'Politicians shouldn't say we are dimwits'

Moon Moon Sen, former screen diva and Trinamool candidate entrusted with one of the most difficult battles in Bengal, speaks to TOI as she takes on incumbent Asansol BJP MP and junior Union minister Babul Supriyo.

Your reaction to the announcement that you were contesting from Asansol.

When my husband rang me and said Mamata had just announced my name, I found it hard to believe because my name hadn’t figured in the lists.

Mamata did ask me earlier if I was going to be there. I had told her I would if she wanted me to, and not if she didn’t. But thereafter, my name was not mentioned. So, I was surprised when she announced my name. But I was also bitterly disappointed since it wasn’t Bankura. I don’t know what politics is all about and cannot understand why I could not carry on representing Bankura. Obviously politics has its own reasons. It is a very big subject.

Does it still hurt?

Of course it does. It would have been a lot worse had it been anyone other than Subrata Mukherjee fighting from there. It is he (Mukherjee) who went to the World Bank and got water for people of Bankura.

Will it be tougher since Supriyo is a sitting MP and Union minister?

I don’t think so. The competition against nine-time MP Basudeb Acharya of CPM was tougher. He was intelligent. Communists have nothing for the people but you cannot take away their learning, their intellect. This time, we have a sweet little boy who has just changed profession and I don’t know who is guiding him. The party (BJP) itself has a very ugly face in Bengal. I hope to get a lot of votes from the commercial community that is dissatisfied with what has happened in the past five years.

Your take on the sops the Asansol mayor announced to councillors on stage.

I think Jitendra Kumar Tiwari was trying to motivate party workers with the hope of a reward of say a biryani at the end. They work day and night and expect a little bit of thank you. Just because you are a party worker does not mean you work for free. Having said that, I don’t think anyone should talk money on stage, certainly not from this party. Maybe he got carried away. Or perhaps, he knew what he was doing. He is a seasoned politician. The reasoning was wrong.

Your views on Mimi Chakraborty and Nusrat Jahan’s foray into politics.

Men who look down on them or lust for them because they are actresses should be careful. They don’t give any credence to their intelligence. Mimi, whom I know, is a very intelligent girl. She will handle herself very well in Jadavpur. The other girl is very beautiful. I don’t know her at all. But beauty can take you lots of places. When Greek theatre began, people wanted to see heroes who were larger than life. Filmstars are larger than life. They also have a lot of experience dealing with nasty and good people. Politicians should not say we are dimwits. There isn’t much of a difference between the art of makeup — knowing how to do the eyes — and how to relate to a person or a crowd.

Any advice for the duo?

My only suggestion is be open and embrace everyone.

How life has changed and what you miss most?

Being home, my husband, daughters, my dogs, Netflix, and of course, my mother. Though she passed away before I entered politics, I think she would have been proud the way I conducted myself and clocked a decent attendance. Though she essayed a powerful role based on Indira Gandhi in ‘Andhi’, she hated politics.

Are you at home with politics now?

No, I will never be at home with politics. I don’t like it, I never will.