Tag: 2021 Bengal elections

  • Mamata Banerjee ‘incidental beneficiary’ of highly polarised Bengal polls: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury feels TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee is an “incidental beneficiary” of the highly polarised West Bengal assembly elections and not the “only anti-Modi face” capable of taking on the BJP in the next Lok Sabha polls.

    Chowdhury also defends his frequent criticism of the TMC supremo, calling it the right decision for the benefit of his party.

    Talking about the prospects of a broader anti-BJP coalition ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2024, the leader of the Congress party in the House, insists no opposition front can succeed without Congress’ participation.

    “The elections in West Bengal this time were highly polarised on communal and regional identity. The people of the state who did not want the BJP en masse voted in favour of the TMC. The communal rhetoric and the threat and intimidation politics of the BJP leadership only helped Mamata Banerjee. Without taking away the credit for the fight she put up, I would say she is an incidental beneficiary in these elections,” Chowdhury told PTI in an interview.

    Acknowledging that the TMC’s victory was “magnificent”, the Congress veteran, however, said many regional opposition leaders had helmed their parties to triumph over the BJP. “It’s true that she has put up a fight against the BJP and its election machinery. It’s a magnificent victory, no doubt about it. But at the same time, she is not the only regional leader who has defeated the BJP. Arvind Kejriwal, Lalu Prasad Yadav, M K Stalin, Pinarayi Vijayan, too, have done the same. So, saying that she is the only (credible opposition) face (who could take on the BJP’s might) would be an injustice to others,” he said.

    The West Bengal Congress chief rejected suggestions by a section of his partymen that he was more vocal against Banerjee than the BJP. “I have been vocal against both the TMC and the BJP. Yes, I had to attack the TMC when I saw they were destroying my Bengal unit by poaching our representatives. Whatever I have done, I have done for my party. I don’t have any personal animosity with Mamata Banerjee,” he said.

    He chose not to respond to a question as to why the top Congress leadership desisted from attacking Banerjee and largely stayed away from the election campaign. However, Chowdhury said if the Congress party forges an alliance with the TMC in future, the state unit will “lower its tempo” against Banerjee.

    Responding to a query about some opposition parties intending to ally against the BJP, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) member asserted, “No opposition alliance will succeed without the presence of Congress in it.”

    “The political landscape of our country is such that no opposition alliance against the BJP can succeed without the Congress. The Congress is still the biggest opposition party in the country with a pan-India presence,” he said.

    On his party’s rout in the assembly polls in West Bengal, where it drew a blank, Chowdhury said the elections were completely polarised along communal and regional lines but hoped that the Congress, which ruled the state for more than two decades since independence, will revive soon.

    Chowdhury noted that the Sitalkuchi incident in Coochbehar, where firing by central forces led to the killing of four Muslims during the polling, polarised minority voters. “The Sitalkuchi incident led to further polarisation as voters in Malda, Murshidabad (considered Congress strongholds) also voted for the TMC,” he said.

    The Congress had fought the assembly polls in alliance with the CPM and Muslim cleric Abbas Siddiqui’s ISF. Except for ISF, which bagged one seat, the CPM-led Left Front and the Congress failed to open their account for the for the first time in assembly polls.

    When asked whether the Congress will form alliance with with CPM and the ISF in future, too, Chowdhury categorically said, “No relations with ISF”. “We never had any relations with the ISF. It was CPM which shared their seats with them. The ISF had pitched candidates against us in many seats. We will have no relation with the ISF in the future, too,” he said.

    Replying to a question about the recent media reports that former Congress president Rahul Gandhi will likely replace him as the leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha, Chowdhury said he is not aware of any such move.

    “I am not aware of any such development. I am a loyal soldier of the party. Whatever duty it assigns me, I would do my best. If Rahul Gandhi replaces me as the leader of our party in Lok Sabha, I would be the happiest person,” he said.

    Lauding Rahul Gandhi’s leadership qualities, Chowdhury said the BJP deliberately tries to discredit him as it is “afraid of him”. “Every time there is a failure, everybody starts questioning Rahul Gandhi. The fact is that these failures are a collective responsibility. The Congress party has been on the decline since the 1989 Lok Sabha polls. So why single out Rahulji?” he said.

    Speaking about Congress leaders leaving the party, with former President Pranab Mukherjee’s son Abhijit being the latest addition, Chowdhury wondered whether their deserting or joining a party would make any difference.

    “Everybody is free to make their own decisions. But Abhijit Mukherjee leaving the party won’t have any impact. He was chief of the state’s campaign committee during the polls. You can’t show me a single statement from him criticising the BJP or the TMC during the elections,” he said.

  • ‘Alliance with Congress to be blamed for poll rout’, feel CPM West Bengal leaders

    KOLKATA: The CPM West Bengal state committee members were at loggerheads during a two-day review meeting to discuss the party’s disastrous performance in the recent Assembly elections. As the party failed to send a single representative to the House of 294 lawmakers, most of the leaders blamed it on the decision to join hands with one-month-old outfit Indian Secular Force (ISF).  

    Many members also expressed their discontent for the party’s alliance with the Congress saying similar tie-up had caused damage to the party in 2016 polls. The Congress had pocketed 44 seats at that time while the Left parties could bag just 26 seats.

    In the recent election, the Left Front, Congress and ISF, the outfit floated by an influential Muslim cleric, formed an alliance to consolidate electorates who were against the ruling TMC and the rising BJP. Both the LF and Congress failed to bag a single seat while the ISF won only one out of 27 where it had contested.

    “Inclusion of ISF in the alliance was not a unanimous decision. It was Selim (politburo member Mohammad Selim) who had projected the ISF as a progressive force which, in reality, was not. Those who were in favour of joining hands with the new outfit wanted to arrest migration of minority votes to the TMC. The strategy was wrong and electorates did not accept it as CPM has always been vocal of secularism,” said a state committee member.

    The alliance also received a set-back as the ISF fielded candidates in some of the seats in Murshidabad against Congress. State Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who was against the inclusion of ISF, had his party did not share seats with the outfit. Incidently, many CPM state committee members had wanted the party to contest in the polls without joining hands with the ISF and Congress. 

  • Bengal elections 2021: Rallies lead to sharp rise in COVID-19 cases

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA: West Bengal is witnessing a steep rise in COVID-19 cases and fatalities, and many health experts held month-long political extravaganzas responsible for the spread of the coronavirus in urban as well as rural regions of the state.

    The state registered its highest single-day spike of 17,411 COVID-19 cases and 96 deaths on. A week ago, 12,876 new coronavirus cases and 59 deaths were reported. Though the Centre announced a vaccination drive for all those 18 and above, the implementation on the ground in the state seems to be a task next to impossible.

    ALSO READ| Bengal’s Covid toll crosses 100-mark, two patients found dead at homes in Kolkata

    The chief minister announced the start of vaccinations for people in the age bracket from May 5, but an order issued by the state health department asks hospitals to give priority to those who are above 45 years old.

    The state government asked the Centre to provide 2 crore vaccine doses immediately but there was no response from the central government by Saturday evening.

    “Many people turned up at the state-run hospitals for vaccination but they had to return because of the shortage of vaccines. We have decided to allow the people with above 45 years on priority basis and secure the second dose of vaccine for these set of recipients,” said an official of the state government.

    The private hospitals are also running short of doses and they have stopped giving the first dose, focusing on giving second doses.Health experts found that no one other than political heavyweights are responsible for the steep spike in rural West Bengal. 

    “The first election day was March 27 and the state registered a single-day spike of only 812 cases and death of two persons. Now you see the figure has gone up to where,” said an official of the state’s health department.

    Districts in the state are registering five to eight times fresh COVID-19 cases per day comparing to the figure in October 2020 when the infection rate was at its peak.

    In the first wave of COVID-19, we managed to save rural regions of the state but this time the situation is alarming. This is simply because of rallies, roadshows and other political events,” said an official of the state’s health department.

  • Bengal elections 2021: Trinamool Congress, BJP in silent mode ahead of verdict

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA:  Hours before the verdict of West Bengal’s electorates in the high-octane Assembly elections, two major stakeholders, the ruling Trinamool Congress and its arch rival BJP, preferred to be in silent mode and seemed to be busy reading the body language of each other.

    As the state witnessed a month-long fierce electoral battle, both the TMC and the saffron camp claimed on Saturday that they would secure majority in two third of the West Bengal’s 294 Assembly constituencies.

    The counting will begin at 8 am but the trends are likely to emerge late comparing to previous occasions because of COVID-19 pandemic. The number of polling booths were increased to more than 1 lakh from 78,000 in the wake of the pandemic which is likely to cause delay in announcing the final results.

    BJP’s spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya claimed on Saturday that the party would secure victory in more than 200 seats, the target set by the party’s national leadership much ahead of the elections. TMC MP and spokesperson Saugata Roy, too, claimed the party would bag victory in 200 constituencies.

    However, the Left Front-Congress-Indian Secular Force (ISF) alliance claimed their candidates would give surprise to BJP and TMC in many constituencies.

    The TMC fielded candidates in 291 constituencies allowing Gorkha Janmukti Morcha to contest in three seats in the Hills. The BJP fielded candidates in 293 constituencies. Under the alliance, Left Front fielded candidates in 165 seats, Congress in 92 and ISF in 37 seats.

    In 2016, TMC had a stunning victory, winning 211 seats and bettering its 2011 tally of 184 seats. Congress won 44 seats and the Left Front won 33 seats fighting within an alliance. Exit poll results for West Bengal projected a cliff-hanger. Most exit polls that the CM may make it past the majority mark.

    ALL SET FOR VOTE COUNTING

    KOLKATA: When counting begins on 8 am in Sunday, there will be 292 observers and 256 companies of central forces deployed at the counting centres across 23 districts, the Election Commission said.

  • West Bengal polls 2021: Mamata Banerjee calls urgent meet with Trinamool Congress candidates

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee has convened an urgent virtual meeting on Friday with the party’s candidates who contested in the Assembly elections. She is expected to issue a slew of instructions to be followed by the candidates during the process of the counting on May 2, a senior leader of the TMC said.

    The candidates were also asked to bring their counting agents to the virtual meeting. “She (Mamata) is confident about her party’s absolute majority in the Assembly elections. She has a strong suspicion that the BJP will use all its tricks and unfair means during the counting process,” he said.

    “Since she has attacked the Election Commission on several occasions, the chief minister does not have faith in the Commission. She will issue specific guidelines asking candidates and counting agents to follow it word-by-word,” the TMC leader added.

    “Mamata Banerjee will warn the candidates about the possible tricks that the BJP might adopt during the process of counting. Our party’s internal report has confirmed that the TMC will stay in power with a comfortable margin. Since the BJP engaged its entire artillery to wrest West Bengal, they will definitely try to achieve their goal by adopting unfair means,” another TMC leader said

    Mamata carried out an intense poll campaign across West Bengal against BJP heavyweights, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home minister Amit Shah and the party’s national president JP Nadda, who addressed a series of rallies and attended several roadshows over the past one month.

  • Two injured in bomb blast in West Bengal’s Ketugram ahead of polls, three held

    By PTI
    BARDHAMAN (WEST BENGAL): Two persons have been injured after a crude bomb exploded at a house in Ketugram assembly constituency in West Bengal’s Purba Bardhaman district, which will go to polls on Thursday in the sixth phase of elections, police said.

    The blast occurred at Chinispur village under Beru gram panchayat in Ketugram 1 block on Tuesday night. Three persons, residents of the same village, were arrested in connection with the incident. A court in Katwa remanded them to police custody for seven days.

    ALSO READ| Bengal elections 2021: Bomb hurled on BJP candidate’s car

    A villager who lodged a complaint with the police claimed that bombs were being made at that house. Addl SP (Rural), Dhruba Das, said that three firearms and materials used for making bombs have been recovered from the spot.

    The BJP candidate of Ketugram Constituency, Anadi Ghosh, claimed that the Trinamool Congress workers were behind the incident as they are trying to create trouble in the area. TMC nominee from the constituency Sheikh Shahnawaz denied the charge and said that no party workers were involved in the incident.

  • Bengal polls 2021: Bomb hurled on BJP candidate Shilbhadra Dutta’s car in North 24 Parganas district

    By PTI
    BARRACKPORE (WEST BENGAL): A country-made bomb was allegedly hurled at the vehicle of BJP candidate from Khardah assembly constituency, Shilbhadra Dutta, in North 24 Parganas district on Wednesday evening, a police official said here.

    WB: BJP candidate from Khardaha Assembly constituency, Shilbhadra Dutt says his car was attacked on Kalyani Expressway in the constituency today”We were at a tea stall when a bomb was hurled at my car. Trinamool Congress is behind the attack. We’ll complain to EC,” he adds pic.twitter.com/WmiAKoPnwG
    — ANI (@ANI) April 21, 2021

    However, no casualty was reported. Dutta claimed that he was taking tea at a roadside stall on Kalyani Expressway at Rahara when someone threw the bomb which exploded a few metres away from his vehicle.

    The police official said that a DCP-level officer of the Barrackpore Police Commissionerate went to the spot to investigate the incident. The BJP candidate, who left the Trinamool Congress a few months ago, said that he will file a complaint with the Election Commission about the incident.

  • Not feasible to club remaining phases of Bengal polls: EC to Trinamool Congress

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: The Election Commission on Wednesday turned down the request of Trinamool Congress spokesperson Derek O’Brien, who urged the panel to club the last three phases of Bengal Assembly elections. 

    Citing the restrictions that the Commission has imposed — ranging from extending the silence period to banning campaigns for a certain period — the poll panel made it clear that the election schedule will remain unchanged.

    Explaining why the Commission should club the last three phases, O’Brien said in his letter that already 52 days of campaigning has been availed to the political parties or candidates.

    In its reply, the poll panel said, “The total duration of election period has been reduced to 66 days which is 11 days less than the last occasion in 2016. The Commission has invoked its power under Articles 324 and prohibited the campaigning between 7 pm and 10 am to discourage the public gathering in view of the Covid pandemic and has extended the silence period to 72 hours before the end of polling in each phase.”

    Rejecting O’Brien’s request, the commission said a poll date has to be after 14 days of the last day scheduled for withdrawal of nomination, and hence, clubbing the last three phases is not possible.

    While phase six of the West Bengal polls is scheduled on April 22, the seventh and eighth phases are on April 26 and 29.

  • Bengal polls 2021: CM Mamata Banerjee terms PM Modi’s government as ‘monumental incompetence’

    By PTI
    BHAGAWANGOLA/ SAGARDIGHI/ FARAKKA: Calling the Narendra Modi-led dispensation a government of “monumental incopetence’, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has allowed open market sale of coronavirus vaccines after shipments made by him to foreign shores have depleted stocks in India.

    Banerjee also hinted that election schedules were being drawn up to assist BJP, while voicing her displeasure at the rejection of her proposal to club elections in the remaining three phases.

    Addressing an election meeting at Bhagwangola in Murshidabad district, the Trinamool Congress supremo said the prime minister had exported vaccines to other countries to boost his image while states like Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan and West Bengal have struggled to get doses they required to combat the Covid pandemic.

    “Yesterday the PM said the medicine (vaccine) will be available in open market. Where is the open market, where is the availability? You have already shipped out the majority of stock to foreign destinations,” she alleged.

    The central government had gifted COVID vaccines to a number of countries including neighbouring nation and allowed export to many more including to Brazil and South Africa earlier this year. Terming the Narendra Modi-led NDA government as a “government of monumental incompetence”, Banerjee said “We are facing a huge deficit in vaccines due to the faulty planning.”

    The TMC supremo said more that COVID cases are being reported from Kolkata, North 24 Parganas and Asansol belt and the state government is trying to manage the crisis from a limited stock. “For six months the Central leadership did not bother to plan, they were busy plotting electoral battles in Bengal,” Banerjee alleged.

    Turning her guns on BJP, she claimed the party brought in “lakhs of people from outside the state to help in campaigning and many of these people were infected with COVID-19”. “These people will leave but they have spread the virus and the onus to manage the new crisis will be on us. Bengal’s Covid situation was firmly under control but now the rate of infection is rising again,” she said.

    However, she advised people not to panic, adding, “We will again bring it (pandemic) under a tight leash.”

    Stating that she had learnt that elections to two assembly seats in Murshidabad, which were countermanded due to the deaths of candidates, may be held on May 13, Banerjee said “If Eid takes place on May 13, the EC should decide on a voting date keeping in mind the need of voters to celebrate the festival.

    Referring to erosion of Ganges river in Murshidabad and Malda districts, Banerjee said, “Only Central (policies) can stop the erosion. Under the terms of the Indo-Bangla water treaty, Bangladesh was given Ganges water, but as the Centre did not dredge the Farakka barrage, it has silted. This has caused regular flooding in Bihar, Murshidabad and Malda whenever there are heavy rains in Bihar. The Centre should carry out dredging of Farakka on an urgent basis,” she said.

    The Trinamool Congress supremo said, “We need to have a Ganga Erosion Board to work on war footing.” Urging the electorate to see Bengal doesn’t fall into the hands of “rioters”, the chief minister alleged she had reports that there were plots to engineer riots on Ram Navami. “Please be on guard. Don’t fall prey to any bid to pit Hindus against Muslims,” she said.

    Banerjee also urged the people “not to vote for the Left, Congress or other Sanjukta Morcha candidates who are the other face of BJP”.

    At another rally in Farakka also in Murshidabad district, the chief minister accused BJP of opposing her proposal to club the remaining three phases of polling in view of a spike in COVID cases. She also hinted that the poll schedules were drawn up to help the BJP. “Some candidates were infected with COVID, two died…The EC fixes the schedule to help Modibabu (Narendra Modi),” she alleged.

    “If election takes place, there has to be campaigning. One day voting would have reduced the spread of infection and helped people, Banerjee reasoned,” she added.

    Elaborating on her claims about secret understanding between parties of Sanjukta Morcha and BJP, she said at Sagardighi, “Iit is nothing but another morcha with BJP’s blessings.”

  • West Bengal polls: BJP decides not to hold big rallies, public meetings amid rise in COVID cases

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, the BJP on Monday said it has decided against holding any big rally or public meeting, including by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other party leaders, in the ongoing West Bengal assembly poll campaign.

    The decision comes amid the party facing flak from rivals for the big rallies of its leaders in West Bengal amid the COVID-19 tally rising to staggering levels across the country. The BJP said that breaking the chain of coronavirus infection is much needed in such a difficult time and it will leverage its “massive digital footprint” to take across the message of its top leaders to the voters.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders will be addressing only small public meetings to be attended by maximum of 500 people, the party said in a statement.

    Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has already cancelled his rallies in West Bengal while the ruling Trinamool Congress president and the state’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said that her party would organise small meetings in Kolkata and she would give short speeches in rallies in districts where polling would be held in the remaining three phases.

    The BJP said all its public meetings will be held in open places following all COVID-19 guidelines and that it will distribute six crore masks and sanitisers in the state. The party asserted that it is also very necessary for the constitutional and democratic obligations to be fulfilled, noting that the assembly polls are underway in the state.

    Amid a massive surge in the COVID cases, the BJP said the country had earlier overcome big challenges under Modi and will do it again. BJP’s IT wing head Amit Malviya, also the party’s co-incharge for the state, said the BJP will leverage its “massive digital footprint” and take the message of Modi and other leaders to lakhs of people.

    “We did that successfully during Bihar elections, which too was conducted under the cloud of COVID. The opposition had then complained that it gave us an edge,” he said.