Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhury, popularly known as Nirbhaya Didi, is an Indian politician and a member of

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

from

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. She is also a social worker, women's rights activist and former journalist.

Personal life

Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhury hails from South Baluchar Battla in

Malda district Malda district, also spelt Maldah or Maldaha (, , often ), is a district in West Bengal, India. It lies 347 km (215 miles) north of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal. Mango, jute and silk are the most notable products of this district. ...

. She is a

Post Graduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and struc ...

and did her

Masters of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

from

North Bengal University University of North Bengal (abbreviated as NBU) is a public state collegiate major research university in North Bengal region of West Bengal, which is located in Raja Rammohanpur, Siliguri, Darjeeling district, in the Indian state of West Be ...

in 1987. She is married to R. K. Mitra.

Career

In 2004 she took part in the launching of the National Legal Literacy Mission. As of 2008 she served as national advisor of the National Legal Services Authority of the Ministry of Law and Justice. As of 2010 she was the president of the NGO Sudinalay. Known as ''Nirbhaya Didi'' in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

, she was involved with the process of rehabilitation of rape victims and providing toilets to women. She chaired the special task force on rape, trafficking and violence against women set up by the Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indir ...

after the

2012 Delhi gang rape The 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder, commonly known as the Nirbhaya case, involved a rape and fatal assault that occurred on 16 December 2012 in Munirka, a neighbourhood in South West Delhi. The incident took place when Jyoti Singh, a 22-year ...

. She resigned from this post in December 2013, amidst speculations that she could have run for parliament from the Malda seat as an

All India Trinamool Congress The All India Trinamool Congress (English: All India Grassroots Congress; AITC), colloquially the Trinamool Congress ( TMC) is an Indian political party which is predominantly active in West Bengal. The party is led by Mamata Banerjee, the cur ...

candidate. Chaudhury was named as the candidate of the

in the South Delhi Lok Sabha seat in the 2014 general election. In 2019, Lok Sabha election, she contested from Maldaha Dakshin seat with a

ticket. But lost to

Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury (born 12 January 1938) is an Indian politician and former Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare. He has represented the Maldaha Dakshin (Lok Sabha constituency) since 2009. He first elected M.P from hi ...

by a small margin. In the

2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election The 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election for 292 of the 294 constituencies in West Bengal was held between 27 March to 29 April 2021 in eight phases. Voting for the two remaining constituencies was delayed to 30 September 2021. The ...

, Chaudhury contested as a

candidate from

English Bazar English Bazar Municipality is responsible for the civic administration of the town of Malda in Malda district, West Bengal, India. Established in 1868, it is one of the oldest Municipalities in India Municipal or local governance refers to the ...

and won the seat by defeating her nearest rival from TMC.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaudhury, Sreerupa 1960s births Living people Bengali Hindus 21st-century Bengalis Bengali activists Candidates in the 2014 Indian general election Candidates in the 2019 Indian general election Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from West Bengal People from Malda district People from English Bazar Trinamool Congress politicians from West Bengal West Bengal MLAs 2021–2026 Activists from West Bengal Indian activists Indian women activists Indian social workers Indian feminists Indian women's rights activists Indian journalists Indian women journalists 20th-century Indian journalists 21st-century Indian journalists University of North Bengal alumni