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Assam election: Parties from Bihar set out to try their luck in Assam election- 47 seats play a crucial role for BJP to retain hold over the state

Nitish-Kushwaha

Three parties from Bihar would try their electoral luck in the Assam election. JD(U) of Nitish Kumar and RSLP led by the former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha have decided to go solo in the Assam election. The opposition party in Bihar, RJD will be participating in the Assam state elections in an alliance with Congress-AIUDF grand alliance.

JD(U) has decided to participate in at least 32 seats in the Assam assembly which has a total of 126 seats, as disclosed by sources with knowledge of the developments. MLC Gulam Rasool Baliyawi, the Assam in-charge of JD(U) & Shrawan Kumar, Bihar’s rural development minister have reached Guwahati to decide on the number of seats the party would be contesting in the election. Both of them are scheduled to hold a series of meetings with the local JD(U) leaders and the workers at the various places in Assam.

The ruling party in Assam, BJP is confident of winning over 100 seats in the upcoming assembly poll in the state. In this regard, the first phase election for 47 assembly constituencies is crucial for the saffron party to retain power in the state and achieve its ‘Mission 100 plus’ target.

The first phase poll for 47 assembly constituencies will be held on March 27, where 42 seats are from 11 districts of Upper Assam and northern Assam region and five seats are from central Assam’s Nagaon district.

While the BJP has announced the candidate list for 70 constituencies (for first and second phase), the opposition Congress has announced the candidates list for 40 constituencies. The Congress party is yet to announce its candidates for Titabor, the seat which was represented by former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.

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Assam election: BJP minister in Assam switched side to Congress on being denied ticket in election

Sum Ronghang

When West Bengal is witnessing a slew of defections from the ruling party TMC, the ruling party in Assam, BJP is facing a similar situation, yet not to that extent.

Sum Ronghang, a BJP minister has switched formally to Congress on Sunday, on being denied ticket in the upcoming Assam assembly election.

He joined the Congress in the presence of party general secretary Jitendra Singh and party’s state unit chief Ripun Bora. Mr Ronghang is the Minister of hill area development and mines and minerals.

The Congress is likely to field him from Diphu constituency, party sources added.

Mr Ronghang said, “I did not like the way I was denied the ticket. I performed my duties with full dedication. I did not get the ticket due to conspiracy of certain individuals.”

He was one among the 11 BJP MLAs who have been dropped this time.

As per the recently conducted ABP-C-Voter survey, BJP-led alliance is likely to retain power in the state. Out of the state’s 126 seats, the opinion poll predicted 68-76 seats and 42 per cent vote share for the BJP, and 43-51 seats and 31 percent vote share for Congress-led alliance. The others may get 5-10 seats in the state.

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Kapil Sibal criticizes central government and BJP over the poriborton call in West Bengal election

Kapil-sibal

On Tuesday, Kapil Sibal, a prominent Congress leader took a jibe at the Central Government, saying that will the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) introduce a similar change that it brought after 2014 including demonetization.

Taking to Twitter, Kapil Sibal said: “Modiji In a public meeting in West Bengal allegedly said: ”…will bring ‘ashol poriborton’ (real change) in Bengal”.”

The Congress leader, in his tweet, then listed out some of the changes brought under his prime ministership from 2014, such as “notebandi (demonetization), ‘note’ bank politics, topple governments, persecute those who oppose, sell dreams, data manipulation among others.

This comes amid an intense tussle between the TMC and the BJP ahead of the Assembly polls in West Bengal this year. The BJP is trying to gain an appreciable hold in Bengal politics by carrying out exercises like rath yatras, which are blamed to be having a polarization effect on the populace. It has also gained new turncoat leaders who defected from the TMC-camp. On the other hand, the Congress and the Left front have formed an alliance, with possible room for adjustment for the newbie party-Indian Secular front launched by the Pirzada, Abbas Siddique of Furfurasharif in Hooghly.

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Puducherry situation: On failing to prove majority, CM Narayanasamy submits resignation- heavily criticized the BJP & central government-VCK party termed the collapse a dress rehearsal for what is to happen in Tamil Nadu

Puducherry news

After chief minister V Narayanasamy submitted his and his cabinet colleagues’ resignation letters in the wake of the ruling Congress losing its majority in the assembly, the BJP Puducherry unit said on Monday that the party would not stake a claim to form a government in the Union territory at this stage(but after the elections).

Politicians have taken to Twitter to react to Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy’s resignation on Monday, February 22 over losing his party’s trust vote in the Puducherry Assembly. The Congress in Puducherry had been hit by a spate of resignations in the last one month. Accusing Kiran Bedi, who was removed as the union territory’s lieutenant governor last week, of colluding with the opposition and trying to topple the government, the Congress leader said, “Because of the support of my MLAs, we were able to complete almost five years of our government.”

On the other hand, in a statement, BJP-Puducherry president V Saminathan said that the NDA formed of the BJP, All India NR Congress & AIADMK would form the government with the blessings of the people after the upcoming elections.  Saminathan said that Puducherry needs a new era, new government, new culture of public service and a new vision and leadership.

Thol Thirumavalavan, MP and President of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi party called the collapse of the Puduchery government a “dress rehearsal for what is to happen in Tamil Nadu”.

VCK, in the press release further alleged that, “BJP, which is incapable of winning a single seat by winning the people’s mandate, is trying to gain a foothold in Puducherry by such backdoor entry. The people of Puducherry will never accept such manoeuvring. We wish to warn these selfish people and anti-democratic forces that the people of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will teach them a lesson.”

Also Read: Political crisis in Puducherry: Congress government loses majority-Kiran Bedi removed as LG

Narayanasamy on Monday charged central government with “murdering democracy” by removing a democratically-formed government at the fag-end of its tenure. He also accused the Union government of destabilizing and toppling an elected government through “engineering defections using investigative agencies” and by “inducements”.

Moving the Motion of Confidence in the Legislative Assembly, the Chief Minister said that the Centre had been trying to destabilize his government for a long time like “they did” in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh and Goa but the Congress-DMK combine was able to thwart the attempts as recently as last week.

Squarely blaming the BJP-led NDA government for toppling his government, he said “Just because they have power they think they can do anything in the country. Atrocities against Dalits and minorities continue in the country. Don’t the minorities have the right to live in the country? The Opposition parties here will be also judged by the people for supporting the Centre’s move.”

He also said, “What was the necessity to remove a democratically-elected government just around ten days before the announcement for the Assembly elections? The Centre uses Income Tax [Department], Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate to threaten Opposition leaders [in order] to form their government. In our camp, we had some timid legislators (referring to those resigned) the BJP was successful in weaning away. The people of the Union Territory are watching the developments.”

“We will face the electorate and explain to the people how best we served despite so much interference and obstruction,” he further added. Mr. Narayansamy reminded the Opposition about the Congress-DMK candidates’ victories in bypolls and Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

Mr. Narayansamy castigated the centre stating that the PM often spoke about the need for cooperative federalism, but his government functioned contrary to the concept. No consultation was done with the elected government before appointing nominated legislators, the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police, the Congress leader further said.

“The schemes and decisions proposed by the Cabinet were blocked or referred to the Centre by the former Lt Governor Kiran Bedi”, he said adding, “Using Ms Bedi, the Centre took away our powers and did not allow us to function.”

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Update on Punjab Municipal election: Farmers’ movement scorches BJP in the municipal elections in Punjab- landslide victory for Congress

Municipal election Punjab

The ruling party in Punjab, Congress, recorded a  landslide victory in the urban local body election, on Wednesday, amidst widespread support in Punjab for farmers protesting against the new farm laws passed by GOI. The party won 1,399 of the 2,165 municipal wards, and six of the eight municipal corporations, with the result of the Mohali Corporation postponed for Thursday.

Hopes of BJP that a good performance in the urban areas would ease some pressure off it on the laws were completely squashed. Having split from long-time ally Akali Dal, it lost even strongholds like Pathankot, Sujanpur, Batala, and Abohar, winning only 49 wards. The Independents, who won from 329 wards, finished second behind the Congress.

The Congress won 1,128 of the 1,815 wards in municipal councils, and 271 of the 350 municipal corporation seats, with the Akali Dal trailing at 252 and 33 respectively, the BJP at 29 and 20, and the AAP at 53 and nine. The remaining went largely to Independents, with the BSP (K) and CPI picking up 13 and 12 wards, respectively.

The polls held on February 14, to eight municipal corporations and 109 municipal councils and nagar-panchayats, were the first elections in the state since the farm-laws were passed.

The results came as a big morale booster for Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, with the elections seen as “semi-finals” for the Assembly polls due early next year. Singh has walked a tightrope over the laws, supporting the farmers while trying to resolve the deadlock over their demands. The CM hailed the results as a validation of his government’s “development-oriented policies and programmes” and a rejection of the Opposition’s “anti-people actions”. “All these parties shamelessly trampled the rights of farmers, with the clear aim of destroying Punjab,” he said, adding that the Akalis’ and AAP’s “crocodile tears” for farmers had failed to fool voters. “With these results, all these parties have got a foretaste of the things to come in the Assembly elections.”

Soon after the results, PPCC president Sunil Kumar Jakhar gave the slogan ‘Captain for 2022’. “He (Amarinder) has proved that he is the only Captain who can steer the ship of the state in turbulent waters,” Jakhar said.

Finance Minister Manpreet Badal tweeted, “History has been made. Bathinda will get a Congress Mayor for the first time in 53 years.” The Akali Dal’s Harsimrat Badal is the sitting MP from Bathinda.

The results showed that the anger against the farm-laws continues to singe the Akali Dal despite it severing its ties with the BJP and giving up a Union Cabinet berth. In a written statement, party spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema claimed that the Congress win was due to “State sponsored repression”. The statement added, “It seems the civil machinery and the Punjab Police have won the day for the Congress along with equal help from the State Election Commission(SEC). Nomination papers of more than 500 SAD candidates alone were rejected along with a couple of hundred of other parties.”

AAP MLA and Leader of Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema said that the party welcomes the “fatwa” issued by the voters of Punjab, while adding that the results showed the party had significantly increased its base in urban areas, despite contesting its first local body elections in the state.

The Congress holds a majority in 87 of the 109 municipal councils after the results. A congress spokesperson said that it would have control eventually over 102 municipal councils as the Independents in 15 civic bodies were with the Congress.

The Akali Dal retained citadels like Majithia, the backyard of senior party leader Bikram Singh Majithia, but neither the party, nor the AAP or the BJP were able to win a majority in any municipal corporation.

With the Mohali result awaited, the only municipal corporation where the Congress did not get a majority Wednesday was Moga.

The AAP did not win a single ward of the 15 in Bhawanigarh, a part of the constituency of the party’s only MP from Punjab, Bhagwant Mann, and of the 23 in AAP MLA Aman Arora’s Sunam seat. The AAP had sent its Delhi face and Punjab co-incharge Raghav Chadha to campaign. Among the losers was former BJP minister Tikshan Sood’s wife.

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Important day in the run-up to the West-Bengal state assembly election-rally of Amit Shah

It is going to be a politically eventful day in Kolkata and other regions in the state of West Bengal, where the first major election in India is going to be held this year.

Union home minister Amit Shah, who is in West Bengal on a two-day visit to bolster the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) campaign, will flag off the party’s fifth and final rath yatra on Thursday.

This is Shah’s second visit to the poll-bound state within a week. He had come to West Bengal for one day on February 11.

“Shah is scheduled to flag off the fifth and final parivartan rath yatra today (Thursday) from Namkhana in South 24 Parganas district. He will also visit the Kapil Muni Ashram on Sagar Island and Bharat Sevashram Sangha in Kolkata,” said a BJP leader.

The union home minister will have lunch with a refugee family at Narayanpur village in South 24 Parganas. Thereafter, he will attend a roadshow before coming back to Kolkata.

 “Shah also has a set of programmes to attend on Friday before he flies back to New Delhi,” said a BJP leader.

While Shah is scheduled to flag off the rath yatra around 12.50pm, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee, her nephew, will address a rally around the same time in the same district to launch a counter offensive.

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

A head-to-head political battle will play out today in Kolkata’s neighbouring South 24 Parganas district where Home Minister Amit Shah and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee are scheduled to address rallies separated by some distance. It is for the first time in the run-up to the assembly elections that Banerjee and Shah will be holding rallies in the same district and more or less at the same time in the afternoon.

He is scheduled to visit Kakdwip area near Sagar Island in South 24 Parganas district, where he will flag off the final leg of the five phases Parivartan Yatra of the BJP in the state.

A senior state BJP leader said yesterday that Amit Shah will visit Kapil Muni Ashram today. From there he will go to Namkhana where he will address Poribartan Yatra, he informed.

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

The BJP leader added that Shah is also scheduled to have lunch at the residence of a migrant labourer and later take part in a roadshow.

Meanwhile, Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, who is also the local party MP, is slated to address party workers meeting at Pailan in South 24 Parganas on Thursday.

“It will be a politically important day tomorrow. Both Shah and Didi will address rallies in the same district,” a senior South 24 Parganas TMC leader said.

After having a limited presence in politically polarized Bengal for decades, BJP has emerged as the main rival of the ruling Trinamool Congress after winning 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the 2019 general elections, only four less than the TMC tally of 22.

Also see: Trilateral fight in West Bengal election 2021

The crucial state assembly elections are due in March-April this year and the BJP has set a target of winning more than 200 seats out of the 294 seats this time. The TMC has, however, claimed that the BJP will not make it to the double digits.

A BJP leader, associated with the planning of the fifth rath yatra, said that the final rath yatra will be a direct challenge to the chief minister and her nephew.

“The fifth rath yatra will pass through two prestigious constituencies, Diamond Harbour and South Kolkata. While the former is the constituency of TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee, South Kolkata is the home turf of the chief minister. Mamata Banerjee is the MLA of Bhawanipur assembly constituency in South Kolkata,” the BJP leader said.

Plans are afoot to take the rally through Sirakol in Diamond Harbour, the spot where the convoy of BJP national president JP Nadda was attacked on December 10, 2020.

According to BJP leaders, the rath yatra will initially take off as a small one from the Kapil Muni ashram in Sagar Island, where Shah is scheduled to visit. Millions of pilgrims congregate at Ganga Sagar every year in mid-January to take a holy dip at the confluence of River Ganges and the Bay of Bengal in the southern tip of West Bengal during the Ganga Sagar Mela.

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Seat sharing worked out for 230 seats between Left and Congress- ISF also coming onboard with Left-INC

The Left Front and Congress on Tuesday claimed that they had worked out a seat-sharing mechanism in 230 of Bengal’s 294 assembly seats in the upcoming polls.  Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury formally announced the Congress-Left alliance for the upcoming 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections on Tuesday. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Chowdhury said that both parties have finalised seat-sharing along with formulating how different ideologies can team up for ‘nation-building’.

Also see: Trilateral fight in West Bengal election 2021

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that the seat-sharing formula will be declared once other secular parties, including the RJD, formally join the Congress-Left alliance ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections.

The Congress leader was referring to Furfura Sharif cleric Abbas Siddiqui’s newly-formed Indian Secular Front (ISF).

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

The parties, however, kept their plans in the remaining 64 seats close to their chest, mainly because they needed more time to fine-tune arrangements with Furfura Sharif cleric Abbas Siddiqui’s newly launched Indian Secular Front which has sought 50 seats, and with RJD and NCP with whom the Left has had similar arrangements in the past. “A lot of secular parties including Abbas Siddique’s Indian Secular Front have shown interest in joining the Left-Congress alliance. We have decided not to make our seat-sharing public as we wait for all of the secular parties to join in,” Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said.

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

According to sources close to the development, both parties needed some more time to work out the details with ISF, whose president, Nausad Siddiqui, had written to them asking for seats in South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Nadia and and East Midnapore. At nearly all of these places, Left parties have had a greater vote share than Congress. Sources indicated that the Left would have to sacrifice some seats to ISF if the deal has to materialize.

At a press conference held in Kolkata, ISF leader, Abbas Siddique stated that AIMIM leader Owaisi would understand the political necessity of ISF to align with the Left- Congress alliance and that all parties except for BJP and TMC are allowed to form alliance with ISF.

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Farmers’ protests: the farmers would not rest till the demands of repealing of the farm-laws are not met- BJP party has lost the moral ground to rule at the Centre and in Haryana

Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait 

Upping the ante in the farmers’ protests against GOI, Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait once again reiterated that the Centre’s farm laws “will finish the public distribution system.” Tikait added that the farmers would not rest till the demands of repealing of the farm-laws are not met.

In a parallel development, calling Haryana agriculture minister JP Dalal’s statement about farmers who died during the ongoing protest against three farm laws as ‘inhuman’, Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM)  warned the ruling BJP government that people would teach ‘a suitable lesson for such arrogance‘.

Also See: Overview of the Farmers’ unions in the protests

Holding the Centre’s “stubborn attitude” responsible for the deadlock over the new farm-laws, Sanyukt Kisan Morcha’s coordination panel member Shiv Kumar Sharma said that despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assurance in Parliament on holding talks with farmers, no date has been conveyed by the government for the next round of talks.

Also See: An overview of Farmers’ protests-role of Charan Singh

Comment of Punjab CM

Expressing shock at statements of senior BJP leaders on the farmers who died at the Delhi borders protesting against the farm-laws, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday said that the BJP party has lost the moral ground to rule at the Centre and in Haryana.

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TMC MLA Tapas Roy asked Left-Congress to join with TMC to fight BJP-reactions arrive from BJP and Congress leaders

Tapas Roy

At the latest public meeting held at Onda in Bankura, a somewhat expected yet head-turning development took place in the run-up to the first major state election in India this year.

The Left and Congress, who have formed an alliance to fight the election in West Bengal, have been asked by a Trinamool Congress leader to join the TMC to fight the onslaught of the BJP. West Bengal Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Tapas Roy, asked the Left- Congress to join into the TMC fold to give a combined fight to the BJP. Roy stated that since the energy of the Congress and Left are on a decline, they have formed an alliance and that they can make their fight viable against the BJP by joining the TMC. The offer is politically novel given the enmity between the TMC and the Left front.

Also see: Trilateral fight in West Bengal election 2021

TMC MLA Tapas Roy said, “They (BJP) are saying that they will rule Bengal. I want to tell Congressmen and Left party leaders that Arup Khan (Onda TMC MLA) will join your procession. Congress and the Left can’t do it alone. You also know that this is not possible with your declining energy. That is why you two have come together.”

He further added a caution, “Do not stop Mamata Banerjee. Do not cut the canal and bring crocodiles. You also know that you do not have the strength to resist the Kapalik power (BJP). The name of the one who can is Mamata Banerjee. All BJP leaders are afraid of her.”

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

This offer of TMC drew reactions from both Congress and BJP leaders in West Bengal.

Dilip Ghosh, the President of the West Bengal unit of BJP commented, “Mamata cannot fight the BJP alone.” In the context of the violence between BJP and TMC workers (like in Khejuri in East Midnapore), he also stated that the TMC workers should mend their ways or face retribution.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury stated that Tapas Roy should leave TMC and join Congress, as Roy’s statement, Adhir said, reflected that TMC would not be able to fight BJP alone.

While TMC is dealing with the fallout of the defections, BJP is currently looking to gather & woo the dalit vote bank in the run-up to the Bengal election 2021.

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Resignation of Dinesh Trivedi of TMC has triggered speculation of him joining BJP

Dinesh Trivedi

West Bengal will be seeing the first major state election in India in the year 2021.

Dinesh Trivedi of TMC resigned from the Upper House of the parliament-Rajya Sabha. In a season, when the West Bengal election is just around the corner and the ruling party of the state, TMC has seen many defections (40 odd leaders) including heavyweights like Suvendu Adhikari & Rajeeb Banerjee, resignation of Trivedi has triggered a speculation storm. There are talks about his possible shift to the saffron camp-BJP.

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

In this context, TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, nephew of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, had commented on the rife speculations on Dinesh Trivedi, stating, “Trivedi was saying he was feeling suffocated. Let him go and get admitted to BJP’s ICU.”

At a rally, held in South 24 paraganas, Abhishek stated that Mamata Banerjee would become the CM for the third time, rubbishing the assertion by the Home minister Amit Shah that BJP would win more than 200 seats in this year’s state assembly election in West Bengal. He also castigated the BJP over the controversial “Jai Shri Ram” slogan that, he said, was used by the opposition because it had no development agenda. He criticized the BJP as a “bunch of outsiders” who are unaware of the state’s culture and are spreading fake news to confuse voters.

He further refuted claims by the centre, repeated in parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, that Bengal farmers had been deprived of financial aid from the central government.

“BJP should first think of Gujarat, UP, and other states. No need to worry about Bengal. Outsiders will not rule Bengal,” Mr. Banerjee said.

Also see: Trilateral fight in West Bengal election 2021

Dinesh Trivedi dropped a clear hint that he is likely to switch over to the BJP, saying that it would be a privilege to be part of the saffron camp.

His response came after West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh said that Trivedi is welcome to join the party if he wants after the latter quit his Rajya Sabha seat.

“I am very grateful to BJP and its senior leaders, I was told they have said that I am welcome. It would be a privilege, no question about it. But, let me settle down,” said Trivedi.

Quoting a recent statement by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee that she wants to live with her “head held high”, Trivedi remarked that this applies to everybody.

“Mamata Banerjee rightly says ‘I want to keep my head up’, she should know that everybody should keep their head up. If there is environment of violence, then there is fear, so head is not held high,” the former Union minister said.