News Analysis India

Tag: CPM

  • Trinamool goons hurled bombs at my residence: Bengal MLA who joined BJP

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal MLA Tapasi Mondal on Friday alleged that crude bombs were hurled at her residence in Purba Medinipur by “TMC goons”, in an attempt to “create fear psychosis” among locals ahead of the assembly elections.

    The Haldia legislator, who recently switched to the BJP from the CPI(M), hoped that the police would take necessary action in the matter.

    “I woke up to the sound of a huge blast at 3 am (on Friday). I saw some people fleeing the area near my residence, which is in Durgachowk. They had hurled three bombs, but two didn’t explode and were lying inside the residential complex. This was done to create fear psychosis,” she said.

    Local TMC leaders, however, denied any involvement in the incident.

    Mondal said she sought help from the police, following which the two bombs were defused.

    “I have registered a complaint with the police. I hope the police will act against the TMC goons,” Mondal told PTI.

    A senior police officer said the matter was under investigation.

    According to saffron camp sources, Haldia has been witnessing political disturbances since Suvendu Adhikari, who wields considerable influence in the area, switched to the BJP from the ruling TMC.

  • Bengal polls: Left, Congress to retain seats won last time, final seat-sharing pact by month-end

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: The Left Front (LF) and Congress on Monday reached a consensus on seat-sharing in 77 seats for upcoming Assembly polls where either of the two sides had won in 2016. It has been decided that the 77 seats will be distributed in the winning ratio of 2016. 

    However, the rest of the 217 seats will be discussed in the next meeting scheduled to be held on January 28.

    According to LF sources, it will field candidates in the 33 seats it had won in the last assembly elections. The Congress will be contesting in the 44 seats it had won.

    However, the fate of other seats, which are believed to be their respective strongholds by both Congress and the left, remains uncertain.

    “One seat which might have created trouble has been settled by the 77 formula. However, what might happen to the rest of the seats is a question,” a Left front leader said.

    Sources in Congress said that they would stick to their demand of 130 seats. In the first meeting between the two political forces, Congress had demanded that it should be allowed to contest in 130 out of 294 seats.

    At the next meeting by the end of this month, the two sides will make efforts to find an amicable solution on who will contest in which of the remaining 217 seats.

    CPI(M) politburo member Mohammad Salim said the alliance might accommodate the Indian Secular Force — the political platform which was launched by peeved Islamic cleric of Furfura Sharif Abbas Siddiqui. Siddiqui’s political move was supported by AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi who had announced that his party would contest in the upcoming elections under the leadership of the cleric.

    The CPI(M), however, said there is room for Siddiqui in the alliance if he snaps ties with Owaisi.

  • Congress to contest 2021 Assam assembly polls in alliance with five parties

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: The Congress’ initiative of forming a ‘Grand Alliance’ to oust the BJP from power in Assam took shape on Tuesday with the party announcing it will contest the forthcoming assembly polls in alliance with five other political outfits.

    The Congress will join hands with the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), the CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML) and the Anchalik Gana Morcha to ensure that the BJP with its “anti-people policies” does not return to power, APCC president Ripun Bora told reporters here.

    “Our doors are open for all anti-BJP parties and we invite the regional political parties to join hands with us against our fight with the BJP,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.

    The Congress has taken the lead to oust all communal forces in the best interest of the state and the nation, he said.

    The party has taken the forthcoming Assam elections “very seriously and deputed senior leaders” to the state, Bora said.

    A high-level Congress team, led by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, and comprising AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik, Bihar Congress MLA Shakeel Ahmed, and the party’s Assam-in-Charge Jitendra Singh are currently in the state and held discussions with the representatives of the five parties to chalk out the alliance.

    “Our central leaders held a series of discussions with the grassroots to state-level functionaries and it was decided to challenge the communal BJP by uniting the anti-BJP forces,” he said.

    Singh said Congress welcomes all parties to come forward in the interest of saving the culture, language, identity and heritage of the state.

    “BJP has indulged in the politics of divide in Assam, the north-east and the country. We will challenge the BJP and defeat them. It is our appeal to all opposition parties to come together to save Assam, ensure the development and realise the dreams of the youth,” he said.

    He also alleged that the BJP has put up “Assam for sale” by selling off land and the state’s resources to businessmen from Gujarat and other states.

    “The coming together of the six parties is without any pre-condition but merely with a motive to save Assam from the BJP, which has made a mockery of democracy,” Singh added.

    AIUDF general secretary Aminul Islam said that after a long wait, six parties have come together, and “we welcome this initiative”.

    “This is an effort to defeat the communal forces and maintain harmony among all sections of people in the state,” he said.

    Rajya Sabha MP and Anchalika Gana Morcha president Ajit Kumar Bhuyan said this was a “historic moment as it is the demand of the times and the people that a united opposition comes together to oust the BJP”.

    CPI(M) leader Deben Bhattacharya appealed to the Bodoland Peoples’ Front (BPF), an ally in the ruling BJP-led state government, which was dumped by the saffron party in the recent Bodoland Territorial Council polls, to join the alliance.

    The initiative for a ‘Grand Alliance’ was taken by three-time former chief minister Tarun Gogoi, who had started discussions with opposition parties to take this forward.

    His death due to post-COVID complications in November had delayed the process.

    The Congress, which had ruled the state for three terms since 2001, and had won 26 out of the 126 legislative assembly seats in 2016, now has only 20 members in the House.

  • 2021 WB assembly polls: Congress demands 130 seats but Left Front disagrees

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: Senior leaders of the Congress and the CPM-led Left Front met here on Sunday and held discussions on seat sharing. The grand old demanded 130 out of 294 assembly seats, which was immediately shot down by the Left.

    LF chairman Biman Bose said two more meetings would be held and the seat-sharing deal would be finalised within January. “There is no misunderstanding between us. Though discussion on seat-sharing is yet to take place again. We will fight the election together to save the state from religious polarization,’’ said Bose.

    Congress state president Adhir Chowdhury, who refused to respond to TMC’s recent call to support the ruling party, said the LF has many partners and they need time to discuss the issue with the other parties.

    Recently, the TMC gave call to other non-BJP parties to support the ruling party to decimate the BJP’s rise in Bengal. “If the LF and Congress are seriously anti-BJP, they should support the Mamata Banerjee in her fight. It is because she is the real face of secular politics against the BJP,’’ said TMC MP and spokesperson Saugata Roy.

    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 poached our MLAs in the last 10 years. If Mamata Banerjee is serious in fighting the BJP, then she should join the Congress as it the only national party to fight against communalism.’’

    The LF and Congress wanted to share seats in 2019 Lok Sabha elections but it fell apart after the CPM refused Congress to contest from Raiganj constituency. It was because CPM’s candidate Mohammad Selim had won in 2014 Lok Sabha election with razor-thin margin of 1,500 votes.

    The LF and Congress had contested in 2016 Assembly elections and Chowdhury’s party emerged as the second-largest political force in Bengal. The Congress had bagged victory in 44 seats and the LF in 26.

    “Our voters had voted for Congress candidates but in many seats, our candidates were not supported by Congress’s voters. This was why faced the debacle despite the seat-sharing deal with the Congress,’’ said a CPM leader. 

  • Faultlines emerge in Gupkar Alliance as constituents trade barbs

    Express News Service
    SRI NAGAR: It has been over a month since the District Development Council (DDC) election results came out, but the Gupkar Alliance, which emerged as the single largest group post polls, is yet to convene a meeting to chart a roadmap for its declared goal of restoring Articles 370 and 35A. This lack of progress, combined with the People’s Conference allegations that National Conference fielded proxy candidates, indicates that fault lines have already appeared in the seven-party alliance. 

    The constituents – NC, PDP, Peoples Conference, ANC, CPM, CPI and JKPM – are yet to meet on charting declare ‘referendum’ on Article 370 restoration. The first ever DDC polls for 280 seats concluded on December 19, and the Gupkar Alliance had emerged as a single-largest group with 110 seats. Ever since then, only Mehbooba Mufti’s voice has been heard, with other leaders lying low. Be it government policies, eviction of people from forest areas or demanding inquiry into Lawaypora encounter, Mufti has been in the forefront, missing no opportunity to criticise the government. 

    The DDC polls had brought the internal bickering in the Alliance to the fore with the parties accusing each other of fielding proxy candidates. Many leaders had rebelled against the constituents, and had contested against the PAGD candidates. Influential Shia leader and Peoples Conference general Secretary Imran Reza Ansari in a letter to party president Sajjad Gani Lone accused the National Conference of fielding proxy candidates in Pattan, Sonawari and Kupwara Assembly constituencies in north Kashmir. He said that when he met Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, he was served a notice, but the Alliance was mum when NC delegations and CPM leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami called on Sinha.

    Senior PDP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Fayaz Mir also accused the NC of fielding proxy candidates against the PAGD nominees in Kupwara district. He said the Gupkar Alliance leadership should have taken action against seat-sharing formula violators, but no action was taken.

    PDP accuses NC of violating agreementSenior PDP leader Fayaz Mir accused the NC of fielding proxy candidates against the PAGD nominees in Kupwara. He said the leadership should have taken action against the violators

  • Sourav under pressure to join politics: CPM leader’s shocker on former India Captain

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Senior CPI(M) leader Ashok Bhattacharya’s statement that BCCI president and former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, who suffered a heart attack and is now hospitalised, was under pressure to join politics created a storm on Sunday.

    Speculations were rife that the former batting great will join the BJP ahead of the state assembly elections due in April-May this year.

    But Ganguly himself never made his intentions quite clear about taking the political plunge.

    He underwent angioplasty after a “mild” heart attack on Saturday.

    He is under treatment in a private hospital in Kolkata.

    “Some people wanted to use Ganguly politically. That probably exerted pressure on him. He is not a political element. He should be known as Sourav the sporting icon,” Bhattacharya, the BCCI presidents longtime family friend, said.

    “We should not create pressure on him (for joining politics). I had told Sourav last week he should not join politics and he did not oppose my views,” Bhattacharya who visited Ganguly at the hospital said.

    Reacting to the former minister’s comments, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said, “Some people see politics in everything due to their sick mindset. Like millions of his fans, we only wish that Sourav recovers fully.” 

    Senior Trinamool Congress leader and state minister Sobhandeb Chatterjee, who also visited the former cricketer at the hospital, said that there had never been any effort to induct Sourav “into our party. We are proud to have him as the icon of sports.” 

    Ganguly’s former teammate and state minister Lakshmi Ratan Shukla, TMC MLA and daughter of late BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya, Baishali Dalmiya, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and several others also visited him.

    West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday visited the hospital to enquire about his health.

    Ganguly had met Dhankhar at Raj Bhavan a week back “in a courtesy visit”.

    Ganguly is stable and his health parameters are normal, doctors said on Sunday.

    The cricket icon was diagnosed with three blocked coronary arteries on Saturday, following which a stent was inserted in one to remove the blockage.

    “Ganguly’s coronary angiography was done at 3 pm and his echocardiography will be repeated tomorrow,” a bulletin, issued by the private hospital where he is admitted, said late on Sunday night.

    His blood pressure is 110/80 and oxygen saturation level is 98 per cent, it said.

    Doctors said they will be deciding on conducting another angioplasty after assessing Ganguly’s condition.

    To a question, a hospital spokesperson said the medical board is not thinking about the option of bypass surgery.

    “Our expert panel will decide on the future course of treatment tomorrow,” she said.

    The nine-member medical board will meet on Monday and discuss further treatment plan with his family members, the bulletin said.

    Ganguly had his dinner at 10 pm.

    Meanwhile, fans of the celebrated former cricketer were seen holding posters that read ‘Come back dada’ outside the hospital, which saw a beeline of visitors like Saturday.

    The batting great was rushed to hospital on Saturday afternoon following complaints of chest pain.