KOLKATA: When Sandhya Rani Tudu — the Minister of State for Paschimanchal Unnayan Parishad with Independent charge — stepped into the world of politics, she aimed at uplifting the socio-economic conditions of the tribal population in the state. Drawing inspiration from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee — who is the pillar of strength to the 48-year-old tribal leader from Purulia's Manbazar — Tudu never looked back since the onset of her political journey in 1998.
She was also inspired by her father-in-law Durgaprasad Tudu, who was a Congress leader. A year after her marriage (1998), she joined Trinamool Congress. Born at Kundru Gram Panchayat in Manbazar, she lost her parents during her early years. She took care of her family members.
In 1998, she had fought the Panchayat election on a TMC ticket and won from Manbazzar 1 Zilla Parishad (26). Her husband, Gouri Prasad Tudu, who is the TMC district president of Purulia, was a Bengali teacher and also provided free tuitions to poor tribal students.
"My main aim is to work for the upliftment of the tribal population and I have never looked back. I worked with TMC and the party supremo Mamata Banerjee supported and co-operated every time," said Tudu, who defeated BJP's Gouri Singh Sardar in 2021 Assembly polls from Manbazar.
In 2011, Tudu had defeated CPI(M)'s Himani Hansda by 5,166 votes. In the 2016 election, Tudu retained the seat by registering a victory over CPI(M)'s Ipil Murmu with a margin of 9,675 votes.
Even as TMC suffered a major setback in the Purulia Parliamentary constituency during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls as BJP's Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato defeated Trinamool's Mriganka Mahato, neither her zeal nor spirit was dampened by the poll debacle. Instead, she reached out to people even in the remotest corner of the constituency as directed by her party. And, her hard work paid dividends in the recently-held polls.
"After 2019 Lok Sabha polls the tribal population understood how they were given false assurances by the BJP. They have also seen that the local BJP MP did not take care of their demands," she said.
Tudu believes that Mamata Banerjee's Duare Sarkar programme helped the tribal population in the region to a large extent. "This is one of the reasons why people supported TMC and Mamata Banerjee in this Assembly election," added Tudu.
For Tudu, the first priority is to tackle COVID-19 situation and help people who need oxygen in times of crisis. According to Tudu, although the district has not recorded massive COVID-19 cases, there is less awareness among people about the safety protocols. Thus, she has decided to arrange several awareness camps in certain villages in Manbazar.
"After the swearing-in ceremony, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee instructed all of us to concentrate on controlling the pandemic and we are committed to follow her instruction," she said, adding she had already spoken to the CMOH of the district and told him to coordinate with her to resolve any issues (if at all) related to the supply of oxygen.
Her only son will appear for the WBCS examination as she aspires to make him a public servant who can work for the development of tribal communities at the grassroots level.