Tag: Bengal elections

  • Bengal polls: BJP comes out with all guns blazing as campaigning for first phase ends 

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: On the last day of the campaigning for the first phase of polls, the BJP came out with all guns blazing by deploying its ‘heavy artillery’ 

    Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir addressed rallies. Meanwhile, actor Mithun Chakrabarty held four roadshows in West Midnapore and Bankura districts.

    ALSO READ | Bengal polls: BJP candidate gets EC notice for promising voters free trip to Ayodhya

    While addressing a rally in Nandigram from where CM Mamata Banerjee is contesting against her former cabinet colleague Suvendu Adhikari, Yogi Adityanath said, “During the Left Front regime 14 years ago, 14 persons were killed here in police firing. But the TMC supremo did nothing for the martyrs. After wresting power in Bengal, the BJP-led new government will prioritise two issues. One is building up ‘Sonar Bangla’ and the other one is putting all TMC goons behind the bars.”

    Nandigram will go to the poll on April 1.

    Shah addressed two rallies in Namkhana in South 24-Parganas and Gopiballavpur in Jhargram, the hometown of BJP’s state president Dilip Ghosh. “Bengal’s CM is practising politics of vote bank and neglecting the poor. In this elections, she will get a befitting reply from Bengal’s electorates,” he said.

    Gambhir held a roadshow in Sonamukhi in the Bankura district. 

  • Vote for PM Modi if you want schemes, elect TMC if you prefer scams: Amit Shah

    By PTI
    BAGHMUNDI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah Thursday slammed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for failing to generate employment besides chasing away automobile industry and asked people to vote for BJP if they want pro-people schemes and for “incompetent” TMC government if they prefer scams.

    Reaching out to politically crucial Kurmi caste population of the Purulia district, Shah promised jobs for their every family and education in their language.

    He also promised to build an AIIMS in the Junglemahal area.

    “Initially, it was the Left which ensured flight of capital. Then it was Didi who chased away automobile industry from Bengal. She has failed to generate employment.

    “If you want schemes, you vote for Modiji and if you prefer scams, then vote for incompetent TMC. It is for you to decide,” he said while addressing an election rally here.

    Accusing the TMC of running a “corrupt dispensation”, Shah said the BJP will end “cut money” culture in Bengal.

    Noting that the TMC government has neglected the adivasis (tribals) and Kurmi caste voters, Shah said if voted to power, then every Kurmi and adivasi families will get one job each.

    “We will provide jobs to each adivasi and Kurmi families of the state. The adivasis don’t get MSP for their produce; we will include their produce in the list of crops so that they also qualify for MSP,” he said.

    “We will also ensure that the children of Kurmi family can get education till Class X in their language and that too free of cost,” he said.

    Stressing on the need for pure drinking water in the area, Shah said the TMC government had forced Purulia natives to consume “fluoride contaminated water”.

    “We have will come up with Rs 10,000 crore clean drinking water project in Purulia. Didi has forced you to drink fluoride contaminated water,” he said.

    Highlighting prevalence of dengue and malaria in the area, the senior BJP leader said, “if you want to get rid of dengue and malaria, you have to defeat Didi in the elections.”

    She has a special affinity with dengue and malaria, and that is why she has done nothing to address the problem here.

  • TMC worker killed in clash with CPI(M)-ISF; five arrested

    By PTI
    BARUIPUR: A TMC activist has been killed in a clash with members of opposition alliance CPI(M) and Indian Secular Front (ISF) in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district, police said on Thursday.

    Suddenly, a clash erupted between TMC activists and ISF and CPI(M) members in the area, leading to head injury to 60-year-old Ruhul Amin Middye, a member of the ruling party in the state, a police officer said.

    Middye was admitted to a private hospital in Kolkata, where he succumbed to his injuries, he said.

    Based on a police complaint lodged by a TMC activist, a case has been registered against 15 people, of whom five have already been arrested and a manhunt has been launched to nab the others, the officer added.

  • In shadow of a pandemic: After Bihar, EC set for polls in four states and one UT

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Beating Covid fears, the Election Commission held assembly polls in Bihar, one of India’s most populous states, late last year and is now gearing up for a massive electoral exercise in four states and a union territory.

    The nationwide lockdown that began on March 25 last year brought life to a sudden halt.

    With the infection continuing its spread even after it was lifted, there were apprehensions that holding elections would be fraught with risk.

    However, the elections in Bihar were conducted safely over multiple phases in October and November last year with the poll panel putting strict Covid protocols in place.

    Armed with gloves, masks, face shields and sanitiser for all, the keenly watched Bihar election was the first full-fledged poll to be held in the pandemic with four crore of the more than seven crore voters exercising their franchise.

    “We were able to conduct a COVID-safe election with a voter turnout of 57.34 per cent, which was higher than the 56.8 per cent  turnout recorded during the previous election in 2015,” Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said recently.

    To ensure distancing norms, the Election Commission restricted the number of voters per polling station to 1,000 from 1,500.

    This led to an increase in the number of polling stations.

    Other than Bihar, the EC also conducted elections across several states for Rajya Sabha seats, and by-elections for nearly 60 legislative assembly constituencies.

    Now, campaigning is underway for assembly polls in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Karala and Puducherry.

    The process begins later this month.

    An estimated 18.68 crore voters will be eligible to cast their votes at 2.7 lakh polling stations for 824 assembly seats across the four states and one union territory.

    Once again, to ensure safety of voters, polling staff and security personnel, the Election Commission has procured lakhs of face shields, face masks, single use rubber gloves for polling and security personnel and ‘one hand’ single use polythene gloves for voters to press the EVM button and sign the register at the polling stations.

    While Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry will go for polls in a single phase, Assam will conduct elections in three phases and West Bengal in eight.

    In the 2016 polls, there were 77,000 polling stations in West Bengal, and 11,000 polling stations went to poll per phase.

    Due to distancing norms, the number of polling stations have gone up to 1.1 lakh.

    On an average, over 12,000 poling stations would go for polls in each of the eight phases.

    Some political parties had earlier urged the Election Commission to not hold elections amid the pandemic.

    In August last year, the poll panel had come out with broad guidelines to hold polls amid the coronavirus pandemic.

    When the campaigning was in full swing, it came out with an advisory for parties noting that Covid  norms and health protocols were not being followed.

    According to data made available by the Election Commission here and the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar, 156 cases were registered against “organisers” of rallies and meetings of various leaders and candidates for violating COVID-19 norms.

    Cases were registered against organisers as they had sought permission to hold rallies or meetings in which following health guidelines was mandatory, explained an official.

    Ahead of the three-phase elections in Bihar, the poll panel had made it clear that violation of COVID-19 guidelines during election period would be deemed a violation of Section 144 of the CrPC.

    Nearly 160 tonnes of biomedical waste in the form of gloves, face masks and empty sanitiser bottles used by polling personnel and voters was generated during the Bihar polls.

    Authorities also relied on an inexpensive but effective technology used to track EVMs to ensure that the waste reached public health centres for its onward journey to the incinerator.

  • Congress demands probe into charges of corruption against BJP leaders in Bengal

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Congress on Wednesday demanded a probe into charges of corruption and morality made against BJP leaders in West Bengal in a purported audio clip which has gone viral on social media and questioned the silence of top BJP leaders.

    Congress leaders Amee Yajnik, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Jasbir Singh Gill and Supriya Shrinate alleged at a press conference that the purported audio tape shared by a local journalist is between a BJP candidate and a leader of the party in West Bengal.

    There was no comment available from the BJP on the audio, which was not authenticated by the Congress either.

    “The Congress wants a probe into the charges made in the audio and we expect that the prime minister, home minister and the BJP leadership breaks its silence on the issue,” Shrinate told reporters, adding that a BJP minister in Karnataka had to resign after a video went viral.

  • Bengal polls: Mamata’s assets decreased by 45.08 per cent, says affidavit data

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s asset value has decreased by 45.08 per cent now compared to what it was during the 2016 assembly elections.

    Banerjee, who is contesting this year’s assembly election from Nandigram, has in her affidavit which was submitted along with her nomination to the Election Commission declared her total worth to be Rs 16,72,352.

    The Trinamool Congress supremo’s asset during the 2016 election when she contested from Bhawanipore constituency in the city was Rs 30,45,013, the ‘Analysis of criminal, financial education, gender and other details of candidates’ for West Bengal phase II polling stated.

    Assets of Banerjee’s party colleagues Mamata Bhunia and Sukumar De, who are in the poll fray, decreased by 37.53 per cent and 36.18 per cent respectively.

    CPI(M)’s Panskura Purba candidate Sk Ibrahim Ali witnessed a surpsiring 2141.48 per cent growth in his asset, the highest among candidates between 2016-2021, it said.

    Ali’s total asset during the 2016 elections, when he contested from the same seat was Rs 49,730.

    This year his total worth is Rs 10,64,956.

    TMC sitting MLA of Kakdwip, Manturam Pakhira’s assets grew by a considerable 735.95 per cent, the report said.

    In 2016 Pakhira’s net worth was Rs 8,02,335.

    It has increased to Rs 59,04,754 this year.

    In the second phase polling will be held on April 1 in Bankura (Part II), Paschim Medinipur (Part II), Purba Medinipur (Part II), South 24 Pargana (Part 1).

  • Mamata government keeps state security adviser ‘in abeyance’ till end of assembly poll

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Three days before the assembly poll begins in the state, West Bengal government on Wednesday “kept in abeyance” the state security adviser Surajit Kar Purkayastha till the eight-phase election is over, a senior official said.

    The 1985-West Bengal cadre IPS officer has been in the post since June 2018.

    “Purkayastha, state security adviser, will be kept in abeyance now during the elections. The order will take immediate effect,” the order issued by the state government said.

    The Mamata Banerjee-government had created the post on the lines of the national security adviser (NSA).

    Opposition parties have been alleging that free and fair polling in West Bengal will not be possible unless Purkayastha is removed from the post of the state security adviser.

    The eight-phase poll for the 294 state assembly seats begin on March 27.

    Votes will be counted on May 2.

  • EC orders Yogi government to suspend IAS officer for power misuse in Bengal polls

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Election Commission has ordered the suspension of an Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS officer who was deployed as an observer for West Bengal assembly polls for his alleged misconduct with district officials and misuse of official position among other charges.

    In a letter to the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary, the EC said on Tuesday that disciplinary proceedings should also be initiated against Narendra Prasad Pandey under India Service Rules.

    “Narendra Prasad Pandey, IAS (UP :2010) shall be placed under immediate suspension for his misconduct with district officials, misuse of official position and indulging in behaviour unbecoming of an Observer appointed by the Commission,” the letter said.

    “A charge sheet may be issued to Narendra Prasad Pandey,” the EC said.

    Pandey was appointed as a general observer in Kashipur assembly constituency of West Bengal.

    However, the Commission had to remove Pandey on March 22 “due to his alleged misconduct in order to prevent any flare-up of the situation and to save the dignity of the institution of observer,” the letter said.

  • Bengal polls: Will fight to win, says BJP candidate and retired army man Subrata Saha

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Lt General (retd) Subrata Saha, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate from the prestigious Rashbehari seat in the city for the West Bengal assembly elections, said on Wednesday that he has been a soldier and will fight to win.

    Saying that he is happy to be back in his birthplace, Saha, who resides in the national capital, said that he is eager to get an opportunity to serve the people as their representative.

    “I am a soldier, I will fight where I am told to and I fight to win,” he said on his arrival in the city.

    The former deputy chief of Army Staff is a member of the National Security Advisory Board.

    Claiming that it cannot be denied that there is terror in the environment in the state, which has been plagued by political and electoral violence, he said that development can be ensured only when people are secured against such activities.

  • Governor says concerned about political violence ahead of Bengal polls

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Expressing anguish over incidents of violence in the run-up to the West Bengal Assembly elections, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday asked the police and administration to remain politically neutral.

    “Anguished and concerned at violence @MamataOfficial in Election process. Democracy has no meaning without fair elections,” he said on Twitter.

    Free, fair and peaceful elections are constitutional obligations of the police and administration, Dhankhar said.

    The governor has been vocal about instances of strife among political parties that have been reported from various districts of the state ahead of the eight-phase polls beginning March 27.

    “All, including OCs & ICs at police stations, must be politically neutral. Transgression & violations would lead to punitive actions,” Dhankhar added.