BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari (file photo)Election 2021 Highlights: The Election Commission Thursday issued a notice to BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari for ‘communal overtones’ of his speech made on March 29 aimed at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Addressing a poll rally in West Bengal’s Damjur, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday said the Election Commission could serve her ten notices but she would only urge people to vote unitedly without any division. “How many complaints have been filed against Narendra Modi? He does Hindu-Muslim every day,” ANI quoted her as saying.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath claimed that West Bengal is not a safe place for women under the TMC government and if the BJP comes to power, anti-romeo squads would be formed in the state just like UP.
BJP President JP Nadda held three roadshows in Alipurduar, Dinhata, and Mekliganj ahead of the fourth and final phase of the Assembly elections in the state.
The Election Commission Thursday issued a notice to BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari for 'communal overtones' of his speech on March 29 aimed at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Alleging that the BJP was distributing cash to purchase votes, TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee on Thursday asked people to exercise their franchise in favour of his party, after having taken the money being offered by the saffron camp.
Insisting that people should bargain for more, he urged voters to ask for Rs 5,000 if offered Rs 500.
"Take money from lotus (BJP symbol) and vote for the twin flowers (TMC symbol). If they can do cheat you, why won't you do the same?" Banerjee stated at a public meeting at Kumargram in Alipurduar district
Speaking at another rally at Cooch Behar's Tufanganj, he said that people have to decide whether they want leaders from outside or their "daughter Mamata Banerjee".
Taking a jibe at the BJP's "acche din" promise, the TMC MP said that the saffron party has failed to live up to the expectations of people. (PTI)
Claiming that a wave was blowing in favour of the BJP, the party's national president, J P Nadda, on Thursday criticised Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for raking up the "insider-outsider" debate every now and then, saying that it reflects her "frustration", having sensed imminent defeat.
Exuding confidence that his party would win the assembly polls with over 200 seats in its kitty, Nadda said this election was all about putting an end to TMC's "cut-money (bribery) culture".
"We are confident of bagging more than 200 seats (in the 294-member Assembly). A wave is blowing in favour of the BJP, and it is so strong that the TMC will get washed away.
We condemn the insider-outsider debate by Mamata Banerjee. This is a sign of her desperation sensing imminent defeat," he told reporters at Dinhata during a roadshow.
Later, while addressing the crowd, Nadda said this election is not about just changing the government; it is also about bringing an end to the cut money culture and corruption". (PTI)
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan tests positive for Covid-19. (PTI)
Addressing a poll rally in West Bengal’s Damjur, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday said the Election Commission could serve her ten notices but she would only urge people to vote unitedly without any division. “How many complaints have been filed against Narendra Modi? He does Hindu-Muslim every day,” ANI quoted her as saying.
"How many complaints have been registered against those people who called Nandigram's Muslims Pakistanis? Aren't they ashamed? They can't do anything against me. I am with Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians as well as tribals," she said.
Union Minister Babul Supriyo, who is trying his luck from the Tollygunge assembly seat, feels Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should be barred from campaigning for making "vitriolic and communal" speeches and taking Bengal's political discourse to an "all-time low".
Supriyo, one of most suave faces of the BJP in Bengal and the Lok Sabha MP from Asansol, rejected opposition claim of having been "demoted" after being fielded for the assembly election, and said he himself wanted to contest the poll against a "formidable opposition and not a weak one".
"Despite being a chief minister, the kind of comments that Mamata Banerjee is making is shameful. Through her vitriolic speeches and the communal campaign, she has taken the political discourse to an all-time low. The EC should ban her from campaigning for the entire election," Supriyo told PTI in an interview. (PTI)
The BJP was denied permission to hold a roadshow of Bollywood superstar Mithun Chakraborty, who had recently joined the saffron camp, in Behala area of the city on Thursday, following which a group of party activists held a demonstration in front of a police station.
The agitation was led by actor-turned-politician Srabanti Chatterjee, who is contesting from the Behala Paschim assembly constituency on a BJP ticket, party sources said.
"The Kolkata Police did not allow our leader Mithun Chakraborty to campaign for me in the constituency without citing any reason.
"The Trinamool Congress cannot avert its imminent loss by such an undemocratic act of preventing us from campaigning. Is the state government scared of losing power?," the popular Bengali actor said. (PTI)
BJP workers staged a protest outside Jadavpur Police Station in Kolkata following the attack on state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh's convoy in Cooch Behar yesterday.
"To safeguard the interests of sisters & daughters, BJP will create Uttar Pradesh-like anti-Romeo squads in Bengal and put all TMC Romeos behind bars. After 2 May,Didi will start saying 'Jai Shree Ram'," Yogi Adityanath said at a campaign rally in Hooghly.
During the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress was supporting people who were instigating violence, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath alleged at a campaign event in Hooghly today. "In UP, we put up hoardings of rioters and confiscated their properties. Mamata Didi can’t do this as she sees them as TMC vote bank," he said, according to ANI.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda held a roadshow in Alipurdua, West Bengal today.
With West Bengal in the midst of a polarising election season, farmers in the state’s potato belt of Hooghly and parts of Purba Bardhaman say their cries for help are getting drowned out in the din of a high-decibel poll campaign.
Potato is cultivated on almost four lakh acres of land in West Bengal between December and March, with about 10 lakh farmers growing the crop. The farmers say they are staring at huge losses this year after failing to recoup the cost of production, and blame middlemen for exacerbating their woes. They want the government to increase the Minimum Support Price (MSP) to help them recover their losses.
Sanatan Malik is a farmer from Kamarkundu in Hooghly district’s Singur area. He participated in the Singur anti-land acquisition movement of 2006 that laid the foundation of the Trinamool Congress’ (TMC) rise to power and was even jailed during the demonstrations. But now he wants industries in the area, unable to keep pace with the rising cost of producing potatoes. Read the report here.
THE KERALA High Court on Wednesday asked the Election Commission (EC) to furnish a statement on why it kept in abeyance an earlier notification to conduct elections to three Rajya Sabha seats in the state, which fall vacant on April 21. The court was hearing the petition of CPI (M) legislator S Sharma, who has challenged the EC’s decision.
The EC told the court that the notification for the election process would be issued before April 21. However, the bench of Justice P V Asha sought an explanation on why it decided to keep in abeyance the earlier notification to conduct the elections. The EC has to furnish its statement on April 9, when the matter comes up next before the court.
As per the original schedule, the elections to the three seats should have been held on April 12. That would have ensured right to vote for the legislators of the present assembly. A new assembly will be formed after results to the state elections are announced on May 2. Read the report here.
Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Wednesday said that of the four states and one union territory where assembly elections were held, incidents of violence were reported only from West Bengal and the BJP and the TMC are responsible for it.
Chowdhury, the West Bengal Congress president, however, told reporters that such incidents were fewer in West Bengal this time in the concluded three phases, thanks to the efforts of the Election Commission (EC). "Apart from West Bengal, three other states and one union territory are going through the polling process but one can hear incidents like attempt to capture booths, bloodshed and attacks only from our state," he said.
Five candidates, including two women, were attacked allegedly by workers of rival parties in West Bengal during the third phase of polling on Tuesday, even as Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee alleged 'blatant misuse' of central forces to 'influence voters'. (PTI)
Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday attacked the BJP claiming that the party is out to change the history of several places to suit its agenda and will impose a totalitarian regime that will dictate what people should eat and how they should dress.
Without naming Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Banerjee said that a good-looking man from Gujarat has predicted that the BJP will win 68-70 of the 91 seats that went to polls in the first three phases in the state, but actually it will not get more than 25 seats.
"They (BJP) have renamed stations having great past. They have renamed a cricket stadium after the prime minister. The day is not far when they will change the name of you and me. They are out to change the history of places to suit their agenda," said Banerjee in the last of her election meetings of the day. The chief minister of West Bengal, however, did not mention any rail station or place. (PTI)
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TMC complains to the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal alleging mass distribution of cash coupons by BJP to “illegally gratify the electorate in Raidighi Assembly Constituency”. TMC demands initiating legal proceedings against BJP and its members responsible for the same. (ANI)
The BJP's West Bengal president Dilip Ghosh on Wednesday alleged that Trinamool Congress workers attacked his car with bombs and bricks in Cooch Behar district of North Bengal, a charge denied by the ruling party.
Ghosh said that the car's window glasses including the one on his side were smashed in the attack which took place at Sitalkuchi after a public meeting of his party. After breaking the glass, a brick also hit him, he said.
"If this is the situation, how can one expect free and fair polls in Cooch Behar, where people had voted for change in the 2019 Lok Sabha election," Ghosh said in a video message.
Cooch Behar district will go to polls in the fourth phase of assembly elections on April 10. (PTI)
West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh says that his convoy was attacked at Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar. More details awaited. (ANI)
The Election Commission Wednesday issued a notice to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her 'Muslim vote split' remark. The West Bengal CM has 48 hrs to respond to the notice. Banerjee, on April 3, had appealed to Muslim votes to not let their votes get split between different political parties.
BJP complains to West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer against TMC for "physically assaulting" BJP's Uluberia Dakshin candidate Papiya Adhikary on April 6. The party has also complained about CM Mamata Banerjee’s reported statement “asking supporters to gherao and defy CAPF personnel and prevent them from carrying out their duty”. (ANI)
A day after the assembly elections in Assam came to an end, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Wednesday exuded confidence that the BJP-led alliance will return to power in the state with an enhanced mandate.
He said the three-phase polling was by and large peaceful and it reflected that his government was successful in restoring peace in Assam after decades of insurgency and violence.
"We will return to power with more seats. This has happened due to the relentless development work carried out by our government in the last five years," he said.
Voting in Assam was held on March 27, April 1 and April 6. (PTI)
A case of violation of the model code of conduct has been registered against Tamil Nadu Municipal Administration Minister S P Velumani, police said on Wednesday.
The Minister allegedly took his car with an AIADMK party flag near a polling booth on Tuesday, the polling day in the state, which was the violation, the police said.
A complaint was lodged by Raja Mohammed, the zonal officer of Thondamuthur Assembly constituency from where Velumani has contested.
The Minister was spotted wearing a shawl bearing the party flag within 100 metres of the polling booth, which was also a violation of the model code of conduct, they said.
Based on the complaint, police registered a case against Velumani. (PTI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said that the BJP is confident of winning 63 to 68 seats in the first three phases of elections held in West Bengal so far.
Polling has been completed in 91 of the 294 assembly seats in the state, which will see five more phases of elections.
"The Bharatiya Janata Party estimates that it will surely win 63 to 68 seats in the first three phases of elections and gain a huge lead over the Trinamool Congress, Communists and the Congress," Shah said. (PTI)
Assam Congress on Wednesday demanded that CCTV feed from strong rooms across Assam be made available to candidates, the state Congress chief said.
Assam Congress president Ripun Bora has written a letter to the state Chief Electoral Officer Nitin Khade seeking access to CCTV feeds from strong rooms, where Electronic Voting Machines are kept, to make the process more transparent.
The Congress also accused the Election Commission of acting "as per instructions of the BJP".
"After the second phase of the assembly polls, when many issues relating to EVMs had surfaced, the EC had assured us that no such incident would happen in the third phase. But we are getting reports of people detecting EVMs being transported in private vehicles even during the third phase of polls,” Bora said. (PTI)
West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday alleged that the CRPF personnel are harassing voters in the state at the behest of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Addressing a rally here in Cooch Behar district, she accused personnel of the central force of molesting women and beating people during the ongoing assembly elections.
"They are obstructing electors to cast their votes. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has instructed them to do so," Banerjee alleged.
She claimed at least 10 people have been killed in the state during the ongoing polls.
"The Election Commission is running the administration. Please see that nobody is killed during the polling process. I request you to monitor CRPF personnel who are on duty now in the state. They should not be allowed to harass women. There are cases of girls being molested by the central force employees," she said. (PTI)
Union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah holds a roadshow in Howrah.
I visited only one gram panchayat but with the enthusiasm I saw, I’m confident that Rajib Banerjee will win with majority, says Amit Shah. “On 2nd May, BJP will form government with over 200 seats. Mamata Banerjee's frustration can be seen in her speeches and her behaviour.” (ANI)
Union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah has lunch at the residence of a rickshaw puller who is also a BJP supporter. Rajib Banerjee, party's candidate from the constituency, is also present. (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a roadshow in Domjur Constituency in Howrah to campaign for party candidate Rajib Banerjee amid the Assembly elections in West Bengal.
CRPF officials are harassing voters in West Bengal at Home Minister Amit Shah's behest, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged at a campaign rally in Cooch Behar. (PTI)
The Election Commission has removed returning officers of eight constituencies in the city that will go to the polls in the last two phases of the West Bengal assembly elections on April 26 and 29, an official said on Wednesday.
New officials have already been appointed in the Chowringhee, Entally, Bhowanipur, Beliaghata, Jorasanko, Shyampukur, Kashipur-Belgachia and Kolkata Port assembly segments, he said.
Chief Electoral Officer Ariz Aftab described the transfer of the eight returning officers “as a routine move since they had held their posts for more than three years”. Read the full report here.
At a campaign rally in Jalpaiguri in West Bengal today, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister warned that goons from the TMC 'will be caught in the trap of justice' after May 2, when the votes will be counted in the state. "West Bengal will be freed from the TMC government on May 2," Adityanath said.
Union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah held a road show in Singur today at noon.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has fielded student leader Srijan Bhattacharya from Singur constituency in the West Bengal elections, and the 28-year-old will be taking on two heavyweights – the Trinamool Congress’s Becharam Manna and the BJP’s Rabindra Nath Bhattacharya.
The Singur and Nandigram agitations in 2007-2008 had cost the CPM heavily, and eventually led to the dethroning of the Left regime after 34 years in West Bengal. The party has been progressively on the decline in the state since then and hopes to revive its fortunes this time by fielding younger faces such as Bhattacharya.
A resident of Haltu in South Kolkata, where the CPM’s organisation continues to be strong, Bhattacharya holds a Master’s in History from Jadavpur University and has been quite active in SFI politics. Read the full report here.
BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain alleged that stones were pelted at him in Howrah on Tuesday night when he was campaigning for the West Bengal assembly election.
The BJP leader posted on social media a video in which he was seen showing two stones to the officer on duty and blaming the TMC for the alleged incident. "TMC workers pelted stones on me while I was addressing a meeting at Muzzafar Chowk," Hussain tweeted, saying he was safe and the party workers had lodged a complaint.
"It's clear that TMC knew it is losing and hence is becoming desperate," Hussain said. "I myself went to the Golabari Police Station & asked them why police personnel were not deployed according to my Y + CRPF cover security protocol. Strangely, they had no answers for that."
In his complaint, Umesh Rai, the BJP candidate from Howrah North, named few persons behind the attack, alleging they were all known TMC men in the area. Police confirmed the lodging of the FIR and visit of Hussain to the station, adding that the alleged incident was being investigated. (PTI)
A 22-year-old Youth League activist, who was seriously injured in a post-poll clash between workers of the CPI(M) and the IUML in Koothuparamba constituency, died in the early hours of Wednesday, police said. The clash broke out in Paral area around 8 pm on Tuesday over allegations of bogus voting, they said.
The Youth League worker, Mansur, had suffered injuries to his leg and was rushed to a private hospital in Kozhikode. He succumbed to the injuries, police said. The Youth league is the youth wing of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a key ally of the opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).
Mansur's brother, a UDF poll agent, was also injured in the clash, police said. The IUML has alleged that a group of CPI(M) workers hurled bombs at them before attacking the two with sharp weapons. Koothuparamba assembly constituency in the northern Kerala district of Kannur witnessed a fierce contest between K P Mohanan of the Lok Janatantrik Dal, a partner of the ruling CPI(M) led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and Pottankandy Abdullah of the IUML. (PTI)
The UDF on Tuesday sought repoll in the Taliparamba Assembly seat in Kerala's Kannur district, alleging that the CPI(M) workers captured many booths and engaged in bogus voting.
Congress state working president K Sudhakaran said the UDF would move court if repolling was not announced in the constituency. Talking to reporters, Sudhakaran, who represents Kannur in the Lok Sabha, alleged that booths were captured in some parts of Anthoor municipality and five panchayats with the help of the poll officials.
UDF candidate V P Abdul Rasheed was prevented from visiting the booths seeking votes in the constituency, he alleged. CPI(M) leader M V Govindan is the LDF candidate in the seat. Sudhakaran alleged widespread rigging of votes in Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's Dharmadam Assembly constituency.
Meanwhile, incidents of violence have been reported from some areas of the district. Two workers of the Youth League, youth wing of the IUML, were injured after they were allegedly attacked by CPI(M) workers in Pullukkara area in Koothuparamba constituency around 8 pm, police said. (PTI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s recent appeal to Muslims to vote en bloc for Trinamool Congress indicates that minority votes are slipping out of her hand. He said had he made a similar appeal to Hindus to unite and vote for the BJP, it would drawn the Election Commission’s wrath on his party.
Addressing a public meeting in Cooch Behar district, the Prime Minister said: “Didi recently appealed to all Muslims to come together and vote en masse for her party. This is an indication that the Muslim vote bank is slipping out of her hands. Now Muslims have also turned away from you [Mamata]. Had we said the same thing that all Hindus should unite and vote for us, the EC would have sent us notices. We would have been censured.”
The BJP recently sought action against Mamata from the Election Commission, saying she violated the Representation of the People’s Act by making such an appeal. Read the full report here.
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