Mausam Noor

Mausam Benazir Noor (Bengali: মৌসম বেনজির নূর; born 15 October 1979) is an Indian politician serving as Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from West Bengal and Vice Chairperson of West Bengal Commission for Women.[2] She has served as President of Malda district TMC.[3] She has also served as a Member of Lok Sabha for Maldaha Uttar from 2009 until 2019.

Mausam Noor
মৌসম নূর
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
Assumed office
3 April 2020
ConstituencyWest Bengal
Vice Chairperson of West Bengal Commission for Women
Assumed office
2019
ChairpersonLeena Gangopadhyay
Preceded byMahua Panja
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
20 May 2009 – 23 May 2019
Preceded byNew constituency
Succeeded byKhagen Murmu
ConstituencyMaldaha Uttar
Member of Legislative Assembly, West Bengal
In office
17 January 2009 – 16 May 2009
Preceded byRubi Noor
Succeeded byAbu Nasar Khan Choudhury
ConstituencySujapur
Personal details
Born (1979-10-15) 15 October 1979[1]
Kolkata, West Bengal[1]
NationalityIndian
Political partyAll India Trinamool Congress (2019–present)
Other political
affiliations		Indian National Congress (2009–2019)
Spouse
Mirza Kayesh Begg
​
(m. 2009)​
Children2
Parent
Residence(s)Sahazalalpur, Malda City, Malda
Alma materCalcutta University (LL.B.)
ProfessionAdvocate
Signature

Noor hails from a political Bengali Muslim family of Malda, West Bengal. Her uncle A. B. A. Ghani Khan Choudhury has served as Minister of Railways in the Third Indira Gandhi Ministry. She studied at La Martiniere Calcutta and received a law degree from Calcutta University. After her mother Rubi Noor (the then incumbent Member of Legislative Assembly of West Bengal for Sujapur constituency) had died in 2008, Mausam entered politics. In early 2009, she was elected to the Legislative Assembly from the same constituency and in May she was elected to the Lok Sabha. Noor was elected president of the West Bengal Youth Congress in 2011. Two years later, she was elected president of the Congress party's Malda district unit. In January 2019, she switched to Trinamool Congress party after her proposal of an electoral alliance with the party for the 2019 general election was turned down by the Pradesh Congress Committee.

Early and personal life

Noor belongs to a political Bengali Muslim family from the Malda district. Her mother, Rubi Noor, was elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly for three consecutive terms from the Sujapur constituency. Rubi was married to her classmate and Mausam's father Syed Noor. She accompanied her husband to Canada before entering politics in 1991. Mausam has two elder sisters — Syeda Saleha Noor and Sonya Sarah Noor.[4][5][6]

One of Noor's uncles, A. B. A. Ghani Khan Choudhury, served as Minister of Railways in the Third Indira Gandhi ministry. Her other uncle, Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury, is serving as a Member of Parliament for the Maldaha Dakshin constituency.[7] Abu Hasem's son, Isha Khan Choudhury, is a member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly and represents the Sujapur constituency.[8][9]

Noor studied at La Martiniere Calcutta and received a law degree from the Calcutta University.[10] She worked at the legal firm Fox and Mandal and practised as a full-time lawyer in the Supreme Court of India for two years before entering politics.[11] She married her long-time boyfriend Mirza Kayesh Begg of Asansol on 5 December 2009. She met him in 2004 while studying law at Calcutta University.[12][13]

Political career

Indian National Congress
Noor (far right) with her uncle Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury in 2013.

On 10 July 2008, the Sujapur constituency fell vacant due to the death of Noor's mother, sitting Member of Legislative Assembly Rubi Noor. Subsequently, the Indian National Congress party announced that Mausam would contest for the upcoming by-election from the constituency.[4] She won the election and defeated her nearest rival, Haji Ketabuddin of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) by a margin of 21,205 votes.[14]

On 20 May 2009, Noor was elected to the Lok Sabha, representing the Maldaha Uttar constituency. She became one of the five youngest members and the youngest Muslim woman to be elected to the 15th Lok Sabha.[15][16] On 31 August, she became a member of the Standing Committee on Labour. On 23 September, she became a member of the Standing Committee on Empowerement of Women and a member of Consultative Committee of Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.[17]

In March 2011, Noor was elected president of the West Bengal Youth Congress. She was supported by the Indian Youth Congress general-secretary Rahul Gandhi and defeated Arindam Bhattacharya.[18][19] In December 2013, she succeeded her uncle Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury as the party president for the Malda district.[20]

During Noor's first term as an MP, 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) of road was built in her constituency under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. Also, under the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (Rajiv Gandhi Village Electrification Scheme), ₹1.33 billion was sanctioned for her constituency. Moreover, ₹850 million was sanctioned for the National Highway 81 (running from Gazole to Harishchandrapur), ₹290 million for Ratua-Nakatti Bridge, ₹330 million under Backward Regions Grant Fund to review erosion caused by the Mahananda River and ₹320 million for a Samsi railway overbridge. However, she alleged that these projects could not be implemented as the state government refused to co-operate.[21]

In March 2014, the Congress party announced that Noor would participate from her own constituency for the upcoming general election.[21] She was re-elected after defeating Khagen Murmu of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) by a margin of 65,705 votes.[22] She was polled 388,000 votes.[23] From 1 September 2014 to 31 August 2015, she served as a member of Committee on Papers Laid on the Table and Standing Committee on Rural Development.[24][25] On 1 September 2014, she also became a member of Consultative Committee, Ministry of Minority Affairs.[17]

Although Malda has been a bastion of the Congress party, they lost a large number of Zilla Parishad elections and Panchayat samiti elections to the ruling Trinamool Congress with Bharatiya Janata Party making inroads in the region. To make amends, Noor started organizing rallies and visiting villages.[26]

Trinamool Congress
Noor in 2019

Noor left the Congress party and joined the Trinamool Congress on 28 January 2019 after her proposal to form an electoral alliance with the ruling Trinamool Congress was turned down by the Pradesh Congress Committee.[27][28]

Subsequently, Noor was elevated to the post of the General-Secretary of the party. The party also announced that she would contest from her own constituency (Maldaha Uttar) in the upcoming 2019 general election.[29] She also became the party in-charge for the Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur and Malda districts.[30] On 30 January, she organized a rally at Malda in which had fourteen panchayat members and one councillor of English Bazaar switch to Trinamool.[31][32]

In the election, Noor lost to Khagen Murmu of Bharatiya Janata Party, her nearest rival by a margin of 84,288 votes. She was polled 425,236 votes.[33] Subsequently, the party made her the party president of the Malda district unit on 26 May.[34]

In the Rajya Sabha election 2020, Noor was nominated for Rajya Sabha election from West Bengal by the Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee.[35][36]

Views

Noor favoured an electoral alliance between the West Bengal Pradesh Congress and the Trinamool Congress to fight against Bharatiya Janata Party. However, the Pradesh Congress chief Somen Mitra rejected the proposal as they were keen to form an alliance with the Communist Party.[37][38] In August 2018, she wrote letters to both the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Trinamool Congress, requesting them to support her party's panchayat members to form panchayat governments in villages where Congress party had a simple majority. In return, she promised that her party would also support these two parties to form panchayat government in villages where they had a simple majority. She said that she wanted to prevent Bharatiya Janata Party, to form panchayat governments in villages.[39]

References
  1. "Detailed Profile: Smt. Mausam Noor". Government of India. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
  2. "Mausam Noor(All India Trinamool Congress(AITC)):(WEST BENGAL) - Affidavit Information of Candidate". myneta.info. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  3. "Mamata Banerjee nominates two women candidates out of 4 for Rajya Sabha polls". The Indian Express. 8 March 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  4. "Cong at Mamata door to spare Ruby seat". The Telegraph. 28 October 2008. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  5. "Congress mourns loss of leader who filled a void". The Telegraph. 11 July 2008. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  6. "The business interests of Mausam Benazir Noor and Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury". Live Mint. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  7. "Big jolt to Congress in Bengal as Rahul's loyalist joins Trinamool". The Week. 28 January 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  8. "Cousin Isha Khan to take on Mausam Noor: 'She humiliated uncle Ghani Khan Choudhury'". The Statesman. 30 January 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  9. "Whichever the party, all politics in Malda is still about only one family". The Indian Express. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  10. "Congress MP Mausam Noor joins Trinamool Congress ahead of Lok Sabha polls". Daily Hunt. 28 January 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  11. Bandyopadhyay, Mouparna (22 April 2019). "Barkatdas niece plays family card in Malda". The Indian Express. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  12. "Mausam Noor Cong MP from Malda weds classmate". Ummid. 6 December 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  13. "Mausam to marry law classmate - Kotwali gets ready for young MP's Wedding". The Telegraph. 18 November 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  14. "Ballot gap bothers Left". The Telegraph. 9 January 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  15. "Representation of Muslim women in Lok Sabha since Independence" (21 May 2009). Two Circles. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  16. "The youngest MP is 26". Rediff.com. 20 May 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  17. "Mausam Noor". Lok Sabha. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  18. "Rahul's candidate Noor is Bengal Youth Congress president". Hindustan Times. 8 March 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  19. "Noor considers her responsibility as West Bengal Youth Congress President a huge challenge". India Today. 26 September 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  20. "New Cong chiefs in bastions". The Telegraph. 17 December 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  21. Bhattacharya, Chandrima (24 April 2014). "Merciless sun is kinder than the frying questions". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  22. "Mausam Benazir Noor continues Ghani Khan's legacy in Malda". Muslim Mirror. 17 May 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  23. "Congress retains Malda, ups winning margin". The Telegraph. 17 May 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  24. "Other Parliamentary Standing Committees". Lok Sabha. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  25. "Departmentally Related Standing Committees". Lok Sabha. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  26. ভোট নেই, তবুও ছুটছেন মৌসম [There is no election, but still Mausam is running]. Anandabazar Patrika (in Bengali). 20 May 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  27. "Breach in Congress' West Bengal bastion, Malda MP Mausam Benazir Noor joins TMC". The Indian Express. 29 January 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  28. "Inspired by Didi, Congress MP Mausam Noor joins TMC ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls". India Today. 28 January 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  29. "In Setback To Congress, Bengal Lawmaker Joins Trinamool". NDTV. 28 January 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  30. "Mausam Benazir Noor compares Mamata Banerjee with ABA Ghani Khan, asks kin to join TMC". The New Indian Express. 30 January 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  31. মৌসমের সভায় কংগ্রেসে ভাঙন. Anandabazar Patrika. 30 January 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  32. Maitra, Subhro (31 January 2019). "Mausam Noor blames exit on 'stubborn' Bengal Congress". The Times of India. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  33. "Maldaha Uttar Election Result 2019: BJP's Khagen Murmu defeats TMC MP Mausam Noor by 84,288 votes". Times Now. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  34. "Defeated candidates get new roles in TMC". The Telegraph. 26 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  35. "All five Rajya Sabha candidates in West Bengal elected unopposed". www.outlookindia.com. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  36. MP, Team (16 March 2020). "Final decision on Mausam Noor, Dinesh Bajaj's nominations today". www.millenniumpost.in. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  37. বিজেপি-কে রুখতে তৃণমূলের সঙ্গে জোট চান কংগ্রেস সাংসদ মৌসম বেনজির নুর [To defeat BJP, Congress MP Mausam Benazir Noor demands an alliance with Trinamool] (in Bengali). Zee News. 1 November 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  38. "Mausam Noor pitches for alliance with TMC, others disagree". The Statesman. 2 November 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  39. Lala, Lipesh (27 August 2018). বিজেপি-কে আটকাতে বাংলায় মহাজোট, লোকসভা ভোটের আগেই পরীক্ষা নিরীক্ষা [To stop BJP, a grand alliance in Bengal, test ahead of Lok Sabha election]. Ebela (in Bengali). Retrieved 2 February 2019.
External video
video icon Mausam Noor
video icon Mausam Noor at Ranaghat
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