News Analysis India

Tag: West Bengal Polls 2021

  • Steer clear of trap laid by BJP-aided party from Hyderabad and its Bengal ally, Mamata Banerjee tells people

    By PTI
    RAIDIGHI/KULPI/TARAKESWAR: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday accused the BJP of engineering communal strife in the state to win the assembly elections.

    The TMC chief, in an apparent jibe at Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM and Abbas Siddiqui’s ISF, also called upon Muslims to steer clear of the “trap laid by a BJP-aided party from Hyderabad and its Bengal ally that are out to polarise votes”.

    Banerjee, while addressing a rally in Raidighi in South-24 Parganas district, said, “The Hyderabad man and his associate in Furfura Sharif (Siddiqui) here want to divide minority votes at the behest of the BJP, and repeat what had happened during Bihar polls.”

    Both Owaisi and Siddiqui have time and again rejected the TMC’s assertion.

    The ISF is fighting the elections in alliance with the CPI(M) and the Congress.

    ALSO READ: BJP cites audio tapes to target Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal

    The TMC supremo also urged Hindus to be on the guard against the BJP’s attempts to “instigate communal clashes” and urged them to chase away outsiders sent to foment trouble in their respective localities.

    Affirming her Hindu identity, in an apparent attempt to counter the minority appeasement charge against her, Banerjee said, “I am a devout Hindu who recites Chandi mantra every day before leaving home. That said, I also believe in our tradition of giving respect to every religion.”

    “I am a daughter of a Hindu household. I know all the mantras that are recited to worship deities such as Maa Chandi and Maa Jagaddhatri. How many of them (BJP leaders) can do that? My Hinduism beliefs are not borrowed from the BJP,” she said.

    Taking a dig at saffron party leaders who visited homes of Dalit voters and had luncheons with them, she said, “I am a Brahmin. But my all-time associate is a Scheduled Caste woman who takes care of all my needs. She also cooks food for me.”

    “I need no advertisement, unlike those who bring five-star hotel food to eat at the courtyard of a Dalit home. In reality, they are the ones who are by nature anti-Dalit, anti-backward caste and anti-minority,” she contended.

    ALSO READ: Mamata Banerjee looking for second seat to contest, claims BJP President JP Nadda

    The TMC chief further said that the BJP, if voted to power, will forcing “many citizens to leave” their place of stay by implementing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

    “They will divide West Bengal and its people. Remember how they deleted the names of 14 lakh Bengalis and two lakh Biharis in the updated NRC in Assam,” she said.

    Banerjee alleged that central forces are visiting homes 48 hours before polling and “terrorising them, asking them to vote for the BJP”.

    “Don’t be intimidated. Mothers and sisters should challenge them. We have no problems if the forces act impartially to ensure fair elections but if they act on behalf of a particular political party, we will protest,” she said.

    The chief minister, who has crossed swords with her former lieutenant and BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram, alleged that there were attempts by “outsiders” to rig the elections in the constituency.

    ALSO READ: Yogi Adityanath calls for Mamata Banerjee’s ouster, says BJP to ensure women’s safety in Bengal

    “Attempts were made to rig the elections in Nandigram. One local hoodlum was accompanied by outsider goons in Nandigram as they went around threatening people. This is their pattern. However, nothing can stop me from winning handsomely.

    “They had brought goondas from Bihar and planned to surround me with petrol bombs but the people of Nandigram foiled that bid as they gathered in my defence in time,” she alleged.

    At Kulpi, during the second meeting of day, the CM said, “The BJP knows nothing about Bengal which worships Durga, Kali, Shiva, Krishna, Sitala with devotion, while also observing Eid with equal fervour.”

    Asserting that it was a matter of shame that “people like Amit Shah are addressing meetings on the land of Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Swami Vivekanada and Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar”, she said, “Whosoever attends public meetings called by these rioters, killers of humanity should be ashamed of themselves.

    “Do you (people) have to attend a BJP meeting if you are offered Rs 500?” She claimed to have received a video clip where a man is seen saying that he voted for the BJP after being given puffed rice, sweets and Rs 500 in cash.

    ALSO READ: ‘Didi now looking for place outside Bengal’ – Modi hits back at TMC’s 2024 Varanasi ‘challenge’

    “On one hand, the BJP has hiked LPG prices, and on the other they are distributing ill-gotten money from PM Cares Fund, Notebandi,” Banerjee said.

    Slamming the BJP government at the Centre for hiking small savings interest rate one day only to “withdraw it the next morning”, she said the decision was taken with an eye on elections in five states.

    Noting that she has come to know that the wife of a severely thrashed TMC worker in Nandigram is worried as “BJP goons have threatened to kidnap their daughter”, Banerjee said, “A Muslim family in her neighbourhood has given them shelter, and that had once again brought to the fore the underlying harmony between Hindus and Muslims in Bengal.

    “The BJP does not represent real Hindus, they are a party of rioters, murderers,” she said.

    Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his recent visit to Bangladesh during the elections, she said “it was his attempt to beg for votes”.

    She said that Modi’s designs will not succeed “as the TMC is deeply ensconced in the hearts of the refugees from Bangladesh, as they have been given land rights”.

    “Please ensure Bengal is not ruled by goondas from outside. If you have grievances against anyone, please keep in mind this is not the time to vent it out by voting for them. This is the time to save Bengal, which can be made possible if the TMC is re-elected,” she said.

    Pointing out that her government stood by its people when Cyclone Amphan struck, facilitating rescue and relief operations on a large scale, Banerjee said, “We had built 30 lakh houses, evacuated people before the disaster struck. We provided relief to the affected”.

    “If some people haven’t received relief, they are exceptions and the matter will be addressed by us. What did the BJP do? They didn’t provide any real help,” she said.

    “Without offering help, you are now making tall claims. We are thieves and you sadhus?” she said referring to BJP’s graft charges.

    ALSO READ: Mamata says AIMIM, ISF paid by BJP to divide Hindus and Muslims

    At Tarakeswar in Hooghly district, Banerjee, while talking about the Partition of Bengal in 1905, and how Hindus and Muslims had together fought against the division, she said, the BJP is also trying to create division and rift” among the people of the state.

    Taking a dig at TMC turncoats, the CM, during her rally in Raidighi, said sitting MLA from the seat and actor Debasree Roy joined the BJP, as she was denied a party ticket.

    “We don’t keep opportunists in our party,” she said.

    Listing her government’s achievements, she said, “Work for infrastructural development in Sunderbans has been undertaken by the TMC dispensation. The state government has taken an initiative to provide egg meal at Rs 5. A steel bridge will soon come up in Kulpi, connecting Gangasagar with the mainland.”

  • BJP cites audio tapes to target Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Citing some audio tapes, the BJP on Saturday alleged that people enjoying “protection” from the Mamata Banerjee-led government have been running an “extortion racket” in West Bengal.

    “What has come out is so ugly that we just wish to say that Mamata Banerjee and her relatives have let down the people of West Bengal. She should apologise and seek forgiveness from people for cheating them,” BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia told reporters here.

    He was referring to three audio tapes shown in a section of the media, and said they feature people considered close to the state government, including Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee.

    There was no immediate response from the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress.

    “Such is the audacity of extortionists that in one such meeting an extortionist who is close to Abhishek Banerjee sat close to commissioner and was making illegal demands from various people who wish to invest or undertake a legal activity,” Bhatia alleged.

    The contents of these audio tapes show how an “extortion racket” is being run in an organised manner under the nose of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led government, he said.

  • West Bengal Assembly elections: TMC candidate Koushani Mukherjee courts controversy as video goes viral

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Actor-turned-Trinamool Congress contestant Koushani Mukherjee courted controversy on Saturday as a video with her purported comment “Please think before you cast votes, you have mother, sister at home” went viral.

    Koushani, who had joined Trinamool Congress two months ago and is in the fray in Krishnagar seat claimed that a part of her comment was taken out of context and put in the video by BJP’s IT cell to give it a different meaning.

    “I had sought to project the fact that Bengal is the safest state for women, unlike BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh where women were raped in Hathras and their parents were shot at for protesting. The BJP IT cell edited the footage for cheap politics,” she said in a statement.

    Koushani also posted a video of what she claimed was her original comment on her Facebook page in which she is seen walking in her constituency canvassing for votes and telling voters “Think twice before voting for BJP, you have your mother and sisters at home”.

    She is also seen saying, “In Didi’s Bengal women are safe. Don’t vote for BJP if you don’t want Bengal to turn into another Hathras in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh.”

    Actor-turned BJP leader Rupa Bhattacharya hit out at Koushani in a post saying, “The utterances of the so called actress turned politicians like you make our heads hang in shame.”

    “An actress should have a refined taste…If you think that by making such an ugly comment you will endear yourself to Trinamool Congress workers, rest assured they will hate your hypocrisy from the bottom of their heart,” Bhattacharya said.

    Trinamool Congress minister Sashi Panja said part of Koushani’s comments were kept in the edited video but not the entire footage.

  • Yogi Adityanath calls for Mamata Banerjee’s ouster, says BJP to ensure women’s safety in Bengal

    By PTI
    FALTA/ KULTULI/ULUBERIA: Calling upon people to oust the Mamata Banerjee government, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Saturday that the BJP, if voted to power in Bengal, will ensure security for all women and create job opportunities for the youth.

    Adityanath, who addressed two rallies during the day, also said that those who had tried to stop Durga puja and Saraswati puja will be put behind bars, if the saffron party forms government in Bengal.

    “You had given 50 years to the Congress, 30 years to the communists and 10 years to the Trinamool Congress, I urge you to give five years to the BJP…We will change the face of West Bengal.

    “The BJP will stop all tortures perpetrated on the women of West Bengal. It will ensure that youths get employment opportunities,” the Uttar Pradesh CM said at a public meeting in Falta area of South-24 Parganas district.

    Raising anti-TMC slogans such as “Doo Maaye (May), Didi gaaye”, (May 2, Didi gone), the senior BJP leader also said that his party will guarantee ration for everyone, provide pension to the old, houses to the poor, while also making sure that the people of the state get to avail the benefits doled out under PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi and Ayushman Bharat health scheme.

    “No one will be allowed to play with the emotions of people. We will see to it that Durga Puja and Saraswati Puja are held in Bengal without any hindrance. Jail doors are open for the ones who wish to stop such religious festivals,” Adityanath asserted.

    Controversy had erupted in 2017 at a school in Tehatta, Nadia district, over celebration of Saraswati puja, with a section of students apparently trying to stop another group from observing the festival.

    In that very year, the West Bengal government had imposed curbs on Durga idol immersion, as the occasion coincided with Muharram, but the high court later eased the restrictions.

    Adityanath further said that properties of goons, who threaten people to have their way, will be confiscated, and they would be made to beg on the streets.

    “In the past, the situation was somewhat similar in UP. Now where are those people (goons)? None will be able to find a single one of them,” he said.

    Speaking at another rally in Kultuli, the UP CM, listing the benefits available to the people of his state, sought to know why government employees in West Bengal were not getting salaries in accordance with the Seventh Pay Commission.

    “Why hasn’t Didi implemented central schemes here? It’s for her that the people of Bengal have been deprived of the doles offered by the central government. What has Didi done for the people of the state other than pursuing appeasement politics? The TMC supremo has just one agenda promoting her nephew Abhishek Banerjee,” he alleged.

    Earlier in the day, Adityanath held roadshows in Howrah district’s Uluberia to bolster the BJP’s campaign in West Bengal, ahead of the third phase of assembly elections.

    Standing atop a vehicle, decked up with flowers and BJP flags, he waved at enthusiastic crowd that gathered along the road in the Gangarampur area of the subdivision where two constituencies — Uluberia Uttar and Uluberia Dakshin — will go to polls on April 6.

    Locals had queued up on both sides of the road and watched the procession, which inched its way through the narrow streets amid chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’.

  • ‘Didi now looking for place outside Bengal’: Modi hits back at TMC’s 2024 Varanasi ‘challenge’

    By PTI
    SONARPUR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday slammed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for branding BJP leaders as “outsiders” (Bohirgato) and said it is an insult to the inclusive ideology of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and principles of Indian Constitution.

    Asserting that Bengal’s “Bhumiputra” (son of the soil) will take over as the Chief Minister after the BJP is voted to power on May 2, Modi said no Indian is an “outsider” in the state.

    “When the British tried to divide us, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose said – India is one, and the hopes and aspirations of every Indian are the same. Today, there is a lot of pain when instead of propagating the ideology of Netaji, TMC and Mamata Didi are talking about Bohirgato,” he told an election rally at Sonarpur in South 24 Parganas district.

    ​ALSO READ | West Bengal polls: Mamata says AIMIM, ISF paid by BJP to divide Hindus and Muslims

    Didi is talking about outsiders. We are all children of Mother India. No Indian is an outsider here. When BJP forms the government after May 2, a son of the soil will become the chief minister, he said.

    Calling TMC a “Taka Maar Company” (an enterprise that loots money), the Prime Minister asked Banerjee to control her “goons”.

    “You keep your TMC goons under check. Explain to them – Modi is here! Their bullying will no longer be tolerated. Bengal doesn’t want violence and terror. Bengal wants education for its daughters and protection, respect and justice for its mothers,” he asserted.

    Referring to some TMC leaders’ claim that Banerjee might contest elections from his Lok Sabha seat Varanasi in 2024, Modi mocked the TMC boss, saying this proves that Didi has accepted her defeat.

    Didi is winning Nandigram. The question of her fighting from another seat doesn’t arise. @narendramodi Ji, retract from your efforts to mislead people before they see your lies with the end of nomination in WB. Look for a safer seat in 2024, as you will be challenged in Varanasi.
    — All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) April 1, 2021

    “Didi is now looking for a place for herself outside Bengal. The people of Varanasi and Uttar Pradesh are as large-hearted as the people of Bengal. They won’t call her an outsider,” he said sarcastically.

    Claiming that Banerjee decided to contest Nandigram on impulse “tao mein”, Modi said, sensing defeat at the prestigious seat, the TMC decided that Banerjee should enter the fray from another seat as well.

    “But some sensible people then told Didi it will be her second big mistake,” he quipped.

  • BJP seeks EC action against West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee for ‘violating’ poll norms in Nandigram

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A BJP delegation Friday met Election Commission officials here and demanded action against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, alleging she violated elections norms in her Nandigram constituency while votes were being cast during the second phase of polling on Thursday.

    The delegation comprised Union ministers Prakash Javadekar, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, BJP general secretary Bhupender Yadav, and the party’s national media incharge Anil Baluni.

    “For the first time in the country’s history, a chief minister sat on a dharna in a polling booth when polling was on. Before she (Mamata Banerjee) sat on her dharna, 74 per cent votes were polled in Nandigram and the polling was by and large peaceful,” Javadekar told reporters after meeting the EC officials here.

    He further alleged as soon as the Trinamool Congress chief sat on the “dharna”, her party workers started pelting stones at the polling booth.

    “We have given all proofs including photographs of her misconduct. A chief minister, which is a constitutional post, sitting on a dharna while the polling was on is against democracy and also against the Election Commission’s norms for polling. Therefore, we have demanded urgent action against her from the poll panel,” Javadekar said.

    The BJP leader also hit out at both the TMC and the Congress for questioning the credibility of Electronic Voting Machines, saying as soon as these parties sense their defeats, they start looking for something to blame their defeat on.

    Later in a tweet, Bhupender Yadav said, “Met poll panel officials with party leaders seeking action against Mamata Banerjee for protesting at a polling booth and provoking TMC workers to disturb peace. Her name must be removed from TMC’s star campaigner list for peaceful polls.”

    The BJP has also demanded action against about DMK supremo MK Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi for his “indecent” remarks against late BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj.

    Udhayanidhi raked controversy by saying that both Jaitley and Swaraj died due to political pressure.

    Chief Minister Banerjee on Thursday visited several booths across the high-profile Nandigram constituency, where she is pitted against her protege-turned-adversary Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP, as sporadic incidents of violence and allegations of booth jamming marred the voting process in the second phase.

    Both Banerjee and Adhikari fanned out to various polling booths in Nandigram to take stock of the situation after reports of stray violence and booth ‘jamming’, a bid by workers of one party to crowd out voters from a polling booth by forming long queues.

  • TMC dismisses PM Narendra Modi’s speculation, says Mamata Banerjee not contesting polls from another seat

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a dig at TMC boss Mamata Banerjee, sought to know if she would contest the polls from another seat, implying her loss in Nandigram is imminent, the ruling camp in Bengal clarified that she harboured no such intention.

    Sporadic incidents of violence, allegations of booth capturing and clashes on Thursday marred the second phase of assembly polls in Bengal, especially in the high-profile Nandigram constituency, even as 80 per cent turnout was recorded till 5 pm.

    ALSO READ: Mamata Banerjee’s body language shows that she has accepted defeat in Nandigram, says PM Narendra Modi

    The EC has sought a report in connection with an incident in the Boyal area of Nandigram — where the feisty TMC chief was held up for more than two hours following a siege allegedly laid by saffron camp supporters.

    BJP leader Jaiprakash Majumdar, echoing the prime minister, said that Banerjee is “likely to contest from another seat after sensing defeat in Nandigram”, an assertion rejected by the TMC leadership.

    Slamming the BJP for “causing disturbance” in the high-stake constituency — where the chief minister is pitted against her protege-turned-adversary Suvendu Adhikari — TMC MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said the PM must “apologise for such wild and baseless claims”.

    ALSO READ: Battle for Nandigram – Massive face-off between Mamata and Suvendu on polling day

    “What happened today in Nandigram reflects BJP’s frustration. The party will lose the election not just from the Nandigram constituency, but also other seats that went to polls in the first two phases,” he told reporters.

    Another TMC leader, who did not wish to be named, said the question of Mamata Banerjee fighting from another constituency does not arise as she will be winning the Nandigram seat comfortably.

  • Polling was not disrupted at booth no.7 in West Bengal’s Nandigram: Election Commission

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Election Commission (EC) cited the report of its general observer in West Bengal on Thursday to say voting was not disrupted at any moment at polling station number 7 in Nandigram, from where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting.

    In a statement, the commission said “many sections of media have been covering the incident of alleged gherao of Hon’ble Chief Minister of West Bengal and crowding at Polling Station No.7 at 210 Nandigram AC (assembly constituency) today that inter alia resulted in disruption of poll process”.

    It said general observer Hemen Das, an IAS officer, and police observer Ashutosh Roy (IPS) were asked to go to the spot immediately.

    The panel said the general observer’s report was received at 4.06 pm.

    The statement quoted the report: “…Polling at PS no 7 (Boyal Moktab Primary School) is going on smoothly. Hon’ble CM, who is also a contesting candidate, has left the place at about 3.35 pm after staying here for nearly one and half hour. It may kindly be noted that polling was not disrupted at any moment. Till now, 702 votes, out of 943, have been polled. It is 74 per cent.”

    The observer said nearly 3,000 people were there when he and the police observer reached the polling station.

    “All have left now,” he said in his report.

    The EC statement also said a separate handwritten complaint was received from the chief minister via the chief electoral officer (CEO) of West Bengal late in the afternoon.

    The same has been forwarded to Special General Observer Ajay Nayak and Special Police Observer Vivek Dube under intimation to CEO.

    They have been asked to send a report by 6 pm on Friday.

  • PM Modi makes strong Hindutva pitch in Bengal, slams TMC over antipathy for ‘chotiwalas’

    By PTI
    JOYNAGAR: Making a strong Hindutva pitch at the hustings in West Bengal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday attacked TMC leaders for calling those wearing saffron, sporting tilak and choti as “rakshas”, and declared he does not believe in “seasonal faith”.

    He also said a BJP wave was blowing across West Bengal where the party will win over 200 of the state’s 294 assembly seats.

    “Earlier, Mamata Didi had issues with chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’, over immersion of Durga idols. Now TMC has problems with people wearing saffron, sporting tilak and choti (tuft of hair), they are calling them ‘rakshas’ (demons),” Modi told an election rally in Joynagar.

    He was referring to the recent public declaration by Banerjee of her “gotra” (clan), an unusual thing for the Bengal leader to do, during the campaigning for the Nandigram seat. The revelation had prompted Union Minister Giriraj Singh, who sports a choti, to ask,” Do you consider Rohingyas and other infiltrators as ‘Shandilya’ (Banerjee’s gotra) and offer them the red carpet.

    Singh’s comment invited a sharp retort from TMC MP Mohua Moitra.

    “Giriraj says Mamata’s from Rohingya clan. Proud of it. Far better than being from the chotiwala rakshasa clan,” Moitra tweeted.

    Singh often identifies himself as “Shandilya” on social media.

    The prime minister also hit back at the TMC for calling his Bangladesh trip unethical and violative of the model code of conduct for elections and defended his visits to temples there.

    The TMC had written to the Election Commission alleging that Modi’s recent visit to Bangladesh violated the model code of conduct in place for the West Bengal Assembly polls and some of his programmes there were “intended to influence the voting pattern” in certain constituencies.

    “I visited one of the 51 Shaktipeeth Jeshoreshwari Kali temple in Bangladesh. TMC has taken umbrage.

    Is it wrong to pay obeisance to Shri Harichand Thakur (founder of the Matua sect) at Orakandi? “I don’t believe in showing seasonal faith (shraddha). We always take pride in our faith and tradition,” he asserted.

    The Matuas, a Dalit community, wields considerable influence in several districts of West Bengal and can tilt the scales in favour of any party in quite a few seats.

    He also mounted a scathing assault on the TMC supremo for her accusations against “people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh”.

    “You have taken oath of the Constitution which doesn’t permit you to speak against other states or people of other states,” he said, obviously referring to Banerjee’s claim that BJP has brought goons from UP and Bihar to influence the ouctome of the election in Nandigram where she is pitted against her former confidante-turned-rival Suvendu Adhikari.

    Taunting Banerjee for her decision to relinquish her Bhawanipore seat and contest from Nandigram, Modi said she is now realising that she committed a mistake.

    “The mood that prevails indicates Nandigram is doing at the very outset what Bengal wants to do,” he said.

    Nandigram is among the state’s 30 assembly seats where polling is underway on Thursday.

    The prime minister said Banerjee’s appeal to 14 leaders of other parties to unite against the BJP stemmed from her anxiety over impending defeat.

    “She is seeking support from people who in her eyes are outsiders and tourists and whom she would not have the time to meet earlier,” Modi said.

    “For Didi, Bengal is a playground, but for BJP the state will be the ground for development, education and industries,” he said.

  • Complaint filed in court against Mamata Banerjee for ‘goons from Bihar’ remark

    By PTI
    MUZAFFARPUR: A complaint was filed on Thursday against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee before a court here, assailing the alleged disparaging remarks she recently made about people from Bihar during campaigning for assembly elections.

    The petition was filed before the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate by Sudhir Kumar Ojha, a local advocate, who took exception to the TMC supremo speaking about “goons from Bihar and UP” being brought in by the BJP, which has emerged as the principal challenger to her party.

    Ojha, known for frequently coming up with petitions against politicians, movie stars and foreign heads of state, few of which go past the admission stage, has prayed for directions to the police that an FIR be lodged against Banerjee.

    He has sought lodging of a case against Banerjee under IPC sections 147 and 148 (rioting), 295 and 295(A) (deliberate insult) and 511 (attempt to commit an offence).

    The matter is likely to come up for hearing on April 8.