News Analysis India

Tag: Trinamool

  • Youth push in ruling Trinamool ahead of Bengal civic body polls

    Express News Service

    KOLKATA:  With the elevation of Abhishek Banerjee as the Trinamool Congress national general secretary, the party has decided to induct young faces ahead of the civic polls in West Bengal.

    Amid speculations that 34-year-old Abhishek is going to be the party’s flag bearer in the future, the TMC high-command has decided not to field aged and those suffering from ailments in the civic polls.

    The party has approved the suggestion of fielding young candidates by election strategist Prashant Kishor’s team IPAC, which played a key role in Mamata’s thumping victory in the recent Assembly polls. 

    “It is almost clear that Abhishek is going to be Mamata Banerjee’s successor. Kishor’s team has suggested to give young blood first priority. We have been asked to field hardworking and young faces in the municipal elections. These foot soldiers will turn into prominent faces in politics in coming days,” said a TMC leader. 

    The TMC in June hinted elevation of young workers by appointing actor Saayoni Ghosh as the president of the party’s youth wing. 

  • Bengal assembly passes resolution against extension of BSF jurisdiction amid ‘frisking’ row

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The West Bengal Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution against the Centre’s decision to extend BSF’s jurisdiction, amid opposition by BJP legislators.

    West Bengal, which is governed by the Trinamool Congress, became the second state after Congress-ruled Punjab, where such a resolution has been tabled and passed.

    Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee moved the resolution under Rule 169 of the House’s Procedures of Conduct of Business.

    It was passed with 112 voting in favour of it and 63 opposing it.

    The resolution said the House believed that increasing the BSF’s jurisdiction was against the country’s federal structure, as law and order is a State subject.

    It stated that the notification exceeded the provision of the BSF Act and that it would lead to coordination issues between the State police and the BSF.

    “We demand that this decision be withdrawn immediately as enhancing the area of jurisdiction of the BSF is a direct attack on the country’s federal structure,” he said.

    “We have nothing against the BSF as a force, there are many good officers, but at the same time, there are others who torture people residing near the border. This is an attempt by the Centre to control a portion of the state,” Chatterjee said.

    The BJP-led central government recently amended the BSF Act to authorise the force to undertake search, seizure and arrest within a larger 50 km stretch, instead of 15 km, from the international border in Punjab, West Bengal and Assam.

    Chatterjee wondered if the BSF is unable to control infiltration and illegal activities within 15 kilometres, how is it possible that it will “succeed in doing it within 50 kilometres,” Unruly scenes were witnessed in the House after TMC MLA Udayan Guha, during his speech, accused some BSF personnel of touching women inappropriately in border areas in the name of frisking.

    “We have seen the kind of atrocities that BSF perpetrates on people. A child who has witnessed his mother being touched inappropriately under the garb of frisking, when she returns from the field, can never be patriotic, no matter how many times you chant ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ in front of him. These incidents give birth to anti-social elements,” he said on the floor of the House.

    Guha’s remark drew a sharp reaction from the BJP, which termed it an “insult to the security forces.”

    BJP MLAs opposed the remark and demanded that it be expunged.

    Speaker Biman Banerjee, however, refrained from expunging Guha’s comment.

    “Such comments are not only unacceptable but also an insult to our security forces. Security forces are the pride of our nation. These remarks reflect the mindset of TMC MLAs,” BJP legislator Sreerupa Mitra Chowdhury said.

    After BJP MLA Mihir Goswami objected to his comments, Guha said one of his (Goswami’s) leg has been fractured the second one too will be broken.

    The Speaker condemned the statement and asked both the MLAs to behave.

    Reacting to Guha’s accusation, BSF ADG Y B Khurania later said BSF ‘mahila praharis’ (women guards) are deployed in border areas for frisking women.

    “Such comments are very demoralising for the force. Around 2397 Mahila praharis are there under the Eastern Command for frisking women at the gates,” he said.

    The force has zero tolerance towards such acts as told by the MLA, the BSF official said.

    Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said the language used against a force like the BSF is unacceptable.

    “When the Union government tries to withdraw central forces from Junglemahal, the state government opposes the move. And now, the same government is opposing the enhancement of BSF’s jurisdiction. Under this new rule (jurisdiction extension), there is no question of conflict between the state police and the BSF,” Adhikari stated.

    He said the BJP legislative party would request the Centre to extend the BSF’s jurisdiction up to 80 KM.

    Adhikari alleged that terrorists are entering the state using the porous border.

    “Our Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had written a letter to the Prime Minister on the issue. Let us wait for its outcome. Till then, this resolution should be put on hold. Secondly, the resolution passed under rule 169 doesn’t have any legal validity,” he said.

    The opposition Congress and the Left Front, which doesn’t have any representation in the state assembly, have also opposed the move to increase the BSF’s jurisdiction.

    In separate letters to Banerjee, Left Front chairman Biman Bose and state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury urged her to oppose the Centre’s decision.

    Rejecting allegations of a TMC MLA who said BSF troops touched women “inappropriately” during frisking, a senior officer of the border force said the charges were utterly baseless.

    During a discussion on Tuesday in the West Bengal Assembly on a resolution opposing the Centre’s decision to extend the territorial jurisdiction of the force, MLA Udayan Guha spoke about the “atrocities let loose by the BSF on people living in the border areas”.

    “We have seen the kind of atrocities that BSF perpetrates on people. A child who has witnessed his mother being touched inappropriately under the garb of frisking, when she returns from the field, can never be patriotic, no matter how many times you chant ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ in front of him. These incidents give birth to anti-social elements,” he said on the floor of the House.

    A senior BSF officer said the paramilitary organisation was a professional force that “has always performed the mandated duties by adhering to the rules and regulations”.

    “BSF ‘mahila praharis’ (women personnel) are the ones who do frisking of females,” he said.

    He said the “allegations of BSF personnel inappropriately touching women are utterly baseless”.

    The BSF frontiers based in West Bengal, south Bengal located in Kolkata and north Bengal located in Siliguri, may issued a detailed statement on the controversy, another officer of the force said.

    The BSF is extensively deployed in the border areas of West Bengal as part of its primary mandate to guard the 4,096 km-long India-Bangladesh international border.

  • Poor cash supply, upset party workers: Bengal BJP burnt out ahead of civic polls

    By Express News Service

    KOLKATA:  Murmurs of a cash squeeze in West Bengal BJP following hesitation from Delhi in allocating funds has upset and kindled disinterest among party leaders in the state in contesting the civic polls. The saffron camp’s poor show in the recent Assembly polls and subsequent by-elections is the reason.

    Voting to the Kolkata and Howrah municipal corporations are scheduled to be held on December 19 and polls to around 110 other civic bodies are likely to be held next year for which the BJP needs 4,000 odd candidates to contest.

    Senior BJP leaders admitted that if the party couldn’t put up candidates in all the seats in the upcoming civic polls, it would be another face loss after the debacle in the Assembly polls.

    Before the Assembly elections, application drop boxes were kept at the BJP’s two offices in Kolkata as thousands of aspiring party workers were queuing up seeking the nomination. 

    “But this time the picture is completely opposite. Behind the lack of interest, one of the main reason is cash crunch with the party’s state unit after the massive show before Assembly polls.

    It has been unofficially conveyed that party’s central unit will not be funding poll campaigning. The cost in several wards in central Kolkata, where we have a strong base of non-Bengali electorates, will be around half crore. Who will spend that kind of money?” asked a BJP leader.

    The ruling Trinamool Congress’s probable candidates are already in campaign mode in Kolkata and Howrah.

    “The TMC is much ahead of us in terms of poll preparedness,” said the leader.

    The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday asked its supporters to abide by its selection of candidates for the upcoming Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) election and called upon everyone to work together to ensure the victory of the party candidates.

    KMC and Howrah Municipal Corporation are likely to go to the polls on December 19.

    “It is quite natural for local leaders to have an aspiration to contest KMC polls. But everyone has to abide by the party’s decision. Everybody has to work together to ensure the victory of party candidates,” TMC secretary-general Partha Chatterjee said.

    According to TMC sources, the party has conducted a survey with the help of Prashant Kishor’s I-PAC team to avoid a repeat of a 2018 panchayat poll-like situation, when large scale violence during filing of nominations and infighting was witnessed across West Bengal.

    Based on the report, candidates for the civic polls will be selected and strategies formulated.

    “The survey has stressed on the performance of the sitting councilors, and Lok Sabha and assembly elections’ results in different wards. Feedback from the locals would play an important role in the selection of candidates for the KMC polls,” a senior TMC leader said.

    The elections to 144-member KMC, along with 112 municipalities and municipal corporations, were due in April-May 2020.

    However, the polls were postponed due to the raging COVID-19 pandemic.

    The state government has decided to first conduct the elections to KMC and Howrah Municipal Corporation in December.

    These civic bodies are now being run by a state-appointed Board of Administrators.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • Stormy winter session ahead? Congress seeks Opposition unity against twin ordinances on CBI, ED directors

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  The opposition parties Monday slammed the central government over the two ordinances to extend the tenure of CBI and ED directors up to five years.

    While Congress called for moving the Supreme Court to challenge the twin ordinances, the TMC has moved notices for statutory resolutions in the Rajya Sabha to raise objections.

    “This ordinance is a message to the officers that if we (Centre) have appointed you, and if you keep working as per our orders, and keep harassing the Opposition, your tenure will be increased year after year. All parties should jointly approach the Supreme Court on this,” said Congress leader Manish Tewari.

    The TMC has moved notices for statutory resolutions in the Rajya Sabha objecting to the ordinances by the government to extend the tenure of CBI and ED chiefs.

    “Two brazen ordinances extend ED and CBI directors’ terms from two to five years. Parliament’s winter session begins two weeks from now. Be rest assured, opposition parties will do all it takes to stop India from turning into an elected autocracy,” tweeted TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien.

    The government Sunday decided to amend the Delhi Police Special Establishment Act and the CVC Act to ensure the two directors’ tenure extends beyond the current fixed term of two years.

    Other opposition parties are also expected to move similar notices ahead of the winter session of Parliament starting Nov 29. CPI MP Binoy Viswam said his party will also move a disapproval motion against the ordinances.

    “On a polluted Sunday, the government has embarked on an ordinance route to protect their caged parrots. Disapproval motion will be moved against this ordinance raj. Distorting Constitution, Modi is in a hurry to make India a banana republic,” Viswam tweeted.

    Trinamool MP Derek O’ Brien said the opposition parties will do all it takes to stop India from “turning into an elected autocracy”.

    The Left parties demanded that the ordinances be rescinded immediately.

    “The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) denounces the promulgation of two ordinances allowing the central government to extend the tenures of the directors of CBI and ED from two to five years.”

    “It is reprehensible that these ordinances have been promulgated on the eve of the winter session of parliament that is to commence from November 29. The BJP’s regular resort to the route of “ordinance raj” is anti-democratic,” the CPIM said on Monday.

    The party further alleged that both the CBI and ED have been “functioning as the political arm of the ruling party to advance its agenda.”

    “Leaders of opposition parties are regularly targeted. This step is meant to further subvert the autonomy of these agencies and to make the key officers more pliable.”

    “The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) demands that these ordinances be rescinded. CPI(M) MPs will oppose the move to convert these ordinances into law in parliament,” it said in a statement.

    The CPI too said that it was contemplating moving statutory resolutions against the ordinances.

    Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi alleged the government was sidestepping Parliament and violating the Supreme Court’s orders only to “misuse” the investigative agencies and reduce them to the “servility of political masters”.

    “The BJP is consistently and intentionally engaged in undermining and sabotaging the institutions and creating security for themselves and the establishment instead of security for the nation.

    The ordinances are another example in that direction,” he told reporters.

    He alleged that these ordinances take these institutions from discipline and upholding the rule of law “to dutifulness to their political masters and to the discretion in choosing how to deal with equals unequally and from objectivity to subjectivity”.

    “The attempt is to substitute, servility and subordination to political masters in place of independence, he alleged.

    “The constitutional values are as important as the constitutional letter and spirit. It seriously undermines the institutions – the Parliament and the Supreme Court,” he claimed.

    He expressed apprehension that the officers will be given an extension “only if they behaved or heard their master’s voice”.

    “This is the very opposite of security of tenure and independence. It is turning the concept of independence of such agencies on its head,” he said.

    The Congress leader said the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) stands exposed not as an alliance of political parties “but as an alliance of the ED, the CBI and the Income Tax department”.

    “It is not a political alliance. It shows the CBI amidst its many-many glittering acronyms as a ‘Credibility Bereft Institution’,” he alleged.

    He said all who care for the future of India should not take this lying down.

    Introducing these ordinances just two weeks ahead of the Parliament session is an attempt at sabotaging, sidestepping, skirting the institution of Parliament, he said.

    “What is the public interest in doing so. There is only self-interest, BJP-interest and the government’s interest,” he alleged.

    The Congress leader also asked if the Modi government is so certain of the public interest, then surely it will have no objection if these are scrutinised by a Standing Committee of Parliament.

    The Winter session of Parliament starts from November 29.

    The tenure of the Directors of the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate can now be extended by up to three years after the mandated term of two years, according to two ordinances brought in by the government on Sunday.

    In both cases, an extension of one year can be given for three years.

    The Centre’s move, which drew sharp criticism from the Opposition, comes close on the heels of the Supreme Court saying that extension of tenure of officers who have attained the age of superannuation should only be granted in rare and exceptional cases and for a short duration.

    The apex court stated this in a matter related to the extension granted in 2020 to Enforcement Directorate chief S K Mishra, a 1984-batch IRS officer who is due to retire on November 17.

    Slamming the Congress, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said those who hurl accusations should have at least some positivity.

    “Isi tarah ke aaropon ke mantar ne Congress ko choomantar kar diya hai (Due to its mantra of making such accusations, Congress is disappearing),” the Minority Affairs Minister told reporters at an event here when asked about the Congress’ attack.

    “Those who do such negative and destructive politics only harm themselves,” he said.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • ‘Mamata Banerjee political mother of all terrorists in country’: BJP MP Saumitra Khan

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: BJP leader Saumitra Khan has hit out at Mamata Banerjee over her letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to intervene and withdraw the Centre’s move to expand the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) from 15 kilometres to 50 kilometres stating that the West Bengal chief minister is the “political mother of all terrorists in the country.”

    Speaking to ANI, Saumitra Khan requested the Prime Minister not to heed to Mamata Banerjee and said that she wants to destroy the country in the same manner in which she had destroyed West Bengal.

    The BJP leader further accused the West Bengal chief minister of attempting to turn India into a “dharmashala”.

    “She is the political mother of all terrorists in the country because when the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was passed in the Parliament, she opposed it. When the National Register of Citizens was passed, she opposed it because she wants to make India a ‘dharmashala’. Is India a dharmashala that the Rohingyas would enter India, kill people here and loot the money of the Indian government?” Khan asked.

    The BJP leader also alleged that Mamata Banerjee is supporting the Rohingyas to end the integrity of the country.

    “Mamata Banerjee is supporting the Rohingyas to end the integrity of the country. That is the reason she is upset because now terrorists would not be able to enter India as a result of the increase in the border jurisdiction of the BSF from 15 km to 50 km. This is why she is opposing the move as this is her politics,” Khan told ANI.

    Asked about the chief minister’s decision to move a resolution in the West Bengal Assembly, Khan said that the CM does not believe in the states and does not follow the rules of the assembly.

    “Has she ever believed in the structure of the country? She does not believe in the states. She does not follow the rules of the assembly. It has become her job to oppose the country,” he said.

    In a move aimed at maintaining “zero tolerance” against terrorism and cross border crimes, the Centre has empowered the Border Security Force (BSF) to conduct searches, arrest suspects and make seizures up to an area of 50 km inside Indian territory from International Border (IB) along India-Pakistan and India-Bangladesh borders.

    As per the fresh order, the BSF, which was only empowered to take action up to fifteen kilometres in the states of Punjab, West Bengal and Assam, has now been authorised to spread its jurisdiction up to 50 km without any hurdle or further permission either from central or state governments.

  • Bengal: Man found dead in Bhagabanpur, BJP claims him as their supporter

    By PTI

    KANTHI: A 35-year-old man was found dead in West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district, police said on Monday.

    The body of Bhaskar Bera was found on the side of a road in Bhagabanpur area of the district on Sunday morning, they said.

    The BJP claimed him to be a party worker who was allegedly beaten to death by TMC supporters, a charge rubbished by the ruling side.

    Bera was last seen in a procession for the immersion of Jagaddhatri idol in the area on Saturday night, police said.

    An investigation is underway to piece together the chain of events that led to the death, a police officer said.

    BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh alleged that Bera was beaten to death by TMC supporters.

    “TMC is yet to come to terms with the BJP’s win in the Bhagabanpur assembly seat. It wants to ensure that BJP stops its political activities in the area,” he said.

    Ghosh claimed that 80 BJP workers were killed in political violence after the results of the assembly elections were declared on May 2.

    TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh claimed that his party was in no way involved with the death.

    “We want a thorough probe into the incident,” he said.

    A district TMC leader claimed Bera was drunk during the procession, and may have died due to complications arising out of consuming too much liquor.

  • Rajya Sabha polls: Trinamool on the front foot to establish national footprint  

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  Trinamool Congress leader and former Goa Chief Minister Luizinho Falerio being nominated to the Rajya Sabha soon after the elevation of new entrant and former Congress leader from Assam Sushmita Dev to the upper house of the Parliament is seen as a pre-poll move to give the party a national look by chief Mamata Banerjee eyeing the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

    According to a senior Trinamool Congress leader, bringing UP Congress leader Lalitesh Pati Tripathi on board is also part of the larger poll plan to remain relevant in  national narrative, said a senior party leader.

    “Mamata hopes of pitting a challenge against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2024. Besides, the TMC has been working full swing for the Goa polls early next year,” the leader said. 

    Sources said that if Mamata has to take on the Modi government, she has to be part of the narrative and one of the ways is being proactive electorally.

    “The next election in Bengal is in 2026. And if Mamata di should mean business, then her party must have a greater presence in all future elections. TMC contesting in a big way in Goa 2022, its plans to expand reach within other poll-bound states and getting Lalitesh Pati Tripathi in Uttar Pradesh are all part of this strategy. The party is working hard to connect with people in Tripura with elections due in 2023 and closely will follow the Lok Sabha elections in 2024,” said the leader.

    If Mamata di wants to be a national leader, the TMC has to be part of all future elections,  said the leader.  

    Lalitesh Pati Tripathi, being the grandson of former veteran Congress leader and former UP CM Kamlapati Tripathi, is a big bet for the party in UP. 

    Incidentally, Falerio and Dev’s Rajya Sabha role come after sitting members Manas Ranjan Bhunia and Arpita Ghosh were asked to resign to make way for non-Bengali faces in the Parliament representing TMC. 

  • Break hands, legs of Trinamool leaders who terrorise you, Bengal BJP MLA asks party workers

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: A BJP MLA of West Bengal on Saturday courted controversy by allegedly telling party workers to break the hands and legs of Trinamool Congress leaders if they terrorise them and slap false charges against them.

    In a purported video that surfaced on social media, Swapan Majumder, BJP legislator of Bongaon South, also promised that he will be always on the side of the distressed party workers in any situation.

    “If a (TMC) leader seeks to frame our workers in false cases, if our workers are terrorised, that leader may not return safely. Enough is enough. Break his hands and legs in self-defence and come to me. I promise to be on your side,” Majumder was heard telling his supporters at a party meeting in the video.

    PTI could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.

    Reacting to Majumder’s alleged comments, Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh claimed that this shows the mindset and culture of BJP leaders.

    “We strongly condemn such language, words and threat. Being frustrated in the wake of the popularity of the Trinamool Congress in the area, he is issuing such threats,” he said.

    BJP state president Sukanta Majumder said his party does not believe in the politics of violence.

    “If the (Bangaon South) MLA has made such a comment, it was in response to recent threats by local TMC leader Alorani Sarkar to skin her political opponents ahead of Bongaon Municipality polls,” he said.

    Sarkar denied having threatened any BJP worker in the area and described the MLA as one who had used abusive words against her and other TMC leaders in the past.

  • Trinamool names ex-Goa CM Luizinho Faleiro as candidate for Rajya Sabha bypoll

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The TMC on Saturday named its vice president Luizinho Faleiro as its candidate for the upcoming bypoll to a Rajya Sabha seat from West Bengal.

    Faleiro, the former chief minister of Goa, had quit the Congress and joined the TMC in September.

    “We are extremely pleased to nominate @luizinhofaleiro to the Upper House of the Parliament. We are confident that his efforts towards serving the nation shall be appreciated widely by our people!” the TMC said on Twitter.

    The RS bypoll is scheduled to be held on November 29.

  • Bengali actor Srabanti Chatterjee quits BJP; party says won’t have any impact

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Bengali actor Srabanti Chatterjee, who had joined the BJP before this year’s assembly elections and unsuccessfully contested against Trinamool Congress heavyweight Partha Chatterjee, quit the saffron party on Thursday citing its “lack of initiative and sincerity to further the cause of West Bengal”.

    The 34-year-old actor had been maintaining a distance from the BJP after it failed to unseat Mamata Banerjee’s government from power in the eastern state despite a high-pitched campaign.

    “Severing all ties with the BJP, the party for which I fought the last state elections. Reason being their lack of initiative and sincerity to further the cause of Bengal,” Chatterjee tweeted.

    The West Bengal BJP did not attach much importance to Chatterjee’s decision, while the ruling TMC said if she wanted to join the party, it will be considered.

    “I really don’t know whether she was with the party after the elections. It won’t have an impact on the party,” BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said.

    Echoing him, senior BJP leader Tathagata Roy, who has been training his guns on the party top brass for the election debacle, called Chatterjee’s quitting the party a “good riddance”.

    Roy had criticised the BJP for inducting people with no political background, especially those from the entertainment world, and fielding them in the assembly elections while ignoring loyal and trusted party workers.

    “Good riddance. I don’t recall if she had any meaningful contributions in all the days,” the former Meghalaya and Tripura governor said.

    BJP national secretary Anupam Hazra mockingly tweeted: “The void in the organisation caused by her decision to quit the party cannot be filled.”

    Chatterjee, who was once close to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the TMC, joined the BJP in March this year.

    She was fielded in the Behala Paschim seat, where she was defeated by TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee by over 50,000 votes.

    “If she wants to join the Trinamool Congress and become part of the development initiative of (Chief Minister) Mamata Banerjee, we will consider,” Partha Chatterjee, also the industries minister, told reporters.

    Senior TMC leader Anubrata Mondal claimed that no sensible person can remain with the BJP for long.

    TMC MP and actor Nusrat Jahan said, “I wish Srabanti the best. She is my colleague in the industry. It was her decision and I welcome it.”

    The actor joins a long list of celebrities and leaders who have either quit the BJP or are maintaining a distance from the party after its defeat in the polls.