News Analysis India

Tag: West Bengal

  • Mamata sets up commission to probe Pegasus snooping row

    By Express News Service
     KOLKATA: The West Bengal government set up a two-member inquiry commission to probe the Pegasus snooping controversy. 

    The panel will probe the illegal hacking, tracking, and recording of mobile phones in Bengal announced CM Mamata Banerjee. She said her government has set up the commission as the Centre was reluctant to probe into the spyware row.

    Mamata alleged that the Centre cloned a meeting between her and Prashant Kishor, the election strategist who was hired by the TMC for the 2021 Assembly elections, and it came to light when Kishor got his phone audited. 

    Bengal is the first state in the country which set up an inquiry commission to probe the alleged Pegasus snooping.

    “They (Centre) is reluctant to conduct a probe into the snooping using Pegasus. When all are demanding a probe, they are showing no interest. Our inquiry commission comprises retired Supreme Court judge MB Lokur and former chief justice of Kolkata High Court Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya,” said Mamata.

    ALSO READ | West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee​ leaves for Delhi on five-day visit; will meet opposition leaders

    While addressing a virtual rally on July 21, the TMC’s annual event to observe Martyr’s Day, Mamata requested the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of the alleged snooping using Israeli software. She also displayed her cellphone with both the front and rear cameras covered with leucoplast.

    “A few days back, I held a meeting with Prashant Kishor and some others. They (Centre) cloned the meeting. He (Kishor) got his cellphone audited and came to know one of our meetings was known to them through Pegasus software. Pegasus is dangerous. They are harassing people. Sometimes I cannot speak to anyone. I cannot talk to chief ministers of Delhi or Odisha,” Mamata said before flying to Delhi on Monday.        

    Mamata’s decision to set up the inquiry commission at a time when the national politics is centred around the alleged snooping using the Israeli spyware. Political observers in Bengal said the setting up the commission will intensify her anti-BJP stance aiming to bring all opposition parties under one umbrella to form a united front against the saffron camp ahead of the 2024 general elections.

    Taking a jibe at Mamata’s move, BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya tweeted: “Why are we even surprised that Mamata Banerjee has constituted a judicial commission to investigate bogus ‘Pegasus Project’? Her priorities have always been warped. If only she had shown such alacrity to probe post-poll violence and investigate several Covid scams in Bengal.”

  • West Bengal government has formed inquiry panel to look into Pegasus row: CM Mamata Banerjee

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said her government has formed a two-member inquiry commission to look into allegations of snooping on politicians, officials and journalists using Israeli spyware Pegasus.

    The decision to form a panel, with retired judges as its members, was taken at a special cabinet meeting chaired by the chief minister during the day.

    “We thought the Centre would form an inquiry commission or a court-monitored probe would be ordered to look into this phone-hacking incident. But the Centre is sitting idle..So we decided to form a ‘commission of inquiry’ to look into the matter,” she said at a press conference here.

    The two-member commission will be headed by former Calcutta High court Chief Justice Jyotirmay Bhattacharya. Former Supreme Court judge Madan Bhimrao Lokur is its other member. “Names of people from West Bengal have figured on the Pegasus target list. The Centre is trying to snoop on everyone. The commission will find out details about this illegal hacking,” the CM added.

    A massive political row erupted in the country and other parts of the globe after media reports claimed that the Pegasus spyware was used to infiltrate phones and conduct surveillance on political leaders, government officials and journalists.

  • West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee​ leaves for Delhi on five-day visit; will meet opposition leaders

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday left for Delhi on a five-day visit, where she is slated to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several front-ranking opposition leaders.

    The Trinamool Congress supremo, who apparently seeks to take up a larger role in national politics prior to the 2024 Lok Sabha election, is visiting Delhi for the first time after leading her party to power in West Bengal for the third time in a row.

    The BJP’s West Bengal unit alleged that Banerjee wants to be away from the state for a few days as she is facing criticism over the fake COVID vaccination scandal, post-poll violence and other issues. Her efforts to unite opposition parties will not succeed, state BJP president Dilip Ghosh claimed.

    After attending a special state cabinet meeting, the chief minister left for the national capital. She did not talk to newspersons at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata.

    Banerjee told reporters earlier that the PM has given time to her for a meeting later this week while she would also like to call on President Ram Nath Kovind. However, she had refused to disclose details of her proposed meeting with Modi.

    TMC sources said that during her visit from July 26-30, she may also go to Parliament where the monsoon session is in progress. The BJP state president told reporters that Banerjee is currently facing criticism from various quarters over issues such as the dubious vaccination scandal, fake IAS-IPS officers and post-poll violence.

    “The state government is bankrupt and she doesn’t know how to foot the bills. She wants to get some relief from all these pressures for some days. She also wants to meet the PM to seek financial help,” Ghosh told reporters.

    He claimed that any effort by Banerjee to stitch a unified front of opposition parties will not succeed. “In 2019, she had invited several opposition leaders to Kolkata but Modi came back to power with a thumping majority in the Lok Sabha polls,” Ghosh said.

  • TMC, Congress close ranks to fight Centre

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA:  A new equation between the Trinamool Congress and the Congress appears to have emerged in West Bengal with the two parties coming closer on the snooping row.

    A day before TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee’s visit to Delhi and her plan to meet the opposition leaders, party’s national spokesperson Derek O’Brien shared Congress’s tweet displaying party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee as a victim of Pegasus spyware snooping. Congress’s Bengal vice-president Diptiman Ghosh said the party has already extended its hand to the TMC. 

    O’Brien retweeted Congress’ tweet which said, ‘PM Modi took the adage, ‘keep your enemies closer’ a little too far. #PegasusSnoopgate’.’  Displaying Abhishek’s photo, the Congress tweet said, ‘Aap chronology samajhiye. Target of Pegasus spyware. Who? Abhishek Banerjee-nephew of Mamata Banerjee. When? 2021. Why? West Bengal elections. Modi Govt’s insecurities are endless.’’

    The word ‘’chronology’’ was used frequently by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to elaborate the implementation of contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens. TMC leaders admitted that the party’s political stance has changed after the poll victory in Bengal and Mamata’s emergence as a major  anti-BJP leader. “She is now eyeing the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. She is gearing up for taking the TMC into the arena of national politics,’’ said a TMC leader. 

  • Congress and Trinamool shake hands in Bengal ahead of Mamata Banerjee’s Delhi trip

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: A new equation between the Trinamool Congress and the Congress appears to have emerged in West Bengal as the two bitter political rivals are coming closer on the issue of Pegasus snooping.

    A day before TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee’s visit to Delhi and her plan to meet the opposition party leaders, party’s national spokesperson Derek O’Brien shared Congress’s tweet displaying Bengal CM’s nephew and party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee as a victim of Pegasus spyware snooping. The vice president of Congress’s Bengal chapter Diptiman Ghosh said the party has already extended its hand to the TMC.

    O’Brien retweeted Congress’s tweet which said, “PM Modi took the adage, ‘keep your enemies closer’’ a little too far. #PegasusSnoopgate” The tweet, displaying Abhishek’s photo, said, “Aap chronology samajhiye. Target of Pegasus spyware. Who? Abhishek Banerjee-nephew of Mamata Banerjee. When? 2021. Why? West Bengal elections. Modi Govt’s insecurities are endless.”

    #KhelaHobe https://t.co/yi8bs0Q3XV
    — Derek O’Brien | ডেরেক ও’ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) July 25, 2021

    The word “chronology” was used frequently by Union Home Minister ahead of the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections when he elaborated implementation of contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citzens (NRC). “First the CAA will come. All refugees will get citizenship. Then NRC will come…understand the chronology,” Shah had said repeatedly.

    The Congress in West Bengal also softened its stance on the issue of dealing with the ruling TMC. The state Congress president had earlier said that the party would not field any candidate against Mamata Banerjee in Bhowanipore Assembly by elections as the chief minister will have to get elected as she lost in Nandigram.

    On Friday, state Congress vice president Ghosh said, “Mamata Banerjee faced many challenges to reach her today’s position in politics. If she urged all anti-BJP political forces to come under one umbrella, we are all set to respond. On this issue, we should echo the same. We have already extended our hands to the TMC.”

    Mamata will leave for Delhi on July 21 and and she has announced her plans to meet leaders of non-BJP parties. She also requested NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Congress leader P Chidambaram to arrange a meeting while giving a call to uproot the BJP from the Centre in the 2024 general elections.

    TMC leaders admitted that the party’s political stance has been changed after the party’s stupendous victory in the recent Assembly elections and Mamata’s emergence as an anti-BJP leader in the country. “She is now eyeing the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and for this, she is gearing up for taking the TMC into the arena of national politics,” said a TMC leader.

  • Bengal governor meets speaker, says constitutional institutions need to be in sync

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee on Friday met Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and discussed the need for constitutional institutions to be in sync to serve public interest.

    Dhankhar tweeted that the Speaker called on him at the Raj Bhavan here.

    “The two deliberated for an hour traversing issues and emphasizing constitutional institutions need to be in sync to subserve larger public interest,” the governor wrote on the microblogging site.

    Banerjee had recently complained to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla about “excessive interference” on the part of governor in matters related to parliamentary democracy and functioning of the House.

    Dhankhar further said, “Constitutional bodies working in tandem and coordination is quintessential for functional democracy. Democracy blossoms as a consequence of this wholesomeness.”

    “Traditions and practices are our legacy from the past and the same need to be nurtured in healthy manner,” he added.

  • Suvendu Adhikari launches fresh attack against TMC, says post-poll violence eclipsed 1946 Calcutta Killings

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Paying tribute to those allegedly killed in violence unleashed by the TMC after the declaration of assembly poll results, Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly on Wednesday said “what happened in the state over the past two months has eclipsed the great Calcutta killings of 1946”.

    Maintaining that at least 30 party activists were killed by TMC goons since May 5, when the Mamata Banerjee government took over the reins of the state for the third time, Adhikari claimed that the observations made by the NHRC in its report on post-poll violence has “shaken the world”.

    “We expect the judiciary to take action after taking into consideration the NHRC report, which has just exposed the tip of the iceberg.

    Such report will put anyone with a sane mind to shame.

    “What happened in Bengal over the past two months has eclipsed the great Calcutta killings of 1946, Noakhali riots and the Sikh killings,” he said as the BJP observed Shahid Shraddhanjali Divas in memory of the workers allegedly killed in violence.

    Incidentally, the TMC on Wednesday marked its annual ‘Shahid Divas’ with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee virtually addressing people during the day.

    The Mamata Banerjee-led camp commemorates Shahid Divas every year to pay homage to the 13 Youth Congress workers who were killing in police action in 1993. Banerjee back then was a member of the grand old party’s youth wing.

    Sources in the BJP said at least 175 workers of the party were killed in the state over the past few years.

    The Nandigram MLA further said the TMC was under the impression that “such attacks, abetted by the state police, would decimate the BJP in the state, but they are mistaken”.

    In a jibe at the ruling party, he said, “A section of milk-giving cows of Didi (CM Mamata Banerjee)  actively launched attacks on scheduled caste men and women among others. One shudders to think the kind of torture women had to endure. The NHRC could not take note of several complaints due to paucity of time.”

    The BJP has built safe homes for its 25,000 homeless party workers, supporters and their families, he stated.

    The saffron camp legislator, in yet another dig at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, said, “She had gone all the way to Nandigram from Bhawanipore to contest elections. After being rejected by people there, she is now desperate to get elected to the Assembly, notwithstanding the COVID-9 situation.

    “Setting a new precedent, a non-MLA CM is running the state. We will surely dislodge this government one day. From three, our tally has increased to 77 in the Assembly.”

    He sought to know why the “ruling dispensation isn’t keen on holding long-overdue municipal polls”.

    “In her party, there is only one post and the rest are lamp posts,” he claimed.

  • JNV principal, teacher among 8 arrested for child trafficking; incident sparks political slugfest

    By PTI
    BANKURA: The principal and a teacher of a Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV) in West Bengal’s Bankura district were among eight people arrested for allegedly attempting to traffic five children, police said on Monday.

    The incident has sparked a political slugfest between the BJP and the TMC, with state minister Shashi Panja accusing a senior BJP leader of having a connection with the racket, and the saffron party dismissing the charge and calling it an attempt at mudslinging “just for the sake of opposition”.

    The racket was unearthed when a local panchayat chief noticed two children crying when they were asked by some people to get inside a car on the JNV campus in Kalapathar locality in Bankura Sadar police station area on Sunday, an officer said.

    The panchayat chief enquired with the car occupants, and upon finding a discrepancy in their answers, informed the locals.

    The principal, on the other hand, attempted to escape from the area, following which locals blocked the roads, he said.

    The principal, a teacher, and three others were arrested from the spot, and three more people were later nabbed from Durgapur in neighbouring Paschim Bardhaman district, Bankura Superintendent of Police Dhritiman Sarkar said.

    Three girls and two boys were also rescued from the spot and sent to a safe home, he said.

    An investigation is underway to find out where the children were being trafficked to, the officer said.

    The accused people were produced before the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate during the day, which remanded three of them, including the principal, to five-day police custody, and the remaining five to 14-day judicial custody.

    The arrested people have been booked under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.

    Sharing a purported photograph of the principal with a BJP MP from the area, state Women and Child Development and Social Welfare Minister Dr Shashi Panja tweeted: “Murky stories of @BJP4Bengal doesn’t seem to end! Principal of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Bankura has been accused in a child trafficking case. Alarming connection with BJP MP. Does BJP give shelter to such known criminals?!” PTI, however, could not independently verify the authenticity of the image.

    Dismissing the allegation as baseless, Bankura’s BJP MLA Niladri Sekhar Dana said, “Protection of the school is the state government’s responsibility. Dr Shashi Panja is levelling baseless allegations just for the sake of opposition. But the truth will come out.”

    The BJP MP in question, however, could not be contacted for a comment.

  • West Bengal minister Sadhan Pande ‘very critical’ in hospital

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal minister Sadhan Pande, who is in hospital with a severe infection in lungs, continued to be very critical on Sunday, officials said.

    Pande, the minister for Consumer Affairs, and Self Help and Self Employment, continued to be on ventilator support, an official of the private hospital said.

    “Mr Pande’s condition continues to be very critical. Doctors are keeping him under constant watch at the ICU,” he said.

    The senior TMC leader was rushed to the hospital on Friday night in a semi-conscious state after he complained of chest pain and severe breathing issues.

    Pande has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and renal disorders, the hospital official said.

    A four-member medical team, which included an endocrinologist, is treating him.

  • Inter-faith couple in West Bengal forced to leave village, probe on

    By PTI
    RAMPURHAT: A newly-married inter-faith couple had to leave their village in West Bengal’s Birbhum district and take shelter elsewhere after being allegedly threatened by the family of the woman.

    Police on Sunday said they are investigating the matter.

    The couple, both residents of a village in the Nalhati police station area, got married on June 25 after a love affair that went on for years.

    The husband claimed that the woman’s family refused to accept the marriage and has been threatening them ever since.

    “They are not allowing us to enter the village. I wrote a letter to the Nalhati police station on July 13 but there was no help,” he alleged.

    The couple left their home and took shelter at a relative’s house in another village.

    Meanwhile, the woman’s father filed a complaint of kidnapping against his son-in-law.

    Birbhum’s Superintendent of Police Nagendra Tripathi said, “We are investigating the matter.”