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Tag: Mamata Banerjee

  • West Bengal polls 2021: CM Mamata Banerjee rejects ‘outsider’ tag in Nandigram

    By PTI
    NANDIGRAM: Coming down hard on those calling her an outsider in Nandigram, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday for them people “coming from Gujarat” are insiders.

    Addressing booth-level TMC workers a day ahead of filing her nomination for the seat, Banerjee said people who had “sold their souls to outsiders from Gujarat” are insulting the Nandigram movement by playing the communal card.

    Banerjee is pitted against her former confidante Suvendu Adhikari, who joined the BJP some time ago, in the high-profile seat.

    Without naming Adhikari even once, Banerjee said that she had made up her mind to contest either from the Singur or Nandigram–the two cradles of anti-land acquisition movement– that catapulted her to power in 2011.

    She said she decided to contest from Nandigram because of overwhelming response of the people. “I have heard some people are calling me an outsider in Nandigram. I am amazed. I was born and brought up in the neighbouring Birbhum district, and the person who is calling me an outsider was also not born here. Today I have become an outsider, and those coming from Gujarat have become insiders in Bengal,” she said.

    Adhikari has often called himself “bhoomiputra” (son of the soil) while seeking to get back at the TMC supremo who has been targeting the BJP with the “party of outsiders” barb. Accusing Adhikari of trying to incite communal passions, Banerjee said,”Those who have sold their souls to the outsiders are insulting the Nandigram land acquisition movement by playing the communal card.”

    “Some people are talking about 70:30 ratio (of Hindu- Muslim population). Those doing that are insulting the sacred Nandigram movement which people of both communities fought together. People of Nandigram will make BJP ‘April fool’ on April 1 when polling is held,” she asserted.

  • Bengal polls: It’s a fight between me and BJP in all 294 seats, says Mamata

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Monday hinted that the upcoming Assembly elections are going to be a battle between ‘Didi versus Modi’.

    “He came to Kolkata and spread lies and canards. I appeal to the people of Bengal to consider me as the candidate in all 294 Assembly constituencies. Vote for my candidates and secure their victory,” said Mamata while addressing a rally after leading a march in central Kolkata on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

    Asserting that her party will retain power for the third consecutive time in the state, the TMC supremo said, “It’s the fight between me and the BJP in all 294 seats.”

    Taking a dig at Modi over the inclusion of his picture in the Covid-19 vaccination certificate, Mamata said the day was not far when the country will be named after him.

    “The Prime Minister has named a stadium after him. A photograph of him has been displayed on the Covid-19 vaccination certificate. A day will come when the country will be named after him,” Mamata lashed out at the PM, a day after his Kolkata visit to address a rally at the Brigade Parade Ground.     

    In an attempt to woo women electorates’ support in the upcoming Assembly elections, Mamata walked a stretch of the road along with some of the women candidates of her party. “One day, Bengal’s daughters will lead the state. I appeal to the women electorates to vote for our women candidates,” she said.

    Alleging how women are unsafe in BJP-ruled states, Mamata said in the “model state” Gujarat, according to media reports, four rapes and two killings have been taking place daily over the past two years.   

    Rubbishing Modi’s claim that women do not feel safe in Bengal, Mamata, replied, “Had that been the case, women wouldn’t have been able to roam freely at night.”

  • West Bengal polls: Mamata Banerjee to file nomination from Nandigram on March 10

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will file her nomination papers from the Nandigram seat on March 10, while her rival and BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari will do the same two days later, as the stage is set for the Battle Royale in the constituency.

    After the release of the party manifesto on Tuesday, the Trinamool Congress supremo would leave for Nandigram in the evening and file her nomination papers the next day, party sources said.

    She would then attend a workers’ meet and return to Kolkata on March 11.

    Adhikari, whose name was announced as the BJP candidate from the seat on Saturday, will file the nomination on March 12.

    “After filing nomination papers, he will address a rally there,” BJP leader Kanishka Panda said.

    Nandigram, the cradle of the anti-land acquisition movement that catapulted Banerjee to power in 2011, will witness her once protege Suvendu Adhikari taking on her on April 1, in the second of the eight phases of polling.

    For 50-year-old Adhikari, the contest in Nandigram will be a fight for his political survival as he had vowed to defeat Banerjee by over 50,000 votes in the seat or quit politics.

    Adhikari won the Nandigram seat in the 2016 assembly election, while another TMC candidate emerged victorious from the constituency in 2011.

    The former minister had quit the TMC and resigned from the assembly last year to join the BJP after having differences with the state’s ruling party. On the other hand, Banerjee will contest the Nandigram seat for the first time after relinquishing the Bhowanipore constituency in Kolkata, from where she had won twice.

    The TMC supremo has rented a house in Nandigram and will campaign from there.

    Elections in Bengal, poised to be a stiff contest between the TMC and the BJP, will be held in eight phases between March 27 and April 29.

    Votes will be counted on May 2.

  • Day not far when India will be named after Modi: Mamata Banerjee

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “spreading lies and canards” against the TMC government, and said voters, this time, would witness ‘Didi versus BJP’ fight in all 294 constituencies of the poll-bound state.

    Taking a dig at Modi over inclusion of his picture in COVID-19 vaccination certificates, she said the “day wasn’t far when the country will be named after him”.

    Asserting that she will return to power for the third consecutive time in Bengal, the feisty TMC boss said, “The fight is between me and the BJP in all 294 seats.”

    “They (BJP leaders) will come to Bengal only during elections and spread canards and lies. He is lecturing us on women’s safety. What is the situation of women in BJP-ruled states? What is the situation in Modi’s favourite Gujarat? “The prime minister has named a stadium after him. He has put his photographs on COVID-19 vaccination certificates. A day will come when the country will be named after him,” Banerjee, who led a rally here on the occasion of International Women’s Day, stated.

    Rebutting the PM’s claim that women do not feel safe in Bengal, she said, “Had that been the case, they wouldn’t have been able to move around freely at night.”

    Hitting out at the PM, Banerjee also said that Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah should shift focus on BJP- ruled states, including ‘model state’ Gujarat, “where, media reports suggest, four rapes and two killings have been recorded every day over the past two years.”

    The TMC rally, which commenced in College Square area in central Kolkata, concluded near Dorina crossing, five kilometres away.

    Senior party leaders Chandrima Bhattacharyaa and Mala Roy joined the march.

    Among others, actresses and now TMC candidates June Maliya, Saayoni Ghosh and Sayantika Banerjee were also seen taking part in the rally.

  • ‘Poribortan will happen in Delhi instead of Bengal’: Mamata hits back at PM as she protests LPG price hike

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA:  Hitting back at the BJP over its allegation of “syndicate raj” in West Bengal under the TMC rule, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home minister Amit Shah are part of a “syndicate”.

    “Modi and Shah are the only syndicate in India. Look at the increase in fuel prices. Covid pandemic happened but the PM  was nowhere to be found. You get free rice but you spent on expensive gas to cook it,” said Banerjee while organising a protest march against the steep hike in the price of LPG cylinders at Siliguri. Mamata was accompanied by her Cabinet colleague Chandrima Bhttacharya and MPs Mimi Chakrabarty and Nusrat Jahan.

    West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee leads a protest rally againstthe hike in fuel and LPG prices, in Siliguri on Sunday | PTI

    ALSO READ | Bengal polls: Actor Mithun Chakraborty joins BJP ahead of PM Modi’s Brigade rally

    Launching a fresh tirade against Modi, Banerjee alleged that the PM was peddling lies to mislead the electorates in the poll-bound state. “He (Modi) has made many false promises over the years and the people of Bengal no longer trust him. Why the PM has not deposited  `15 lakh to the bank accounts of every citizen as promised by him before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. You have made many empty promises and people will not accept your false words every day. You have made the LPG cylinders inaccessible to common people,” she lashed out.

    Asking people to raise their voice against the “riot- mongering BJP,” Banerjee said, “People of Bengal, who had been living in peace casting aside barriers of community and language, would come under grave threat if the saffron party comes to power.” The protest march is said to be TMC’s effort to woo women homemakers. “Since the homemakers take care of kitchens, the price hike of LPG has directly affected them. To portray herself as a voice of the homemakers, she took three women party colleagues with her in the event,’’ said a TMC leader.

  • West Bengal elections: Modi, Mamata snipe at each other to deflect charges

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched a broadside against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ahead of the state elections for grooming nephew Abhishek Banerjee as her successor, saying, “Bengal’s people had elected you a decade ago as their Didi.

    But you remained an aunt of your nephew all the time.”Poking her for a recent scooter ride in protest against the hike in fuel prices and tying it to her decision to contest from Nandigram, he said he should not be blamed if the two-wheeler meets with an accident in the constituency of East Midnapore district.

    Addressing a massive rally in Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Ground Modi accused Mamata of treating everyone against her as an enemy. “You are not only Bengal’s daughter, you are also India’s daughter. A few days ago, you rode a scooter and the people of the country prayed you ride safely. Had you fallen off, the state where the scooter was manufactured would have become your enemy.

    You veered the direction of your scooter towards Nandigram from Bhowanipore. I am a well-wisher of everyone. If your scooter meets with a mishap there, then what can I do?’’ he figuratively said.While Modi reiterated the charge of Trinamool goons running corrupt syndicates, Mamata attacked him and Union home minister Amit Shah, saying it is they who are part of a syndicate.

    “Narendra Modi and Amit Shah are the only syndicate in India. Fuel prices increased, Covid happened but the PM was nowhere to be found,’’ she said after a protest march in Siliguri against the steep hike in LPG refill price. She also alleged that Modi was peddling lies to mislead the electorate. Yesteryear actor Mithun Chakraborty joined the BJP and shared the dais with Modi. He likened himself to a deadly snake: “Don’t mistake me for a harmless snake, I am a cobra, I can kill people with a bite.”

    Bengal developmentModi set a 25-year goal for powering Bengal to the pinnacle of the development index after the state votes BJP to power, by the time India celebrates its Independence centenary in 2047

  • ‘Vote for BJP fearlessly, vote against bad governance’: PM attacks Mamata at Brigade rally

    By Online Desk
    KOLKATA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday launched a blistering attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, accusing her of “betraying and insulting” the people of the state who trusted she will bring about a change after the Left rule.

    He also accused her of nepotism by choosing to play the limited role of “bua” (aunt) to her “bhatija” (nephew) instead of becoming “Didi” (elder sister) to the people.

    Addressing a massive BJP rally at the Brigade Parade Grounds, his first in West Bengal after the announcement of assembly polls, Modi hit out at his detractors who accuse him of favouring a handful of his businessmen friends.

    “The dream of ‘sonar bangla’ will be fulfilled. Today, I have come here today to assure you of Bengal’s development, to increase investment here, to protect Bengal’s culture and to bring change,” he said during the Brigade rally at Kolkata.

    “The next 25 years are very important for the development of Bengal. The development here in the next 5 years will lay the foundation for State’s development in the next 25 years,” he added further.

    “In this Assembly elections, there are TMC, Left and Congress, and their anti-Bengal attitude on a side. On the other side, there are people of Bengal. Bengal wants ‘shanti’, ‘sonar Bangla’, ‘pragatisheel Bangla’. This Brigade Parade Ground has been witness to many great leaders and also witnessed those who have disrupted West Bengal’s progress. People of Bengal never left their hopes for change,” he said.

    #WATCH | You are well aware of the condition of ‘Maa, Manush, Maati’. Mothers are being attacked on streets and in their houses. Recently, the cruelty unleashed on an 80-year-old mother has shown their cruel face to the entire country: PM Narendra Modi pic.twitter.com/OHEXCTlt3L
    — ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2021

    “You know it very well how the democratic system has been destroyed here. BJP will strengthen this system. We will bring the change to re-establish public belief in govt systems, in the police, and the administration,” he said while attacking the Mamata Banerjee-led state government over the state’s deterioting law and order.

    “I have come here to make you believe that we’ll work hard for farmers, businessmen and the development of sisters and daughters. We will live every moment to fulfill your dreams,” he added further.

    ALSO READ | Always felt at home in Bengal: Gambhir ahead of joining BJP campaign in poll-bound state

    “They made promises to work for ‘Maa, maati, manush’. But you tell me, has TMC been able to bring change in the lives of common people here in the last 10 years? The people of Bengal had chosen you as ‘Didi’ but then why did you remain the aunt of a nephew? The people of Bengal are asking only this one question from you,” Modi said while lashing out at Mamata.

    #WATCH | Your (Mamata Banerjee’s) scooty took a turn towards Nandigram instead of going to Bhawanipore. Didi, I wish everyone well and don’t want anyone hurt. But what can I do if the scooty is destined to fall in Nandigram?: PM Narendra Modi pic.twitter.com/OycJdytWNk
    — ANI (@ANI) March 7, 2021

    “You have betrayed and insulted the people of Bengal who trusted that you will be the harbinger of change after the end of the Left rule. You smashed to smithereens (chaknachoor) their hopes and dreams,” he said, excoriating the TMC supremo.

    He alleged Banerjee promoted nepotism while neglecting the people who fondly called her ‘Didi’.

    “Bengal chose you in role of ‘Didi’ but you preferred being ‘bua’ to your ‘bhatija’,” he said.

    “Some days back, when you rode a scooty, everyone was praying that you are not hurt. It is good that you didn’t fall, otherwise, you would have made enemy the state where the scooty was manufactured. Your scooty took a turn towards Nandigram instead of going to Bhawanipore. Didi, I wish everyone well and don’t want anyone hurt. But what can I do if the scooty is destined to fall in Nandigram?,” he said.

    The BJP has been accusing Banerjee of trying to install her nephew and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek as the next chief minister.

    Hitting back at rival leaders like former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Banerjee, who often accuse him of favouring his industrialist friends, Modi said given his humble background he valued friendship.

    “All 130 crore people of India are my friends, I work for them. I gave 90 lakh gas connections to my friends of Bengal. I have special affinity with tea, and the tea garden workers of Bengal are my friends for whom I have implemented a social security scheme,” he said.

    “TMC ka khela khatam, vikas shuru…vote for BJP fearlessly, vote against bad governance. These people are experienced people and play a lot! They have done innumerable corruption and looted the people of Bengal. They have even looted the relief money sent for Amphan,” he said.

    ALSO READ | Kolkata drug seizure case: BJP leader Rakesh Singh’s aide arrested

    “I have known Didi since ages. She is not the same person who raised her voice against the Left. She speaks someone else’s language now and is being controlled,” Modi said while attacking the Bengal CM.

    “Tolabaazi, syndicate, commission cut! You have done so many scams that a ‘Corruption Olympics’ game can be organized. You have played with the hard-earned money of the people and their lives,” he said.

    “You’ve pushed Bengal towards separation instead of development, and thus the lotus is blooming. You’ve divided people on religious lines, and thus the lotus is blooming,” the PM added.

    Modi has often spoken about how he used to sell tea at a railway station and on trains as a small boy.

    He also attacked Banerjee for triggering the insider- outsider debate.

    “When those believing in Marx and Lenin and a party like the TMC, an offshoot of the Congress, are parties of insiders, how the BJP, for whose foundation Syama Prasad Mookerjee was the source of inspiration, can be a party of outsiders,” he said.

    The prime minister said he was committed to bringing about “asol parivartan” (real change) in West Bengal where all sections of people progress but nobody is appeased, and infiltration is stopped.

    “Be it North Bengal or South Bengal, ordinary people or refugees. All will progress but nobody will be appeased. Infiltration will be stopped completely,” he asserted, reaffirming his commitment to the Mantra of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vishwas’.

    Accusing the TMC government of destroying the democratic system, he alleged ‘loktantra’ (democracy) was replaced with ‘lootantra’ (systematic plunder) in the 10 years of its rule.

    “Lotus is about to bloom in Bengal because of the ‘kichad’ (muck) created by you, Didi,” he said.

    (With ANI and PTI Inputs)

  • ‘Modi has time to address rally in Bengal, but can’t meet protesting farmers’: Pawar lashes out at PM

    Express News Service
    RANCHI: Making a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar said that the former has time to visit foreign Countries and address rallies in West Bengal, but has no time to visit farmers at the Delhi borders who have been protesting for the last 100 days. 

    Addressing the State level workers conference in Ranchi on Sunday, Pawar also alleged that the BJP is spreading “communal poison” in the country.

    “The farmers have been protesting on Delhi borders for the last 100 days, but the Prime Minister, who has time to visit foreign Countries, address rally in West Bengal, has no time for the farmers who have been protesting merely 20 kilometers from his official residence,” said Pawar.

    Later, talking to the media persons, the NCP Chief also hinted on supporting Mamata Banerjee in the upcomming Bengal polls.

    “Though, we used to contest on some of the seats in West Bengal, but the way BJP is targeting Mamta Banerjee, we are mulling on supporting her in the upcomming Assembly elections. Party workers have opined that the centre is misusing its power to defeat Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal and hence it is high time that she may be lent support,” said Pawar. 

    They are mulling not to field their candidates in Bengal and support her in the upcomming elections, he added.

    Pawar further added that ‘communal poison’ is being spread in most of the states and prices of which are being paid by the poor and people of minority communities.

    Taking a dig at BJP, Pawar said that the centre is taking help from AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi to win elections.

    “The ruling party at the centre, in order to divide votes, always takes help of others and Asaduddin Owaisi is one of them,” said Pawar.

    The NCP chief alleged that the Central government is using central agencies to suppress the voices of Opposition in non-BJP ruled States.

    “The way the Prime Minister, Home Minister and other top leaders of BJP have launched a campaign against the governments of West Bengal and other non-BJP ruled states by misusing the central agencies like CBI and ED, it is a serious issue and all of us must think about it,” said Pawar.

    The NCP Chief said that his party will expand its base in Jharkhand in the coming days.

  • Will Hemant Soren ditch Congress to campaign for Mamata? JMM to decide soon

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has been requested by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee to campaign for her in the West Bengal Assembly elections and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha will take a decision on this soon keeping in mind the objective of giving a pushback to the BJP’s poll prospects, a senior JMM leader said on Sunday.

    The development assumes significance as the JMM is an alliance government with the Congress in Jharkhand and the Sonia Gandhi-led party has tied up with the Left and the Indian Secular Front in West Bengal against the BJP and the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

    After the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Samajwadi Party and the Shiv Sena, Banerjee had said last week that the TMC has received support from the JMM and the Nationalist Congress Party for the assembly polls.

    In West Bengal, communication keeps happening with Mamata Banerjee as being in neighbouring states, issues are regularly discussed, a senior JMM leader said on condition of anonymity.

    “It was our demand that some regions of West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha should have been made part of Jharkhand as they had been part of the movement for the state, but in 2000 the borders that were created, some areas were left out,” the leader said.

    “As a result, you would see that in West Bengal’s tea gardens, a majority of the people are from Jharkhand. So, we do have an influence there,” the leader said.

    The TMC chief has asked the Jharkhand chief minister to campaign for her, the JMM leader said, adding that party chief Shibu Soren has been informed about the request.

    The leader said a decision will soon be taken on it by the party.

    “But the target is fixed that the BJP has to be given a pushback there and a decision will be taken keeping that in mind,” the leader said.

    The JMM leader also slammed the Centre on various issues such as high fuel prices, farm laws and treatment meted out to farmers.

    The leader also alleged that it seems cooperative federalism is left only on name.

    Significantly, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav had also thrown his party’s weight behind Banerjee and appealed to Biharis domiciled in West Bengal to rally behind the chief minister in the elections.

    RJD is also part of the Jharkhand government headed by Hemant Soren.

    Elections to the 294-member West Bengal assembly will be held in eight phases from March 27 to April 29.

    Votes will be counted on May 2.

  • Will handsomely defeat ‘outsider’ Mamata in Nandigram, says Suvendu Adhikari

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Stinging West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for “running away” from her Bhowanipore seat in Kolkata, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday asserted he is “200 per cent” sure of handsomely defeating the TMC supremo, who is an “outsider” in Nandigram seat.

    The BJP named Adhikari, a former minister in Banerjee’s cabinet, as its candidate in the Nandigram seat in Purba Medinipur district, from where the chief minister will also contest the assembly elections.

    “Why have you deserted your Bhowanipore constituency? Why have you run away? Is it because the BJP had won in the booth at Mitra Institution in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections? You cannot even win in your own locality,” Adhikary said at a rally in the Behala area of Kolkata.

    Exuding confidence of trouncing Banerjee in Nandigram, Adhikary said, “I had defeated Lakshman Seth in Nandigram, I will defeat the honourable (Banerjee) this time. She is an outsider in Nandigram whereas I am a ‘bhumiputra’ (son of the soil) of the area.”

    ALSO READ | Bengal polls: It’s official! BJP’s Suvendu to take on Mamata in Nandigram

    Attacking the Banerjee family, Adhikari alleged that due to barricades and security arrangements in front of the chief minister’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee’s house on Harish Mukherjee Road, people are being inconvenienced as they are unable to take out any kind of procession, including the religious ones.

    He alleged that many small businesses in the area had to be shut down and the plots were given to big businessmen “to suit the interest of one family”.

    Adhikari said that the CBI did the right thing by questioning the Banerjee family as they are not above the law.

    Alleging large-scale irregularities in SSC, he said, “If voted to power, the BJP will fix the issue and ensure transparency in all recruitment exams, bringing smiles on the faces of three crore unemployed youths.”

    “The poor people who lost their money in ponzi scams like Saradha are yet to get back their money. These scams flourished under the patronage of the TMC ministers. Once elected to power, the BJP will ensure that the money is returned to these depositors,” he said.