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Tag: BJP

  • UP panchayat polls: Rival sides claim grand show as party symbols not used for contest

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: As counting of votes polled in the panchayat polls progressed across Uttar Pradesh, political parties Tuesday claimed sterling performances, apparently taking advantage of the fact that these elections were not contested on party symbols.

    A senior State Election Commission (SEC) official said Tuesday evening that counting of votes was likely to continue late into the night.

    He, however, could not specify on how many seats counting was underway.

    The counting of votes began Sunday morning at more than 825 centres across the 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh.

    Over 8.69 lakh posts were up for grabs in these polls.

    Of these posts, more than 7.32 lakh seats were in the gram panchayat wards, 58,176 in the gram panchayats, 75,852 in the kshetra (block) panchayats and 3,050 in the zila panchayats.

    The BJP has claimed 918 party candidates have been elected for zila panchayats while over 500 are leading.

    In a statement issued here, Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Swatantra Deo Singh claimed on Monday that in the three-tier panchayat election in the state, over 45,000 party-supported candidates have won the post of village pradhan, while more than 60,000 party-supported candidates have emerged victorious as members of kshetra panchayats.

    “As many as 918 party-supported candidates have won the post of members of zila panchayat,” he had said.

    “On more than 450 seats, the party-supported candidates have taken a decisive lead,” Singh had said, attributing the performances to rural development and farmers’ welfare ensured by the Yogi Adityanath government in the state.

    The Samajwadi Party too claimed a big victory over the BJP in the polls.

    The SP claimed it had won more than half of the posts in district panchayats, while alleging the administration was not handing over certificates to its candidates.

    An SP office-bearer said it has so far won over 800 seats of district panchayat members (out of total 3,050).

    He alleged that BJP men are misusing official machinery and counting independent candidates as those supported by them.

    The SP has not yet released the list of its winning candidates.

    Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav, meanwhile, on Tuesday claimed that in the UP panchayat polls people gave first priority to his party and said that they did a tremendous job to save the democracy by electing his party candidates.

    “Even in the Prime Minister’s constituency (Varanasi) and CM’s turf (Gorakhpur), the BJP had to taste defeat. In Lucknow too, the BJP had to taste defeat despite misuse of official machinery,” the SP chief said.

    He said, “The panchayat election results showed that the BJP is now a sinking ship. Signals emanating from the panchayat polls in the state show that the BJP will be wiped out in 2022 (UP Assembly elections),” he said.

    “A few days are left for the formation of the SP government and removal of the present BJP government,” the opposition leader said.

    Besides the BJP and the Samajwadi Party, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) too claimed big wins in the Uttar Pradesh panchayat election.

    AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said 70 candidates backed by his party were elected as zila panchayat members.

    Over 200 AAP members bagged village pradhan posts, he said.

    The Congress on Tuesday claimed that 389 party supported candidates have won the zila panchayat members’ post in the ongoing panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh, a senior party leader said.

    “As many as 389 party supported candidates have won the zila panchayat members’ post in the ongoing panchayat elections in the state,” UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu told PTI.

    He said that a large number of party-backed candidates have won the post of pradhan of village panchayats as well.

    The state election commission said over 3.19 lakh candidates were elected unopposed in the panchayat election.

    Votes were being counted to declare results for over 3.27 lakh panchayat posts.

    The rest of the posts remained uncontested, the commission said.

    Uttar Pradesh held panchayat polls in four phases ending April 29.

    The election was held at four levels of panchayat bodies, gram panchayat, gram pradhan, block panchayat and zila panchayat.

  • Didi returns: Bengal did choose its own daughter, and embraced so many more

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Large hoardings put up by the TMC which screamed ‘Bangla Nijer Meyekei Chaye’ (Bengal wants her own daughter) in the run-up to the assembly polls were possibly installed with an eye on the decisive 49 per cent female electorate in the state, whose votes were being wooed both by Bengal tigress Mamata Banerjee and rival BJP.

    By the afternoon of May 2, it was loud and clear that women as well as men in West Bengal had not just chosen one daughter – Mamata Banerjee – but several others.

    Women candidates, irrespective of their political affiliation, are basking in electoral glory, with several female nominees emerging triumphant in the high-octane elections, including TMC’s Ratna Chatterjee, Shashi Panja and Chandrima Bhattacharya, and BJP’s Agnimitra Paul, Chandana Bauri and Tapasi Mondal.

    The Trinamool Congress had fielded as many as 50 women candidates this time, while the Bharatiya Janata Party nominated around 37, and both positioned women-centric issues at the heart of their poll campaigns.

    Bhattacharya, the TMC’s winning candidate from Dum Dum Uttar, asserted that her party has always been sensitive to the needs of women, and will continue to empower them.

    “Our poll manifesto has multiple programs for women, including monthly stipend. A lot has been done by our government to ensure that men and women are treated as equals.”

    “The TMC will continue to do its bit for them in the days to come,” said Bhattacharya, who defeated her nearest rival of the BJP, Archana Majumdar, by 28,499 votes.

    Echoing her, Chatterjee, the ruling party’s winner from Behala Purba, said the TMC boss, being a woman, identifies with the problems faced by the state’s women electorate.

    “She is a self-made leader, and would want every woman in the state to become self-reliant, too. The TMC has floated several schemes with an eye on improving living standards of women, prioritised their health and education. As an MLA, I would also strive to uplift the condition of women in my constituency,” Chatterjee said.

    Women’s issues have been a rallying point for both the TMC and its bitter opponent, the BJP, ahead of the elections, with the Mamata Banerjee camp underscoring its welfare schemes such as Swasthya Sathi and Kanyashree, and the saffron party harping on the Centres Ujjwala Yojana.

    “If one woman can show the resolve to fight all- powerful politicians from Delhi on her own, why should the women electorate not take inspiration and be a part of her battle? “Her women nominees deserved every single vote the mothers, daughters and sisters of Bengal gave them,” said Sabita Halder, who exercised her franchise from the Dum Dum Uttar constituency.

    “As a woman, I felt ashamed at Dilip Ghosh’s (Bengal BJP chief) ‘Bermuda’ jibe at Mamata. PM Narendra Modi’s sarcastic ‘Didi o didi’ tone for her was also completely unwarranted. I am sure other women voters, too, took umbrage at such discourse,” Seema Pramanik, a PhD engaged in research work, who voted from the Sonarpur Dakshin constituency, said.

    A video clip of Ghosh apparently suggesting Mamata Banerjee should wear Bermuda shorts to display her injured leg had triggered controversy and outrage back in March.

    According to political analyst Udayan Banerjee, BJP’s aggressive election machinery did work to an extent, and the party managed to pocket some of the prized seats in the state.

    What, however, went against the saffron camp were the barbs its leaders aimed at Banerjee, some of which were in poor taste, he said.

    “The bermuda taunt did not go down well with women voters, who have in large numbers voted for Banerjee and her party. Modi also received flak from several quarters for her ‘Didi o didi’ exclamation in his election speeches. Goes without saying, Bengal did not take kindly to those jibes,” Banerjee added.

    The BJP had also tried to curry favour with Muslim women by patting itself on the back for the initiative to abolish instant triple talaq – branding the move as a step taken towards emancipating them from the clutches of dogmatic practices.

    Asked about the saffron partys persistent claims that women were unsafe in Bengal, Chatterjee — who trounced BJPs Payal Sarkar by 37,428 votes — stated, “Bengal has never experienced a Hathras-like episode, and hopefully it never will.

    “BJP should first check crimes against women in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi before pointing fingers at our state. Women in Bengal are safer than in most other places in the country.”

    A senior BJP leader, who did not wish to be named, claimed that lack of a chief ministerial face or an aggressive woman leader to fight Banerjee has also been a major drawback for his party.

  • Bengal violence: NCW asks DGP to probe incidents of attack on women; Mamata holds emergency meeting

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Tuesday said it has taken suo motu cognisance of videos purportedly showing women being beaten up in West Bengal’s Nandigram after the assembly election in the state.

    West Bengal was in the throes of widespread violence on Monday that allegedly left several BJP workers dead and injured in clashes, and shops being looted, prompting the Centre to seek a factual report from the state government on the incidents of attack on opposition workers.

    In a letter to the director general of police (DGP) of the state, the NCW has sought immediate action against those accused in the violence, and demanded a time-bound investigation in the matter.

    “The National Commission for Women (NCW) has come across several Twitter posts wherein some goons can be seen beating up women in Nandigram, West Bengal, post elections. The commission is deeply perturbed and has viewed this incident seriously as it questions the safety and security of women in the state,” a statement from the commission said.

    ALSO READ | Bengal violence: Trinamool worker stabbed to death in Ketugram; security provided to returning officer of Nandigram

    “Chairperson Rekha Sharma has written to Director General of Police, West Bengal, to take immediate action and arrest the accused persons without any delay,” it added.

    A team headed by the NCW chairperson will be visiting West Bengal for further inquiry into the matter, the statement said.

    Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday held a meeting with the top administrative and police officers of the state on the post poll violence in the state, an official said.

    In the meeting, which was held at Banerjee’s Kalighat residence. She took stock of the situation, he told PTI.

    Present in the meeting were Chief Secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay, Home Secretary H K Dwidevi, Director General of Police P Nirajnayan and Kolkata Police Commissioner Soumen Mitra, the official said.

    The state has witnessed a number of incidents of violence since Sunday when the results of the assembly election was declared and rivals TMC and BJP have traded charges for it.

    At least six people were killed in post poll violence in different parts of the state including one in the city, police said.

    ALSO READ | ‘PM called me, expressed anguish over Bengal’s law and order situation’: Governor on post-poll violence

    BJP has alleged that TMC-backed goons have killed a number of its workers, attacked its woman members, vandalised houses, looted shops of the party members and ransacked party offices.

    TMC has denied the charges.

    West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had telephoned him and expressed anguish over the law and order situation in the state following reports of post-poll violence from several districts.

    Banerjee had on Sunday asked people to show restraint and not be involved in any form of violence.

    The union home ministry had on Monday sought a factual report from the government on attacks on opposition workers and Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had summoned state Home Secretary, DGP and Kolkata Commissioner of Police and directed them to restore peace.

  • Bengal polls: Despite wooing by both BJP and Trinamool, Matuas choose to split votes

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Bharatiya Janata Party in its electoral mathematics for Bengal had counted on the 3 million strong Vaishnavite Matua community spread over the districts of Nadia, South and North 24 Parganas as a major vote bank, with the Prime Minister taking time not only to pay repeated visits to Matua dominated constituencies but even to a Matua shrine in neighbouring Bangladesh.

    However actual voting patterns showed that the Matuas did not vote en-bloc for any one party and preferred to split their vote between both the ruling TMC with which many in the community had good relations them as well as BJP which had launched a charm offensive aimed at the community.

    The saffron party had left no stone unturned to win the Matua community’s favour.

    Besides Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other senior leaders held a series of public meetings in Matua areas.

    The community has the highest concentration in North 24 Parganas and Nadia, along with some places in South 24 Parganas district, but has adherents in other districts and in large parts of western Bangadesh too.

    Hailing from the Namashudra, a scheduled caste, adherents of this Vaishnavite sect are followers of Harichand Thakur a 19th century Vaishnavite reformer.

    While the original seat of the Matua Mahasangha was in Oraikandi in Bangladesh where Thakur was born, Indian Matuas have set up their sects inner sanctum in a new township called Thakurnagar, in North 24 parganas, near the border with Bangladesh.

    However, despite the BJP launching a campaign blitzkrieg in North 24 Parganas, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah holding public meetings to win the hearts of the Matuas, the party could win only five seats out of 33 seats in North 24 Parganas, with TMC accounting for an overwhelming 28 seats.

    It won in Bongaon Uttar, Bongaon Dakshin, Bagda, Gaighata, all of which have a sizeable presence of Matuas and are reserved for the SC communities, apart from Bhatpara.

    All the four constituencies are situated near the Bangladesh border and have a good percentage of refugees from the neighbouring country.

    The BJP-nominated Subrata Thakur, belonging to the family that runs the Matua Mahasangha, won from Gaighata with a margin of 9,578 votes.

    The BJP made a good showing in Nadia, where it won nine out of 17 constituencies, while TMC bagged eight seats.

    However, the spread of BJPs influence in Nadia pre-dates the partys wooing of the Matua community.

    The saffron party won all the five seats reserved for scheduled caste communities in the district – Krishnaganj, Ranaghat Uttar Purba, Ranaghat Dakshin, Haringhata and Kalyani, all of which have a high concentration of Matua voters.

    The Matua community, after the death of their matriarch Binapani Devi, popularly known as “Boro Ma” in March 2019, has split into two groups.

    While one has sided with the TMC, the other seems to have favoured the BJP.

    Both the BJP and the TMC have wooed the Thakur family, descendants of Harichand Thakur to gain the support of Matuas.

    The prime minister, Union Home Minister and several cabinet ministers have visited the Matua Mahasangha headquarters, while the TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee too has often spoken of her close relations with “Boro Ma”.

    Shah in his campaign stressed implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in West Bengal and grant of citizenship to Matuas, many of whom had moved in from Bangladesh as refugees.

    Addressing a rally at Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas, where the Matua Mahasangha is headquartered, Shah had in February said that the process of granting Indian citizenship to refugees under the CAA will begin once the process of Covid vaccination ended.

    TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, who has opposed the CAA and NRC tooth and nail, also held a number of public meetings in the Matua dominated constituencies of Nadia and North 24 Parganas, stressing that they are already citizens of the country and do not need to go through the process again.

    Besides, the 28 seats TMC won in North 24 Parganas, the party also won all the 31 seats in South 24 Parganas, where the Matuas have a presence in quite a few seats.

  • No place for violence in democracy, Mamata Banerjee should control it: Congress attacks Trinamool

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: After the BJP and the CPI-M, the Congress also condemned the post-poll violence in West Bengal by TMC cadres, saying such incidents were unacceptable and people of the state have not voted for lawlessness.

    Congress’ West Bengal incharge Jitin Prasada alleged on Tuesday that his party cadres were attacked by Trinamool Congress workers and even women and children were not spared.

    “The post-poll violence that has been unleashed by the TMC on the Congress workers is unacceptable. Even women and children are not spared. I’m sure the people of West Bengal did not vote for this lawlessness,” Prasad said on Twitter.

    He said the duty of every politician or public servant is to speak up against “all wrongs and stand by their cadre irrespective of which ideology one belongs to”.

    Asked about the post-poll violence taking place in West Bengal after the Trinamool Congress’ victory in the state, Congress spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil said his party never condones such violence.

    “Congress has never supported any kind of violence. The Congress party never condones or supports any kind of violence. There is no place for violence in a democracy,” he said.

    “We expect that if Mamata Banerjee has received so much love and votes in Bengal, she should control the violence,” he said.

    The Congress leader said, “Even if those who have died are BJP workers, our condolences are with their families”.

    The BJP has charged that the state is burning due to state-sponsored violence and several of its workers have been assaulted and murdered.

    The Left has also claimed that its workers have been targeted.

    “Are these reports of gruesome violence in Bengal TMC’s “victory celebrations’? Condemnable.”

    “Will be resisted & rebuffed. Instead of focusing on combating the pandemic TMC unleashes such mayhem,” CPI(M) leader had Sitaram Yechury tweeted.

  • J&K Congress seeks Union minister Jitendra Singh’s resignation over corruption charges

    By PTI
    JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir Congress on Tuesday demanded the resignation of Union minister Jitendra Singh and a high-level probe into allegations of corruption levelled against him by BJP leader and former MLC Vikram Randhawa.

    The Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) too demanded a probe into the matter.

    J-K BJP secretary Randhawa, who is the president of Stone Crusher Owners Association, has levelled serious allegations against Singh’s office in Jammu over the issue of mining policy and also threatened to immolate himself.

    The party’s disciplinary committee served Randhawa a show-cause notice, hours after he went public against Singh.

    On Tuesday, a group of Congress workers led by its youth wing president Uday Bhanu Chib assembled at the party’s headquarters here and staged a protest to press for the Union minister’s resignation.

    “Randhawa’s sensational disclosure removed the lid on the nexus between the mining mafia and the BJP. There should be a high-level probe into the allegations,” Chib told reporters.

    Earlier, Congress councilor Gaurav Chopra alleged that the auctioning of minerals and wine shops was a well-planned conspiracy to loot the locals.

    The J&K Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) also took strong exception to the allegations levelled by Randhawa and sought the resignation of Singh pending a high-level probe.

    “The serious allegations of ‘hafta culture’ under the patronage of higher-ups need a probe. Let the law of land and propriety take its course,” the JKPCC said in a statement.

    It said a high-level probe is a must to expose the alleged nexus.

    “This is a test case for the Modi government and the UT administration, and heads should roll to send a clear message, otherwise people will further lose faith in the system,” the statement said.

    JKAP provincial president and former minister Manjit Singh too said an impartial probe was imperative to uncover the alleged involvement of the Union minister and mining officials.

    “A probe is must to expose the mining mafia and their associates which ultimately compelled a former legislator of the ruling political party to speak publicly against his own party leaders, mining department officials and police department,” he said.

    “Families of local miners have been suffering due to this nexus, which works in a well-organised manner. We will not allow the mining mafia to flourish in J&K,” the JKAP leader added.

  • Sharad Pawar to work for Opposition unity ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls: NCP

    NCP national spokesman and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik referred to the statement of TMC chief Mamata Banerjee who reportedly said that the unity of the Opposition is necessary.

  • ‘Remember, Trinamool MPs, CM also have to come to Delhi’: Parvesh Singh’s ‘warning’ after Bengal violence

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: BJP MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Monday alleged that Trinamool Congress “goons” assaulted his party workers in West Bengal after the TMC’s victory in the state polls, and issued a “warning” to the rival party — TMC MPs, chief minister and MLAs will also have to come to Delhi.

    “An election involves wins or losses, no murder,” the West Delhi BJP MP said in a tweet in Hindi, tagging TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee.

    “TMC goons killed our (BJP) workers as soon as their party won the elections. They broke the vehicles of BJP workers and are setting their house on fire. “Remember!” he said in his tweet, “TMC MPs, Chief Minister and MLAs will also have to come to Delhi and they should take this as a warning. An election involves wins or losses, no murder.”

    Earlier in the day, BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya accused the Trinamool Congress of “sponsoring” violence against his party workers following the TMC’s victory in West Bengal polls.

    Vijayvargiya, who is in West Bengal, said BJP president J P Nadda may visit the state on Tuesday as an expression of solidarity with the party workers.

    Four BJP workers have been killed and over 4,000 houses ransacked in incidents of post-poll violence, he alleged.

  • BJP leader Gaurav Bhatia moves SC against violence in West Bengal; seeks CBI probe

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: BJP leader Gaurav Bhatia Tuesday moved the Supreme Court seeking CBI investigation into “rampant violence” including murder and rapes allegedly by Trinamool Congress party workers across West Bengal “before, during and after the assembly elections”.

    Bhatia, a senior advocate, in his intervention application filed in his pending 2018 PIL has sought a direction to the state government to file a detailed status report about the FIRs registered, arrests made and steps taken against perpetrators of violence.

    “The instant application is being preferred. to bring to the notice of this court, the brutal murders and commission of serious crimes like rape and molestation, blatant violence and the complete breakdown of law and order machinery in West Bengal before, during and after the recently concluded assembly elections in the state,” Bhatia said in his plea.

    Trinamool Congress Party has swept West Bengal assembly polls by winning over 200 seats in a 294 seats house.

  • Bengal burning due to state-sponsored violence: BJP hits out at Mamata government

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The BJP on Monday attacked the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC over the alleged killing of its party workers in West Bengal, and charged that the state is burning due to state-sponsored violence.

    Comparing the TMC with Nazis, the BJP dubbed the government is Bengal as fascist.

    The BJP on Monday had alleged that four of its workers were killed in West Bengal by TMC workers after the state assembly poll results.

    Banerjee led her party Trinamool Congress to a massive win in the West Bengal assembly elections announced on Sunday.

    Addressing a virtual press conference here, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra charged that, “Bengal is burning because of state-sponsored violence. Such scenes have never been witnessed in the country’s electoral history.”

    He said one should be gracious after winning polls while terming the violence in Bengal as painful and saddening.

    Speaking at the same press conference, another party leader and its candidate in the West Bengal assembly polls Anirban Ganguly said people who voted for the TMC in Bengal should ask whether whatever happening in Bengal is right.

    “Whatever the TMC is doing is very close to Nazi Germany’s fascism. This is a fascist government. Such incidents do not take place in a democratic government,” Ganguly said and asked where are the political leaders of other opposition parties and why are they silent about this.

    Expressing anger over the alleged killing of party workers, Patra said 2.28 crore Bengalis voted for the BJP and asked is it not their democratic right to vote for any party?.

    “Mamata Ji you have won and everyone has congratulated you for it. You are a woman and the daughter of Bengal. Aren’t these women who are being killed and raped daughters of Bengal? Do they deserve this?” asks Patra.

    He said the party will firmly stand behind BJP workers in Bengal and support them in this hour.

    “BJP president JP Nadda Ji will personally visit them. The same Nadda Ji, who was attacked by TMC goons earlier,” he said.