News Analysis India

Tag: West Bengal Polls 2021

  • TMC MP Nusrat Jahan loses temper during roadshow, stokes controversy

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Actor and TMC MP Nusrat Jahan has courted controversy after she apparently lost cool and abandoned a roadshow midway in North 24 Parganas district, contending that she does not take part in any rally that lasts over an hour, even if it is in support of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

    Jahan, who was recently campaigning for TMC candidate Narayan Goswami at Guma in Ashoknagar segment, suddenly refused to take part in the roadshow notwithstanding party workers’ fervent pleas to stay back.

    “I am participating in the roadshow for more than an hour, (which) I don’t do even for the chief minister; Are you joking?” the Basirhat MP could be heard telling TMC supporters.

    Goswami later said that Jahan had suffered a sprain due to which she could not continue to be a part of the roadshow.

    Looking to seize the initiative, opposition BJP posted a video of the episode on Twitter with the hashtag ‘#MamataLosingNandigram’.

    Banerjee is locked in a fierce contest with her protege-turned-adversary and BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district, which will go to polls in the second phase on April 1.

  • TMC hints at role of BJP insider in leaking ‘Mukul Roy-Shishir Bajoria audio clip’

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress on Sunday hinted that the audio tape in which BJP national vice-president Mukul Roy purportedly told another leader Shishir Bajoria about how to influence the Election Commission was leaked by someone in the saffron camp.

    Reacting to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s allegation that the release of the audio clip by the Mamata Banerjee-led party proved that phones of opposition leaders were being tapped in the state, the TMC’s national spokesperson Derek OBrien said that it was up to the BJP to find out who had leaked it.

    “If there is a conversation between A and B, logic demands that either A or B has leaked the information,” O’Brien told a press conference in Kolkata.

    “We were so far thinking that Khela Hobe (game will happen) means the battle between the TMC and the BJP. Now there seems to be another group. Let them (BJP) figure it out by themselves,” he said indicating that there is a disgruntled camp in the saffron party which has leaked the audio clip.

    O’Brien also asked the members of the media to find out who was behind the leaking of the audio tape.

    The TMC on Saturday released to the media an audio clip of the purported conversation between Roy and Bajoria, who is also an industrialist.

    In the audio clip, Roy is heard telling Bajoria to convince the EC to allow polling agents, even from outside a given constituency, to function at all polling stations.

    “See, we have to include this point while meeting the EC. We have to say that this rule that polling agents can only be deputed in their localities should be changed. The only criteria should be that the person is a citizen of the state. The BJP won’t be able to have its agents in a large number of booths otherwise,” Roy purportedly told Bajoria.

    Polling agents of parties, under the existent rules, are allowed only at booths in localities where they normally reside.

    The rule had been relaxed last week to allow agents to be appointed from any part of an assembly constituency.

    At a press conference in New Delhi, the Union home minister hit out at the TMC claiming that the release of the audio shows that phones of opposition leaders were being tapped in West Bengal.

    The TMC claimed that the audio clip had “blown the lid off” the nexus between the BJP and the Election Commission.

    O’Brien said that the poll panel apparently changed the time tested provision at the behest of the BJP which doesn’t have enough people to deploy as agents in every booth and the TMC opposed this alteration.

    “The BJP is literally desperate. They (BJP) have got together all agencies. They are doing this to counter Mamata Banerjee and her development initiatives,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.

    However, no such ploy will be able to stop Banerjee’s victory and “the gas balloon of (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and Shah will be deflated on May 2” when votes will be counted, he said.

    Referring to Shah’s assertion that the BJP will win over 200 seats in the 294-member West Bengal assembly, O’Brien said that the senior BJP leader has a poor track record in making such predictions.

    “Shah had predicted a landslide victory for the BJP in Bihar in 2015 assembly polls and his party got much fewer seats. In Delhi, the BJP had got a few seats in 2015 and 2020 assembly polls. Similar is the case with Jharkhand and Maharashtra in recent times,” he said.

  • High voter turnout in first phase affirms people of Bengal want ‘asol paribartan’: Mithun Chakraborty

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: BJP’s star campaigner Mithun Chakraborty on Sunday said that high polling percentage in the first phase of West Bengal assembly elections affirms that people want ‘asol paribartan’ (real change).

    Around 84.13 per cent of the 73.80 lakh voters exercised their franchise in the first phase of voting in 30 constituencies on March 27, as per an updated EC report.

    The 70-year-old actor-turned-politician is canvassing for BJP candidates in the formerly Maoist-affected Junglemahal region.

    He had joined the saffron party on March 7.

    Sporting a grey kurta with a saffron scarf loosely hanging around his neck, Chakraborty undertook roadshows in different poll-bound areas in Paschim Medinipur and Bankura districts during the day.

    Standing atop a saffron-hued MUV decked with marigold, he greeted people in his trademark style and the crowd cheered him back.

    “The high polling percentage in the first phase affirmed that people of West Bengal want ‘asol paribartan’ (real change). It is coming.

    “I can also feel the palpable enthusiasm among the people who have assembled for the roadshow,” he told reporters at Indas in Bankura district. He also held well-attended roadshows at Debra and Keshpur in Paschim Medinipur district.

    Chakraborty said that people had voted the TMC to power to end the Left Front’s oppressive rule but the wishes of the common man remain unfulfilled as tyranny continues unabated.

    “You are threatened with water supply disconnection if you don’t vote for a particular party. We want this era of threat to end. To bring ‘asol paribartan’, you have to vote for the BJP. Every vote is important,” he told the participants.

  • BJP will win 26 of 30 seats in Bengal, 37 of 47 seats in Assam in first phase of polling: Amit Shah

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah on Sunday said according to the feedback received from the ground, the saffron party will win 26 of the 30 seats that went to polls in the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly election.

    Similarly, he said the party has got clear-cut indications that it will win 37 of the 47 Assembly seats in Assam that went to polls in the first phase on Saturday.

    Addressing a press conference at his residence here, Shah said the peaceful polling and the high voter turnouts are positive signs for the two states and thanked the voters.

    He also expressed gratitude towards the Election Commission (EC) for conducting peaceful elections in Assam and violence-prone West Bengal.

    According to the feedback received from the party workers on the ground, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will win 26 of the 30 seats in West Bengal and 37 of the 47 seats in Assam in the first phase of polling, Shah said.

    He exuded confidence that the saffron party will register a massive electoral victory in West Bengal by winning more than 200 seats in the 294-member Assembly and also improve its tally in Assam.

    Shah also appealed to the people of Nandigram, from where West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee is contesting the polls, to vote for change and a better future of the state.

    Rejecting the TMC’s criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh, he said the visit is to strengthen bilateral ties and has nothing to do with elections.

     

  • Bengal elections 2021: Activists of BJP, TMC clash in Nandigram, three injured

    By PTI
    NANDIGRAM: A clash broke out on Saturday between activists of the BJP and the TMC in Purba Medinipur’s Nandigram constituency — which is set to go to polls on April 1 — leaving at least three persons seriously injured, a senior police officer here said.

    Seikh Sufiyan, the election agent of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, however, claimed that goons hired by the BJP carried out an attack on the workers of the state’s ruling party, a charge denied by the saffron camp.

    “All three, who sustained injuries during the attack, are activists of the TMC. They were rushed to SSKM hospital in Kolkata. The condition of one of them has been stated to be serious,” Sufiyan said.

    BJP goons have “let loose a reign of terror” in Nandigram over the past 15 days, he alleged.

    “These goons have been visiting homes of TMC activists to attack them, twisting their hands and even snatching gold chains. The police, however, are not doing anything about it,” he said.

    Denying Sufiyan’s allegation, the senior police officer said action was immediately taken to bring the situation under control and restore peace in the region.

    Local BJP leaders, on their part, contended that the TMC men are trying to disrupt peace in the constituency — where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is locked in a fierce battle with protege-turned-adversary Suvendu Adhikari.

    “None of our workers was involved in any attack on TMC activists. On the contrary, the ruling camp members assaulted our karyakartas during Suvendu Adhikari’s rallies. The three TMC men, undergoing treatment, must be victims of infighting,” a saffron party leader said.

  • ‘Confront BJP-hired goons with ladle and spatula’: Mamata Banerjee tells women in West Bengal

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Alleging that the BJP was bringing in goons from outside to stop people from exercising their franchise in Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday urged women to “confront the hoodlums with ladle, spatula” and other cooking utensils.

    Addressing two public rallies at Narayangarh and Pingla in West Midnapore district, the TMC boss dubbed bte noire Suvendu Adhikari and his family as “traitors”, and claimed that one member of the household was seen distributing money among people on Friday night, hours before 30 assembly constituencies of the state went to polls.

    “Yesterday, one of the Adhikari brothers was seen distributing money…Women in the area caught him red-handed and asked the police to arrest him. They also handed over 30 goons, all hired from outside, to the police,” she said.

    Banerjee asserted that the saffron party’s fate will be sealed after the first phase of polls.

    “The BJP is bringing in goons from outside Bengal to places where the party has some foothold. I will urge the women of the state to come out with ‘hata and khunti’ (ladle and spatula) and confront the hoodlums.”

    Assembly polls LIVE | Mamata questions PM Modi’s Bangladesh visit, says violation of poll code

    She further requested the Election Commission to ensure that the assembly polls are conducted in a fair manner.

    “Delhi’s Amit Shah wants to conduct the polls in Bengal. With due respect to the Election Commission, I urge the poll body to see to it that the elections are held in a free, fair and impartial manner,” the CM underlined, taking a swipe at the home minister.

    The TMC chief also said that she will be putting up in Purba Medinipur’s Nandigram constituency, where polls are scheduled on April 1, to keep an eye on the activities of ‘Mir jafars’ (traitors).

    Three members of the Adhikari family — which wields considerable influence in Purba Medinipur — have quit the TMC and joined the saffron camp over the past few months.

    Banerjee is locked in a fierce battle against her former lieutenant Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram.

    “I was responsible for giving them plump positions in public offices. they, however, betrayed the TMC and crossed over to the BJP…they were lured with money,” she added.

  • ‘Confront BJP-hired goons with ladla and spatula’: Mamata Banerjee tells women in West Bengal

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Alleging that the BJP was bringing in goons from outside to stop people from exercising their franchise in Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday urged women to “confront the hoodlums with ladle, spatula” and other cooking utensils.

    Addressing two public rallies at Narayangarh and Pingla in West Midnapore district, the TMC boss dubbed bte noire Suvendu Adhikari and his family as “traitors”, and claimed that one member of the household was seen distributing money among people on Friday night, hours before 30 assembly constituencies of the state went to polls.

    “Yesterday, one of the Adhikari brothers was seen distributing money…Women in the area caught him red-handed and asked the police to arrest him. They also handed over 30 goons, all hired from outside, to the police,” she said.

    Banerjee asserted that the saffron party’s fate will be sealed after the first phase of polls.

    “The BJP is bringing in goons from outside Bengal to places where the party has some foothold. I will urge the women of the state to come out with ‘hata and khunti’ (ladle and spatula) and confront the hoodlums.”

    Assembly polls LIVE | Mamata questions PM Modi’s Bangladesh visit, says violation of poll code

    She further requested the Election Commission to ensure that the assembly polls are conducted in a fair manner.

    “Delhi’s Amit Shah wants to conduct the polls in Bengal. With due respect to the Election Commission, I urge the poll body to see to it that the elections are held in a free, fair and impartial manner,” the CM underlined, taking a swipe at the home minister.

    The TMC chief also said that she will be putting up in Purba Medinipur’s Nandigram constituency, where polls are scheduled on April 1, to keep an eye on the activities of ‘Mir jafars’ (traitors).

    Three members of the Adhikari family — which wields considerable influence in Purba Medinipur — have quit the TMC and joined the saffron camp over the past few months.

    Banerjee is locked in a fierce battle against her former lieutenant Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram.

    “I was responsible for giving them plump positions in public offices. they, however, betrayed the TMC and crossed over to the BJP…they were lured with money,” she added.

  • TMC delegation asks EC to bring back rule which allowed parties to appoint only locals as poll booth agents

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: A Trinamool Congress delegation, led by MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay on Saturday urged the Election Commission to bring back the rule which enjoined upon political parties to appoint only people, registered as voters in an assembly segment where an election booth was located, as polling agents for that booth.

    The rule had been relaxed last week to allow agents to be appointed from any part of an assembly constituency.

    Bandyopadhyay told reporters after meeting Chief Electoral officer Aariz Aftab that only locals, living in the assembly segment where the booth was located should be appointed as polling agents by parties “as was the practice earlier.”

    Assembly polls LIVE | CPM leader Sushanta Ghosh, Suvendu Adhikari’s brother’s car attacked in Bengal

    “After representations by BJP, the Election Commission has changed the long established tradition of asking parties to have polling agents from the same locality and this has caused a lot of problems in the booths in the first phase as many of the agents don’t even know each other,” he said.

    The TMC has hence urged CEO to revert to the earlier practice of having polling agents of the same locality which will also minimise the chance of discrepancies and ensure fair polling in the remaining seven phases, he added.

    To a question on EC reaction to TMC’s demands, Bandyopadhyay said “the CEO listened to our points. But did not say much.”

    Asked if he expected a favourable response from EC, he said “our job is to point out issues to them. We believe in democratic traditions.”

    Reacting to claims by BJP that TMC is scared of the outcome as it is fast losing support, Bandyopadhyay said “after May 2 it will be amply clear who the populace prefers.”

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  • West Bengal polls: Fearing violence later the day, early voters assemble before polling stations in large numbers

    By PTI
    MIDNAPORE/JHARGRAM/KANTHI: Polling began at 7 am on Saturday for the 30 seats in the first phase of the assembly elections in West Bengal amid tight security, officials said.

    More than 73 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 191 candidates in these seats, most of which are located in the once-Naxal-affected Jungle Mahal region.

    The elections are being held following COVID-19 guidelines in all nine seats in Purulia, four in Bankura, four in Jhargram and six in Paschim Medinipur, besides the seven seats in high-stakes Purba Medinipur — the home turf of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari.

    CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW LATEST UPDATES OF PHASE ONE POLLS IN ASSAM, WEST BENGAL

    The elections, which will continue till 6 pm, are being held amid tight security with the Election Commission deploying around 730 companies of central forces, guarding 10,288 polling booths housed in 7,061 premises, officials said.

    Each company of the central forces consists of 100 personnel, they said.

    Besides, 22,092 state police personnel have also been deployed at strategic locations, they added.

    Long queues were seen outside many booths even before polling began with people stepping out early to avoid the sweltering heat, besides the uncertainty of being able to cast their votes in case of violence later in the day.

    Most of the voters and political party workers were seen without masks amid a resurgent coronavirus.

    In some booths, the voters were provided masks, while santisers were made available at all the locations.

    The Trinamool Congress is contesting 29 of the 30 seats, while supporting an Independent in the Joypur assembly segment in Purulia as the nomination of its official candidate Ujjwal Kumar was rejected by the EC due to a discrepancy.

    The BJP is also contesting 29 seats and backing ally AJSU Party of Jharkhand in Baghmundi.

    The Left-Congress-ISF alliance has put up candidates in all 30 seats, even as there are “friendly fights” in some.

    Of these 30 seats, 27 were won by the TMC in the 2016 assembly elections, the Congress bagged two and RSP one.

    However, the equations changed in 2019 with BJP making massive inroads in the tribal-dominated Jungle Mahal region, winning all five Lok Sabha constituencies — Purulia, Bankura, Jhargram, Medinipur and Bishnupur.

    West Bengal has been caught in the throes of violent political clashes between the TMC and BJP supporters which have claimed several lives on both sides over the last few days, prompting the Election Commission to deploy such a massive number of central forces.

    Tension was palpable at Tulsidi village in Purulia’s Bandwan as an election vehicle was set on fire hours before the polling began.

    Forces are at present keeping a close vigil in the area, surrounded by forests that were once the hideouts of Maoists, officials said.

    Total 73,80,942 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the first phase. Of them, 37,52,938 are male and 36,27,949 female, while there are 55 third gender voters.

    West Bengal is voting in eight phases for 294 seats. The votes will be counted on May 2.

  • Heavy security deployment for first phase of West Bengal Assembly polls

    By ANI
    KOLKATA: Taking into account that elections in West Bengal have been historically marred by violence, a total of 732 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) have been deployed in the state for the first phase of elections, confirmed Vivek Dubey, Special Police Observer.

    Thirty seats go to the polls in the first phase and include all constituencies in Purulia and Jhargram and some seats from Bankura, Purba Medinipur and Paschim Medinipur districts.

    Both Trinamool Congress and BJP have often accused each other of killing their party cadres. The BJP has accused the Trinamool Congress government of the murder of over 130 party workers.

    Due to the possibility of violence, elections are being held in eight-phases for 294-member Assembly.

    In the first phase, Kathi Uttar-Vaja Chawli, Pataspur, Khejuri, Saltora, Raipur, Lalgarh, Jhargram, Salboni, Garhbeta, Balarampur and Kashipur are the sensitive areas.

    The state had reportedly witnessed nearly 700 cases of violence during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

    Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and Deputy Election Commissioner Sudip Jain had on Tuesday reviewed poll preparedness ahead of the first phase.

    The first phase of polling will decide the electoral fate of 191 candidates including 21 women. Some prominent names in the first phase of polling include Srikanto Mahato, Rajib Lochan Saren and Uttam Barik of TMC and Rabindranath Maity, Chandana Bauri and Rajib Kundu from BJP.

    Congress has fielded five candidates for the first phase – Nepal Mahato from Baghmundi, Shiu Maiti from Bhagabanpur, Uttam Banerjee from Balarampur, Manas Kumar Karmahapatra from Egra and Partha Pratim Banerjee from Purulia.

    TMC had won 27 out of these 30 seats in the 2016 elections and BJP was not a major player in the last polls. However, the party has gained in strength in the past five years and has emerged as the main challenger to the ruling party which has won two successive assembly polls.

    The BJP won 18 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections against 22 won by the TMC. Congress had won two seats going to the polls in the first phase and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) had won one seat.

    Elections to the 294-member state assembly will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.