Tag: Northeast elections

  • TMC to maintain equidistance from BJP and Cong, eyes forming group of regional parties

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Following the below-expectation performance of the Trinamool Congress in the Northeast, the party is changing its political strategy by preparing to maintain equidistance from the BJP and the Congress and seeking to form a group of regional outfits opposed to both camps.

    In Tripura, the TMC bagged less than the votes polled by NOTA, while in Meghalaya, the party’s tally came down to five from 11.

    The Mamata Banerjee-led party also suffered a major upset in West Bengal’s Sagardighi, a minority-dominated assembly constituency which was previously held by the Mamata Banerjee-led party.

    “Our strategy nationally will be maintaining equidistance from both the BJP and the Congress. We want other opposition parties who want to fight the BJP but are opposed to the Congress to come together and work as a united opposition front. We are already in talks with parties such as BRS (erstwhile TRS), AAP and others. This strategy will be reflected in the next Parliament session,” Leader of the TMC parliamentary party in Lok Sabha Sudip Bandopadhyay told PTI.

    Banerjee had also recently announced that the party would go it alone in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

    The decision also came after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as well as CPI(M) leaders accused the TMC of helping the BJP by dividing opposition votes.

    Veteran TMC leader and MP Sougata Roy said that as the Lok Sabha elections are still a year away, the situation will further evolve in the days to come.

    “Let’s see how things shape up, as four major states will go to polls this year. The political situation will further evolve by the end of this year,” Roy said.

    Assembly elections will be held in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka this year.

    Referring to the recent letter written by leaders of nine opposition parties – minus the Congress, Left parties, JD(U), DMK and JD(S) – to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on “blatant misuse” of central agencies, Roy told PTI that it is “just the beginning.”

    Attacking the grand old party for its “big brother attitude”, TMC chief spokesperson Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said, “The Congress is yet to come to terms with the changing reality of Indian politics. It has miserably failed in the last nine years in fighting the BJP. So we will try to align with strong forces in their respective states,” he said.

    The TMC had also abstained from voting in the Vice-Presidential polls last year.

    Leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury however dubbed the TMC’s effort to bring together opposition parties minus the Congress as an “attempt to help the BJP,”

    “You don’t need to be a political pundit to understand the role some opposition parties like the TMC are playing to help the BJP. The TMC is now isolated nationally as it stands unmasked as a stooge of the BJP,” he said.

    CPI (M) state secretary Mohammed Salim claimed the TMC lacks credibility in the fight against the BJP.

    Assistant Professor of Political Science Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, Maidul Islam said the idea of bringing together regional parties is an idea which was once mulled by Communist patriarch Jyoti Basu in the name of the Third Front in the eighties and nineties and later pushed by Banerjee in with the name of Federal Front in 2014.

    Political scientist Biswanath Chakraborty said any attempt to forge an opposition unity sans the Congress is destined to fail. “If you go by numbers, you cannot have any opposition front minus the Congress if you are serious about fighting the BJP. If you try to forge any such front, it will only help the BJP,” he said.

    KOLKATA: Following the below-expectation performance of the Trinamool Congress in the Northeast, the party is changing its political strategy by preparing to maintain equidistance from the BJP and the Congress and seeking to form a group of regional outfits opposed to both camps.

    In Tripura, the TMC bagged less than the votes polled by NOTA, while in Meghalaya, the party’s tally came down to five from 11.

    The Mamata Banerjee-led party also suffered a major upset in West Bengal’s Sagardighi, a minority-dominated assembly constituency which was previously held by the Mamata Banerjee-led party.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    “Our strategy nationally will be maintaining equidistance from both the BJP and the Congress. We want other opposition parties who want to fight the BJP but are opposed to the Congress to come together and work as a united opposition front. We are already in talks with parties such as BRS (erstwhile TRS), AAP and others. This strategy will be reflected in the next Parliament session,” Leader of the TMC parliamentary party in Lok Sabha Sudip Bandopadhyay told PTI.

    Banerjee had also recently announced that the party would go it alone in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

    The decision also came after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as well as CPI(M) leaders accused the TMC of helping the BJP by dividing opposition votes.

    Veteran TMC leader and MP Sougata Roy said that as the Lok Sabha elections are still a year away, the situation will further evolve in the days to come.

    “Let’s see how things shape up, as four major states will go to polls this year. The political situation will further evolve by the end of this year,” Roy said.

    Assembly elections will be held in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka this year.

    Referring to the recent letter written by leaders of nine opposition parties – minus the Congress, Left parties, JD(U), DMK and JD(S) – to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on “blatant misuse” of central agencies, Roy told PTI that it is “just the beginning.”

    Attacking the grand old party for its “big brother attitude”, TMC chief spokesperson Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said, “The Congress is yet to come to terms with the changing reality of Indian politics. It has miserably failed in the last nine years in fighting the BJP. So we will try to align with strong forces in their respective states,” he said.

    The TMC had also abstained from voting in the Vice-Presidential polls last year.

    Leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury however dubbed the TMC’s effort to bring together opposition parties minus the Congress as an “attempt to help the BJP,”

    “You don’t need to be a political pundit to understand the role some opposition parties like the TMC are playing to help the BJP. The TMC is now isolated nationally as it stands unmasked as a stooge of the BJP,” he said.

    CPI (M) state secretary Mohammed Salim claimed the TMC lacks credibility in the fight against the BJP.

    Assistant Professor of Political Science Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, Maidul Islam said the idea of bringing together regional parties is an idea which was once mulled by Communist patriarch Jyoti Basu in the name of the Third Front in the eighties and nineties and later pushed by Banerjee in with the name of Federal Front in 2014.

    Political scientist Biswanath Chakraborty said any attempt to forge an opposition unity sans the Congress is destined to fail. “If you go by numbers, you cannot have any opposition front minus the Congress if you are serious about fighting the BJP. If you try to forge any such front, it will only help the BJP,” he said.

  • Our govt removed all obstacles thwarting North East India’s development: PM

    By PTI

    SHILLONG: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that his government during its eight-year tenure has removed all obstacles that came in the way of development of the North East region.

    Addressing a public meeting on the occasion of the golden jubilee of the North East Council (NEC) here, he also said that improved air connectivity provided to the region has been helping export of agricultural produce, benefiting farmers.

    Ahead of the FIFA World Cup final in Qatar, Modi also said that the NDA “government has shown the red card to many obstacles that came in the way of development for the North East.”

    “Obstacles such as corruption, discrimination, violence and vote bank politics were removed,” the PM said in his 26-minute speech.

    “Earlier, attempts were made to divide NE. Now, we are removing these divisions,” Modi said at the meeting.

    He also inaugurated, dedicated and laid the foundation stone for multiple projects.

    Among the projects inaugurated, one is the sprawling campus of the IIM-Shillong at the New Shillong Township.

    The Prime Minister, who arrived here in the morning, earlier attended the golden jubilee celebrations of the NEC at the State Convention Centre, along with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and several other union ministers and dignitaries.

    Modi, on the occasion, released ‘Golden Footprints’, a commemorative volume chronicling NEC’s contribution towards the development of the northeast over the last 50 years, according to an official statement.

    A short film on NEC’s journey of 50 years was also screened on the occasion, the statement said.

    READ HERE | Congress has a mountain to climb ahead of elections in Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura

    In that closed-door meeting, Modi hailed the contribution of NEC to the development of the region.

    Describing the eight states of the region as ‘Asht Lakshmi’ (eight forms of the goddess of wealth), he said that the government should work on eight foundation pillars for the development of NE.

    The eight ‘foundation pillars’ are peace, power, tourism, 5G connectivity, culture, natural farming, sports and potential.

    “The Northeast is our gateway to South-East Asia and can become a centre for the development of the entire region. And to realise this potential of the region, work is going on the projects like Indian-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway and Agartala-Akhaura rail project,” according to an official statement.

    Many peace agreements have been signed, inter-state boundary agreements have been done and there has been a marked reduction in instances of extremism, he said.

    In the last eight years, the number of airports in the region has jumped from nine to 16, and that of flights has increased from about 900 before 2014 to around 1900, he said adding that many NE states have come on the railway map and efforts are being done to expand the waterways also.

    The length of national highways has increased by 50 per cent since 2014 in the region.

    Modi also talked about the potential of the region in the hydropower and tourism sectors.

    The North Eastern Council is the nodal agency for the economic and social development of the North Eastern Region which consists of the eight States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

    The North Eastern Council was constituted in 1971 by an Act of Parliament.

    However, it was formally inaugurated on November 7, 1972.

    ALSO READ | Meghalaya: Sangma tweaks poll tactics, puts Trinamool on backfoot

    SHILLONG: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that his government during its eight-year tenure has removed all obstacles that came in the way of development of the North East region.

    Addressing a public meeting on the occasion of the golden jubilee of the North East Council (NEC) here, he also said that improved air connectivity provided to the region has been helping export of agricultural produce, benefiting farmers.

    Ahead of the FIFA World Cup final in Qatar, Modi also said that the NDA “government has shown the red card to many obstacles that came in the way of development for the North East.”

    “Obstacles such as corruption, discrimination, violence and vote bank politics were removed,” the PM said in his 26-minute speech.

    “Earlier, attempts were made to divide NE. Now, we are removing these divisions,” Modi said at the meeting.

    He also inaugurated, dedicated and laid the foundation stone for multiple projects.

    Among the projects inaugurated, one is the sprawling campus of the IIM-Shillong at the New Shillong Township.

    The Prime Minister, who arrived here in the morning, earlier attended the golden jubilee celebrations of the NEC at the State Convention Centre, along with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and several other union ministers and dignitaries.

    Modi, on the occasion, released ‘Golden Footprints’, a commemorative volume chronicling NEC’s contribution towards the development of the northeast over the last 50 years, according to an official statement.

    A short film on NEC’s journey of 50 years was also screened on the occasion, the statement said.

    READ HERE | Congress has a mountain to climb ahead of elections in Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura

    In that closed-door meeting, Modi hailed the contribution of NEC to the development of the region.

    Describing the eight states of the region as ‘Asht Lakshmi’ (eight forms of the goddess of wealth), he said that the government should work on eight foundation pillars for the development of NE.

    The eight ‘foundation pillars’ are peace, power, tourism, 5G connectivity, culture, natural farming, sports and potential.

    “The Northeast is our gateway to South-East Asia and can become a centre for the development of the entire region. And to realise this potential of the region, work is going on the projects like Indian-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway and Agartala-Akhaura rail project,” according to an official statement.

    Many peace agreements have been signed, inter-state boundary agreements have been done and there has been a marked reduction in instances of extremism, he said.

    In the last eight years, the number of airports in the region has jumped from nine to 16, and that of flights has increased from about 900 before 2014 to around 1900, he said adding that many NE states have come on the railway map and efforts are being done to expand the waterways also.

    The length of national highways has increased by 50 per cent since 2014 in the region.

    Modi also talked about the potential of the region in the hydropower and tourism sectors.

    The North Eastern Council is the nodal agency for the economic and social development of the North Eastern Region which consists of the eight States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

    The North Eastern Council was constituted in 1971 by an Act of Parliament.

    However, it was formally inaugurated on November 7, 1972.

    ALSO READ | Meghalaya: Sangma tweaks poll tactics, puts Trinamool on backfoot