West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress put up a spectacular show, sweeping the Lok Sabha polls in the state to emerge as the fourth-largest party in the new Lok Sabha. So, what worked for TMC and what went amiss for the BJP juggernaut? We find out
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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha candidate from Medinipur Agnimitra Paul on Saturday, accused the West Bengal Police of arresting several of the party’s polling agents and the ruling party driving one of the polling agents away from the booth on voting day. “They (TMC) have removed our polling agent. The TMC kidnapped him and took him away. When I received the information I came here. He was crying here. I have taken him inside and made him sit,” Paul said speaking to on Saturday.
An incident of stone-pelting has been reported during the Ram Navami procession in Murshidabad, West Bengal on Wednesday. Specifically, in the Shaktipur area of Rejinagar within Murshidabad district, claims of clashes and violence have emerged on Wednesday evening during the Ram Navami parade, resulting in injuries to some individuals. It is alleged that stone-pelting commenced when the Ram Navami procession was underway, with people seen throwing stones from their rooftops. The situation escalated to the point where the police had to resort to a baton charge. The BJP has accused that Hindu devotees were targeted in Rejinagar.
According to the news agency PTI, an explosion also occurred during the Ram Navami procession on Wednesday evening in Shaktipur, Murshidabad, injuring a woman. The police reported that the injured woman was taken to the Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital. A police officer stated that the explosion took place on Wednesday evening, injuring a woman. The investigation into the incident is ongoing. However, the officer did not clarify whether the explosion was caused by a bomb or another reason.
STORY | Blast in Ram Navami rally in Bengal’s Murshidabad; one injured
READ: https://t.co/MW2KVbAtjZ
VIDEO: pic.twitter.com/fKQjyqxAng
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 18, 2024
The incident reportedly took place on Wednesday evening in the Shaktipur area when a group was leading the procession on the occasion of Ram Navami. Several videos have gone viral on social media, showing people pelting stones at the procession from their rooftops. The police had to conduct a baton charge and fire tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. The police further stated that the situation has been brought under control, and additional forces have been deployed in the area.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Amit Malviya tweeted, accusing that Hindu devotees were targeted during the Ram Navami festival in Rejinagar, Murshidabad. Amit Malviya said, “Mamata Banerjee is a blot on West Bengal. She, once again, failed to protect Ramanavami Shobha Yatras. Hindu devotees targeted in Rejinagar, Murshidabad. Hindus are a minority in this area. Just pointing it out, so that she doesn’t blame the Hindus for the attack on themselves…”
Mamata Banerjee is a blot on West Bengal. She, once again, failed to protect Ramanavami Shobha Yatras. Hindu devotees targeted in Rejinagar, Murshidabad. Hindus are a minority in this area. Just pointing it out, so that she doesn’t blame the Hindus for the attack on themselves… pic.twitter.com/pzvJt0aZ4x
— Amit Malviya (मोदी का परिवार) (@amitmalviya) April 17, 2024
In another post, Amit Malviya stated, “Mamata Banerjee’s provocative communal speeches are responsible for the attack on the Ramnavami Shobha Yatra in Rejinagar, Murshidabad. High time election commission took note of Bengal Chief Minister’s irresponsible utterances, which are leading to targeted violence against the Hindus”
He shared another video saying, “Bengal is falling apart and Mamata Banerjee is responsible for it. Her vituperative and communal speeches are the reason Ram Bhakts have been attacked across Bengal. After widespread rioting in Murshidabad, now devotees of Shri Ram targeted in Egra, Medinipur. BJP Karyakartas will gherao Egra Police station NOW to protest the brutal attack on Ramanavami Shobha Yatra. Bengal CM must be held to account for failing to protect Bengali Hindus.”
Bengal is falling apart and Mamata Banerjee is responsible for it. Her vituperative and communal speeches are the reason Ram Bhakts have been attacked across Bengal. After widespread rioting in Murshidabad, now devotees of Shri Ram targeted in Egra, Medinipur.
BJP Karyakartas… pic.twitter.com/8dG0pMzMIR
— Amit Malviya (मोदी का परिवार) (@amitmalviya) April 17, 2024
The judge directed that in the meantime, notice be served upon Adhikari, a BJP MLA, and other parties in the matter.
By Express News Service
KOLKATA: BJP national general secretary Arvind Menon, who was in charge of the party’s network in West Bengal ahead of the recent Assembly elections, held the local functionaries responsible for the saffron camp’s poor performance in the polls.
His observation came at a time when many in the local unit have blamed ‘’wrong strategy’’ adopted by the party’s central leadership for the BJP’s debacle in the Assembly polls. In the first meeting of BJP’s executive committee, which was held virtually on Tuesday, Menon indicated that it was the party’s Bengal functionaries who fed the central leadership with “wrong information”.
While speaking, he narrated a story: Once a king asked all village heads to donate a small bowl of milk to prepare a sweet dish. They were told to pour the milk in a pot. But at the end of the day, the pot was fund full of water only. “The BJP met the same fate as everyone skipped their responsibilities, thinking others would respond and the party would come to power,” he said.
His story hasn’t gone down well with local leaders. “He compared us with village heads and the party’s national leaders as the king. It was the central leaders who had claimed to bag more than 200 seats out of the total 294. Now Menon says it was based on our feedback,’’ said a BJP leader in Kolkata. “We hardly played any role in the Assembly elections. Our central leadership controlled everything, right from candidate selection to the campaign strategy.”
Several state BJP functionaries were prepared to vent their ire against central leaders. They were left disappointed as the five-hour event lacked the scope of interactions and mostly featured speeches by the party’s top leadership. In his short speech, Nadda described BJP’s performance as a success.
“We bagged 77 seats within a short span of time. The result shows our party will come to power in Bengal in 2026,’’ he said. The meeting decided that an assembly-wise analysis should be conducted. “Defeated candidates and observers in charge of constituencies have been asked to submit a report,’’ said another BJP leader.
By Express News Service
KOLKATA: The strategy of attacking the ruling Trinamool Congress more aggressively than the BJP was main reason behind the party’s disastrous performance, the CPI-M’s Bengal state committee said in a draft report. In the 24-page report, it was mentioned that the poll campaigns were more focused on hitting out at the TMC and highlighting its poor governance and the similar sharpness was missing while attacking the BJP. “Our policy of maintaining same distance from the TMC and the BJP was not reflected in ground reality. It sent a wrong message to the electorates,’’ said a member of the state committee.
The draft report reflected what the district-level leaders and candidates contested in the election wrote in their analysis and shared with the state committee. Ahead of the Assembly election, the CP(I)M leadership in Bengal was divided over the issue of identifying the prime enemy — TMC or BJP — in the electoral battle. The party decided to attack both the TMC and BJP in same way.‘’In ground reality, it was not reflected in the rallies in districts. The attack was focused more on TMC than BJP. A large section of our district functionaries defected to BJP to derail Mamata. Our workers also aimed at the same goal. This could have been one of the reasons behind the attack on BJP missed same aggressiveness,’’ said a CPI-M leader.The defection began before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In 2018 panchayat elections, BJP emerged as the main ipoosition in many rural pockets of the state.
By PTI
COOCH BEHAR: Claiming that people, who cast their votes as per their choice, are being subjected to attacks in West Bengal, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday said while the country is facing the COVID crisis, the state is grappling with the twin challenges of the pandemic and the post-poll violence.
The governor said he was shocked by incidents of attack following the West Bengal assembly elections, and decided to visit various places affected by the post-poll violence in the interest of the people.
“The country is facing the COVID crisis, and West Bengal is facing twin challenges of the pandemic and unprecedented post-poll violence only on the ground that some people decided to vote as per their own choice,” he said while embarking on a visit to various places in Cooch Behar district.
He said the Mamata Banerjee government must ensure that everyone who took the law into their hands must be brought to justice.
The opposition BJP has been accusing the Trinamool Congress of indulging in violence against their supporters, a charge which the ruling party has also brought against the saffron camp in the state.
“History will judge Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister. History will also judge Jagdeep Dhankhar, the governor, and it will judge the bureaucracy and the media,” he said.
Claiming that he did not get any response from the state government despite efforts being made to get information about the post-poll violence, Dhankhar said the state government must provide him with the requisite particulars under Article 167 of the Constitution.
“I will perform my constitutional duties unhindered, undeterred by any situation whatsoever,” he said.
The chief minister and the governor got involved in a war of words on Wednesday after Mamata Banerjee wrote to him claiming that his planned visit to the post-poll violence- affected Cooch Behar district violates norms, while Dhankhar hit back saying he was discharging duties mandated by the Constitution.
“I find from social media that you are unilaterally proceeding to Cooch Behar district on May 13, and sadly, I find that to be violative of the long-standing norms as evolved over several decades.
“I, therefore, would expect you will kindly follow the well-established norms of protocol, and desist from abrupt decisions with regards to field visits,” Banerjee said in a letter to the governor.
Soon after receiving the letter, Dhankhar wrote back saying that he has been following the Constitution since taking oath as the governor and his visit to Cooch Behar was to share the pain and agony of the people suffering from post-poll violence.
Speaking to reporters at the Cooch Behar airport after alighting from a BSF helicopter by which he travelled from Kolkata, the governor claimed that the chief minister, who took oath on May 5, has full power to control the situation.
He claimed that those who did not give political support to the ruling party were subjected to attacks and atrocities, and women and children of their families were also not spared.
Claiming that the post-poll situation in the state took a grim turn owing to the “unfortunate behaviour of the chief minister”, the governor alleged, “During the elections, she had publicly said the central armed police force will not be there always and she will see after that.
“This kind of challenge and behaviour is not acceptable under the constitution,” the governor said.
He urged the chief minister to make constructive decisions and said this is not the time for confrontation between the state and the Centre.
While Banerjee had termed the incident of firing by the CAPF in Sitalkuchi in which four persons were killed as “genocide”, she “did not say a word about other violent events” in different parts of the state, Dhankhar alleged.
Five persons were killed, four of them in firing by central armed police force personnel and a first-time voter in firing by goons, at Sitalkuchi on April 10 during the fourth phase of the assembly poll in West Bengal.
Post-poll violence has been reported from various places in the state, with both the opposition BJP and the ruling TMC accusing each other of indulging in attacks on their workers.
Banerjee had on May 6 said 16 people have been killed in the recent clashes between the two parties.
Accusing the chief minister of being “partisan”, he said that “she acts with a political goal in mind”.
Dhankhar is scheduled to visit Sitalkuchi, Mathabhanga, Sitai and Dinhata in Cooch Behar district during the day.
The governor said he will on Friday visit camps in Assam where BJP workers, who reportedly fled from West Bengal owing to the post-poll violence, have been staying.
By PTI
MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena on Tuesday claimed the BJP’s ”arrogance” was among the reasons for its defeat in the West Bengal Assembly polls.
An editorial in the Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ also said the BJP’s “intolerance” was responsible for it being out of power in Maharashtra.
The comments came days after Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil reportedly asked state NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal to weigh his words while speaking about the saffron party.
Bhujbal had made certain remarks about the BJP in the context of the recent West Bengal polls, where the saffron party was defeated by the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC).
“When did Maharashtra become so intolerant?” the editorial asked.
After the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls, long-terms allies Shiv Sena and BJP parted ways over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post.
The Shiv Sena later tied-up with the NCP and Congress to form the state government.
On Sunday, the TMC romped home in West Bengal, pocketing 213 of the 292 Assembly seats that went to polls, while the BJP got 77 seats.
The editorial said Bhujbal had praised Banerjee for her resounding victory, and asked what is wrong in that.
“The BJP’s arrogance was among the reasons for its defeat in the West Bengal Assembly polls,” the Marathi daily said.
Due to the defeat in West Bengal, the BJP is not ready to enjoy its win in the Pandharpur Assembly bypoll in Maharashtra, the Sena said.
In a setback to the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra, BJP candidate Samadhan Autade on Sunday won the by-election to Pandharpur-Mangalvedha Assembly seat in Solapur by defeating his nearest NCP rival by a margin of over 3,700 votes.
“The MVA lost the Pandharpur bypoll and everyone congratulated the BJP and the winning candidate. But, no MVA leader threatened those who congratulated the winner,” the editorial said.
By ANI
NEW DELHI: Following Trinamool Congress’ thumping win in assembly elections in West Bengal, Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Monday said “arrogance, might, money power and using Jai Shri Ram for politics” lost the polls in the state.
Sibal also hailed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who is all set to continue her third term in West Bengal.
“In West Bengal, who lost – arrogance, might, money power, using Jai Shri Ram for politics, a divisive agenda and the Election Commission. She (Mamata Benerjee) stood up to them and won,” the Congress leader said in a tweet.
As per the latest trends of the Election Commission, TMC has won 209 seats and is leading in four. About 47.94 per cent of the total voted were in the TMC’s favour. It received about 38.1 per cent of the total. Bharatiya Janata Party, on the other hand, has secured 76 seats and is leading in one.
Bengal witnessed a fierce contest between the ruling TMC and BJP across eight phases. The Samyukta Morcha comprising the Congress, Left parties and ISF has also tried to put up a strong fight. The BJP has made a concerted attempt to dislodge the TMC.
By Online Desk
BJP candidate Chandana Bauri scripted one of the historic wins in the West Bengal Assembly polls that will be long remembered by the people of the state.
Chandana, the wife of a daily wage earner, won from West Bengal’s Saltora constituency. The 30-year-old Chandana Bauri defeated TMC candidate Sontosh Kumar Mondal by a margin of more than 4,000 votes.
Following Chandana’s win, many took to Twitter and hailed her for this astounding success, despite coming from a humble background.
According to the election affidavit filed by her, Chandana’s assets amount to just Rs 31,985, while her husband’s assets worth meager Rs 30,311. Chandana’s husband works as a mason for daily wages. Chandana, a mother of three children, along with her husband also owns three cows and three goats.
During an interaction with ANI in March, earlier this year, she said, “Before the tickets were announced I had no idea that I would be selected as a candidate in the legislative assembly polls. Many people encouraged me to apply for a nomination online, but I did not think I would be able to achieve this feat.”
Many hailed Chandana’s win as splendid and inspiring. Check out some of the reactions of people on Twitter.
Congratulations on a splendid & inspiring victory Smt.Chandana Bauri ji.@BJP4Bengal https://t.co/d1LgtfSfNa
— Sumiran Komarraju (@SumiranKV) May 2, 2021
#Chandana Bauri Is Leading and will Declared Winner within Hours She Is Daily wager @doctorrichabjp Ji https://t.co/3auYYqYb3x
— Shubham Thorat (@Shubham36551970) May 2, 2021
Chandana Bouri from Saltora constituency has won by 4145 votes!Remember-her total worth is ₹31,985 with three goats, three cows and one hut. pic.twitter.com/1pTVxauY7D
— Bengali Babu (@hatecommie) May 2, 2021
Chandana Bouri from Saltora constituency has won by 4145 votes…. pic.twitter.com/LjbelrOBSw
— Abhijit Basak (@Abhijit_Basak83) May 2, 2021
Show her.. victory of this common woman.. chandana bauri Saltora seat.. a woman with no political background, Money powerThis is the reason to smile.. pic.twitter.com/1NR6bp519r
— Sanjay Shrivastava #जय श्री राम (@casanjay_shri) May 2, 2021