News Analysis India

Tag: BJP

  • Mamata has forgotten role played by BJP leaders in Nandigram movement: Sovan Chatterjee

    By PTI
    AMTALA: BJP leader Sovan Chatterjee said on Monday that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was indulging in a “dangerous game” by branding saffron camp leaders as outsiders, as it was detrimental to the interest of the nation, which is a classic example of unity in diversity.

    Chatterjee, who was once a close confidante of Banerjee, claimed that the TMC supremo has forgotten the fact that Suvendu Adhikari, who recently switched over to the BJP from the ruling camp, had played a vital role in the Nandigram movement — which was also backed by saffron party leaders L K Advani and Rajnath Singh.

    “You are indulging in a dangerous game by harping on the outsider issue over and over. In India, language, dialect, customs change every 50 kilometres. Our country is an example of unity in diversity,” the BJP leader said at a public meeting here in Diamond Harbour constituency.

    Earlier, Chatterjee and his friend Baisakhi Banerjee led a roadshow from Dhankol More in Bishnupur to Circus ground of Amtala in South 24 Parganas district.

    “The TMC boss has forgotten about the role played by L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Rajnath Singh in the Nandigram movement. They visited the strife-torn area in 2007 to provide support to the movement that catapulted her party to power.”

    “In 1998, the TMC had entered into a seat-sharing pact with the BJP, which is now the ruling party’s main opponent for the upcoming assembly elections. You are calling the BJP a washing machine, it is the same machine you had used back then,” he said.

    Banerjee had contended that the BJP runs the party like a washing machine, where corrupt leaders turn into saints the moment they join the organisation.

    Chatterjee also recalled that the Adhikari family, including patriarch Sisir and sons Suvendu and Dibyendu, had fought tooth and nail against the CPI(M) during the Nandigram movement in 2007.

    “Mamata Banerjee has now forgotten their contributions. People there will force her to return empty- handed after the assembly elections,” he said.

    The CM, earlier the day, said that she will contest the assembly elections from Nandigram, a seat held by Suvendu Adhikari till December.

    She currently represents Bhowanipore constituency in south Kolkata.

    “If possible, I will contest from both Bhowanipore and Nandigram. Nandigram is my elder sister and Bhowanipore my younger sister. I will give a strong candidate from Bhowanipore, in case I don’t fight from that seat,” she said.

    The BJP leader, a former minister in the Mamata Banerjee cabinet, claimed that it is the TMC supremo’s “lack of confidence” that is forcing her to fight from two constituencies.

    “Actually, Mamata Banerjee is not sure where she would be getting a solid ground under her feet and where lay quicksand,” he said.

    Claiming that Banerjee is no longer the same person he knew 10 years ago, Chatterjee said “she has lost her self- confidence and the decision to fight from two seats is an indication of that”.

  • Trinamool worker hacked to death in poll-bound Bengal

    By PTI
    JALPAIGURI: A worker of the ruling Trinamool Congress was hacked to death in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district, the police said on Monday.

    Four persons were arrested in connection with the killing of Ranjit Adhikari.

    The TMC accused the BJP of being involved in the incident, while the saffron party claimed that it was the result of the infighting in the ruling party.

    The murder occurred months before the assembly election in the state.

    Police said that Adhikari was attacked at Saptibari area of Maynaguri block when he was returning home from a party programme on Sunday night.

    Adhikari was taken to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

    Sibsankar Majumdar, a local TMC leader, alleged that the BJP is behind the killing of Adhikari.

    Denying the charge, the saffron party’s Jalpaiguri district vice-president Dipen Pramanik claimed that the murder is the fallout of the infighting in the TMC.

    Jalpaiguri SP Pradip Kumar Yadav said that the police have launched an investigation and four persons were arrested on the basis of a complaint lodged by the victim’s family.

    Adhikari’s body was handed over to the family after postmortem examination.

    It was cremated after TMC leaders paid their last respect to the party worker.

  • BJP women’s wing protests against rape accused Dhananjay Munde in Pune

    By PTI
    PUNE: The women’s wing of BJP on Monday protested in Pune demanding the resignation of Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Dhananjay Munde who has been accused of rape. Munde has refuted the allegation and has called it a blackmailing attempt, and his party has backed him saying there was no need for him to quit till the police probe into the matter is completed.

    The protesting BJP workers late submitted a memorandum to district collector Rajesh Deshmukh seeking that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray drop Munde from the cabinet, said BJP mahila morcha president Uma Khapre.

  • Bengal polls: Left, Congress to hammer seat-sharing deal by January-end

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Left Front (LF) and Congress, who have decided to contest the upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal together, on Sunday held the first formal meeting to chalk out a seat-sharing formula.

    While the Congress wanted to field candidates in 130 out of 294 seats, the Left refused to agree to the demand.  

    LF chairman Biman Bose said two more meetings would be held and a seat-sharing deal would be finalised this month itself.

    “There is no misunderstanding between us. Even though we are yet to seal the deal, we will fight the election together to save the state from religious polarisation,” said Bose.

    Congress state president Adhir Chowdhury, who refused to respond to the TMC’s recent call to support it, said the LF has many partners and it needed time to discuss the issue with those parties.

    Recently, the TMC gave a call to non-BJP parties to support it to decimate the BJP in Bengal.

    “If the LF and Congress are seriously anti-BJP, they should support Mamata Banerjee in her fight. She is the real face of secular politics against the BJP,” TMC MP and spokesperson Saugata Roy had said.

    Chowdhury, who never misses an opportunity to blame the ruling party for BJP’s rise in Bengal, said, “We are not interested in supporting the TMC. The ruling party has been poaching our MLAs for last 10 years. If Mamata is serious in fighting the BJP, then she should join the Congress as it is the only national party to fight against communalism.”

    The LF and Congress wanted to strike a deal in 2019 Lok Sabha polls but their talks failed after the CPI(M) rejected the Congress demand for Raiganj seat.  

    The LF and Congress had contested Assembly polls in 2016 in alliance. While the Congress bagged 44 seats, the LF had to satisfy itself with just  26.

    “In many seats, our candidates were not supported by Congress voters. This was why we faced a debacle despite having a deal with the Congress,” said a CPI(M) leader. 

    Disenchanted Satabdi appointed to TMC committee

    Amid speculations about Trinamool leader Satabdi Roy’s defection to the BJP, the actor-turned-MP from Birbhum has been elevated as the vice-president of the ruling party’s state committee. Meanwhile, Satabdi said she hoped to resolve her issues with the party soon.

  • BJP leader Tathagata Roy files complaint against actor for ‘hurting sentiments’ through meme

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Senior BJP leader and former Meghalaya Governor Tathagata Roy has filed a police complaint against Bengali actress Saayoni Ghosh for a meme shared on Twitter, alleging that it hurt the sentiments of Hindus.

    Ghosh, however, claimed the meme dates back to February 2015, and was not posted by her, but an act of mischief by someone who hacked her account then.

    “You have thus committed an offence under Section 295A IPC. Now, be prepared for the consequences,” Roy said on Twitter.

    “@sayani06, you have already been reported to Kolkata Police. The complaint is attached. Meanwhile, a person from Guwahati has told me that his religious feelings have been hurt by your meme and he is filing a complaint. I hope Assam Police will take cognizance and ask for remand,” he added.

    The veteran BJP leader also said another person from Bengaluru has complained to the police about the matter.

    The young actress, in her reply tweeted: “Dear all, a post from 2015 has been brought to my notice which is extremely obnoxious. for all your information, I have joined Twitter in 2010 and after a brief use I lost interest in carrying forward. However, the account remained.”

    Ghosh said she later discovered that her account had been hacked and she needed to retrieve it immediately.

    “For various reasons, we could only do that after 2017 and I got back in touch with the Twitter world with a bang. We have skipped a few unnecessary posts while deleting most,” she said.

    Roy had also taken exception to a recent comment by Ghosh over the chant of ‘Jai Sri Ram’ by motor cycle-borne youths.

  • UP Legislative Council polls: BJP candidates to file papers on Monday

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: All BJP candidates for the biennial polls to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council will file their nomination papers on Monday in the presence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the party said in a statement on Sunday.

    The party candidates include state BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh and Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma.

    Monday is the last day for the filing of nominations for 12 legislative council seats, which will fall vacant on January 30.

    The scrutiny of papers will be held on January 19 and names can be withdrawn till January 21.

    The polling is scheduled to take place on January 28 and the counting will be done an hour after the completion of the polls.

    On Friday, former IAS officer AK Sharma was named a BJP candidate, a day after he joined the party, fuelling speculations that he may get a ministerial post soon.

    Sharma in a tweet thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, national BJP president J P Nadda and UP CM Yogi Adityanath for it.

    Sharma, who has long been one of the trusted bureaucrats of Prime Minister Narendra Modi since his tenure as the Gujarat chief minister, joined the BJP on Thursday, days after he opted for voluntary retirement from service.

    Besides Sharma, the BJP named Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma, its state unit president Swatantra Dev Singh and Lakshman Prasad Acharya as candidates for the polls.

    The other BJP candidates are Kunwar Manvendra Singh, Govind Narayan Shukla, Salil Bishnoi, Ashwani Tyagi, Dharamveer Prajapati and Surendra Chaudhary.

    The BJP has already asserted that it will win 10 out of 12 seats.

    In the 403-member UP Legislative Assembly, the BJP has 310 MLAs, SP 49, BSP 18, Apna Dal (Sonelal) has 9, Congress 7 and the SBSP 4.

    There are three Independent MLAs while the RLD and the Nishad Party have one MLA each.

    UP BJP general secretary JPS Rathore said his party can easily win 10 of the 12 seats.

    Of the 12 MLCs whose tenure is expiring, six are from the Samajwadi Party (SP)–Ramesh Yadav, Ahmed Hasan, Ashu Malik, Sahab Singh Saini, Ramjatan Rajbhar and Virendra Singh.

    Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma, Swatantra Dev Singh and Laxman Acharya are from the BJP.

    The tenure of BSP’s Pradeep Jatav and Dharamveer Ashok is also coming to an end.

    The term of Naseemudin Siddiqui, who left the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and joined the Congress, is also coming to an end.

    The poll panel had earlier issued guidelines to be followed during the entire election process.

    These guidelines state that every person shall wear a face mask during all election-related activities.

    At the entry of hall/room/premises used for election purposes, thermal scanning of all persons shall be carried out and sanitiser made available at all locations.

    Social distancing shall be maintained as per the COVID-19 guidelines of the state government and the Ministry of Home Affairs.

    The chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh has been directed to depute a senior officer from the state to ensure that the instructions regarding COVID-19 containment measures are complied with while making arrangements for conducting the elections, the Election Commission added.

  • BJP to organise ‘Paribartan Yatras’ in Bengal ahead of assembly polls

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: With an eye on the forthcoming assembly elections in West Bengal in the next few months, the BJP is set to take out ‘Paribartan Yatras’ across the state, a senior party leader said on Sunday.

    BJP state president Dilip Ghosh told a press meet here that the yatras with a message of ‘paribartan’ (change) will be held in different zones to bolster the party’s connect with people before the polls.

    Elections to the 294-member state assembly are due in April-May.

    “We had wanted to bring out similar ‘Jan Sampark Abhijan’ across the state two and half years back but were not allowed by the administration. This time before the elections our ‘Paribartan Yatras’ will strengthen the ties of the BJP with people of Bengal, who are angry with the corrupt Trinamool Congress (TMC) regime,” Ghosh said.

    A senior party leader said, the rallies will be taken out in five zones, each to be led by a central leader of the saffron party.

    Talking to reporters after day-long deliberatons among state party leaders about the future strategy to fight the polls, Ghosh said, booth committees will be formed everywhere by January 31.

    “Our aim is to strengthen booth-level organisations,” he said.

    Among others BJP Bengal minder Kailash Vijayvargiya, leaders Babul Supriyo, Kolkata observer Sovan Chatterjee attended the organisational meeting.

    State BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu said, party workers will reach out to every household to campaign for ‘Aar Noy Annyay’ (Misdeeds won’t be accepted any more) before the polls.

    Asked about the appointment of TMC MP Satabdi Roy as vice-president of the state unit of the ruling Trinamool Congress shortly after she voiced her grievances over the state of affairs in the party, Ghosh said, “with leaders deserting the party, the TMC is frantically trying to please the dissenters by offering them posts.”

    Faced with disintegration and “civil war within itself”, the TMC is “desperately” bringing the names of icons such as Rabindranath Tagore and Swami Vivekananda to attack the BJP now and again and harping on the issue of Bengali heritage, Ghosh said.

    On seat-sharing talks between the Left Front and the Congress, the BJP leader said “everyone knows what happened to the seat sharing alliance between them in 2016 assembly polls.

    How many seats had they won? Even in 2019 Lok Sabha polls the Left and the Congress could not make much dent. The two parties have been reduced to virtual non-entities here.”

    During the 2016 assembly elections, the two parties had stitched an alliance and bagged 76 seats.

    However, during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the two parties had fought separately and while the Congress won two seats, the Left Front, which ruled the state from 1977-2011, drew a blank.

    Leaders of the TMC have called upon the Congress and the Left to join the battle against the BJP as “they are scared to face us alone. By such antics they are only exposing themselves before the people of the state”, he said.

    Asked about comments by TMC strongman in Birbhum Anubrata Mondal to “beat up the BJP and throw them away beyond boundaries (thengiye pagarpar),” Ghosh said, “the people of Birbhum will give a befitting reply to Mondal”.

    BJP leaders claimed that around 200 TMC workers from South 24 Parganas district joined the saffron party on Sunday.

  • Shahnawaz Hussain, Bihar minister Mukesh Sahni to file nomination for Council seats Monday

    By PTI
    BHAGALPUR/PATNA: BJP national spokesman Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, who has been fielded in a by-election to the legislative council in Bihar, on Sunday stated that he was looking forward to working for “the party in the state”.

    The former Union minister also debunked murmurs in some quarters that the development was tantamount to loss of status for the BJPs Muslim face in Bihar and asserted “I would have worked for the party gladly even if it had decided to make me a district unit chief”.

    Hussain, who has formerly represented Bhagalpur in the Lok Sabha for two consecutive terms, was addressing party workers near here, before leaving for Patna where he is scheduled to file his nomination papers on Monday.

    “I had recently told Amit Shah that I will remain devoted to the party even if I were not given any major responsibility for the next 10 years. It is the dedication of the workers that has helped BJP emerge as a force to reckon with from Kashmir to Kanyakumari”, he said.

    “As far as Bhagalpur is concerned, the affection I have received from its people is greater than any outward accomplishment. I would have been happy even if the party had chosen to make me the president of the district unit here”, he added.

    According to party sources, Hussain has been fielded from the seat vacated by former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi who was recently elected to the Rajya Sabha.

    By-poll is also scheduled for another seat vacated by BJP leader and former minister Binod Narayan Jha who has got elected to the assembly.

    The party has decided to field Mukesh Sahni, state minister and founding president of Vikassheel Insaan Party, from the seat.

    The term of the seat offered to Hussain expires in 2024.

    He was first elected from Bhagalpur in 2006 in a by- election necessitated by the resignation of Modi who returned to state politics upon the NDA achieving power in Bihar.

    He retained the seat in 2009 Lok Sabha polls but lost it five years later.

    The seat went to Chief Minister Nitish Kumars JD(U) in the 2019 general elections.

    A diploma holder in engineering, Hussain had made his Lok Sabha debut in 1999 from Kishanganj at a young age of 31.

    He ended up being inducted into the council of ministers headed by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

    Meanwhile, Mukesh Sahni, a former Bollywood set designer who took the political plunge ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, floating his own outfit, disclosed on his Twitter handle that he has been telephonically informed about his candidature by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

    “I am thankful to Amit Shah, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and all NDA leaders for this honour. I will file my nomination papers tomorrow, on January 18,” said Sahni.

    Elections to the two council seats in Bihar are scheduled for January 28 and Monday is the last date for filing of nominations.

    Both the seats belong to the BJP and the NDA with adequate number of MLAs will not have any problem in ensuring their victory.

    Sahni had jumped ship, exiting the Grand Alliance and crossing over to the BJP-led coalition, just ahead of the assembly elections last year.

    His fledgling party was accommodated with 11 seats given out by the BJP from its own quota of 121 and it succeeded in winning four though Sahni himself lost.

  • Arnab’s WhatsApp chat shows leak of classified information, requires Parliamentary Committee probe, says NCP

    Express News Service
    MUMBAI: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) demanded the forming of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the purported WhatsApp chats of Republic TV Editor Arnab Goswami and BARC former CEO Partho Dasgupta where Arnab claimed to have the Balakot airstrike information three days in advance of the incident.

    Mumbai police have submitted the over 3000 pages charge-sheet and the purported WhatsApp chat that runs over 500 pages are part of this additional charge-sheet of TRP scam. In the WhatsApp chat, it was revealed that Arnab had information of Balakot airstrike three days in advance of the actual strike incident.

    ALSO READ: No coercive action against Arnab Goswami till January 29 in TRP case, says Mumbai Police

    Nawab Malik, NCP minister and a spokesperson said that Arnab Goswami has got the classified military information and he has subsequently shared with BARC former CEO Partho Dasgupta. “This is a very serious matter and concerned with national security. We will take up this matter to parliament and demand the setting up the JPC. We need to probe whether this classified information of Balakot airstrike by Indian Air Force is only shared with Dasgupta or anyone else who is spies and enemy of India. Besides, who is the person in government who shared this confidential information with Arnab Goswami,” Malik said.

    Malik further said that Goswami has committed a very serious crime that is against the interest of the nation. The Congress also demanded the probe in this incident.

    ALSO READ: WhatsApp delays new privacy policy by three months amid severe criticism

    Maharashtra Congress leader and former CM Prithviraj Chavan tweeted that the Government of India must launch a thorough probe. “Also the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence must take this matter with utmost priority. #ArnabGate. The voluminous transcript of Mr Goswami’s chats released by Mumbai Police is deeply disturbing. Who gave access to such sensitive information from national security to constitutional amendments and political appointments? #ArnabGate,” said Chavan.

    Meanwhile, the Maharashtra BJP distanced from the leaked In the WhatsApp chat. Chandrakant Patil said that the BJP and its leaders have nothing to do with the leaked what’s app chat of the Arnab Goswami.

    “Someone is saying or claiming something that does not mean it is true. And, we should not also believe it also,” Patil said.

  • Congress alleges its Tripura chief attacked by BJP’s hoodlums; seeks probe

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Congress on Sunday alleged that its Tripura PCC president Pijush Kanti Biswas and his supporters were attacked by the BJP’s hoodlums in Bishalgarh, and demanded a thorough time-bound probe into it.

    Congress general secretary and chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala claimed that Biswas was to attend an organisational meeting, when miscreants allegedly attacked him and vandalised his vehicle in front of the Congress office in Bishalgarh, Tripura.

    “The Congress condemns in strongest words the pre-meditated and heinous attack on Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Pijush Kanti Biswas and his supporters by the BJP hoodlums and criminals,” he alleged in a statement.

    “The party demands a time-bound and thorough probe into the incident by a Director General Police-rank officer. We also demand that those responsible for this attack are arrested forthwith and charged for attempt to murder and other stringent offences,” Surjewala added.

    He claimed that sadly during the tenure of the present BJP-led government in Tripura there have been several instances of BJP cadres attacking opposition leaders and supporters.

    “The fact that this attack took place in the presence of police, wherein even their personnel were also thrashed by the goons, speaks volumes about the prevailing law and order situation in the state,” Surjewala alleged.

    “To avoid any such mishaps in the future, Shri Piyush Biswas should be provided with personal as well as peripheral security round the clock,” he added.

    Surjewala also said that the Congress party and workers are the last ones to be daunted by such cowardly acts of violence and it will continue to raise people’s cause with renewed vigour and zeal and “expose the misdeeds and corruption” rampant in the present dispensation.