News Analysis India

Tag: Mamata Banerjee

  • CM Mamata inaugurates big-ticket Durga puja pandals, asks people to abide by Covid protocols

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated several Durga Puja pandals in the city for the third consecutive day on Friday and urged people to maintain COVID-19 protocols during the festive season.

    She chanted shlokas invoking the deity at Samajsebi Sangha Puja pandal in Ballygunje area, shortly after the inauguration.

    “Please follow all COVID guidelines, wear masks while moving around pandals,” Banerjee requested one and all.

    Later, she proceeded to ring up the curtain on other big-ticket pandals such as Ekdalia Sporting, Singhi Park, Falguni Sangha and Ballygunje Cultural.

    The CM had on Wednesday, on the occasion of Mahalaya, inaugurated Naktala Udayan Sangha in south Kolkata among other pandals.

  • Mamata Banerjee, two other TMC MLAs take oath after bypolls win

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was on Thursday administered the oath as a member of the state assembly by Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.

    Banerjee, who won the Bhabanipur by-poll by a margin of 58,835 votes, a record for the seat, took the oath in Bengali.

    She needed to win the election to retain the chief minister’s chair after her defeat at the hands of protege-turned-rival BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari in the March-April assembly elections.

    Two other newly elected TMC legislators Jakir Hossain and Amirul Islam also took oath soon afterwards.

    Jakir Hossain was declared victorious by a huge margin of 92,480 votes from Jangipur, Amirul Islam won from Samserganj by 26,379 votes.

    Dhankhar had on Tuesday said he will administer the oath to Banerjee and others, in a departure from the practice of the governor authorising the speaker of the assembly to conduct the exercise.

  • Only Trinamool could meet Lakhimpur Kheri victims’ families; kudos to our MPs: Mamata

    The statement of Banerjee, also the TMC supremo, came on a day when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was stopped from visiting the area in Uttar Pradesh where eight people were killed.

  • Wear masks, keep COVID at bay while pandal hopping: Mamata urges people

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Emphasising the necessity of wearing face masks to keep the spread of COVID-19 in check, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday urged everyone to be careful while pandal hopping as the pandemic is still around.

    The chief minister appealed to people while inaugurating two Durga Puja pandals in south Kolkata on Wednesday.

    “I request people visiting the pandals during the festival to wear masks even if they are fully vaccinated. Some people are testing positive for COVID-19, even after being administered both doses of the vaccine,” she said while inaugurating the Naktala Udayan Sangha puja pandal.

    At the Salimpur Pally puja inauguration, the chief minister asked the organisers to keep sufficient masks at their disposal for distributing them among visitors who come without them.

    Banerjee chanted ‘shlokas’ to pay obeisance to the goddess and uttered ‘Jai Bangla’ while concluding her speech.

    Amid the beats of dhak, a traditional instrument played during Durga puja festivities, Banerjee drew the eyes of the deity, a ritual known as ‘chokhudaan’, at Chetla Agrani puja patronised by her cabinet colleague Firhad Hakim.

    She also urged people to be on guard as the rainy season triggers an outbreak of dengue.

    The chief minister, on a Durga puja inauguration spree from ‘Mahalaya’ marking the beginning of ‘Devi Paksha’, unveiled the pandals at Jodhpur Park, 95 Pally, and Babubagan in south Kolkata.

  • CM Mamata Banerjee writes to PM Modi, seeks permanent solution to ‘man-made’ Bengal floods

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: With several districts of West Bengal getting flooded by water discharged from dams and barrages in Jharkhand and those maintained by the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a permanent solution to the recurring problem.

    In a four-page letter sent on Tuesday, the chief minister alleged that the floods were “man-made” and caused by “uncontrolled and unplanned” discharge of water from DVC dams in Jharkhand’s Panchet and Maithon.

    Referring to an earlier letter she had written on August 4 in this connection, Banerjee said, “I had highlighted the structural factors that give birth to grave man-made flood situation in southern Bengal, repeatedly, pitifully and tragically.”

    Unless the Government of India addresses the basic underlying structural and managerial issues, both on a short term and on a long-term basis, the disasters will continue unmitigated in our lower riparian state.

    The TMC chief said she hasn’t received any reply to her previous letter.

    “The issues that I raised affect millions of lives, and I request that the Government of India should get into some serious actions without further delay,” the letter read.

    Banerjee also alleged that the DVC authorities did not pay heed to IMD warnings of heavy rainfall, and “kept the water discharge from the dams at a low level and when there was heavy rainfall, it discharged about 10 lakh acre-feet of water between September 30 and October 2, which caused serious devastation in lower Damodar region before the festive season”.

    She has also given a date-wise list of water discharged from Maithon and Panchet dams.

    “This annual problem requires immediate short-term and long-term measures so that the sufferings of the people are mitigated and the national loss in terms of loss of life and property is avoided.

    “I seek your kind immediate intervention so that the Ministry concerned of the Government of India is requested to engage with the Governments of West Bengal and Jharkhand and the authorities of the DVC, to help in arriving at a permanent solution to this problem of our state occurring year after year,” she said.

    Incidentally, parts of south Bengal were flooded in early August, and Banerjee had alleged that the “man-made” disaster was caused due to excessive release of water by the DVC, claiming 16 lives and affecting lakhs of farmers.

    Last week, Banerjee had held the Jharkhand government and the DVC responsible for the current flood situation in the southern part of West Bengal.

    She contended that it was caused due to unplanned and enhanced discharge of water from dams and barrages in Jharkhand without prior information to her administration.

    Banerjee claimed that the reservoirs in Jharkhand have not been cleaned for the last 50 years, and warned of “massive protests” if dredging of dams and barrages was not done on an urgent basis to prevent the recurring floods.

  • Day after praising Mamata, Tripura BJP MLA tonsures head, atones at Bengal temple for joining party

    Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: A Tripura BJP MLA on Tuesday tonsured his head at the famous Kalighat temple in Kolkata to atone for the “blunder” he made by joining the saffron party.

    The Surma MLA, Asish Das, said the “evil” BJP was “swallowing” the entire country. “I feel I had committed a crime by becoming a part of the BJP. It was a blunder that I made. I offered puja at Kalighat temple and tonsured my head to make amends,” Das told The New Indian Express.

    He continued: “I realised the evil BJP is swallowing the country. I prayed to God to seek the destruction of this evil power.”

    The farmer-turned-MLA said the people of Tripura had voted the BJP to power in 2018 seeking a change. He said people misunderstood the elected representatives and were blaming them for failing to fulfill their hopes and aspirations.

    “So, I thought I must expiate by offering a puja,” Das said.

    He said he was not bothered by any possible disciplinary action by the BJP, stating “I am neither a thief nor a goon. I am not corrupt either”.

    He said he has always protested against injustice and would never compromise it. He also said that he had no relation with the Trinamool Congress and he was not joining the party as speculated.

    On Monday, Das spoke very highly about TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee but criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “selling out most government properties to the private parties”.

    He claimed many people and organisations in the country wanted Mamata as the PM. “Mamata Banerjee is now a very popular political face in the country,” the MLA had said.

    The BJP said Das was at liberty to offer puja. “He is free to offer puja. We wish that good sense prevails on him,” Tripura BJP spokesperson Navendu Bhattacharjee said.

    He said the party would decide appropriately based on the various statements the MLA was giving to the media.

  • Instead of writing to PM, Mamata should address reason behind flooding in West Bengal: Dilip Ghosh

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: BJP on Tuesday said that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should address the reason behind the flooding of vast parts of the state rather than writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, top central officials and the neighbouring Jharkhand government.

    BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh told a press meet here that the flood situation in vast stretches of East and West Midnapore districts, Hooghly and Howrah has worsened over the years due to the inaction of Trinamool Congress in the past 10 years and the Left Front government previous to it.

    “What did Mamata Banerjee do other than blaming the Centre for the floods ? Where did the crores of Rupees sent by Centre and international funding agencies to undertake dredging of canals go? There is poor maintenance by the state irrigation department.

    “She only undertakes aerial survey, blames DVC and Centre and writes letters to the PM. Her officials write to their central counterparts, to Jharkhand government. What can the Jharkhand government do in this matter? She should address the reasons for the floods in Bengal,” Ghosh commented.

    Banerjee has accused DVC of releasing excess water from its barrages after the heavy rains last week without information during the night.

    The water discharged by DVC had claimed lives and affected lakhs of people, she said and demanded dredging of the barrages and dams of the Jharkhand government.

    Ghosh in turn accused Banerjee of taking steps like writing to the prime minister and Jharkhnd government only to divert attention from her failures to tackle the annual flooding.

    Ghosh said he was not opposed to TMC rushing its delegations to other parts of country after an incident of political importance, “But they (TMC) should remember how they prevent opposition leaders like those from BJP when they head to any place which have witnessed brutal attacks by Trinamool Congress goons. We are not allowed to meet the affected families and Section 144 Cr PC is promulgated to prevent us.”

    To a question Ghosh said he was personally not in favour of a political party organising Durga Puja.

    “I have no issue if some of us in the party are behind any Durg Puja on their own”.

    BJP had organised its first Durga Puja in the city in 2020.

  • Mamata Banerjee, two other newly-elected TMC MLAs to take oath on October 7 

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday said he will administer the oath to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as a member of the state assembly on October 7.

    Banerjee won the Bhabanipur by-poll with a record margin of 58,835 votes.

    She needed to win the election to retain the chief minister’s chair.

    Two other newly elected TMC legislators will also take oath on Thursday.

    “Governor WB Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar would administer oath/affirmation to the elected members to the WBLA, viz., MAMATA BANERJEE, JAKIR HOSSIAN and AMIRUL ISLAM at the premises of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly on 7 October, 2021 at 11.45 hours,” he tweeted.

    Jakir Hossain was declared victorious by a huge margin of 92,480 votes from the Jangipur constituency, while Amirul Islam won from Samserganj by a margin of 26,379 votes.

    The results were declared on Sunday.

    West Bengal Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee on Monday requested the governor to administer the oath to the three legislators, including Banerjee, on October 7.

  • Mamata visits Bhowanipore day after bypoll as BJP introspects loss of face among non-Bengali voters

    Express News Service

    KOLKATA: A day after registering a thumping victory in Bhowanipore by-election, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday visited a non-Bengali-dominated area in the constituency and thanked voters for her victory.

    This area — Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s wards No 70 and No 74 — is said to be the BJP’s stronghold. Mamta also visited a gurudwara and interacted with people.  

    In the high-decibel Bhowanipore bypoll, the saffron camp received an unexpected blow in its strongholds as Mamata made deep inroads into the zones inhabited by non-Bengali speaking people.

    In the two pockets dominated by the electorates whose mother tongue is not Bengali, the BJP had secured the leads of 2,092 votes and 537 votes respectively in the 2021 assembly elections.

    However, in the bypoll, the saffron camp trailed behind by 1,556 votes in ward No 70 and 4,979 votes in ward No 74.

    “We never expected such a setback in the pockets which have proved loyal to us in the previous polls. Considering the polling rate of around 57 per cent, the leading margin of Mamata Banerjee from these two wards was significant. Had we been able to retain our vote-bank, she could not have won with a record margin,” said a BJP leader.

    Mamata registered victory in the bypoll with a margin of 58,835 votes, which has been the highest in Bhowanipore.

    The saffron camp’s vote-share in Bhowanipore, which is known as a mini-India because of the colourful characters of electorates, dropped to 22.29 per cent from 35.17 per cent in the recent assembly polls.

    “This is the first time in the past six years, our party bagged lead from ward No 70. This was possible because of Mamata’s aggressive campaign in the non-Bengali-dominated zones. She addressed rallies in the areas where people from Gujarat, Punjab, UP and Bihar reside,’’ said a TMC leader.      

    In two other constituencies, Samsherganj and Jangipur where elections were held on September 30, the BJP’s performance was quite unimpressive compared to its show in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

    Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, went to the famous Sitala temple at Bhabanipur in south Kolkata and offered puja.

    She was accompanied by her nephew and the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

    She, Abhishek and other party leaders then went to a nearby gurudwara on foot, covering a distance of nearly a kilometre.

    Wearing a scarf covering her head, the TMC boss offered her prayers and spoke to devotees and the priest there.

    While campaigning for the by-poll last month, Banerjee had visited the temple and the gurudwara and a mosque in the constituency.

    She won by-poll with a record margin of 58,835 votes, defeating her nearest rival Priyanka Tibrewal of the BJP.

    The TMC supremo needed to win it to continue as the chief minister.

    Banerjee, a resident of Bhabanipur, had won the seat in 2011 and 2016.

    However, in the assembly election held earlier this year, she contested from Nandigram, where the anti-farmland acquisition movement against the Left Front government had transformed her into a major political force in the state, to dare her protege turned adversary Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP in his home turf.

    Though she powered the TMC to a resounding win for a third straight term in office, she lost to Adhikari by a narrow margin, and challenged the result in the Calcutta High Court.

    The case is pending.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • Lakhimpur Kheri violence: Instead of Ram raj, killing raj going on in Uttar Pradesh, says Mamata Banerjee

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday attacked BJP governments at the Centre and Uttar Pradesh over the death of farmers during a protest , claiming that “autocracy” prevails in the country and “killing Raj” is going on in that state.

    Eight people were killed – four farmers were allegedly run over and four people in a convoy of BJP workers who were lynched – on Sunday as violence erupted during a farmers’ protest in Lakhimpur Kheri district in Uttar Pradesh.

    ALSO READ: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on ‘hunger strike’ following detention

    “What is going on in the country is not democracy but autocracy. Farmers were brutally butchered, and they (BJP) didn’t want the truth to come out. That is why they have imposed Section 144 (CrPC) there. People will impose Section 144 on them in the days to come. They are stopping delegations from visiting the locals there,” she told reporters after visiting a Gurudwara in Bhabanipur, her assembly constituency.

    When asked if she feels that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath should resign over the law and order situation, Banerjee said, “Killing Raj is going on, instead of Ram Rajya as promised by them”.