News Analysis India

Tag: Mamata Banerjee

  • Mamata’s TMC registers landslide victory in Kolkata civic polls

    Express News Service

    KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday registered a landslide victory in the Kolkata Municipal Elections bagging 134 out of 144 wards and the BJP, which had emerged as the main opposition party in the recent Assembly elections, won three seats. The Left Front and Congress won two each. 

    The Independent candidates bagged victory in three wards.

    Though the LF failed to retain the second position that it had secured in the 2015 civic polls, the party’s vote share was higher than the BJP. It was also in the second position in 65 seats while the saffron camp was in 47 wards. The Congress was ahead of the LF and the BJP in 16 seats.

    “The election was a mass festival and it’s a victory of the people. Several national parties including the BJP, Congress and CPI(M) also fought against us but they were all defeated. This victory will show the way in national politics in the coming days. A meeting has been convened in Maharashtra Niwas in Kolkata on December 23 with the elected councillors. The process of selecting the mayor for the civic body will be initiated after the meeting,” said TMC supremo and Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee.  

    ALSO READ | ‘Need to question that party’s seriousness: Chidambaram targets Mamata over Opposition unity

    Establishing record dominance, the TMC secured 72% vote share when the LF bagged 12% and the BJP 9% respectively. The Congress got 4% vote share.

    In the 2015 civic polls, the TMC had bagged 113 wards, the LF 15 seats and the BJP 7 seats.   

    Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari criticised the role of the state election commission. “Congratulations to @CEOWestBengal Sourav Das for making Royal Nephew of Bengal’s prediction come true. Important Steps taken by you such as EVM without VVPAT, CCTV without connection and last but not the least; allowing an atmosphere of fear to prevail with @KolkataPolice’s help,” he tweeted.

    Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said had the election been free and fair, his party would have won in at least 12 wards.

    Echoing the same, CPI(M)’S Sujan Chakraborty said had the electorates were allowed to exercise their franchise freely, the break-up of the result would have been different.

  • BJP alleges massive rigging in KMC elections, urges Bengal Governor for repolling

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Alleging large-scale rigging during the Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections, opposition BJP on Sunday met West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and urged him to take steps to countermand the civic polls.

    Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari claimed that there were over 100 instances of irregularities during the polls, and not more than 20 per cent of the electorate could cast votes.

    “Most CCTVs were non-functional with papers and stickers pasted on the camera or their connection points pulled out. The chief minister is turning the state into a dictator-run republic,” he said.

    Sporadic incidents of violence including hurling of bombs at two booths and skirmishes between political workers marred an otherwise humdrum polling as 63.63 per cent of the nearly 40.5 lakh voters exercised their franchise till 5 pm on Sunday, when voting ended.

    High drama was witnessed outside a Salt Lake area house where Adhikari was holding a meeting with party MLAs, after the Bidhannagar city police cordoned-off the entire area and stopped him from leaving for Raj Bhawan, where he was scheduled to meet the Governor, citing a directive of the State Election Commission that non-residents cannot enter the city on polling day.

    In a video that surfaced on social media, BJP vice-president Jay Prakash Majumder was seen arguing with police officers, asking them on what grounds were they taking such action.

    A deputy commissioner rank officer was heard telling him: “We cannot allow you to proceed to Kolkata as polling is being held and you are not residents of the metropolis.”

    Adhikari also alleged he was manhandled by a junior police officer, and that the gates of the MLA hostel in Kolkata were locked till 5 pm, preventing eight BJP legislators from attending a legislature party meeting.

    Later, the governor, in a tweet, said: “BJP delegation led by LOP @SuvenduWB has urged the Governor to take steps to declare polls #KMC null and void in view of rampant violence, rigging and @KolkataPolice acting for ruling party. A thorough probe was sought in the locking of opposition MLAs in the hostel.”

    “Delegation also sought investigation into the virtual house arrest @bidhannagarpc of LOP @SuvenduWB and several MLAs, being reminiscent of emergency. According to them, ruling party Ministers and MLAs had free run with support @KolkataPolice.”

    A BJP delegation on Sunday evening submitted various footages and documents to the SEC, demanding repolling.

    Adhikari said the KMC elections is being monitored by the Calcutta High Court, and the party will also submit footages in support of its claims to the court on December 23.

    “I saw her (CM Mamata Banerjee) thanking police for having stopped outsiders. How long will she keep labelling residents of the state as outsiders?” the leader of opposition added.

  • Mamata congratulates teachers, education department as Bengal tops chart in literacy index

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: With West Bengal having topped the charts among large states in ‘Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Index’, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday extended her wishes to teachers, parents and officials of the education department.

    Taking to Twitter, Banerjee shared the “great news”, attaching a media report that gave the details.

    “Great news for West Bengal! We have secured the top rank among larger states on the ‘Foundational Literacy & Numeracy Index’. I congratulate all teachers, guardians & members of our Education Department for this outstanding achievement!” she tweeted.

    Bengal has occupied the top position and Bihar languished at the bottom in the ‘large states’ category on the ‘Index on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy’ – an indicator of literacy among children below 10 years.

    There are four categories in which regions have been divided – large states, small states, union territories and North east.

    The report was prepared by Institute for Competitiveness and released by Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (each pm) chairman Bibek Debroy recently.

  • ‘He can do anything for votes before polls’: Mamata Banerjee on PM Modi’s dip in river Ganga

    By PTI

    PANAJI: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi remembers the Ganga river, which is regarded as the “mai” (mother) by lakhs, only during elections to get votes, a day after he took a ritualistic dip in the holy river before inaugurating the Kashi Vishwanath Dham (KVD) in Varanasi.

    Addressing a public meeting at Assnora village in North Goa on the last day of her two-day visit to Goa, the TMC supremo said the prime minister can do anything to get votes and recalled his visit to Uttarakhand for performing “tapasya” (meditation).

    She also alleged that the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh made the Ganga river “impure by throwing unclaimed bodies of COVID-19 victims”.

    ALSO READ | Sonia Gandhi meets Opposition leaders on joint strategy in Parliament, no invite to Mamata’s TMC

    Banerjee said around 23 lakh people visit Gangasgar in West Bengal to participate in the Gangasagar mela like the Kumbh congregation.

    “But we don’t worship the Ganga river only during the time of elections. During the election time, Modi ji went and took a dip in the Ganga river,” she said in an apparent reference to the PM’s visit to Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency, on Monday for inaugurating the KVD which houses the world-famous Kashi Vishwanath temple Banerjee said PM Modi took a dip in the Ganga river “only to get votes.”

    “He can do anything to get votes. He had gone to Uttarakhand and performed tapasya. We have no objection to it. Let him do whatever he wants to. He has freedom (to do whatever he wants) but where were you during the entire year?” she asked.

    The swipe at PM Modi came in reference to his visit to a cave near the Kedarnath temple where he had spent a day meditating after the election campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, which the BJP won.

    ​ALSO READ | Mamata declares ‘match’ against BJP in Goa

    The West Bengal chief minister accused the Yogi Adityanath government in UP of throwing unclaimed bodies of the COVID-19 victims in the Ganga river.

    “They have made the Gangamai (mother Ganga) ‘apavitra’ (impure). We call the Ganga water pure. We call the river our mother. But the BJP has thrown COVID-19 dead bodies in the Ganga river. We don’t like it,” she said.

    Banerjee, who is projecting herself as the opposition pivot to take on the BJP and whose party is contesting the maiden assembly elections in Goa, was livid at the “Bengali party” tag assigned to the TMC.

    ALSO READ | Dhankhar vs Mamata again? Bengal Governor asks officials to ensure cooperation between BSF, police

    “They say we are Bengalis, (but) who are they? They are Gujaratis. Did we ever say that he is a Gujarati and he should not come here? If Gujaratis can go anywhere in the entire country, why can’t Bengalis go? If a Bengali can write the National Anthem, can’t he come to Goa?” she questioned.

    Banerjee said Mahatma Gandhi was seen as the leader of the entire nation and not of any state.

    “We don’t think which part of the country he belonged to. A true leader should take the country together,” she commented.

    The West Bengal chief minister said that “Goa will not be run from Gujarat or Delhi but Goans will run their state.”

  • Sonia Gandhi meets Opposition leaders on joint strategy in Parliament, no invite to Mamata’s TMC

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday met a group of opposition leaders and held consultations with them to evolve a joint strategy in Parliament, sources said.

    NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, J&K National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut and DMK leader T R Baalu were among the leaders who met Gandhi at her 10, Janpath residence.

    Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, which is at loggerheads with the Congress, was not invited, sources said.

    Sources said more such meetings would be held in the next few days, in a bid to bring all opposition forces together.

    Opposition parties have been protesting the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs and are holding protests, seeking the revocation of their suspensions.

    Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge were also part of Tuesday’s meeting.

    According to sources, Sonia Gandhi had invited Uddhav Thackeray and DMK chief MK Stalin. Both deputed their leaders –Raut and Baalu– respectively.

    Earlier in the day, opposition MPs in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha held a protest march from the Gandhi statue in the Parliament complex to Vijay Chowk with Rahul Gandhi alleging that the Opposition is not being allowed to raise issues in Parliament, which is now merely a building and a museum.

    “Wherever the Opposition is trying to raise issues, they are suppressed. The government does not allow us to raise issues. This is the murder of democracy. We want to raise issues against the government, but we are not allowed to do so,” he told reporters.

  • TMC splurges on publicity to make its presence felt in poll-bound Goa 

    Express News Service

    PANAJI: The Trinamool Congress may not have much ground presence and has been inducting leaders from other parties but the party is seemingly splurging big time on publicity, even more than the ruling BJP and opposition Congress, to make its presence felt in poll-bound Goa.

    The TMC has made West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee its face with posters, banners at every nook and corner of the city. Starting from the airport to the entire city, there are big hoardings of Mamata promising ‘Goenchi Navi Sakal’ (Goa’s New Dawn) and even bus stops, posters at roads all along the north-South Goa.

    Banerjee is slated to be in Goa on a two-day visit starting Monday, where she is meeting Editors of prominent media, doing public meetings at a few places, reaching out to community leaders, and inducting more leaders to the party. 

    This is her second visit in two months. Prashant Kishor, the brain behind TMC’s “carpet-bombing” strategy in the poll-bound state is similar to what was seen in the run-up to the 2014 election when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was successfully projected as the face of the BJP and a national leader.

    The BJP has started putting posters with faces of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Goa CM Manohar Parrikar, Goa CM Pramod Sawant and some prominent leaders talking about party’s but this is no match to TMC’s campaign outreach in the city which is witnessing a multi-corner protest with AAP and other smaller parties also in the fray.

    The Congress that is seeing a lot of leaders jumping ship is way behind in even matching the TMC’s massive advertising outreach. There were barely any posters on display on a day (Dec 10) Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was in the city for campaigning.      

    On the ground, the publicity outreach of the TMC has caught the attention of local people and they talk about the money being used by the party for poaching leaders from other parties, besides spending on publicity. 

    But, will the party be able to open its account in the legislative assembly having 40 seats. Many local people doubt on the account that the party does not have a ground presence and that a well-planned publicity strategy is being discussed by various groups but when it comes to voting people will prefer choosing a party that can come to power.

    “Mamata didi is everywhere in the city on posters, banners but there are no units at the village and smaller levels. Moreover, many people consider it as an outsider party from Bengal and we would want to vote for our leaders. Moreover, every party is engaged in buying votes, and leaders and people would prefer choosing a stable party. We have seen in the past, parties having 1-2 MLAs switching to ruling front,” said Prateek Satardekar, a shop owner in Salgonda in Panaji.

    The people are talking about a lot of migrants from nearby states changing the traditional Goan culture and how several political parties are supporting these migrants to make their vote bank.

    “Goans are very simple and fun-loving people as goes the saying about Goan is ‘Susshe gaad’ (laid back). But now people from other states are changing the culture where you can see aggressive behavior. This is a big issue for us who originally hail from the state,” said a taxi driver from Vasco.

    In 2017, the state saw fractured mandate with Congress emerging as the single largest party but the BJP managed to form the government by managing the required number. Later, top Congress leadership in the state joined the BJP. 

    Ahead of elections, there has been a lot of political movement and is expected to increase as election time nears.

    Several people mention that none of the parties are expected to get a clear majority this time also post elections, may see a lot of horse-trading but for now, the small coastal state is seeing a lot of attention with several parties looking to make inroads in the state.   

  • West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee snubs TMC MLA Abdul Karim for demanding separate Islampur district

    By PTI

    RAIGANJ: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday snubbed TMC MLA Abdul Karim Chowdhury for demanding that Islampur, which he represents, be carved out of Uttar Dinajpur and be made a separate district at an administrative review meeting held here and ruled out the demand.

    Terming Karim’s attitude as “cheap”, a visibly peeved Banerjee, who is also the TMC supremo, asked the Islampur MLA to concentrate on working for the people instead.

    “Such a demand should not be made in an administrative meeting. Don’t talk cheap. Uttar Dinajpur is a small district and has two subdivisions. Islampur subdivision is already there…There is a lot of work to be done to make a district. Moreover the distance from Raiganj (district hq) to Islampur is not much,” she said.

    Continuing with her admonition, Banerjee referred to the demand for a Sundarbans district.

    “You (Chowdhury) see how big that area is. You have won the elections, now work for the people. That (a separate Islampur district) will not happen now”.

    “If the MLAs think they will speak whatever they want, then I will not allow the legislators to speak…They will tell me to make a district in their house,” she fumed.

    Banerjee announced the launching of ‘Artisan’ credit cards which will help the craftsmen earn special benefits.

    She inquired whether Students’ Credit Cards had been given to all the beneficiaries and directed officials to speed up the disbursal to those who are yet to get them.

  • Nagaland firing: CM Mamata Banerjee asks police to keep tab on BSF activities in West Bengal

    By PTI

    RAIGANJ: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Tuesday asked police in districts that share borders with neighbouring countries to keep a watch on activities of the BSF, in the wake of the killing of 14 civilians in Nagaland by security forces.

    She also directed police to not allow the Border Security Force to breach its earmarked jurisdiction, and maintained that law and order is a state subject.

    “I know there is this problem… BSF personnel enter our villages and then we get complaints about harassment. They go to several places that are beyond their jurisdiction without informing the police.”

    Everybody has seen what happened in Nagaland… in Bengal’s Sitalkuchi during assembly polls and recently in Coochbehar, where three persons were killed in firing… I will ask the block development officers and inspectors-in-charge to be on alert,” she said at an administrative review meeting of Uttar Dinajpur and Dakshin Dinajpur districts held in Karnajora here.

    Banerjee was referring to the killing of 14 civilians by security forces in Nagaland’s Mon district on December 4 and 5.

    The chief minister has also been protesting against the Centre’s decision to extend BSF’s jurisdiction, terming the move as an attempt to interfere with the federal structure of the country.

    The BJP-led central government has amended the BSF Act to authorise the force to undertake search, seizure and arrest within a 50-km stretch from the earlier 15-km limit, from the international border in Punjab, West Bengal and Assam.

    “We do not have problems in the border areas and share very cordial relations (with neighbouring countries). There is no need to create this confusion. Law and order is a state subject,” Banerjee had said.

    West Bengal shares international borders with Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.

  • The curious case of Mamata Banerjee’s new opposition front

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee might have talked a lot about the need for a new formidable opposition front without Congress Party to take on the BJP in 2024 Lok Sabha elections but her idea seems to be going a non-starter with a majority of UPA allies sounding unfavourable with the idea. The UPA allies in a good number feel that Mamata’s idea of forming a new political front of opposition parallel to UPA will ultimately benefit the BJP in the next 2024 LS elections if the idea is translated into reality.

    Buoyed over the recent victory in state assembly elections, the TMC in what appears to be a meticulously chalked political strategy, has intensified the efforts to make its political presence felt in other states also. As part of a well-thought induction-cum-expansion spree, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee recently met many leaders of opposition in Delhi and Mumbai trying to take them in confidence on the necessity of forming a new political front of opposition against the BJP, excluding the Congress Party. As part of this campaign to create an atmosphere conducive to the creation of a new opposition front, she termed the UPA as non-existent also.

    Senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP of Shiv Sena Sanjay Raut, speaking to this newspaper, said no political front of opposition can succeed in defeating the ruling BJP without the Congress Party as it is only the national party with a political presence in many states.

    “Whatever Mamata Banerjee ji has said as a responsible and respectful politician, would have been her own thoughts or perceptions. The Shiv Sena want all opposition parties together to take on the BJP”, Raut said. He categorically said that two fronts in opposition would not be good for the unity of opposition against the ruling BJP. The Shiv Sena has already made its stand clear through a write–up in its mouthpiece ‘Saamna’  that those who don’t think of going with the Congress-led opposition would be akin to strengthening the BJP and the ‘fascist forces’. “It would be impossible to defeat the BJP without Congress Party and the ShivSena has never thought of it,” he said.

    The RJD, which is one of the bigger allies of Congress-led UPA, echoed the same sentiment upon being asked whether it would like to join, if a new political front of opposition is formed by Mamata Banerjee, excluding Congress Party. “The RJD has more often than not made its stand clear on this issue. We can’t even think of excluding the Congress Part from UPA or going into any new political front of opposition formed without Congress Party”, RJD spokesperson Chitaranjan Gagan.

    He said: “How can one leave the Congress Party in opposition, which gives direct fight to the BJP on 200 Lok Sabha seats in the country? It sounds a bit impossible to an ally of UPA like us”, he said. Earlier, talking to this newspaper RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav had also said that Sonia Gandhi was requested by him to call the meeting of all opposition leaders for strengthening opposition unity against the BJP. The NCP, headed by Sharad Pawar, which is power in Maharashtra along with the Congress Party, has already dismissed the idea of forming a new front of opposition sans Congress Party. National spokesperson of NCP Nawab Malik recently told the media that the Congress Party has a Pan-India presence and can be important for the opposition. The NCP leader further stated that no united front of opposition can be formed without Congress Party. 

  • UP polls 2022: Mamata Banerjee likely to visit Varanasi, support Akhilesh Yadav

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee is expected to visit Varanasi next month amid indication that her party will support Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

    “Didi has already said in Delhi that if Akhilesh Yadav needs our help, we are ready to extend help. The gesture of senior SP leader Jaya Bachchan seeking votes for the TMC during the West Bengal Assembly elections will be reciprocated in Uttar Pradesh,” said Laliteshpati Tripathi, who recently joined the TMC.

    “The target is the same and we have to leave no stone unturned to ensure that these forces (led by the BJP) are defeated. We are also with SP chief Akhilesh ji in his fight,” Tripathi said on Sunday.

    He said Banerjee would visit Varanasi probably around the second week of January.

    “The TMC is holding meetings and deliberating how to strengthen itself in Uttar Pradesh. As far as party chief Mamata Banerjee’s visit to Varanasi is concerned, we have not finalised the dates. We were planning to organise her visit in December, but owing to her previous engagements, we could not get the dates,” Tripathi said.

    Uttar Pradesh is not the immediate focus of the TMC, he said.

    For the TMC, Goa and Tripura are the states of immediate focus, Tripathi said, adding his party is not in the fray in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election due early next year.

    Asked whether Banerjee is visiting Varanasi since it is represented by PM Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha, and possibly because she wants to send across a message, Tripathi said, “No. According to the initial roadmap of the TMC, the party’s Purvanchal unit office was to be based in Varanasi, and Mamata ji wanted to have a darshan (of temples).”

    Tripathi also reasoned that she chose Varanasi as the first phase of the joining of new members in the TMC was to be held in the holy city.

    Laliteshpati Tripathi, ex-vice president of the state Congress and great-grandson of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kamlapati Tripathi, and his father Rajeshpathi joined the TMC in the presence of Banerjee in Siliguri on October 25.

    Asked what made him and his father join the TMC, the 43-year-old-leader said Banerjee has the capacity to fight Prime Minister Modi.

    Meanwhile, SP’s national vice-president Kiranmoy Nanda told PTI Sunday, “We have supported her (Mamata Banerjee) in the West Bengal Assembly elections. I myself have campaigned for her in the elections.”

    “We welcome the gesture (of offering support) by Didi. We want to defeat the BJP, and Didi also wants to defeat the BJP. If Didi supports us, we are happy, and we welcome it.”

    When asked as to how he views Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is trying to mobilise the party cadre (ahead of the polls), Laliteshpati Tripathi said, “Politics is not a game, which is started two-three months before the elections. If I take the example of Mamata Banerjee, she fought the Communists in the state continuously for three-four years by being there. The Congress, too, needs the same thing”.

    “The Congress seems to be fighting now, and for the candidates it is good that the star campaigners are active. Whosoever can take advantage of it, will do so. But, as far as the revival of the party is concerned, it should have been started in 2019,” he said.

    Commenting on the announcement made by Priyanka Gandhi that the Congress will give 40 per cent of tickets in Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls to women, and whether it could be possibly a game changer, Tripathi said, “If this was to be made a game changer, this should have been introduced in states like Uttarakhand, Goa and Punjab, where they could have guaranteed the win of their candidates, and it could have been a strong initiative towards women empowerment.

    “This is a welcome move, but based on it alone, you cannot win the polls as there are a host of other factors,” he said.

    “Didi has shown that she can take on Narendra Modi and defeat him as well,” Tripathi said and added that the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election has become Akhilesh Yadav versus Yogi Adityanath.

    “If Akhilesh is seen on a strong footing, then the prime minister would have to come here and lead the (BJP’s poll) campaign,” Tripathi said.

    Tripathi claimed that BJP’s tally of seats in the 2022 Assembly elections will decrease from its 2017 total of 312, as there is “anger in the society, farmers are worried in absence of proper purchase of paddy and due to non-availability of fertilisers”.

    He also claimed that the BJP will lose seats in the rural areas of Varanasi in the Assembly polls.

    Tripathi said that he and his father have not taken any designation in the TMC and are working to strengthen it in the state.