Locket Chatterjee | |
|---|---|
| Chatterjee in 2019 | |
| Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | |
| In office 23 May 2019 –4 June 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Ratna De |
| Succeeded by | Rachna Banerjee |
| Constituency | Hooghly |
| General Secretary,BJP West Bengal | |
| Assumed office 1 June 2020 | |
| President of the BJP Mahila Morcha,West Bengal | |
| In office 24 July 2017 –1 June 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Roopa Ganguly |
| Succeeded by | Agnimitra Paul |
| Member of Women's Commission,West Bengal | |
| In office 2014–2015 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 4 December 1974 [1] Dakshineswar,West Bengal,India |
| Party | Bharatiya Janata Party (2015–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Trinamool Congress (till 2015) |
| Spouse | Prasenjit Bhattacharjee |
| Residence(s) | Narendrapur,West Bengal,India |
| Alma mater | Jogamaya Devi College,University of Calcutta (B.Sc) |
| Occupation |
|
| Committees | Member of Standing Committee, Information Technology |
| Awards | Kalakar Award |
| Signature | |
Locket Chatterjee (born 4 December 1974) is an Indian actress, politician and former Member of Parliament from Hooghly Lok Sabha constituency of West Bengal. [2] She is also a classical dancer, having completed her training in Bharat Natyam, Kathakali, Manipuri and Creative dance. [3] Chatterjee is better known as an actress in Tollywood. She was previously the state president of BJP Mahila Morcha, the women's wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal. [4] Since then she served as the General Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party, West Bengal.
Chatterjee's father Anil Chatterjee was a purohit of Dakshineswar Kali Temple as was her grandfather. Her mother took her to dance school. Chatterjee went abroad with the Mamata Shankar ballet troupe when she was a class VIII student. [5] She grew up by the Maa Ganga (popular as Hooghly) on the northern outskirts of Calcutta's Dakshineswar area. [6]
She later studied at Jogamaya Devi College, affiliated with the University of Calcutta. [7]
Chatterjee forayed into politics as a member of All India Trinamool Congress. [13] She severed ties with the Trinamool Congress and joined Bharatiya Janata Party in 2015. [14] She contested 2016 assembly elections from Mayureshwar in West Bengal but lost to Abhijit Roy of AITC. [15] In 2017 she replaced Roopa Ganguly as the president of BJP Mahila Morcha in West Bengal. [16] On 1 June 2020, she was appointed as the General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party, West Bengal and was succeeded by Agnimitra Paul as the President of the BJP Mahila Morcha. [17]
She contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Hooghly Lok Sabha seat against Ratna De and won getting 6,71,448 (46.06%) votes. [18] [19] On 13 September 2019, she was selected as a Member of Standing Committee on Information Technology and since 9 October 2019 onwards, she served as Member of Committee on Empowerment of Women till her tenure ended. In spite of being a sitting MP, in the 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, she contested from Chuchura Vidhan Sabha seat and lost by a whopping 18,879 votes to AITC candidate Asit Mazumdar. [20]
Subsequently, she failed to regain her constituency and lost to fellow actress, a newcomer to electoral politics, Rachna Banerjee of AITC in the 2024 Indian general election by a margin of 76,853. [21] [22] [23]
"When I joined TMC I had said I want to work. Now I am quitting it as I feel suffocated there and can't work," Chatterjee said after joining the party in the presence of BJP state president Rahul Sinha