Tag: TMC MP

  • Lokpal-referred complaint against Mahua Moitra: CBI asks lawyer Dehadrai to appear before it

    New Delhi: The CBI has asked lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai to appear before it on Thursday in connection with its probe against former TMC MP Mahua Moitra in a Lokpal-referred corruption complaint against her, officials said Tuesday. Dehadrai, who was once close to Moitra, had levelled serious corruption allegations against the former MP which were strongly refuted by her, they said.

    The agency has asked Dehadrai to appear before the AC-3 unit of the agency at 2 PM on Thursday to record his version, they said.

    The CBI has started a probe into the allegations of corruption against Moitra on a reference from the anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey had approached the Lokpal with a complaint against Moitra over allegations that she had taken bribes to raise questions in Parliament.

    Last month, Moitra was expelled from the Lok Sabha after the House adopted the report of its Ethics Committee that held her guilty of accepting gifts and illegal gratification from a businessman to further his interest.

    Moitra has challenged her expulsion in the Supreme Court.

  • Congress, CPI(M) working as BJP’s B team in Bengal: TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee

    By Express News Service

    KOLKATA: Slamming the Congress and the CPI(M), Trinamool Congress’s second-in-command and Chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday said both the opposition parties are helping the BJP in the state.

    While addressing a rally for the by-election in Murshidabad’s Sagardighi Assembly constituency on February 27, the TMC MP said both the Congress and the CPI(M) are working as the B team of the BJP.

    Labelling the BJP MLA and leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari as Mirzafar (traitor), the Diamond Harbour MLA said all conspiracies hatched by the opposition parties to defeat the TMC candidate would prove futile.

    Considering the Assembly constituency as an erstwhile stronghold of the Congress, Banerjee said, “They (Congress) have no chance to win. Even if they win, their MLA will join the BJP within 24 hours.’’

    The Assembly seat in Sagardighi fell vacant after MLA and state minister Subrata Saha passed away on December 29 last year. The TMC made deep inroads in Congress’s Murshidabad and Malda strongholds and snatched away all the Assembly seats from the grand old party in the 2021 Assembly elections.

    “You will never find the Congress state president criticising the BJP and its leaders. Despite the Sarada chit fund scam mastermind mentioning CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakrabarty’s name in a letter as one of the beneficiaries, no central agency summoned him to date. But the ED sent me 20 notices already. This is clear evidence of the nexus between the CPI(M) and the Congress,’’ Banerjee hit out.

    KOLKATA: Slamming the Congress and the CPI(M), Trinamool Congress’s second-in-command and Chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday said both the opposition parties are helping the BJP in the state.

    While addressing a rally for the by-election in Murshidabad’s Sagardighi Assembly constituency on February 27, the TMC MP said both the Congress and the CPI(M) are working as the B team of the BJP.

    Labelling the BJP MLA and leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari as Mirzafar (traitor), the Diamond Harbour MLA said all conspiracies hatched by the opposition parties to defeat the TMC candidate would prove futile.

    Considering the Assembly constituency as an erstwhile stronghold of the Congress, Banerjee said, “They (Congress) have no chance to win. Even if they win, their MLA will join the BJP within 24 hours.’’

    The Assembly seat in Sagardighi fell vacant after MLA and state minister Subrata Saha passed away on December 29 last year. The TMC made deep inroads in Congress’s Murshidabad and Malda strongholds and snatched away all the Assembly seats from the grand old party in the 2021 Assembly elections.

    “You will never find the Congress state president criticising the BJP and its leaders. Despite the Sarada chit fund scam mastermind mentioning CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakrabarty’s name in a letter as one of the beneficiaries, no central agency summoned him to date. But the ED sent me 20 notices already. This is clear evidence of the nexus between the CPI(M) and the Congress,’’ Banerjee hit out.

  • TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee’s kin appears before ED in coal scam case

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Maneka Gambhir, the sister-in-law of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday for questioning in connection with an alleged coal scam case. The ED issued fresh summons to Gambhir after it ‘erroneously’ issued her a notice for an appearance at 12:30 am instead of 12:30 pm on Monday, official sources said.

    Gambhir, who was then asked to appear by 2 pm, reached the agency’s office at the CGO complex in Salt Lake around 12.40 pm.

    Earlier, the ED was left red-faced when Gambhir arrived at its office here past midnight, as the notice asked her to appear before the agency at 12.30 am on Monday.

    Gambir reached the ED office and posed for a picture before a locked office along with the notice, which the agency later termed a “typographical error”, the sources said.

    She was accompanied by a lawyer. Gambhir was handed over the summons to appear at the ED office on Monday by agency officials at the Kolkata airport on September 10, after she was denied from taking an international flight.

    The Calcutta High Court had in August directed the ED to question Gambhir at its regional office in Kolkata and not in Delhi, and also not to take coercive steps against her till the next date of hearing.

    Gambhir had challenged an ED summons that asked her to appear before it in Delhi on September 5 in connection with the alleged coal scam case and had sought direction from the court to the agency to allow her to appear before it in Kolkata, where she claimed she resides.

    The central agency had earlier questioned Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the national general secretary of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), and his wife Rujira, in connection with the case.

    KOLKATA: Maneka Gambhir, the sister-in-law of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday for questioning in connection with an alleged coal scam case. The ED issued fresh summons to Gambhir after it ‘erroneously’ issued her a notice for an appearance at 12:30 am instead of 12:30 pm on Monday, official sources said.

    Gambhir, who was then asked to appear by 2 pm, reached the agency’s office at the CGO complex in Salt Lake around 12.40 pm.

    Earlier, the ED was left red-faced when Gambhir arrived at its office here past midnight, as the notice asked her to appear before the agency at 12.30 am on Monday.

    Gambir reached the ED office and posed for a picture before a locked office along with the notice, which the agency later termed a “typographical error”, the sources said.

    She was accompanied by a lawyer. Gambhir was handed over the summons to appear at the ED office on Monday by agency officials at the Kolkata airport on September 10, after she was denied from taking an international flight.

    The Calcutta High Court had in August directed the ED to question Gambhir at its regional office in Kolkata and not in Delhi, and also not to take coercive steps against her till the next date of hearing.

    Gambhir had challenged an ED summons that asked her to appear before it in Delhi on September 5 in connection with the alleged coal scam case and had sought direction from the court to the agency to allow her to appear before it in Kolkata, where she claimed she resides.

    The central agency had earlier questioned Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the national general secretary of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), and his wife Rujira, in connection with the case.

  • Don’t make Parliament fish market, says Naqvi on Derek’s papri chaat remark

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has slammed TMC MP Derek O’Brien hit out at Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Derek O’Brien for making derogatory comments at the Centre for passing bills in Parliament without discussion.

    Naqvi then accused O’Brien of conspiring to malign Parliament’s dignity and quipped that he can have fish curry, if he’s allergic to ‘papri chaat’.

    “If he is allergic to ‘chaat-papri’, he can have fish curry. But don’t turn Parliament into a fish market. Unfortunately, the manner in which work is being done with conspiracy to malign Parliament’s dignity, was never seen before,” said Deputy Leader of the Rajya Sabha on O’Brien’s tweet.

    On Monday, O’Brien had hit out at the Modi government for rushing through bills in Parliament. “In the first 10 days, Modi-Shah rushed through and passed 12 bills at an average time of UNDER SEVEN MINUTES per Bill. Passing legislation or making papri chaat?” he had tweeted.

    Commenting on Derek’s statement that he will shave his head if Union Home Minister Amit shah comes in parliament tomorrow, Naqvi said, “You have reached to Kosi River by cursing Prime Minister Narendra Modi repeatedly then get your head shave there only. This is nothing just a way to do politics and disturb the proceedings of the House”.

    Amid the continuous ruckus created by the Opposition over the ‘Pegasus Project’ issue, both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Centre have cleared many bills.

    The two Houses have been witnessing protests from the Opposition since the start of the monsoon session on July 19. 

  • TMC MP Santanu Sen thanks BJP for suspending him

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress MP Santanu Sen on Friday thanked the BJP-led government at the Centre for suspending him from Parliament in an “unparliamentary way” but asserted that his voice cannot be stifled by such tactics.

    Sen was on Friday suspended from the Rajya Sabha for the remaining period of the Monsoon session for snatching and tearing the statement of IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on the Pegasus row, as Upper House Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu dubbed his action an “assault on the country’s parliamentary democracy.”

    The BJP’s West Bengal unit claimed that the conduct of TMC MPs has maligned the image of the state.

    The TMC leader’s suspension came after a motion moved by the government was passed in the House with a voice vote.

    “Thanks to @narendramodi and @BJP4India Govt again for suspending me from #Parliament in the most unparliamentary way. But be sure that voice of protest @MamataOfficial ji and @AITCofficial can’t be stopped. #BharatiyaJasoosParty Minister @HardeepSPuri might be rewarded for hooliganism,” Sen tweeted.

    Sen had snatched papers from Vaishnaw in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, tore and flung them at the Chair, as the Pegasus snooping row turned ugly.

    The TMC MP later accused Union minister Hardeep Puri of verbally threatening and abusing him inside the House after it was adjourned.

    While reacting to the development, West Bengal BJP president and MP Dilip Ghosh alleged that TMC MPs through their theatrics are maligning the image of the state.

    “The TMC has maligned the state through its violent and corrupt politics. In Delhi too, TMC MPs are maligning the image of the state through their theatrics,” he said.

  • TMC MP accuses Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri of abusing him in Rajya Sabha 

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Shantanu Sen on Thursday alleged that Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri abused him in the Rajya Sabha and was on the verge of physically assaulting him before he was rescued by colleagues.

    Sen, who snatched papers from Communications and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in the Rajya Sabha and tore them as he was making a statement on the snooping issue, claimed that Puri even rudely gesticulated at him.

    Puri has so far not reacted on the issue.

    “The union minister (Puri) threatened and abused me. He was about to assault me when my other colleagues came to my rescue,” alleged Sen at a press conference.

    Narrating the sequence of events as it unfolded in the Rajya Sabha, TMC Chief Whip Sukhendu Sekhar Ray alleged that the Union communications and information technology minister’s statement was full of lies.

    He said minutes after Sen snatched the paper from the minister’s hands, Vaishnaw was handed over another copy and he continued to read.

    Soon after, the House was adjourned but not before the statement was tabled and considered as read.

    “The minister’s statement was full of contradictions and white lies. So one of our members snatched and tore it,” TMC Chief Whip Sukhendu Sekhar Ray said.

    The TMC alleged that after the House was adjourned and the live transmission was stopped, Union Minister Puri gesticulated at Sen ordering him to approach him.

    “I was gheraoed by the BJP MPs,” Sen alleged.

    FULL REPORT | TMC’s Shantanu Sen snatches Pegasus statement from minister, tears it in Rajya Sabha 

    Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi condemned the conduct of opposition members in the Rajya Sabha and said it was a “new low” in India’s parliamentary democracy.

    Meanwhile, the TMC maintained that it would continue to obstruct Parliament proceedings till the government agrees to a “structured discussion” on the issue of snooping using Israeli spyware Pegasus.

    TMC’s Parliamentary party leader Derek O’Brien said not the Union IT minister, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi should reply to the opposition’s questions.

    “Our straightforward question is, did you or did you not use the Pegasus spyware? We will not allow them to sweep the issue under the carpet,” he said.

    TMC Chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee is expected to be in Delhi by the evening of July 26 and is scheduled to meet opposition leaders.

  • Amit Shah summoned by special court in defamation case filed by TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: A designated MP/MLA court in West Bengal issued summons to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday to appear either personally or through a lawyer before it on February 22 in connection with a defamation case lodged against him by Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee.

    The special judge of MP/MLA court at Bidhannagar directed that Shah is “required to appear in person/by pleader” at 10 am on that day.

    The judge directed that Shah’s attendance either personally or through a lawyer is necessary to answer to a charge of defamation under section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

    In a press note, Abhishek Banerjee’s lawyer Sanjay Basu claimed that Shah had made certain defamatory statements against the TMC MP on August 11, 2018 at a rally of the BJP at Mayo Road in Kolkata.

  • Uproar in Lok Sabha over TMC MP Mahua Moitra’s remarks

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra’s critical reference to a former chief justice of India created uproar in Lok Sabha on Monday, with treasury members accusing her of violating parliamentary rules and demanding that her remarks be expunged.

    RSP MP N K Premachandran, who was in the Chair, said her remarks will be expunged if found objectionable.

    Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal termed her comments against the former CJI, who was not named, as “shameful”.

    In her strong-worded speech during the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, Moitra lashed out at the government for making “hate and bigotry” a part of its narrative and alleged that the judiciary and the media have also “failed” the country.

    She alleged that India is facing an “undeclared emergency” and accused the government of dubbing protesting voices from students to farmers and old women of Shaheen Bagh, a reference to anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act agitation in Delhi last year, as “terrorists”.

    Moitra also asked as to why the home ministry had been extending the deadline to frame CAA rules.

    She repeatedly used terms like cowards and cowardice to slam the government for “hiding behind” power and authority and alleged that it has made India a “virtual police state” by charging critical voices with sedition.

    The government’s decision to impose a nationwide lockdown following the outbreak of COVID-19 inflicted “untold misery” on people with lakhs of people forced to walk to their homes hundreds of kilometres away, Moitra alleged.

    She demanded that the three new farm laws that have drawn protests from farmers be repealed.

    Participating in the debate, BJP member Virendra Kumar said the Narendra Modi government is committed to the welfare of farmers and it will remain so in the future too.

    The Modi government has been trying to double the income of the farmers through various measures, he said.

    Referring to the ongoing farmers’ agitation against the three agricultural laws, Kumar said there was some anxiety among a section of farmers but the government has tried to allay their concerns through discussions and so far 11-12 rounds of talks have taken place.

    “I want to make it clear that the government is committed to the welfare of the farmers. It was, it is and it will continue to do so,” he said amidst thumping of desks by BJP members in attendance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi among others.

    Kumar said the government has so far given Rs 1,13,000 lakh crore financial assistance to farmers and has been trying to enhance the minimum support price (MSP) of various agriculture products.

    “Our government’s aim is to double the income of the farmers,” he said.

    The BJP member said those who had incited people to create vandalism at the Red Fort or doubted the efficacy of the Indian vaccines, could not be called leaders.

    Kumar also listed the Modi government’s initiatives for the welfare of migrant labourers, reforms in labour laws, empowerment of women and providing houses to all homeless people by 2022.

    In his speech, DMK’s T R Baalu accused the government of transgressing on state’s powers and also demanded that Tamil be made an official language.

    Tamil enjoys this status in countries like Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore, he said, accusing the government of undermining the language as he noted that none of the Kendriya Vidyalayas in Tamil Nadu teaches it.

    “Don’t play with flames,” he said.

    He asked the government to address the concerns of the farmer unions protesting against the three farm laws, and said it should not stand on “false prestige and ego”.

  • Miffed Trinamool Congress MP Satabdi Roy named state unit vice-president

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Three time Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Satabdi Roy, who has called a truce with the party after a brief rebellion that triggered speculations of her crossing over to the BJP, was on Sunday appointed vice-president of the West Bengal unit of the ruling Trinamool Congress.

    Expressing happiness over the news, Roy told reporters, she will work as a dedicated worker of the party and ensure defeat of the BJP in the coming assembly polls.

    “If you take up the matter concerning the party with the top leadership, it is addressed. This development proves that. I welcome the decision,” Roy said on her appointment as the state unit vice-president in the reshuffle.

    Roy, an actor-turned-politician and a leading face in the Mamata Banerjee’s cultural brigade, is the third consecutive term Lok Sabha member from Birbhum.

    She had snatched the Birbhum seat from CPM heavyweight Ram Chandra Dome in 2009 on debut and managed to win it by an overwhelming margin in 2019, even as the BJP had routed the Trinamool Congress in the nearby constituencies.

    Roy was among the prominent leaders who had joined Banerjee’s Singur and Nandigram movement in 2009 that ended the Left Front rule and catapulted the feisty Bengal leader to power in the state. The Birbhum MP had voiced dissent Friday over not being informed about the party events in her constituency which she said caused “mental pain”.

    In a Facebook post she had said that she will inform the public Saturday if she takes any “decision”, following which the jittered Trinamool Congress leaders had started reaching out to her. She changed her stance and expressed full confidence in the leadership of Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee after meeting the Diamond Harbour MP Friday evening.

    TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh had also met Roy to dissuade her from leaving the party.

    After hammering a solution to her grievances, Roy had Saturday praised Abhishek Banerjee, who is nephew of the chief minister, for giving her a patient hearing and said she “is pleased with the way the young leader assured” her of resolving all the issues.

    Returning satisfied after a two-hour long meeting with Abhishek Banerjee she had made it clear that she will remain with the Trinamool Congress. She also admonished party colleagues having problems like her to discuss the issues with the party instead of looking for other options.

    The actor-politician had said it would be “unethical to look for other options” when the party is facing a tough fight. Polls to 294-member Bengal assembly are due in April-May.

    Banerjee’s party is witnessing exodus of its disgruntled leaders to a resurgent saffron party which is making all efforts to win the state after an impressive performance in the 2019 Parliamentary election winning 18 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal, only four less than the TMC tally of 22.

    Last month, Suvendu Adhikari, along with 35 party leaders including five MLAs and an MP, joined the BJP, setting off a churning as several disgruntled leaders rallied behind him. In the rejig in the TMC, the party announced new names for the state committee which included Moazzem Hossain and Shankar Chakraborty in addition to Satabdi Roy.

    In another significant development, former administrator of Asansol Municipal Corporation and Trinamool leader Jitendra Tiwari, who had voiced discontent over running of the civic board and had even met Suvendu Adhikari and Sunil Mondal on the eve of their joining BJP on December 17, has been removed from the post of district president of Paschim Bardhaman.

    Tiwari, who had iterated to work for TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee after a meeting with the party leadership in the last week of December, has been replaced by Apurba Mukhopadhyay as the TMC district president. “This decision has been taken as I did not take back my resignation letter as the administrator. As an MLA and an ordinary worker, I will continue to serve my organization,” Tiwari said.

    Asked about the appointment of Roy and other leaders in the state committee and new faces in the district committees, Trinamool Congress Secretary General Partha Chatterjee said, “It is an organisational matter. Why should we discuss this with the media?”

  • BJP churning out fake news items; bringing in ‘tourists’ from outside in poll-bound Bengal: TMC

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday accused the BJP of producing fake news items and described saffron party leaders visiting West Bengal from outside the state in the poll-bound state as “tourists” who have no idea of its heritage and language.

    Senior TMC MP and party spokesperson Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar also charged the BJP with seeking to cling to power by “killing people, instigating riots and dividing people”.

    “They (BJP) are flush with cash. They have deployed some youngsters in a big building to churn out one fake news after another,” she said.

    Referring to certain videos and news items being circulated on social media, Ghosh Dastidar described them as “fake news produced from the factory of the BJP”.

    She alleged that the saffron party is bringing in leaders from outside the state who utter “wrong Bengali words with distorted accent.

    In West Bengal, the BJP has turned into a party of tourists.

    ” These “visitors” are ignorant of the heritage and traditions of West Bengal as they sit on the chair of icons like Rabindranath Tagore and place their own photo above that of the Nobel laureate poet in festoons, she alleged.

    Ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Bolpur close to Santiniketan, which is famous as the Rabindranath Tagore’s abode for long years, in December, hoardings with his picture above that of the bard in the same frame appeared in the town causing outrage.

    The hoardings were later removed.

    “Tagore had composed the song, ‘Amar Sonar Bangla’ (My Golden Bengal).

    The BJP is also promising to make a sonar Bangla (after coming to power in the state).

    But these people are insulting the state and its people by distorting Bengali words by pronouncing them incorrectly.

    “They have no idea about the sacrifice of thousands of Bengalis for the language.

    They only know how to vandalise the bust of Vidyasagar and sit on the chair used by Tagore,” Ghosh Dastidar said.

    A bust of the iconic social reformer was desecrated in a college in Kolkata during Amit Shah’s roadshow in May 2019.

    The TMC alleged that BJP activists were behind the incident.

    Shah had also visited Visva-Bharati university in December and went to the Rabindra Bhavan, a museum, and the Upasana Griha (the prayer hall) and other buildings on the campus.

    There were reports on social media that Shah had sat on Tagore’s chair during the visit.

    However, it was not confirmed by the university authorities.

    Stating that several BJP leaders from outside Bengal are visiting North 24 Parganas district in which her constituency Barasat is located, Ghosh Dastidar said, “They may not be aware that a revolutionary like Titumir was born on the soil of district, they don’t know Bengal.

    ” Syed Mir Nisar Ali, better known as Titumir, fought against the British rulers in the 19th century.

    The senior TMC leader described the BJP as a comparatively young and comparatively inexperienced party” to have come to power at the Centre.

    “In its six years in power, the BJP has devastated the economy and circumvented the rule of law.

    They want to cling to power at any cost – by killing people, instigating riots, dividing people,” she alleged.

    The BJP government in Uttar Pradesh “had prevented the Trinamool Congress parliamentary party delegation from visiting Hathras to meet the family of the raped and murdered Dalit woman.

    One thousand police personnel stopped 3-4 MPs.

    Here, they can go anywhere they want.

    Such curbs don’t take place in Bengal,” she added.

    To a question on senior CPI(M) leader Ashok Bhattacharya’s claim that BCCI President and former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, who recently suffered a mild heart attack, was under pressure to join politics in poll- bound West Bengal, Ghosh Dastidar said that the TMC did not exert any such pressure on him.

    The physician MP, however, said that stress might have contributed to cause such a situation.

    The economy of the country witnessed 23.

    9 per cent negative growth in the first quarter of the current fiscal during the BJP rule at Centre, while 43 per cent more employment opportunities were created in West Bengal during the pandemic, she said.

    Ghosh Dastidar claimed that 77 lakh marginal farmers were benefitted from ‘Jal dharo jal bharo’ project in Bengal by getting job cards, pisciculture in waterbodies and cooperative fish farming.

    She said numerous Kisan mandis were set up to help farmers get proper price for their produce and 99 per cent of farmers got Kishan Credit Card in North 24 Parganas district.

    “In contrast, 45-46 farmers have died so far during the ongoing agitation on Delhi border.

    But the Centre is unresponsive to their demand for withdrawing the three anti- people farm bills,” she said.