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Tag: Mamata Banerjee

  • Mamata Banerjee warns against ‘attempts to instigate riots’ through fake videos on social media

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday warned against attempts by some people to instigate riots through fake videos on social media.

    Banerjee, who was addressing a government function at Netaji Indoor Stadium here, urged police constables, homeguards and civic volunteers present at the programme to be on guard against any possible attempt to spread doctored videos through fake WhatsApp groups.

    “There can be many WhatsApp groups which spread fake messages to engineer riots. Be always on guard against any such attempt to foment trouble,” she told the gathering.

    “They (the groups) are saying whatever they like without verifying facts. They spread falsehoods. Remember they had also branded the agitating farmers in Delhi as terrorists in the past,” Banerjee said without naming anyone.

    ​ALSO READ | Bengal polls: Mamata schedules emergency meeting on January 29 as Shah set to begin state visit

    The chief minister announced that 680 former linkmen of terror outfit Kamtapur Liberation Organisation and 420 former Maoists who have surrendered and joined the mainstream are being recruited as homeguards.

    “You had been with different organisations opposed to the government for ideological reasons. Now when you will be donning the uniform and wearing the cap I know you will be forever alert to serve the nation, the people,” she said.

    Banerjee said the next of kin of 530 Maoists and KLO activists, who are either dead in violence or missing, will also be recruited as special home guards.

    Complimenting the police force for its tireless sacrifice during the peak of he COVID-19 pandemic, she said 75 police personnel had died due to the contagion.

    “The government gave Rs 10 lakh to the families of each of the deceased policeman and a job to the next of kin. But no monetary compensation can make up the irreparable loss.”

    ​ALSO READ | Mamata to TMC leaders: If you want to join BJP, quit immediately and never come back

    She said the family of each of the 16,000 police personnel infected by coronavirus had been given Rs one lakh each.

    The chief minister said 162 new police stations came up in nine and half years of Trinamool Congress rule and 30 cyber police stations had been set up.

    Banerjee said there will be 10 per cent quota for civic volunteers to the posts of home guards.

    “Our police men are the best in the country – firm in their duty but with a human face. They had donated blood everyday during the peak COVID-19 period when there was a dearth of blood camps. They had risked their lives,” she said.

    The chief minister inaugurated virtually a slew of development projects for the poor and marginalised people under ‘Jagroto Bangla’ programme – a new initiative of the state government.

    The projects included the Adivasi Bhavan for tribals, Lepcha Bhavan and Bonorini Market Complex at Bonhooghly in the city.

    She also handed over keys and ownership deeds to the shop owners and building named ‘Mahatoron’ at the pilgrom town of Tarapith, apart from giving employment to sportspersons in Jangalmahal area of south Bengal.

  • Bengal polls: Mamata schedules emergency meeting on January 29 as Shah set to begin state visit

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has convened an emergency meeting with party MPs, MLAs and core committee members on January 29, the day Union Home minister will land in Kolkata for a two-day visit. 

    The CM’s meeting is politically significant amid speculations that more TMC legislators, including at least one former minister of her cabinet, might jump the ship to BJP in presence of Shah in a rally in Howrah district on January 31.

    Sources in the TMC said the CM took a strong stance about the rebellious party functionaries who are expressing their discontent publicly. “The party already expelled Baishali Dalmiya, the MLA from Bally in Howrah, and served a show-cause notice to Hooghly’s Uttarpara MLA Prabir Ghoshal for issuing anti-party statements. The CM is likely to deliver a message to the MLAs and other elected representatives in the backdrop of the recent exodus,” said a senior leader of the ruling party.

    Six TMC MLAs, including Suvendu Adhikari, one sitting MP, and 45 other district-level functionaries had joined the BJP at a rally in West Midnapore in presence of Shah in December. The functionaries of BJP’s Bengal chapter are claiming that Bengal is going to witness another round of large-scale defection from the TMC to the BJP in presence of the Union Home Minister in a rally scheduled to be held at Dumurjala stadium in Howrah.

    It is apparent that the TMC supremo has adopted a tough stance to deal with the party’s disgruntled leaders who are hinting at shifting sides. At a recent rally in Hooghly, the CM made it clear that the party’s door would remain shut for the turncoats if they wanted to come back.

    Shah’s two-day Bengal visit starting from January 30 has become the most discussed issue in the circuit of Bengal’s politics as the Matuas, the Dalit followers of a Hindu religious sect comprising refugees from Bangladesh, are expecting a deadline on the implementation of the contentious CAA from the Union Home minister. On January 30, Shah is scheduled to address a rally in Thakurnagar, Bongaon, where the headquarters of Matua Mahasangha is located.

    Riding the support of the Matuas and Hindu refugees, the BJP had made deep inroads in Bengal’s Dalit-dominated pockets by promising them citizenship by implementing the CAA in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

    Matuas are a deciding factor in at least 35 Assembly constituencies and other Dalit communities dominate in 20 seats in the state. Last month, Shantanu Thakur, the saffron camp’s Bongaon MP and a representative of Matuas, had said his community wanted Shah to announce the deadline of implementing the CAA.

    Measuring the discontent among the Matuas and Dalits, Mamata Banerjee has already addressed two rallies in Bongaon and Ranaghat, another Hindu refugee dominated pocket, and hit out at the BJP on the citizenship issue.

  • ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan at Netaji event: Trinamool likely to move censure motion in Bengal Assembly

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress on Monday said that it is likely to move a censure motion in the West Bengal assembly over raising of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan at an official programme to celebrate the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, claiming that it was an insult to the freedom fighter as well as the chief minister.

    Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Saturday refused to speak at the event attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after “Jai Shri Ram” slogans were raised by a section of the audience just before she was to start her address at the Victoria Memorial Hall in Kolkata.

    “The BJP is regularly insulting the icons of Bengal. No one has given them the right to insult our icons. On Saturday, Netaji was insulted. The chief minister of our state was insulted.”

    ALSO READ | Not forcing anyone to raise ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan: Yogi Adityanath on allged heckling of Mamata

    “There can be political differences, but you can’t insult the chief minister. We are thinking of bringing a censure motion against this in the upcoming session,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee said.

    The motion is likely to be placed in the assembly on January 28.

    Chatterjee, also the TMC secretary general, alleged that the saffron party has earlier insulted Bengal’s other icons such as Nobel Laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore and educationist and social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.

    A censure motion is moved in a Legislative House to express strong disapproval of certain policies or acts.

  • Mamata to TMC leaders: If you want to join BJP, quit immediately and never come back

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA: Irked by the recent exodus from her party, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that those who wanted to shift sides must quit immediately and the TMC’s door will remain shut for the turncoats in the future. 

    She also alleged the defectors looted money and now joining the saffron camp to take refuge and save the loot from the central agencies.

    Without naming any turncoat, Mamata said the defectors joined the saffron camp because they knew they would not be given tickets to contest in the upcoming Assembly elections. “Those who are thinking of jumping ship to the BJP, leave the TMC immediately. Remembers,the door of the party will remain closed for you even if you want to come back. It is the looters who made money are taking refuge in the BJP with an aim to turn their black money into white,” she lashed out while addressing a public rally at Pursura in Hooghly district.

    Referring to ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan in presence of Narendra Modi before her speech at a Netaji birth anniversary event in Kolkata two days ago, the Bengal CM said she was teased in front of the Prime Minister. Using the episode as a political tool, she accused the saffron camp of humiliating Netaji and insulting Bengali sentiment.

    “Would you invite anyone to your house and then insult the person? Is this the culture of Bengal? If slogans hailing Netaji were raised, I would have had no problem. Some religious fanatics shouted slogans which were in no way related to any central government programme. I was insulated before the Prime Minister. This is their (BJP’s) culture,” said Banerjee.

    Sources in the TMC said the CM’s decision of not delivering a speech at the Netaji event was aimed politically to challenge BJP’s ‘Atithi Debo Bhava’ rhetoric as she was invited in the programme.

    Hitting out at the saffron camp, which emerged as the ruling TMC’s arch-rivals in the crucial 2021 Assembly elections, the CM said the BJP should be rechristened as ‘Bharat Jalao Party’.      

    “The BJP is trying to ruin Bengal. They are dividing people on the line of religion. The party should be renamed as Bharat Jalao Party,” she said.

  • West Bengal Governor asks CM Mamata Banerjee to empower voters, eliminate atmosphere of fear

    By ANI
    KOLKATA: On the 11th National Voters’ Day, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday asked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to empower and inform voters, ensure their safety and eliminate an atmosphere of fear.

    “Make all efforts #NationalVotersDay to make Voters Empowered, Vigilant, Safe and Informed @MamataOfficial. Atmosphere of fear for voter-the supreme stakeholder, must be overcome,” Dhankhar tweeted on Monday.

    Make all efforts #NationalVotersDay to make Voters Empowered, Vigilant, Safe and Informed @MamataOfficialAtmosphere of fear for Voter-the supreme stake holder, must be overcome.Absence of political neutrality @WBPolice @HomeBengal would be culpable leading to consequences
    — Governor West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar (@jdhankhar1) January 25, 2021

    Further warning the state government machinery including the police, against political bias, Dhankhar in his tweet said, “Absence of political neutrality @WBPolice @HomeBengal would be culpable leading to consequences.”

    This comes as West Bengal is slated to go to polls this year for 294 assembly seats.

    The West Bengal Governor had yesterday urged people to pledge for free and fair elections in the state ahead of Republic Day. He has emphasised that the state can prosper only when democracy is allowed to function in a free and fair manner.

    “Our State can flourish only when Democracy blossoms. For this free and fair election @MamataOfficial administration @HomeBengal and police @WBPolice have to be “politically neutral”. Let’s pledge on this Republic Day to achieve in State free & fair elections shun of violence”, tweeted Dhankhar yesterday asking Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal Government and police to be politically unbiased.

    Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea seeking to ensure free and fair Assembly elections in West Bengal and also to provide protection to the opposition leaders in the state.

    A Bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan dismissed the petition and granted liberty to the petitioner to approach other remedies available in law.

    The theme for this year’s National Voters’ Day celebrations is ‘Making Our Voters Empowered, Vigilant, Safe and Informed’. It envisages active and participative voters during elections. It also focuses on EC’s commitment towards conducting elections safely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The National Voters’ Day has been celebrated on January 25 every year since 2011, all across the country to mark the foundation day of the Election Commission of India in January 25, 1950. 

  • BJP insulted Netaji by raising ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans: Mamata

    Banerjee had on Saturday refused to speak at an official event attended by PM Modi to observe Subhas Chandra Bose #39;s 125th birth anniversary, after #39;Jai Shri Ram #39; chants greeted her.

  • Nobody should feel pain while chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’: Sanjay Raut

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Days after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee declined to speak at an event where “Jai Shri Ram” slogans were raised, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said nobody should feel pain while chanting the slogan.

    Talking to reporters here on Monday, Raut said he is sure Mamata Banerjee also has faith in Lord Ram.

    Banerjee on Saturday declined to speak at an official programme to celebrate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s 125th birth anniversary in Kolkata after “Jai Shri Ram” slogans were raised from the audience in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    She said such “insult” was unacceptable.

    Asked about the BJP accusing Banerjee of feeling pained when chanting the slogan, Raut said, “Nobody should feel pained to say ‘Jai Shri Ram’ in the country.”

    “Nobody’s secularism will be under threat by saying Jai Shri Ram. We think Lord Ram is the pride of the country and support,” he said.

    “Jai Shri Ram is not any political word. It is a matter of our faith, and I am sure that Mamata Didi also has faith in Lord Ram,” the Rajya Sabha member said.

    An editorial in Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ also said Banerjee should not have got upset when “Jai Shri Ram” slogans were raised by some people during the programme.

    “Rather, tables would have turned on them (those who raised slogans) had she mixed her voice among theirs. But everyone is catering to their own vote banks,” it said.

    The BJP has identified Banerjee’s “weak point” and it will keep playing up such sensitive issues until the Assembly elections (in West Bengal) are over, it said.

    The editorial also launched a veiled attack on the BJP, accusing it of poaching TMC leaders in West Bengal to defeat the Mamata Banerjee-led party in the forthcoming polls in that state.

    It said the leadership of West Bengal, Punjab and Maharashtra were at the forefront of the country’s freedom struggle.

    The three states are fighting for their self-pride at present also and the Centre is against them, it claimed.

    Farmers from Punjab, who are agitating against the Centre’s new farm laws near Delhi border, are allegedly being trampled, it said.

    Maharashtra is being targeted in a “pre-decided” manner, the Marathi daily alleged, apparently referring to notices by central agencies to some of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders.

    The BJP poached Congress and NCP leaders ahead of the 2014 Maharashtra Assembly polls and gave them candidature, it alleged and said most of such candidates had got elected.

    “What happened in Maharashtra is (now) happening in West Bengal. (BJP) doesn’t have anything of its own. It creates its legion poaching with whom it is going to fight. It happened in Bihar. Now, struggle is on to defeat the TMC by poaching TMC (leaders),” the Shiv Sena charged.

    Notably, West Bengal forest minister Rajib Banerjee quit the Mamata Banerjee cabinet recently, joining the growing list of dissenters who have put the ruling camp in a tight spot ahead of the Assembly elections.

    The editorial said the BJP winning 18 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal is a matter of concern for Mamata Banerjee.

    “But this Bengal tigress (Mamata Banerjee) is the one who fights on the streets and will keep fighting,” it added.

  • Not forcing anyone to raise ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan: Yogi Adityanath on allged heckling of Mamata

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: No one is being forced to raise ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans and there is nothing to feel bad about such chants, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Monday after his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee refused to speak at an event over raising of such slogans.

    Banerjee on Saturday refused to speak at an official event attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to mark the beginning of the celebrations of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s 124th birth anniversary after ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans were raised just before she was to start her address.

    Speaking to a select group of journalists, Adityanath said, “If someone says Jai Shri Ram there is nothing to feel bad about it as it is a greeting”‘.

    “If someone says ‘namaskar’ or ‘Jai Shri Ram’ it shows his etiquette,” he said.

    ALSO READ | ‘Jai Shri Ram’ chants at Mamata: Trinamool questions PM’s silence; Governor warns against attempts to ‘belittle’ Netaji

    Responding to questions on Banerjee refusing to speak after such chants, Adityanath said, “We are not forcing anyone to speak it. But if someone says Jai Shri Ram there is nothing to feel bad about it.”

    The West Bengal chief minister had expressed displeasure at BJP supporters at the event shouting slogans.

    She said such an “insult” was unacceptable.

    With elections due in the state in March-April, the tussle between the BJP and Banerjee’s TMC has intensified.

    Talking about law and order in the state, Adityanath, said the state witnessed several riots during earlier regimes while under this government the state has not witnessed any such incident.

    He claimed the law and order situation in the state is one of the best in the country.

  • ‘Jai Shri Ram’ chants at Mamata: Trinamool questions PM’s silence; Governor warns against attempts to ‘belittle’ Netaji

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress workers staged demonstrations in several districts of West Bengal on Sunday in protest against the “insult” of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during a programme at Victoria Memorial, where she was greeted with ‘Jai Shri Ram’ chants.

    TMC supporters reportedly raised slogans against the BJP and burnt tyres on streets in Birbhum, Hooghly and West Burdwan.

    Singer and former TMC MP Kabir Suman was also seen holding a placard that read ‘Jai Bangla’ at Gariahat in the metropolis.

    The 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Subhas Chandra Bose in the state had ended in abject bitterness on Saturday when Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee refused to deliver her speech at the main ‘Parakram Diwas’ event at Victoria Memorial, after ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans greeted her.

    “Never have I been prouder to be part of Mamatadi’s team. In an ocean of monkeys, she stands out as the lone lioness,” TMC MP Mohua Moitra said in a tweet on Sunday.

    The party on Sunday also expressed regret over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “silence” on the “reprehensible treatment” meted out to Banerjee.

    ALSO READ | ‘Jai Shri Ram’ chants to her is like red rag to a bull: Anil Vij takes potshot at Mamata

    State minister Bratya Basu, during a press meet here, said the incident reflects the “misogynistic mindset” of certain people.

    “Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was present at the programme, did not utter a single word condemning the behaviour of a section of audience. This shows that the BJP has no respect for Netaji and has no idea what he stood for,” he claimed.

    The chief minister on Saturday declined to speak at an event, organised to celebrate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s 125th birth anniversary, after “Jai Shri Ram” slogans were raised there, in the presence of Modi.

    The TMC MLA claimed that “a dark fascist force” was trying to grab power in West Bengal, and alleged that freedom of expression would be under stake, if it gets to seize control.

    “Please don’t allow this force to take control of Bengal. It will do away with our freedom of expression. People of different ideologies are free to air their views in Bengal. That would all come to end,” Basu said, after popular Bengali actress Kaushani Mukhopadhay and the chairperson of Eastern India Motion Pictures Association, Piya Sengupta, joined the ruling camp at the meet.

    “An ugly force is now out to throttle the voice of all artistes in the country. Director Anurag Kashyap and actor Naseeruddin Shah have already got a taste of it,” he underlined.

    Sengupta and her daughter-in-law Mukhopadhyay said they have always been inspired by the “pro-people approach” of the TMC supremo, and vowed to serve the people of the state.

    Among others, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh was also present at the hastily called press meet.

    Two days ago, popular actor Sourav Das joined the TMC, while actor Rudranil Ghosh, who was close to the CM till recently, was seen rubbing shoulders with saffron camp leaders, of late, fuelling speculation that he might switch sides.

    ALSO READ | Parakram Diwas: Trinamool, BJP lock horns over legacy of Netaji ahead of assembly polls

    Meanhwile, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday said Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose stood “too tall among us” and there should not be any attempt to “belittle the maker”, amid the controversy over Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s refusal to speak at an event for celebrating Netaji’s birth anniversary when a section of the audience shouted ‘Jai Shri Ram’.

    In a series of tweets on the microblogging site, Dhankhar cautioned against any attempt of creating din on the legacy of the great patriot.

    “There cannot be any room for creating noise on legacy #NetajiSubhasChandraBose. Such attempt will only belittle the maker & be irrelevant.”

    “Netaji all through thrived for unity of country. He stands too tall amongst us. Lets dump any ulterior thinking on this great occasion,” the governor tweeted.

  • ‘Jai Shri Ram’ row: MP Vidhan Sabha Pro Tem Speaker sends copy of Ramayana to Mamata Banerjee

    By Express News Service
    BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha Pro Tem Speaker Rameshwar Sharma on Sunday sent a copy of the Ramayana to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, through courier, a day after she refused to speak at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s 125th birth anniversary program in Kolkata, following chants of ‘Jai Sri Ram’ in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    “I’m couriering the Ramayana to Mamata Didi to ensure that she soon starts proudly chanting Jai Sri Ram instead of considering the chants as undignified and insulting. This country belongs to Lord Ram and everyone who has neglected the cause of Lord Ram has suffered a lot. I hope the West Bengal CM too realizes her mistake and starts reading Ramayana that I have sent,” Sharma said in Bhopal on Sunday.

    The MP Vidhan Sabha Pro Tem Speaker also alleged that the West Bengal CM objected to chants of Jai Sri Ram at the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose event in Kolkata on Saturday, just to woo the Bangladeshi Muslim vote bank.

    “Even, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, the founding father of the Constitution of India, has mentioned about Lord Ram in the Constitution and Mahatma Gandhi too envisioned Ram Rajya in the country, but it’s both painful and surprising that the West Bengal CM is objecting to chants of Jai Sri Ram, just to woo Bangladeshi Muslim voters,” said Sharma, the two-time BJP MLA from Hujur seat of Bhopal district.

    On Saturday, the West Bengal CM had declined to speak at an event to celebrate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary, where Jai Sri Ram slogans were raised in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    She had not started her speech when the slogan was raised by a section of the crowd at the Victoria Memorial event to celebrate the 125th birth anniversary of the legendary freedom fighter. She had said that such “insult” was unacceptable.

    “This is a government program and not a political event. There has to be dignity, it doesn’t behove anybody to invite people and insult. I won’t speak. Jai Bangla and Jai Hind,” Banerjee had said, while wrapping up.