News Analysis India

Tag: BJP

  • Bengal polls: EC notice to Suvendu Adhikari for alleged communal overtones in speech

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Thursday issued a notice to Suvendu Adhikari, the BJP candidate from Nandigram in West Bengal, for alleged communal overtones in his speech made last month.

    He has been asked to respond to the notice within 24 hours.

    The notice said the poll panel received a complaint from Kavita Krishnan of CPI-ML Central Committee in which it was alleged that on March 29 Adhikari delivered a “hate speech” in Nandigram while addressing a public meeting.

    “Election is knocking at the door. You are not giving votes to Begum. If you vote for Begum there will be mini Pakistan. (Barely audible). A Daud Ibrahim has come up in your locality. We will note down everything. What is the government doing? What is the use of it? “Which puja celebration is coming next? Ramnabami. With which flower did Ramachandra worship Maa Durga? All of you should, therefore, vote for lotus. You should press the button against number 1. In the first phase of the election votes have been cast against the politics of appeasement,” the notice quoted portion of his speech.

    Adhikari asked if people understood the meaning of appeasement.

    “As the election is going on we have to be cautious about our language. Do you understand what does appeasement mean? Do you understand the meaning of appeasement? Yes, you understand.”

    “Didn’t they say after the Lok Sabha vote that they are ready to accept even the blows from those who were beneficial to them? This is appeasement. In the first phase votes were cast against appeasement. This time also votes will be cast against appeasement. The Panchayats of TMC involved in the Amphan relief scam are roaming around”, the notice quoted him.

    The EC referred to two provisions of the Model Code of Conduct which state that criticism of other political parties, when made, shall be confined to their policies and programmes, past record and work.

    Criticism of other parties or their workers based on unverified allegations or distortion shall be avoided.

    Another provision states that there shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes.

    The notice said the EC has been found to be in violation of certain clauses of the model code.

    Adhikari is pitted against chief minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram which went to polls on April 1.

  • Tollygunge: Babul Supriyo takes on Trinamool heavyweight Aroop Biswas in the battle for Bengal’s tinsel town

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The high profile Tollygunge seat, considered a hub of the Bengali film industry, is all set for a clash of titans as Union minister Babul Supriyo is pitted against TMC heavyweight and PWD Minister Aroop Biswas with the cine industry’s development as their main poll plank.

    Apart from the development of the area which witnessed a spurt in the construction business in the past 20 years or so, it is the film industry that drives the politics in the seat.

    A firm control over the film industry is a must to win the seat.

    The CPI(M), which was the runner up in the 2016 polls, has fielded a fresh face – actor Debdut Ghosh – in the constituency which has several film studios and will go to polls in the fourth phase on April 10.

    With the TMC and the BJP locked in a bitter battle for Bengal, the film industry has now been polarised on political lines.

    But control over the industry is incomplete without a victory in the seat, situated in posh South Kolkata and home to mixed demography of Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, upper-middle- class, refugees and Hindi speaking people.

    The BJP has fielded two-time MP and Union minister Babul Supriyo, also a renowned singer, to wrest the seat from the three-time TMC MLA Aroop Biswas who has a long association with the film industry.

    Supriyo, the BJP MP of Asansol in Paschim Bardhaman district, is confident of unsettling the clout of Biswas.

    “A syndicate raj has been established in the film industry by the TMC and Biswas brothers (Aroop and Swarup). For the development of the Bengali film industry, this syndicate raj has to end. The BJP will take it forward to new heights,” Supriyo said.

    The union minister alleged that the studio para — the neighbourhood of New Theatres studio, Technicians Studio and the NT1 studio — has witnessed “unprecedented coercion” by the two brothers who forced technicians and artists to either follow their diktats or go without a job in these 10 years.

    “We will end this dictatorship. A large section of artists and technicians have already publicly pledged their support (to us). Others will come out after May 2 (when results will be out),” he said.

    The BJP leader also said that the “syndicate raj and cut money culture prevalent in the construction sector” in Tollygunge must stop.

    In West Bengal, ‘syndicate’ means the business run by persons allegedly enjoying political patronage, who force promoters and contractors to buy construction materials, often of inferior quality, at high prices.

    CPI(M) candidate Debdut Ghosh said that although the TMC has established a “reign of terror in the industry”, but choosing the BJP would be a “harakiri” as the parties are two sides of the same coin.

    Aroop Biswas, however, said that the TMC has worked for the industry’s development and has taken it to new heights in the last 10 years.

    “The BJP and Bengali culture are anti-thesis of each other. Both can never go together. Those joining the BJP will soon realise this and regret their decision,” the three-time MLA said.

    Rubbishing Supriyo’s allegations, Biswas said, “The government only comes in when there is a crisis in the film industry, and various bodies seek its intervention.”

    He claimed that unlike the CPIM regime, there had been no interference in businesses and entrepreneurial activities in the past 10 years.

    However, The TMC’s influence over the Tollygunge-based film industry, known by its portmanteau Tollywood, since even before Mamata Banerjee’s ascendance to power in 2011, seems to have been waning with several celebrities shifting their allegiance to the saffron party.

    Ironically, the BJP, which seeks to unseat the TMC from power, has taken a leaf out of Banerjee’s strategy of soliciting the tinsel town’s support towards its causes and fielding actors in elections.

    The BJP, which attempts to shed the “outsider” tag and make a place in the Bengali psyche, has left no stone unturned to attract big names of the film industry into the fold.

    The TMC, which has an affinity for celebrities and has several actors as its MLAs and MPs, too fielded a considerable number of cine stars in the elections.

    A huge rally of technicians were taken out in Tollygunge to protest against the alleged attempt by saffron forces to sow seeds of discord in the entertainment industry, said Swarup Biswas, the president of an association of technicians.

    However, Sanghamitra Choudhury, BJP leader and office-bearer of another union of artists and technicians, said, “The intimidation and threat of Biswas brothers won’t continue. Supriyo’s election will be a game-changer.”

    The segment also witnessed a high voltage campaign as yesteryear actress and Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan held a colourful roadshow canvassing for Aroop Biswas, while BJP national president J P Nadda took part in a roadshow in favour of Supriyo.

    The assembly segment has been a bastion of the CPI(M) since the early 1960s.

    However, in 1996, the Congress won the seat.

    Since 2001, it has been a stronghold of the TMC, and Aroop Biswas has been its representative since 2006.

    The constituency has a huge refugee population in areas like Bijoygarh, Ranikuthi and Netajinagar, where people from erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) had settled in the 50s and 60s.

    They are also a key to victory in this assembly segment, which has 2,69,358 voters.

    Although Biswas is known for his availability 24*7, there are allegations that TMC councillors of the constituency are not found at the hour of need.

    Dipankar Ghosh, a voter in the Regent Park area of the constituency, said, “People are aggrieved due to the shoddy and preferential rescue and rehabilitation work during the Cyclone Amphan (in May 2020) when people in many localities had to spend 5-6 days without electricity.”

    Sabyasachi Basu, another resident, said although there has been considerable development in civic issues, the TMC representatives are not seen regularly in their localities.

  • Bengal polls: Former Trinamool minister Rajib Banerjee fights for political survival

    By PTI
    DOMJUR: The message Rajib Banerjee, former Trinamool Congress minister, now with the BJP, wants to sell to the people of Domjur in Howrah district is that he may have changed his team jersey colours, but he remains the same man.

    Banerjee, who is seeking re-election for the third time after crossing over to the saffron camp in January, is fighting a fierce battle for survival not only against rival candidates, but against the TMC message that the party led by chief minister Mamata Banerjee was bigger than individual politicians.

    The Domjur constituency, which comprises urban clusters and rural swathes, was traditionally a Left-bastion with the CPI(M) wining the seat from 1977 to 2006, but is set to witness a tug of war between the centrist TMC and right- wing BJP this time round.

    The former state minister, who had won the seat twice on a TMC ticket, is campaigning on his track record of getting development work done over the last five years.

    Banerjee who had won the seat for the first time in 2011 by defeating CPI(M)’s Mohanta Chatterjee by around 24,000 votes, increased his winning margin to over 1 lakh in the last assembly election with a massive 67 per cent vote share.

    ‘Aakranta Aamraa’ (We the Victims), a forum of alleged victims of human rights violations during the TMC rule, had fielded Pratima Dutta, wife of murdered green activist Tapan Dutta, from this constituency in 2016.

    The Left Front supported Dutta came a distant second while the BJP came third.

    A saffron surge in the 2019 general elections changed the political scenario as BJP emerged as the main challenger to the ruling TMC in Domjur assembly segment which is part of the Sreerampur Lok Sabha constituency.

    Though the TMC managed to retain its lead by around 55,000 votes in the last Lok Sabha polls, the saffron camp came second.

    Banerjee, as a BJP nominee, is now working assiduously to grab a slice of TMC’s minority-vote share in the constituency, which stands at 35-40 per cent.

    Notwithstanding the protests against him in some localities where he was shown black flags, the former state minister has been intensively campaigning in minority- dominated areas such as Bankra to woo voters and come up with a winning formula.

    “Trinamool is trying to create disturbances in some pockets where they want to secure 100 per cent votes. People in minority areas know me and are aware that I do not discriminate among people while working for their development,” the saffron party candidate said.

    Questioning the political credibility of Rajib Banerjee who “enjoyed all the power as a minister in the TMC government and switched sides prior to the polls”, the local ruling party workers asked whether an MLA can work for his constituency unless the government supports him.

    The party has fielded Kalyan Ghosh, considered to be close to TMC heavyweight from Howrah and state minister Arup Roy.

    “Last time he (Banerjee) won the seat with record margin as people voted for Mamata Banerjee and her work record. Now he has backstabbed the party. Where was his personal charisma, when he lost in the 2006 elections? “Our government has undertaken a slew of development projects and welfare schemes across the state.

    Domjur is no exception,” Ghosh, who was a Zilla Parishad member, said.

    Attacking the TMC government over its “failure” to create job opportunities, Banerjee sought to punch a hole in the ruling party’s poll plank of securing the top spot for implementation of the 100-day rural job scheme, declaring it as “a reflection of West Bengal as a failed state”.

    Despite a strong minority vote bank balance, the TMC is feeling the pinch from allegations of ‘syndicate raj’, atrocities and support for illegal constructions, besides charges of nepotism against a section of local TMC leaders.

    “Condition of roads has improved, but drainage system needs an overhaul. Lack of piped drinking water, a perennial issue has been addressed to some extent. Still, this remains an issue,” Manotosh Panja, a retired school teacher and a resident of the Salap area, said.

    Banerjee alleged TMC was afraid of his growing popularity in the assembly and had fielded two independent nominees who are the namesakes of Rajib, to mislead people.

    The ruling party described the allegation as baseless.

    The Left-Congress-ISF supported CPI(M) candidate Uttam Bera is reaching out to the people and also hopeful of wresting the seat from the ruling TMC.

    He said a majority of the 2.99 lakh electors will “reject the politics of switching sides and favouritism”.

    The Domjur constituency will go to the hustings in the fourth phase of the assembly elections on April 10.

    The vote count will be on May 2.

  • ‘Won’t change my stance against communal division of votes’: Mamata replies to EC

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA:  Mamata Banerjee has replied to the Election Commission’s notice the way she can.

    Asked to show cause for violating the model code of conduct by allegedly asking the Muslim community to vote en bloc for TMC in the Assembly elections, the West Bengal chief minister said the EC can serve as many notices it wants.

    She will continue to raise her voice against any attempt to divide voters on communal lines.

    The poll panel had on Wednesday issued a notice to Banerjee for violating the model code of conduct, after she allegedly urged the Muslim community to vote en block for the TMC at a public meeting in Tarakeshwar.

    The TMC supremo, during her campaign in the Domjur Assembly seat, also sought to know why no complaint has been registered against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that he often makes references to Hindu and Muslim votebanks in his speeches.

    “You (EC) can issue 10 showcause notices to me but my reply will be the same. I will always speak against any division in Hindu, Muslim votes. I will always stand against division of voters along religious lines.

    “Why has no complaint been filed against Narendra Modi, who every day talks about Hindu and Muslim (votebanks)? How many complaints have been lodged against those who had uttered the word ‘mini Pakistan’ during the Nandigram campaigns?” Mamata said.

    Blaming BJP for “spreading lies” about Section 144 in an entire constituency, Mamata said: “They (BJP) spreads lies to create panic. In reality, Section 144 is in force within 200 metres of a booth. But they are doing this to prevent our voters from going to polling stations.” She asked polling agents to protest against “misdeeds” by BJP.

    Making light of Modi’s ‘Didi o Didi’ barb during his rallies, Banerjee said “Everyone has his or her own style of speaking, own rhetoric. Keep mocking me as many times as you want. But if you cross the lakshman rekha, it will only be a reflection of your personality.”

    Maintaining that the BJP has deployed men and machinery to hound political opponents, she claimed that national channels are also being forced to telecast news suiting the party’s interests.

    Describing TMC turncoat and BJP candidate from Domjur, Rajib Banerjee, as a “traitor”, the ruling camp supremo said, “He has betrayed those who had voted for him in 2016. I am sorry I could not see his true colours back then,” she said.

    The fesity leader, while addressing a public meeting in Sreerampur, Hooghly district, further claimed that central forces might visit villages to intimidate people, and asked voters to be on their guard.

    She said that the paramilitary personnel are working at behest of Home Minister Amit Shah.

    “I have great respect for the central paramilitary forces but they are working on the instructions of Amit Shah. They are committing atrocities on villagers on the eve of the polling day, and also on the day of voting. Some are even harassing women. They are asking people to vote for the BJP,” she claimed.

    Banerjee called upon the state police force and said, “Your job is to ensure free and fair polls, please be stern with trouble-makers and keep your integrity intact. Do not bow your heads before Delhi.”

    Asking villagers to file complaint in case of any unwarranted use of force by the paramilitary personnel, the chief minister said, “If the police station refuses to lodge an FIR, inform us.

    Hitting out at the BJP for “spreading misinformation about promulgation of section 144″, the TMC supremo said, They (BJP) peddle lies to create panic.

    In reality, prohibitory orders are in force within 200 metres of a booth. They do so to prevent voters from going to polling stations.”

    The CM asked polling agents to protest against the “misdeeds of the BJP and the security forces”.

    Accusing the BJP of having imposed “article 356-like (President’s rule) situation” in Bengal, with the EC taking arbitrary decisions, Banerjee said “District magistrates and director generals of police have been removed. They have also asked a top retired police officer not to occupy any post after superannuation. However, the poll panel did not mind appointing retired officers to oversee elections here.”

    Earlier in the day, during her address in Balagarh, the CM asked voters not to turn West Bengal into “another Gujarat” by voting for the saffron party.

    “If you wish to protect the oldest Durga puja in Guptipara (part of the Balagarh seat), and if you wish to protect our festivals, please ensure BJP’s defeat,” she said.

    Banerjee reaffirmed that her dispensation is committed to protecting the sanctity of Rathyatra in Mahesh, Christmas fervour at Bandel Church, Santhal festivals in Jangalmahal.

    The TMC boss, in a bid to woo the electorate in Behala, also stated that the Joka-B B D Bagh metro line was conceived during her stint as railway minister.

    Continuing her tirade against the BJP government at the Centre, she said plans were made to “impose COVID-19 lockdown in the state during the voting phase to stop people from exercising their franchise, but the idea could not be implemented as I had strongly opposed it.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • Bengal polls: Nadda’s ‘uproot Trinamool’ call amid NRC worries in districts adjoining Assam

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA:  With 48 hours to go for the fourth phase of polls in West Bengal, BJP’s Bengal chapter organised a high-decibel campaign in Alipurduar on Thursday featuring its national president JP Nadda.

    The procession, decorated with balloons, placards, flags, travelled through the heart of the city. Alipurduar, comprising five Assembly constituencies, is one of the two districts in north Bengal where first phase of polls will be held on Saturday.

    Urging the crowd to shout Jai Shri Ram, Nadda gave a call to wipe out Trinamool Congress from north Bengal.

    “We performed impressively in north Bengal in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections because of your overwhelming support. This is the time to complete the work, which is uprooting the TMC from north Bengal. This will begin from the Alipurduar district,’’ Nadda said.

    In the 2019 general elections, BJP bagged seven Lok Sabha seats out of eight in north Bengal, forcing TMC to return empty handed.

    Congress had won the Malda (south) seat.

    Thousands joined the roadshow and they came from Alipurduar’s adjoining areas including Banerhat, Cooch Behar.

    Sources in the BJP said that the party high command is treating the districts of Cooch Behar and Alipurduar as priority because they are adjacent to Assam.

    “Names of many relatives of the electorates living in these two districts were left out of the final NRC list in Assam two years ago. Our leadership wants to ensure that there will be no adverse impact of it among those electorates in Cooch Behar and Alipurduar,’’ said a senior BJP leader.

    Eyeing a massive victory in the northern part of the state again, Nadda said: “The people of north Bengal have been deprived of all benefits and the Bengal chief minister has been sitting idle during the 10 years of her tenure. Voters of this region can bring a change in Bengal’s seat of power. North Bengal is going to play a crucial role in derailing Mamata Banerjee’s government and replace it with the BJP.’’

    Among the 54 Assembly constituencies in north Bengal, the BJP secured lead in 35 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.  

  • CPM doubts EC’s neutrality; says TMC, BJP may join hands in case of hung assembly

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The CPI(M)’s West Bengal secretary Surya Kanta Mishra on Thursday questioned the Election Commission’s impartiality and claimed that the Trinamool Congress and the BJP may join hands if both the parties fall short of requisite numbers to form the government.

    Mishra alleged at a press conference that despite the Sanjukta Morcha of the Left parties, Congress and the Indian Secular Front (ISF) lodging several complaints of electoral malpractices with the EC, none of them was addressed as the poll panel is only interested in “pleasing the TMC and the BJP”.

    When asked whether there are chances of the Sanjukta Morcha joining hands with the TMC in case of a hung assembly, the senior CPI(M) leader termed it a “hypothetical question”.

    “The Sanjukta Morcha is fighting to form the government in the state.

    Rather, you might find the TMC and BJP joining hands to form the government in case of a hung assembly,” Mishra said.

    In the assembly election in the state, the saffron party is trying to dethrone the TMC while the Mamata Banerjee-led party is seeking to return to power for the third time in a row.

    Three of the eight phases of polling have been completed.

    “That is why we appeal to people to ensure that that the two parties cannot form the government even after joining hands,” Mishra said.

    He also alleged that there are serious questions over the EC’s neutrality this time.

    “We have lodged several complaints, but none of those is being addressed. Several incidents have taken place, but no action has been taken. It seems they (EC) are only working towards pleasing the TMC and the BJP,” he told the Meet the Press programme organised by the Press Club Kolkata.

    TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee has also been accusing the poll panel of working in favour of the BJP.

  • Bengal polls: Tea garden workers hope for better future amid promises by political parties

    By ANI
    JALPAIGURI: The tea garden workers of West Bengal, reeling under financial crisis and lack of basic facilities such as sanitation and shelter, are hoping for a change in their fortunes after the Assembly polls as the leaders from across the political spectrum are making a plethora of promises.

    There are around 450 big and small tea gardens in north Bengal which employ about 5 lakh people directly and more than 25 lakh people indirectly. The votes of tea garden workers hold decisive sway in 45 Assembly constituencies of north Bengal.

    Chanmati Parda, a tea garden worker, said, “I can not say anything right now who will win or who will lose. We are facing lots of problems and the lockdown only worsened them. We even do not have access to basic facilities like toilets. I hope the political parties fulfill their promises that they are making in election campaigns.”

    Another tea worker, Shefali, said they only get Rs 202 per day which is not enough.

    “Leaders are promising many things but only time will tell if these promises will be fulfilled or not. We don’t even have access to Indira Awaas scheme. Our children are not going to school due to lockdown and I don’t have money to send him to private tuition,” Shefali added.

    Both Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) have announced financial packages for tea garden workers in their 2021-22 budgets.

    While the Centre provisioned Rs 1,000 crore for the welfare of tea garden workers of West Bengal and Assam, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced Rs 150 crore package for the state’s tea garden workers.

    In 2019 Lok Sabha elections the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as a major challenger to the Trinamool Congress by winning seven of the north Bengal region’s eight seats.

    On Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BJP leader Yogi Adityanath campaigned in Jalpaiguri and raised issues of tea garden workers and said “Didi didn’t do anything for these workers. Bengal is the state where the daily wages of tea garden workers is the lowest in India. When the BJP will secure power, it will fullfil all the promises made in its manifesto.”

    The first three phases of the eight-phased West Bengal polls have already taken place. The fourth phase of the elections will be held on April 10. Counting of the votes will take place on May 2.

  • ‘Two wheelchairs are quite famous’: Narottam Mishra takes a dig at Mamata, Mukhtar Ansari

    By ANI
    ASANSOL: Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra on Wednesday said “the wheelchair is in a peculiar position” in an apparent jibe at the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Bahujan Samajwadi Party leader Mukhtar Ansari.

    Mishra speaking at an event on Wednesday said “…Two wheelchairs are quite famous. One has reached UP’s Banda from Punjab, the other one is here. One is in a wheelchair due to fear of losing, the other due to fear of getting beaten up. The wheelchair is in a peculiar position now.”

    Gangster-turned-politician Ansari who had spent over two years in a jail in Punjab in connection to an extortion case was on Wednesday brought to Banda jail in Uttar Pradesh by a special security team of Uttar Pradesh Police.

    ALSO READ | ‘At least keep up the farce of impartiality’: TMC hits out at EC over notice to Mamata

    While being produced in a district court in Mohali, Ansari was seen in a wheelchair. Upon being produced he told the court that he was not well following which the court directed the jail authorities to get his medical examination done.Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been wheelchair-bound after injuring her foot last month while campaigning in Nandigram for the Assembly polls. Following the incident, the chief minister has been campaigning sitting on a wheelchair.

    On Monday addressing a public meeting in Hooghly’s Debanandapur, Mamata targeted the BJP and said: “BJP, cannot you find a local candidate to contest elections? They do not have locals. All their people are borrowed from either TMC or CPM. They are sprinkling money like water from a hosepipe. I will win Bengal on one leg and in the future, will get victory in Delhi on two legs.”

  • ‘At least keep up the farce of impartiality’: TMC hits out at EC over notice to Mamata

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday hit out at the Election Commission over its notice to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, seeking to know what action the poll panel has taken on the complaints filed against the BJP.

    TMC spokesperson Mahua Moitra said the EC should “at least keep up the farce of impartiality”.

    “Mamatadi issued notice by @ECISVEEP on @BJPs complaint, What about TMC complaints of 1. Video evidence of BJP candidate distributing cash 2. Cash coupons distributed to attend BJP mtng & vote,” she tweeted.

    The EC issued notice to Banerjee for allegedly making an appeal to the voters along the communal lines while campaigning in Hooghly.

    The Election Commission issued a notice to Mamata on Wednesday for her alleged appeal to Muslim voters while campaigning in Hooghly to not allow their votes get split among different political parties.

    She has been asked to respond to the notice within the next 48 hours.

    The notice said the poll panel had received a complaint from a BJP delegation alleging that on April 3, Banerjee appealed to the Muslim voters not to let their votes get split among different political parties during the election rally at Tarakeshwar in Hooghly.

    “Kanyashree, Kanyashree, there are scholarships up to the university. There is Shishashree for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. For general category there is Swami Vivekananda Scholarship. There is Aikyashree for my brothers and sisters belonging to the minority community and I have given it to 2 crores and 35 lakh beneficiaries.

    I am requesting my minority brothers and sisters with folded hands don’t divide the minority votes after listening to the devil (shaitaan) person who had taken money from the BJP.

    “He passes many communal statements and initiates clashes between the Hindu and the Muslims. He is one of the apostles of the BJP, a comrade. The comrades of CPI-M and BJP are roaming around with the money given by the BJP to divide the minority votes.

    Please don’t allow them to do so. Keep in mind that if the BJP comes into the government then you will be in severe danger.

    “I also will tell my Hindu brothers and sister not to make division amongst yourselves as Hindu and Muslim after listening to the BJP,” the notice quoted Banerjee as saying.

    The EC said it found her speech violating the provisions of the Representation of the People Act and the model code

  • ‘BJP seeks to change history to suit its agenda’: Mamata lashes out at saffron party

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday attacked the BJP claiming that the party is out to change the history of several places to suit its agenda and will impose a totalitarian regime that will dictate what people should eat and how they should dress.

    Without naming Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Banerjee said that a good-looking man from Gujarat has predicted that the BJP will win 68-70 of the 91 seats that went to polls in the first three phases in the state, but actually it will not get more than 25 seats.

    “They (BJP) have renamed stations having great past. They have renamed a cricket stadium after the prime minister. The day is not far when they will change the name of you and me. They are out to change the history of places to suit their agenda,” said Banerjee in the last of her election meetings of the day.

    The chief minister of West Bengal, however, did not mention any rail station or place.

    On February 24, the newly-refurbished arena in Ahmedabad’s Motera area was renamed as Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium.

    It was earlier called the Sardar Patel Stadium.

    Likening Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah to “dictators like Hitler, Mussolini and Donald Trump”, Banerjee claimed that they want to “impose a totalitarian regime which will dictate what we should eat, how we should dress and what we should think. Don’t let them come (to power in West Bengal)”.

    Addressing a public meeting in Tollygunge assembly constituency in Kolkata, she alleged that the BJP was behind closing down of a heritage fair like the Poush Mela of Santiniketan and levelling of “false charges” against Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen.

    Banerjee said that “a good looking man from Gujarat predicted that the BJP will win 68-70 of the 91 seats that went to polls in the first three phases in the state.

    She did not name Shah who said earlier in the day at Domjur in Howrah district that the BJP is confident of winning 63 to 68 seats in the first three phases of elections.

    “The same person had got 15 seats in Chhattisgarh after predicting 65 seats in 2019, one-third seats in Maharashtra after predicting two-thirds. Even by a conservative estimate, the BJP won’t reach beyond 25 seats in the first three phases (in Bengal),” she said.

    The TMC leader charged Modi and Shah with running a “syndicate which can fund countless choppers and chartered planes to ferry one lakh BJP leaders to Bengal for poll campaign and book all major hotels in Kolkata and elsewhere for their stay.”

    On Modi addressing her as “Didi O Didi” in a sarcastic tone in his poll campaigns, Banerjee said that he does this as he considers her as a threat to his party.

    “He is free to address me that way 100 times. It will only make me more important and belittle him,” the TMC boss said.

    Alleging that the BJP is using money power in the election, she claimed that the saffron party had offered Rs 25 crore to a film star for not campaigning for the TMC, but the actor refused.

    Banerjee urged people to ensure that her party gets more than 200 seats in the eight-phase election to the 294- member state assembly.

    She alleged that the Election Commission has arranged for an eight-phase poll to enable BJP leaders to campaign even on a day of polling.

    Banerjee was addressing the public meeting in support of TMC candidate and minister Aroop Biswas from Tollygunge where Union minister Babul Supriyo, a singer-turned- politician, is the BJP candidate.

    The CM described Supriyo as an outsider in Tollygunge, “who has been brought from Asansol (his Lok Sabha constituency) for reasons best known to his party.”

    Stating that she did not want to make any negative comment on “a good singer”, Banerjee said, “But I am appalled by his utterances and his behaviour in recent times as a BJP leader.”

    She accused Supriyo of speaking in favour of a ponzi firm, against which a CBI probe is going on, years back, and alleged that BJP MP and assembly election candidate Locket Chatterjee had also hobnobbed with another scam-tainted chit fund company.