News Analysis India

Tag: Modi Bangladesh visit

  • PM Modi’s visit to Bangladesh violated poll code conduct: TMC writes to Election Commission

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The TMC has written to the Election Commission alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Bangladesh violated the model code of conduct in place for the West Bengal Assembly polls and some of his programmes there “intended to influence the voting pattern” in certain constituencies of the state.

    The letter dated March 28 was released by the Trinamool Congress on Tuesday.

    Modi visited Bangladesh from March 26 to 27 to attend the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the country’s independence and the birth centenary of ‘Bangabandhu’ Sheikh Mujibur Rahman following an invitation from his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina.

    ​ALSO READ | India, Bangladesh want stability, love and peace instead of terror and unrest in world: PM Modi

    The subject line of the letter written by TMC national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Derek O’Brien read: “Gross violation of democratic ethics and the Model Code of Conduct by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi during his visit to Bangladesh.”

    “We have no objection whatsoever to his visit to Bangladesh for this official purpose. After all, India played a critical role in the liberation of Bangladesh. West Bengal, in particular, made an immense contribution to the heroic struggle of our fellow Bengalis in (what was then) East Pakistan for freedom from the brutal regime in West Pakistan. However, the All lndia Trinamool Congress strongly objects to Shri Modi’s programmes in Bangladesh on March 27.”

    “These had nothing to do with either the 50th anniversary of the independence of Bangladesh or the birth centenary of ‘Bangabandhu’. Rather, they were solely and exclusively intended to influence the voting pattern in certain constituencies in the ongoing elections to the Legislative Assembly of West Bengal,” O’Brien said in the letter.

    ​ALSO READ | PM Modi’s first foreign trip in over a year and the importance of a village 180 km from Dhaka

    “No Indian Prime Minister has so brazenly indulged in an unethical and undemocratic act and violated the Model Code of Conduct by indirectly campaigning for his party from foreign soil,” he said.

    The TMC leader further alleged that the political motive behind Modi’s visit is proven by the fact that he took along with him BJP MP from West Bengal Santanu Thakur, who holds no official position in the government of lndia.

    Trinamool Congress (TMC) registers a complaint with Election Commission over, “Gross violation of democratic ethics and the Model Code of Conduct by Prime Minister during his visit to Bangladesh.” pic.twitter.com/S1dDiejAqt
    — ANI (@ANI) March 30, 2021

    “No MP or representative from the Trinamool Congress or other parties was invited to accompany the PM. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has thus grossly misused his official position to interfere from foreign soil in the election process in West Bengal,” O’Brien said.

    “The All lndia Trinamool Congress demands that the Election Commission of lndia not only censure him but also take deterrent punitive action against him so that he dares not repeat such misconduct in future,” he said.

  • India, Bangladesh want stability, love and peace instead of terror and unrest in world: PM Modi

    By PTI
    DHAKA: India and Bangladesh want stability, love and peace instead of instability, terror and unrest in the world, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday as he underlined that the two friendly neighbours want to see the world progressing through their own development.

    Prime Minister Modi made the remarks while speaking to the Matua community members after offering prayers at their temple in Gopalganj’s Orakandi – the birthplace of Hindu mystic figure and community’s spiritual guru Harichand Thakur.

    “Both India and Bangladesh want to see the world progressing through their own development. Both the countries want to see stability, love, and peace instead of instability, terror, and unrest in the world,” Modi said.

    Modi said he was waiting for this opportunity for many years and during his visit to Bangladesh in 2015, he had expressed desire to visit Orakandi, which has come true now.

    This place is a pilgrimage site for the spiritual relationship between India and Bangladesh, he said.

    “I was speaking to some people here. They were saying who could have thought that India’s Prime Minister would visit Orakandi,” Modi said, adding that he was feeling the same emotions as felt by the Matua community members in India after coming to Orakandi, from where Harichand Thakur disseminated his pious message.

    ALSO READ | PM Modi’s first foreign trip in over a year and the importance of a village 180 km from Dhaka

    Orakandi is the abode of Hindu Matua community, a large number of whom are residents of neighbouring West Bengal.

    Prime Minister Modi announced that India will upgrade one girls’ middle school and set up a primary school in Orakandi.

    Analysts said Modi’s planned temple visits carry a political significance at the time of the ongoing assembly elections in West Bengal.

    The Prime Minister was accompanied by BJP MP from West Bengal Shantanu Thakur during his visit to Orakandi.

    The Matua community’s vote may determine the winner in some seats in the elections to the West Bengal state assembly, the first phase of which began on Saturday.

    Modi said the Matua community celebrates ‘Baroni Shanan Utshab’ every year on the auspicious occasion of the birth anniversary of Harichand Thakur and a large number of devotees from India come to Orakandi to participate in this festival.

    “To make this pilgrimage easier for citizens of India, efforts will be made on behalf of the Government of India,” he said.

    “We are also committed to grand events and various works reflecting the glorious history of the Matua community in Thakurnagar (West Bengal),” Modi said.

    “I have always been very close to the family members of the Thakurbari,” he added.

    “The way India and Bangladesh governments are working towards strengthening their ties, Harichand Thakur and Thakurbari have been doing this for ages.

    This place symbolises the spiritual tryst of India and Bangladesh,” he said.

    In his address, Modi said that it was important for both India and Bangladesh to come together and fight common challenges.

    He said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, India and Bangladesh proved their capabilities.

    ALSO READ | PM Narendra Modi offers prayer at centuries-old Jeshoreshwari Kali temple in Bangladesh

    “Both nations are facing this pandemic strongly and fighting it together.

    India is working by considering that it is its duty that the ‘Made in India’ vaccine reaches the citizens of Bangladesh,” Modi added.

    He said India is moving forward with the mantra of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, and Sabka Vishwas’, and Bangladesh is its co-passenger in it.

    “Bangladesh is presenting a strong example of development and change in front of the world and India is your co-passenger in these efforts,” he added.

    Last time when Prime Minister Modi visited Bangladesh in 2015, he offered puja at Dhakeshwari temple in the national capital.

    Bangladesh has taken extra security measures for the Indian premier’s visit in the wake of protests by few leftist and Islamist groups.

    In 2016, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) said their latest vital sample statistics report found the country’s total population to be 15.89 crore by the end of 2015 with the number of Hindus at 1.70 crore in the Muslim-majority nation.