Tag: bengal elections 2021

  • Bengal on edge: Four killed in CISF firing after mob storms polling sales space

    In a violent flip to the Assembly elections in West Bengal, 4 individuals, together with an 18-year-old, have been killed in firing by CISF personnel at a polling station in Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar district the place voting was underway for the fourth section Saturday morning.
    Police stated native residents stormed the polling station following rumours within the space and tried to grab weapons of the safety personnel who retaliated by opening hearth.

    The useless have been recognized as Hamidul Mian (31), Monirujjaman Mian (28), Noor Alam Mian (20) and Samiul Haq (18), all from Jorpatki village. The first three have been migrant employees who had returned house to vote whereas the fourth labored at a cyber cafe within the village.
    Four others, together with one with a bullet damage, are present process therapy on the Mathabhanga hospital.
    In a separate incident in Sitalkuchi, a first-time voter, Anand Barman (18), was shot useless, allegedly by miscreants, when he queued as much as vote at a polling sales space in Pathantuli. The incident came about when supporters of the TMC and BJP clashed within the space.

    Following the CISF firing incident, the Election Commission stopped the polling course of on the Jorpatki sales space and barred all political leaders from getting into Cooch Behar district for the subsequent 72 hours. It additionally prolonged the ‘silent period’ from 48 hours to 72 hours for the fifth section of voting on April 17.
    Almost instantly after the incident, a political storm erupted.
    The TMC claimed its supporters had been focused, and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee demanded the resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah since central forces report back to him. Attacking Shah, she stated her authorities would institute a separate CID probe into the incident.
    Before the EC barred the entry of all political leaders into Cooch Behar district, she had made plans to go to the incident web site Sunday.
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi, campaigning for the BJP in Siliguri, condemned the violence and referred to as for a radical probe. He criticised Banerjee, saying violence in opposition to safety personnel was not going to avoid wasting her from being voted out of energy.
    Cooch Behar SP Debasish Dhar advised reporters: “Everything was fine until 9.30 am. One of the local boys took ill near the polling station. But a rumour spread that the CISF had beaten up the boy. Then 300-350 villagers, including women, attacked the polling station. They had handmade weapons… There was an attempt to snatch rifles.”
    “The CISF personnel in the booth called the QRT (Quick Response Team) nearby for reinforcement. The people who had gathered there got into scuffles and fisticuffs with the CISF. There was an attempt to snatch rifles and enter the booth. It was then that the incident happened. The CISF resorted to firing,” Dhar stated.
    DIG (Jalpaiguri vary) Annappa E, after visiting the spot, stated: “Primarily, it seems that the firing was done in self-defence. Mohammed Minal Haq, a 13 or 14-year-old boy, fell sick and lay on the ground. Security personnel went to him to enquire and took him to the hospital — he is alright now. Then a rumour spread that the boy had been shot dead by central forces. Hundreds of people came, there were fisticuffs and the incident took place. Total four persons died. Four others are in hospital including one who has a bullet wound on his thigh. One police personnel and two polling staff also received injuries.”
    Asked whether or not warning pictures had been fired within the air, Annappa stated: “We will probe and send a detailed report. We will probe how the incident happened. But the personnel were less in number. We have learnt that there was an attempt to snatch rifles. The personnel somehow saved their firearms.”
    The firing incident came about on the polling sales space in Amtali college in Jorpatki space of Sitalkuchi.
    At 10.15 am, over 300 villagers together with ladies, confirmed up on the polling station and the college grounds, armed with sticks, sickles and bamboo poles. State police and CSF personnel posted contained in the sales space referred to as for reinforcements.
    There was a scuffle and folks tried to enter and ransack the polling station. A constable and two polling personnel have been injured. Some of the villagers tried to grab the weapons from safety personnel following which the CISF personnel resorted to firing.
    At Amtali college, Soffiuddin Mian, who claimed to be an eyewitness, stated: “We heard that a team of central forces beat up a boy. Everyone in the village got angry. Men and women all gathered at the polling station. There was pushing and shoving. A huge crowd gheraoed the central forces. I ran out of the school ground and then I heard gunshots. There are 950 voters in this booth, and I am one of them.”
    Meanwhile, the Election Commission invoked its extraordinary powers beneath Article 324 to bar the entry of all political leaders into Cooch Behar district for 72 hours and extension of the ‘silent period’ from 48 hours to 72 hours for the fifth section on April 17.
    These selections, it stated, have been obligatory to take care of regulation and order in Cooch Behar district and guarantee free and truthful election throughout the fifth section of voting. The state Chief Secretary and Director General of Police have been tasked to make sure strict compliance of EC’s order in “letter as well as in spirit”.
    In its order, the Commission famous that the final rites of the 4 deceased individuals haven’t been accomplished, and any go to by political leaders to condole the bereaved “has the portent to cause a law and order problem of major proportions”.
    “Whereas, since the firing happened in a confrontation with CISF, the chances of Central Forces deployed in this area becoming or being made the butt of further grave provocation by groups of people cannot also be ruled out..” the EC said.
    The selections have been primarily based on a joint report submitted by the Commission’s particular observers Ajay Nayak and Vivek Dube. The officers had knowledgeable the EC that the recourse to open hearth by the CISF personnel was “absolutely necessary” to “save the lives of voters lined up at the polling booth, those of other polling personnel and their own lives as the mob had attempted snatching their weapons”.
    The date of repoll for polling station 126 of Sitalkuchi seat, the place the violence occurred, shall be introduced by the EC in the end.

  • BJP urges EC to public movies obtained by it to disclose reality in Mamata’s Nandigram harm incident

    Image Source : PTI BJP MPs Bhupendra Yadav, Piyush Goyal and others handle the media outdoors Nirvachan Sadan after assembly the Election Commission of India, in New Delhi.
    A BJP delegation on Friday met the Election Commission of India (ECI) and requested {that a} particular staff {of professional} investigators be instantly constituted to research the alleged assault on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

    The BJP delegation, which included National General Secretary Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister Piyush Goyal, National Spokesperson Dr Sambit Patra, Swapan Dasgupta, Anirban Ganguly, Om Pathak, Neeraj Kumar and Shishir Bajoria, submitted a memorandum to the ECI.

    Referring to alleged assault on Banerjee, the BJP delegation demanded, “A special team of professional investigators must be immediately constituted and sent by the Commission with a mandate to conduct a time-bound investigation.”

    ALSO READ | Bengal polls 2021: Suvendu Adhikari information nomination from Nandigram, holds roadshow with Smriti Irani

     

    The BJP additional demanded that movies obtained by the Commission be made public to disclose the reality and know the true sequence of occasions.

    “This would also put to rest the smear campaign attempted by the Trinamool Congress against the Election Commission and opposition parties,” mentioned the BJP memorandum submitted to ECI.

    The BJP additional demanded that strict motion be taken towards Trinamool leaders for breach of mannequin code of conduct and underneath varied electoral legal guidelines towards the errant and irresponsible allegations.

    “A special observer must be appointed for the Nandigram Assembly constituency considering that it is a sensitive seat,” the BJP demanded.

    ALSO READ | Mamata Banerjee discharged from hospital, suggested relaxation for 7 days

     
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  • SC rejects plea difficult EC’s choice to carry WB Assembly polls in eight phases

    The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea difficult the Election Commission’s choice to conduct meeting elections over eight phases in West Bengal and in search of to bar the BJP and its leaders from utilizing “Jai Shri Ram” as a slogan through the marketing campaign.
    A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde initially advised the petitioner to method the Calcutta High Court.
    “I rely upon a judgement. This is not the matter of election petition. One party is using the religious slogan. Why should I go to the high court? ” advocate M L Sharma, the petitioner within the case, advised the bench.
    “You are asking for prosecution. How can we pass such an order. The only power lied with the high court, that to the election petition,” the bench, which additionally comprised Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, advised Sharma.
    When the petitioner referred a 1978 judgement of the apex courtroom, the bench requested him to point out the paragraphs within the verdict saying the highest courtroom can entertain a plea concerning malpractice in campaigning when the ballot course of begins.

    Sharma stated the matter be heard tomorrow, and the bench stated, “We can not learn it time and again, learn it proper now.
    “Alright, we don’t agree with you. Dismissed,”  the bench added.
    The plea had sought the apex courtroom’s course to cease the ballot panel from conducting eight-phase elections in West Bengal, alleging that it violates Article 14 (proper to life) and Article 21 (proper to life) of the Constitution.
    On February 26, the Election Commission had introduced the schedule for meeting elections to be held in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
    While the meeting polls in West Bengal can be held over eight rounds from March 27-April 29, polling in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry can be held in a single part on April 6 and in Assam over three phases.

    In his plea, Sharma had additionally sought a course to the CBI to register an FIR into the alleged chanting of non secular slogans throughout electioneering in West Bengal.
    The chanting of “Jai Shri Ram, other religious slogans are creating disharmony” and is an offence beneath the Indian Penal Code and the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the plea had stated.
    “Whether using a provocative religious slogan ‘Jai Shri Ram’ is for electoral benefits as well as others is not violated S.123(3) & 125 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951,” reads the authorized query raised within the plea.
     

  • BJP native chief shot at in West Bengal’s Nadia district

    Image Source : PTI BJP native chief shot at in West Bengal’s Nadia district
    A 32-year-old native BJP chief was shot at and injured in Haringhata space of West Bengal’s Nadia district, the police stated on Sunday. During a patrol, police personnel discovered Sanjay Das close to a tea stall at Kapileswar Santoshpur and admitted him to a hospital, SP of Ranaghat Police District, VSR Ananthnag, stated.

    Das, a sales space president of the BJP beneath ward no. 10 of Haringhata Municipality, is acknowledged to be out of hazard. The BJP alleged that goons sheltered by the Trinamool Congress had been behind the incident. The ruling get together within the state denied the cost and claimed that it was the fallout of a conflict among the many members of a gaggle, who’re related to the saffron get together.

    The SP stated that when policemen on patrol stopped their automobile close to a tea stall beside National Highway 12 at round 2.30 am on Sunday, they discovered some individuals had been sitting on the bottom a brief distance away. On noticing the policemen, all besides one particular person fled.

    Ananthnag stated that the trouser of the particular person, later recognized as Das, was soaked in blood and he was in an inebriated situation. He advised the police that one particular person within the group fired at him and the bullet hit him within the waist, the SP stated.

    Das’ father lodged a grievance with the police within the night, naming a number of individuals as accused. He stated that his son advised him that one particular person within the group fired at him following a heated argument over some political challenge.

    ALSO READ: ‘If BJP desires to purchase votes, take the cash and vote for TMC’: Mamata urges voters 
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  • Tejashwi tells Biharis dwelling in Bengal to again Mamata, prefers silence on alliance

    Seeking to forge unity amongst secular events within the West Bengal meeting elections, RJD chief Tejashwi Yadav met Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday and appealed to the individuals from Bihar domiciled right here to vote for the ruling TMC.
    Emerging from a gathering with Banerjee on the state secretariat, Yadav mentioned that the primary precedence of his social gathering was to cease the BJP’s progress in West Bengal.
    He, nonetheless, prevented giving a simple reply to questions by journalists about whether or not the RJD will contest the elections in alliance with the TMC, saying the upcoming polls shall be a combat for saving “ideals and values”.

    “Our party’s stand is to provide full support to Mamataji,” he mentioned, interesting to the individuals from Bihar domiciled in Bengal to face with Banerjee’s social gathering.

    Banerjee, on her half, mentioned she and jailed RJD supremo Lalu prasad share “mutual respect”.
    “When we are fighting, it is brother Tejashwi who is also fighting, we are together,” Banerjee mentioned.

  • Plea in SC challenges EC’s determination to carry polls in 8 phases in West Bengal

    A plea difficult the Election Commission’s determination to conduct meeting elections over eight phases in West Bengal was filed within the Supreme Court on Monday.
    The plea, filed by lawyer M L Sharma, seeks the apex courtroom’s route to the ballot panel to cease it from conducting eight-phase elections within the state because it violates Article 14 (proper to life) and Article 21 (proper to life) of the Constitution.
    On February 26, the Election Commission introduced the schedule for meeting elections to be held in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and in Puducherry.
    While the Trinamool Congress Party-led West Bengal may have elections over eight rounds from March 27-April 29, polling in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry will likely be held in a single section on April 6 and in Assam over three phases.
    The plea, which can come up for listening to in few days, additionally seeks a route to the CBI to register an FIR into the alleged chanting of spiritual slogans throughout electioneering in West Bengal.
    The chanting of “Jai Shri Ram, other religious slogans are creating disharmony” and is an offence beneath the IPC and the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the plea stated.

    “Whether using a provocative religious slogan ‘Jai Shri Ram’ is for electoral benefits as well as others is not violated S.123(3) & 125 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951,” reads the authorized query raised within the plea. PTI SJK

  • Bengal wants development-oriented govt, not copycat of TMC, BJP: Surya Kanta Mishra

    Image Source : PTI Bengal wants development-oriented govt, not copycat of TMC, BJP: Surya Kanta Mishra
    Criticising the “communal agenda” of the TMC and the BJP, West Bengal CPI(M) secretary Surya Kanta Mishra Sunday harassed the necessity for an alternate and stated the Left-Congress grand alliance will struggle to supply employment and usher in industrial improvement within the state.

    Addressing a mega rally on the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata, Mishra accused the ruling TMC and the opposition BJP of dividing folks on “communal lines” to serve their political pursuits, and stated, West Bengal wants a authorities that won’t be a “copycat” of these run by the TMC and the BJP.

    “Both the TMC and the BJP are two sides of the same coin. Their agenda is to divide people on communal lines and rule the masses. We have seen how TMC leaders are joining the BJP lock, stock and barrel. Except for the chief minister and some of her leaders, the rest have switched over to the BJP. Both the TMC and the BJP now stand unmasked,” he stated.

    The state wants a authorities that may take up industrialisation and generate employment, the CPI(M) chief stated.

    “We need a government which can fill up all the vacancies in state government jobs and semi-government sectors within a year. Neither the TMC nor the BJP can do it. Only the Left and secular forces are capable of it,” he stated.

    Claiming that the TMC has “stifled” the democratic house within the state throughout its 10-year rule, Mishra stated, “The upcoming assembly election is about restoring democracy, and unity among the people”.

    “There will be an effort to divert attention from today’s meeting by engineering other incidents after the rally is over. But please don’t get swayed away. When there was an attack on the livelihood of the common man, then a war of words was going on between the TMC and the BJP,” the CPI(M)


    chief stated.

    “Minorities, backwards, scheduled castes and tribes are being divided on caste and communal lines practised by both the forces,” he stated.

    Reaching out to the folks of the hills in north Bengal and Jangalmahal area within the south, Mishra stated, there’s a want to guard the id of indigenous folks residing in these locations.

    The forested areas of West Midnapore, Jhargram, Bankura and Purulia districts within the southern a part of the state varieties Jangalmahal.

    On TMC ballot slogan- “Bangla Nijer Meyekei Chaye” portraying Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as its mascot, RSP common secretary Manoj

    Bhattacharya stated, “Bengal wants to get rid of dictatorship, and the grand alliance will fight for it.”

    Expressing happiness on the turnout within the rally, West Bengal Left Front chairman Biman Bose stated, the grand alliance is able to tackle the BJP-TMC within the state. 
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  • Watch | When Mamata Banerjee tried her arms at driving e-scooter

    Image Source : PTI West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee rides pillion on an electrical scooter to succeed in Nabanna (State Secretariat) throughout a protest towards the hike in gasoline value, in Kolkata.
    West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee almost fell off whereas driving an electrical scooter in Howrah on Thursday. The Chief Minister was driving an e-scooter as a mark of protest towards gasoline value hike. She shortly regained her stability with assist and continued to drive. She was travelling to Kalighat from State Secretariat in Nabanna.

    Staging an unprecedented protest towards the worth hike of petroleum merchandise, Mamata rode an electrical scooter to succeed in her workplace within the state secretariat Nabanno constructing in Kolkata’s adjoining Howrah district.

    Banerjee was driving a pillion whereas Kolkata Mayor and State Municipal Affairs Minister Firhad Hakim drove the electrical scooter from south Kolkata’s Hazra crossing to Nabanno. Both had been seen carrying helmets whereas the CM was adorned with a protest banners hung from either side of her physique.

    ALSO READ | Mamata Banerjee rides pillion on electrical scooter to protest towards gasoline value hike

    “The Central government is increasing LPG and diesel prices every day. It is a serious matter of concern. The Central government will only reduce the prices for a few days when the elections are round at the corner,” Banerjee stated.

    The state’s ruling Trinamool Congress has sharpened its assaults on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led authorities on the Centre as petrol costs proceed to burn gap within the widespread man’s pocket. Petrol was offered at Rs 91.20 per litre in Kolkata on Thursday whereas in Mumbai, the worth of petrol crossed Rs 97 mark.

    Mamata’s protest towards prevailing gasoline costs got here at a time when the BJP is attempting to make inroads into Bengal earlier than the essential state meeting elections.

    (With inputs from IANS)
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  • Nadda to launch BJP’s election manifesto crowdsourcing marketing campaign in Bengal on Thursday

    Image Source : PTI BJP President JP Nadda addresses the concluding session of Bharatiya Janata Partys nationwide office-bearers assembly, on the NDMC Convention Centre in New Delhi. (File photograph)
    BJP president JP Nadda will launch an election manifesto crowdsourcing marketing campaign in West Bengal on Thursday and handle a public rally, the get together stated in a press release.

    He can even handle a convention of the intelligentsia, amongst his different engagements throughout a daylong keep within the poll-bound state, BJP’s nationwide media in-charge Anil Baluni stated.

    Nadda will attain West Bengal on Wednesday night time and launch the “Lokkho Sonar Bangla Manifesto Crowdsourcing” programme on Thursday morning, Baluni stated, referring to the get together’s ballot promise of rebuilding the state as “Sonar Bangla”.

    ALSO READ | Govt has no enterprise to be in enterprise, says PM Modi as he stresses on privatisation of PSUs

    The BJP chief can even pay tributes to Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, the composer of Vande Mataram, at his residence and museum.

    Nadda’s programme schedule contains lunch on the home of a jute mill labourer and prayers on the Anandpuri Kalibari temple, adopted by a “Parivartan Yatra” rally.

    In the night, he’ll go to the ancestral dwelling of famend Bengali author Bibhuti Bhushan Bandopadhyay to pay his tributes, adopted by a go to to the West Bengal State Armed Police headquarters to pay homage to the martyr Mangal Pandey pillar, the assertion stated.

    ALSO READ | Mamata seeks PM Modi’s assist in procuring COVID vaccines for Bengal

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  • Centre not disbursing funds beneath PM-Kisan scheme to Bengal farmers: Mamata

    West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday alleged that the BJP-led authorities on the Centre was not disbursing funds beneath the PM-Kisan scheme to peasants within the state regardless of the TMC administration having despatched the verified names of farmers to it.
    Accusing the BJP of falsely claiming that she is denying funds to the farmers, she stated that the Trinamool Congress authorities within the state is giving Rs 5,000 every to peasants and has additionally organized free of charge crop insurance coverage.
    The chief minister had on Monday knowledgeable the Assembly that out of 6 lakh functions of farmers despatched by the Centre for verification for cost of financial help beneath PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, the state authorities has returned 2.5 lakh names following obligatory work.

    The TMC supremo claimed at a public rally at Kalna in Purba Barddhaman district that peasants are going through atrocities throughout their agitation exterior Delhi towards the brand new farm legal guidelines.
    She claimed that her authorities has supplied help to all farmers in West Bengal and peasants within the state are higher off than their brethren in lots of different states.
    “The new farm laws must be repealed and our support for the agitation will continue till that is achieved,” she stated.
    With the TMC struggling desertions by some senior get together leaders, Banerjee asserted that those that resorted to misdoings are leaving the get together.
    “I don’t tolerate wrongdoings, that’s the reason just a few are leaving beforehand as they know they won’t get a ticket (for the upcoming elections).
    “The mother brings up the child with all care and he leaves when she needs him. The party is better off without such people,” she stated.
    Banerjee suggested folks to simply accept the cash supplied by the BJP and luxuriate in a feast however not vote for the saffron get together.
    Asserting that the legislation and order in West Bengal is healthier than BJP-ruled states, Banerjee claimed that the folks of Tripura are regretting voting the saffron get together to energy.
    “People there cannot speak up for their rights and are facing atrocities,” she stated.
    Banerjee reiterated that the BJP was allegedly bringing outsiders to the state forward of the meeting elections and these leaders are having meals at homes of locals for picture periods.
    “Some outsiders are coming in luxurious vehicles and resorting to picture periods to indicate they’re partaking meals at village folks’s homes however the meals eaten by them is introduced from five-star resorts.
    “West Bengal will be ruled by those from the state and not by those coming from Gujarat,” she stated.
    Banerjee alleged that the BJP-led authorities on the Centre has not achieved something to unravel the thriller over Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s disappearance.
    Accusing the BJP of resorting to lies about Hinduism, Banerjee stated that her get together doesn’t preach division amongst folks on the premise of faith.
    “The BJP has turned the country into a crematorium, but we will not allow the same to happen in Bengal,” she stated, asserting that the TMC will win the meeting elections for the third consecutive time period.
    She stated that individuals of all religions and languages dwell in concord within the state.
    Training her weapons on the CPI(M)-led Left Front, she claimed that there isn’t a distinction between them and the BJP.
    “What was Bam (Left) is now BJP’s Shyam,” she stated.
    Humayun Kabir, an IPS officer who resigned from his job just a few days again, joined the TMC on the rally within the presence of the get together supremo.

    Elections to the 294-member meeting are due in April-May.