News Analysis India

Tag: Sougata Roy

  • Civic poll violence should have been avoided, sends out wrong message: Trinamool MP

    Cases of violence and malpractices marred the elections to 107 municipalities across West Bengal on Sunday.

  • Note ban was one of the most disastrous decisions in independent India : TMC

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on this day in 2016 announced his decision to ban currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations.

  • Attack on federal structure of India: Trinamool Congress on Centre extending BSF’s jurisdiction

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Hitting out at the Centre over its decision to extend the jurisdiction of the BSF, the Trinamool Congress on Thursday said it was an “infringement” on the rights of the state and an attack on the federal structure of the country.

    The Centre has amended the BSF Act to authorise the force to undertake search, seizure and arrest within a larger 50 km stretch, instead of the existing 15 km, from the international border in Punjab, West Bengal and Assam.

    Demanding its withdrawal, the TMC claimed the decision was taken without consulting the West Bengal government. “We oppose this decision. This is an infringement on the rights of the state. What was the sudden need to enhance the BSF’s jurisdiction without informing the state government?” TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.

    “If the BSF has to conduct any search, they can always do it along with the state police. This has been the practice for years. It is an attack on the federal structure,” he added. Senior TMC MP Sougata Roy alleged that the BSF doesn’t have a good track record on human rights in border villages.

    “The Centre and Home Minister Amit Shah are trying to weaken the states. BSF doesn’t have a good track record when it comes to human rights in border villages,” he said.

    The expansion of #BSF area of jurisdiction upto 50 km from border of some states amounts to brazen infringement upon the territory of states.@HMOIndia , you should not indulge any ‘Chherkhani’ else will face the consequences.
    — Adhir Chowdhury (@adhirrcinc) October 14, 2021
    State Congress president Adhir Chowdhury warned the Union Home Ministry of “consequences” over the move. “The expansion of #BSF area of jurisdiction upto 50 km from border of some states amounts to brazen infringement upon the territory of states. @HMOIndia (Home Ministry), you should not indulge any ‘Chherkhani’ (meddling) else will face the consequences,” he said in a tweet.

    The state BJP slammed the TMC for its criticism, saying that its opposition to the changes is aimed at appeasing its vote bank. “The TMC government has failed to check cross-border infiltration and smuggling. The TMC’s opposition is aimed at appeasing its vote bank,” said Sayantan Basu, the BJP’s state general secretary.

    The Union Home Ministry issued a notification in this context on October 11, amending a July 2014 enabling provision for the BSF personnel and officers while they operate in the border areas.

    BSF officials said the amendment will help them in effectively curbing trans-border crimes and the new amendment brings in “uniformity” for its operations in the borders states of Punjab, West Bengal, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Assam where it can now operate within 50 km area from the border.

    In Gujarat, which shares border with Pakistan, the same limit has been reduced from 80 km to 50 km, while in Rajasthan, it has been kept unchanged at 50 km.

  • John Barla’s elevation as Union minister proves BJP backs bifurcation of Bengal: Trinamool Congress

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress on Thursday alleged that the elevation of Alipurduar MP John Barla as Union minister proves that the BJP supports the bifurcation of West Bengal, a charge denied by the saffron party.

    Barla, one of the key architects of the BJP’s making of inroads in north Bengal, had recently demanded a separate Union territory by carving out the region from the state. He was inducted into the cabinet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs.

    “The decision to elevate John Barla as Union minister proves that the BJP supports his statement regarding the division of West Bengal. The saffron should come out clean on it. He (Barla) is a divisive personality…for last two years, I haven’t seen him being able to speak properly in the Parliament, what sort of minister he will make is anybody’s guess,” TMC leader Sougata Roy said.

    State BJP chief Dilip Ghosh dubbed the TMC’s allegations as baseless and said the party doesn’t support the bifurcation of the state. “We don’t support any division of West Bengal. The party leadership and our prime minister felt that John Barla would make a good minister and can work for the people, so he has been inducted (into the cabinet),” he said.

    While speaking to a Bengali news channel in the morning after taking charge, Barla declined to comment on his previous statement seeking bifurcation of the state. “I don’t want to comment on it. Now, I would like to work for the benefit of the masses. I will work towards the fulfilment of the demands of the people of north Bengal, nobody can suppress the demands of the masses,” he said.

    Barla alleged that the people of West Bengal are not getting benefits of central schemes and as Union minister, he would strive to ensure that people get these benefits. “We want peace to return to West Bengal. The central schemes should be implemented,” he said.

    Apart from Barla, three other MPs from West Bengal — one from north Bengal (Nisith Pramanik) and two from south Bengal (Subhas Sarkar and Shantanu Thakur) — have been inducted into the Union cabinet. Pramanik has been made MoS Home, and Sarkar and Thakur have been made MoS Education, and MoS Ports and Shipping respectively.

  • Centre and EC have the blood of COVID-19 patients on their hands: TMC

    TMC MP Sougata Roy told reporters here that in April, PM Modi and minister Amit Shah had addressed 50 poll rallies with two meetings held on an average daily despite the surge in COVID-19 cases.

  • TMC demands removal of dy Election Commissioner Sudeep Jain for being ‘biased’

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The ruling TMC in West Bengal Thursday demanded the removal of Sudeep Jain, the deputy election commissioner in-charge of the state, accusing him of being biased against it and breaking norms of the federal structure.

    TMC spokesperson Sougata Roy said that party leader Derek O’ Brien has written to the Election Commission demanding that Jain be removed as he has a “track record” of being biased against it during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

    “During the last parliamentary poll Sudeep Jain had taken several steps which were not only against the norms of the Election Commission but also against those of the federal structure.

    We don’t have any faith in him.

    “We (TMC) apprehend that this time too he will take steps which will either directly or indirectly help the BJP,” Roy said at a press conference here.

    “We want him to be removed as in-charge of elections in West Bengal for the sake of free and fair poll.

    We have already written to the Election Commission where we have placed our demand,” he said.

    The state election this time, will see a stiff contest between the TMC and BJP and will be held in eight phases beginning with polling in 30 seats on March 27.

    Votes cast in the poll for all the 294 seats will be counted on May 2.

    After having a marginal presence in the politically polarised state for decades, BJP has emerged as the main rival over the last couple of years.

    It had won 18 out of 42 seats in the Lok Sabha polls of 2019 and followed up its quest for strength by inducting TMC MLAs, one of its MPs and ministers into the party.

  • TMC appeals to Left, Congress to support Mamata in fight against BJP

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday appealed to the Left Front and the Congress to back West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in her fight against the “communal and divisive” politics of the BJP.

    Elections to the 294-member state assembly are due in April-May.

    “If the Left Front and the Congress are genuinely anti-BJP, they should be behind Mamata Banerjee in her fight against the communal and divisive politics of the saffron party,” senior TMC MP Sougata Roy told reporters.

    TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee is the “real face of secular politics against the BJP”, he said.

    READ| TMC MP Sisir Adhikari shunted from another post after son Suvendu joined BJP 

    Roy claimed that none of the schemes launched by the BJP-led government at the Centre has worked successfully.

    “The TMC’s narrative is of constructive criticism in the interests of development,” he said.

    Referring to cattle-smuggling that has kicked up a political storm in poll-bound West Bengal, Roy said it is the duty of the Border Security Force (BSF) and not the state police to prevent this.

    “The BSF, which is under the central government, looks after the borders of the country.

    It is their duty and not that of the police to prevent cross-border smuggling of cattle,” the TMC MP said.

    Launching a stinging attack against Union Home Amit Shah, who had visited the state last month, the senior lawmaker said, “Instead of having lunch at different places, he should have visited the border to check whether the BSF is doing its job properly or not.

    ” Responding to a query whether BJP state chief Dilip Ghosh will be the saffron party’s chief ministerial candidate for the elections, he said it is an internal matter of the BJP.

    “Diamond Harbour MP and TMC youth wing chief Abhishek Banerjee has a much greater political experience than Ghosh, who has joined politics only in 2015, but even he never claimed to be the CM face of the TMC,” he added.