News Analysis India

Tag: Trinamool Congress

  • West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee meets PM Narendra Modi

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Tuesday. The Trinamool Congress chief met the Prime Minister a day after her arrival in the national capital.

    This is her first visit to the national capital since Trinamool Congress returned to power in the assembly polls earlier this year.

    ALSO READ| West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee to meet Sonia Gandhi at 4:30 pm on Wednesday

    Her visit has coincided with the monsoon session of parliament in which the opposition parties are protesting on a range of issues including the allegations of surveillance through Pegasus spyware, price rise, and repeal of three farm laws.

    Earlier in the day Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath and Congress leader Anand Sharma met the Trinamool Congress chief. Sharma told the media that he and Mamata Banerjee have worked together for years.m”I appreciate her for how she fought the recent polls and won. She has come to Delhi for the first time after victory, so I came and had tea with her,” he told the media.

    ALSO READ| Unity of opposition parties will take shape on its own, says Mamata Banerjee

    Mamata Banerjee was in Congress before she formed her own party.

  • West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee to meet Sonia Gandhi at 4:30 pm on Wednesday

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is in the national capital for the first time since her victory in the assembly elections, is likely to meet Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday.

    The meeting will take place around 4:30 pm at Gandhi’s residence at 10 Janpath. Banerjee landed in Delhi on Monday. Earlier today, she met Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Anand Sharma.

    Speaking to the media after the meeting, Sharma said, “Mamata Banerjee and I have close ties as we have worked together for years. I appreciate her for how she fought the recent polls and won. She has come to Delhi for the first time after victory, so I came and had tea with her.”

    Last week, Banerjee had said she will meet President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and leaders of Opposition parties during her two to three day stay in Delhi.

    Briefing media persons, West Bengal Chief Minister had said, “I will go to Delhi during the Parliament session and meet some leaders there. I will meet the President and the Prime Minister if given an appointment.”

    Banerjee’s visit during the ongoing Parliament’s Monsoon session holds significance as the Opposition is cornering the BJP-led NDA government on a range of issues including price rise, increasing cost of diesel and petrol, and issues related to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

    There is also a standoff between the Centre and Opposition parties over several key issues including the alleged Pegasus snooping controversy and scrapping of farm laws.

  • Trinamool Congress nominates Jawhar Sircar for Rajya Sabha by-election

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress on Saturday nominated former bureaucrat Jawhar Sircar as its candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha by-election in the state.

    The Election Commission had on July 16 said that bypoll to the Rajya Sabha seat from West Bengal vacated by Dinesh Trivedi earlier this year will be held on August 9.

    “We are delighted to nominate Jawhar Sircar in the Upper House of Parliament,” a party statement said.

    Sircar spent nearly 42 years in public service and was also the former CEO of Prasar Bharati, the ruling party in the state said.

    “His contribution to the public service shall help us serve our country even better,” it said.

    Reacting to his nomination, Sircar said, “I was a bureaucrat. I am not a political person but I would work for development of the people and raise the issues concerning the masses in parliament,” he said.

    The bypoll to the Rajya Sabha seat from the state will be held if the opposition BJP fields its candidate for the same, otherwise, the TMC candidate will be declared elected unopposed.

  • 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.

  • Snooping row: TMC’s Shantanu Sen snatches Pegasus statement from minister, tears it in Rajya Sabha 

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP snatched papers from Communications and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday and tore those as the minister was about to make a statement on the alleged snooping row using Israeli spyware Pegasus.

    TMC, Congress and other opposition party members, who had earlier forced two adjournments of the proceedings in the Rajya Sabha, rushed into the well of the House as Vaishnaw was called to make a statement on the issue.

    TMC MP Shantanu Sen snatched the papers from the hands of the minister, tore and flung those in the air.

    This stopped the minister in his steps from making the statement and he said he was laying a copy of it on the table of the House.

    Deputy Chairman Harivansh asked the members to desist from unparliamentary behaviour, before adjourning the proceedings of the House for the day.

    “Please do not adhere to this unparliamentary practice,” Harivansh said, adding that the report that all MPs want to hear has now been laid on the table of the House and it can be discussed.

    He called the minister to read his statement and Vaishnaw read out a few sentences before the ruckus drowned his voice and he said he was laying the statement on the table of the House.

    “You do not want a discussion on an issue you have been agitated about…this is undemocratic,” the deputy chairman remarked.

    He said the minister has laid the statement on the table of the House and asked if the MPs want to ask him any questions on that.

    But the opposition MPs continued to raise slogans against the alleged snooping controversy.

    In the ruckus, the deputy chairman sought laying of the parliamentary committee reports that could not be laid at the scheduled hour in the morning due to opposition protests.

    Soon after, he adjourned the proceedings for the day.

    The statement that the minister laid on the table of the House was similar to the one he had made on July 19, a day after reports appeared of journalists, political rivals and critics of the government being targeted through surveillance using Israeli company NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware.

    In the statement, Vaishnaw, whose phone number was among those listed as compromised by Washington Post, called the reports an “attempt to malign the Indian democracy and its well-established institutions”.

    “A highly sensational story was published by a web portal last night. Many over-the-top allegations made around this story,” he said.

    “The press reports appeared a day before the monsoon session of Parliament. This can’t be a coincidence.”

    “In the past, similar claims were made regarding the use of Pegasus…. Those claims had no factual basis and were categorically denied by all parties,” he added.

    Amid the ruckus, Vaishnaw implored all members of the House to “examine the issue on facts and logic”.

    The phone numbers of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, former election commissioner Ashok Lavasa and others were said to be the potential targets of surveillance using the Pegasus spyware, which allows clients to infiltrate phones and monitor text messages, camera feeds and microphones.

    Earlier in the day, opposition MPs stalled the proceedings in the Upper House of Parliament, forcing two adjournments.

    The proceedings were first adjourned for an hour till 12 noon and then till 2 pm — all within minutes.

    Congress leader Digvijaya Singh tried to raise the issues of income-tax raids on newspaper group Dainik Bhaskar, but was disallowed by the chair.

  • Trinamool MPs reach Parliament on cycles to protest against fuel hike

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Several Trinamool Congress MPs will cycle to Parliament on Monday to protest against the rise in prices of fuel and other commodities, the party said.

    The party MPs from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will hold the protest at 10:15 am.

    They will also hold a dharna at Vijay Chowk.

    ALSO READ | Opposition parties object to proposed PM’s joint address on Covid to MPs at Parliament annexe

    The All India Trinamool Congress has given multiple notices under various Rules in both house of Parliament on the opening day of the Monsoon session, the party said.

    The issues on which notices have been given include price hike of diesel, petrol, LPG and other commodities, demand to repeal farm laws, decline in economic growth, restoration of MPLAD funds and the alleged weakening of the federal structure by the government.

  • Parliament monsoon session: Trinamool MPs to reach venue on cycles to protest fuel hike

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Several Trinamool Congress MPs will cycle to Parliament on Monday to protest against the rise in prices of fuel and other commodities, the party said.

    The party MPs from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will hold the protest at 10:15 am.

    They will also hold a dharna at Vijay Chowk.

    ALSO READ | Opposition parties object to proposed PM’s joint address on Covid to MPs at Parliament annexe

    The All India Trinamool Congress has given multiple notices under various Rules in both house of Parliament on the opening day of the Monsoon session, the party said.

    The issues on which notices have been given include price hike of diesel, petrol, LPG and other commodities, demand to repeal farm laws, decline in economic growth, restoration of MPLAD funds and the alleged weakening of the federal structure by the government.

  • Hours after questioning Union minister’s nationality, TMC leader fired upon by miscreants

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA/ GUWAHATI: Hours after Congress MP and the party’s Assam chief Ripun Bora accused BJP’s Cooch Behar MP Nisith Pramanik, who was inducted in the council of ministers and given the minister of state (Home) portfolio, of being a Bangladeshi national and Trinamool Congress’ district president Partha Pratim Roy raised the issue asking Pramanik to come clean, unidentified miscreants barged into Roy’s house and opened fire. Though no one was injured in the incident, police are yet to ascertain whether it has any link with Roy’s role on the issue of Pramanik’s nationality.

    “The attack took place at my house at Jiranpur block-I in Cooch Behar where my parents reside. On hearing the incident, I rushed there. The front gate of the premises generally remains open. My father told me a group of four-five entered the premises and opened fire. The sped away in a Maruti van. I don’t know who were behind the attack and what was their motive,” said Roy. Police recovered a cartridge from the premises of Roy’s house.

    On Saturday, Roy sought clarification from Pramanik on his nationality issue. Referring to a Bangladeshi Facebook page which described the minister as a son of Bangladesh, Roy said, “As a concerned citizen, I said the Union Home MoS Nisith Pramanik should clarify the allegations whether he is the son of Cooch Behar or of Gaibandha in Bangladesh.”

    The attack comes two days after Bora, referring to some media reports revealing Pramanik’s alleged Bangladesh nationality, wrote to PM Modi saying, “It is so, this is very serious matter for the country that a foreign national is appointed as a Union minister of state. Therefore, I urge upon you to conduct an inquiry about the actual birthplace and nationality of Nisith Pramanik in a most transparent way and clarify the whole issue as it creates confusion across the country.”

    Quoting the reports, Bora claimed that Pramanik, first time BJP MP who defected from the TMC ahead of the 2019 general elections, was born in Harinathpur under Palasbari police station in Bangladesh’s Gaibandha district and he came to West Bengal for computer studies. He also raised the issue on his Twitter handle.

    Bora also mentioned the uproar that erupted after a Bangladeshi Facebook page congratulated Pramanik on being appointed a minister of state and declared him a “son of Bangladesh”.

    Corroborating Bora’s claim, even Wikipedia also says that Pramanik was born on January 17, 1986 to Bidhu Bhushan Pramanik and Chanda Pramanik in Harinathpur area of the Gaibandha district in Bangladesh and he came to India to attain a Bachelor of Computer Applications degree.

    In his affidavit for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the recent Assembly elections, in which he contested from Dinhata in Coch Behar, Pramanik cited his Dinhata address and ticked ‘No’ to the mandatory question on ‘’whether the candidate is under allegiance or adherence of any foreign country’’.

    BJP’s Bengal chapter rubbished Bora’s allegation. “Anyone one can raise any allegation. Onus lies on the complainant to establish his or her allegation,” said BJP’s spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya.

    Bora said he did not have any evidence to suggest Pramanik is a foreigner. He said he had written to Modi to get the matter probed. He said media reports suggested Pramanik is a Bangladeshi national. “I got it in public domain, so I brought it to the PM’s notice. I demanded the Centre to clear the air by getting the matter probed,” Bora told The New Indian Express on Sunday.

    He added: “It is a serious matter if a foreigner has become a minister in our country. As an MP, I thought it was my duty to bring the matter to the PM’s notice. It is up to the government to find out the truth.”

  • BJP claims only people with TMC links getting Covid vaccine in WB, holds protests 

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Accusing the Trinamool Congress government of giving Covid-19 vaccine doses only to those who have connections with the ruling party, the BJP on Thursday organised protests in various parts of West Bengal and its leaders courted arrests.

    Former union minister Debasree Choudhury courted arrest in Kolkata’s Alipore area while BJP state unit general secretary Sayantan Basu did so at Asansol in Paschim Bardhaman district.

    “The TMC government is behaving in a partisan manner in vaccinating people, preferring only its own men,” Choudhury said. According to a central government website, more than 2.50 crore people have been vaccinated in West Bengal till 8 am on Thursday.

    “On the other hand, the state government is putting lives of common people in danger by not taking action against organisers of fake vaccination camps like fake IAS officer Debanjan Deb,” Choudhury told reporters while being taken in a police vehicle.

    Deb was arrested on June 23 for masquerading as the joint commissioner of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and operating a dubious vaccination camp in Kasba area.

    Cases against him range from cheating to attempt to murder.

    Eight others have also been arrested in this connection.

    “Vaccines are not being given to our (BJP) members, to the members of the public if they don’t have any links with the ruling party,” Basu said during a sit-in before the SDO office at Asansol.

    Similar protests were held at Uluberia in Howrah district, Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas and Suri in Birbhum district. The police took BJP demonstrators to preventive custody on the charge of violating provisions of the Disaster Management Act.

    State BJP president Dilip Ghosh is currently not in the state.

  • Trinamool Congress plans more party units and young blood

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: In an attempt to decentralise the party structure and avert feud over leadership, which has triggered embarrassment on several occasions, the Trinamool Congress is planning to create more party units in 23 districts, including Kolkata, and create more posts.

    The move came after Mamata Banerjee held a three-hour meeting with election strategist Prashant Kishor, whom the TMC hired and is believed to be the architect of many government schemes enabling the party’s victory in the recent Assembly elections. TMC sources said the party is likely to follow the BJP model by splitting major districts into several organisational zones.

    “She (Mamata) wants to split the party’s present district units into several parts and set up new committees. Each committee will be headed by a president. This is aimed to ensure smooth organisational operation and avert infighting over leadership control which affected the party’s image at many places. These changes are being made in view of the civic body elections, which is overdue, panchayat polls in 2023 and Lok Sabha elections in 2024,’’ said a TMC leader.

    Party sources said the BJP has a similar organisational setup in bigger districts. The BJP has four units in North 24 Parganas and two units in each of Murshidabad and Nadia districts. The saffron camp refers to these units as organisational districts.

    “Following Kishor’s advice, Mamata Banerjee wants to enforce the one-man-one-post policy and elevate young leaders. Some announcements are expected to be made next week. The party will also re-launch its mouthpiece Jago Bangla,’’ said another TMC leader.

    After TMC’s debacle in the Lok Sabha elections, in which BJP made deep inroads in the TMC turf by bagging 18 out of 42 seas, the ruling party replaced several senior leaders with young faces which led to infighting and defection to the BJP in some districts.

    “The large-scale defection to the BJP had no impact on the Assembly poll results. Instead, the voters identified the defectors as traitors and power-hungry. The rejig in the party is expected to pave the way for the young leaders in districts who performed well in the recent polls with their clean image,’’ said the leader.