News Analysis India

Tag: Mamata Banerjee

  • Warmth missing as Dhankhar, Mamata come face to face for Republic Day event; Suvendu hits out at Bengal CM

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The shadow of recent run-ins between the West Bengal governor and the Mamata Banerjee government fell on the Republic Day programme here, when Jagdeep Dhankhar and the chief minister came face to face at the venue.

    Though Banerjee greeted Dhankhar when the latter approached her after reaching the venue, the natural warmth of the Trinamool Congress supremo was clearly missing.

    Banerjee was seen not getting up from her chair until the governor came close to her.

    It was seen that at one point of time the CM turned her face away when Dhankhar was seen saying something to her.

    At the photo session, Banerjee kept a distance from the governor and stood close to state assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee with whom Dhankhar had a spat on the previous day.

    While speaking to the media after paying floral tributes at the statue of B R Ambedkar on the Assembly premises on National Voters Day, Dhankhar not only castigated the speaker and the chief minister but also described the political condition in West Bengal as “horrible and frightening” He had come down heavily on the Speaker, accusing him of violating constitutional norms and not providing information sought by him, including details of the assembly resolution on the extension of BSF’s area of operation.

    Reacting to Dhankhar’s accusations, the Speaker had said it was “extremely discourteous” of the governor to have made such remarks.

    Dhankhar has had several run-ins with the West Bengal government over various issues including appointment of vice chancellors of state universities and asking the chief secretary and police chiefs to appear before him.

    Later, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP alleged that the chief minister did not maintain protocol by not receiving the governor at the Republic Day event.

    “Arrogance of @MamataOfficial vs Humility of @jdhankhar1 at Republic Day function. A new low in observance of protocol and propriety by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,” Adhikari tweeted.

    He asked: “Is it because there are no answers to the tough questions asked by Hon’ble Governor?” Reacting to Adhikari’s allegation, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh claimed that the BJP leader is a frustrated person as he had left the Trinamool Congress and joined the BJP expecting many things and to escape from the raids by central agencies.

    “But he can see that the party is now disintegrating quickly (in the state),” Ghosh said.

    In a deepening of the spat between Governor Jagdeep Dhankar and the TMC-led state government, West Bengal assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee said on Wednesday he has requested for footage of the governor’s press meet held in the assembly premises a day before where he had attacked the state government and accused the speaker of transgressing constitutional norms, before deciding on his future course of action.

    Banerjee told reporters on the sidelines of a Republic Day function, that after scrutinising the footage, his office may in future enquire the purpose of any future visits by Dhankar, other than constitutionally mandatory appearances such as the governor’s address of the inaugural session of the house.

    Banerjee, a well known lawyer, also alleged that no governor in the past “had addressed the media in the fashion”, Dhankhar did on January 25, The Governor while speaking to the press after paying floral tributes at the statue of B R Ambedkar on the Assembly premises on the National Voters Day, not only castigated the speaker and the chief minister but also described the political condition in West Bengal as “horrible and frightening”. He said the governor had told the speaker before his visit that he would pay floral tributes to the founder of Constitution but “used the occasion (instead) to criticise the government inside the hallowed premises of the assembly which had never been done by any of his predecessors in past.”

    “He did not even go to the press corner situated in the premises,” the Speaker said.

    Banerjee also claimed Dhankhar did not inform his office about the status of bills such as those related to separating Howrah and Bally Municipal areas which had been passed by the house.

    BJP state President Sukanta Majumdar described the Speaker’s retort as a deliberate attempt to run down the office of governor and against the spirit of constitution.

    “The Speaker cannot consider assembly as his domain. He should act as Speaker not as the representative of Trinamool. In past the governor’s speech in house had been blacked out but the Speaker never acted on the issue,” the Balurghat MP said.

    The governor had said on Tuesday, “We have seen post-poll violence of unprecedented level. Those who dared to vote according to their own volition had to pay the price with their life. Democracy is in deep peril here.”

    Noting that a fact-finding committee appointed by the chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission had observed that rule of the ruler and not the law prevails in the state, he had said, “this is an understatement; West Bengal’s situation is so horrible and frightening that there is horror about the ruler here.”

    He had also come down heavily on Speaker Biman Banerjee, accusing him of violating constitutional norms and not providing information sought by him, including details of the assembly resolution on the extension of BSF’s area of operation.

    Dhankhar also alleged his address to the assembly was blacked out twice.

    The Governor has had several run-ins with the West Bengal government including over appointment of vice chancellors of state universities and over asking the chief secretary and Police chiefs to appear before him.

    Speaker Banerjee too has in the past protested and written letters to President Ram Nath Kovind on Dhankar’s alleged “interference” in legislative matters.

    Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday claimed that he was not invited to the Republic Day parade here as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her government was “yet to reconcile to her election defeat against him in Nandigram”.

    Talking to reporters on the sidelines of another programme, Adhikari said Banerjee tried to “avenge her humiliating assembly poll defeat” by dropping his name from the list of invitees for the Red Road parade.

    “She is yet to reconcile to her defeat against me. There could be a remedy to cancer but not to revengeful mindset and jealousy. The CM must have forgotten that not inviting the leader of opposition was against the protocol,” the Nandigram MLA, who was once a part of the Mamata Banerjee cabinet, said.

    Adhikari pointed out that last year, months ahead of the assembly polls, then leader of opposition Abdul Mannan was an invitee to the Republic Day parade.

    Transport Minister and Kolkata Municipal Corporation Mayor Firhad Hakim, when approached, said he had no information about the matter.

    Hakim, however, noted that Adhikari had “failed to turn up at the Independence Day programme on Red Road last year. I am not aware about the reasons”.

    Veteran Congress MP of Rajya Sabha Pradip Bhattacharya said he won’t be able to speak on behalf of the Nandigram MLA as the two don’t share the same ideology “but if what he has claimed is true it was unfortunate.

    The leader of opposition should always be invited to such events”.

    The CM, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, cabinet ministers were among those who attended the Red Road programme on Wednesday, held with COVID-19 restrictions in place.

  • ‘There is no problem’: Abhishek downplays feud with Trinamool leader Kalyan Banerjee

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Thursday sought to downplay party MP Kalyan Banerjee’s veiled attacks on him on the issue of leadership, stating that both of them agree to the fact that Mamata Banerjee is their undisputed supremo.

    His remarks came amid perceived power struggle in the party and apparent differences between the generation-next leaders and a section of the old guards.

    Veteran TMC leader and MP Kalyan Banerjee had last week said that he doesn’t consider anyone else as his leader but Mamata Banerjee, while criticising Abhishek over a recent COVID-related suggestion.

    “Kalyan Banerjee asserted that Mamata Banerjee is his only leader. There is no problem with that as Mamata Banerjee is my only leader, too. There is no dispute, whatever Kalyan Banerjee has said is right,” Abhishek told reporters at a press meet in Goa.

    The TMC top leader, who is also the nephew of Mamata Banerjee, insisted that the comment by Kalyan Banerjee goes on to prove that there is “no high command culture in the party”.

    “And if he (Kalyan Banerjee) speaks against me, it proves there is democracy (in the TMC),” Abhishek said while replying to questions from a Bengali news channel.

    Kalyan Banerjee, when contacted, declined comment on Abhishek’s statement.

    “He is the honourable national general secretary of All India Trinamool Congress. I follow the instructions of Didi (Mamata Banerjee) in true spirit. I have nothing else to say,” he told PTI.

    Speaking about his “Diamond Harbour model” for tackling COVID-19 — one which faced flak for the sample test figure cited — Abhishek, during the press meet, said that self examination at home is not accounted for in the official records.

    “There are a few things which you need to understand. (Results obtained through) self-test kits don’t get recorded. I wanted to stress on self examination. If you conduct an RT-PCR test, it takes 24 hours to get the report. As this Omicron variant has a higher transmission rate, we decided to stress on the use of self-test kit,” the TMC’s Diamond Harbour MP explained.

    The parliamentarian also said that of the 53,000 single-day tests he had talked about, 20,000 were RT-PCR and related examinations and the rest 33,000 were done with self-kit at home.

    Asked if the ‘Diamond Harbour model’ would be replicated in others parts of the state, he asserted that the West Bengal government was working proactively to contain the COVID situation.

    According to TMC leaders close to the MP, the Diamond Harbour model emphasises on maximum number of tests in a single day, strict implementation of COVID-safety protocol, banning of political, social and religious meetings for the time being, a dedicated control room and WhatsApp number for coordination in every panchayat and municipality among other facilities.

    Talking about the recent arrest of an INTTUC leader following work disruption at Exide plant in Haldia, he said the party has zero tolerance towards such incidents.

    “If someone tries to malign the party, it will not be tolerated, no matter who the leader or worker is,” the TMC leader added.

  • UP polls: TMC won’t enter fray, Mamata to adress virtual rally in support of Akhilesh

    Express News Service

    KOLKATA: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s party Trinamool Congress will not join the fray in Uttar Pradesh in the upcoming Assembly elections, said Samajwadi Party (SP)’s national vice president Kiranmay Nanda on Tuesday. 

    Nanda, after holding a meeting with Mamata Banerjee at her Kalighat residence in Kolkata, made it clear that the Bengal CM would visit Lucknow on February 8 and hold a meeting with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav before addressing a rally virtually to announce her support. 

    “The TMC is not keen on participating in Uttar Pradesh elections. All seats will be given to Akhilesh Yadav. It was Mamata Banerjee’s party that shattered BJP’s dream of wresting power in Bengal in the 2021 Assembly elections in West Bengal. It is a lesson for the entire opposition and her fight was unprecedented. The entire nation saw the fight she had put up against the BJP juggernaut. Mamata will address a public rally virtually in Lucknow announcing the TMC’s support to our party,” said Nanda. 

    Nanda also said Mamata would also visit Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency in February but the day is yet to be fixed. 

    Ahead of the Bengal Assembly polls, Yadav had announced that the SP would support the TMC without fielding any candidate. Yadav had sent SP’s Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan as the party’s representative to Bengal to campaign for the ruling TMC. Though the TMC is not participating in the electoral battle in UP, Mamata has been aggressively campaigning in the other poll-bound state Goa.   

    Before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Yadav had attended the grand opposition meeting hosted by the Trinamool Congress chief in January three years ago. 

    Nanda was one of the longest-serving fisheries ministers of West Bengal during the erstwhile Left Front regime as an elected representative of the Socialist Party. He had merged his party with the SP in 2010.

  • No internal feud in TMC, incident blown out of proportion by media: General secretary Partha 

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress general secretary Partha Chatterjee Tuesday said, there is no internal feud in the party, and the recent war of words among its leaders over comments by its national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on containing COVID-19 in West Bengal was “blown out of proportion by the media”.

    Every single TMC member – leader or worker is working under the leadership of party supremo Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee, he told reporters.

    “TMC will hold organisational polls in Netaji Indoor Stadium in the city on February 2, where office bearers at its different levels will be selected in a democratic manner,” Chatterjee said.

    He was replying to queries about the recent war of words between Srerampore MP Kalyan Bandyopadhyay and some other leaders, including Arambagh MP Aparupa Poddar and Kamarhati MLA Madan Mitra over the recent comments by Abhishek Banerjee suggesting banning of all political and religious activities for two months over the pandemic situation.

    “There is no point in bringing Abhishek Banerjee into the controversy. The entire incident is being blown up by a section of the media,” Chatterjee said.

    ALSO READ: Abhishek Banerjee should not have aired his views in public: TMC MP Kalyan

    TMC, he said, will hold the organisational poll at Netaji Indoor Stadium in the city on February 2 where office bearers at its different levels will be selected in a democratic manner. “We remain a united family. Each one of us will work under the guidance of Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee. The organisational poll will be held under their guidance. I as returning officer cannot comment beyond that,” Chatterjee, also a state cabinet minister, said.

    The details and modalities of the organisational election, to be held after a gap of about five years, will be declared soon, including issuing of notification for the poll. The list of voters and observers will be compiled by January 25 after talking to all concerned.

    ALSO READ: TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee’s ‘Diamond Harbour model’ kicks off inner-party debate

    Asked for his comment on the jibe by saffron party leaders against the alleged war of words within TMC, Chatterjee said “We don’t attach importance to such utterances of BJP, which had built its organisation in the state mostly with individuals who had deserted their original parties before the assembly poll. Those who did so started leaving the sinking ship after the state poll. There is not much left in the BJP organisation in West Bengal now”.

    Mocking at BJP, he said, “What is to be said about a party in which a central minister of the rank of minister of state (Santanu Thakur) speaks against the party leadership in his own state and, a veteran like Tathagata Roy (senior leader and former governor of Tripura and Meghalaya), does the same thing in his tweets frequently”.

    Chatterjee, however, said he would not like to comment on the internal affairs of the BJP.

  • Samajwadi Party wants Mamata Banerjee to campaign for it in UP: Kiranmay Nanda

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Samajwadi Party vice-president Kiranmay Nanda Monday said that the party wants West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to campaign for it in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly election.

    Nanda returned from Uttar Pradesh on Monday and is scheduled to meet Banerjee at her residence on January 18 evening when the subject would be discussed.

    “The way Mamata Banerjee fought against BJP in the Bengal assembly poll was unprecedented. The entire nation saw the fight she had put up against the BJP’s juggernaut. The Samajwadi Party and our party president Akhilesh Yadav wants her to campaign for us in the UP Assembly poll. Banerjee had early communicated to Akhilesh Yadav that if needed she will campaign for the party,” he told PTI.

    Akhilesh Yadav shares a very cordial relation with Banerjee and had attended the grand opposition meeting hosted by the TMC supremo in January 2019.

    The election in all 403 Assembly seats of the politically most important state will be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7.

    Nanda said most of the campaign is being held virtually due to COVID restrictions.

    Praising the TMC supremo, he said, “Mamata Banerjee is a strong leader and the way she fought against BJP is a lesson for the entire opposition. I am here to discuss with her the schedule for the campaign, be it virtual or in person. I will meet her on Tuesday”.

    Banerjee had led TMC to a emphatic win in West Bengal for the third consecutive term in 2021 in the face of a stiff challenge by BJP.

    One of the longest-serving fisheries minister of West Bengal during the Left Front regime, Nanda had merged his party – West Bengal Socialist Party with Samajwadi Party in 2010.

    During the high octane West Bengal assembly polls in 2021, SP had decided against contesting and extended its support to the ruling TMC.

  • After pointing out ‘mess’ at GTA, now Bengal Governor attacks Mamata over appointments of VCs of 24 universities

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar Thursday claimed that appointments of vice-chancellors of 24 universities in the state were made without his approval or in defiance of orders.

    Dhankhar is the ex-officio chancellor of the state-run universities, including Calcutta University, Jadavpur University and Presidency University.

    “VCs of 24 Universities appointed @MamataOfficial in disregard of law. These are ex facie in defiance of specific orders or without approval by Chancellor-the Appointing Authority,” the governor tweeted.

    “These appointments carry no legal sanction and would be forced to take action unless soon recalled,” he added.

    The warning comes close on the heels of chancellors and vice-chancellors of private universities not attending a meeting called by the governor earlier in the month at the Raj Bhawan here.

    Dhankhar is the visitor of private universities in the state.

    Claiming that the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) — an autonomous district council for Darjeeling and Kalimpong areas, was in a complete “mess”, Dhankhar on Wednesday sought updates about its operations from officials concerned.

    He also noted that GTA accounts have not been audited by CAG since its formation a decade ago.

    The governor, who is on a visit to Darjeeling, has asked the GTA administrator to personally update him about the council’s operations and way of functioning.

    He also sought an explanation in writing for “non-compliance of earlier directives”.

    “GTA @MamataOfficial in a mess. No CAG Audit for a decade since inception. No report to Governor #GTA functioning as per Section 55 (10) GTA Act, 2011,” Dhankhar tweeted.

    “Administrator #GTA directed to personally update and make available Reports under Section 55(10) of GTA Act by 30 December, 2021,” he said.

    Section 55 (10) of GTA Act, 2011 stipulates that the governor shall obtain a report on the functioning of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration and cause that report to be laid on the table of the Legislative Assembly annually.

    The governor, in a letter to the GTA administrator, a copy of which was attached with the Twitter message, said that a disturbing situation has arisen, pointing towards “serious dereliction of duty by the concerned” with no report being made available to him in spite of firm directives.

    He also said that on the last occasion, the secretary of GTA, under instructions of the then administrator, who was on leave, had called on him in Darjeeling.

    Maintaining that there has been no response to issues flagged for urgent intervention by the administrator, the governor stated that “a serious view of the same is taken at this end and for such acts of omission and commission appropriate steps will emanate.”

    Insisting that the sequence of events indicate a determined defiance of the administrator, Dhankhar said inputs received on his end allege that GTA has become a “den of corruption”, where funds have been wrongly utilised in the absence of audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

  • Governor Dhankar sending anti-Mamata Banerjee messages to me every day: TMC MP Saugata Roy

    By ANI

    KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Saugata Roy on Wednesday alleged that West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has been sending him messages against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee every day.

    Roy said that ‘it is unethical’ for the Governor to engage in such activities.

    Speaking to ANI, the TMC MP said, “Sending messages against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to me by Governor Dhankhar is very unethical. Chief Minister is the leader of the party of which I am a member. I think someone is provoking the Governor. Governor tweets all this after meeting with either Shubhendu Adhikari or Amit Shah. Governor making statements against Chief Minister every day. He is diminishing the dignity of the post of Governor.”

    Referring to the extension of the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) by the Centre, the TMC MP said, “We had opposed the Centre’s move of extending BSF’s jurisdiction. The Governor also had countered our views on the matter.”

  • INTERVIEW | 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be Modi vs Mamata, says Trinamool V-P Varma

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Author, former diplomat and now national vice-president of All India Trinamool Congress (AITMC), Pavan K Varma thinks the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will see a Modi vs Mamata battle. He says his party is trying to emerge as the ‘real Congress’ and not necessarily attacking the grand old party. Excerpts from an interview.

    Q There are talks that TMC is eyeing places where Congress already has a footprint and this will not help the unity in Opposition. Your view?

    A TMC feels it is important to have a strong Opposition in a vibrant democracy. Congress could have led the Opposition. But our assessment is Congress with its present leadership is unable to face that challenge. In the last 10 years, it has lost 90 elections. We are faced with two choices — continue to wait for Congress to reinvent itself or reinvent the Opposition space. In a democracy, no party or individual has an ordained right to lead or monopolise the Opposition space. Every party has the right to try to create a more effective Opposition. TMC has resolved to do that and it proposes to become a party with a pan-India footprint. It has authorised its chairperson to make structural changes that help us emerge as the principal Opposition party.

    Q Why is TMC going after Congress?

    A TMC is a breakaway faction of the original Congress party. Our aim is making TMC the real Congress to become the principal Opposition in the country. Our assessment is that large segments of the Congress are tired of being in the state of drift. They will move to an organisation which represents more robustly the ideologies of Congress. We believe Congress, or something like the Congress, is essential in India. We are not fighting the Congress. We are recreating Congress. We are not the only force in the Opposition. We have a natural set of allies who have kept BJP at bay across the country. It could be DMK in TN or Jagan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh. There are many allies, who want a robust and pan-India alliance against BJP.

    The fight between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi is a walkover for BJP. It’s not an attack against any individual. But the current leadership of Congress is not able to challenge BJP. Therefore, either Congress demonstrates it has the ability to reinvent itself, or you (Congress) have to put forward another entity to fight BJP. We can’t defeat BJP merely my arithmetical calculations. We have to think outside the predictable to defeat them. TMC is proposing to take the place of Congress. It does not necessarily wish to attack Congress.

    Q It is speculated that many politicians like you from other parties — Congress, BJP and others — are likely to join TMC. How true is this?

    A (Laughs) Let’ss see what’s next. For how long shall we wait for Congress, which does not have a fulltime president? Mamata Banerjee is not an outsourced repository. But she has fire in her belly to reinvent a robust Opposition and the real Congress in TMC. It is futile to wait for a miracle in Congress. It is a weakened organisation and its members are realising this and moving out to places like TMC seeing political future. We are not weakening Congress. It is a migration of leaders from one party to another to strengthen the Opposition.

    Q What is TMC planning in other states and do you think Mamata Banerjee would be an accepted a leader of Opposition?

    A Mamata Banerjee after the resounding victory in West Bengal has emerged as a leader of trust. She has a strong willingness to form a formidable opposition against BJP. Hopefully, she gets support from all quarters. We have plans for other states and would be far more organised and become better as an Opposition. In regional elections, BJP might have lost but when it come parliamentary elections, there is no organised Opposition. Our aim is to create an Opposition. We have to do some quality work to defeat BJP.

    Q How do you look at the 2024 LS elections? Does the Opposition have any chance?

    A In a democracy, you can not discount any possibility. In one word, 2024 will be Modi vs Mamata. We have state-specific plans and organisational vigour to execute them. Sometimes, we may even ally with whatever is left of Congress. We will have a policy of strategic flexibility and clarity of goals. With all this, along with allies inclduing NCP, DMK, Jagaan Reddy and others, we will see how to mount the challenge. TMC has reinvented itself as a pan-India party. BJP’s strengths are polarisation, hyper nationalism and what can be called Hindutava welfarism. But polarisation doesn’t mean 80% of Hindus vote for BJP.

    Q Will your good office be utilised to reach JDU?

    A Right now, it appears that Nitish Kumar has accepted his position in Bihar as a subordinate accessory of BJP. We will see when 2024 approaches whether Nitish Kumar is happy or not with his role.

    Q BJP accuses TMC of adopting politics of appeasement. How do your see TMC presenting itself as party of all and for all?

    A In the name of secularism, no doubt in past there was some minority appeasement for electoral dividends. But now, we have understood there must be a policy of equality. Hindus must be given their due and the minority must be given their due. We will pursue that. In order to consolidate Hindu votes, BJP harped on such propagation. There is no denying that BJP out of its political compulsion has been accusing TMC of doing politics of appeasement. TMC has changed itself and is emerging as a party of all and for all. BJP‘s accusation will not be an obstacle in TMC’s path.

    Q How do you rate TMC’s chances in Goa elections?

    A It’s early to say because Goa is a pilot case, of what we want to demonstrate. TMC in its present form is basically a West Bengal-centric party. In a state like Goa, where it has zero percentage, TMC is making a good attempt. Under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee, TMC can make it. Hope results encourage us in Goa.

    Q What’s your assessment of UP elections?

    A Elections are difficult to predict. As of now, we believe BJP has an edge, based on limited feedback. But Mamata Banerjee has offered all help to Samajwadi Party and its allies to take on BJP.

  • Durga Puja festivities to start 10 days prior in 2022 to celebrate UNESCO honour: Mamata

    This honour is the result of our determination, our perseverance. It is recognition of a unique festival like Durga Puja, which is unparalleled in the world, she said.

  • Mamata not given chance to speak during CMs’ virtual meeting with PM

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was on Wednesday made to wait for over two hours during a virtual meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi but was not given a chance to speak, a top source at the state secretariat said.

    Banerjee was not given the chance to speak at the ‘Azadi ki Amrit Mahotsav’ meeting as her name was not on the list of speakers, he told PTI.

    The chief minister has expressed displeasure over the incident, which has also anguished the entire state administration, the source said.

    Chief ministers of other states were also present in the meeting chaired by the prime minister, he added.