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No need to worry about NRC, NPR & CAA as refugee colonies in Bengal are recognized, states Mamata Banerjee

MaamatA

On Tuesday, while addressing a rally in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that refugee colonies have been recognized in the state, and that no one needs to fear the National Register of Citizens, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Population Register.

Banerjee also accused the BJP of trying to convert West Bengal into “riot-torn” Gujarat and dared the Union government to impose President’s Rule in the state. “BJP has created a new religion of riots and hatred among communities,” she alleged.

Also See: West Bengal election 2021: battleground for TMC and BJP

The TMC supremo reiterated that BJP-national president J P Nadda’s convoy was not attacked and wondered why “convicted criminals” were accompanying him. “If the BJP and the central government think they can scare us by bringing in central forces and transferring state cadre officers, they are wrong. The Centre is summoning our officers. No one wanted to hurt him (Nadda) or his convoy,” Banerjee said.

The flare-up comes at a time when the BJP-led Centre and the TMC government are locked in a new tussle after stones were pelted by alleged Trinamool men at Nadda’s motorcade. It was also blamed by certain observers that the attack was staged by the BJP men to get a chance of bringing in centre’s intervention.

Banerjee further added, “Why were so many cars accompanying his convoy? Why were convicted criminals accompanying him? The goons who vandalized the bust of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar last year were also accompanying Nadda. People get infuriated when they see such goons roaming free. I dare the Centre to impose President’s Rule in Bengal.”

She also accused the Centre of interfering in the state’s jurisdiction by summoning IPS officers serving under the state government.

Referring to a recent letter addressed to the prime minister by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy over changing the national anthem, the Chief Minister said that the people of the state will give the party a befitting reply if it goes ahead with such a “misadventure”.

In his letter to PM, Swamy had argued that Tagore’s ‘Jana Gana Mana’, which was adopted by Indian Constituent Assembly on 24 January 1950 as India’s national anthem, neither reflects post-independence Indian reality as it contains ‘Sindh’ (which now lies in Pakistan) nor is it clear for whom this was written as the Nobel prize-winning poet composed it in 1911.

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TMC insists that Rajib is still with party after he criticizes the party leadership

A day after state minister Rajib Banerjee lashed out on the party management in TMC, claiming that leaders with talents had been being sidelined, with the party leaders dismissing reviews of rifts, the party insists that he is still in TMC. Cabinet Minister of Urban development, Firhad Hakim stated, “There is no controversy with Rajib. He is very much in our party and will stay with us.”

The new problem in TMC fold, Rajib Banerjee, the state forest minister, mentioned, “Whenever I tried to prove my competence and skill, I was relegated to the backseat. I do not know what happened. Corrupt leaders, liars, and those who do not enjoy the confidence of people are being brought to the forefront just because they are sycophants.” The recent rebel, former state transport minister, Suvendu Adhikari was the last TMC leader who had broken away from TMC.

Few days back, Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had specifically said that those in contact with the Opposition and other parties like BJP were free to go away from the party. “Mamata Banerjee has sent a loud and clear message to all rebels within the party. If they need to stay within the party they will have to work for the party. Those speaking against the party will not be tolerated. She, however, did not name any leader,” said a senior TMC leader who attended the virtual meeting held by Banerjee with TMC leaders from across the state.

Rajib Banerjee had recently lashed out, “It hurts me when I see that those who have the competence and dexterity and are working on ground standing amidst people are not given any importance. Instead, those sitting in AC chambers and thinking that they would be able to fool the people are occupying the front seats.”

This is, however, not the first time that Rajib Banerjee has spoken out against corruption. Earlier this year, he had said the party’s drive against in-house corruption should be aimed at not only ‘’small fries’’ but also against ‘’big fish’’. A senior minister, however, hit out at Banerjee, accusing him of echoing BJP’s stance. Rajib had at one point of time in his criticism compared the TMC with a paradise of fools.

Even as the TMC is desperately trying to fix the chinks in its armour, more gaps are appearing with one after another leader speaking out against the party.

Dilip Ghosh, president of the BJP’s Bengal unit said, “Those who have minimum self-respect left within them, will not be able to work in the TMC. It is because in the TMC party, only those who hail from a particular house in Kalighat are allowed to become leaders. The rest who gave their sweat and blood will always remain as employees.”

Earlier while Mihir Goswami, a TMC MLA had switched over to the BJP, Silbhadra Dutta another TMC MLA from Barrackpore lashed out against poll strategist Prashant Kishor’s team without naming it. Kishor was roped in by the TMC leadership after the BJP made some impressive gains in the 2019 elections.

BJP leaders have already named at least seven MPs and MLAs, claiming that it is just a matter of time before the lawmakers from the ruling TMC in West Bengal resign from the party and join the BJP.

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TMC launches its biggest outreach drive today prior to the upcoming Bengal assembly polls

WB govt

The Trinamool Congress-led government in West Bengal launched one of its biggest outreach drives to connect with people over the next two months, starting Tuesday with a focus on the assembly polls coming year.

A senior official of the state government said, “The Duare Sarkar scheme will highlight around a dozen government programmes and address grievances of those left out.”

Across all 344 blocks in the state at least four camps would be set up in every village and civic body between December 1 and January 28. At these camps, officials would help people with various government facilities, like MGNREGA job cards, health cards, caste certificates, and ration cards.

The Mamata Banerjee-administration has already directed the district administrations to stress on the Bangla Sahayata Kendra, a chain of centres at the grass root level for free information about various government schemes.

Another senior official stated, “The state government has deployed more than 6,800 people across 3,400 such centres to provide information to the people about government projects and facilities and help them access those.”

People can get information of around 240 public services from around 38 departments from these centres, free of cost.

The BJP has criticized the state government over the Duare Sarkar scheme, asking it to clarify if it is a government programme or an outreach programme of the TMC ahead of the elections. The ruling party of the state-TMC is likely to face a stiff challenge from the BJP which had won 40% of the vote share in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and bagged 18 out of the 42 seats in the state.

“This is a revolutionary step taken by our government to ensure that no one is left out. All those who are eligible for the schemes will get the benefits. For example, Swastha Sathi (health scheme) will cover the entire population of the state,” Municipal Affairs Minister Firhad Hakim said while inaugurating a ward office. The 11 schemes will be made available to the beneficiaries through camps set up for the purpose, he said. The camps will be functional from 10 am to 4 pm every day, an official said.

The various schemes promoted in the outreach include the globally acclaimed ”Kanyashree”, a cash transfer programme aimed at retaining girls in schools and preventing their early marriage, ”Khadya Sathi” which aims at ensuring food security for 90 percent of the population and ”Sikhashree”, a one-time grant to SC and ST students studying in classes 5-8 to reduce their dropout rates.

Other schemes include ”Rupashree”, a one-time grant of ₹ 25,000 to poor families during their daughters’ marriage, ”Jai Johar” for the betterment of STs, ”Taposili Bandhu” pension scheme for SCs and ”Aikyashree” scholarship programme for students from minority communities.

BJP leader in the state, Dilip Ghosh stated that TMC is carrying out election campaign and outreach using public money to which a TMC leader retorted that the BJP at the centre needs to answer on its squandering of public money.

The author is a student member of Amity centre of happiness

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Mamata Banerjee on the field campaigning for polls 2021, says Bengal does not bow to money

polls 2021

After an interval of eight months, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee is back in the campaign battlefield for the upcoming state polls.

Bengal CM Banerjee picked Bankura as the venue of her first public rally after the pandemic triggered disruptions and lockdown. This is most likely due to Union Home Minister’s massive outreach in the same turf barely 20 days ago when the saffron party tried to reach out to the tribals. The schedule of the CM was preponed as she took a chopper with TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee.

TMC is now gearing up for the state polls of 2021 where its main opposition and challenge is BJP. Bankura contributes two Lok Sabha seats, both won by the BJP during the Lok Sabha elections only a year ago. As per votes polled, TMC is lagging behind in at least 14 Vidhan Sabha seats which take the Bankura district high on the priority list given its tribal & backward caste composition.

Banerjee speaking to her party cadres reminded them that TMC stands for grassroots & that is what has built its base, the workers. She also asserted that she is monitoring every party activity at each level, further stressing that she is the ‘main observer’ of every maneuver in the party.

Political strategist Prashant Kishor’s teams have been camping in every Vidhan Sabha constituency since months now, keeping every MLA’s details and submitting their reports.

Banerjee said, “The group (IPAC) is helping me. If anything happens in your area, I am the only “observer” not as a leader but as a worker.”

She further added, “There has been a systematic change in Trinamool Congress since its tie-up with IPAC which has irked few leaders within the party & the most recent one being sitting TMC MLA Mihir Goswami who has claimed, that the ‘reins of the party’ are no longer in Mamata’s hands.”

It must be noted that the Bengal CM has been engaged with steep administrative work due to the cyclone & pandemic’s twin attack in the state but now with barely a few months left for her biggest challenge, she has returned to steer ahead the party. She exclaimed, “I will work for the people, and for this party till I am alive.”

Banerjee further instructed her party workers over monitoring and surveillance, “There are few grabby, even though very few in numbers, I am asking all my workers to keep an eye. Who is visiting homes at 02:00 am; who is talking over the phones late at night. Keep all the information. Keep information about those taking their cars out late at night without reason for work.”

Without naming BJP, the CM continued, “those who want to buy Bengal with money, should know that Bengal does not bow before money”. It is perhaps in anticipation of horse-trading before the upcoming polls, a situation witnessed in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka during the state polls.

The differences between West Bengal Minister Suvendu Adhikari and TMC are out in the open when he took out a separate rally from the party in Nandigram. Being a popular face in “jangalmahal” he has remained absent from the CM’s Bankura tour while carrying on his schedule elsewhere. Recently, Dilip Ghosh, had tried to pull Chatradhar Mahato from TMC into BJP, which makes the presence of Mamata Banerjee in the campaigning all the more demanding.

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Bengal election 2021: ‘Insider-outsider’ to be a key theme of TMC campaign in the Bengal polls

Besides development, “insider vs outsider” will be one of the primary themes of the Trinamool Congress’s campaign for the upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal, according to party leaders. Prominent TMC leaders stated that the party, as it tries to retain power in the state for the third time, would push the idea that BJP, which is being seen as its primary competitor, has brought in “people from outside” who do not understand Bengal.

Trinamool supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addressed a public rally in Bankura on Wednesday, her first public rally since the pandemic began, virtually beginning what is expected to be a fierce political contest. A senior Trinamool leader said that over the next few months, the party will emphasize “lack of local leadership in the BJP”. On its social media handles, the Trinamool has already launched a campaign, using a slogan through the election -“BanglarGorboMamata (Bengal’s pride Mamata)”.

A TMC leader said,  “Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is the pride of Bengal. Who does the BJP have to counter her? It is a point the TMC will make: look at the BJP team in Bengal. Amit Shah is leading the charge, the state in-charges are Kailash Vijayvargiya, Amit Malviya and Arvind Menon. They do not understand Bengal. They are only pushing divisiveness while we will push development and the Bengali identity.”

That the Trinamool leadership is not taking the BJP lightly is evident by the selection of the venue for Banerjee’s first rally after the easing of the lockdown caused by the pandemic. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had recently visited Bankura. Addressing a gathering, the TMC supremo described Shah’s recent visit to a tribal household in Bankura for lunch as a “show off” and claimed that the food items served to the BJP leader were cooked at five-star hotels. The allegation has been rubbished by the BJP.

Banerjee also hit out at Shah for apparently mistaking a statue of a tribal hunter for that of the freedom fighter Birsa Munda. Among the 18 Lok Sabha seats the BJP won in Bengal in 2019 are Bankura and Bishnupur, which cover 13 Assembly segments. In the run-up to Banerjee’s rally, the Trinamool has organized a press conference per day on various issues addressed by the different leaders or ministers.

A senior TMC leader said, “Not only in Kolkata, but we are also holding district-level press conferences regularly. This is also to show our bench strength as a party. While Mamata Banerjee is our leader, we have other Bengali stalwarts who are part of the TMC; leaders Bengalis know and recognize. The issues being raised are also positive. Press conference on one day would be on healthcare, another day on what has been done for women.”  This is a direct jibe at the PM who in more than six years of his tenure has not given a single press conference to the media reporters.

The author is a student member of amity centre of happiness

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Desperate for win in Bengal election 2021, Dilip Ghosh asks Chatradhar Mahato to leave TMC and join BJP

Dilip Ghosh

Dilip Ghosh, BJP state president asked Chatradhar Mahato to leave TMC and join BJP.

This is surprising given that BJP leaders like Dilip Ghosh had time and again castigated Trinamool Congress for inducting Maoist leaders into the TMC fold. Taking a sharp U-turn, likely in a bid to up the ante for the upcoming Bengal polls, Dilip Ghosh asked the former Maoist leader Chatradhar Mahato to leave TMC and join BJP.

BJP state president stated that the saffron party would give Mahato respect, instead of the fooling treatment given by TMC. Dilip Ghosh added in his tirade of blames that Mamata Banerjee has betrayed the Adivasi-Mahato community and that people like Mahato should switch to BJP.

Who is Mahato

Chhatradhar Mahato, who had emerged from non-mainstream politics and had led a successful people’s movement, was released from jail in February 2020. In September 2012, Calcutta High Court had granted Chhatradhar political prisoner status along with 8 other activists. This ruling made the then government at centre consider challenging the decision, as they feared that more naxalites would seek ‘political prisoner’ status. High Court had convicted Mahato under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) along with other three PCPA members-Sukhshanti Baske, Sambhu Soren, and Sagun Murmu and had sentenced them life imprisonment on May 12, 2015.

Mahato as the main leader of the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCPA), was arrested in 2009 for building up a movement against the CPI(M) with the help of the outlawed Maoist party. He was convicted in 2015 and sentenced to life imprisonment. Opposing police excesses in Jhargram district, he had led a tribal movement that catapulted him to prominence. At one point, he allegedly coordinated with the Maoists on one hand and the Trinamool Congress’ (TMC) leaders on the other, to build up resistance against the CPI(M) government. Despite being in jail, Mr. Mahato had contested in the 2011 Assembly polls and had bagged nearly 20,000 votes, which was an indication of his popularity in Jangalmahal.

However, following his arrest and the killing of Maoist leader Mallojula Koteswara Rao (Kishenji), the people’s movement in the western districts of Bengal has fizzled out. The TMC also partially lost grip in the backward tribal areas of Jhargram and Purulia.

Importance of his area of influence

In the panchayat poll of 2018, the BJP had bagged 42% and 33% seats in Jhargram and the adjacent Purulia respectively, far higher than its State average of 18%. In the 2019 Lok Sabha poll, the TMC lost both the Jhargram and Purulia seats to the BJP and even the adjacent ones, partly dominated by the tribals.

In this context, many in the area believe that Mr. Mahato can play a significant role in the political future of the area. It was also guessed that he may form a party which can pull a percentage of anti-TMC tribal votes, which in the last elections went to the BJP. This may be a reason why he was pulled into TMC after his release and now being asked by BJP to switch to the saffron party.

It is well-known that BJP is trying tooth and nail to try and isolate TMC on areas like Jangalmahal, issues related to minority appeasement, the influx of Bangladeshis into West Bengal, and policies like CAA, NRC, and NPR. In late October, Bimal Gurung had switched to support TMC in North Bengal, and recently AIMIM state unit chief-Anwar Shah has joined TMC, much to the chagrin of BJP. Therefore, the saffron party is trying to increase its area of influence in Tribal areas to counter such loss. Dilip Ghosh’s attempt to pull in Chatradhar Mahato indicates the level of desperation of BJP to win the Bengal polls next year.

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National General Secretary of BJP states that Election Commission has promised to deploy central forces for Bengal elections

Kailash_Vijayvargiya

On Sunday, November 22, National General Secretary of BJP, Kailash Vijayvargiya, said that a representative of the election commission has promised that central forces will be deployed for the Bengal election 2021.

Highlighting the issue of intolerance, and the law and order condition in Bengal, Kailash Vijayvargiya stated that deployment of central forces in Bengal would allow the conduct of the election next year without any fear. In his statement about the deployment of central forces, Vijayvargiya underscored that Bengal is a challenge. He also added that the police in the state is known to be meddling in politics and needs to be kept aside. He also asserted confidently that BJP would emerge victor in the state polls with a two-thirds majority.

BJP would be entering into a direct head-on battle with TMC in Bengal polls next year over the control of the 294 seats state assembly in Kolkata. CAA and NRC would be among the main issues to be used by BJP to drive ahead its agenda in the polls. Matua Mahasangha community can be a central group that will push the agenda for CAA in Bengal. The Covid19 management, especially the alleged aspects of data fudging would also likely be used by BJP.

Recently, Union Home minister had paid a visit to the Jangalmahal region in an attempt to reach out to the tribal population. The saffron party has also placed a new IT co-incharge, Amit Malviya, especially for Bengal polls to reach out to places where it has no physical presence in the form of offices.

BJP is gradually arranging 23 booth-level organizational activities over the next two months, as per instructions given by BJP General Secretary (Organisation), BL Santosh to party workers. Many of these initiatives are aimed at wooing women voters, considered as a crucial vote base for CM Banerjee.

According to various reports, the party’s mahila morcha (women’s wing) will organize padyatras at every booth and mandal, and youth morcha workers will organize cycle rallies and prabhat pheri (morning rallies).

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BJP asserts that it will transform Bengal into Gujarat if voted to power, while TMC leaders take potshots

MAMATA-DILIP

On Monday, a war of words was triggered between the TMC and the BJP, after Dilip Ghosh (State BJP President) argued that his party would work on ‘turning West Bengal into Gujarat’ once it comes to power in the state.

Taking a jibe at the former Left front leaders in the state, Ghosh stated that leaders such as Biman Bose, & former CM Buddhababu (Buddhadeb Bhattacharya) made sure that people here do not become doctors, engineers but migrant workers who seek jobs in other states like Gujarat. He added that BJP plans to transform Bengal into Gujarat once it forms government at Kolkata.

Ghosh further said, “Didi (CM Mamta Banerjee) constantly blames us of trying to turn Bengal into Gujarat. We say that we will definitely transform Bengal into Gujarat so that our children get jobs here and they do not have to migrate to Gujarat.”

This development comes when Amit Shah visited West Bengal after the poll victory in Bihar. BJP is now gunning for the 2021 Bengal polls. Amit Shah’s visit to Bengal is said to have soothed the nerves of BJP workers who are gearing up for 2021 polls in the state.

Senior TMC leader and state minister Firhad Hakim took aim at the BJP MP and asked him to leave Bengal and to go to Gujarat. Hakim further said that “Around 2,000 people were killed in the Gujarat riots in 2002. If we turn Bengal into Gujarat then people will fall victims to fake encounters. Hence, we do not want to turn Bengal into Gujarat.”

Hakim, in an attempt to hit an emotional chord also stated that this is Rabindranath Tagore’s Bengal and that people really need to decide whether to degrade Bengal’s cultural heritage or inherit the brawl communal politics from Gujarat.

Meanwhile, Ghosh asserted that his party will definitely defeat TMC’s North 24 Paraganas district president and state minister Jyotipriya Mullick in next year’s assembly polls. He stated that Mullick has hoodwinked the people of the state and acquired cut money from them and blamed Mullick of multiple scams including PDS scam.

Jyotipriya Mullick retorted back stating that BJP will draw a blank in the North 24 Parganas district.

BJP has recently appointed a new chief of IT team, more correctly the co-in-charge, Amit Malviya, keeping in consideration the state polls of 2021. Malviya arrived in the state on Monday. Party leaders in Bengal BJP saw Malviya’s appointment as a boost by the BJP’s top leadership for the battle on social media in the run-up to the upcoming Bengal polls.

The author is a member of Amity center of Happiness

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Preparation begins for Bengal election 2021- TMC provides job while BJP comes for lunch

When India is witnessing the three-phase election for Bihar assembly, Home Minister, Amit Shah is busy executing ‘Mission Bengal’. The BJP is hoping to wrest power and control over Bengal from Mamata Banerjee in the next year’s Vidhan Sabha elections.

In this context, the Matua community has once again come under the limelight. Bengal CM Mamta Banerjee made several big announcements for the tribal communities recently. The state government entrusted the right of land to 25 thousand refugee families and said that 1.25 lakh families would benefit from it. The CM had allocated Rs 10 crore for Matua Development Board and Rs 5 crore for Namasudra Development Board.

From the side of BJP, Amit Shah recently paid a visit to a Matua household in Bankura and had his lunch there. Before reaching the residence of Nabin Biswas, a member of the community, Shah went to a temple of the Matuas in the locality where he spent some time. Accompanied by BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvergiya, BJP national vice-president Mukul Roy and state party chief Dilip Ghosh, Shah had his lunch sitting on the floor of Nabin Biswas’ two-storied house at Gauranganagar area.

This trip under Shah’s tribal outreach programme in Bankura district brought good luck to a tribal woman in another part of the state.  Geeta Mahali, who had hosted Shah three years back at her home in Naxalbari village, received an appointment letter from West Bengal government’s home department on Thursday for working as Special Home Guard. TV grabs showed a teary-eyed Geeta shyly showing her appointment letter to media persons who landed at her home after they were alerted by the local TMC leadership. After Shah had lunch at the house of the tribal couple-Raju and Geeta Mahali in a much-publicized event, the state’s ruling party Trinamool Congress (TMC) had managed to persuade the duo to join TMC. This turnaround had caused much embarrassment to the BJP and Shah who was then president of the party.

This provision of job comes tactically at a time when Shah had arrived in a Matua household for lunch in order to coax the community. A delegation of the Trinamool Congress headed by its Darjeeling district president Ranjan Sarkar went to the house of Raju and Gita Mahali, the tribal couple in Katiyajote of Nakshalbari, which is 35 km away from Siliguri. They announced the appointment of Mahali as a home guard. Sarkar claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had given “false assurances”, ‘a castle in the air’ stories, and alleged that no one came to the couple from the “saffron party” during the time of the mismanaged lockdown.

The author is a student of Amity centre of Happiness