Home Blog Page 4336

TMC goons go on a rampage in Nandigram after Mamata Banerjee loses to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari. Read details

OpIndia Staff
-
0
TMC goons go on a rampage in Nandigram after Mamata Banerjee loses to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari. Read details

Soon after BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari was declared victorious from West Bengal’s Nandigram seat, the Trinamool Congress hoodlums went on a rampage. Adhikari’s convoy in Haldia came under violent attack by the TMC supporters.

Calling it an act of vengeance, Adhikari shared the visuals of stone pelting at his car with people chasing it as far as possible. Adhikari in his Tweet said, “Despicable attempt to create an atmosphere of vengeance and violence in West Bengal! This evening in Haldia goons from the @AITCofficial targeted my car and attempted to attack my vehicle. If public representatives face such attacks, imagine the fate & plight of the Common Man!”

Payal Mehta, a journalist with the News18 shared on Twitter the shocking visuals of the aftermath of the attack on Suvendu Adhikari’s car.

The journalist also shared videos of TMC goons heckling and attacking the media while the police acted as a mere spectator.

The news of attack on media personnel was also shared by news agency ANI’s National Bureau Chief Naveen Kapoor to which Payal Mehta replied that she and her colleagues were lucky to escape the mayhem unhurt.

TMC unleashes violence

As TMC inched way ahead of its opposition in the state election race, its workers celebrated this victory by unleashing violence especially on BJP karyakartas and its leaders.

A BJP karyakarta’s house was attacked ferociously in Kasba by TMC goons as clearly visible in the video.

A BJP party office in Arambagh was set on fire allegedly by the TMC goons. The TMC however as expected denied any responsibility for the violence. 

BJP’s Kolkata office too was gheraoed by TMC workers and supporters on Sunday afternoon as the trends started showing the TMC victorious. 

There is no official confirmation as yet as to how many BJP workers, supporters, leaders and media members have been subjected to violence in Nandigram and other regions of the state.

As Mamata Banerjee led TMC managed to conquer West Bengal once again with 213 seats but lost Nandigram to Banerjee’s opponent Suvendu Adhikari. BJP on the other hand emerged victorious on 77 seats with the Left and Congress completely wiped out from the state as per the Election Commission data. 

Rajasthan: 1,500 ventilators received under PM CARES Fund lying unopened since 10 months, says report

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Rajasthan: 1,500 ventilators received under PM CARES Fund lying unopened since 10 months, says report

In Congress-ruled Rajasthan, 1,500 ventilators received under the PM CARES Fund are lying unused and unopened. These ventilators were received over ten months back. A Dainik Bhaskar report states that of these 1,500 ventilators, 230 are faulty but even amid the raging Chinese coronavirus pandemic, these ventilators have not been repaired and put to use.

As of now, 6,33,951 people have tested positive for Chinese coronavirus in Rajasthan of which 1,89,178 are active cases. 4,558 people have lost their lives in Rajasthan due to COVID till now.

The report says that in Jodhpur, of the 100 ventilators received under PM CARES Fund, not a single one was put to use. After state capital Jaipur, Jodhpur tops the state in number of deaths due to COVID. The 100 ventilators received are faulty but they have not been repaired.

Similarly in Jaipur’s SMS Medical College, 50 ventilators were installed in February this year in an ICU. However, these were put to use for the first time only few days back. 18 other ventilators here are not working since past 6 months. Similarly, other ventilators in other medical colleges are also faulty.

In Kota, medical colleges were given 138 ventilators. Of these, 65 were either not installed or they were removed as they were reportedly faulty. Udaipur got 95 ventilators, which stayed in a store house for a year. Of these, 22 were installed but they kept switching off. Finally on April 5, 2021, 32 were updated.

According to Vaibhav Galriya, Medical Health Secretary, the state government is utilising all installed ventilators. Some ventilators received from Central government are not yet installed and the state government is talks with the installation company and a team is assigned to install the ventilators.

As per doctors, Rajasthan is currently in need of 1,000 more ventilators.

Unused PM CARES ventilators in Jharkhand

In April, 2021, it was reported that 60 ventilators procured under the PM CARES Fund were lying unused. The ventilators were covered in cloth, boxed and gathering dust. As of now, Jharkhand has 2,44,472 total coronavirus cases of which 58,519 are active cases.

Assam voters reject anti-CAA agenda: 3 new parties formed against the amendment fail to make a mark in elections, win only 1 seat

Raju Das
-
0
Assam voters reject anti-CAA agenda: 3 new parties formed against the amendment fail to make a mark in elections, win only 1 seat

While the assembly election results in West Bengal have thrown up a surprise, as the state has given a clear mandate again for TMC against the close contest predicted by most pollsters, there were no such surprises in neighbouring Assam. The assembly election results this year have largely repeated the 2016 results, and proved the predictions right. BJP led NDA is set to return to power with around 75 seats, the Congress-led grand alliance has managed to win 47 seats. The final results may vary by few seats as the counting is going on in several constituencies. While the political pundits in the following days will analyse why voters returned NDA to power, these elections have already proved on thing, that the voters have rejected the anti-CAA agenda.

The anti-CAA agitations may see large crowds in the state, but it has been proved yet again that it has no impact on electoral politics in the state. This because, several new political parties were formed with the anti-CAA agenda as the main objective, and all those parties have performed badly.

Ahead of the assembly elections in Assam, three new political parties were formed with one common agenda, to repeal the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Leaders of two so-called student organisations, All Assam Students Union (AASU) and Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) had come together to form Asom Jatiya Parishad in September last year, with former AASU President Lurinjyoti Gogoi as the leader of the new party.

It may be mentioned that both AASU and AJYCP were also behind the formation of Asom Gana Parishad in 1985, which ruled for Assam for two terms and is now a junior partner in NDA. Both these organisations have good organisational structure in the ground level across the state, and the leaders had predicted that they will be able to achieve significate results in the polls.

The second party to be formed on anti-CAA was Raijor Dal, founded by Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti chief and career protestor Akhil Gogoi. Led by the well-known leader Akhil Gogoi, KMSS is active in Assam’s politics for the last decade, which have led several agitations in the state.

The third party was Anchalik Gana Morcha, formed by former journalist and Rajya Sabha MP Ajit Kumar Bhuyan.

Anchalik Gana Morcha decided to joined the grand alliance of seven parties led by the Congress party, and it had decided to contest in one seat only. Actually the party had released a list with two seats, but later it was seen that Congress had nominated its Dispur candidate from the same constituency. Therefore, it ended up contesting from Bokakhat only.

AJP and Raijor Dal were also invited to join the grand alliance of Congress, AIUDF and the left parties, but they declined. Actually, the presence of AIUDF meant that they couldn’t join it. Because, they were opposing the CAA saying that they don’t want any foreigner to be given citizenship, which was opposite from Congress and AIUDF demand of including Muslims in the CAA. Later, Asom Jatiya Parishad and Raijor Dal had decided to form an alliance of their own, against both the NDA and grand alliance.

While there was no dent in the popularity of the NDA govt led by Sarbananda Sonowal and Himanta Biswa Sarma, some political analysts had predicted, or maybe had hoped, that these new anti-CAA parties will make significant impact on the votes of BJP. It was said that anti-CAA sentiment is very strong in the upper Assam, where both the new parties had strong presence, and they will impact the AGP votes mostly as they share the same voters.

AJP had contested in almost 70 seats, while Raijor Dal had contested in around 34. But the results today have been disappointment for both of them. Between both of the parties that had contested in around 100 seats, they have won only one seat.

AJP, which had contested the highest number of seats in the alliance, has drawn a blank. Its chief Lurinjyoti Gogoi had contested from two seats, Naharkatia and Duliajan, and he lost from both. None of the candidates in the party won, with many losing deposits.

Raijor Dal, on the other hand, own the lone seat in the alliance, as its chief Akhil Gogoi won from Sibsagar. However, it will be difficult to attribute his win to anti-CAA sentiment, as there are few other factors behind his win. The most important is the sympathy factor, as he was lodged in jail during the elections, after he was accused of instigating violence during the anti-CAA protests in 2019. However, HC had upheld his bail on 14th April, after the elections were over.

Moreover, the leftist politician Akhil Gogoi, with alleged links to the maoists is in active politics for more than a decade now, as opposed to the new leaders heading the AJP. He has one of the most visible faces in the anti-BJP camp in the state, and has considerable popularity in Sibsagar, which has a history of electing only Congress or left candidates.

The lone Anchalik Gana Morcha candidate from Bokakhat has also lost the elections against AGP president Atul Bora.

Therefore, all the parties that were formed on anti-CAA agenda couldn’t make any mark in the Assam assembly elections, as only one leader won, that too in his personal capacity.

West Bengal Elections: BJP wins Naxalbari where the Maoist movement began

OpIndia Staff
-
0
West Bengal Elections: BJP wins Naxalbari where the Maoist movement began

The Trinamool Congress has registered a thumping victory in West Bengal. That is the single biggest story in the election results across five states that were declared today. In individual battles, the biggest story is undoubtedly Nandigram where Suvendu Adhikari defeated Mamata Banerjee by a narrow margin. But there is one other constituency which encapsulates the political shift that West Bengal has undergone. We are referring, of course, to Naxalbari.

In Naxalbari, which gave rise to the Maoist movement, the BJP has won comfortably. The Left Front’s ally, ironically, the Congress itself, has come at third position after the Trinamool Congress in second place.

Anandamay Burman, the BJP’s candidate from the constituency, had over 58% vote-share as of the time of writing this report. TMC’s Rajen Sundas had only 28.65% of the votes, the difference in votes over 70,000. INC’s Sankar Malakar, part of the Left Front, secured only 9.58% of the votes.

Source: ECI

Naxalbari is emblematic of the erosion of the Left Front’s dominance in West Bengal. Where they enjoyed uncontested dominance for three decades, the Left Front has now been obliterated. Their position has now been taken over by the BJP which is now the primary opposition party in the state.

Naxalbari is also representative of the fact that the BJP has risen to prominence in West Bengal by eating into the vote-base of the Left Front. Simultaneously, the latter has also leaked its minority votes to Mamata Banerjee’s party. The Congress party had won this seat in 2011 and 2016 with Sankar Malakar on the ticket. But with the Left Front, the party has been decimated.

TMC MP Derek O’Brien continues to hit below the belt, refers to Narendra Modi and Amit Shah as mosquitoes using wordplay

OpIndia Staff
-
0
TMC MP Derek O’Brien continues to hit below the belt, refers to Narendra Modi and Amit Shah as mosquitoes using wordplay

Trinamool Congress seems to be unable to digest its run on the path to victory. Senior leader of the party, Derek O’Brien, played a wordplay in a tweet to call Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah mosquitoes. He said, “An emotional day after fighting the world’s most destructive force, MO-SHA’s BJP. Filthy campaign aided by agencies and shameless EC. A momentous day for India & Bengal. It is understandable that we are euphoric but we also know that during #Covid we have to celebrate responsibly.” In Bengali, Mosha means mosquito. Thus, the TMC MP cleverly formed an acronym by using the initial letters from the surnames of Modi and Shah.

O’Brien’s obsession with the abuses

However, this is not the first time TMC’s leader has used unparliamentarily language against the Prime Minister and Home Minister. He has been using the same Mo-Sha reference for a long time.

He had been in the news several times for his offensive language. In 2014, he had called PM Modi ‘butcher of Gujarat’. In September 2020, he was suspended from Rajya Sabha for unruly behaviour.

Bengal election results: BJP candidate Chandana Bauri, wife of a daily wage earner, wins from Saltora constituency

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Bengal election results: BJP candidate Chandana Bauri, wife of a daily wage earner, wins from Saltora constituency

Chandana Bauri, the wife of a daily wage earner, who was fielded by the BJP for Saltora Assembly has won the West Bengal Assembly Elections. The 30-year-old mother of three was among the poorest candidates in the polls. 

Chandana Bauri won the polls by defeating TMC candidate Santosh Kumar Mondal by 4,145 votes in the Saltora constituency in Bankura district.

After she was nominated by the BJP, Chandana Bauri had said in an exclusive interview with India Today that she was clueless about the party giving her a ticket. “It was the local leadership that informed me after my name featured in the BJP’s list of candidates,” Chandana Bauri added.

Actor Mithun Chakraborty, the latest addition to the BJP, had launched his campaign from Saltora seeking votes for Bauri.

Mithun Chakraborty campaigning for Chandana Bauri

Chandana Bauri said it was an honour for her that Mithun Chakraborty started his campaign from her assembly constituency.

About Chandana Bauri

Chandana Bauri, a mother of three, had embarked on the campaign journey leaving her two daughters and one son with her mother and mother-in-law to look after.

She had also assisted her husband when needed, who works as a daily mason at construction sites.

“As I am out, I have kept my mother and mother-in-law at my place. They are taking care of my house and my kids. My husband is also helping me,” Chandana Bauri told India Today.

Chandana has been working as BJP karyakarta in Saltora since 2014. She then rose to the rank of a gram panchayat leader just ahead of the 2018 panchayat elections and later in 2019, became a part of the BJP’s Bankura district committee.

“BJP is everyone’s, no difference between rich or poor. The party has given a poor lady so much of respect, I am grateful to them for showering me with such respect,” said Chandana Barui.

Congress celebrates as it concedes 16 seats to BJP, 27 to TMC in West Bengal and scores a big fat zero

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Congress celebrates as it concedes 16 seats to BJP, 27 to TMC in West Bengal and scores a big fat zero

The results of West Bengal assembly elections have ensured the return of Mamata Banerjee led TMC to power, with BJP unable to dislodge her from power as many had predicted. While the BJP failed to win the elections, it has made a significant improvement in the state, as while it had won only 3 seats in 2016, it is set win around 80 seats this time. But the biggest news from the state is, the complete rout of Congress from West Bengal, a state that the party had ruled the state for several terms after independence before the left front had come to power.

The Congress party had won 44 seats in the 2016 assembly election in Bengal, coming second after TMC. However, this time the grand old party is drawing a blank in the state as per the results and trends announced till now. While the party frequently allies with TMC at the national level against BJP, it had decided to contest against TMC in Bengal, in alliance with left and Islamist parties.

But the results have shown that the entire alliance has been completely rejected by the voter in Bengal, as none of the allies including Congress, left parties, AIMIM and ISF won any seats. But despite winning zero seats, it didn’t prevent the Congress party from celebrating, as they chose to celebrate the defeat of BJP and win of TMC.

While the party was celebrating the win of TMC, it forgot to realise that it itself suffered the loss most due to TMC only. As from the 44 seats Congress had won in 2016, they have lost the most seats to Trinamool.

Out of the 44 seats that Congress had won in 2016, TMC has won or is leading in 27 seats, while BJP has won or is leading in 16 seats. One seat has been snatched by AJSU, which has won only one seat in the elections.

However, final results for most of the seats have not been declared, and close contest is seen in 5-6 seats among the 44 seats previously held by Congress. This means, the final numbers for TMC and BJP may change by few seats, but the fact remains that TMC has grabbed most of the seats from Congress.

TMC had won 211 seats in 2016, and this time it is leading in 212. As it has gained 27 seats from Congress, that means that it has lost almost the same number of seats to BJP.

Similarly, CPM had won 26 seats in 2016, but failed to win single seat this time. TMC and BJP has won the seats which were won by the left party last time. Other left parties like RSP, CPI, Forward Block, SUCI etc had also scored zero against single digit wins last time.

Mamata Banerjee seen back on her feet, ditches wheelchair right after TMC won by a landslide in West Bengal

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Mamata Banerjee seen back on her feet, ditches wheelchair right after TMC won by a landslide in West Bengal

Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee was seen ditching her wheelchair for the first time after her injury to walk towards her party office adjacent to her home.

Mamata Banerjee walking to her party office

Mamata Banerjee after winning West Bengal with a landslide reached the party office to thank her supporters and appeal to them to not carry any victory rallies amidst the COVID-19 surge. Urging people to go back home, she informed that she will be addressing the media at 6 pm.

Mamata Banerjee’s injury

Mamata Banerjee had injured her ankle in the early days of the run-up to the West Bengal assembly elections. She had alleged that she was injured after being pushed by 4-5 people at Nandigram, however, retracted her allegation later.

In a video message released by her, she said that she was sitting on the bonnet of her car, greeting the people with folded hands. ‘When I was doing namaskar towards the crowd from the top of the bonnet, suddenly I felt a huge pressure/push, and my legs were crushed by the car’, the chief minister said. The eyewitness however claimed that she was hit by a pillar on the road when she was waving at the people from her car keeping the door open and a leg hanging outside.

She added that problems with her legs may remain, but she will manage using a wheelchair if needed. Since then Banerjee conducted all her political rallies and roadshows in a wheelchair. 

However, after the clinching victory, she was seen without her wheelchair.

West Bengal Assembly Elections

As per Election Commission data, Mamata Banerjee’s AITC is leading on 211 seats, while BJP is leading on 79, others on 3 with the Left-Congress alliance failing to even open their account in the state. However, Mamata Banerjee has conceded defeat in the Nandigram seat to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari.

West Bengal elections: Suvendu Adhikari defeats Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram by a narrow margin

OpIndia Staff
-
0
West Bengal elections: Suvendu Adhikari defeats Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram by a narrow margin

Suvendu Adhikari has defeated Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram, according to media reports. Adhikari’s victory marks a taint in TMC’s otherwise sweeping victory in the West Bengal Assembly Elections 2021.

According to reports in the media, Suvendu Adhikari has won Nandigram by a margin of 1622 votes.

Some media reports had earlier declared Mamata Banerjee victorious from the constituency. However, it now appears confirmed that Suvendu Adhikari has indeed won the battle of the titans. The margin of his victory as of yet remains unclear.

Mamata Banerjee is reported to have accepted her personal defeat as a sacrifice.

According to the ECI website, however, results have not yet been declared and Adhikari is ahead at the moment by 9862 seats.

‘Neutral journalists’ celebrate as election trends show TMC victory in West Bengal: Here is what they said

OpIndia Staff
-
0
‘Neutral journalists’ celebrate as election trends show TMC victory in West Bengal: Here is what they said

On Sunday (May 2), several ‘neutral journalists’ took to Twitter to express their inner happiness after the Trinamool Congress’ surpassed the BJP by over 130 seats (per trends).

Despite a tough fight put up by the BJP leadership and its cadre of dedicated workers, they could bag only 77 seats in the election. On the other hand, TMC surged ahead with a tally of 212 seats. Although BJP drastically improved its tally as compared to the 2016 Vidhan Sabha elections, it failed to seize power from the ruling Trinamool Congress. The cabal of so-called ‘neutral journalists’, who had been eyeing the opportunity for a long time, took to Twitter to mock the BJP and express glee over its defeat.

Screengrab of the West Bengal election results as of 5:00 pm on May 2

Journalist Rohini Singh had been shaming the Indian media for covering exit polls while the country supposedly struggled to ‘breathe’. She had expressed her disapproval of the news channels for being busy with electoral politics. But, as the election trends turned in favour of the Trinamool Congress on Sunday, the journalist was quick to forget about the ongoing Coronavirus crisis.

She then channelised her time and energy in mocking the BJP and lauding the efforts of Mamata Banerjee. In a tweet, she claimed, “When your chief strategist are Malviya and Vijayvargiya, when your big publicists are Noida anchors, when your CM face is Swapan, when your big weapon is a random Clubhouse chat, you are bound to fail. And fail miserably.”

In another tweet, the ace journalist inferred, “The Bengal verdict is not just a massive loss for Modi but for Noida channels who were busy campaigning for the party in West Bengal. Some were even giving rides to BJP leaders on motorcycles while others had handed over their mikes. Some anchors should resign now.”

Sagarika Ghose, who identifies herself as a ‘journalist, took potshots at the BJP over its loss. Comparing Mamata Banerjee’s victory in West Bengal to adequate ‘oxygen supply’, she tweeted, “India’s democracy just got some much-needed oxygen.”

‘Neutral Journalist’ Shabbir Ahmed too expressed his happiness with the caption ‘Didi returns’. He had tweeted a graphic published by Times of India, wherein an ‘injured’ Mamata Banerjee was seen kicking a football. It was accompanied by her election slogan, ‘Khela hobe.’

‘Columnist’ Zainab Sikander Siddiqui referred to Trinamool Congress’ election strategist as a ‘genius’ for predicting that the BJP will not cross the 100-figure-mark in the State of West Bengal. After learning that the TMC has managed to hold onto its power, she tweeted, “BJP will not cross 100 in West Bengal. Prashant Kishor YOU GENIUS!!”

Hindustan Times journalist Rupsa Chakraborty took potshots at PM Modi after the BJP failed to ace the Vidhan Sabha polls in West Bengal. “You nailed it”, she wrote while sharing an insensitive cartoon by satirist Satish Acharya. The cartoon depicted Rabindranath Tagore emerging from Heaven and gifting a razor to PM Modi to shave off his beard.

Jobless Journalist turned Youtuber Abhisar Sharma wrote, “It’s great to know that BJP lost elections in West Bengal. Else, you would have transformed Bengal into ‘Shonar Bangla’ just like you transformed UP into Ram Rajya.”

Unlike other ‘neutral journalists’, who limited themselves to 1-2 tweets, NDTV founder Prannoy Roy chose to write a long paragraph on how the elections saved ‘federalism’ in India. He wrote, “These election results point towards a turning point in Indian history. The inexorable rise of FEDERALISM in India has begun. Once again it is the people who have sent the message ahead of everyone else.”

“First, for the last decade, voters have shown a much higher involvement and turnout for their own State election than for Central elections. And second, this State level involvement has been led by women – voter turnout of women has risen faster and has been higher than men’s turnout for State elections. Third, there is a clear people’s sentiment that a Federal India is the only way to ensure no centralised autocracy (by ANY “national” party) takes over our great country,” he continued.

Prannoy Roy also claimed that the election result was a reflection of India’s diversity and heterogeneity. “The strong message of the voters is: We are a wonderfully diverse and heterogenous country — AND across. India we are sisters and brothers forging ahead into the future together,” he concluded.

Alleged ‘journalist’ Swati Chaturvedi applauded Mamata Banerjee for not only defeating Suvendu Adhikari but fighting against the Modi-Shah duo. “I have huge admiration for @MamataOfficial because she took on Adhikari at his citadel of Nandigram. Tough fight but, the gritty move sent a huge inspirational message to the TMC cadre after Shah tried to break TMC. Real leaders fight,” she tweeted. Interestingly, Mamata has now been defeated by Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram.

After the election results projected a comfortable TMC victory, Caravan Editor Vinod K Jose alleged, “There seems to be a kind of gloominess shrouding over many of the Hindi-English studios today.” To add to his point, health journalist Vidya Krishnan held the media responsible for Coronavirus deaths. “Not enough gloominess compared to what their lies have inflicted on Indians. They will all face what’s coming for them,” she said.

While the ‘neutral journalists’ had been gloating over TMC victory, concerns are now being raised about the fate of thousands of BJP workers who now stand vulnerable to violence by TMC supporters and Islamists.

1...4,3354,3364,337...7,657Page 4,336 of 7,657