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Tag: Mamata Banerjee

  • Mamata Banerjee among top frontrunners for PM in 2024: Babul Supriyo after joining TMC

    By ANI

    KOLKATA: Former union minister Babul Supriyo, who recently joined Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday said that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is among the top frontrunners for the prime ministerial post in 2024.

    “I want that the captain of our party Mamata Banerjee becomes the Prime Minister in 2024. Opposition plays an important role in a democratic system. Nobody can deny the fact that Mamata Banerjee is among the top frontrunners for the prime ministerial post,” Supriyo told ANI.

    Notably, TMC’s party mouthpiece ‘Jaago Bangla’ had recently sparked a row by saying Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has failed to become an alternative face to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is the potential alternative to Prime Minister Modi.

    Asked about why he switched to the TMC, Supriyo said, “I have not created any history by changing the party. A horde of leaders joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from other parties before the West Bengal Assembly polls. There are resentments among the old leaders. BJP should ask them about their resentments.”

    On post-poll violence, he said, “Post-poll violence is not desirable. It is being proved. I want that compensation should be provided to people who were affected by post-poll violence.”

    The former Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change had on Saturday formally joined TMC had quit the BJP following the recent Union Cabinet reshuffle.

    The sitting MP joined the Trinamool family in the presence of National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien.

    After joining TMC, Supriyo had told ANI, “I accepted the opportunity given to me by Didi (Mamata Banerjee) and Abhishek. I left politics wholeheartedly and I am accepting the opportunity wholeheartedly. I met Abhishek Banerjee. The work to be done for Bengal was presented before me. I am excited. I want to work under the leadership of Didi. I will meet Didi on Monday.”

    Earlier in August, BJP leader Babul Supriyo said he will continue to work constitutionally as a Member of Parliament but had withdrawn himself from active politics.

    “I will continue to work constitutionally as an MP in Asansol. Politics is beyond the constitutional post and I withdraw myself from it. I will not join any other party. I will vacate the MP bungalow in Delhi and release security personnel from their duties soon,” Supriyo had told ANI.

    Supriyo had announced he was leaving politics and will also resign as an MP. He had stated that he would not join any political party and neither have the parties including the Trinamool Congress, CPI(M) or Congress called him.

    Babul Supriyo had resigned in August as minister of state for Environment, Forest and Climate Change. In a Facebook post, he said that there was a difference of opinion between him and the state BJP leaders and that the difference of opinion among senior leaders was “harming the party”. 

  • Ready to resign from membership of Lok Sabha, would like to see Mamata as PM candidate: Babul Supriyo

    By Express News Service

    KOLKATA: A day after his staggering move defecting to the TMC from the BJP, former Union minister and Asansol MP Babul Supriyo said on Sunday that he is all set to resign from membership of Lok Sabha and if the Speaker gives him time, he will tender his resignation on Wednesday.

    The former flamboyant face of the saffron camp, the latest turncoat in the Trinamool Congress camp, said he would request the party not to put him in an embarrassing situation by engaging him in the Bhowanipore by-election campaign against BJP’s candidate Priyanka Tibrewal who is contesting against chief minister Mamata Banerjee. His request came after Priyanka on Sunday said she would request Supriyo not to campaign against his ‘sister’.

    “Priyanka is a woman with a spirit to fight. I have a family relation with her. I will request the party not to embarrass me by asking me to campaign against her in Bhowanipore. Besides, my presence in poll campaign is not at all required in a constituency where Mamata Banerjee is contesting,’’ said Supriyo.

    Babul thanked Mamata and the TMC for giving him a chance in the “playing 11”.

    “I always want to be part of playing 11, instead of sitting on the reserve bench. I thank Mamatadidi and Abhishek Banerjee (TMC’s national general secretary) for giving me a chance,” he added.

    The singer-turned-politician never missed an opportunity to launch a blistering attack on Mamata and Abhishek on several issues during the campaign in the recent Assembly elections. Twenty-four hours after shifting his political allegiance, he made it clear that Mamata is the face of the opposition against the BJP nationwide and he would like to see her as the Prime Ministerial candidate in the 2024 general elections.

    “I will like to see a popular face as the Prime Ministerial candidate in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and Mamata Banerjee is one of them,’’ he said.

    A war of words between the two-term MP from Asansol and BJP functionaries broke out within 24 hours of Supriyo’s defection.

    Referring to BJP’s state president Dilip Ghosh’s comment labeling Supriyo as a political tourist who join politics to earn money, the former Union minister hit back saying, “I will present him (Ghosh) a barnaporichoy book (a Bengali primer) so that he can bring some decency in his statement.”

    Supriyo also raised his objection on BJP leader Tathagata Roy’s remark describing him as a traitor.

  • Won’t let India become Pakistan or Taliban: Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday asserted that she will not allow the country to turn into Pakistan or the Taliban.

    Alleging that the saffron party has claimed the Bhabanipur constituency in south Kolkata will become Pakistan if the TMC wins the by-poll from there, Banerjee accused the BJP of practising divisive politics.

    The Trinamool Congress supremo is contesting the by-election from Bhabanipur.

    “I don’t like the policies and politics of the BJP. They only follow the politics of dividing people on religious lines. In Nandigram, they had said it would become Pakistan (if the TMC wins). In Bhabanipur too, they are saying it will turn into Pakistan. This is shameful,” Banerjee said while campaigning.

    Banerjee lost to Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP from Nandigram during the assembly election held earlier this year.

    She has to win this by-poll to retain her chief minister’s post.

    “I want my country to be strong and will protect my motherland with all my might. We don’t want India to become another Taliban (ruled state). I will never allow my country to turn into Pakistan,” she said while talking to the voters in the area.

    Criticising the state BJP leadership for taking exception to her recent visit to a mosque in the area, Banerjee said the saffron camp has a problem with her visiting a Gurudwara too.

    “I have visited a mosque; I have visited a Gurudwara also; and the BJP has a problem with both.

    I don’t bring religion into politics, unlike the BJP leaders who only understand the language of divisive politics,” she said.

    On the sizeable Hindi-speaking population of the Bhabanipur constituency, the TMC boss said she would stand by them through thick and thin.

    “I never differentiate among communities.

    It is the BJP which destroys brotherhood and social fabric among communities,” she said.

    To woo the area’s business community, Banerjee said she was the first politician in the country who had opposed demonetisation in 2016.

    “I was the first to oppose demonetisation. I know the kind of harassment the business community has gone through during demonetisation. I used to regularly visit Burrabazar (the business hub of Kolkata) and talk to the business community members,” she said.

    Hitting out at the saffron camp over its “ploy” to sell off the country’s assets, she said those were not personal property of the BJP.

    “The government is trying to sell off the entire country. Railways, airports and ports. They want to sell everything off. Can you sell the soil of the country?” Banerjee said.

    Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in August announced a Rs 6 lakh crore National Monetisation Pipeline that will look to unlock value in infrastructure assets across sectors ranging from power to road and railways.

    Banerjee said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should speak to the World Health Organisation (WHO) to ensure that Covaxin is recognised so that those who availed that vaccine against Covid-19 can travel abroad.

    Later, Banerjee visited the Laxmi Narayan Temple in the area and offered puja.

    She was also seen offering ‘Arati’.

    A metropolitan constituency, Bhabanipur is home to a large number of Gujaratis and Sikhs, mostly into business, living alongside Bengalis.

    Banerjee, who is herself a resident of Bhabanipur constituency, had won the seat twice in 2011 and 2016 but shifted to Nandigram, to dare her former protege and now a BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari in his home turf.

    Though Banerjee powered the TMC to a resounding win for a third straight term in office, she lost in Nandigram.

    Banerjee is required to win a seat in the state assembly by November 5 in conformity with the constitutional provisions to continue as chief minister.

    After her defeat in Nandigram, state cabinet minister and TMC MLA from Bhabanipur Sovandeb Chattopadhyay vacated the seat to allow Banerjee to contest from there.

    Banerjee is pitted against the BJP’s Priyanka Tibrewal and CPI(M)’s Srijib Biswas for the September 30 by-poll.

    Congress has decided not to field a candidate against her.

    The votes will be counted on October 3.

  • Bhowanipore bypoll: Won’t let India become Taliban or Pakistan, says Mamata

    Express News Service

    KOLKATA: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused the BJP of exploiting religions for politics. Referring to her recent visit to a mosque, Mamata said the BJP circulated the video footage of her visit to the shrine and accused her of practising the politics of appeasement. 

    While interacting with Gujrati electorates in by-poll bound Bhowanipore Assembly constituency, she said, “When I visit temples and other religious places, they become mum. Before the Assembly elections, they described Nandigram, where a conspiracy was hatched to defeat me, as mini Pakistan and now they are again adding the colour of religion in Bhowanipore. I would not let India become Taliban or Pakistan.” 

    The non-Bengali voters in Bhowanipore, who form 40% of the total electorates, are under the scanner of both the Trinamool Congress and the BJP. Both the rival political forces are desperate to woo them.

    Mamata on Wednesday visited a Gurudwara in Bhowanipore in a bid to secure the support of Sikh voters, and on Thursday, she interacted with Gujrati electorates at the Ladies Park in the constituency. 

    ALSO READ | CBI summons Mamata Banerjee’s election agent Sheik Sufian in post-poll violence case

    Mamata urged the people to dethrone the BJP from the Centre in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “The general election will be very important. For the sake of the country, we must dethrone the BJP from power,” she said. 

    The BJP, which keeps hitting out at Mamata over the issue of appeasement politics, sharpened its attack on her from the day she visited the mosque. The party said her intention was to consolidate Non-Bengali voters in the constituency who can easily decide the fate of the candidate of any party. “Ahead of the recent Assembly elections, she (Mamata) labelled our party as a political outfit comprising non-Bengali speaking persons. Now she is seeking blessings from the same set of voters. If we can successfully consolidate the non-Bengali voters in our favour, Mamata’s journey in the by-election will not be a cakewalk,” said a senior BJP leader.  

    In another development, Sajal Ghosh, the chief election agent of BJP candidate Priyanka Tibrewal, lodged a complaint with the returning officer of the constituency accusing Mamata of violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and Covid protocols while visiting the Gurudwara on Wednesday. 

    The returning officer had issued a notice to Priyanka on Wednesday for the alleged violation of MCC and Covid norms while filing her nomination.

  • Bhowanipore bypoll: BJP accuses Mamata Banerjee of violating COVID norms during campaigning

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The BJP on Thursday complained to the Election Commission alleging that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee violated COVID norms set by the EC while campaigning for the Bhowanipore bypoll.

    Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, is contesting from Bhowanipore where by-election will be held on September 30.

    In a letter to the EC, Sajal Ghosh, the chief election agent of BJP candidate for the constituency, Priyanka Tibrewal, claimed that Banerjee, during a visit to a Gurudwara on Wednesday, was accompanied by a large number of supporters in violation of norms.

    “On September 15, the TMC candidate violated the Covid guidelines and Model Code of Conduct while visiting the Bhawanipur Gurudwara,” Ghosh said in his letter to the Returning Officer for the assembly segment.

    He claimed that her supporters also flouted Covid norms by not wearing masks and they did not use sanitiser. The TMC dubbed the allegations as “baseless and politically motivated”.

  • CBI summons Mamata Banerjee’s election agent Sheik Sufian in post poll violence case

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The CBI has summoned West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s election agent Sheik Sufian on Thursday in connection with a murder case allegedly related to post poll violence in Nandigram from where the TMC supremo had unsuccessfully contested, officials said.

    The case pertains to fatal attack on Debabrata Maity by unidentified people in Nandigram on May 3.

    Maity succumbed to injuries 10 days later while undergoing treatment, they said.

    Nandigram had seen a high-pitched electoral battle between Banerjee and her confidante turned-rival Shuvendu Adhikari which was narrowly clinched by the latter.

    Sufian, a TMC leader, was also a complainant in connection with alleged attack on Banerjee during poll campaign.

    The probe agency, meanwhile, has taken over one more case of murder related to alleged post-poll violence in West Bengal, taking the tally of such cases registered by the agency so far to 35, officials said on Wednesday.

    The case was filed by one Gobindo Burman against 12 accused people who allegedly hurled bombs and fired at a voting booth in Cooch Behar where Burman and his family members had gone to cast their votes on April 10, the FIR alleged.

    Burman alleged that one of the accused fired targeting his brother who fell on the ground and later succumbed to injuries while being taken to the hospital, they said.

    “One of the 12 miscreants allegedly opened fire targeting the complainant’s brother. The victim was taken to Sitalkuchi hospital where he was declared dead. The FIR was registered against 12 accused.

    “CBI has so far registered 35 cases, taking over the investigation of these cases earlier registered at different police stations in West Bengal, in compliance with the orders of the Honourable High Court at Calcutta,” CBI spokesperson R C Joshi said.

    The agency took over the investigation into the post poll violence on the orders of the Calcutta High Court.

    The court directives came after an NHRC committee submitted a report on the violence in the state after the poll results were announced on May 2, declaring the astounding victory of Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) humbling the BJP in a bitterly fought eight-phase electoral battle.

  • PM Modi, Mamata, Banerjee, Adar Poonawalla among Time Magazine’s 100 ‘most influential people of 2021’

    By PTI

    NEW YORK: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla have been named among the world’s 100 most influential people of 2021 by TIME magazine.

    TIME on Wednesday unveiled its annual list of ‘The 100 Most Influential People of 2021’, a global list that includes US President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Duke and Duchess of Sussex Prince Harry and Meghan, former US president Donald Trump and co-founder of the Taliban Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

    TIME’s profile of Modi says that in its 74 years as an independent nation, India has had three pivotal leaders – Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Modi.

    “Narendra Modi is the third, dominating the country’s politics like no one since them. The profile written by noted CNN journalist Fareed Zakaria alleges that Mod has “pushed the country away from secularism and toward Hindu nationalism.”

    It also accuses the 69-year-old leader of “eroding the rights” of India’s Muslim minority and imprisoning and intimidating journalists.

    On Banerjee, her profile for the 100 most influential list says that the 66-year-old leader “has become the face of fierceness in Indian politics.”

    “Of Banerjee, it is said, she doesn’t lead her party, the Trinamool Congress – she is the party. The street-fighter spirit and self-made life in a patriarchal culture set her apart,” the profile says.

    Poonawalla’s TIME profile says that from the beginning of the COVID19 pandemic, the 40-year-old head of the world’s largest vaccine maker “sought to meet the moment.”

    “The pandemic is not over yet, and Poonawalla could still help end it. Vaccine inequality is stark, and delayed immunisation in one part of the world can have global consequences, including the risk of more dangerous variants emerging,” it says.

    The Time profile describes the Taliban co-founder Baradar as a “quiet, secretive man who rarely gives public statements or interviews.”

    “Baradar nonetheless represents a more moderate current within the Taliban, the one that will be thrust into the limelight to win Western support and desperately needed financial aid. The question is whether the man who coaxed the Americans out of Afghanistan can sway his own movement,” says Baradar’s profile.

    The list also includes tennis player Naomi Osaka, Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny, music icon Britney Spears, executive director of the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council Manjusha P.

    Kulkarni, Apple CEO Tim Cook, actor Kate Winslet and the first African and first woman to lead the World Trade Organization Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

  • Farm laws must be withdrawn: Mamata Banerjee to Sikh community in Bhowanipore ahead of bypoll

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday sought to reach out to the sizeable Sikh community in Bhowanipore constituency, from where she is contesting a by-poll later this month, saying she has supported the farmer’s movement and iterated her demand for withdrawal of the three farm laws adopted by the NDA .

    Banerjee, who is contesting the September 30 by-poll to retain her post, paid a sudden visit to a Gurudwara in the area and interacted with the locals.

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

    “I share an excellent bonding with the brothers and sisters of the Sikh community. Even members of my family are regular visitors here.

    “I have already extended my support to the farmer’s movement. We (TMC) have already demanded that these three farm laws be withdrawn. We won’t tolerate any injustice on farmers,” she said.

    A metropolitan constituency with around two lakh voters, Bhabanipur is home to a large number of Gujaratis and Sikhs living alongside Bengalis.

    The BJP had managed to take the lead in the assembly segment in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll as its non-Bengali voters plumped for it but failed to maintain its grip on the sizeable Sikh and Punjabi population in the 2021 assembly election following the farmers’ agitation in Punjab.

    Leaders of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), which is spearheading the farmer’s movement against the farm bills, had campaigned against BJP during the April-May assembly election in the state.

    The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 The Essential Commodities(Amendment) Act, 2020 — are the three key legislations passed by Parliament in September 2020.

    Farmer unions in Punjab and Haryana feel the laws will dismantle the minimum support price system as over time big corporates will dictate terms and farmers will end up getting less for their produce.

    The farmers fear that with the virtual disbanding of the mandi system, they will not get an assured price for their crops.

    Banerjee, who is herself a resident of Bhabanipur, 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 her former protege and now a BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari in his home turf.

    Though Banerjee powered the TMC to a resounding win for a third straight term in office, she lost in Nandigram.

    She now must win the Bhabanipur seat to ensure an unbroken stint as the chief minister.

    Banerjee is required to win a seat in the state assembly by November 5 in conformity with the constitutional provisions to continue as chief minister.

    The Constitution allows a non-member of a state legislature or Parliament to continue in a ministerial position without getting elected only for six months.

    After her defeat in Nandigram, state cabinet minister and TMC MLA from Bhabanipur Sovandeb Chattopadhyay vacated the seat to facilitate her return to the assembly from there.

    Banerjee is pitted against BJP’s Priyanka Tibrewal and Left Front’s Srijib Biswas for the September 30 by-poll.

    Congress has decided not to field a candidate against her.

    The votes will be counted on October 3.

  • Bhowanipore bypoll: BJP candidate Priyanka Tibrewal gets notice for poll code violation

    By Express News Service

    KOLKATA: The returning officer of Bhowanipore Assembly constituency issued a notice to BJP candidate Priyanka Tibrewal, who is contesting against CM Mamata Banerjee in the by-election scheduled to be held on September 30, citing alleged violation of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and established Covid-19 protocols while filing her nomination. 

    The poll panel’s move came after the Trinamool Congress alleged that Priyanka violated the MCC and Covid-related restrictions by gathering a mob of not less than 500 without any permission. 

    In the complaint, it was also alleged that she even performed ‘Dhunuchi Nach’ (traditional Bengali dance during Durga Puja) at places on the way to file her nomination. 

    ALSO READ | Bhowanipore bypoll: BJP candidate Priyanka Tibrewal holds rally ahead of filing nomination

    The returning officer referred to the report submitted by the officer-in-charge of Bhowanipore police station where he mentioned traffic snarl triggered by the massive assembly of BJP supporters. 

    Priyanka, in her reply, refused to accept the allegation. “I had not led any crowd. It is not my duty to see who was on the road on bikes and four-wheelers. It’s the job of the police and the local administration,” she said. 

    Claiming that she had followed all protocols, Priyanka said, “I would like to point out that other than Suvendu Adhikari, there was no one in the vehicle in which I travelled to file my nomination.”

    It was Adhikari, former lieutenant of Mamata, who defeated the Chief Minister in Nandigram.

  • Tripura rally: West Bengal BJP slams TMC’s ‘double standards’ on holding political programmes

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The BJP on Tuesday accused the Trinamool Congress of practising double standards in following the Disaster Management Act, claiming that the Mamata Banerjee-led party is not allowing the opposition to hold political programmes citing COVID-related restrictions in West Bengal but seeks to conduct a rally in Tripura.

    The Tripura police on Monday denied permission to the TMC for holding a rally in Agartala on September 15 and 16.

    The TMC, however, claimed that the saffron party has no moral right to talk about conducting political programmes in COVID time as it did not ask the Election Commission (EC) to club the last phases of the assembly election in April when there was a surge in coronavirus cases in the state.

    “Despite following COVID-19 protocols, our numerous programmes in recent times were stopped by the police. They cite the Disaster Management Act to thwart the activities of the opposition. How can the same Trinamool vows to take out a rally in Tripura in violation of the Covid restrictions imposed by the administration?” West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh said.

    After permission was sought to conduct a rally on September 15 in Agartala, the sub-divisional police officer (sadar) of West Tripura district told the TMC in a letter on Monday that it cannot be given as there is a scheduled programme of another political party.

    In another letter issued also on Monday, the same officer said permission cannot be granted to hold the programme on September 16 “since there will be law & order commitment of Police in view of Viswakarma Puja” on Friday.

    Ghosh also charged the TMC with making sustained efforts to disrupt the “peaceful situation” in Tripura. Senior TMC leaders of West Bengal are visiting the North-eastern state to build an organisational base in the run-up to the 2023 assembly election.

    Reacting to Ghosh’s comment, senior TMC leader West Bengal Transport minister Firhad Hakim claimed that the BJP has lost the moral right to talk about the appropriateness of holding political programmes in COVID time.

    “When there was a sharp spike in COVID cases in April, the BJP did not ask the EC to club the last phases of assembly polls and showed scant regard for public health. It was only the Trinamool Congress that repeatedly flagged the issue then,” Hakim said.

    The TMC on Monday postponed its proposed rally led by its general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in the Tripura capital, after the police denied permission for holding the programme on September 15 and 16, prompting the TMC leader to claim that the BJP is “scared to death” of the Mamata Banerjee-led party.