP’s legal cell in the state.

Priyanka was appointed as the state BJP’s Yuva Morcha vice president. However, by that time, she had already made her electoral debut. The BJP fielded her in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation election in 2015, but she had to face defeat.

She won when she contested on a BJP ticket from the Entally constituency in the last Assembly election but lost to Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Swarna Kamal Saha with a margin of about 57,000 votes.

Also Read | Why the Bhabanipur bypoll is important for Mamata Banerjee

So why did the BJP decide to pit Priyanka against Mamata? The state BJP leadership pointed out that Priyanka represented the party in the post-poll violence case before the Calcutta High Court, which ultimately ordered a CBI probe into cases of rape and murder related to the incident.

BJP sources said her “success”’ in the case played a key role in the Central leadership’s decision of fielding her against Mamata. “Who knew Mamata Banerjee when she joined politics? The TMC will learn who Priyanka Tibrewal is in a hard way,” said state BJP president Dilip Ghosh.

Meanwhile, senior TMC leader and Minister Firhad Hakim said: “She lost by a huge margin in the last Assembly election. This time also, she will be defeated.”

The by-election will be held on September 30.