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Banglar Disha- After BJP, Indian National Congress releases its manifesto for West Bengal election

Banglar Disha

On Monday, West Bengal Congress Chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury released the party’s election manifesto, titled- ‘Banglar Disha’ for the upcoming assembly elections in the state. Chowdhury launched the manifesto at the party’s state headquarters in Kolkata.

The Congress manifesto came a day after BJP announced its manifesto. The saffron party’s manifesto intends to implement the new citizenship law, ensure employment to one member of every family, set up modern hospitals, spend thousands of crores of rupees for development infrastructure in Kolkata and the districts and support farmers, fishermen, tribal people and backward classes.

Also See: Would West Bengal election really be a three-way fight after the defections?

The Union Home Minister gave elaborations on the manifesto at an election rally at Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas district while addressing the Dalit Matua community which has demanded the law’s immediate implementation. He spoke in Hindi at the rally which triggered reactions from the TMC.

Schedule for the upcoming elections in India (four states and a UT) was announced on February, 26, 2021. In West Bengal, the election will be held in 8 phases from March 27 to April, 29 and the vote counting will take place on May, 02, 2021.

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Sisir Adhikari joins BJP at Egra rally in presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah

Sisr-adhikari

Patriarch of Nandigram’s Adhikari family & a three-time Contai-MP, Sisir Adhikari confirmed the rumours of his joining BJP, ahead of Union home minister Amit Shah’s rally in Egra. He formally joined BJP at the Egra rally in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Sisir said that he was made to switch camps by TMC led by chief minister Mamata Banerjee, against which now he will put up a staunch fight in the upcoming assembly elections in West Bengal to “save the honour of Midnapore”.

Also See: What are the problem areas of TMC and the chances of BJP in this election season in West Bengal

 The Adhikari family, which wields considerable influence in Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district, could play its part in helping BJP gain a rise in voteshare. Sisir’s son’s Suvendhu already joined the BJP in December last year.

Also See: Battle for Bengal gets pithier as election days  are getting closer

Before leaving for Egra, Sisir had said, “They (TMC leaders) forced me to join the BJP. Let them (TMC) do what they want, and I will do what I can.”

The TMC MP had accused the ruling party of “humiliating” him and his son Suvendu, who is locked in a fierce battle with Banerjee in the district’s Nandigram constituency.

Schedule for the upcoming elections in India (four states and a UT) was announced on February, 26, 2021. In West Bengal, the election will be held in 8 phases from March 27 to April 29 and the vote counting will take place on May, 02, 2021.

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Outrage and rampage in Bengal after announcement of new list of BJP candidates

West Bengal is gearing up for a high-pitched electoral battle in coming days, which will witness elections in India in four states and an UT. As the list of the candidates of the BJP candidates contesting the Bengal polls is getting longer with more names being added, violent protests from the local BJP workers in the state are becoming more widespread. Displeased over the list, local BJP leaders & party workers are on a rampage after the announcement of the new list.

Also See: Battle for Bengal gets pithier as election days  are getting closer

From New Delhi office of BJP the next list of 157 candidates was announced. Subsequently, across various districts in West Bengal displeased local BJP-workers started their rampage in the BJP offices. North Bengal saw the first spate of violence. Jalpaiguri and Harishchandrapur in Maldah witnessed violence in BJP-offices.

Also See: West Bengal 2021: Battleground for BJP and TMC

The Jalpaiguri office was set ablaze by the local leaders & BJP-party workers. The table, chairs were smashed and the posters of Modi & Dilip Ghosh were torn down to pieces. District Vice president (Jalpaiguri) Alok Chakraborty said, “The central leadership cannot have their whims and fancies.” Harishchandrapur saw a similar reaction with the party-workers carrying out mayhem at the party office. Slogans of “Dhikkar” were shouted against the North Maldah MP Khogen Murmu. The local leaders there accused that tickets were given in lieu of money. In this context, the TMC leader Mousam Nur stated, “Our (TMC’s) fight became easier in Maldah.” In Sahapur, Maldah, the electoral office was rampaged by around 200 BJP-party workers.

Also See: Would West Bengal election really be a three-way fight after the defections?

South Bengal also saw similar reactions from the displeased party workers of BJP. The party office in Durgapur was locked down. Selection of independent candidates began in order to teach the high command of BJP a lesson. Places like Ranaghat and Kalyani also saw outburst of displeasure of the local BJP-workers. In Murshidabad, demand was raised to change the candidate.

The local workers and the BJP faces are irked that the ones working with BJP for long-time were ignored and others were chosen as candidates. This shows the disconnect of BJP with the ground reality & sentiments in West Bengal.

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UP-CM Adityanath campaigning for BJP had to seat waiting for a crowd that did not materialize at Belda Narayangarh

Belda-Rally

Rallies of the BJP for the election in West Bengal are not pulling in large crowds which has put the party in a fix.

At the rally in Belda, the field was not crowded. Giving a speech in an empty field is very dishonourably inappropriate for a state chief minister. So on Tuesday in Belda, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had to wait a long time to speak. On the same day, he came to Belda to hold a rally in support of BJP candidate Ramaprasad Giri from Narayangarh constituency. He arrived at the meeting place just in time. But the meeting was delayed by one hour due to lack of people.

However, after waiting for an hour, the meeting started but the crowd did not get pooled. Adityanath himself, of course, tried to explain the situation. “I arrived an hour ago,” he said. As expected, he criticized the Trinamool government, saying that the BJP does what it says. Trying to add a religious colour to the rally, he added, “Wherever Lord Rama has been opposed, the people have given worthy answers. They will answer here too!”

Also See: Battle for Bengal gets pithier as election days getting closer

On the same day, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a meeting at Jalchak of Sabang Assembly seat and Chaipat Faridpur of Daspur Assembly seat. At Jalchak, he was accompanied by state BJP president and MP Dilip Ghosh. These two meetings were not as crowded as was expected and drum-beated about by BJP. In both the meetings, Rajnath criticized the Trinamool government. He said that there is a lot of fighting going on here; hence there was no development, and that opponents are not allowed to carry out political programmes.

Also See: Would West Bengal election really be a three-way fight after the defections?

Rajnath Singh added that these will stop when the BJP government comes. He further added, “People will not be victims of political oppression.” Trying to lure the Bengali voters, he also said that as soon as Sourav Ganguly went ahead in the cricket crease, it was clear that he would hit sixes. Singh further added, “You have given us the lead in the Lok Sabha elections. Now it is time to hit a six.”

Dilip Ghosh said that the wife of his brother had won the by-election instead of the candidate of Trinamool congress, and that this time his brother is back again. He also added that this election should start from Pingla (Kharagpur sub-division in Paschim Medinipur district).

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Desperate to remove the challenge posed by Mamata Banerjee, BJP goes to Election Commission-but it is too late

ECI

In a scenario where it is cornered on the farm-laws & farmers’ protests, and when it is struggling to find the remaining 171 candidates for West Bengal election, the only thorn in the path of BJP right now is Mamata Banerjee. Desperate to get her out of the way, the BJP reached out to the Election commission again.

Allegedly, Mamata Banerjee hid the information in the affidavit submitted with the nomination paper. The charge sheet mentions five FIRs filed in Assam, including a CBI case. The BJP had demanded that Mamata’s nomination be cancelled.

Also See: Battle for Bengal gets pithier as election days getting closer

As soon as questions were raised about the affidavit of the Trinamool Congress-supremo, there was a fight in the state politics all day long. But the whole thing turned diametrically opposite in the afternoon. The question, in this case, is whether the Mamata Banerjee, in whose name the cases are being mentioned, is at all the TMC-supremo or someone different.

Also see: Trilateral fight in West Bengal election 2021

The commission is looking into the whole matter. According to CBI sources, a case was filed against an employee of the Central Government-Group D in Durgapur-Asansol under the Anti-Corruption Act. The CBI found a large amount of property in the investigation. On the basis of this, cases related to inappropriate income were filed. Chargesheet was issued in that case against the central government worker and his wife. Coincidentally, the woman’s name was Mamata Banerjee. This case involving a person with the same name has been tangled with the TMC-candidate from Nandigram, which is CM Mamata Banerjee.

Also See: Would West Bengal election really be a three-way fight after the defections?

Even then, the commission officials are reluctant to give much importance to the issue. They say that if the information in the affidavit is concealed, someone else can submit a counter-affidavit. That is also highlighted on the website along with the information of that candidate. However, the nomination papers are not cancelled. Coincidentally, Monday was the day for scrutiny of the second round of voting. So, naturally the candidates of Nandigram have also been scrutinized. In the second phase, 176 people submitted nomination papers. Among them are CM Mamata Banerjee, 30 candidates from the Trinamool Congress, 30 from the BJP, 15 from the CPM, nine from the Congress, two from the CPI and the Forward Bloc, seven from the BSP, 47 others , and 34 independents. At the end of the scrutiny, it was learnt that CM Mamata Banerjee’s nomination paper was not rejected. The commission has rejected the nomination of only one independent candidate in this episode.

Also See: What are the problem areas of TMC and the chances of BJP in this election season in West Bengal

In other words, despite the BJP’s allegations or desperate attempts, TMC-supremo Mamata Banerjee is contesting from Nandigram. However, the Election Commission is trying hard to handle this assembly election, given the allegations labelled against it. The commission has taken steps to remove ADG (Law and Order) Javed Shamim within 24 hours of announcing the eight-phased-voting schedule, unprecedentedly. Javed sat in that post only 21 days ago. After that, DGP Virendra of the state police was also removed.

Election commission did not take lightly the incident of Mamata Banerjee being injured. The Superintendent of Police and the Director of Security have been suspended for negligence in security. The Commission had instructed the Chief Secretary to fix the name of the next Director of Security by 01 pm on Monday in consultation with the DGP. Similarly, Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay sent the name of Gyanwant Singh to Delhi, with the Election Commission having sealed & stamped it.

Also See: West Bengal 2021: Battleground for BJP and TMC

Mamata Banerjee has seriously rattled the BJP-leadership, pushed on a back foot on multiple issues like the farmers’ protests and suppression of voice of dissent, in the context of her being a staunch opponent & vocal critic of the central government, in the face of the upcoming state elections.

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BJP released its list of candidates for the third and fourth phases of the West Bengal Assembly elections

Bengal-Bjp

On Sunday, BJP released its list of candidates for the third and fourth phases of the West Bengal Assembly elections, fielding several sitting MPs and TMC turncoats.

Names in the list include Union minister Babul Supriyo, BJP MPs Locket Chatterjee, Nisith Pramanik and Swapan Dasgupta; and former TMC leaders Rajib Banerjee, Rabindranath Bhattacharya, Prabir Ghoshal and Dipak Haldar. The BJP has also fielded popular Bengali actors Yash Dasgupta, Payel Sarkar and Tanushree Chakraborty, who recently joined the party.

Also See: Would West Bengal election really be a three-way fight after the defections?

BJP national general secretary Arun Singh announced names of the party’s candidates in 27 seats out of 31 for the third phase, and in 36 seats out of 44 going to polls in the fourth phase.

“Names for remaining seats in the third and fourth phases will be announced later,” said Singh, during a news conference at BJP headquarters in Delhi.

Union Minister Babul Supriyo, who is an MP from Asansol, will contest from Tollygunge constituency against TMC heavyweight leader and state minister Aroop Biswas. Standing party MP Locket Chatterjee will contest from Chuchura, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta will contest from Tarakeshwar and another MP Nisith Pramanik will contest from Dinhata.

Also See: What are the problem areas of TMC and the chances of BJP in this election season in West Bengal

TMC MLA and face of Singur anti-land-acquisition movement, Rabindranath Bhattacharya, who joined the BJP last week, has been fielded from Singur. Former state minister-turned BJP leader Rajib Banerjee will contest from Domjur, TMC MLA-turned BJP leader Prabir Ghoshal will contest from Uttarpara and TMC MLA-turned BJP leader Dipak Haldar will contest from Diamond Harbour seat.

Bengali actors Yash Dasgupta, Payel Sarkar, and Tanushree Chakraborty will contest from Chanditala, Behala Purba and Shyampur constituencies respectively. Television actor Anjana Basu will contest from Sonarpur Dakshin seat.

Also see: Trilateral fight in West Bengal election 2021

Reacting to the BJP’s candidate list, TMC spokesperson and MP Sougata Roy said, “It is clear from the list that the BJP does not have candidates to fight the Assembly polls and that is why it is relying on its sitting MPs. It has also given tickets to former TMC leaders and MLAs, which sends the same signal. The BJP is struggling to find candidates.”

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‘Mamataji offered to be hostage during Kandahar highjack: Yashwant Sinha

yashwant

Former Union Minister and BJP leader Yashwant Sinha joined the Trinamool Congress in Kolkata on March 13 ahead of the West Bengal elections. While joining the party, the senior leader recollecting the Kandahar plane highjack incident of 1999 said that the West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee wanted to offer herself as a hostage in exchange for passengers of the hijacked plane for the country. “The CM was ready to be a hostage and had proposed for it in the cabinet,” the minister said in a video.

Recalling his days with her as a colleague, the former senior BJP leader said the Trinamool chief has been a “fighter” right from the beginning.

“I want to tell you today that when the Indian Airlines plane was hijacked to Kandahar, there was a discussion happening in the Cabinet. Mamatji offered to go herself as a hostage on the condition that the Indians are released in exchange. She was ready to make that sacrifice,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee was released from SSKM Hospital on Friday evening after about 46 hours under medical supervision.

“Didi’s injury had halted all our political activities. Now that she is out of hospital, everything will pick up pace,” a source close to the chief minister said.

It was from the hospital that she decided to reschedule the release of the party’s poll manifesto on Sunday, coinciding with Nandigram Dibas, the day 14 people died in police firing in 2007 — one of the key events that catapulted her to power in 2011.

“A wounded tigress is at her most dangerous. Wait for the results,” a party insider said.

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Abhishek Banerjee cautions BJP to brace for May 02 result after Mamata was allegedly attacked

Abhishek Banerjee

Battleground for West Bengal election is getting ready gradually with the most important electoral collision set to be taking place in Nandigram.

West Bengal Chief Minister & TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee was seen in hospital with her left leg in a cast in a photo tweeted by her nephew Abhishek Banerjee this morning, a day after she alleged an attack in Nandigram, where she filed her nomination for the state election later this month.

TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee shared the image with a message targeting the BJP, which has mounted a campaign to try and oust the two-time Chief Minister and her Trinamool Congress from power in Bengal.

“BJP brace yourselves to see the power of people of BENGAL on Sunday, May 2nd. Get ready,” he tweeted.

Also See: Would West Bengal election really be a three-way fight after the defections?

Cannot divide Nandigram

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after filing her nomination from the Assembly seat had said, “Some people want to divide Nandigram 70-30 (ratio of Hindu, Muslim population), but I need 100 percent support. No one can divide this place along religious lines.”

Accompanied by state TMC chief Subrata Bakshi and local party leaders, Banerjee chief had reached Haldia Sub-Divisional Officer’s office after holding a roadshow that was attended by thousands of her supporters from Nandigram and other parts of Purba Medinipur district.

Exuding confidence of winning the seat, where she will take on her former protege and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, Banerjee said, “I have never returned empty-handed from here. Nandigram is not just a name, it is the name of a movement. Bhulte pari sobar naam, bhulbo nako Nandigram (I can forget everyone’s name, but can never forget Nandigram).”

Also See: What are the problem areas of TMC and the chances of BJP in this election season in West Bengal

The TMC chief filed the nomination papers and her candidature was proposed by Sushma Maity, wife of Bhagirath Maity who had gone missing during the Nandigram agitation, 14 years ago, and Abdul Sammad, a senior leader of Bhumi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee that fought against the land acquisition. The other two proposers were Block TMC presidents of Nandigram-I and Nandigram-II, Swadesh Ranjan Das, and Mahadeb Bagh, respectively.

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After disproving the tukde-tukde theory, RTI activist Saket Gokhale questions the claims of the bomb-factories

Saket-Gokhale

Activism using the Right to Information Act can dismantle the misinformation campaign and the barrages of fake information peddled by people, especially those in authority for the sake of political capital.

RTI activist Saket Gokhale criticized the Union home minister for “openly perpetrating fake news about the internal security matters just to malign & insult the state of West Bengal for electoral gains.”

This development comes after Gokhale had put forth an RTI query regarding the claim made by Amit shah in October in an interview given on CNN News18. In that interview, Amit Shah had claimed that “there are bomb-making factories in every district of West Bengal”.

As a response to this claim, which came months before the state is about to go to the polls, RTI activist Saket Gokhale had filed a four point RTI. As per the points raised by Gokhale in his RTI request, he asked for the list of bomb making factories in West Bengal which were referred by Amit Shah. Gokhale had also asked whether the MHA had briefed Amit Shah about the factories & whether Shah’s comments were based on official records. The fourth point in Gokhale’s RTI request was whether the information on the bomb factories has been shared with the West Bengal police.  The answer from MHA to Gokhale was NO. Also the MHA had claimed in its response that the law & order is a state subject. In fact, these questions have thrown the MHA into a huge discomfort.

But, the almost nil response from the MHA about the alleged bomb factories in West Bengal shows a clear absence of such information on bomb factories which was claimed by the Home Minister. After dissecting the response from the authority on the RTI request, Gokhale stated in his tweet, that this is a shocking situation that the Union Minister of India would openly perpetrate fake news about the internal security matters just to malign & insult the state of West Bengal for electoral gains. He further asked, “how can the Home Minister be trusted when he lies openly on record.”

Also Read: Civil Writ Petition filed by RTI activist Saket Gokhale to remove Rekha Sharma as NCW chairperson for invoking love jihad theory

This is not the first time that Gokhale’s RTI request has placed the authorities in discomfort and in a position with no answer.

Amit Shah in one of his rallies in Delhi had declared, “The Tukde Tukde Gang of Delhi needs to be taught a lesson and punished”.

In December 26, 2019, Saket had filed an RTI request to the MHA regarding the details of the Tukde tukde gang which was referred by Amit Shah. The MHA in its response given to Gokhale on January 20, 2020, vide registration number MHOME/R/2019/54751, had stated, “Ministry of Home Affairs has no information concerning tukde-tukde gang”.

Gokhale’s RTI requests & the subsequent answers have time and again proved the hollow nature of the claims made by BJP leaders in the public domain for the sake of polarization politics.

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Tirath Singh Rawat to be Uttarakhand’s new CM. Know more about him

Tirath Singh Rawat

Tirath Singh Rawat will take over as the new Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, after Trivendra Singh Rawat resigned from the CM’s post on Tuesday.

56-year-old Tirath Singh Rawat is a BJP MP from the Pauri constituency. He was the chief of the party in Uttarakhand in 2013-15 and also an MLA from the state in the past.

He will be sworn 4pm today at Raj Bhavan.

In the early days of his political career, Rawat was part of the Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata YuvaMorcha, the BJP’s youth wing, where he served as the state vice-president for some time before being elected to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council in 1997.

A close aide of general BC Khanduri, Teerath Singh Rawat is an old RSS and ABVP hand who has been in BJP for over three decades.

When the state of Uttarakhand was formed in 2000, Tirath Singh Rawat became its first education minister.

He was elected in 2012 as an MLA from the Chaubatakhal assembly constituency in his birthplace of Pauri Garhwal. He continued to serve as the Chaubatakhal MLA till 2017.

In 2019, Tirath Singh Rawat became an MP by defeating his rival Manish Khanduri by over 3.50 lakh votes from the Garhwal Lok Sabha seat.