News Analysis India

Tag: West Bengal Polls 2021

  • Bengal assembly polls should be violence-free, says governor Jagdeep Dhankhar

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his death anniversary and said that the assembly elections due in April-May should be devoid of violence.

    The Father of the Nation had preached for non-violence and it should be adhered to in the polls, he said.

    “In the coming polls in 2021, we have the opportunity to make it free of bloodshed and violence. The coming polls should not be blood-stained like the 2018 (panchayat) polls. There should be a complete air of non-violence and peace this time,” Dhankhar said.

    He told reporters that he was not speaking from “political considerations”.

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    While politicians will be engaged in politics, his aim is to safeguard the Constitution and save democracy, Dhankhar said after paying homage at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi on Mayo Road in Kolkata.

    “Everyone must follow Gandhiji’s motto of non- violence. He was an ambassador of peace,” he said.

    Reacting to this, West Bengal minister Bratya Basu said, the governor “must have uttered these words keeping in mind that Gandhiji was gunned down by fascist forces on this day. In our state, we will always keep resisting such forces.”

    Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead on this day in 1948 by Nathuram Godse.

    His death anniversary is observed as Martyrs’ Day.

  • Mamata Banerjee warns against ‘attempts to instigate riots’ through fake videos on social media

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday warned against attempts by some people to instigate riots through fake videos on social media.

    Banerjee, who was addressing a government function at Netaji Indoor Stadium here, urged police constables, homeguards and civic volunteers present at the programme to be on guard against any possible attempt to spread doctored videos through fake WhatsApp groups.

    “There can be many WhatsApp groups which spread fake messages to engineer riots. Be always on guard against any such attempt to foment trouble,” she told the gathering.

    “They (the groups) are saying whatever they like without verifying facts. They spread falsehoods. Remember they had also branded the agitating farmers in Delhi as terrorists in the past,” Banerjee said without naming anyone.

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    The chief minister announced that 680 former linkmen of terror outfit Kamtapur Liberation Organisation and 420 former Maoists who have surrendered and joined the mainstream are being recruited as homeguards.

    “You had been with different organisations opposed to the government for ideological reasons. Now when you will be donning the uniform and wearing the cap I know you will be forever alert to serve the nation, the people,” she said.

    Banerjee said the next of kin of 530 Maoists and KLO activists, who are either dead in violence or missing, will also be recruited as special home guards.

    Complimenting the police force for its tireless sacrifice during the peak of he COVID-19 pandemic, she said 75 police personnel had died due to the contagion.

    “The government gave Rs 10 lakh to the families of each of the deceased policeman and a job to the next of kin. But no monetary compensation can make up the irreparable loss.”

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    She said the family of each of the 16,000 police personnel infected by coronavirus had been given Rs one lakh each.

    The chief minister said 162 new police stations came up in nine and half years of Trinamool Congress rule and 30 cyber police stations had been set up.

    Banerjee said there will be 10 per cent quota for civic volunteers to the posts of home guards.

    “Our police men are the best in the country – firm in their duty but with a human face. They had donated blood everyday during the peak COVID-19 period when there was a dearth of blood camps. They had risked their lives,” she said.

    The chief minister inaugurated virtually a slew of development projects for the poor and marginalised people under ‘Jagroto Bangla’ programme – a new initiative of the state government.

    The projects included the Adivasi Bhavan for tribals, Lepcha Bhavan and Bonorini Market Complex at Bonhooghly in the city.

    She also handed over keys and ownership deeds to the shop owners and building named ‘Mahatoron’ at the pilgrom town of Tarapith, apart from giving employment to sportspersons in Jangalmahal area of south Bengal.

  • Poll panel tells Bengal cops to shore up law and order

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA: A full team of the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday instructed West Bengal’s Additional Director General of Police (law and order) Gyanwant Singh to execute all pending non-bailable arrest warrants by the end of this month.

    Assembly elections in the state are expected to take place in April. It is learnt that of the 50,000 pending arrests, nearly 12,000 were made in the last four days.

    “Singh reasoned that because of Covid-19 and cyclone Amphan, there were problems in executing warrants. He submitted a list of persons with criminal records, who operate from jails,” said a source.

    The commission also asked Singh to contain violence before the announcement of election dates. The agenda of the meeting convened by the ECI focused on Bengal’s law and order issues.

    Opposition parties often complain of bloodshed during polls in the state. The ECI met other agencies including BSF and CRPF to discuss deployment of forces. Sources in the commission said officials are particularly keen to find out security requirements in Junglemahal and border areas.

    “This time, the commission might ask for additional forces. As the number of booths has risen to 1,01,733 from 77,247, there are chances that the number of security personnel will see an increase of 25 per cent, compared to what was used for Lok Sabha polls,” said a commission official.

    The polls are likely to witness a tussle between TMC and BJP. Leaders of both sides have levelled charges against forces. TMC’s secretary-general Partha Chatterjee alleged BSF was threatening villagers to vote for a particular party, which the paramilitary dismissed. BJP leaders have accused the state police of being partial while imposing rules. 

    Three BJP men held for controversial chants

    Three BJP activists, including the Hooghly district youth wing chief Suresh Sahu, have been arrested for allegedly raising ‘goli maro…’ (shoot the traitors) slogan at a roadshow of party leader Suvendu Adhikari here, police said on Thursday.

    Some BJP activists had allegedly raised the slogan at a party programme in West Bengal’s Hooghly district on Wednesday, following which district police registered a suo motu case and arrested them late at night, an officer said. The three will be produced at a court on Friday

  • TMC cries foul after Cleric floats party

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA: Prominent Islamic cleric Abbas Siddiqui of Furfura Sharif in Hooghly district on Thursday launched a political party named Indian Secular Front (ISF), announcing his intent to enter the fray for the upcoming assembly elections in the state. This is seen in certain quarters as a threat to chip away at the ruling Trinamool Congress’s minority vote base.

    Unveiling the new entity’s green and navy blue flag, Siddiqui said the party will announce later how many seats it will contest in. He did not rule out an alliance with the CPI(M) and Congress.

    “Our party’s prime agenda will be betterment of Muslims and those who belong to other backward classes. The CPI(M) and Congress have sent fillers. Both asked me to float the party first,” said Siddiqui.

    Political observers likened ISF to the AIMIM, which won five seats in the Bihar assembly elections, along the Bengal border region. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi had met  Siddiqui at Furfura Sharif earlier this month and said his party would contest elections in Bengal under the leadership of the cleric.

    Asked about TMC’s allegation that ISF’s participation would benefit BJP, Siddiqui said: “I would like to ask the ruling party to answer my question who has brought the BJP in Bengal. The TMC did not keep promises made in 2011. Instead, they triggered communal discord in the state.”

    He also said the door of his party would remain open for all organisations to form a grand alliance and the TMC needed rectification before approaching alliance with the ISF.

    Muslims constitute about 31 per cent of voters in West Bengal and are seen as a vote bank of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

    There are around 125 minority-dominated constituencies and 85 where Muslims voters are above 35 per cent. On his uncle Twaha Siddiqui’s stance against the decision of contesting in elections, Siddiqui said,

    “Most of the clerics in Bengal are with me. If one or two are not, how does it matter?” Twaha is also a cleric in Furfura Sharif. TMC MP Saugata Roy described the development as a strategy of BJP.

    “It is known that AIMIM is working for BJP and the ISF will play the same role in Bengal. But it will not cause any dent on our electoral strength,” he said. BJP spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya said ISF’s appearance would increase the pulse rate of chief minister Banerjee.

  • Alternative policies needed to foil BJP, TMC efforts to turn Bengal polls bipolar event: Sitaram Yechury

    Yechury said that in order to maintain a democratic and secular system, it is imperative to keep the BJP away from the power and defeat it in the elections.