News Analysis India

Tag: Mamata Banerjee

  • Bhowanipore poll fight to set BJP’s West Bengal template

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Seeking to put up a spirited contest against Mamata Banerjee in the Bhowanipore bypoll, the BJP plans to build a future template of its strategy in West Bengal by establishing personal connect with the electorate.

    BJP state vice-president Dilip Ghosh and his successor Sukanta Majumdar consulted senior leaders on Tuesday on the future road map. With the BJP keeping away outsiders as part of a new strategy, the state leaders were told to establish personal connect with the electorate. 

    In line with the strategy, a BJP leader said Union minister Subhash Sarkar is leading a campaign to reach out to the electorate through letters, seeking support for party candidate Priyanka Tibrewal, who is up against the might of the Bengal chief minister. 

    The BJP, on the other hand, continued putting up demands to the Election Commission for taking up steps to stop the alleged instances of intimidation of its workers in the state. On Tuesday, Union Ministers Bhupender Yadav and Anurag Thakur led a delegation to the Election Commission and sought patrol and area domination by security personnel with immediate effect. They also urged the EC to ensure that the measures were further strengthened on the day of polling.

    The BJP delegation also sought deployment of at least 40 CAPF companies or more in Bhowanipore to ensure that every booth is covered, while also seeking that the local police or their home guards or any variant thereof must not be deployed for poll duty.

    The BJP also requested the Commission that Section 144 of CrPC be imposed on the day of polling (September 30). Another demand was that special attention be paid to the well-being of the persons in high rise buildings, as such areas often are targeted for intimidation by workers of the ruling Trinamool Congress.

    Parties fret over date

    Major political parties in West Bengal, barring the Trinamool Congress, said that the Election Commission had not taken into account the festive season when fixing the bypoll date

    SC notice to Centre on post-poll violence

    NEW DELHI: West Bengal has ‘made out’ a case for issuance of notices, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday while seeking responses from the Centre and others on the Trinamool government’s appeal against the Calcutta High Court order directing court- monitored CBI probe into the heinous cases of rape and murder during the post-poll violence in the eastern state. 

  • Ex-Goa CM Luizinho Faleiro to join TMC in presence of Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata on September 29

    By PTI

    PANAJI: Former Goa chief minister Luizinho Faleiro, who resigned as Congress MLA, is set to join the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Kolkata in the presence of the party president and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday, sources in TMC said here on Tuesday.

    Faleiro and others, including some former Congress functionaries from Goa, have already reached Kolkata, the sources said.

    The Congress veteran resigned as an MLA and as a primary member of Congress on Monday and said the Goa party unit was run by a “coterie of leaders who prioritise only self-interest”.

    Faleiro Monday refused to reveal whether he would join the TMC but praised Mamata Banerjee, saying the country needs a leader like her to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    Faleiro would be joining the Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) along with other leaders on Wednesday in the presence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, sources said, adding that former Goa Pradesh Congress Committee general secretaries Yatish Naik and Vijai Pai, senior lawyer Antonio Clovis da Costa, and writer N Shivdas are also accompanying Faleiro.

    The exit of Faleiro, who represented the Navelim Assembly seat, has reduced the Congress’ strength in the 40-member Goa Assembly to four.

    TMC leader Derek O’Brien told PTI on Saturday in Goa that the party will be contesting the upcoming Assembly polls and they were in touch with several local leaders.

    He had said that the TMC will announce its chief ministerial candidate soon.

    In the 2017 Assembly elections in Goa, Congress won the highest 17 seats in the 40-member House restricting the BJP to 13.

    However, the saffron party outsmarted the Congress by tying up with regional parties and formed government under the leadership of senior leader Manohar Parrikar.

  • West Bengal government mulls for lateral entry in bureaucracy in senior positions

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The Mamata Banerjee government is mulling following in the footsteps of the BJP-led central government by opting for lateral entry into the bureaucracy in senior positions such as Special Secretary and Joint Secretaries, a senior official said on Tuesday.

    The lateral entry scheme could see these officials posted in different departments as advisors. The details of their exact job profile and responsibilities have however not yet been “chalked out”, according to the official. “All these appointments will be contractual for a specific period only. Their eligibility criteria will be equivalent to an IAS official,” the IAS officer said.

    He added that according to plans the minimum eligibility for such lateral entrants would be 15 years of relevant experience. The pay and perks of these lateral entry officers would be worked out by the state Home Personnel and Administrative Reforms department.

    Another highly-placed source, who declined to be named, said that the government would advertise for the appointments for lateral recruitment. “Anyone with a minimum experience of 15 years in the fields of civil aviation, commerce, economic affairs will be eligible for the positions. As of now, it has been decided that the age of the candidate should not be less than 40 years,” he added.

    The proposal may be sent to the chief minister’s office for a final nod of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the senior officer added. However, despite several attempts a confirmation from state home secretary BP Gopalika could not be gained.

    In 2018, the Centre had stated that the lateral entry scheme would fulfil the twin purpose of bringing in domain expertise in the civil services and address the problem of shortage of IAS officers they have been facing.

    This February, the central government had advertised 30 posts at the level of joint secretaries and directors for lateral recruitment. The UPSC advertisement made that month sought online applications for ministries, departments, PSUs, autonomous bodies for positions that were on contract for a period of three years.

  • Bhawanipore bypoll: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s desperation aimed at protecting image

    Express News Service

    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s aggressive campaign for the by-election in Bhawanipore, despite being termed by the BJP as a reflection of her “desperation”, is said to be aimed at protecting her popular image.

    Sources in the ruling party said that the West Bengal CM had issued a dictate to party leaders to increase her victory margin. Sovandeb Chattopadhyay won from here by a margin of 28,719 votes, while in 2016 assembly elections, Mamata had won by 25,301 votes. “If she gets one vote less than Chattopadhyay’s margin, BJP will get a chance to raise questions on the CM’s popularity,” said a senior TMC leader. 

    For the last one week, Mamata, has been holding back-to-back rallies in the constituency, aiming to woo the diverse electorate. Observers in Bengal’s political circle said such aggressive campaign by a chief minister in a by-election is unprecedented.

    “The ruling party is always in advantageous position in any by-election. The TMC is definitely much ahead of the BJP since it secured a victory with thumping majority in the assembly elections. The CM returned to her erstwhile constituency after being defeated in Nandigram and her desperation appears to be an effort to ensure victory with a record margin,” said Dr Bishnupriya Dutta Gupta, a political science professor.

    In all her campaigns, Mamata has made it clear that she is counting on each and every vote in the constituency. 

    Fist fight by TMC, BJP supporters at campaign climax

    The last-hour campaign in Bhawanipore by-election witnessed a scuffle between BJP and TMC supporters, forcing a policeman to take out his firearm from holster. In the fisticuff, one BJP supporter received injuies on his head.  The incident took place at Jagubabu Bazar.

  • ‘Mamata lacks credibility in fight against BJP’: Adhir’s slavo at Trinamool chief

    By PTI

    BAHARAMPUR: Days after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Congress of compromising with the BJP, state party president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Monday alleged that she lacked credibility in the fight against the saffron camp and claimed that it was the TMC which has helped the BJP gain ground in the state.

    Chowdhury also said the Congress does not need lessons on opposing “the communal forces” from the TMC which had aligned with the BJP earlier.

    Reacting to the accusations, the TMC said the party does not need to prove its credibility after the fight it had put up against the BJP during the assembly elections held earlier this year and emerged victorious.

    “For the past few days, we have seen how Mamata Banerjee and (TMC general secretary) Abhishek Banerjee attacked us alleging that the Congress had compromised with the BJP in West Bengal. They have also claimed that our leader Rahul Gandhi has not been successful in fighting the BJP. Let me make it clear we don’t need lessons on fighting against the communal forces from an opportunist political party like the TMC,” Chowdhury told reporters.

    The track record of the TMC speaks a lot about its lack of credibility in the fight against the BJP, the Leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha claimed.

    “Mamata Banerjee broke away from the Congress to form the TMC and allied with the BJP. She was a cabinet minister in the BJP government. Mamata Banerjee lacks credibility in the fight against the saffron camp,” he said.

    Showing old newspaper articles in which Banerjee reportedly praised the RSS, Chowdhury claimed the TMC’s continuous tirade against the Congress was aimed at helping the BJP.

    “We can very well understand that she (Banerjee) has an understanding with the BJP to protect her party leaders and relatives from the clutches of the CBI and ED in chit fund and coal scam cases.

    During her tenure, communal politics gained ground in West Bengal and the BJP grew from strength to strength,” he said.

    Chowdhury said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been the most consistent opposition face against the policies of the BJP and the RSS.

    His accusations against the TMC came in the backdrop of Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee hitting out at the Congress claiming that the grand old party has failed to put up a fight against the BJP.

    Reacting to Chowdhury’s comments, senior TMC MP Sougata Ray said the party doesn’t need a lesson from the state Congress chief on the fight against the BJP.

    “Mamata Banerjee and the TMC do not need to prove their credibility after the fight the party had put up against the saffron camp in the last assembly polls.

    But it is true that in many states, the Congress has failed to put up a fight against the BJP,” he said.

    The bonhomie between the Congress and the Trinamool Congress had recently hit choppy waters after the TMC, in its mouthpiece “Jago Bangla”, claimed that party supremo Mamata Banerjee, and not Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, has emerged as the face of the opposition against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    The TMC mouthpiece ran a cover story with a headline: “Rahul Gandhi failed, Mamata is the alternate face”.

    The Congress had declined to attach much importance to the assertions of the TMC, saying it is too early to predict who will become an alternative face to Modi.

  • Poll campaigning comes to an end in Bengal amid scuffles between Trinamool, BJP

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Campaigning for Thursday’s high-voltage by-poll to the Bhabanipur assembly seat in south Kolkata where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting as the Trinamool Congress candidate, and elections to two other constituencies in Murshidabad district ended on Monday.

    Scuffles between supporters of the TMC and the BJP and allegations of threats to saffron party leaders marked the last day of the campaign in Bhabanipur, while canvassing for the Samserganj and Jangipur constituencies passed off peacefully.

    Bypoll to Bhabanipur was necessitated following the resignation of Trinamool Congress MLA Sovandeb Chattopadhyay so that the party supremo can contest from the seat which Banerjee won in 2011 and 2016 elections.

    In the assembly election held earlier this year, Banerjee, a resident of the Bhabanipur constituency, 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 former 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.

    Banerjee now must win the by-poll to ensure an unbroken stint as the chief minister.

    According to the constitutional provision, a person has to get elected to the legislature within six months of taking oath of office as a chief minister or a minister.

    She took oath as the CM on May 5.

    Besides Banerjee, the BJP’s Priyanka Tibrewal and the CPI(M)’s Srijib Biswas are contesting from Bhabanipur.

    The Congress has decided not to field a candidate there.

    Elections to Samserganj and Jangipur were countermanded earlier due to deaths of candidates.

    While Rezaul Haque, the Congress candidate from Samserganj, died on April 15, the RSP candidate from Jangipur Pradip Nandi, passed away a day later.

    In Samserganj, the candidates for the September 30 election are Amirul Islam (TMC), Zaidur Rahman (Congress), Milan Ghosh (BJP).

    The candidates for Jangipur are Jakir Hossain (TMC), Sujit Das (BJP) and Alam Mian (RSP).

    Votes of the three constituencies will be counted on October 3.

    Altogether 52 companies of central forces were deployed for the polls in the three assembly seats, an official at the CEO here said.

    Of them, 19 companies have been deployed in Bhabanipur.

    The central forces were personnel from the CRPF, BSF, SSB CISF and the ITBP, the official said.

    A BJP delegation met the West Bengal chief electoral officer on Monday and demanded deployment of central paramilitary forces at every polling booth and promulgation of Section 144 Cr PC in Bhabanipur constituency in the city during the by-poll on September 30 in view of the alleged attack on party leaders during the day and earlier.

    The BJP delegation also demanded that the CEO Aarif Aftab disallow Kolkata Police from having direct control to maintain law and order in the constituency on the polling day to ensure free and fair poll.

    Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta, who led the delegation, told reporters the BJP delegation informed the CEO how the party’s Barrackpore MP Arjun Singh was heckled near Hanuman Mandir in Bhabanipur during the day and had to return without campaigning.

    “In a second incident, our former state president Dilip Ghosh was attacked by the same people who enjoyed the patronage of a family in the area. We have reported it to the CEO,” he said.

    Campaigning for the by-poll, in which Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is a candidate, came to an end on Monday and was marked by rising of political temperatures.

    The BJP MP said it was seen whenever there is a possibility of high voter turnout, the TMC resorts to such terror tactics.

    “We therefore urged the CEO to ensure that central forces are deployed in each booth and section 144 CRPC is enforced in the entire constituency”.

    Asked about Ghosh’s demand for countermanding the by-poll in Bhabanipur, Dasgupta said “We want free and fair polls.

    What Dilip Ghosh said about countermanding Bhabanipur by-poll till the situation in the constituency returns to normal is based on his apprehension and real perception about the scope of holding free and fair polls.

    “We want the Election Commission to take steps to instill confidence among people about holding elections without fear.

    We asked the chief electoral officer to see that the Kolkata Police is not in direct charge of holding polls,” he said.

    BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh was on Monday pushed and heckled by alleged TMC supporters, prompting his security officer to whip out a pistol in Bhabanipur assembly constituency.

    The EC sought a report on the incident from the state.

    Party MP Arjun Singh faced ‘go-back’ slogans from the ruling TMC workers while soliciting votes for party candidate Pryanka Tibrewal.

    The incident involving Ghosh occurred when he inside a vaccination camp in Jodubabur Bazaar area in the constituency.

    TMC supporters present at the spot shouted slogans demanding that he leave, alleging that he was campaigning at a state-run vaccination programme which was not permitted.

    Ghosh was whisked away by his security guards.

    He later alleged TMC supporters “attacked” him without provocation and injured a BJP activist.

    Dasgupta said the CEO’s office was asked to ensure live streaming through weblink of the entire constituency for immediate action by central forces.

  • BJP fears dent in non-Bengali votes in ‘Didi vs Didi’ battle

    Express News Service

    BHOWANIPORE:  It was a weekend morning and a group of around 20 middle-aged men, sitting in front of a tea-stall near Northern Park in Bhowanipore, was constantly fiddling with their mobile phones and sharing WhatsApp messages. The men, belonging to non-Bengali speaking community, which is said to be the BJP’s main vote-bank, were not sharing jokes or any other content. Instead, all messages were related to one subject: Whom to support, TMC’s Mamata or BJP’s Priyanka?

    The apparent confusion about voting preference among non-Bengali electorate in Bhowanipore assembly constituency, which supported the BJP en bloc in the recent assembly elections, has raised concerns in the saffron camp and brought smiles on the faces of TMC functionaries.

    “It is a fact that the non-Bengali community has been divided into two factions. One wants to support the BJP while the other prefers to gather behind Mamata because her party has returned to power. Besides, the BJP also failed to retain its legislative strength that it had secured in the assembly polls,” said Vikram Mehta, whose grandfather had arrived here from Gujarat decades ago.

     Mehta was not hesitant to disclose that he was suggesting others of his community to vote for Mamata by sharing WhatsApp messages.  Bhowanipore is all set to witness a high-voltage by-election of recent times in Bengal’s electoral history on September 30. Mamata is the first chief minister of Bengal who is to face a by-election to retain her position. Though other political parties have fielded candidates, like the assembly polls, it is a battle between the TMC and its arch rival BJP.

    Those who do not speak Bengali form around 40 per cent of the total electorate in Bhowanipore. Though the BJP is expecting the support of this section, the ground scenario doesn’t second their expectations.    “Why would we vote for the BJP? Many of us voted for the BJP because there was a perception that it would get power in Bengal. But the election results were far from it. Now a good chunk of non-Bengali voters have decided to support Mamata and they are also convincing others by sending messages on social media,” said homemaker Rekha Mehta.

    Meanwhile, BJP candidate and young lawyer Priyanka Tibrewal appeared confident of bagging the support of non-Bengali voters. “People of Bhwanipore, irrespective of what language they speak, will support me,” she said. Though the BJP has engaged its national leadership for poll-campaign in Bhowanipore, the saffron camp, sensing dent on its non-Bengali votebank, has chalked out a strategy to ‘hijack’ Mamata’s popular ‘Didi image’. In the poll-related posters and graffiti, Priyanka is not mentioning her surname but portraying herself as ‘Priyanka Didi’.

    “This is to woo the Bengali voters. We adopted the strategy to give an impression that it is a Didi vs Didi battle,” said a BJP leader. The walls along a narrow lane in Bhowanipore’s Ekbalpore area, a Muslim dominated- pocket, was completely covered with poll graffiti displaying Mamata’s photos, her favourite slogan khele hobe and a new campaign-line Bhowanipore nijer meyeke chay (Bhowanipore wants their own daughter). 

    A cluster of youths standing in front of a tea-stall in the area was confident that there would be no re-run of Nandigram. “There is no hurdle on the path of Didi’s victory. This pocket has been loyal to her since the 2011 assembly elections,” said Mohammad Samad of Ekbalpore, a stronghold of TMC.

    Meanwhile, the Bengal CM’s speech in her poll campaigns reflects desperation to bag victory in the by-poll. “Every single vote is important to me. If you want to me see as the CM, don’t waste your vote,” Mamata continues to say in her campaigns. While the saffron camp claimed that “Mamata is under pressure”, the TMC side rubbished it.

  • Mamata failed to stop post-poll violence, has no right to attend peace meet in Rome: Suvendu

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that the Centre had disallowed her attendance at a global peace meet in Rome, Leader of Opposition in the assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Saturday said she did not have a right to participate in such event as she “failed” to contain violence against BJP activists in the state.

    Adhikari also accused his former mentor and the TMC supremo of not taking steps to arrest those who were involved in post-poll violence in Khejuri, Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district and other places of the state.

    During a campaign for BJP nominee Priyanka Tibrewal for the by-poll to the Bhabanipur assembly seat where Banerjee is also contesting, Adhikari said, “You don’t deserve to attend a peace meeting. You abetted those who attacked our activists and supported violent acts by TMC cadres.”

    He also said, “Despite our repeated pleas, your administration was silent.

    How can you then think of representing the country in a peace meeting?” Adhikari’s remark came after Banerjee had alleged that the “jealous” BJP did not allow her to attend the event.

    The CM had also claimed that she was invited to Rome in the first week of October to participate in the global peace meet in which the Pope, other religious heads, dignitaries from various countries are slated to attend, where she would have been the only Indian and the “only Hindu lady”.

    Describing Banerjee as a dictator, Adhikari said, “Remember, you had ordered that there would not be any Durga idol immersion on Bijoya Dashami sometimes back in 2017 and the court had to intervene. Is it the true role for a Hindu?” He also accused the “administration led by the CM” of trying to stop a Durga puja in Contai in Purba Medinipur.

    “Your administration tried to stop a Durga puja as I am associated with it for 22 years. The puja will finally take place by the intervention of the court. Had you been a true Hindu, you could not have resorted to such an action using the administration,” said the BJP MLA from Nandigram.

    Adhikari wondered why the TMC supremo is “spending so much time and energy” in Bhabanipur if she is “sure of a big win in the September 30 by-poll”.

    Banerjee, who lost to Adhikari in Nandigram during the April-May assembly polls, is contesting the by-election from the Bhabanipur segment to retain her chief minister’s chair.

    A resident of Bhabanipur, Banerjee had won the seat twice in 2011 and 2016 but shifted to Nandigram, where the anti-farmland acquisition movement against the Left Front government had transformed her into a major political force in the volatile state, to dare Adhikari, her former protege, on his home turf.

    The CM had claimed that a conspiracy was hatched to hurt her and defeat her in Nandigram.

    Though she powered the TMC to a resounding win for a third straight term in office, the TMC boss failed to register victory in Nandigram.

    Shortly after the poll results were announced in May, state cabinet minister and TMC MLA from Bhabanipur Sovandeb Chattopadhyay vacated the seat to facilitate her return to the assembly from there.

    Adhikari also accused Banerjee of “having little knowledge of history as she often makes wrong statements about historical events in public meetings”.

    Reacting to Adhikari’s comments on Banerjee, a Trinamool Congress leader said, “He has proved how he has adapted to the BJP’s vindictive and intolerant attitude in less than a year after joining the saffron camp.”

    “Mamata Banerjee is very much conscious of the heritage and our history. We don’t have to learn history from Adhikari,” the TMC leader said.

    He also denied the allegations that BJP workers in Nandigram and Khejuri were attacked by the ruling party, and said Adhikari’s henchmen unleashed violence on TMC activists.

  • BJP is ‘jumla party’, will defeat it across India: Mamata ahead of bypolls

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday termed the BJP as a “jumla (rhetoric) party” and asserted that she would defeat the saffron camp across the country in the days to come.

    Addressing a public meeting, Banerjee, who is the Trinamool Congress candidate for the September 30 Bhabanipur by-poll, criticised the Centre for not allowing her to attend a global peace meet in Rome and claimed that such attempts by the BJP will not succeed in stopping her.

    Echoing her, the TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said the party will no longer be limited to Bengal and is politically ready to take on the BJP at the pan-India level.

    “The BJP is the biggest jumla party in the country. It has only lies and hatred to offer. If you speak against them, they will unleash central agencies against you. They (BJP) are the party of a dancing dragon, who will remove your name from the list of citizenship in the name of CAA, NRC and NPR,” she said.

    The TMC supremo also accused the saffron camp of bringing in outsiders to create disturbances during the by-poll.

    “The BJP thinks it can do whatever it wants just because it is in power. It doesn’t follow human rights and democratic rights in the states where it is in power — Uttar Pradesh, Assam, or Tripura. So many people died due to Covid in Uttar Pradesh. They did not allow cremation of those bodies and threw them in the Ganga. Human rights are violated in these states regularly, but Human Rights Commission won’t visit these states,” she said.

    “In the days to come, we would take on the BJP at the national level and defeat them,” Banerjee said.

    Abhishek Banerjee also said the party would never compromise in its fight against the saffron camp.

    “You are not merely voting for Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur. In future, we would fight to oust the BJP at the Centre,” the TMC national general secretary said.

    Speaking on the Trinamool Congress’ plan to foray into BJP-ruled states, he said, “We have started working in Tripura recently. We are expanding our presence in Assam and other states. In the coming days, the TMC is going to Goa too. Be ready (BJP). We are ready to take our political battles outside Bengal.”

    Hitting out at the Congress months after the bonhomie between the two parties at the national level, Banerjee alleged that “the Congress, the CPI (M) too have an understanding with the BJP.”

    The TMC boss also claimed that the Congress, the BJP and the CPI (M) had joined hands to defeat her in the Bhabanipur by-election.

    “The Congress compromised with the CPI(M) during the Left Front regime. I had left the party because of this and formed the TMC. Now, they have compromised with the BJP in Bengal,” she said.

    The feisty TMC boss slammed the Centre again for not allowing her to participate in the global peace meet in Rome, where she was the “only invitee” from the country.

    “They (BJP) lost, yet they have no shame. They are indulging in hooliganism here and in Tripura. They are now jealous of us. As I was the only invitee to the global peace meet, they did not allow me to go. But I will say whatever I have to say. I will send my message,” she said.

    “Many states do not take permission for these things, but I do as I maintain discipline and courtesy. I try my best to keep good relations with External Affairs ministry and have always supported our nation on external issues. I was not allowed to participate in programmes in Chicago, China, Cambridge and St.Stephens. How many times will you prevent me to participate in these programmes,” Banerjee asked.

    Besides Banerjee, the BJP’s Priyanka Tibrewal and the CPI (M) ‘s Srijib Biswas are contesting from Bhabanipur in south Kolkata.

    The Congress has decided not to field a candidate there.

    The votes will be counted on October 3.

  • Bhowanipore bypoll hots up as TMC, BJP woo voters in non-Bengali belt

    Express News Service

    KOLKATA: It was a weekend morning and a group of 20 odd middle-aged men, sitting in front of a tea-stall near Northern Park in Bhowanipore, was seen fiddling with their phones and sharing WhatsApp messages. The men belonging to the non-Bengali community, said to be BJP’s vote-bank in Bengal, were not sharing jokes or any other content. Instead, all messages were related to one subject: Whom to support, TMC’s Mamata or BJP’s Priyanka?

    The question to support whom among the non-Bengali community living in Bhowanipore Assembly constituency, which supported the BJP en bloc in the recent Assembly elections, has sparked concerns in the saffron camp and brought smiles on the faces of TMC functionaries.

    “It is a fact that the non-Bengali community has been divided into two factions. One wants to go with the allegiance that was extended to the BJP in the Assembly elections. The other prefers to support the TMC’s chief ministerial candidate Mamata Banerjee because her party has returned to power with a thumping majority. Besides, the BJP also failed to retain the legislative strength that it secured in the Assembly polls,’’ said Vikram Mehta, whose grandfather had come to settle here from Gujarat decades ago.

    Mehta was not hesitant to disclose that he was suggesting other members of his community vote for Mamata by sharing WhatsApp messages.

    Bhowanipore is all set to witness a high-voltage by-election of recent times in West Bengal’s electoral history on September 30. Mamata is the first chief minister of Bengal who will face a by-election to get elected as an MLA to retain her position in the state administration. Though other political parties fielded candidates, like the Assembly polls, but it is a battle between the TMC and its arch-rival BJP.

    Those who do not speak Bengali form 40 per cent of the total electorate in Bhowanipore Assembly constituency. Though the BJP is expecting support from this set of voters, the ground reality doesn’t resonate with their expectations. 

    “Why would we vote for BJP’s candidate? Many of us voted for the BJP because there was a perception that it almost came to power in Bengal. But the Assembly election’s result was far from it. Now a good chunk of non-Bengali voters decided to support Mamata and they are also convincing others by sending messages on WhatsApp,’’ said homemaker Rekha Mehta.

    BJP candidate Priyanka Tibrewal is confident of bagging support from the non-Bengali community. “People of Bhwanipore, irrespective of what language they speak, will support me,” said the young lawyer.

    Though the BJP engaged its national leadership and Union ministers for poll-campaign in Bhowanipore, the saffron camp, sensing dent on its non-Bengali vote-bank, chalked out a strategy to ‘hijack’ Mamata’s popular “Didi image”. In the poll-graffiti, Priyanka did not mention her surname and was portrayed as Priyanka Didi. “This is to woo the Bengali-speaking electorates. We adopted the strategy to give an impression that it is a Didi vs Didi battle,” said a BJP leader.

    The walls along a narrow lane in Bhowanipore’s Ekbalpore area, a Muslim dominated pocket, is completely covered with graffiti displaying chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s photos, her favourite slogan ‘khela hobe’ and a new campaign line ‘Bhowanipore nijer meyeke chay’ (Bhowanipore wants their own daughter). A cluster of 20-odd youths standing in front of a tea-stall was confident that there would be no re-run of Nandigram episode and victory for Mamata from her erstwhile south Kolkata constituency would be a cakewalk.

    “The is no hurdle on the path of Didi’s victory. This pocket has been loyal to her since the 2011 Assembly elections,” said Mohammad Samad of Ekbalpore, a stronghold of TMC.

    The Bengal CM’s speech in her poll campaigns reflected her desperation to bag victory in the by-poll. “Every single vote is important to me. If you want to me see as the CM, don’t waste your vote,’’ Mamata continued saying in her campaigns.

    Mamata on Sunday asked her party workers to distribute pamphlets door-to-door. “My political career started from Bhowanipur. Because of Covid protocols, I cannot reach you. I seek your blessings,’’ she urged to electorates in the pamphlets.

    When the saffron camp labelled the desperation as a reflection of ‘Mamata under pressure’, the TMC rubbished the claim.

    “The victory is confirmed. In the Assembly elections, our candidate Sovandeb Chattopadhyay won from here by a margin of 28,719 votes. In 2016 Assembly polls, Mamata didi won by 25,301 votes. Our target is securing a victory margin of more than 50,000 votes. If she gets one vote less than Chattopadhyay’s victory margin, BJP will get a chance to raise questions on the CM’s popularity,’’ said a senior TMC leader.

    Bhowanipore fact-fileTotal voters: 2,00,938

    Male: 1,09,024

    Female: 91,911

    Transgender: 3

    Non-Bengali voters: 40%

    Muslim voters: 10%

    Bengali voters: 50%