Meena Devi Purohit (right) bonds with a young resident of her ward during campaigning. (Bishwarup Dutta)

MEENA’S MENU Cook for family Connect with voters Count your blessings MOST LIKELY TO SAY Logon ka pyaar hai (It’s the love of the people) LEAST LIKELY TO SAY I am not cut out for politics

Politics may have happened to this Posta councillor “quite by chance” but Meena Devi Purohit’s uninterrupted 15-year stint has been far from a fluke.

“Door to door, man to man,” quips 50-something Meena Devi, revealing her recipe for success as she campaigns for a fourth successive term as councillor of ward 22. “If there is a voter on the eighth floor of a building, I will go and meet the person for sure,” adds the BJP’s most visible face in the Calcutta Municipal Corporation for 15 years.

For veteran Meena Devi, “Meenaji” to residents, Civic Poll 2010 is more than just another vote of trust from her ward — her eyes are trained on Election 2011, and victory by a big margin in the dress rehearsal would be her trump card in the ticket stakes.

“Logon ka pyaar hai (It’s the love of the people),” says Meena Devi of her winning streak, seated in her office on the ground floor of her residence at 42 Kali Krishna Tagore Street. A showcase to her left bears framed photographs of her with BJP stalwarts L.K. Advani, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and the current leader of the Opposition, Sushma Swaraj.

“This picture was taken when she became the deputy mayor in 2000,” says a party worker, pointing to one of the larger frames. “The high command regards Meenaji highly.”

Not bad for a middle-class Marwari homemaker who had struggled to find “a purpose in life” after losing husband Rajendra in a road mishap in 1992 and sinking into depression.

So what was the turning point for Meena Devi’s transition from a simple homemaker to a spunky politician?

“I would say destiny. My life used to revolve around my husband (a member of the BJP’s Burrabazar unit) and our daughter Kalpana. So when he died, I just couldn’t take it. But as I was to learn later, life had other plans for me,” she recalls.

In 1995, three years after her husband’s death, ward 22 was reserved for women and some family friends suggested that Meena Devi “give it a try”.

“My first reaction was a big ‘no’. I had never stepped out in public without my family, leave alone interact with strangers. But they (her husband’s friends) insisted and I reluctantly agreed,” she recounts.

Meena Devi’s apprehensions soon disappeared as she discovered a side of her personality that she didn’t know existed. “I was pleasantly surprised by my ability to connect with whoever I met. I turned that into my USP, and I have never lost touch with my voters since,” smiles the councillor, who loves cooking when she is not connecting with people.

Meena Devi’s vote share in ward 22 has risen in every election since 1995, when she won by 1,700 votes. In 2000, she defeated her nearest rival by 4,000 votes. In 2005, as many as 75 per cent of the votes polled were in her favour.

But has ward 22 been re-electing her because of her interpersonal skills alone? “Residents of my ward would remember me for solving their two main problems: waterlogging and drinking water. A pumping station has just been set up at Jagannath Ghat to end Burrabazar’s perennial problem of monsoon flooding for good,” she says.

For the three-time councillor, the new challenge is to take her experience in “civic development” to the next level. “I have spent 15 years in the CMC, five of these as deputy mayor (2000-2005). I do want to contest the Assembly poll now,” reveals Meena Devi.

Would the BJP leadership oblige? “In a Left Front and Trinamul-dominated state, she has kept the BJP flag fluttering for 15 years. What more could a party ask of its leader?” argues Suman Toshniwal, a member of the Durga Vahini, the women’s wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.