Life has turned around dramatically for the 31-year-old actor-turned-politician Saayoni Ghosh over the last few years. Saayoni used to refer herself as a “full-time actor” before 2021, but now sees herself as a “full-time politician” after being elected as the MP of the prestigious Jadavpur constituency in West Bengal on the Trinamool Congress (TMC)’s ticket in the recent Lok Sabha polls.
A prominent face in the Bengali film industry, Saayoni says her entry into politics was not a “fluke”. “Many people think actors who take political plunge are not serious about serving people. I am here to prove this myth wrong,” she told The Indian Express.
Even during the peak of her acting career, where she got rave reviews for her performances in films like Rajkahani (2015), Byomkesh O Chiriakhana (2016) and Astey Ladies (2019), Saayoni says she used to take part in public discussions on political topics.
However, she made her formal entry into politics in 2021 after she got a phone call from Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Baneerjee, who offered her party’s ticket from the Asansol Dakshin Assembly constituency. Saayoni agreed to contest the seat, but lost to the BJP’s Agnimitra Paul by just over 4,400 votes.
Despite her defeat, however, she was soon named the TMC’s youth wing president in Bengal as Mamata’s nephew and MP Abhishek Banerjee was relieved of the post following his appointment as the party national general secretary.
Mamata elevated Saayoni in light of her political savvy. She excelled in her new party post. “It gave me the opportunity to meet thousands of young people whose concerns I will take up in Parliament now,” she says, while pointing out that the youths of the country have been reeling from poverty and unemployment.
Despite helming the TMC youth wing for three years, Ghosh was surprised when she was chosen by the party to contest a seat like Jadavpur, encompassing parts of Kolkata and South 24 Parganas, from where Mamata had made her debut in the 1984 polls, defeating CPI(M) stalwart Somnath Chatterjee, the former Lok Sabha Speaker.
“Forty years later, I got the opportunity to contest this seat and I am mighty proud of it,” Saayoni said. Her road to victory in Jadavpur was challenging as its electorate comprises people from diverse backgrounds – from the Jadavpur University-linked academic community to common people from different walks of life. “The constituency is a mix of both semi-urban and rural voters. I had to reach out to them all,” she said.
Saayoni seemed to have overcome this challenge by undertaking extensive door-to-door canvassing instead of holding mass rallies. “Of the around 20 lakh people in the constituency, I wanted to personally connect with at least five lakh people. I wanted to talk to people instead of just waving at them,” she said. Her efforts paid off as she garnered over 7 lakh votes, trouncing the BJP’s Anirban Ganguly by over 2.5 lakh votes.
Saayoni also seemed to have convinced the residents of Jadavpur that she is a “local” face. “I was never an outsider. I have always lived here, went to school here and even enrolled in Jadavpur University to study comparative literature. I told the people that they would never need to go searching for their MP and I am very much in Jadavpur,” she says.
She also sought to strike a chord with common people by highlighting her “ordinary middle-class family” during her poll campaign. “My father Samar Ghosh and mother Sudipta Ghosh always pushed me to keep my ears to the ground,” she says.
As a first-time MP, Saayoni says she would raise various concerns of her constituency in the Lok Sabha. She also hopes to play the role of an Opposition MP effectively against the BJP’s “divisive politics” in the coming days.
