News Analysis India

Tag: West Bengal

  • Shiv Sena to contest West Bengal elections, says party as Uddhav gives nod

    Express News Service
    MUMBAI: Shiv Sena has decided to contest the upcoming West Bengal state assembly election.

    Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut and party chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut informed that they had a meeting with Maharashtra chief minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday where this decision contesting West Bengal polls has been taken.

    After the meeting, Sanjay Raut immediately tweeted, “So, here is the much-awaited update. After discussions with Party Chief Shri Uddhav Thackeray, Shivsena has decided to contest the West Bengal Assembly Elections. We are reaching Kolkata soon…!! Jai Hind.”

    Sources in Shiv Sena said that Sanjay Raut will go to Kolkata and meet the cadre and decide how many seats and which one should be contested in the total number of 298 seats of West Bengal state assembly. On the other hand, the BJP is also trying hard to poach the Trinamool Congress Party lawmakers ahead of the polls.

    Interestingly, Shiv Sena is the alliance partner of the Congress and the NCP, but in West Bengal, it has decided to go solo rather than tying with any political front. Congress has decided to ally with the Left front.

    Sources in Sena said that the Sena leadership knew that they will not win any seats, but its main intension is to damage the BJP by eating the Hindu votes. “The BJP and the Shiv Sena share the same ideology and so Sena has calculations that if they contest that they will surely damage the prospect of the BJP in West Bengal. Besides, it has no shortage of resources now. Therefore, the Sena is likely to field the candidates where the BJP is strong. Besides, Sena has also planned to attract the disgruntled leaders and prospective candidates in BJP who will be denied the tickets in the polls,” the source added requesting anonymity.

    Sena will not fight to win the elections but to damage the chances of the BJP. “But the voters are shrewd and they will not vote to Sena. People generally vote to the main competitors but there are some sections that go with the local leaders. If the Sena gets such strong local leaders and in the multi contest, the victory margin is always thin so the candidates of Sena grabbing the small numbers of the vote can cost heavy to BJP. It is very difficult to predict everything now. But Sena will do everything to damage BJP and help incumbent chief minister Mamata Banerjee.”

  • BJP to scan TMC defectors before induction in West Bengal

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA:  A week after BJP chief JP Nadda visited West Bengal and asked the party’s core panel to list reasons for a large-scale migration from the Trinamool, the party brass has decided to tweak its strategy of embracing all and sundry.

    Instead, it has recommended that the defectors should be scanned before their induction into the saffron camp. The party’s change of stance came at the instance of Home Minister Amit Shah who met Bengal functionaries on Friday night in Delhi.

    The rethink came a few days after the RSS, in its three-day workshop in Ahmedabad, raised questions on the mass induction of all TMC defectors in the BJP.

    ALSO READ: TMC MLA Tapas Roy holds Congress responsible for rise of BJP in Bengal

    The “surveillance” is said to be aimed at addressing two issues: stem disgruntlement among the party’s old workers and blunt the attack of the ruling party labelling the saffron camp as a ‘washing machine’ for tainted TMC functionaries. The state BJP has made inroads into the state on the basis of anti-TMC vote share.

    A section of BJP leaders said the mass inclusion in the party will send out a wrong message to the party’s anti-TMC vote-bank.

    “The leadership wants us to examine the prospective defector’s antecedents, their image in public and their winning chances in the Assembly elections due in a few months. Many TMC defector MLAs had failed to secure a lead in their Assembly constituencies in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections,” said a senior BJP leader.

    ALSO READ: Amit Shah meets Bengal team to sharpen victory focus

    In response to Nadda’s curiosity about exodus from the TMC, the members of the core committee, in a meeting with the BJP chief in Burdwan on January 9, said the turncoats are either aspiring to contest in the Assembly elections on saffron camp’s tickets or looking for berths in the hierarchy.

    “The party’s national leadership has realised that the TMC MLAs are shifting their political alignment towards the BJP with an aim to get ticket and contest in the elections and their followers are looking for berths in the hierarchy. There are incidents of clashes between the party’s old workers and newcomers. If we continue welcoming all defectors, our intra-party dissent will become prominent before the polls,” said another BJP leader.

    BJP’s Bengal observer Kailash Vijayvargiya had said two days ago that at least 41 TMC MLAs are queuing up to join the saffron camp. But, state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh has made it clear that the newcomers would have to go through the party scanner.

    ALSO READ: West Bengal will drown in Ganga if BJP comes to power – TMC

    “We will not induct all. A final decision will be taken by the national leadership after scrutiny,” he said.

    Now, Forest Minister Rajib Banerjee says he is unhappy

    Forest Minister Rajib Banerjee, in a Facebook Live session, expressed his unhappiness on Saturday saying the party leadership did not pay any heed to the lower-tier workers. He also alleged he was stopped on many occasions when he tried to do something for the common people.

  • To popularise solar energy, Bengal allows net metering for individual households

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: In a bid to popularise solar energy in the state, the West Bengal government has allowed net metering for individual household rooftop solar panels starting from 1 KW, an official said.

    Earlier institutional, commercial, industrial and cooperative housing were only allowed the benefit of net metering and that too for 5 KW capacity onward.

    The West Bengal Electricity Regulatory Commission in its recent amendments to the Cogeneration and Electricity Generation from Renewable Sources Regulations 2013 had allowed net metering for individual households from 1 KW but had restricted it to 5 KW, a top official told PTI.

    “To boost renewable energy use, we have allowed net- metering of solar power installation from 1 KW to 5 KW. Now there is no restriction and anyone can install rooftop solar panel. Earlier regulations did not allow net metering for common households,” a WBERC official said.

    However, a consumer cannot install solar panels more than its own load.

    That means if a household has an existing electricity load of 2 KW then his installation cannot be higher than 2 KW even if he has space and interest, a WBERC official said.

    The net metering concept allows to set-off the number of units produced from the total consumption and the consumer pays electricity charges of only what he had derived from the grid or distribution company.

    The regulation allows set-off of up to 90 per cent of his solar power generation for any month The new amendment mandates “gross metering” facilities for solar system installation capacities above 5 KW.

    The commercial benefit for a consumer is far less in case of gross-metering compared to net-metering thus making adoption less commercially attractive.

    The Union Power ministry in its model regulation had provided gross metering over 10 KW solar installations, the official added.

  • COVID-19 vaccination begins in West Bengal; great day for humankind, says first recipient

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The COVID-19 vaccination drive began in West Bengal on Saturday morning, with a doctor of a private hospital receiving the first shot, officials said.

    Bipasha Seth is the first person who got inoculated in the state, the hospital authorities said.

    “It’s a great day for humankind. I feel elated to get the first dose,” said Seth.

    West Bengal’s Minister of State for Labour Nirmal Maji also received the Covishield vaccine at the Kolkata Medical College and Hospital, the officials said.

    The vaccination programme started around 10.30 am at 212 session sites, including medical colleges, urban primary healthcare centres and a few private hospitals, they said.

    ALSO READ: PM Modi launches India’s coronavirus vaccine drive, first shot administered

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the nationwide rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination drive via video conferencing earlier in the day.

    Around 1,800 health workers have been selected for inoculation on Saturday, the officials said.

    “Today is a big day for us. It seems we are slowly coming out of the pandemic, which has claimed so many lives. We were in a state of depression for the last one year. From today, we will again relive our lives,” Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim said.

    Hakim said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will hold a virtual meeting with officials at 1 pm to monitor the vaccination process.

    Around 90,000 frontline health workers at government and private hospitals have been enrolled for the first phase in West Bengal.

    Kolkata has been allocated the highest number of 93,500 doses, followed by North 24 Parganas district (47,000) and Murshidabad (37,500).

  • Minibus with picnickers overturns in Jalpaiguri, two killed

    By PTI
    JALPAIGURI: A minibus with around 35 people on board overturned in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district on Tuesday, killing two people standing on the roadside and injuring several, police said.

    The minibus was heading towards Lataguri with picnickers from Ranirhat in Moynaguri when the accident happened on the national highway at Harisheba More in Moulani, they said.

    The driver of the bus lost control and it overturned around 11.40 pm on a group of people standing outside a motorbike repairing shop, police said.

    Two people, identified as Hinod Roy (38) and Pradeep Roy (22), died at the spot, while many people, including those on the bus, were injured.

    The injured were taken to the Moynaguri hospital and many of them were later shifted to the Jalpaiguri hospital because of the severity of their injuries, police said.

    Following the accident, agitated locals blocked the highway for some time.

     

  • Complaint filed against TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee for derogatory remarks on goddess Sita

    By ANI
    KOLKATA: A complaint has been filed against Trinamool Congress (TMC) Member of Parliament Kalyan Banerjee at Golabari Police Station in Howrah district of West Bengal on Monday for his alleged derogatory remarks on goddess Sita.

    In the written complaint accessed by ANI, the complainant one Ashish Jaiswal said the language used by Banerjee in the video clip of the incident, which he received on his phone, was insulting and humiliating for ‘religious Hindu sentiments’ of crores of people in the state and in the entire country.

    “We Hindus think Sita as the Goddess and one of the highest respectable in the Hindu Society, that is all over the world where Hindus live. The aforesaid overact done by Kalyan Banerjee is unconstitutional, illegal, malicious one and not proper and due to such act, each and every Hindu people are in anger and in deepest sorrow and due to such act, there is every chance of bloodshed in the society,” the complaint said.

    While addressing the public rally in West Bengal earlier, Banerjee compared Goddess Sita’s abduction episode with Hathras gangrape victim’s fate saying that Sita said this to Lord Ram “I was abducted by Ravan and not by your chelas or else my fate would have been same as Hathras victim!”

    West Bengal is gearing up for Assembly Election this year for 294 seats. The tenure of the current government in the state is coming to an end on May 30. 

  • TMC-BJP clashes rock parts of West Bengal, few injured

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Clashes broke out between supporters of the ruling TMC and the BJP in several areas of East and West Midnapore districts of Bengal on Sunday, leaving a few of them injured, sources in the two parties said.

    Maintaining that the TMC launched an attack on the activists of his party, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said such harassment would only help the saffron camp grow from strength to strength.

    “With every attack on our party workers, more people would come out in our support,” Adhikari, who quit the Mamata Banerjee camp to join the BJP last month, told reporters during a roadshow in Purulia.

    Workers of the two parties also crossed swords at Bhajachauli in Kanthi area of East Midnapore district, the sources said.

    Local BJP leaders alleged that a few of its workers sustained injuries in the attack, even as the TMC claimed that infighting in the saffron camp led to the clashes.

    Violence was also reported from Marishda in East Midnapore district.

    At Keshpur in West Midnapore, activists of the two parties allegedly fought each other with bricks and sticks.

    Denying the BJP’s allegation, TMC East Midnapore district president Ajit Maity said that his party, in fact, had been “showing restraint in the face of provocation by saffron party supporters”.

  • Making arrangements for free COVID vaccine for everyone in Bengal, says CM Mamata Banerjee

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: The West Bengal government is making arrangements to provide free COVID vaccines to all the people of the state, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said.

    In an open letter, Banerjee said the COVID warriors, including police, home guards, civil defence volunteers, correctional home and disaster management employees, will be administered the vaccine on a priority basis.

    “I am happy to inform that our government is making arrangements for reaching the vaccine to all people of the state free of any charge,” the chief minister said in the letter addressed to the frontline workers.

    Banerjee expressed her gratitude to all the COVID warriors for their selfless service to the people of West Bengal.

    India is set to launch its COVID-19 vaccination drive from January 16 with priority to be given to nearly three crore healthcare and frontline workers across the country.

    The chief minister’s announcement of free vaccination for everyone comes months ahead of the assembly elections, which are likely to be held in April-May.

    Earlier, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had made a similar announcement.

    The southern state will also go to polls along with Bengal.

    The Bihar government has also given the cabinet nod to provide free vaccine to every citizen of the state, a promise the BJP made in its manifesto for the assembly elections held in October-November.

  • JP Nadda to launch campaign to woo farmers during daylong visit to Bengal on January 9

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Almost a month after his convoy came under attack, BJP national president JP Nadda will be visiting West Bengal’s Purba Bardhaman district on Saturday to launch the party’s new campaign aimed at wooing farmers, amid the ongoing protest over the contentious agriculture laws.

    The top BJP leader, during his daylong visit, would also hold a rally at Katwa and a roadshow at Bardhaman town, which would be followed by a press conference, sources in the saffron camp said.

    Nadda, in a bid to blunt opposition camp’s “anti-farmer” allegations against the BJP-led central government, will float ‘Ek Muthi Chawal’ (a fistful of rice), a project under which he would collect rice from farmers’ homes and brief them about the benefits of the new legislations.

    Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, are protesting at Delhi borders for over a month against the three laws.

    They have stayed put despite heavy rains and waterlogging at protest sites over the last couple of days, besides severe cold weather conditions prevailing in and around the national capital.

    “After our party president launches the campaign, our cadres will fan out to 48,000 villages of the state, where they will be visiting households of farmers to collect rice and brief them about the new farm laws. Nadda ji will address rallies, have lunch at a farmer’s residence and hold a gram sabha meeting, during his visit,” party sources said.

    There are 71.23 lakh farmers’ families in West Bengal, 96% of them small and marginal.

    According to state BJP, Nadda’s visit assumes immense significance as this will be his first visit to the state after the attack on his convoy during his journey to Diamond Harbour frm the city on December 10.

    The Home Ministry had subsequently summoned three IPS officers to serve in central deputation, following the alleged security lapses which led to the attack on Nadda, kicking off a Centre-State war and leaving CM Mamata Banerjee fuming.

    BJP state president Dilip Ghosh had said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Nadda would visit the state every month until the end of assembly elections.

    Both Nadda and Shah were on a two-day visit to the state on separate occasions in December.

    Election to the 294-member Bengal Assembly is due in April-May.

  • West Bengal poultry farms on alert over bird flu outbreak in some other states

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: An organisation of poultry farm owners in West Bengal has asked its members to be on alert in the wake of a bird flu outbreak in various parts of the country and take preventive measures to avoid the spread of the infection, an official said on Thursday.

    The alert was sounded as a precautionary measure amid reports of the bird flu in some states, though not a single case of Avian influenza has been detected here so far, West Bengal Poultry Federation general secretary Madan Mohan Maity.

    The Centre on Wednesday said the Avian influenza outbreak, has been reported at 12 epicentres in four states — Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

    ALSO READ: Bird flu – Madhya Pradesh govt bans chicken trade with some southern states

    Advisories have been issued to contain further spread of the infection in poultry ducks, crows and migratory birds, the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying said.

    “No bird flu case has been reported in West Bengal and its neighbouring states. With reports of the Avian influenza outbreak in various parts of the country, we have sounded an alert to our members.

    “We also asked them to take all the precautionary measures like spraying of disinfectants, and maintain hygiene protocols,” Maity told PTI.

    ALSO READ: Bird flu – Over 69,000 birds culled in Kerala’s Alappuzha, Kottayam

    He said there was no need to panic, and Andhra Pradesh, which supplies eggs to West Bengal, remained free from the bird flu outbreak.

    The state animal husbandry department officials could not be reached for their comments.

    Maity said there has been “no impact on consumption” of poultry products as of now.

    ALSO READ: Government confirms bird flu cases in Rajasthan, Kerala, Himachal and MP

    “If the spread of bird flu is not contained, people will start avoiding consumption of poultry products, which could impact the sector adversely,” he said.

    Prices of egg and chicken could plunge if demand for such products falls in the wake of the bird flu spread.

    Broiler chicken prices are now ruling at Rs 175-200 per kg, while eggs are sold Rs 6.5-7 per piece in the state.

    ALSO READ: Punjab issues advisory for surveillance of poultry farms, wetlands amid bird flu scare

    West Bengal produces two crore eggs daily as against its consumption of 2.5 crore, Maity said.

    Broiler meat production in the state is about 2.5 crore kgs per week, higher than its consumption of two crore kgs.