News Analysis India

Tag: 2021 West Bengal elections

  • West Bengal polls: BJP worker’s mother killed by TMC goons in Goghat, alleges Tathagata Roy

    By ANI
    KOLKATA: Former Governor of Tripura and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tathagata Roy on Tuesday claimed that a BJP worker’s mother was killed allegedly by “TMC goons” in Goghat in Hooghly district of the poll-bound West Bengal.

    “In Goghat in Hooghly district of West Bengal, Piru Adak, a BJP worker was attacked by Trinamool goons. When his mother Madhavi tried to save him the goons attacked and killed her,” tweeted Roy. The polling for the Goghat constituency is being held on Tuesday in the third phase of the West Bengal assembly polls.

    In Goghat,Distt Hooghly,West Bengal Piru Adak,a BJP worker was attacked by Trinamool goons. When his mother Madhavi tried to save him the goons attacked and killed her.
    — Tathagata Roy (@tathagata2) April 6, 2021

    A total of 31 Assembly constituencies in districts including eight in Hooghly, seven in Howrah and 16 in South 24 Parganas are going to polls in phase-III. There are 205 candidates in the fray in this round of polling. However, when it comes to women representation, there are only 13 women candidates contesting in this phase, merely six per cent.

    Meanwhile, polling has now begun at booth number 129 of AC 200 in Arambag, Hooghly on Tuesday. Voters are been standing in the queue while maintaining the COVID protocols.

    Polling for the first two phases of the West Bengal elections were held on March 27 and April 1 respectively. The fourth phase of polling will take place on April 10. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.

  • Bengal polls: In big jolt to Mamata, Rajib Banerjee quits as minister

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: Bengal Minister for Forest Affairs Rajib Banerjee on Friday stepped down from Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet amid murmurs of his defection to the BJP.

    Banerjee’s move came weeks after former Trinamool Congress strongman and Bengal CM’s former aide Suvendu Adhikari and sports minister Laxmi Ratan Shukla resigned from Cabinet. While Adhikari joined the saffron camp, Shukla said he wanted to concentrate on his sports activities.

    Banerjee handed over his resignation letter to governor Jagdeep Dhankhar at Raj Bhavan and broke into tears while explaining the reasons behind his decision. 

    “My removal from the irrigation department and the way it was done was unexpected. After spending two days in north Bengal, I returned to Kolkata and was in the party office. I came to know that I was moved to the forest department from TV news. I expected the minimum courtesy from the chief minister,” said Banerjee.

    Banerjee’s resignation letter reads: “It has been a great honour and privilege to serve the people of West Bengal. I heartily convey my gratitude for getting this opportunity.”

    Banerjee, however, did not rule out the possibility of joining another political platform. “I want to work for the people. I don’t know what platform I will get.”

    Before going to Raj Bhavan, Banerjee went to the chief minister’s office at her Kalighat residence and tendered his resignation.        

    The MLA from Domjur had been airing his grievances against a section of TMC leaders over the past few weeks alleging he was not being able to work for the people. “I had decided to resign two-and-a-half-year ago after I was removed from the irrigation department. The chief minister, somehow, stopped me. In the past few weeks, I expressed my discontent on several occasions. But the statements by a section of my colleagues were painful enough to make this decision,” said Banerjee.

    Banerjee had skipped five consecutive cabinet meetings. TMC leadership held a series of meetings with him but it proved futile.

    TMC MP and spokesperson Saugata Roy said Banerjee’s resignation was expected. The party’s secretary-general Partha Chatterjee said party leaders like Banerjee and others would realise that their decision was wrong.

    BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said Banerjee resigned as a minister but he is still a TMC MLA. “We cannot do anything unless he resigns from the party and the post of the MLA. We will wait for him if he wants to join our party,” he said.

  • Bengal polls: Mamata to challenge BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari on his home turf Nandigram

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Monday announced that she would contest from Nandigram, from where her former aide Suvendu Adhikari, who joined the BJP last month, was elected in 2016. 

    She asked the party’s president Subrata Bakshi to ensure her candidature from the minority-dominated Assembly segment. “Nandigram is my lucky place. I will contest from here,” she said while addressing the rally in Nandigram.

    Bengal CM’s announcement is said to be a political move to challenge Adhikari family members, who claim to be the kingmakers in the district with 16 Assembly seats. Suvendu Adhikari’s father Sishir and brother Dibyendu are TMC MPs from Contai and Tamluk Lok Sabha constituencies respectively.

    ALSO READ| Mamata Banerjee to follow Kejriwal model in election manifesto

    “The BJP has assigned Suvendu Adhikari to secure victory in all 35 seats in East Midnapore, West Midnapore, and Jhargram districts. Bengal CM’s announcement to contest from Suvendu’s constituency is a pressure tactic. If she contests from Nandigram, Suvendu’s political activities will be confined to East Midnapore district to ensure her defeat and save the other 15 seats in the district from the influence of the CM’s candidature,” said a senior TMC leader.

    Mamata Banerjee also said she would also contest in her own Bhowanipore constituency in south Kolkata. She also requested the electorates of Bhowanipore to bear with her decision. “Nandigram is my elder sister and Bhowanipur is my younger sister. I will fight from both, is possible. In case, I am unable to contest from Bhowanipore, don’t feel sad. I will give a good candidate for you,” she said.

    Referring to the exit of Suvendu Adhikari and other TMC functionaries, the TMC chief accused the BJP of receiving looters in its fold. “They looted public money. BJP leaders are saying if you are with the TMC, you will be in jail. If you join BJP, it is a washing machine and you will come out clean,” she said.

    ALSO READ| Islamic terrorist Mamata will have to take refugee in Bangladesh after Bengal polls: UP minister’s shocker

    Suvendu Adhikari is one of the accused in the Narada sting operation case being probed by the CBI.

    Replying to Mamata’s surprising announcement to contest from his constituency, Suvendu, too, accepted the challenge. “If I can’t defeat her by half-lakh votes, I will quit politics,” he said.        

    Bengal BJP, however, described Mamata Banerjee’s announcement to contest from Nandigram as a reflection of her ‘nervousness’. “Mamata Banerjee’s decision to shift seat from Bhowanipore to Nandigram, for the first time in 10 years, indicates her political nervousness,” tweeted Amit Malviya, the BJP’s social media head and in-charge of Bengal.  

  • West Bengal polls: Mamata Banerjee to challenge BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari on his home turf Nandigram

    By PTI
    NANDIGRAM: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Monday declared she will contest the upcoming assembly election from Nandigram, as she took her battle for th state to the home turf of poitical heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari, who recently quit the TMC and joined the BJP.

    That Banerjee chose Nandigram to make the big announcement reflects the TMC supremo’s determination to take the BJP, which has launched a spirited campaign to unseat her after a decade-long stint in power, head on.

    ALSO READ| Mamata Banerjee to follow Kejriwal model in election manifesto

    Addressing a rally here, Banerjee said she is not worried about those joining rival parties as they were hardly areound when the TMC was formed. Banerjee said these leaders left the ruling party to protect the money “they have looted” in the last few years.

    “I have always started my campaign for the assembly polls from Nandigram. It is a lucky place for me. So this time I feel that I should contest the assembly polls from here. I request our state party president Subrata Bakshi to approve my name from this seat,” Banerjee said.

    Bakshi, who was on the podium, swiftly accepted the request. Nandigram was the scene of massive public protest against “forcible” land acquisition by the then Left Front government for creation of a special economic zone.

    The protracted and often bloody protests added to Banerjee and her party’s political heft and catapulted the TMC to power in 2011, marking the end of the Left Front rule of 34 years. Adhikari is considered the face face of the movement in Nandigram, some 130 km south-west of Kolkata.

    After switching over to ther BJP, Adhikari has often accused Banerjee of having forgotten the people of the area who helped her gain power in the state.

    ALSO READ| Islamic terrorist Mamata will have to take refugee in Bangladesh after Bengal polls: UP minister’s shocker

    Banerjee is at present the MLA from Bhawanipore in south Kolkata. “If possible, I will contest from both Bhawanipore and Nandigram. In case I am unable to contest from Bhawanipore, someone else will,” she said.

    Banerjee said she would never allow “a handful of people” to sell out Bengal to the BJP. “Those who have left the party have my best wishes. Let them become president and vice president of the country. But don’t you dare to sell out Bengal to the BJP. As long as I am alive, I won’t allow them to sell out my state to the BJP,” she said.

    Assembly elections in the state are likely in April-May.

  • 2021 WB assembly polls: Congress demands 130 seats but Left Front disagrees

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: Senior leaders of the Congress and the CPM-led Left Front met here on Sunday and held discussions on seat sharing. The grand old demanded 130 out of 294 assembly seats, which was immediately shot down by the Left.

    LF chairman Biman Bose said two more meetings would be held and the seat-sharing deal would be finalised within January. “There is no misunderstanding between us. Though discussion on seat-sharing is yet to take place again. We will fight the election together to save the state from religious polarization,’’ said Bose.

    Congress state president Adhir Chowdhury, who refused to respond to TMC’s recent call to support the ruling party, said the LF has many partners and they need time to discuss the issue with the other parties.

    Recently, the TMC gave call to other non-BJP parties to support the ruling party to decimate the BJP’s rise in Bengal. “If the LF and Congress are seriously anti-BJP, they should support the Mamata Banerjee in her fight. It is because she is the real face of secular politics against the BJP,’’ said TMC MP and spokesperson Saugata Roy.

    Chowdhury, who never misses an opportunity to blame the ruling party for BJP’s rise in Bengal, said, “We are not interested in supporting the TMC. The ruling party poached our MLAs in the last 10 years. If Mamata Banerjee is serious in fighting the BJP, then she should join the Congress as it the only national party to fight against communalism.’’

    The LF and Congress wanted to share seats in 2019 Lok Sabha elections but it fell apart after the CPM refused Congress to contest from Raiganj constituency. It was because CPM’s candidate Mohammad Selim had won in 2014 Lok Sabha election with razor-thin margin of 1,500 votes.

    The LF and Congress had contested in 2016 Assembly elections and Chowdhury’s party emerged as the second-largest political force in Bengal. The Congress had bagged victory in 44 seats and the LF in 26.

    “Our voters had voted for Congress candidates but in many seats, our candidates were not supported by Congress’s voters. This was why faced the debacle despite the seat-sharing deal with the Congress,’’ said a CPM leader.