News Analysis India

Tag: Trinamool

  • Bhowanipore bypoll: Congress not to field candidate against Mamata

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  Keeping in mind the possibility of a future Opposition alliance, the Congress  has decided not to field a candidate against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the Bhowanipore bypolls in Kolkata on September 30.

    Party sources said the top leadership is not in favour of fielding a candidate against Mamata when the Opposition is trying to form a national front against BJP and she is expected to win. During a meeting called by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi last month, Mamata had harped on unity.

    The West Bengal unit headed by MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had on Monday said the state unit wants to contest against Mamata and has sent their proposal to the high command. He said that the party is looking to ally with the Left to contest the constituency.

    “There has been pressure from the state unit as they want to put up a candidate for the bypolls. They have also conveyed about the thinking of the party high command to contest the seat against the chief minister,” said a source.

    Sources said the state unit has informed that the Left will contest the seat even if the Congress decides not to. The Left-Congress contested West Bengal Assembly elections in alliance but neither of them managed to win a single seat.

    Chowdhury, who had been critical of Trinamool Congress during the Assembly elections, recently wrote to the Bengal CM that their cadres are brutally attacking Congress supporters in Murshidabad district. The Election Commission has announced bypolls for three seats — Bhowanipore, Samserganj and Jangipur — in West Bengal. Counting of votes is scheduled for October 3.

    Meanwhile, Left Front on Tuesday questioned the decision of the Election Commission to hold by-poll in only one assembly seat West Bengal on September 30 and demanded it be conducted in four other constituencies in the state at the earliest.

    After a meeting of Front constituents at the CPI-M office, the LF also gave call to make successful the general nationwide strike on September 27 by Sanjukta Kishan Morcha to protest against the three farm bills and attacks on farmers.

    The LF is supporting the strike.

    About the September 30 by-election in Bhabanipur where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the candidate of the ruling Trinamool Congress, the statement said “The EC could not prove its prudence and sagacity by its decision to hold bypoll in only one of the five seats where such exercise was due, apparently to benefit one political personality.

    “How could the chief secretary surmise in his submission to the poll panel that by not electing one personality could lead to constitutional crisis when the ruling party has its own majority to run government?” the Front asked.

    With 213 seats in its kitty the TMC could have chosen its leader from among the elected MLAs.

    It is their failure to be unable to elect their leader who will helm the state from among the elected legislators, it said.

    “By the way one veteran political leader was forced to quit Bhabanipur seat just after an emphatic win and now faces the uncertainty about being elected to the assembly within six months’ period.

    The West Bengal chief secretary didn’t refer that he too faces the uncertainity of losing ministership if not elected in six months,” the Front added.

    Banerjee had contested and lost from Nandigram and TMC old timer and state cabinet minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay contested and won from Bhabanipur, from where the party supremo had won twice since 2011.

    He has vacated the seat to facilitate Banerjee to contest from it.

    The resolution said the electorate of four other assembly constituencies – Deganga, Khardah, Santipur, Dinhata – will be deprived of exercising their democratic right for the time being and demanded that by-election to them be held at the earliest.

    The LF also demanded immediate holding of polls in six municipal corporations, 112 municipalties and Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad (Siliguri subdivisional council) which are overdue for two years following the pandemic.

    Administrators have been appointed to run them.

    The EC has announced polling on September 30 in Jangipur and Samserganj assembly seats in Murshidabad where polling was countermanded.

    The BJP on Tuesday accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is TMC’s Bhabanipur by-poll candidate, of violating the model code of conduct (MCC) by participating in a programme where the West Bengal government announced a grant of Rs 50,000 to each Durga puja organising committee ahead of the state’s biggest festival.

    The West Bengal government has announced the grant for the second year in a row primarily to make up for lost sponsorship and extra expenditure due to the Covid pandemic.

    Chief Secretary H K Dwivedi on Tuesday announced free licences as well as a 50 per cent discount on the power tariff for the committees organising Durga puja this year.

    He announced this at the programme where Banerjee met several Durga puja organisers from the city and other parts of the state.

    A three-member state BJP delegation led by party state vice-president Pratap Banerjee met the chief electoral officer here and urged the EC to take action against Banerjee for violating the model code of conduct and also restrain her from participating in the by-election.

    “We have requested the Election Commission to take action against Bhabanipur by-poll candidate Mamata Banerjee for violating the MCC by announcing cash rewards for Durga Puja clubs despite the declaration of the bypolls date and the poll guidelines being in place. We have also demanded that she should be restrained from participating in the by-poll for violating the MCC,” BJP leader Shishir Bajoria said.

    The TMC leadership refused to attach much importance to BJP’s demand.

    “The BJP after its humiliating defeat (in the April-May assembly poll) seems to have lost it. First of all the chief minister did not make any announcement. It was the chief secretary who made all the announcements. Secondly, there is nothing new in the announcements. Last year too similar announcements were made by the state government.”

    “The BJP knows they have lost the bypolls so they are now trying to make an issue out of a non-issue,” TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said.

    BJP state general secretary Sayantan Basu told PTI that names of candidates for Bhabanipur as well two other assembly seats in Murshidabad will be decided “in a day or two”.

    Earlier in the day, state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh said that a nominee for Bhabanipur might be chosen by Wednesday or Thursday.

    “The Election Commission has decided to hold by-elections on September 30. We had the idea that it would be held sometime later. But we must obey the EC order, we don’t oppose independent constitutional bodies like the EC, unlike the TMC,” Ghosh said.

    In a dig at the TMC supremo, he said that the ruling party, in its bid to clear the way for Banerjee, made Sovandeb Chattopadhyay vacate the Bhabanipur seat, which he had won by a wide margin.

    Speculation was rife that the TMC will field Chattopadhyay, the state agriculture minister, from Khardah constituency, where winning candidate Kajal Sinha died of COVID-19.

    “Now, with no word about bypoll in seats other than Bhabanipur, Jangipur, Samserganj, his political career has plunged into uncertainty.

    Will Chattopadhyay continue to be a minister if byelections for the remaining seats are not held by first week of November?” the BJP state president stated.

    Ghosh continued his tirade against the TMC, claiming that the state government is regularly facing setbacks in the court of law, but it would still rush from one bench to another despite the snub.

    In a jolt for the Mamata Banerjee-led government, the Calcutta High Court last month ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into allegations of “heinous” crimes in the aftermath of elections.

    On Monday, it also refrained the state police from taking any coercive action against BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, who is the leader of opposition in the House, in cases filed against him.

    The TMC has moved the division bench challenging the order.

    In a jibe at TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, who was grilled on September 6 for around nine hours by the Enforcement Directorate in a coal smuggling case, Ghosh said, “After the interrogation, he got angry and made impossible claims of defeating the BJP everywhere. We understand his anger and frustration.”

    “He should remember that the TMC has base only in one state. Be it Tripura to elsewhere in India, the party has no influence. Any dream to defeat the BJP will remain a pipe dream,” Ghosh asserted.

    The TMC had been trying to gain foothold in Tripura, where elections are slated to be held in 2023.

    Rejecting the BJP leader’s assertions, TMC spokesman Kunal Ghosh said that the BJP is “conspiring to harass its political opponents”, who pose threat to its electoral ambitions, with the help of central agencies such as the ED and the CBI.

    “The BJP is scared of TMC’s popularity after its massive setback in West Bengal. The party is afraid of TMC’s connection with the masses in Tripura. People in Tripura want to get rid of the Biplab Deb government. Dilip babu’s words make no sense, they are hollow,” he added.

    will launch her campaign for the September 30 by-poll in Bhabanipur assembly seat on Wednesday with a meeting of TMC workers in south Kolkata, Trinamool Congress sources said.

    Banerjee will seek election to the assembly from the seat.

    According to TMC leaders, Banerjee will address party workers and leaders of all the eight municipal wards in the constituency at an auditorium on Wednesday.

    “Mamata Didi will address party workers tomorrow (Wednesday) and give them direction on how to campaign and the issues that will be highlighted. There are strict instructions from the leadership that tomorrow’s meeting and the entire campaign will be held following COVID norms,” a senior TMC leader said.

    The TMC on Sunday officially announced Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as its candidate for the by-election in Bhabanipur.

    TMC’s campaign in the south Kolkata seat is underway after the Election Commission announced the bypoll on Saturday following a request from the state government to avoid a constitutional crisis.

    Banerjee, who lost the election in Nandigram to her former protege Suvendu Adhikari, has to win this by-poll to retain her chief minister’s post.

    The BJP, Congress, and CPI(M)-led Left Front are yet to announce their candidates for the bypoll.

    The bypoll will be held on September 30 along with the elections to Samserganj and Jangipur seats in Murshidabad district where polling could not be held during the eight-phase assembly election held earlier this year.

    The counting of votes will take place on October 3.

    TMC has pulled out all the stops to ensure Banerjee’s victory by a record margin and has engaged senior leaders to look after the eight municipal wards in the constituency.

    “The party state president (Subrata Bakshi) has been given the responsibility of ward 63, party secretary-general and minister Partha Chatterjee has been assigned with ward numbers 71 and 72, state minister Firhad Hakim and other senior leaders have been asked to look after other wards. This has been done to ensure that Didi (Banerjee) wins the seat with a record margin,” another senior TMC leader said.

    Banerjee is a resident of Bhabanipur and has contested from the seat in the past two state assembly elections since 2011.

    Banerjee, who led her party to a massive electoral triumph for a third successive term, is required to win a seat in the state assembly by November 5 in conformity with the constitutional provisions to continue as chief minister.

    The Constitution allows a non-member of a state legislature or Parliament to continue in a ministerial position for six months.

    After her defeat in Nandigram, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, state cabinet minister and TMC MLA from Bhabanipur, vacated the seat to facilitate her election from there.

    Banerjee had entered the Assembly after winning the by-poll in the Bhabanipur seat months after her party stormed to power by ousting the 34-year-old Left Front regime in 2011.

    She is a six-term MP from the South Kolkata Lok Sabha seat, which has the Bhabanipur seat as one of its segments.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • Abhishek Banerjee’s allegations of harassment against Modi government in bad taste: BJP

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The West Bengal BJP on Monday said Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s allegations of harassment of political opponents against the Narendra Modi government were in bad taste.

    Abhishek Banerjee, TMC MP and nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was questioned for about nine hours by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Delhi on Monday in a money laundering case linked to an alleged coal pilferage scam in the state.

    After the questioning, the TMC MP accused the Narendra Modi regime of harassing political opponents.

    BJP state spokesman Shamik Bhattacharya said “Being an MP, Banerjee’s comments of conspiracy were in bad taste.”

    “However, we understand his frustration. He must have been tired after over 8 hours of questioning by the ED. It is an independent agency probing illegal money transactions. There is no role of the BJP in that. If he has complaints, why doesn’t he move the court?” BJP state president Dilip Ghosh claimed that the TMC sees conspiracy in everything.

    TMC spokesman and state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said Abhishek Banerjee showed that the TMC won’t bow down to the pressure and threat tactics by the BJP government.

    Stepping out from the agency’s Jam Nagar house office in central Delhi just before 8 PM, the 33-year-old MP hit out at the BJP, saying its “tyranny will be defeated” and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) will battle it out with “full vigour” against the party holding power at the Centre.

    The MP from Diamond Harbour was grilled for close to nine hours after he entered the ED office shortly before 11 AM.

    Officials said his statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

    He is understood to have been questioned about his links to the other accused involved in the case and in the context of two companies allegedly linked to his family in which some purported illegal transactions were done, they said.

    The ED had filed the criminal case under the PMLA after studying a November 2020 FIR of the CBI that alleged a multi-crore coal pilferage scam related to Eastern Coalfields Ltd mines in the state’s Kunustoria and Kajora areas in and around Asansol.

    “If BJP thinks that the Trinamool Congress will be scared or will bend, get defeated due to this (the ED case and questioning) or will sit at home like the Congress or any other party. We will fight out with you with full vigour and will go to each such state where you murdered democracy,” Banerjee, also the national general secretary of his party, told reporters outside the ED office.

    ‘”Apko jo ukhadna hai, aap ukhad lo (Do whatever you like). TMC will defeat the BJP in the upcoming polls,” he said.

    A video link of this media interaction was also posted by the TMC on its official Twitter handle.

    “The BJP’s tyranny will be defeated. Let BJP put all its might, vigour, threat, resources. Mind my words these resources are going to fall flat,” he said.

    He continued: “We will give our lives, put our lives at stake but not bow down. We will not sell our spine to these autocrats, to these cowards who cannot defeat us politically.”

    “Take my word, we have the fire in our belly and come what may, we will defeat them in 2024,” he said.

    The West Bengal BJP had earlier said that the people of the state want the investigation in the case to be over within a time frame and the truth to unravel.

    An alleged illegal coal operative of West Bengal, Anup Majhi alias Lala, is the prime suspect in the case.

    The ED had claimed that Abhishek Banerjee was a beneficiary of funds obtained from this illegal trade.

    His wife Rujira was also summoned by the agency in this case on September 1 but she did not appear citing the prevailing coronavirus situation and requested the agency to instead question her in Kolkata.

    It is understood that the agency may grant her the relief.

    Some Indian Police Service (IPS) officers and a lawyer linked to Abhishek Banerjee have also been summoned to appear on different dates in this month in the case.

    Reacting to these summonses, Chief Minister Banerjee last week accused the Centre of letting loose its agencies on her nephew and claimed some BJP ministers were working “hand in glove” with the coal mafia.

    The ED has arrested two people in this case till now.

    One of them is Vikas Mishra, the brother of TMC youth wing leader Vinay Mishra, who is stated to have left the country sometime back and renounced his Indian citizenship.

    The second person arrested in the case early this year is former Inspector in-charge of Bankura police station Ashok Kumar Mishra.

    The ED had earlier claimed that the Mishra brothers received “proceeds of crime worth Rs 730 crore on behalf of some influential persons and for themselves” in this case involving an estimated amount of Rs 1,352 crore.

    A “deep system” of political patronage and a “well-oiled machinery” were used to brazenly carry out certain unlawful coal mining in West Bengal, the ED has claimed before a court while seeking the remand of Inspector Mishra in April.

    A charge sheet was also filed by the ED in May this year.

    Quoting the recorded statement of an unidentified “close associate” of Majhi, the ED had earlier alleged that prime suspect Majhi had been running his “illegal coal mining business smoothly by managing senior functionaries of a political party of West Bengal though Inspector Mishra”.

    The statement of this unidentified “witness” furnished by the ED in the remand note stated that “it is known fact that Vinay Mishra collected money from illegal coal mining of Majhi and his associates for his political boss in the present ruling party; that Vinay Mishra is the youth leader of TMC and he is very close to Abhishek Banerjee and that he (Vinay Mishra) is the eyes and ears of Abhishek Banerjee.”

    The agency had claimed that documents seized by it show that “Majhi assisted in transferring substantial funds derived from the proceeds of crime to Shri Abhishek Banerjee’s close relatives (wife and sister-in-law) at London and Thailand.

  • ‘Turncoats were given undue importance’: Bengal BJP MLA hits out at party

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: With four BJP MLAs returning to the Trinamool Congress in four months, the saffron party’s Cooch Behar South legislator Nikhil Ranjan Dey on Monday said the top leadership had erred by inducting TMC leaders into the BJP before the assembly polls in West Bengal.

    The party would have fared better had they been not taken into the party fold, Dey claimed.

    “The BJP top leadership made a mistake by taking those TMC leaders into the party fold. They had never been integral with the BJP ideology,” Dey told reporters in Cooch Behar town.

    “These leaders had joined the BJP as they were swayed by the perception that the BJP will take over power in West Bengal. And they were given much importance by our party. Now they are leaving,” he added.

    BJP vice-president Mukul Roy had returned to the TMC in May, days after being elected on the saffron party ticket.

    He was followed by three other BJP MLAs.

    Taking a dig at Dey, TMC Coochbehar district president Partha Pratim Roy said, “By his logic, leader of the opposition in assembly Suvendu Adhikari is also not integrated to the BJP ideology as he was with the TMC one year back. Is Dey raising fingers at Adhikari as well?” Adhikari joined the BJP in December last year.

    Mukul Roy told reporters on Monday that several BJP MLAs are waiting to be inducted into the TMC in the coming days.

    Raiganj BJP MLA Krishna Kalyani on Sunday announced he will not attend any party programme, triggering speculations about his future move.

  • Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee appears before ED in coal pilferage money laundering case

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Abhishek Banerjee, TMC MP and nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here on Monday for questioning in a money laundering case linked to an alleged coal pilferage scam in the state, officials said.

    The 33-year-old MP arrived at the office of the central agency at Jam Nagar house in central Delhi just before 11 AM.

    “I am ready to face investigation, the agency officials are doing their work and I will cooperate with them,” he said.

    The investigating officer of the case will record his statement under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), officials said.

    Abhishek Banerjee represents the Diamond Harbour seat in the Lok Sabha and is the national general secretary of the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

    The ED has filed a criminal case under the PMLA after studying a November, 2020 FIR of the CBI that alleged a multi-crore coal pilferage scam related to Eastern Coalfields Ltd mines in the state’s Kunustoria and Kajora areas in and around Asansol.

    Speaking to reporters at the Kolkata airport on Sunday, the MP had said that he would get himself hanged if any central agency can prove his involvement in any illegal transaction.

    Local coal operative in West Bengal, Anup Majhi alias Lala, is alleged to be the prime suspect in the case.

    The ED had claimed that Abhishek Banerjee was a beneficiary of funds obtained from this illegal trade.

    His wife Rujira was also summoned by the agency in this case on September 1 but she did not appear citing the prevailing coronavirus situation and requested the agency to instead question her in Kolkata.

    It is understood that the agency may grant her the relief.

    Some Indian Police Service (IPS) officers and a lawyer linked to Abhishek Banerjee have also been summoned to appear on different dates in this month in the case.

    Reacting to these summonses, Chief Minister Banerjee last week accused the Centre of letting loose its agencies on her nephew and claimed some BJP ministers were working “hand in glove” with the coal mafia.

    The ED has arrested two people in this case till now.

    One of them is Vikas Mishra, the brother of TMC youth wing leader Vinay Mishra, who is stated to have left the country sometime back and and renounced his Indian citizenship.

    The second person arrested in the case early this year is former Inspector in-charge of Bankura police station Ashok Kumar Mishra.

    The ED had earlier claimed that the Mishra brothers received “proceeds of crime worth Rs 730 crore on behalf of some influential persons and for themselves” in this case involving an estimated amount of Rs 1,352 crore.

    A “deep system” of political patronage and a “well-oiled” machinery was used to brazenly carry out certain unlawful coal mining in West Bengal, the ED has claimed before a court while seeking the remand of Inspector Mishra in April.

    A charge sheet was also filed by the ED in May this year.

    Quoting the recorded statement of an unidentified “close associate” of Majhi, the ED had earlier alleged that prime suspect Majhi had been running his “illegal coal mining business smoothly by managing senior functionaries of political party of West Bengal though Inspector Mishra.”

    The statement of this unidentified “witness” furnished by the ED in the remand note stated that “it is known fact that Vinay Mishra collected money from illegal coal mining of Majhi and his associates for his closely associated political boss in present ruling party; that Vinay Mishra is youth leader of TMC and he is very close to Abhishek Banerjee and that he (Vinay Mishra) is the eyes and ears of Abhishek Banerjee.”

    The agency had claimed that documents seized by it show that “Majhi assisted in transferring substantial funds derived from the proceeds of crime to Shri Abhishek Banerjee’s close relatives (wife and sister-in-law) at London and Thailand.

  • ‘Khela Hobe’ pitch again as Didi readies for Bhowanipore by-election battle

    Express News Service

    KOLKATA:  Barely four months after the close of a high-decibel Assembly election, the heat is rising once again in West Bengal politics as the date for the by-election in Bhowanipore constituency approaches.

    Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who lost to BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram Assembly constituency, will contest the by-election from the Bhowanipore seat vacated by Sovandeb Chattopadhyay. 

    The slogan Khela Hobe (there will be a game)—coined by Mamata ahead of the Assembly polls—has resurfaced in the south Kolkata constituency through graffitis.

    Trinamool Congress Minister Firhad Hakim and MLA Madan Mitra took to the streets to paint the walls in support of their party leader.

    The by-election is said to be crucial for Mamata, who has to get elected as an MLA by November 5 to continue as the chife minister.

    “My leader Smt @MamataOficial has been the MLA of Bhawanipur twice earlier. This time she is again going to be the MLA of this area! In the excitement of the run up to the elections, we stepped out on the streets painting walls in our locality to show our support. #AbarKhelaHobe,’’ Hakim tweeted.

    The chief minister is taking the electoral battle seriously and has cancelled her visit to north Bengal soon after the by-election date was announced on Saturday.

    Mamata was elected twice in 2011 and 2016 from Bhowanipore. However, in 2021, she decided to take on her former lieutenant Suvendu Adhikari, who defected to the BJP in Nandigram.

    Though Nandigram, in East Midnapore district, is a stronghold of the TMC, Mamata lost by 1,737 votes, because of Adhikari family’s sway in the district.   

    The BJP has promised to give Mamata a tough fight in Bhowanipur, which has 20 per cent non-Bengal voters, whom the saffron camp considers its vote-bank.

    However, the TMC effused confidence, banking on its consolidation of Bengali-speaking voters.     

    Giant hoardings and posters carrying Mamata’s photograph have already been put up across the constituency.

    “Wining will not at all be tough for the CM. Women electorates will extend their support as they did in the Assembly elections and Bengali voters have already rejected the BJP.” 

    The BJP, Congress, and CPI(M)-led Left Front are yet to announce candidates. The bypoll will be held on September 30 along with the elections to two seats in Murshidabad. 

  • Bengal bypolls: Trinamool begins campaigning; Congress undecided about fielding candidate against Mamata

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: TMC Saturday began campaigning for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who will contest from the prestigious Bhabanipur assembly seat in the city just hours after the Election Commission announced the date of by-election on September 30.

    TMC activists started painting poll grafitti as part of the campaign.

    Slogans such as “Bhabanipur Nijer Ghorer Meyekei chai” (Bhabanipur wants her own daughter) were seen on the walls of buildings of the constituency.

    Banerjee is a resident of Bhabanipur and has contested from the seat in the past two state assembly elections since 2011.

    She had contested from Nandigram in the April-May assembly poll against BJP leader and her former protege Suvendu Adhikari and lost.

    “We are thrilled that Didi will be back in the Bhabanipur seat. This is the area where she has grown up. This has been the base of her political activity,” a local TMC leader said after kick starting the wall writing campaign.

    “For us, the challenge is not victory as we are confident about it. The challenge is to ensure Didi’s win with a record margin,” another TMC worker said.

    Banerjee is fondly called “Didi” (elder sister) by her supporters.

    Several TMC activists came down to the streets and shouted slogans hailing Banerjee as soon as the news of the bypoll dates was flashed in various news channels.

    Banerjee, who led her party to a massive electoral triumph for a third successive term, is required to win a seat in the state assembly by November 5 in conformity with the constitutional provisions in order to continue as chief minister.

    The Constitution allows a non-member of a state legislature or Parliament to continue in a ministerial position for six months.

    After her defeat in Nandigram, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, state cabinet minister and TMC MLA from Bhabanipur, vacated the seat to facilitate her election from there.

    Banerjee had been elected to the Assembly after winning the by-poll in the seat months after her party stormed to power by ousting the 34-year-old Left Front regime in 2011.

    She was a six-term MP from the South Kolkata Lok Sabha seat, which has the Bhabanipur seat as one of its segments.

    Wondering what prompted the Election Commission to announce by-poll in Bhabanipur assembly seat this month end, WBPCC president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Saturday said he will not describe it as being inclined any political party.

    Congress, he said, will collectively take a stand on contesting the Bhabanipur seat against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is slated to be in the fight for the prestigious seat.

    “I will not join those who will say EC is close to BJP, nor will I join those who will say EC has proximity with TMC,” he said adding he had no idea what prompted EC to announce by-poll only for Bhabanipur out of the five where it is due.

    To another question, Chowdhury said the TMC government has done a grave injustice by not holding municipal polls for over two years across the state “Municipalties have become places of loot and corruption with TMC appointing its own people as administrators instead of government officers at the local level which should be the practice.

    By this the TMC has brought back its own leaders to helm local bodies undemocratically,” he added.

    BJP and the CPI(M) on Saturday expressed reservations about the Election Commission’s decision to hold by-poll in Bhabanipur assembly constituency, from where West Bengal Chief Minister and party supremo Mamata Banerjee plans to contest, on September 30, while the ruling Trinamool Congress and the Congress welcomed it.

    Polling for “deferred adjourned” elections in two assembly seats of West Bengal – Samserganj and Jangirpur – will also be held on September 30, the Election Commission announced earlier in the day in New Delhi.

    However, citing Covid-19 situation, the EC decided not to hold by-elections in four other assembly seats in the state which are also lying vacant due to deaths and resignations of MLAs.

    “We had always maintained that holding by-polls and polls to all the seats should be held together when the Covid-19 situation improves.

    We don’t know if holding by-election to one seat and election to two seats is a practical decision since the pandemic is still raging and there is the threat of third wave.

    However, we accept the decision of the EC,” opposition leader in the state Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP, said.

    Adhikari defeated Banerjee from the Nandigram seat in the assembly elections held earlier this year.

    The ruling TMC is keen on the by-polls as Banerjee will have to get elected within six months to continue as the CM.

    In that case, the by-polls must be conducted by November 5.

    The decision proved that the TMC’s allegations that the EC is being controlled by the BJP are false, he said.

    BJP state president Dilip Ghosh wondered why the election to urban local bodies in the state are being held up for years while assembly by-election is facilitated when the TMC enjoys absolute majority.

    Senior TMC leader Firhad Hakim said, “The bypoll was a necessity as per constitutional norms but the BJP was trying to derail the process for narrow partisan interest. We hail the decision of the EC. We will follow all Covid-19 guidelines.”

    The Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP Pradip Bhattacharya said it is a welcome decision of the EC since holding bypolls within six months of counting is mandatory.

    CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty said, “Announcing the (by-election) date is welcome from the constitutional point of view.

    But why only Bhabanipur and two seats? Why not bypolls in other seats and elections in other seats?” He said while elections to different bodies were regularly held during the 34 years of the Left Front rule, elections to different municipalities were overdue for over two years.

    Banerjee had moved out of her traditional seat in Kolkata’s Bhabanipur to fight in Nandigram during the assembly polls.

    After the election results were out, senior TMC leader Sovandeb Chattopadhyay who won from Bhabanipur vacated the seat to allow Banerjee to contest from there.

    Banerjee had won from Bhabanipur twice since 2011.

  • Mission Tripura: Trinamool to conduct survey to strengthen party organisation

    By PTI

    AGARTALA: Trinamool Congress leader Sushmita Dev on Thursday said her party would conduct a survey in Tripura and indicated that this would help the party to assess acceptability of local leaders.

    The TMC which aims to try and dislodge the ruling BJP-led alliance in the state in the next assembly elections, has been sending large numbers of their top leadership to the state in order to build an organisation in this Northeastern state.

    Besides Dev, those who have been frequenting Agartala include All India Trinamool Congress General Secretary, Abhishek Banerjee and West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu, both of whom have flown in several times.

    Dev, who came here from Silchar on Wednesday plans to stay for the next fortnight.

    “As directed by Mamata Banerjee, we will go in for a ground-level survey in order to strengthen the organisation. We want to bring in people who have acceptance at the grassroot level,” she said.

    TMC had conducted a similar survey last year ahead of its assembly elections in West Bengal after which the party had decided to change candidates from a large number of constituencies.

    The former Congress MP said she would submit a report to All India Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee about the outcome of the survey.

    Dev, said TMC would initiate a membership drive and organise party programmes in all eight districts of the state.

    “Trinamool Congress is receiving a huge response from the people in Tripura. The party will strengthen its organisation within the next few months,” she said “I still remember that before the 2018 elections in Tripura, BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma used to say that people will get jobs through missed calls. After the formation of the government, neither Himanta Biswa Sarma comes to Tripura nor do the people get jobs,” Dev said at a press conference here.

    The former President of All India Mahila Congress claimed that an anti-Modi wave was blowing across the country.

    In a recent survey, she said, it came to light that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was losing his popularity.

    She also visited the famous Mata Tripura Sundari temple in Udaipur on Thursday.

  • Narada scam: ED files prosecution complaint under PMLA against five Trinamool leaders

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a Prosecution Complaint under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) in case of Narada sting operation case against Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee, Madan Mitra, Sovan Chatterjee and IPS Officer SMH Meerza before the Special Judge (PMLA) in Kolkata.

    According to the official statement by the government agency, “Enforcement Directorate has filed a Prosecution Complaint under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) in the case of Narada Sting Operation, against Firhad Hakim, Transport and Housing Minister, Government of West Bengal, Subrata Mukherjee, Panchayat Minister, Government of West Bengal, Madan Mitra, MLA West Bengal, Sovan Chatterjee, former Mayor of Kolkata and S.M.H.Meerza, an IPS Officer of West Bengal Cadre before the Special Judge (PMLA), Kolkata with the prayer for awarding punishment to the accused for committing offence of money laundering and confiscation of the amount of gratification.”

    ED initiated an investigation on the basis of FIR registered by Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the provisions of corruption act, 1988 and IPC, 1868 against 12 public persons, which includes sitting MLAs and MPs of West Bengal and an IPS officer of West Bengal cadre.

    As per FIR, Mathew Samuel had conducted a sting operation during 2014 and recorded visual footage of these persons, who either themselves took money or instructed someone else to make money on their behalf from him.

    In the sting operation, it was seen that the accused, in their capacity as public servants, accepted bribes to favour an individual, who was posing as a representative of a company at the time of transaction. Money laundering investigation conducted by ED has revealed that accused persons not only received illegal gratifications but also possessed the proceeds of crime and tried to conceal it by creating fictitious stories and mislead the investigation. Therefore today, ED has filed a Prosecution Complaint, wherein it is highlighted that how the above-mentioned highly placed persons laundered the proceeds of crime/illegal gratification. The Court has taken cognizance of the matter and directed to serve the summons to all the accused. The directorate is carrying out further investigation against the other accused in this case. (ANI)

  • Trinamool advertised ‘Sabuj Sathi’ scheme in Bengal civil service exam: BJP

    The ruling party denied the charge and said that the question was meant to test the knowledge of the candidates about a universally acclaimed project.

  • Ex-Bengal Congress president Somen Mitra’s widow likely to return to Trinamool

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Former West Bengal MLA Sikha Mitra, wife of late state Congress president Somen Mitra, on Saturday heaped praises on Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and gave broad hints of returning to the TMC.

    Mitra, who had resigned as Trinamool Congress MLA from Chowringhee seat in 2014 citing growing differences with the party, told reporters that she had never officially left the TMC.

    “I have been in touch with the TMC recently. I have spoken to Mamata Banerjee. I don’t think there is much difference between the TMC and the Congress ideologically. In the present situation, I can carry on my fight more meaningfully from the TMC,” she said.

    Banerjee has a broad mindset, Mitra said adding that her nephew Abhishek Banerjee is also doing well as the national general secretary of the TMC.

    Sources in the TMC said she will join the party soon.

    Mitra had severed links with the TMC after her husband Somen Mitra left the party and returned to the Congress.

    Differences surfaced between Mitra and her son Rohan with Congress state leadership helmed by Adhir Chowdhury after the death of Somen Mitra last year and they were also approached by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari.

    The BJP even announced her name as a candidate for the assembly election earlier this year.

    However, Mitra said her name was declared without her consent and she will not enter the poll fray.