News Analysis India

Tag: Mamata Banerjee

  • Have written thrice to PM to withdraw Dhankhar as Governor, says West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday took a dig at Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar’s New Delhi visit as she said a “child can be cajoled into silence” but not an elderly man, noting that she has thrice written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withdraw him from the state.

    Calling the governor a “Centre’s man”, Banerjee refrained from commenting much on his meeting with President Ram Nath Kovind and several other union ministers in Delhi.

    “What can I say? A child can be cajoled into silence. In this case, speech is silver; silence is golden,” she said.

    Asked about media reports suggesting that the governor might be removed, Banerjee said she is not aware of any such development.

    “How do I know? When a governor is appointed, the state government is consulted. That, however, was not done in this case. I have written twice or thrice to the Prime Minister seeking his withdrawal from the state,” she said.

    Dhankhar, who has shared a strained relationship with the TMC government since taking charge as the governor of the state in 2019, is in the national capital on a four-day trip.

    ALSO READ: CM Mamata Banerjee condemns attack on Twitter, says govt trying to control everyone they can’t manage

    He has not specified any reason for the visit.

    The governor met Union ministers Prahlad Joshi and Prahlad Singh Patel on Wednesday.

    He also held a meeting with President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan earlier in the day.

    Dhankhar is scheduled to meet Home Minister Amit Shah later in the day.

    The chief minister, when enquired if Raj Bhavan appointing several ‘officers on special duty’ has mounted pressure on the state exchequer, maintained that she wouldn’t have the details offhand.

    The ruling TMC in West Bengal on Wednesday accused Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar of violating constitutional norms and requested him not to return to the state.

    Left Front chairman in the state and CPI(M) leader, Biman Bose, slammed the governor for allegedly acting like a BJP mouthpiece and condemned his “partisan” role.

    State BJP president Dilip Ghosh, however, stated that the TMC has “no respect for the Constitution”.

    “The governor is doing the right thing, and that is why the TMC dispensation does not like it. The Centre appoints him, and it is obvious that he has to report various developments to the Union government,” Ghosh asserted.

  • West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee relaunches scheme doubling farmers’ aid to Rs 10,000

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday relaunched her government’s Krishak Bandhu scheme, doubling the assistance to farmer- beneficiaries to Rs 10,000 a year.

    She said that day labourers in farmlands and share croppers in possession of at least one katha (0.0165 acre) of land will now receive Rs 4,000 a year, instead of Rs 2,000 they used to get earlier.

    Banerjee also said that the respective boards of the state on Friday will announce the evaluation process for examinations of classes 10 and 12, that have been cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic situation.

    “Our (Krishak Bandhu) project is more inclusive than the Centre’s (PM-Kisan scheme). People having small patches of farmland are not included in the Central project. We think about every section of the farming community,” the chief minister told a press conference.

    The Krishak Bandhu scheme, launched in 2018, used to provide farmers having one or more acres of landholding with an annual amount of Rs 5,000 (minimum Rs 2,000 per annum assistance on pro-rata basis).

    Under the PM-Kisan scheme, Rs 6,000 per year in three equal instalments is provided to small and marginal farmer families having a combined landholding of up to two hectares.

    Around 2.47 acres make one hectare.

    The chief minister said that Rs 290 crore was released by her government on Thursday for 9.78 lakh farmers for providing the assistance as part of the Krishak Bandhu scheme.

    ALSO READ: CM Mamata Banerjee condemns attack on Twitter, says govt trying to control everyone they can’t manage

    The West Bengal Cabinet on June 10 gave its green signal to increase the assistance to farmer-beneficiaries from Rs 5,000 per acre per year to Rs 10,000 under the scheme.

    Around 68.38 lakh small and marginal farmers will be benefitted from it.

    Banerjee claimed that West Bengal is an exception from many other parts of the country where farmers die regularly and have to agitate on road for over six months.

    Stating that her government has so far spent a huge amount as insurance premium for the farmers, she said, “After the death of a farmer, we give Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin.”

    Banerjee told reporters that the state government has provided 70 lakh Kisan Credit Cards to farmers and 20 lakh more such cards will be given in future to help them buy equipment.

    In a Twitter post, she said, “I am happy to announce that GoWB is relaunching the #KrishakBandhu Scheme by doubling the annual financial support for all farmers & share-croppers.

    “Farmers will now receive an increased financial support from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 for one acre or more of cultivable land.”

    She said that about 2 lakh Cyclone Yaas affected farmers were being given ‘Nona Swarna Dhaan’ kit comprising high yield saline water proof paddy seeds and other items required for growing paddy on the land submerged by sea waters in South and North 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur districts.

    In the press conference held at the state secretariat, she said, “Not a single rupee has been received from the Centre as compensation for the damage caused by the cyclone which battered the state less than a month back.

    The evaluation method for Madhyamik (class 10) and Uchcha Madhyamik (class 12) will be announced by the respective boards on June 18, a week after the exams were cancelled.

    Based on the evaluation, results will be announced by July, she said.

    The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education conducts the Madhyamik while the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education holds the Uchcha Madhyamik exams.

    On Wednesday night’s downpour which lashed the city inundating areas, she said, “Kolkata didn’t see such rain in recent times with 179 mm rainfall recorded within a few hours.”

    The administrations of districts like Hooghly, Howrah, Paschim Medinipur and Purba Bardhaman were asked to be on guard as neighbouring states release water from barrages during heavy rains, Banerjee said.

    “We are also keeping a tab on the water level of the Ganga which is swollen. That is why it is taking time for water to recede from waterlogged areas,” she added.

  • CM Mamata Banerjee condemns attack on Twitter, says govt trying to control everyone they can’t manage

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday slammed the BJP-led union government over its “efforts to control” Twitter and claimed that the Centre, having failed to influence the microblogging platform, is now trying to bulldoze it.

    Drawing a parallel, Banerjee said her government, too, was being meted out the same treatment by the Centre.

    “I condemn it; they can’t control Twitter, so they are trying to bulldoze it. They (Centre) are trying to do so with everyone they are unable to manage. They can’t control me, and that is why they are trying to bulldoze my government, too,” Banerjee said while talking to reporters here.

    The networking platform has lost its ‘safe harbour’ shield in India over non-compliance to IT rules and failure to appoint key personnel mandated under new guidelines.

    It will now be liable for action under the Indian Penal Code for third party unlawful content.

    Making light of BJP’s allegations of continued political violence in the state, the chief minister said it was a saffron party “gimmick” and the claims made were completely “baseless”.

    “There is no political violence going on in the state right now. There may have been one or two sporadic incidents, but those can’t be labelled as incidents of political violence,” she added.

  • Demand for separate North Bengal UT by BJP MP, Mamata Banerjee says ‘will not allow Bengal to be divided’

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: A controversial demand for carving out a union territory comprising North Bengal districts out of Bengal, made by two BJP MPs from the region has sparked off a sharp reaction with the ruling TMC with party Supremo Mamata Banerjee stating she would not allow any part of Bengal to lose its freedom and be dependant on New Delhi.

    At a closed-door meeting at the residence of BJP MP for Alipurduar John Barla at Lakhipara Tea Garden, the demand for a separate Union Territory was raised and discussed on Sunday.

    Barla told PTI in a telephonic conversation on Tuesday I made the demand there have been movements here for a separate Kamtapuri, a greater Cooch Behar and for Gorkhaland.

    My belief is that North Bengal should be detached and made into a separate union territory.

    The MP who has earlier led an agitation for an autonomous tribal area in the last decade, said small states perform better.

    North Bengal is neglected, it also faces security issues. Our economy is affected, tea gardens are being shut down. We will be better off as a Union territory.

    Barla, said that he along with others from the region would be meeting both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on this issue as well as would raise it in Parliament.

    BJP has four MPs from the region and at least one of them Jayanta Roy from Jalpaiguri said that though Barlas comments were made in is personal capacity, he supported them.

    However, BJP Bengal unit state president Dilip Ghosh said his party does not have any such agenda.

    “None of our officials has said any such thing,” he said, claiming that attempts are being made by the TMC to malign the BJP by raking up various issues.

    “I want to make it clear that the BJP has no such agenda to divide Bengal or create a different state,” Ghosh said.

    The Trinamool Congress has came out strongly despite BJPs denials.

    Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, “They should be ashamed after their humiliating loss in the elections but, instead, they are trying to divide Bengal. In whose interest are they trying to split Bengal? She argued that formation of a Union territory takes away a peoples rights as it denies them of the benefits of statehood. I will not allow anyone to divide Bengal. UT means being at the mercy of New Delhi and losing all freedom. But I will not allow North Bengal or any other part of Bengal to lose its freedom and become dependent on New Delhi.”

    The longest and most violent agitation movement in North Bengal was for a separate territory for Gorkhaland which was resolved by a series of accords that finally saw the setting up of Gorkhaland territorial Administration.

    Other movements such as for Kamtapuri which saw the setting up of the proscribed Kamtapur Liberation Organisation, have largely petered out.

  • Will seek action under anti-defection law against Mukul Roy if he doesn’t quit as MLA: Suvendu Adhikari

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Monday threatened to approach the Speaker of the House seeking application of the anti-defection law against MLA Mukul Roy if he does not resign in a day.

    Roy had last week rejoined the TMC, of which he was once the second-in-command after Mamata Banerjee, following his three-and-a-half year-long stint in the BJP.

    He had contested the assembly polls on a BJP ticket and bagged the Krishnanagar Uttar seat.

    Without naming Roy, Adhikari said, “An MLA from Krishnanagar Uttar has changed party, and we hope he will resign from the membership of the assembly. If he does not resign by tomorrow, we will write to the Speaker on Wednesday seeking application of the anti-defection law.”

    According to sources in the saffron camp, Roy, who was the national vice president of the BJP, was unhappy with the role and responsibility he was given during the elections.

    Adhikari said BJP national general secretary Bhupender Yadav and Union Law Minister Ravishankar Prasad are “looking into the matter” and legal steps will be taken after seeking their opinion.

    “The BJP legislature party has decided to take recourse to the law if the matter is not settled,” the legislator told reporters outside Raj Bhavan here, where a delegation of saffron party MLAs held a discussion with Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar during the day over the state’s law and order situation.

    Claiming that lawlessness has become the order of the day in West Bengal, he claimed that women are being subjected to atrocities.

    “There seems to be no let up in political violence since the declaration of assembly poll results. We have informed the governor about incidents of attacks and atrocities on women.”

    “It will be wrong if anyone thinks that freedom of speech can be gagged in Bengal by launching attacks on opposition party workers and instituting false cases against them,” he said.

    The leader of opposition alleged that more than 17,000 BJP workers had been staying away from homes for over a month fearing attacks.

    Dhankhar, on his part, tweeted that Adhikari called on him and submitted a representation over the “alarming” law and order situation in the state.

    “Over 50 Opposition MLAs expressed serious concern at lawlessness @MamataOfficial and partisan stance @WBPolice @KolkataPolice and sought intervention as the situation was sliding. Governor assured the MLAs and LOP @SuvenduWB that he will look into grievances of which he is aware,” the governor wrote on the microblogging site.

    Meanwhile, TMC Chief Whip in Rajya Sabha Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said that Dhankhar had been trying to “play up the issue of post-poll violence to impress the BJP”.

    “The way he talks about post-poll violence, it seems the situation is similar to that which arose out of the Arab- Israel conflict. The governor is crossing all limits and prescribed norms,” the TMC leader maintained.

    Roy further pointed out that BJP leaders had made “provocative statements” in the run-up to the elections, but the governor hasn’t said much about it.

    “State BJP president (Dilip Ghosh) had talked about aiming guns at the chest of TMC workers and leaders. What about that?” he said.

    Making light of the BJP delegation’s visit to Raj Bhavan, Roy added, “As per our information, 24 MLAs did not attend the meeting. Why were they missing?” 

  • Mamata vows to continue fight for farmers, says they are suffering due to Centre’s indifference

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Monday said she would continue her fight for farmers to ensure the well-being of the “very backbone” of the society. 

    Her statement comes after her meeting with farmer leader Rakesh Tikait last week. The move is said to be significant as the anti-BJP political parties seem to have decided to sharpen their attack on the issue of farmers’ movement against the Centre’s farm laws. 

    “On this day, ten years back, the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Bill 2011 was passed in the WB assembly after a long & difficult struggle. We unitedly fought for the rights of our farmers & addressed their grievances, bringing in positive change in their lives,” Mamata tweeted. 

    Taking to Twitter, she further said, “Today, it pains me that across the nation our farmer brethren are suffering owing to the indifference of the Centre. Together, we shall continue our fight to ensure the well-being of the very backbone of our society. Upholding their rights remains a top priority.” 

    After driving out Tata Motors from Singur by spearheading the movement in 2009 against the then Left Front government’s land acquisition policy, West Bengal passed a bill to return the land to its owners.   

    “The farmers’ movement in Delhi border drew nationwide attention. Asking all oppositions to get united, the CM will use the issue as a political tool to sharpen attacks ahead of the Assembly elections slated to be held next year. She already increased financial assistance for Bengal’s farmers with a goal to build up her farmer-friendly image,” said a senior TMC leader. 

    Last week, the Mamata government doubled the annual financial benefit for farmers. Under the new announcement, farmers with landholding of 1 acre or more would be entitled to receive Rs 10,000 per annum instead of the previous assistance of Rs 5,000. The assistance for those holding land below 1 acre or less and for marginal farmers has been doubled from Rs 2,000 to Rs 4,000 per year. 

    “She (Mamata) has become an anti-BJP face nationally after her landslide victory in the Assembly elections. Now she is aiming to unite all opposition forces nationally and throw a challenge to the BJP before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Besides, she will use the farmer issue in the Assembly elections scheduled to be held in seven states which include Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat,” said another TMC leader.

  • Wasn’t possible to carry on at saffron party, says Mukul Roy after rejoining TMC

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA:  Sitting beside Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Friday, Mukul Roy made it clear that he could not continue in BJP and that is why he decided to return to his old party. The BJP’s national vice-president, who ended his three-year and nine-month stint in the saffron camp, said he would issue a statement on what made him quit.

    “It was not possible to continue in the BJP. I have returned to my old place. I will let everything be known in a written statement, elaborating why I took this decision,” said Roy. Welcoming Roy back into the fold, Mamata said: “He was unhappy in BJP. Also, he was not physically well.’’

    BJP functionaries in Bengal, who had followed Roy into the saffron party, said he was sidelined and left as nothing more than an MLA in Bengal’s political landscape. “Differences between Roy and (BJP’s state president) Dilip Ghosh became prominent on several occasions. He played a crucial role in the party’s impressive performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when we won 18 of 42 seats.

    But he was not given any organisational responsibility in Bengal. The national vice-president post was an ornamental designation. He had no stake in the party’s electoral strategy before the Assembly elections,’’ said a BJP leader close to Roy.

    Roy’s unhappiness became clear after the Assembly election results. He skipped two meetings convened by Ghosh. Asked about that, Roy had said he was not informed about those meetings. Known for his skill in managing elections, Mamata’s one-trusted aide was not optimally used by BJP in the high-octane polls.

    “Instead, they fielded him in a constituency (Krishnagar North) which is far away from his hometown and not a place of his influence. It was basically aimed at confining him to the constituency from where he contested and won,” said the BJP leader.

  • Jolt to West Bengal BJP after Mukul Roy’s ‘ghar wapsi’ to TMC

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA: The BJP, which is still smarting from the poor show in the recently held Assembly election in West Bengal, on Friday received another jolt as its national vice-president Mukul Roy and his son Subhrangshu deserted the saffron party to rejoin the Trinamool Congress. Roy met West Bengal chief minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek, the party’s national general secretary, at the party’s headquarters Trinamool Bhavan. 

    “Mukul is an old member of the TMC family and old is gold. The BJP had threatened and tortured him using central agencies. After coming back to the TMC, mental peace has returned to him. No one in Bengal can survive in the BJP. Mukul’s return is a reflection of the BJP’s intra-party oppression,’’ said Mamata.

    Roy was TMC’s national secretary and the second-in-command when he switched over to the BJP in 2017 after he was interrogated by the CBI and the ED in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam and the Narada sting operation case. 

    Roy’s return to the TMC was not entirely unexpected. Mamata’s soft stance on Roy during the election campaign had triggered speculation. While addressing a rally in Nandigram, from where Mamata contested and lost to Suvendu Adhikari, she said Roy was much better than Suvendu. Roy, too, refrained from launching a frontal attack against the TMC. 

    Endorsing the speculations, Mamata said, “Many others attacked the TMC and showed their cheap mentality, but Mukul was not like them.’’  After he was welcomed back to the TMC fold, Roy said, “I am happy to be in my old place. I could not continue in the BJP, so I decided to join the TMC.” 

    BJP state president Dilip Ghosh, however, sought to downplay Roy’s departure, saying, “With his presence, we did not get any dividend. What damage will be caused because of his defection?’’ TMC sources told this newspaper Roy’s old rivalry with Mamata’s nephew could dent his position in the party. “He was the second-in-command in the party. But later, he became unhappy with the rise of the CM’s nephew Abhishek. Now Abhishek is much more powerful as the national general secretary, which indicates the party’s line of succession.” 

  • BJP national vice president Mukul Roy returns to TMC; Mamata welcomes him

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: In a blow to the prestige of the saffron brigade, Bharatiya Janata Partys national Vice President Mukul Roy along with son Subranshu, re-joined the Trinamool Congress on Friday, with Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and other leaders of the state’s ruling party welcoming him back to the fold.

    Roy, who was closeted with Banerjee in Trinamool Bhavan before his formal re-induction in the party he helped set up, said he was “happy to see all known faces again”.

    Addressing a press meet after the re-joining ceremony, Banerjee said Roy was threatened and tortured in the BJP, and that, in turn, affected his health.

    “Mukul’s return proves that the BJP does not let anyone live in peace and put’s undue pressure on everyone,” the chief minister said.

    Roy was seated on Banerjees left hand, with Abhishek seated after him, while Partha Chatterjee, another top TMC leader sat on her right, indicative according to TMC sources, of the partys future pecking order.

    Speculation had been rife for some time on a possible home coming by Mukul Roy who had crossed over to BJP in 2017 after being charged in the Narada tape sting, ever since Banerjees nephew Abhishek visited his wife at a city hospital earlier this month.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promptly after Abhisheks visit, rung up to enquire about Roys wifes health, seen by political observers as an attempt to retain him within the BJP-fold.

    Interestingly, at Fridays re-joining ceremony, both Banerjee and Roy claimed that they never had any differences.

    The chief minister said we will consider the case of those who had left TMC with Mukul for BJP and want to come back.

    A signal that this may be the start of more defections from BJPs Bengal unit.

    However, Banerjee clarified that TMC politicians and workers who left to join the BJP just ahead of the April-May assembly elections will not be taken back.

    Roy, once the second-in-command of the TMC, was removed from the post of the party’s national general secretary in February, 2015, sometime after the Narada sting was carried out by investigative journalists where many politicians were allegedly caught accepting wads of cash from a fictitious company.

    He joined the BJP in November, 2017.

    The move to bring him back possibly started when Banerjee at an election rally in late March had termed his conduct as not so bad.

    This was in contrast to the chief ministers other election speeches, where she had branded turncoat TMC members such as Suvendu Adhikari as `Mir Jafars, after the infamous Bengal general who betrayed Bengal’s Nawab Siraj ud Dowlah in the battle of Plassey against Lord Robert Clives army.

    TMC will selectively take back people who crossed over.

    The aim will be to organisationally weaken BJP but at the same time it will not want too many turncoats back as this would be seen as rewarding dissidence, said Rajat Roy, well-known political analyst and member of the Calcutta Research Group.

    Mukul Roy is a special case as he is known to be an organisational brain.

    Several former TMC MLAs including Dipendu Biswas and Sonali Guha have in recent past sent letters regretting their decision to join the BJP and sought to return back to the partys fold.

    Guha, who at one time was considered close to Banerjee, made an impassioned plea on camera seeking the chief ministers forgiveness.

    Guha, a four-time legislator from Satgachia in South 24 Parganas, had also written in a letter the way fish cannot stay out of water, I will not be able to live without you, Didi.

    Even before the formal entry of Mukul Roy, BJPs national Vice President into Trinamool Congress, BJP leaders reacted angrily to the desertion.

    BJP leader Dilip Ghosh reacting to news of Mukul Roys re-entry into Trinamool Congress, said he was not sure the party would lose anything from the move given that he was unsure whether we gained anything from Roys entry three- and-half years back.

  • Mamata welcomes Mukul Roy’s ‘ghar wapsi’ to cause damage to BJP, not to strengthen TMC

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee’s decision to welcome BJP’s national vice-president Mukul Roy’s ‘ghar wapsi’ on Friday appears to be more focused on causing damage to the saffron camp than strengthening her own party. 

    Sources in the ruling party said the induction of TMC’s former second-in-command, the first blow to the BJP since its poor performance in the recent Assembly elections, would deliver a message for others who defected to the saffron camp. “Many TMC leaders jumped ship and became prominent BJP faces. Roy’s return to the TMC will deliver a message to the turncoats which includes at least three MPs and several MLAs of the BJP,” said a senior TMC leader. 

    Bringing the saffron camp’s “Chanakya” back to its fold, the ruling party is now aiming to shake the BJP’s foundation in Bengal which already received a jolt in the recent Assembly elections. The saffron camp emerged as the TMC’s only opposition in the Assembly polls. It bagged 77 seats, much behind the party’s projection of more than 200 seats, and the Left Front and Congress have no representative in the state Assembly. The newly-formed Indian Secular Force, an ally of LF-Congress, secured victory in only one constituency. In a landslide victory, the TMC bagged 213 seats in the House of 294 MLAs. 

    “The triumphant performance of the TMC was without Roy, who used to be known for managing elections. Our party has nothing to gain by inducting Roy but it will damage the BJP organisational setup. It was Roy who had poached many of our leaders on behalf of the saffron camp. It is expected that those who followed Roy’s footprint will shortly make a beeline to return to the TMC,” said another TMC leader.  

    The ruling party, however, is yet to make a decision about other turncoats willing to return to the TMC. “Mamata Banerjee will take the final decision. She will decide whether all turncoats will be allowed to rejoin the party or they will be inducted selectively,” said the leader.     

    Since Roy had shifted his political allegiance to the BJP in 2017, a total of 33 TMC MLAs joined the BJP and the exodus continued till before the Assembly elections held in March-April. Roy’s return to the TMC is the first defection from the saffron camp since the election.