News Analysis India

Tag: Suvendu Adhikari

  • ‘Thank god ‘Mir Zafars’ quit TMC, saved party’: Mamata slams at Adhikari family

    By PTI
    KHEJURI: In an apparent jibe at the influential Adhikari family of Purba Medinipur district, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said that she was relieved as “Mir Zafars” (traitors) have quit the party ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.

    Terming the BJP as a “party of feudal lords”, the TMC supremo, while addressing an election rally at Khejuri in the district, alleged that the saffron party was more interested in selling the entire country.

    “Thank God, the ‘Mir Jafars’ (traitors) have left (TMC). I am relieved. It has saved us (the party). They never used to allow me to come to Khejuri, Nandigram or Kanthi whenever I wished to visit these places. As if this was their ‘zamindari’. Now, nobody can stop me from coming here,” Banerjee said.

    She alleged that the BJP has stolen several lakhs of crores of rupees from the common people of the country by “selling” the Railways, BSNL and banks.

    READ| BJP biggest extortionist, should never be allowed to rule Bengal: Mamata

    “The BJP must clear the air over the fate of the demonetisation money and PM cares funds. People want to know,” she said.

    She urged people to be alert while casting their votes and double-check the EVMs properly.

    Using the party’s famous ‘Khela Hobe’ (game is on) slogan, she urged the voters to drive the BJP out of the country.

    “Play the game in such a manner that the BJP is driven out of the country,” she added.

    Banerjee left her Bhowanipore constituency in Kolkata to contest her former lieutenant and BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram seat, where an anti-land acquisition movement catapulted the TMC to power in the state in 2011.

    Most members of the Adhikari family, which holds considerable political clout in the district, have either joined the BJP or expressed a desire to join the saffron party.

  • She is queen of rigging: Suvendu on Mamata alleging BJP may tamper with EVMs

    By ANI
    KOLKATA: Terming Trinamool Congress (TMC) Chief Mamata Banerjee as “queen of rigging”, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari alleged that even now she is misusing the administration and using ghuspaitheye (intruders) and Pakistanis and police are acting as a mute spectator.

    Speaking to ANI over allegations by Banerjee that voting in Assembly elections in the state would be rigged, Adhikari said, “Queen of rigging is saying that vote-rigging will happen. The election will happen in a democratic way and that is why she is disturbed. Even now she is misusing administration, police and using ghuspaitheye (intruders) and Pakistanis. Police is a mute spectator. But the people are with us.”

    Alleging that there was a wider conspiracy behind the political violence that took place on Thursday, Adhikari said, “They aren’t TMC workers. Few people of a particular community have been instigated. They are doing it daily and it’s not a new thing. They are Pakistanis. Bharatiya will win against Pakistani.”

    The comments of Adhikari came after Mamata Banerjee, earlier this month, stated, “Those who are playing the Hindu-Muslim card, I would like to tell them clearly that I am also a girl from a Hindu family. Don’t play the Hindu card with me.”

    Reacting to Banerjee’s statement about removing BJP from Centre after winning Bengal elections, the BJP leader said, “She said the same thing before 2019 and spoke about United India. The more she speaks, the more seats will go to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. ‘2019 mein half hua iss baar saaf hua’.”

    West Bengal is witnessing a high-octane battle between the BJP and the TMC for the upcoming Assembly polls.

    Elections to the 294-member state Assembly will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. 

  • TMC pushed us away to give an edge to Abhishek Banerjee, says Sisir Adhikari

    By ANI
    KOLKATA: Putting rest to speculation of his joining Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Sisir Adhikari, veteran Trinamool Congress on Wednesday said that he is ready to join the party if his son, Suvendu Adhikari, BJP’s candidate from Nandigram asks him to. He alleged that his family has been driven out of TMC to give an edge to ‘Bhaipo’ (Mamata’s nephew Abhishek Benerjee).

    “Wherever my son decides, I will go there,” said senior Adhikari while speaking to ANI.

    An ardent Trinamool man, Adhikari said he is shocked that his family has been driven out of TMC to give an edge to ‘Bhaipo’ (Mamata’s nephew and TMC MP Abhishek Benerjee).

    “I am not a man to go there. We are TMC people. They pushed us away. From last December, we have been abused. I am very much shocked at how the party treated us. She (Mamata Banerjee) has targeted Suvendu to highlight Bhaipo. I will campaign for him,” said Adhikari.

    “My sons would know whether I would join BJP or not. I will support my son. If they ask me to go to PM Narendra Modi’s meeting, I would go. I will join if they ask me,” he said.

    Suvendu Adhikari, former TMC Minister is contesting against Banerjee in Nandigram, the seat going to voting on April 1.

    Launching a scathing attack on Mamata Banerjee, Sisir Adhikari said that the chief minister cannot claim the legacy of Nandigram as it was him and his family who fought the Nandigram battle.

    “We brought Mamata Banerjee from Bhawanipore to Nandigram,” said the TMC leader. He also attacked Banerjee for spreading lies about her leg injury.

    Responding to Banerjee’s claim that BJP has caused the injury and that earlier it was TMC now it is BJP who is attacking her, Adhikari said, “Can she open her bandage and show it to people of Nandigram. Can she show X-ray report and apologise to people of Nandigram.”

    “Does a mother or sister show her leg uncovered like this? Sharam Nahi hai (does not she have any shame) I respected her for what she had done. But today I am shocked. How far you can go for politics,” said Adhikari.

    The TMC chief on March 10, had alleged that she was pushed by a few unidentified people during her election campaigning. Banerjee sustained “severe bone injuries” on her left foot and ankle as well as bruises and injuries on her shoulder, forearm and neck, according to the report of her initial medical examination. She was discharged from the hospital on March 12.

    Elections to the 294-member state Assembly will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. 

  • Suvendu seeks rejection of Mamata’s nomination for ‘suppressing’ info on criminal cases

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Suvendu Adhikari, the BJP candidate against Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram, Monday said he has sought rejection of the nomination of the West Bengal chief minister for not declaring six criminal cases against her while filing her papers.

    In his complaint to the Election Commission, Adhikari, a former confidante of Banerjee, claimed she suppressed the information about five cases filed against her in Assam and another lodged by the CBI in West Bengal.

    He said he has mentioned the case numbers in his complaint but did not elaborate on the offences allegedly committed by the TMC supremo, sources in the office of the state’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said.

    “The TMC candidate for the Nandigram assembly constituency, the honourable chief minister, in her affidavit has not mentioned at least six cases which are under trial against her.

    One is a CBI case and five others are in Assam.

    “I have appealed to the ECI (for rejecting her nomination). I hope they will take necessary action. I will wait and see what action they take. The action must be as per the law,” Adhikari told reporters.

    A senior EC official said the matter is being looked into.

    No immediate reaction was available from the TMC.

    In a significant ruling in March 2018, the Supreme Court had said the returning officer for an election can reject nomination papers of a candidate for non-disclosure and suppression of information, including those related to their assets and criminal background.

    It had ruled that voters have a fundamental right to know about their candidates and leaving columns blank in the nomination paper amounts to violation of their right.

  • 14 years of Nandigram violence: Ahead of Kolkata rally, Mamata says will fight against ‘anti-Bengal forces’

    By ANI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said she is contesting from Nandigram to work along with members of Shaheed families against “anti-Bengal forces”, remembering the innocent villagers were killed in firing at Nandigram on March 14 in 2007.

    “On this day, in 2007, innocent villagers were killed in firing at Nandigram. Many bodies could not be found. It was a dark chapter in the history of the State. Heartfelt tribute to all those who lost their lives,” she tweeted.

    ”In memory of those who lost their lives in Nandigram, we observe March 14 as Krishak Dibas every year and give away the Krishak Ratna awards. Farmers are our pride and our government is working for their all-round development,” she said in another tweet.

    ”As a mark of respect and encouraged by my brothers and sisters of Nandigram, I am contesting Bengal Elections 2021 as an AITC candidate from this historic place. It is my great honour to be here and work along with members of Shaheed families against anti-Bengal forces,” she added.

    In 2007, several villagers were reportedly killed and many others sustained injuries during a protest over land acquisition for a special economic zone (SEZ) in Nandigram in East Midnapore district.

    ALSO READ | BJP has to win Bengal to expand ideological footprint, secure eastern borders: Dilip Ghosh

    The incident had sparked a national outrage and the Calcutta High Court had suo motu ordered a CBI probe.

    Banerjee, then the opposition leader, had spearheaded a movement against the Left Front government’s acquisition of arable land in Nandigram and Singur for industrialisation.

    Her party reaped rich dividends from the agitations, winning 50 per cent of the panchayat seats in 2008, bagging 19 Lok Sabha seats in 2009 and ending the 34-year-long Left Front rule in the state in 2011.

    Mamata Banerjee had been contesting polls from the Bhawanipore constituency. The BJP fielded former TMC leader Suvendu Adhikari from Nandigram against Mamata Banerjee, setting the stage for a high-profile contest from the seat.

    Meanwhile, Trinamool on Sunday cancelled the election manifesto’s release which was scheduled for today. The next date will be announced later.

    Earlier, the manifesto was scheduled to be released on March 11. However, the release of the manifesto was cancelled following an alleged attack on Mamata.

    Banerjee will conduct a roadshow, days after sustaining injuries during election campaigning, on a wheelchair from Gandhi Murti to Hazra here today, Trinamool Congress (TMC) party sources said. She will address a public rally at Hazra this afternoon.

    It will be her first public appearance after she was allegedly attacked by some people in Nandigram earlier this week.

    On March 10, the Chief Minister, who was on a two-day visit to Nandigram from where she filed her nomination, alleged that she was pushed by a few unidentified people during her election campaigning. Later, she was brought to Kolkata’s SSKM Hospital by road from Nandigram.

    ALSO READ | BJP firms up candidates, set to come out with all guns blazing in poll-bound states

    Banerjee sustained “severe bone injuries” on her left foot and ankle as well as bruises and injuries on her shoulder, forearm and neck, according to the report of her initial medical examination.

    The Chief Minister was discharged from the hospital on March 12.

    West Bengal is likely to witness a triangular contest this time with TMC, Congress-Left alliance and the BJP in the fray.

    Elections to 294-member West Bengal Assembly will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • BJP leader visits Sisir Adhikari at his residence, speculation rife over Trinamool MP’s next move

    By PTI
    NANDIGRAM: BJP MP Locket Chatterjee on Saturday visited the residence of TMC’s Lok Sabha member Sisir Adhikari, who is also the father of political heavyweight and the saffron party’s Nandigram candidate Suvendu Adhikari, raising speculation that the veteran leader might switch camp ahead of the Bengal assembly polls.

    Chatterjee, who had lunch at the Adhikari residence at Contai, stressed that it was “courtesy call”, and Sisir Adhikaris political move was not discussed during the meeting, even as political corridors went abuzz with murmurs that the TMC MP might join the saffron camp during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the state later this month.

    “It was a courtesy lunch. Sisirda is a senior politician and the Adhikari family is synonymous with Medinipur (of which Nandigram is a part). He had once praised my Lok Sabha speech. We share good rapport. He requested me to visit him again,” the BJP leader said.

    She, however, clarified that the BJP would welcome the TMC MP with open arms if he decides to join the party.

    Sisir Adhikari, on his part, told reporters that two of his sons are BJP members, and “Locket visiting his residence should not surprise anyone.

    Why should anyone have their eyebrows raised when a leader makes a courtesy visit?” Veteran TMC leader Sougata Roy, when approached, said “Sisirda has largely remained inactive in the recent times. We will urge him not to join the ‘dal badal’ (party changing) game, given his advanced age and ailments.”

    BJP spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya claimed that all of Purba Medinipur wants the Adhikari family patriarch to join the saffron camp.

    Notably, Suvendu Adhikari and his brother Soumendu, who also joined the BJP two months ago, were not at home during the BJP MP’s visit to their residence.

    Their other brother, Dibyendu — also a TMC MP – was present at the lunch meet.

  • BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari declares net worth of over Rs 80 lakh

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who is pitted against his mentor West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at Nandigram in the coming state election, has declared net worth of over Rs 80 lakh.

    As per the 50-year-old leader’s affidavit to the Election Commission his net worth is Rs 80,66,749.32.

    His movable assets are worth Rs 59,31,647.32 while his bank balance is Rs 46,15,513.32, including Rs 41,823 in his election expenditure account.

    His income in 2019-20 was Rs 1,115,715.00 and his cash in hand is Rs 50,000.00, as per his affidavit.

    Adhikari also has National Saving Certificate (NSC) deposit of RS 5,45,000 and insurance of Rs 7,71,165.

    Adhikary has immovable assets including plots of land worth Rs 46,21,102, it said.

    In his affidavit the BJP leader has declared that he has criminal cases pending against him.

    He also declared himself to be a post graduate from Rabindra Bharati University and a resident of Nandigram constituency.

    Adhikari had filed his nomination for the high octane battle at Nandigram on Friday.

    Polling in the constituency is slated for April 1.

  • BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari files nomination from Nandigram in high-stakes battle against Mamata Banerjee

    By PTI
    HALDIA: BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari filed his nomination on Friday from the Nandigram seat where he will be fighting the upcoming assembly elections against Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee.

    Adhikari filed his papers at the sub-divisional office in Haldia after leading a-km-long roadshow.

    Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Smriti Irani took part in the rally before Adhikari filed the nomination papers.

    WB: BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari meets locals in Nandigram. He says, “My relationship with them is very old. Mamata Banerjee remembers them every 5 years when polls come. They will defeat her. I am also filing my nomination, I am a voter of Nandigram.” #WestBengalElections pic.twitter.com/9ckfZjfMNh
    — ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2021

    Adhikari, who switched over to the BJP in December, is up against the chief minister who decided to challenge him at his home ground.

    Adhikari won the Nandigram seat as a TMC candidate in 2016 by bagging over 67 per cent of the votes, defeating his nearest rival of the CPI by a margin of 81,230 votes.

    Banerjee had filed her nomination on Wednesday.

    The Left-led grand alliance has fielded CPI(M)’s youth leader Minakshi Mukherjee from the seat.

  • ‘Don’t waste your votes’: BJP’s Suvendu attacks TMC for betraying trust of people after coming to power

    By PTI
    HALDIA: BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who is pitted against his former protege and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee from the high-profile Nandigram assembly seat, on Friday urged people not to vote for “outsiders”, as he flayed the ruling party for betraying the trust of people.

    Adhikari, who recently became a voter in Nandigram from Kanthi in East Midnapore district, filed his nomination from the seat a short while ago.

    “I would appeal to all of you to not waste your votes in favour of outsiders, who have betrayed your trust and aspirations after coming to power in 2011,” Adhikari said, without naming Banerjee.

    He claimed that the Trinamool Congress has turned into a private limited company, where other leaders “neither have a say in policy-making of the party nor in the state government”.

    “Everybody else, apart from the aunt and nephew (Mamata and TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee), are lamp posts in the party,” Adhikari said.

    The Nandigram assembly constituency is set for a high-octane battle with Banerjee deciding to contest from the seat against Adhikari, who recently switched over to the saffron camp from the TMC.

  • Bengal polls: CPM fields Minakshi Mukherjee against Mamata, Aishe Ghosh to contest from Jamuaria

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: The Left Front on Wednesday announced its candidate list for 120 seats fielding JNU’s student wing president Aishe Ghosh in Jamuaria Assembly constituency in West Burdwan district. 

    In Nandigram, the party fielded its youth wing state president Minakshi Mukherjee from where chief minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting.

    Earlier, the Left announced a candidate list for 39 Assembly seats.

    “This time, the young party members have been given priority. Nearly 70 per cent of our candidates are within the age bracket of 25 to 50 years. Our young faces have been fielded in the upcoming electoral battle to take on both the TMC and BJP candidates,’’ said a CPM leader.

    Aishe, a resident of Asansol, a neighbouring pocket of Jamuria, replaced CPM’s incumbent MLA Jahanara Khan, who secured victory with 43.29 per cent vote share in the 2016 Assembly elections. The party’s performance was unimpressive in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in the Jamuria Assembly constituency as it bagged only 9.7 per cent of votes.

    In January last year, Aishe was severely injured when a group of masked attackers, armed with sticks, stormed the campus of JNU and attacked students and teachers and damaged the property of the prime university. In a video shared on social media, Aishe, who had to be admitted to the AIIMS trauma care centre, was seen crying while bleeding profusely from the head.

    Delhi police registered an FIR naming nine students, including Ghosh, in connection with the violence. In the FIR, Ghosh was held accused of vandalising the university server room and manhandling and threatening guards.                       

    In the candidate list, The Left Front left 92 seats for Congress and 30 seats for the newly formed Indian Secular Front (ISF), the two allies of the alliance.