News Analysis India

Tag: Bengal elections

  • Nusrat Jahan video: Trinamool candidate claims actor-politician was injured in accident; Opposition cries foul

    By ANI
    NORTH 24 PARGANAS: After a video went viral claiming to feature Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Nusrat Jahan losing her temper at a rally, TMC candidate Narayan Goswami on Monday claimed that she was injured after an ‘accident’ during the campaign rallies.

    The video shows the TMC MP was agitated during a campaign. In the video shared through West Bengal BJP Twitter handle a woman can be heard saying: “I have been at the rally for over an hour. I don’t do this even for the Chief Minister. Are you kidding?”

    Speaking to ANI, Goswami said: “Our rally took place at 4 pm. Thousands of people had arrived. The rally went on for 1.5 hours, during which Nusrat spent time with me, interacted with people and waved hands.”

    “At almost 6 pm, we had reached our final point. There was a bumper on the road. The driver was not accustomed to drive on those roads. He had pulled the brake suddenly. Nusrat and I were injured, but due to my bulky physique, I was not hurt much. However, since she had a thin physique, she was hurt. She sat down and tears came out of her eyes. Seeing her pain, I thought she had to be taken to a hospital or nursing home for treatment,” he added.

    Goswami further said he had doubts about the video, highlighting that technology could be a major cause for concern. Dismissing it as a possible conspiracy, he said all angles can be ascertained after Nusrat herself reacts on the matter.

    Meanwhile, the opposition parties have slammed Nursat’s alleged misdemeanour.

    “It is good that actresses enter in a field to serve people, but they also tend to bring the acting with them, which was displayed. We have never seen Nusrat at the side of the people during COVID-19 or the cyclone Amphan. This incident means that her internal mindset has been exposed,” said Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Tanuja Chakraborty.

    Replying to a query on whether technology was involved in making the video, the BJP member said the TMC had nothing to say after being exposed, so they are trying to cover up their mistakes.

    Tapas Chakraborty from the Communist Party of India (Marxist), slammed Nusrat, saying she has insulted the Chief Minister and the parliamentary culture.

    “Firstly, if she is an MP under the Chief Minister, she has insulted the CM and the parliamentary culture. It proves that TMC buys celebrities with money, her money has dried up, that is why this happened,” he told media.

    He also accused Goswami of ‘speaking lies’.

    Nusrat’s video went viral as an intense triangular fight for power has begun in West Bengal Assembly polls, gripping the state in election fever.

    The first phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections concluded with an estimated 79.79 per cent voter turnout on Saturday, including 30 seats covering all constituencies from Purulia and Jhargram and segments from Bankura, Purba and Paschim Medinipur.

  • Mamata Vs Suvendu: Ahead of high-stake Nandigram battle, Bengal CM holds roadshow

    By ANI
    NANDIGRAM: Ahead of the second phase of West Bengal assembly polls, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a ‘padayatra’ (roadshow) in Nandigram on a wheelchair, marking the first roadshow here after she was injured in an alleged attack earlier this month.

    Nandigram will witness the most high-profile contest in the second phase of the state assembly elections to be held on April 1 with the Chief Minister taking on her former ministerial colleague Suvendu Adhikari, who had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in December last year.

    Thousands of people gathered around the Chief Minister waving party flags as Mamata held the rally from Khudiram Mod to Thakur Chowk in Nandigram Block-2, which would be followed by a public meeting in Jansabha Boyal II.

    Another public meeting will take place at 2 pm then at 3:30 pm in the Amdabad High School Ground.

    Suvendu Adhikari had earlier said that BJP will defeat Banerjee by over 50,000 votes from Nandigram.

    Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will take on Mamata in a massive roadshow in Nandigram on Tuesday to bat for Adhikari. Bollywood star Mithun Chakraborty is also expected to conduct a roadshow for the BJP in Nandigram ahead of polling.

    Earlier this month, during a two-day visit in Nandigram, Mamata alleged that she was pushed by a few unidentified people during her election campaign.

    Banerjee sustained “severe bony injuries” on her left foot and ankle as well as bruises and injuries on her shoulder, forearm and neck, according to the report of her initial medical examination.

    The Election Commission later said that the injury caused to the CM in Nandigram was not a result of an “attack” and suspended IPS officer Vivek Sahay, acting director of security for the West Bengal Chief Minister, with immediate effect.

    Meanwhile, the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections concluded with an estimated 79.79 per cent voter turnout on Saturday.

    In the first phase, 30 seats covering all assembly constituencies from the districts of Purulia and Jhargram and a segment of Bankura, Purba Medinipur and Paschim Medinipur went to the polls to decide on the electoral fate of 191 candidates, including 21 women.

  • Bengal polls: Mamata intensifies efforts to win over Nandigram voters before campaigning ends

    By ANI
    KOLKATA: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee intensified efforts to woo voters before campaigning for the second phase of the assembly poll ends in Nandigram on Tuesday evening.

    Her campaign in the high-stakes constituency will begin at 11 am on Monday with an 8-kilometre roadshow from Khudiram More to Thakurchowk in Nandigram Block 2, followed by a public meeting in Jansabha Boyal II. Another one will take at 2 pm then at 3:30 pm in the Amdabad High School Ground.

    Nandigram will witness the most high-profile contest of the state assembly elections with the Chief Minister taking on her former ministerial colleague Suvendu Adhikari, who had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in December last year.

    Adhikari had earlier said that BJP will defeat Banerjee by over 50,000 votes from Nandigram.

    The BJP will also be bringing in big names to counter the TMC’s top leader. Senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will take on Mamata in a massive roadshow in Nandigram on Tuesday to bat for Adhikari.

    Bollywood star Mithun Chakraborty is also expected to conduct a roadshow in Nandigram ahead of polling.

    PM Narendra Modi had addressed a public rally for Suvendu Adhikari earlier. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath too had come to campaign in the constituency.

    With rallies of Mamata planned for each day till the campaign ends, the Adhikari clan too has focussed its energy on ensuring that polling agents remain alert and that panna pramukhs bring out the voters on April 1.

    The Adhikaris have been working on a strategy to not let the last leg of campaigning sway the voters towards her.

    Sources in the BJP stated that the focus would remain on bringing voters to the polling stations while the candidates would be intensifying campaigning.

    “It’s all about that one day when polling happens. It is all that matters. So, if the Chief Minister campaigns and we do too, voters have largely made up their minds,” said a senior BJP leader.

    Adhikari, a former TMC leader, joined the BJP ahead of Assembly polls. Adhikari is a sitting MLA from Nandigram, a seat where Mamata Banerjee has decided to contest this time instead of Bhawanipur.

    Meanwhile, the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections concluded with an estimated 79.79 per cent voter turnout on Saturday.

    In the first phase, 30 seats covering all assembly constituencies from the districts of Purulia and Jhargram and a segment of Bankura, Purba Medinipur and Paschim Medinipur went to polls to decide on the electoral fate of 191 candidates, including 21 women.

    Now the remaining seven phases for the 294-member West Bengal Assembly polls will be held on different dates with the final round of voting scheduled on April 29. Counting of votes will take place on May 2.

  • 2021 Assembly polls Phase-I: Stray incidents of violence reported in West Bengal

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA/GUWAHATI: Amid stray incidents of violence and trading of barbs over electoral malpractices, nearly 80 per cent polling was reported in the 30 constituencies of West Bengal that voted in the first phase of the eight-phase assembly election on Saturday.

    In Assam 72.14 per cent turnout was recorded for 47 of the total 126 seats that went to polls.

    The voting percentage in Bengal is around 3 per cent less than the previous assembly elections. The 30 constituencies that went to polls on Saturday included all the 18 constituencies that had voted in the first phase in 2016, too.

    The rising cases of COVID-19 and absence of a large number of migrant workers, who had left the state following the lockdown, are believed to be the reason behind the slight drop in turnout.

    Polling was held under tight security blanket with 730 companies of central forces guarding 10,288 polling booths in Junglemahal’s Purulia, Jhargram, West Midnapore and Bankura districts. However, violence was reported from pockets in Midnapore.

    Two police officers were injured in Bhagawanpur in East Midnapore when goons hurled crude bombs. Attack on political rivals also took place in West and East Midnapore districts. CPM candidate in Junglemahal’s Shalboni, Sushanta Ghosh, was manhandled when he was visiting a polling booth.

    He was pushed, allegedly by the Trinamool Congress supporters and his vehicle was vandalised. Soumendu Adhikari, brother of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s challenger in Nandigram constituency Suvendu Adhikari, was attacked, booth allegedly by TMC supporters, when he was on his way to a polling in Contai South constituency.

    Windshields of his vehicle were smashed. Three persons were arrested in connection with the attack. “I came to know the TMC supporters were casting bogus votes at a booth and was heading there. A group of TMC men waylaid me and attacked my car,” alleged Soumendu, who joined the BJP recently.

    The TMC, however, denied the allegation and said the incident was a fall out of common people’s anger as Soumendu was roaming with outsiders. In Assam, the polling was largely peaceful.

    Unlike the three-phase elections this time, the 2016 polls were held in two phases with 65 constituencies voting in the first phase, which had recorded 82.41 per cent turnout. An election official died as his health deteriorated at a polling station in Sonari.

  • Mamata accuses Modi of speaking at Matua temple with an eye on Bengal polls

    By Express News Service
    KHARAGPUR:  West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Saturday alleged PM Narendra Modi’s speech at the Matua temple at Orakandi in Bangladesh was with an eye on Bengal polls.

    The TMC supremo also alleged that Modi violated the model code of conduct through his speech at the temple, holy to the Matua community spread over India and Bangladesh. However, Modi in his speech at the temple had not made any election promises.

    Addressing a public meeting in Kharagpur, Banerjee recalled the scrapping Bangladeshi actor Firdaus’s visa during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections “as he took part in a rally here” and wondered why Modi’s visa should not be dealt with similarly.

    “Modi is delivering a speech at a temple in Bangladesh with an eye on elections in West Bengal. This is a total violation of the election code of conduct, we are taking up the issue with Election Commission,” she said.

    The Matua community in West Bengal is estimated to be 30 million strong. Pointing out that the BJP often accused her of bringing in Bangladeshi “infiltrators”, she wondered why Modi “now goes to Bangladesh to do marketing (sic)” for votes.

  • BJP claims Mamata sought help of party leader to win in Nandigram, Trinamool hits back with Mukul Roy’s ‘leaked’ audio

    By PTI
    NANDIGRAM: A huge controversy erupted on Saturday amid the polling for 30 assembly seats in West Bengal, with the BJP releasing an audio clip where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is purportedly heard cajoling a saffron party leader from Nandigram to rejoin the TMC and help her win the seat.

    The state’s ruling TMC reacted sharp and quick, releasing another audio tape where BJP national vice president Mukul Roy is heard telling industrialist and party leader Shishir Bajoria about how to influence the poll panel.

    Banerjee is pitted against her former protege and now the BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram, the spring board that propelled her to power in 2011, dislodging the Left Front government after a 34-year unbroken rule.

    A BJP delegation, led by party general secretary and Bengal minder Kailash Vijayvargiya, met the state’s chief electoral officer and handed over the tape, claiming Banerjee was misusing her official position to influence the outcome of the bitterly contested assembly poll.

    The ruling TMC questioned the genuineness of the audio tape, but asserted that since Pralay Pal was a former TMC leader who switched over to the BJP, there was nothing wrong with Banerjee trying to woo him back.

    ALSO READ | ‘Under pressure by party’ not to contest, Bengal BJP nominee threatens to immolate self

    Hours later, the TMC released to media an audio clip of the purported conversation between Roy and Bajoria.

    Roy is heard telling Bajoria to convince the Election Commission to allow polling agents, even from outside a given constituency, to be function at all polling stations.

    Polling agents of parties, under the existent rules, are allowed only at booths in localities where they normally reside.

    “See, we have to include this point while meeting the EC. We have to say that this rule that polling agents can only be deputed in their localities should be changed. The only criteria should be that the person is a citizen of the state. The BJP won’t be able to have its agents in a large number of booths otherwise,” Roy purportedly told Bajoria.

    The TMC reacted angrily, with its spokesperson Kunal Ghosh insisting the audio clip had “blown the lid off” the nexus between the BJP and the Election Commission.

    Earlier in the day, Praloy Pal, who pledged his allegiance to the Adhikari family, whose two members are still TMC Lok Sabha MPs, claimed Banerjee personally called him up and asked for help to win the Nandigram seat.

    “You should help us win Nandigram. Look, I know you have some grievances, but that’s due mostly to the Adhikaris who never allowed me to get into Nandigram or East Midnapore. I will take care of everything henceforth,” Banerjee purportedly told Pal, a BJP official in East Midnapore, the district where the Adhikari family holds sway.

    Pal, however, was not game.

    “Didi, you called me and I am honoured. But I can’t betray the Adhikaris as they have stood by me through thick and thin,” he was heard saying in the audio clip.

    ALSO READ | Nearly 80 per cent voter turnout in first phase of Bengal polls, 10 arrested for violence

    He later told TV news channels that Banerjee called him up and requested him to return to the TMC, a proposal he declined.

    “I am now working for the BJP and can’t betray them,” said Pal.

    PTI could not independently verify the authenticity of the audio tape.

    Sharing the clip of the purported conversation, BJP’s social media head Amit Malviya tweeted, “Massive! Mamata Banerjee calls Proloy Pal, BJP’s district Vice President in Nandigram and pleads for help! Proloy tells her that he was humiliated in TMC, and he, along with this family, cannot betray the BJP. Pishi is definitely losing Nandigram and TMC Bengal.”

    “Only a candidate who has accepted defeat can speak the way Mamata Banerjee has spoken,” Vijayvargiya told journalists.

    When asked about whether the tape was authentic, the BJP leader retorted: “I as saying what I am saying with full responsibility (jawabdari).”

    “She’s imploring (yachna) for help. It shows she has accepted defeat,” he said.

    ALSO READ | Bengal elections: Congress-Left-ISF alliance fighting for political relevance, hopes to be kingmaker

    The TMC said the tape was not verified but found nothing wrong in Banerjee approaching a former partyman.

    “First of all, the clip is not verified. We don’t know whether it is true or false. But we don’t see anything wrong in a politician calling her former leaders or aides. This is quite natural in politics,” TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.

    The high-profile Nandigram seat will go to poll on April 1 in the second phase.

  • Bengal elections: Congress-Left-ISF alliance fighting for political relevance, hopes to be kingmaker

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: With the poll narrative in West Bengal sharply polarised between the ruling TMC and opposition BJP, the Congress-Left-ISF alliance is fighting to prove its relevance with hopes of being a kingmaker in case of a fractured mandate.

    The Congress and CPI-M-led Left Front, after ruling for most of the first six decades after independence, have been pushed to the margins of Bengal’s politics in recent years.

    The newly formed Indian Secular Front (ISF) of cleric Peerzada Abbas Siddiqui is the third partner in the “unlikely” coalition of former rivals.

    The alliance christened as “Samyukta Morcha” hopes to grow at the expense of both the ruling TMC and opposition BJP by eating into their vote share.

    The saffron party had pocketed the opposition votes for the past few years in the absence of a strong opposition to TMC.

    The ‘Samyukta Morcha’ hopes Peerzada’s presence will help bolster its share of the minority votes in Bengal.

    Except in north Bengal where the Congress has a large chunk of the minority votes, TMC has till now been able to garner the largest share of the community’s support.

    However, the alliance with ISF has its own set of pitfalls as the Congress and the Left are being accused of aligning with religious forces who in public perception are akin to All India Muslim League and AIUDF, which may help consolidation of Hindu votes, thus benefitting the BJP.

    Although both TMC and the BJP have blamed the alliance partners of being a “stooge” of the other, the saffron camp is happy with ISF’s entry into the poll fray.

    It hopes that ISF will break TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee’s grip on the minority vote.

    CPI(M) Politburo member Mohammed Salim said, “We hope the alliance will be a game changer in Bengal elections. The BJP and TMC wanted to make the poll a bipolar fight. But we have made it a three-cornered contest.”

    Congress leader Pradip Bhattacharya added the alliance will come up with “astonishing results” and can no longer be ignored.

    Siddiqui told PTI “We will be the kingmaker after the poll.

    No one can form the government without our support”.

    Despite some infighting, in the “rainbow alliance”, the Left Front is contesting in 177 seats, the Congress 91 seats and ISF in 26.

    According to sources in both Congress and the Left, the alliance was the need of the hour.

    The two parties, who had fought the 2016 assembly election as an alliance and bagged 36 per cent vote share, witnessed a sharp decline in its vote percentage within the next three years, with `friendly’ fights in a few constituencies .

    The two had managed to bag seven and five per cent votes respectively in the 2019 parliamentary election, which they fought separately.

    The Left Front had failed to open its account, while the Congress had managed to win just two out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats.

    BJP on the other hand bagged 18 seats, just four less than the TMC’s 22.

    “This alliance was the need of the hour as we are fighting for our political survival. TMC has taken over the Muslim votes and the BJP of the Hindus, while we are nowhere on the scene. The TMC through its poaching of the Left and Congress leaders have paved the way for BJP in the state,”Leader of the Opposition and Congress leader Abdul Mannan said.

    The steady decline of the Left and Congress was directly proportional to the rise of BJP.

    Bengal’s political narrative has witnessed a sea change in the last few years with the advent of identity politics, CPI(M) central committee leader said while speaking on the necessity of roping in ISF, into the alliance.

    “The 77 seats that we had won last time were mostly in minority-dominated areas of Murshidabad, Malda and North and South Dinajpur. With identity politics in play, we needed ISF to retain those seats, if not win more,” he said.

    According to the Left and Congress leaders, the alliance wants to project itself as a third alternative to those Muslims and Hindus who do not want to align with either the TMC or BJP.

    Congress sources said the alliance may emerge as kingmaker in case of a fractured mandate and did not rule out a Maharashtra model.

    In Maharashtra the Congress and NCP aligned with Shiv Sena to keep BJP at bay.

    However, ISF’s Siddiqui’s past vitriolic speeches against various communities and political parties in the past may well haunt the alliance with many voters rejecting such politics.

    BJP has already branded ISF as the “successor of the Muslim League, back to divide Bengal”.

    To shed the communal tag, the ISF has fielded candidates from different religious communities in the 26 seats, it is contesting.

    “The Left has damaged its secular credentials. It will help the BJP’s narrative of Muslim appeasement by other parties and further consolidate Hindus. The state has not seen a Muslim party in the recent past,” TMC leader Subrata Mukherjee said.

    Another problem for the alliance, is that the both the Left and the Congress have been weakened by desertions to the TMC and the BJP camps.

    Political analyst Biswanth Chakraborty, however, feels that the alliance will affect both TMC and the BJP in at least 30 seats.

    “In minority-dominated districts the alliance candidates, especially ISF nominees, will eat into TMC’s Muslim votes. Whereas in some of the north and south Bengal districts it will affect BJP in some seats,” he said.

    Political observer Suman Bhattacharya feels that the alliance will help TMC most by eating into opposition votes in several closely fought seats.

  • ‘Under pressure by party’ not to contest, Bengal BJP nominee threatens to immolate self

    By PTI
    BARDHAMAN: Claiming that the BJP leadership of Purba Bardhaman district is pressuring him not to contest the election as a “false” molestation case is pending against him, the party candidate of the Galsi (SC) assembly seat on Saturday threatened to immolate himself if he is not allowed to enter the fray.

    Tapan Bagdi, whose name was announced as the candidate of the seat from New Delhi, claimed that several party leaders have cases of murder and attempt to murder pending against them but still, they were made candidates.

    He also said that he will file his nomination paper as a BJP candidate on Monday.

    BJP district president Abhijit Ta said that Bagdi was asked to submit documents relating to the case on Friday and he has done so.

    The documents were sent to the state party leadership, he said, denying that he was being pressured not to contest the election.

    Bagdi said he was associated with the BJP since 1991 and was the party candidate from the same seat in the 2011 assembly election.

    “My name was announced by the central leaders as a candidate. And if I cannot contest, I will set myself on fire in front of the district office of the party,” he said.

    The BJP candidate told reporters that he is socially backward and finally weak but he has the support of many people like him.

    “I have been involved in political activities for a long time and a false case was slapped against me by the TMC. After some posters were found highlighting that false case, I was asked by the district party authorities to clarify my position. I told them everything but still I was asked not to contest,” Bagdi said.

    The Trinamool Congress’ Purba Bardhaman district spokesperson Prasenjit Das said that Bagdi should ponder whether he will stay in a party where he is not getting respect.

    The BJP has been facing protests and resignations as many of its aspiring old-timers did not find their names in its list of candidates.

  • BJP complains to EC over Trinamool candidate ‘distributing cash’ among voters

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The BJP on Friday drew the attention of the Election Commission to a video in which a Trinamool Congress candidate is seen allegedly distributing cash among the electorate.

    The BJP also made complaints about TMC workers “unleashing terror” in poll-bound districts in collusion with a section of the state police.

    In a letter to the poll panel, the saffron party attached links of the video, released on Friday, which showed an ex-minister and a TMC candidate from Purulia purportedly distributing cash among the voters.

    “It is a blatant violation of the model code of conduct that says all parties and candidates shall avoid scrupulously all activities which are corrupt practices and offences under the election law,” the letter signed by senior state BJP leaders said.

    The TMC denied the charge, alleging that the video was doctored and said it was the saffron party leaders “bringing in outsiders with bagfuls of cash to bribe the electorate”.

    The BJP also urged the EC to suspend four police officers.

    “They should be suspended forthwith for not executing their official work with due diligence, and helping the Trinamool Congress and its members in carrying out malpractice, irregularities,” it said.

    In another complaint to the EC, the BJP demanded immediate and necessary action against the “continuous targeted political killings of its workers to create fear psychosis and get electoral gains”.

  • EC vehicle set ablaze in West Bengal hours before first phase of assembly polls

    By PTI
    PURULIA: A vehicle hired for poll duty was set ablaze at Bandwan in Purulia district on Friday night, hours before the first phase of assembly elections get underway, official sources said.

    The vehicle was reportedly on its way back after dropping election officials at a polling station, when it was set on fire at Tulsidi village in the once-Maoist-affected ‘Jangalmahal’ belt of the state, they said.

    According to eyewitnesses, the vehicle was stopped by a few persons who emerged out of the forests all of a sudden and allegedly threw a petrol-soaked material on it, before fleeing.

    No one was injured in the incident, the sources said.

    The vehicle was reduced to ashes by the time fire brigade officials could douse the blaze, they added.

    A police investigation is underway.

    All the nine seats in Purulia will go for polls on Saturday in the first phase.