News Analysis India

Tag: Bengal elections

  • HC says it expects parties will adhere to COVID protocols on counting day in Bengal

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Friday said that it expects political parties, their candidates and supporters will adhere to the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Covid-19 protocol on May 2, the day of counting of votes, keeping in view the Covid-19 pandemic situation.

    A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Arijit Banerjee also said that it expects the guidelines are enforced by the state agencies and the Election Commission of India in West Bengal including in and around the offices of political parties.

    A PIL before the court raised concerns over adherence to the COVID-19 protocols at the time of counting of votes and declaration of the results of the West Bengal assembly elections on May 2.

    The counsel for the petitioner submitted that to celebrate victory of a candidate of a party in an area, supporters may assemble in and around the party office and that there are chances of violation of the Covid-19 protocols.

    State Advocate General Kishore Dutta submitted that the Ministry of Home Affairs has issued an order on April 29, specifying the directions to be followed for Covid-19 management, which are applicable throughout the country irrespective of any election or not.

    The guidelines prohibit political, social, religious or any other kind of gathering, he submitted before the court.

    The high court on April 22 expressed dissatisfaction with the Election Commission of India over enforcement of Covid-19 health safety norms during the West Bengal assembly election process, including campaigning.

  • ‘Awaiting people’s verdict’: Congress on exit poll projections

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: With exit poll projections painting a bleak picture for the Congress, the grand old party appears set to draw a blank in another election cycle, except in Tamil Nadu, where it could piggy-ride a regional party to victory.

    The Congress, however, appears in no position to challenge its rivals in Kerala, Assam, West Bengal and Puducherry, and could face further decimation if the exit poll projections hold on May 2, the result day.

    The party says exit polls are only projections and it would wait for the final verdict of the people.

    In what could come as a huge blow to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) is projected to retain Kerala, bucking the trend of governments alternating every five years in the southern state.

    For the first time in four decades, the ruling alliance, led by the Left, is set to retain power in Kerala, with the Congress’s internal factionalism looking to prove costly for the opposition party, according to the exit polls.

    Senior leader from the southern state P C Chacko quit the party on the eve of the polls, triggering anxieties and rumblings in its Kerala unit.

    The fact that the Congress has the maximum number of Lok Sabha MPs from the southern state, including Gandhi from Wayanad, would make matters worse for the Nehru-Gandhi scion.

    Knives would be out for the former Congress chief and his sister and AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra should the party lose the electoral contests in Kerala and Assam, the only states where it was in a position to win.

    The exit polls have predicted victories for the incumbent governments in both these states — the BJP-led dispensation in Assam and the LDF in Kerala — with the Congress failing to make a mark or win people’s confidence.

    If the poll results follow the estimated trends, the leadership of the Gandhis would once again come under question in the party, where the “G-23” (Group of 23) leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma, are waiting to make their next moves.

    Considering Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were the principal campaigners for the Congress in both Assam and Kerala, question marks on their performance would be evident.

    “Exit polls are always an estimation exercise for laying the groundwork for discussions. The Congress party fought a good election unitedly and we shall await the final verdict of the people,” Congress’s chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.

    Senior Congress leader Ashwani Kumar agreed that the exit poll projections are disappointing for his party and said, “I hope the actual results are better.”

    He said in any case, the party needs to revisit its processes and politics to remain relevant as the alternative pillar of national politics.

    “Hopefully, the results of such introspection will yield a stronger party,” the former law minister said.

    It is also important for the Congress to take the lead in bringing the opposition parties together on a single platform, he said.

    “In these extraordinary times, when there are no easy answers, the nation is looking for credible, moral and ideological leadership that can translate into reality the national aspiration for a liberal democracy, based on inclusion and justice,” Kumar said.

    In West Bengal, the Congress is projected to end up a distant fourth, with insiders saying the alliance with the Indian Secular Front (ISF) could have cost it dearly.

    One of the G-23 leaders, Sharma, had publicly opposed the Congress’s alliance with the ISF, saying a secular party could not strike communal pacts.

    Similar alliances of the Congress in Assam and Kerala will also be dissected should the May 2 results disfavour the grand old party.

    With Puducherry likely to go the BJP-led alliance’s way, the Congress’s sole ray of hope would be Tamil Nadu, where the exit polls have predicted a clear victory for the DMK-led coalition.

    But that would hardly be any succour to a national party, which would fail to make its independent mark in any state and need to piggy-ride the DMK to secure a lame victory in one state.

    The post-election phase in the Congress would be crucial with the debate on leadership set to get revived, especially in light of the January 22 decision of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) that the party “will have a new president by June at any cost”.

  • ‘Trinamool candidate ran over three CPI(M) supporters with vehicle’: Biman Bose

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Left Front chairman Biman Bose Thursday accused Trinamool Congress candidate from Domkal in Murshidabad district of having run over three CPI(M) supporters with his vehicle, leading to the death of one of them.

    Two others suffered serious injuries, he claimed.

    The TMC has denied the charge.

    Bose alleged TMC candidate Jafikul Islam went to the Uttar Shahbazpur area around midnight with five vehicles.

    “Islam’s vehicle ran over some people as he left the area,” the veteran leader said in a statement, adding, it was a “deliberate” act.

    Kader Mondal succumbed to injuries, while Wasim, Al Mamun and Lalchand Mondal are undergoing treatment at Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital, Bose said.

    Demanding immediate legal action against the accused, he said, “We are also drawing the attention of the Election Commission over the incident.”

    Elections to the Domkal constituency were held on Thursday in the eighth and final phase of the West Bengal assembly polls.

  • ‘Trinamool linking COVID surge with polls sensing defeat’: Dilip Ghosh attacks Mamata

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The BJP’s West Bengal president Dilip Ghosh on Thursday claimed that the Trinamool Congress is linking the spike in COVID-19 cases with the eight-phase assembly election in the state as the ruling party has sensed imminent defeat.

    West Bengal is in the eighth spot among the 10 worst coronavirus affected states and none of the other nine experienced polls, he said.

    Chief Minister and TMC supremo had repeatedly urged the Election Commission (EC) to club the last three phases of the polls as COVID-19 cases surged and indicated that the poll panel did not do it at the behest of the BJP.

    The eighth and final phase of polling was held on Thursday.

    “Sensing imminent defeat, the TMC is desperately targeting the Election Commission linking the coronavirus surge with the multiphase polling which was required to ensure free and fair voting,” the Medinipur MP told reporters.

    If large rallies and the multiple-phase election really contributed to the spike, a surge in COVID-19 cases would have been seen at Haldia where Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a rally in March, or in the Jangalmahal region which went to polls in the initial phases, Ghosh said.

    Union Home Minister Amit Shah also held rallies at various places but no surge was found in those areas, the BJP leader said.

    Asserting that he had addressed numerous meetings throughout all the phases and tested negative for the virus several times, he said, “There cannot be a definitive link between coronavirus surge and polls and crowding. Many people including editors of media houses who sit in sanitised cabins with all precautions have been infected.”

    He asked people not to be swayed by the TMC’s propaganda blaming the EC, BJP and the polls, as it was aimed at creating panic among voters.

    “Let there be more in-depth studies about the reasons behind the sudden spike in COVID cases. Let doctors, experts deliberate and guide us about how to fight this menace unitedly,” he said.

    Ghosh held the TMC government responsible for the lack of health consciousness among a large section of the public who do not wear mask in public places.

    “The casual approach of the Mamata Banerjee government during last year’s lockdown, the frequent changing of lockdown dates and the whimsical relaxations proved that this government was not serious in tackling the issue. This resulted in lack of discipline on hygiene issues among a large section of people,” he said.

    After the BJP government takes over, it will deal with the second wave of the pandemic in a serious manner and take steps in consultation with experts, Ghosh said.

    He praised the EC for holding “a peaceful election in a free and fair atmosphere”.

    “Excepting a single firing incident, the polls were not marked by violence,” Ghosh said apparently referring to the firing by CISF personnel at Sitalkuchi constituency in Cooch Behar district during the fourth phase of polling on April 10, in which four persons were killed.

    “That incident, though unfortunate, had instilled fear among trouble makers and contributed to largely peaceful elections in later phases,” he said.

    Ghosh, who predicted that the BJP will win more than 200 seats in the election for the 294-member assembly, sidestepped a question on who will be the chief minister if the saffron party forms the government.

    “It will be decided by the party after the results are announced,” he said.

  • ‘Despite price slash, states to pay double that of Centre for COVID vaccine’: Abhishek Banerjee

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Senior Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday said that the price of COVID-19 vaccine for states has been reduced by Rs 100, but still they are forced to part with double the amount of what the Centre will pay to the manufacturer.

    Serum Institute of India (SII) — the maker of Covishield, the most used vaccine against coronavirus in the country — on Wednesday announced a cut in price of the jab it plans to sell to states to Rs 300 per dose from the earlier Rs 400.

    This follows widespread criticism of its pricing policy as it has sold the initial doses of Covishield to the central government at Rs 150 per dose.

    “After great embarrassment over vaccine prices, the Centre has reduced it for the states from Rs 400 to Rs 300. However, the Centre is still procuring the vaccines for Rs 150, and the states have been forced to pay double the amount. This differentiation is unjustified,” the TMC MP from Diamond Harbour tweeted.

    “Is the PM creating this unjust difference because 63% of India never voted for him?” he asked.

    Banerjee, the president of the youth wing of the Trinamool Congress, also alleged that the Narendra Modi government “is looting the states and taking cut money from vaccines meant to save the people of our country from this devastating pandemic”.

    Interestingly, the BJP during the election campaigning in the state has repeatedly alleged that people of West Bengal have to pay “cut money” (bribe) to get government benefits under the TMC regime.

    Banerjee also demanded one price for vaccines for the entire country.

    The SII, which manufactures the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine at Pune, had on April 21 announced a price of Rs 600 per dose for private hospitals and at Rs 400 for state governments and for any new contract by the Centre.

  • ‘Ill thought out’: Trinamool hits out at EC COVID guidelines for agents, candidates

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The TMC has termed a recent Election Commission notification listing COVID protocols for counting agents in the ongoing Assembly polls as “ill-thought out”, pointing out several contradictions in the order.

    In the order, the EC has given directions for submission of a negative COVID test report of an election agent, counting agent and/or candidate before they are permitted to enter the counting hall.

    “However, the time mandated for providing such a negative report has been stated as within 48 hours of start of counting, which effectively means by May 4, 2021.

    Please clarify your intentions,” the TMC said in a letter addressed to the poll body.

    It also said that while the EC has mandated candidates to submit a list of counting agents by 1700 hours on April 29, as per directions, there is a provision for replacement of such counting agent “in case report is positive”.

    “In other words, if one of the counting agents whose name has been given as per directions is found to be COVID-19 positive, in such a case please clarify what would be the procedure and time frame for replacement of such counting agent.

    “We call upon you to immediately address the aforesaid concerns and clarify the same,” the Bengal party said.

    Candidates or their agents will not be allowed inside counting halls without a negative coronavirus report or without having both COVID-19 vaccine doses, the Election Commission said on Wednesday in its latest guidelines for counting of votes on May 2.

    Issued amid spiralling coronavirus cases, the guidelines bar public gatherings outside venues during the counting process, but allow candidates to name a fresh agent if the first one tests positive for COVID-19.

    Counting of votes for assembly polls in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry, besides various other assemblies and Lok Sabha bypolls begins at 8 am on May 2.

    “No candidates or agents will be allowed inside the counting hall without undergoing RT-PCR/RAT test or without having two doses of vaccination against COVID-19 and will have to produce negative RT-PCR report or RAT report or vaccination reports within 48 hours of start of counting,” the guidelines read.

  • People should win, says Bangladeshi MP, original creator of Trinamool’s ‘Khela hobe’ slogan

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: A political game will be successful only if there is no loss of life and people smile in the end, believes Bangladesh’s ruling Awami League MP Shamim Osman, considered the creator of the ‘Khela hobe (game will happen ) slogan, used amply by the Trinamool Congress during the ongoing assembly elections in West Bengal.

    The two-word slogan ‘Khela Hobe’ of the TMC has become so popular during the high-octane campaigning that even the BJP, which is trying to dethrone the Mamata Banerjee government, has used it in its own way.

    Talking to PTI from Dhaka in an exclusive interview, the MP of Narayanganj-4, said that he started using the slogan in 2016 in an entirely different context, when they were fighting “anti-independence forces” in Bangladesh, but will be happy if the people on the other side of the border win the ‘khela’ and there is no bloodshed.

    “I have heard that politicians in Bengal have been using the Khela hobe slogan. But I do not know in what context they are using it. It will be the asol khela (real game) if the people of Bengal win it,” the sexagenarian politician said.

    Asked in what context he had coined the ‘Khela hobe’ slogan in 2016, Osman said that it was used against the anti- liberation forces of Bangladesh.

    The senior Awami League leader alleged that the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) were against the nation’s freedom but they got a chance to be in full-fledged politics.

    “The Jamaat along with the BNP had carried out destructions in Bangladesh for at least three months during 2013-14. People will not forget that. It was at that point of time we coined the khela hobe slogan (at a public rally).”

    “You want to play, okay fine. let’s play. We wanted to show them who has the support of people. The game was between those who were against independence and those who were in favour of independence, in favour of peace. And it was proved that people were with us,” Osman said.

    This year, The TMC’s Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal first started using the slogan and later the party’s theme song was written with the two words coming as a refrain.

    After that, every TMC leader including Chief Minister and party supremo Mamata Banerjee was heard uttering ‘Khela hobe’ in their public meetings.

    “In India, people who are into politics were never against the independence of the country and they all wanted the country to stay together. But in Bangladesh, this was not the case. That’s the beauty of Indian politics,” he said.

    Osman said he had shared a very cordial relationship with India’s former President Pranab Mukherjee and ex-chief minister of West Bengal Jyoti Basu.

    “I was very close to Pranab Mukherjee and Jyoti Basu. Pranab-babu was like a father figure to me. And I have seen how cordial these politicians were towards each other despite their ideological differences,” the Awami League MP said.

    He expressed hope that India will achieve the status of a superpower.

    “We, who are in the Sheikh Hasina government, want the Indian democracy to flourish more. The more India will be powerful, Bangladesh will progress. India is trying to be a superpower whereas we are developing,” he signed off.

  • EC issues notice to Bengal minister Firhad Hakim for his speech allegedly inciting violence

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Tuesday issued a notice to senior Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal minister Firhad Hakim for his speech allegedly inciting violence.

    He has been given 24 hours to explain his remarks.

    The BJP had recently moved the commission with a complaint alleging that Hakim had incited voters to carry out violence against the party.

    According to a portion of his speech made part of the notice, the senior TMC leader had asked people to hit BJP members.

    He also made remarks against a central police force deployed in the state.

    Besides citing provisions of the model code, the notice also referred to advisories issued by the EC to political parties on their conduct during polls.

    The campaigning for the West Bengal polls has ended and the last phase of voting will take place on April 29.

  • Bengal parties welcome EC’s ban on victory processions after poll results

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Cutting across differences, political parties in West Bengal Tuesday welcomed the Election Commission’s decision to ban all victory processions after the declaration of results of the assembly polls in four states and a union territory in order to check the surge in coronavirus.

    The EC on Tuesday decided to make more stringent the provisions to be followed during the process of counting.

    “No victory procession after the counting on May 2 shall be permissible,” an order issued by the poll body to chief electoral officers of all states and UTs said.

    Trinamool Congress MP Sougata Roy said the decision was welcome though the party had put it to practice after winning the 2011 assembly election.

    Roy further said the EC decision, taken after the Madras High Court lambasted the poll panel for rise in corona cases in the poll-bound states and UT, would be followed in letter and spirit by his party.

    The Madras High Court had on Monday castigated the Election Commission over the COVID-19 second wave in the country holding it ‘singularly’ responsible for the spread, called it the “the most irresponsible institution” and had even said its officials may be booked under murder charges.

    BJP state vice-president Joy Prakash Majumder said due to the surge in Covid-19 cases the EC took the right decision of not allowing victory rallies.

    “We welcome the EC directive. BJP will ensure no victory procession will be taken out during and after counting is over,” he added.

    CPI-M leader Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya said the EC decision is welcome.

    “However processions should have been banned by the EC earlier during the last phases of the assembly poll when the COVID-19 surge started,” he said.

    WBPCC President Adhir Chowdhury also praised the EC decision in view of the situation.

    “We had earlier urged the EC to stop the gathering of people during campaign meetings when the COVID-19 surge became prominent. We are happy the EC prohibited the victory processions,” he said.

    While the eighth and last phase of election will be held in West Bengal on April 29, the voting exercise is over in Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and in the union territory of Puducherry.

  • ‘Keep COVID beyond politics’: BJP to Trinamool ahead of last phase of polling

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Blaming the ruling Trinamool Congress for engaging in politics over the spike in COVID-19 cases in the country and West Bengal, the BJP on Tuesday said it is not the right time for the Centre and the state to be involved in a conflict.

    BJP state spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya told reporters here that the ruling party, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, is continuing its diatribe against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah “unfairly blaming them for the crisis”.

    “While a new state government will be formed after May 2, for the remaining days, the outgoing Trinamool Congress government should keep the COVID-19 issue beyond politics as saving lives of people is the most important thing at this juncture,” Bhattacharya said.

    As per international commitment, India had to export some vaccines to the neighbouring countries but that cannot be linked to the virulent second wave of coronavirus which has engulfed other nations as well, the party spokesperson said.

    Referring to the the TMC leader’s “outsider jibe” at BJP workers from other states who are campaigning for the ongoing assembly polls in West Bengal and blaming them for the rise in COVID-19 cases, the BJP leader asked “Does she consider the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister to be outsiders?” Asserting that such comments are “alarming and pose a threat to the country’s integrity”, Bhattacharya said, “Many people from Bengal, including migrants, students and professionals are living in other states. The ‘outsider campaign’ of the Trinamool Congress may create adverse effect on them.”

    He also alleged that the state government did not inform the Centre about its COVID-19 management and planning in past three months.

    On the tirade of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee against the Election Commission, Bhattacharya said “Attacking EC is akin to attacking a constitutional body. Uttering EC’s name along with the BJP is unacceptable.”

    Claiming that voters were happy with the polling exercise this year, Bhattacharya asked “Did anyone allege before TV cameras that we couldn’t vote? “Compare this to the situation few years back or during last panchayat and municipal elections held under State Election Commission.”

    Objecting to the oft-repeated charges levelled by the Trinamool Congress against EC that clubbing the remaining three phases of assembly polls could have checked spread of COVID-19, he said, “There was no election in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh or Madhya Pradesh.

    “Then why are those states affected by the second wave of COVID-19? The EC took all safety protocols. Did the TMC strictly abide by the guidelines in its rallies?” Rubbishing the claim made by the TMC chief about COVID-19 vaccines being given from BJP party offices in Gujarat, Bhattacharya described it “as absurd and a pack of lies.”