News Analysis India

Tag: Bengal Polls Bengal Elections

  • Bengal polls: Trinamool MLA alleges bombs hurled by BJP-backed goons in North 24 Parganas

    By ANI
    NORTH 24 PARGANAS: TMC MLA Nirmal Ghosh has alleged that miscreants backed by the BJP hurdled bombs in the Panihati area on Saturday night.

    According to TMC workers, BJP miscreants hurdled bombs on BT Road in Panihati after the polling for the fifth phase ended on Saturday. The miscreants threw the bombs from running vehicles and fled immediately.

    “BJP is trying to create unrest in the area. They (BJP) hurdled bombs to panic people. The BJP goons came from Bhatpara, Kamarhati and Titagarh. People cannot tolerate this kind of violence,” TMC MLA from Panihati Assembly Nirmal Ghosh told ANI.

    However, the local BJP workers denied the allegations.

    Police reached the spot after the information. The investigation is underway.

    In another incident, BJP workers were allegedly attacked by TMC workers in the Madhyamgram area on Saturday night after the conclusion of polls. Four BJP workers sustained serious injuries in the incident.

    “Raj Kumar Ghosh sustained critical injuries. Initially, he was taken to Madhyamgram Rural Hospital but later referred to Barasat State General Hospital. The other injured are admitted to Madhyamgram Rural Hospital,” a BJP worker told ANI.

    The polling in the Panihati and Madhyamgram assembly constituencies were held on Saturday during the fifth phase of the West Bengal assembly elections.

    The state has a history of violence during elections. Keeping this in mind, the Election Commission has been conducting this year’s assembly polls in eight phases.

    The voting for the sixth phase will be held on April 22.

  • CBI summons Abhishek Banerjee’s brother-in-law in illegal coal-mining case

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The CBI has summoned the brother-in-law of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee on March 15 in connection with an illegal coal-mining case, officials said on Friday.

    Ankush Arora, the husband of Banerjee’s sister-in-law Menaka Gambhir, and his father Pawan Arora have been asked to appear before the investigating officer in the case on March 15, they said.

    The central probe agency recently questioned Banerjee’s wife Rujira and sister-in-law Menaka Gambhir in the case pertaining to illegal coal mining and pilferage from the mines of the Eastern Coalfields Limited.

    West Bengal is set to witness an eight-phase Assembly election starting March 27 and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading a vigorous campaign in the state to oust the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), which had secured consecutive electoral wins in 2011 and 2016 under its leader Mamata Banerjee.

    Abhishek Banerjee, the Lok Sabha MP from the Diamond Harbour constituency and the nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, wields considerable influence in the party and has been leading the TMC’s counter-attack in the run-up to the Assembly polls.

  • ‘Attack’ on Mamata: Bengal CM stable, responding well to treatment, says hospital

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The health condition of West Bengal Chief MInister Mamata Banerjee, who is nursing injuries suffered during poll campaigning at Nandigram, is stable and her improvement is satisfactory, doctors said on Friday.

    Banerjee slept well at night and is responding well to treatment, said doctors at the state-run SSKM hospital, where the TMC supremo was rushed to on Wednesday after being allegedly pushed by unknown people while campaigning for the assembly elections in Nandigram in Purba Medinipore district.

    “Our team will review her condition this morning. They may cut open the temporary plaster on her left leg to see how the injury has healed. A few medical tests might also be conducted,” a senior doctor told PTI.

    The swelling on her left ankle has subsided and she is feeling less pain in her neck, shoulder and waist, he said.

    “We generally advise patients with similar injuries as that of Banerjee at least three to four weeks of rest,” the doctor said.

    The 66-year-old chief minister will try out different kinds of wheelchairs soon, he added.

    Asked when Banerjee could be discharged from hospital, the doctor said the team would be assessing her health condition on Friday morning and take a call accordingly.

    The Trinamool Congress boss had suffered injuries on her left leg and waist as she fell on the ground following the alleged attack.

    She is undergoing treatment at the 12.5 special cabin of Woodburn Block at SSKM Hospital.