News Analysis India

Tag: Bengal elections

  • Bengal polls: Jhargram’s elderly woman casts first vote through doorstep facility

    By PTI
    JHARGRAM: Eighty-two-year-old Basanti Shit in West Bengal’s Jhargram district was among the first to have exercised her franchise in the assembly elections through doorstep voting facility, an official said on Wednesday.

    The octogenarian cast her vote from the comfort of her home on Tuesday as the Election Commission has made provision for voting through postal ballot for senior citizens above 80 years of age and persons with disability.

    Seven others from her ward, including six octogenarians and another person with disability, have also cast their votes through postal ballots.

    “A team of poll personnel and agents of parties, along with a few CRPF personnel and policemen went to the woman’s house on Tuesday morning.

    A cardboard structure was set up at her residence so that she can cast her vote in secret.

    “Her family members were not allowed to enter the room where the poll was conducted. The ballot paper was kept in an envelope and sealed in front of her. The polling process was videographed,” the EC official said.

    Four assembly constituencies in Jhargram will go to the polls in the first phase on March 27.

    Her grandson said she was delighted as she was able to exercise her franchise from home.

    “My grandma cannot walk properly. It would be very difficult for us to take her to the polling booth. As the Election Commission has allowed senior citizens and persons with disability to vote through postal ballots, we have opted for this. She is very happy,” the grandson said.

    Around 86 teams of polling personnel will visit residences of people who opted for the doorstep voting facility for the next six days ahead of the first phase polls, the official said.

    Electors who qualify to vote from home in Paschim Medinipur, Bankura and Purulia, where polling will be held in the first phase, will also get a chance later this week, he added.

  • Bengal polls: Another police observer arrives in state, Howrah SP removed

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Another police observer for the assembly elections in West Bengal Anil Kumar Sharma arrived here on Wednesday to oversee preparedness for the polls, a source at the CEO’s office said.

    The Election Commission had on Monday appointed Sharma, a retired IPS officer, as the new police observer.

    The poll panel had earlier appointed Ajay V Nayak as the special general observer and Vivek Dubey as the special police observer.

    They have been holding meetings with government officials to overview poll preparedness and take stock of the law and order situation in the state.

    “The new police observer will meet the officials soon,” the source at the office of chief electoral officer said.

    B Murli Kumar has also been appointed as the special expenditure observer.

    Elections to the 294 assembly seats in West Bengal will be held in eight phases between March 27 and April 29.

    Votes will be counted on May 2.

    Meanwhile, the Election Commission on Wednesday removed the superintendent of Howrah (Rural) Soumya Roy aS Trinamool Congress has nominated his wife, actor Lovely Moitra as candidate for Sonarpur Dakshin assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district for the coming Assembly poll in West Bengal, an official said.

    Roy was replaced by Shrihari Pandey and will not be allowed any poll duty this time, he said.

    “The transfer is based on a general principle that close relatives of active public representatives may not be assigned such duties during elections which may create perception of biases/partiality,” the poll body official said.

    The EC asked state chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay to confirm that all senior officials connected with the conduct of elections have given the certificate that they are not a close relative of any of the contesting candidates in the coming assembly poll in West Bengal.

    The EC should be informed immediately if there is any such case, the communication said.

    Incidentally soon after Moitra was named as the TMC candidate by party supremo Mamata Banerjee on March 5 the EC had received several complaints questioning how her husband could continue as the SP of Howrah (Rural).

    In another directive the EC said that if an officer needed to leave his/her headquarter then specific written permission of the chief secretary has to be obtained before they do so during the election period.

    The chief secretary should ensure that such officers do not get involved in any way with political activities of their spouses, it added.

  • Bengal polls: TMC claims flaws in Suvendu Adhikari’s poll affidavit, writes EC 

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday wrote to the Election Commission requesting it to remove the name of Suvendu Adhikari from the electoral roll of the Nandigram Assembly constituency.

    The TMC has accused Adhikari, who is contesting against CM Mamata Banerjee, of furnishing false particulars about his residence.

    Adhikari’s name is mentioned in the electoral roll of the Haldia constituency. A voter’s name cannot exist in two electoral rolls at the same time. Adhikari is a voter of the Haldia constituency and he migrated to Nandigram from where he is contesting, the letter read.

    In the letter, the TMC also mentioned the observation of a state government official who found him not present at his residence at the time of verification.

    On March 15, Suvendu Adhikari had filed a complaint at the Commission alleging that Mamata Banerjee had suppressed facts in her affidavit by not mentioning criminal cases pending against her.

  • ‘My leg injury result of BJP plot to keep me indoor’: Mamata reiterates conspiracy charge

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that the leg injury she sustained in Nandigram on March 10 was part of the BJP plot to keep her indoor ahead of the polls which led to the injury on her leg.

    “I underwent surgeries in my eyes, hands, and abdomen. In the past, CPI(M) used to beat me and now it is BJP. My legs were the only limbs that were left unhurt. This time, they injured it too,” the CM said.

    Sitting in a wheelchair, she addressed two back-to-back rallies in Junglemahal’s Gopiballavpur and Lalgarh, the epicentre of the Maoists’ movement in 2009, on Wednesday. 

    The Bengal CM alleged she was hit by the front door of the car while greeting the crowd. In the video message from SSKM hospital the next day, Mamata distanced herself from the conspiracy theory saying she was greeting the party supports in Nandigram standing on the footboard and suddenly the crowd came close to her vehicle sandwiching her between the door and the seat.

    ALSO READ | Bengal polls: Mamata releases pro-women TMC manifesto, promises 5 lakh jobs annually

    The Election Commission of India (ECI), in a recent statement, described the Nandigram incident as an accident. The ECI said it came to the conclusion on the basis of the report submitted by the chief secretary and the two special observers and suspended the director (security) Vivek Sahay.

    Mamata alleged that the saffron brigade would try to create unrest in Bengal during the elections. “BJP’s one thousand leaders are camping in Bengal. Before the poll days, thousands of hooligans from other states will enter West Bengal by rail and road. Borders are needed to be sealed,” she said.  

    Mamata also hit out at Narendra Modi. “He (Modi) starts his speech with two Bengali words and then start uttering lies. Remember, if the BJP comes to power in Bengal, they will decide what you will eat. When BJP was in power in the neighbouring Jharkhand, lands of the poor tribals were snatched away,” she said while addressing a rally at Lalgarh in the Jhargram district.

  • Bengal polls: Trinamool, BJP opt for star appeal in youth connect, Left welcomes activists

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA: Bengal’s two main political forces, Trinamool Congress and BJP, are banking on the star appeal of young Bengali actors to win a few constituencies.

    Most of their young candidates are from the world of films and TV serials.

    The Left in contrast has chosen a different path.

    After being criticised for years for being unable to unearth new faces, CPI(M) has fielded a number of youngsters, mostly present or former leaders of the party’s student wing.

    Among the seven young faces of CPI(M), Aishe Ghosh and Dipsita Dhar are research scholars of Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University and known as firebrand student leaders.

    The rest are prominent faces visible in recent movements against the Centre and state government.

    Continuing the trend in Bengal politics introduced by TMC in 2011, the ruling party has fielded eight actors. Following in its footsteps, BJP have pitted five from the Bengali movie and TV serial circuit.

    For the Nandigram seat, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is taking on BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, CPI(M) has fielded the 36-year-old Minakshi Mukherjee, state president of Democratic Youth Federation of India.

    ALSO READ | From JNU to Jamuria: Aishe Ghosh to test her brand of politics in Bengal polls

    “The youth, working class and women are hitting the streets against state-sponsored corruption,” said Minakshi.

    President of the JNU students’ union, who was injured in an attack on the campus, Aishe is contesting from Jamuria in West Burdwan.

    Dishita, a PhD scholar at JNU, is a candidate from Bally in Howrah. Pritha Tah, 28-year-old daughter of CPI(M) leader Pradip Tah who was murdered in 2012, is contesting from Bardhaman South.

    “It’s not about personal grief or hatred against the killers of my father. In communism, one doesn’t inherit any personal agenda. One inherits the will to fight against class oppression,’’ said Pritha.

    The CPI(M) has also fielded youth wing leaders Sayandeep Mitra and Monalisa Sinha in the Kamarhati and Sonarpur North constituencies, respectively.

    In contrast, TMC candidates chosen for their glamour quotient like Sayantika Banerjee, Sayani Ghosh, Kaushani Mukherjee and Soham Chakrabarty are rank newcomers in politics.

    In the elections held in Bengal from 2011, TMC often opted for actors. 

    Taking a leaf out of Mamata’s book, BJP too has given tickets to actors Anjana Basu, Payel Chakrabarty, Yash Dasgupta, Hiranmoy Chakrabarty and Anjana Basu.

    Taking on Basu in Sonarpur Dakshin is TMC’s Lovely Maitra, a face from TV serials. Political observers find inclusion of youngsters in CPI(M)’s list to be a new trend.

    “Young candidates have broader perspective. This may not secure satisfactory electoral dividend immediately, but in future it will deliver a message to the youth,’’ said Bishnupriya Dutta Gupta, a professor of political science.

  • Bengal polls: Amit Shah summons emergency meet following protests over tickets to TMC turncoats

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA: Union Home minister Amit Shah held an unscheduled overnight meeting with state BJP functionaries on Monday following protests by the party supporters against the decision of giving TMC turncoats tickets to fight polls. 

    He summoned the state BJP leaders and national leaders, who were camping in Bengal, to Delhi for an emergency meeting.

    Shah, who addressed a rally in Bankura on Monday, landed in Kolkata on his way to Delhi from Assam. In a five-star hotel, he convened a meeting which continued till dawn on Tuesday.

    “The meeting was held in the backdrop of sporadic protests in districts and in front of our Kolkata party office at Hastings. The party’s old supporters came from at least five Assembly constituencies in South 24-Parganas, Howrah, and Hooghly districts and staged demonstrations for the two days after the candidate list for 63 seats were announced on Sunday. Shah was not happy with the explanations given by the party’s state functionaries,” said a senior BJP leader.

    ALSO READ | Bengal polls 2021: BJP supporters continue protests over party’s candidate selection

    BJP senior functionaries, including the national vice-president Mukul Roy, state president Dilip Ghosh, Bengal observer Kailash Vijayvargiya and other national leaders left for Delhi on Tuesday night.

    On Monday, Roy and BJP’s Barrackpore MP Arjun Singh faced demonstrations when they were entering the Hastings office. Protesters, brandishing placards, demanded the withdrawal of the names of the TMC turncoats who were given tickets.

    The first incident of discontent surfaced in Singur and Hooghly after the saffron camp announced that TMC’s incumbent MLA, Rabindranath Bhattacharya, who joined the BJP last week, will contest from the Assembly constituency. The demonstrators locked a Madhya Pradesh minister, who was in Singur, in a room demanding withdrawal of Bhattacharya’s name.

    The protests spread to Hastings office when the BJP supporters found TMC turncoats, who joined very recently, have been given tickets.

    The BJP has announced the candidate list for 123 Assembly constituencies out of 294. “The party leaders went to Delhi with the candidate list for remaining 171 seats,” said a BJP leader.

    Sayantan Basu, BJP’s general secretary in Bengal, said many activists joined the party recently. “It is because many of the protesters were aspiring to contest in the upcoming elections and the agitations were a reflection of their frustration. We will sort out issue shortly,” he said.

  • ‘Only 45 days left’: Adityanath begins countdown for ‘downfall’ of Mamata govt

    Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BJP’s star campaigner Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the Trinamool Congress claiming that only 45 days were left for Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal.

    Addressing three back-to-back election rallies in Purulia, Bankura, and Medinipur, the UP CM took a dig at his West Bengal counterpart over her ‘Chandi Path’ during a public meeting in Nandigram recently.

    Mamata is in the fray from Nandigram against her own party’s turncoat Suvendu Adhikari who had been fielded by the BJP.

    Adityanath said that TMC’s defeat in the upcoming polls was certain and that the BJP would form the next government in the eastern state with a thumping majority.

    He also took a jibe at Mamata and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for their religious symbolism during the polls. “Now Mamata Banerjee and Rahul Gandhi are also going to the temple. This is our achievement,” the CM said.

    The BJP star campaigner said that the chant of ‘Jai Sri Ram slogan’ irked Mamata Banerjee, but “when I come here, everyone welcomes me with Jai Sri Ram slogan”.

    The UP CM played out the ‘Ram’ factor repeatedly saying no one could separate Lord Ram from the people of West Bengal. “Anyone, trying to separate us from Lord Ram, will be rid of power. By opposing the chants of Jai Shree Ram in the state, Mamata Didi has locked her fate. Now the people of West Bengal will not tolerate her,” Adityanath said.

    ALSO READ | BJP’s performance in upcoming Bengal polls will be like Sourav Ganguly’s batting: Rajnath Singh

    Raising the issue of alleged corruption prevailing in administration in West Bengal, UP CM said at the Bankura rally that during the TMC regime ‘cut money’ and ‘tolabazzi’ culture had flourished in West Bengal whereas the BJP had inculcated the culture of ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’ in the country since 2014.

    Counting the benefits of the central welfare schemes extended to the people in Uttar Pradesh, CM Yogi said that when such a huge population of the state could get those benefits why the people of West Bengal were kept deprived of them.

    He claimed that the goons of TMC did not let the money meant for the poor reach them in West Bengal.

    Claiming that he belongs to the land of Lord Krishna and Lord Ram, Yogi said West Bengal which had always been a nerve centre for the change, was set to show the door to TMC goons who would be adequately dealt with after the formation of the BJP government in the state after May 2. He reminded the gathering of how over 130 BJP workers were killed by the TMC goons in West Bengal.

    “Bengal has given us national anthem, national song. It is time for the prevailing lawlessness to end in this state. Anarchy will end in West Bengal as soon as the BJP will form the government here,” said Yogi Adtiyanath.

    He also referred to the allegedly poor implementation of central schemes owing to which he claimed that people of Bengal remained deprived of the benefit of a lot of welfare schemes like housing, free gas connections, free power connections Kisan Samman Nidhi, to name a few.

  • EC appoints retired IPS Anil Sharma as fouth observer for Bengal polls

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Election Commission on Monday appointed a fourth observer for poll-bound West Bengal for the coming ensuing assembly election, a source at the office of the CEO here said.

    The EC has appointed retired IPS officer Anil Kumar Sharma as the new police observer, he said.

    “We have three observers working here in West Bengal. Another police observer has been appointed and he will be reaching the city on March 17,” the official said.

    “We already have observers at places where the election is slated in the first and second phases (March 27 and April 1)” he added.

    The EC has already appointed Ajay V Nayak as the special general observer and Vivek Dubey as special police.

    B Murli Kumar has been appointed as the special expenditure observer.

    Meanwhile, the CEO has received at least 176 nominations for the second phase of polling in 30 constituencies.

    TMC and BJP have filed nominations for all the 30 seats, CPI(M) in 15, Congress in 9, BSP in 7, Left Front constituents AIFB in 2 and CPI 2, he said.

    Nominations have also been filed by 34 independents and 47 others, he added.

    Monday was the day for scrutinising nominations for the second phase of the elections.

  • 79 Bengal BJP leaders get VIP security amid ongoing protests from saffron party cadres

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: As many as 79 BJP leaders from West Bengal, including the turncoats and the new joinees, have been accorded VIP security by the Centre ahead of the Assembly elections in the state.

    While BJP leaders Jitender Tewari, Hirenmay Chattopadhyay, Yash Dasgupta and Sravanti Chatterjee have been assigned Y-category security of the CISF, actor-turned-politician Payal Sarkar got X-category security, officials said on Monday.

    Recently, the Centre accorded ‘Y+’ VIP security cover to veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty, who recently joined the BJP.

    Officials said the security cover will be provided by the CISF that has a dedicated wing for this task, called the special security group (SSG).

    ALSO READ | ‘My one leg is enough to boot BJP out from Bengal’, says wheelchair-bound Mamata

    “Chakraborty has been given a ‘Y+’ cover and armed CISF commandos will accompany him during poll campaign in West Bengal,” a senior officer said. Earlier, those provided with the VIP security cover include new entrants to BJP-former cricketer Ashok Dinda, former TMC leaders and legislators Bansari Maity, Dipali Biswas, Baishali Dalmiya, Saikat Panja, Biswajit Kundu, Shilabhadra Dutta.

    BJP Lok Sabha MPs Kunar Hembram, Subhas Sarkar and Jagannath Sarkar and state committee member Krishnendu Mukherjee have also been provided with the central security cover.

    The Home Ministry decides the level of protection an individual needs based on inputs from intelligence agencies which include the IB and R&AW. 

    Meanwhile, protests were held on Monday outside the BJP’s office here and elsewhere across Bengal over the second list of poll candidates released by the party a day ago, laying bare the rift between old-timers and new entrants.

    Irate activists broke guard rails and demonstrated in front of the BJP’s Hastings office to stop party national vice president Mukul Roy and senior party leader Arjun Singh from entering its premises.

    A section of demonstrators even banged on the bonnet of Roy’s car and threatened to storm the office, as the police faced a difficult time controlling them.

    “We demand immediate withdrawal of TMC turncoat Mohitlal Ghati’s candidature in Panchla. We cannot accept him as a nominee,” one of the agitators said as she lay flat on the road outside the party office.

    In Hooghly district’s Singur assembly constituency, BJP activists locked up party functionaries in their office over the nomination of another TMC turncoat and sitting MLA Rabindranath Bhattacharya.

    The octogenarian leader switched camp after being denied a ticket by the ruling party.

    Around hundred BJP supporters in Raidighi assembly segment of South 24 Parganas held demonstrations all day in protest against the nomination of TMC defector Santanu Bapuli.

    “He was involved in attacks mounted on us, he had tried to crush the BJP,” a party supporter said.

    ALSO READ | ‘What about the agony of families of BJP workers killed in TMC rule’: Amit Shah to Mamata on her injury

    Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, party general secretary Arun Singh along with Union ministers from West Bengal, Babul Supriyo and Debasree Chaudhuri, released the names of 63 candidates for the third and fourth phase of polls, to be held on April 6 and 10.

    Massive protests erupted in various parts of the state following the announcement, with several leaders openly expressing dissatisfaction over the candidature of newcomers.

    In north Bengal, agitators took to the streets to oppose the nominations of former chief economic adviser to the government, Ashok Lahiri, from Alipurduar and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha turncoat Bishal Lama from Kalchini.

    “We don’t know who is this Ashok Lahiri and why was he nominated. Old-timers from Alipurduar are being ignored. Bishal Lama joined the party just two days ago and he was nominated. Local BJP workers will never accept this,” a saffron party leader, who did not wish to be named, said.

    Referring to the demonstrations, BJP spokesman Shamik Bhattacharya claimed “these are stray incidents.”

    “The BJP is growing in size, as more and more people join the party. The number of aspirants has also increased. There are bound to be some problems, but that will be addressed soon,” he added.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • ‘My one leg is enough to boot BJP out from Bengal’, says wheelchair-bound Mamata

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA: Union Home Minister Amit Shah and West Bengal Chief Minister locked in a war of words on Monday during their campaigning in Junglemahal over the issue of the recent “attack” on the latter.

    Referring to the event in which Mamata was sandwiched between the front door of her car and the seat while greeting people standing on the footboard, Shah said, “You were in pain after the mishap. When our 130 party workers were killed because of your politics of violence, did you feel any pain? Did you feel the pain of the mothers of our martyrs?” He was addressing a rally at Ranibandh in Bankura.

    Shah had to cancel his Jhargram visit after his helicopter developed a technical snag.

    Taking a jibe at the Bengal CM for her initial reaction describing the Nandigram event a ‘conspiracy’, Shah, without naming Mamata said, “I arrived here late because my helicopter developed a technical snag. I am not raising any conspiracy theory. The incident in Nandigram was described as an attack but the Election Commission of India said it was an accident.”

    ALSO READ | Bengal govt appoints Gyanwant Singh as director security following ECI order

    Mamata, while addressing her first rally in Purulia’s Baghmundi on a wheelchair with her left foot in casting, said many people thought she would be confined at home. “After I was injured, many thought I would not be able to come out of my home. I faced many attacks and was injured on several occasions. But nothing could stop me from reaching out to the people. I will travel across the state in a wheelchair. I will not cow down due to the attack. My one leg is enough to oust BJP from West Bengal,” she said.

    Urging young supporters to join the electoral battle, Mamata said, “Do not sit idle. If I can fight with a broken leg, then why can’t you?”

    Campaigning the second day in a row in a wheelchair, Mamata called Prime Minister Narendra Modi “incompetent” and accused him of running the country in an autocratic manner.

    “People from the civil society, who raise voice against the government, are silenced. Political parties are being silenced. I will continue to fight against this. The incompetent Prime Minister is running the country in an autocratic manner,” she hit out.