The Trinamool Congress will not join the CPI(M)-Congress alliance in the ensuing Tripura Assembly election, a senior party leader said on Sunday. Tripura Trinamool Congress president Pijush Kanti Biswas said TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister will arrive in Tripura on February 6 to campaign for party candidates. "The TMC is not going to forge any electoral understanding with the CPI(M)-Congress combine in the ensuing Tripura Assembly elections because many Congress leaders and workers who had suffered during Communist regime will not vote for their own party", said Biwas. "Our assessment is that the CPI(M)-Congress initiative will face the similar fate what had happened in West Bengal Assembly election in 2021, that's why we will keep our distance from it", he said. Biswas said "Trinamool Congress will contest the election in the seats where the party has a chance to win and TMC's doors are open for other parties for electoral understanding." He said Trinamool Congress sup
Those who will join the rally will not carry flags of any political party, CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Choudhury and Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury Sunday said the secular forces need to work together to bring "better times for the country". He also claimed that whenever the Congress took the Left's advice seriously it benefited the party and India. At a discussion titled 'Remembering Pranab' organised by the Pranab Mukherjee Legacy Foundation at India International Centre here, Yechury recalled Pranab Mukherjee's role in binding the Congress and Left parties together during the first UPA government. Mukherjee knew the art of managing contradictions and uniting opposites, the CPI(M) general secretary said. "Today, when you see Parliament and democracy, you wish all the more that had he been with us to advise and guide us. For better times in the country, the secular forces have to work together. Working together is what I have learnt from Pranab (Mukherjee)," he said. He further said Pranab Mukherjee's life and work have an indelible impression in the making of modern India.
Since the BJP/RSS combine and the CPI-M are two sides of the same coin, there will be no probe against the CPI-M leaders by national agencies, a top Congress leader in Kerala said
West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC Supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday lashed out at both her opponents in the state BJP and the CPI(M) led Left Front - claiming the ideological opposites, 'Ram-Baam' (BJP-Left), had allied covertly. Launching her party's new outreach programme titled Didir Suraksha Kavach (Didi's Protective Shield)', Banerjee said, Even if one weed attacks our paddy, the whole crop could be ruined, while cautioning her workers to root out corruption ahead of Panchayat polls to be held in the next few months. Around 3.5 lakh Trinamool Congress workers will reach out to the around 10 crore people of the state to check if they are benefitted from government projects, she said. Banerjee said a proper vigilance system at the party level will be put in place to weed out rotten elements. Her party functionaries have been facing a series of corruption charges and two prominent leaders have been arrested in the year gone by. "A proper vigilance system will be put in place to
The ruling CPI(M) in Kerala has decided to bring MLA Saji Cheriyan back into the cabinet, a move which was criticised by the Congress which said on Saturday the Left party ought to have waited for the final outcome of the case against him before taking a decision. Cheriyan, in July, had resigned from the cabinet over his alleged remarks against the Constitution during a speech in Pathanamthitta district and the lodging of a criminal case against him in connection with that. CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan on Saturday confirmed that the state secretariat of the party, a day ago, took the decision to bring Cheriyan back into the cabinet. "All that remains is for the Chief Minister and the Governor to decide on a date for the oath taking ceremony," Govindan told reporters. He also claimed that "all decisions" have come from the court in connection with the issue and nothing more remains to happen. On the other hand, senior Congress leader and MP K Muraleedharan said that the Chie
The joint initiative' of the CPI(M) to bring all secular and democratic forces ahead of the Assembly elections in Tripura to defeat the BJP has reached its final stage, the Left party's state secretary Jitendra Choudhury claimed on Tuesday. However, Choudhury did not name the parties that will be associated with the CPI(M)'s move. Details of the joint initiative will be made known very shortly. It is aimed at defeating the BJP in the Assembly elections due in February, he told PTI. But, the senior leader said, the initiative should not be considered as political adjustment or alignment. For the CPI(M), win or defeat in elections doesn't matter much. We are working hard to restore democracy in the state where democratic values have been throttled in the past 58 months of BJP rule, Choudhury said. The BJP and the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) fought the Assembly elections together in 2018 and wrested power from the Left Front. The party's priority is to restore democr
The opposition CPI(M) in Tripura alleged that one of its activists was killed and 12 others, including former finance minister Bhanu Lal Saha, were injured in an attack by supporters of the ruling BJP in Sepahijala district on Wednesday. The BJP denied the allegation, claiming that the opposition party was trying to foment trouble in Charilam area and when its supporters attempted to resist it, a clash broke out. Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Bishalgarh BB Das said the police brought the situation under control immediately, and the exact number of casualties was yet to be ascertained. Saha, the former minister, said hundreds of CPI(M) supporters gathered at the party office in Charilam to give a deputation to the Block Development Officer (BDO) over various demands. "Our leaders were addressing a rally in front of the party office around 1.30 pm before marching to the BDO office. Suddenly, a group of BJP-backed miscreants hurled bombs at the rally. When our party workers start
Opposition parties have hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claims at the G20 Summit that India was making digital access public, alleging that the country shut Internet connectivity more often than any other. On Wednesday, Modi said India was making digital access public, but there was still a "huge digital divide" at the international level. Digital use can bring scale, speed and transparency into governance, he added. "Despite promoting a more digitally connected India, the @BJP4India Govt. shuts down internet more often than any country. The digital divide still persists, making remote learning an operational nightmare. And digital authoritarianism continues to thwart freedom of expression," the TMC said in a tweet from its official handle on Thursday. It further said the saffron party's abuse of technology would not be highlighted by the prime minister. CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, in a tweet on Wednesday, highlighted how India was the leader in Internet ..
The office of the Governor was "being pitted against the governments" in non-BJP ruled states in matters involving universities in order to implement BJP-RSS agenda of converting India into a "fascistic Hindutva rashtra" by controlling education and consciousness of the youth, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said on Tuesday. Speaking at a protest organised at the Raj Bhavan here against recent actions of Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, who is presently in the national capital, Yechury said the office of the Governor "has been reduced to advancing the political objective of the central government and the ruling BJP". "This a peculiar and unhealthy situation for Indian democracy," Yechury said at the protest outside the Raj Bhavan, where thousands had turned up, but was not attended by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan or other ministers of his cabinet. The CPI(M) general secretary said "this kind of conflict situation was not only happening in Kerala", but in all other non-BJP ..
Vijayan and the Governor have been at loggerheads ever since he refused to ink Ordinances or Bills which are concerning the higher education sector.
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan said that if the ordinance sent to Raj Bhavan by the CPI(M)-led government was intended to target him, then he will not sit in judgement over it and would refer the same to the President. Khan, while speaking to reporters in New Delhi on Saturday evening, said he was yet to see the ordinance or go through it and would take a decision only after that. "If I am the target, then I shall not be the judge in my own cause. I won't declare it now. I will see it and if I come to the conclusion that the purpose is to target me, then I shall not sit in judgement (over it). I shall refer (to the President)," he said. State Minister for Local Self-Governments and Excise M B Rajesh, meanwhile, said that the government expects the Governor to act in accordance with the Constitution. Rajesh, while speaking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram, said that the state government exercised its powers under the Constitution when it came out with the ordinance and sent th
Asked about his stand on the replies of Vice Chancellors (of six universities) to the show-cause notice, Governor AM Khan said that he cannot reply unless he goes through their responses
Amidst the ongoing tussle between the Raj Bhavan and the Left government, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Monday alleged that a system of "oligarchy" is prevailing in CPI(M)-ruled state and it was evident from the incidents of party cadres being appointed in government jobs. He made this remark while referring to the reports of a purported letter from the Thiruvananthapuram Mayor's office asking the "priority list" of CPI(M) cadres to be appointed in temporary posts in the civic body. "The letter which is being discussed in the press is not the first of its kind. Many such letters exist with people. They have become like an oligarchy in Kerala," the Governor said. He also claimed that the people were asking are all the jobs under Kerala government reserved for cadres and the university jobs for powerful people in Thiruvananthapuram. The Governor, while talking to reporters here, also claimed that the CPI(M) central leadership has distanced itself from Finance Minister K N ...
The ruling CPI(M) in Kerala on Sunday attacked the Central government by accusing it of trying to prevent implementation of welfare schemes and destroy higher education in the state as the BJP wants to control everything. CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan alleged that the Central government's intention to prevent implementation of welfare measures like minimum guaranteed employment was revealed from the speech of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman a day ago. Sitharaman, while delivering the second P Parameshwarji Memorial Lecture on "Cooperative Federalism: The Path Towards Atma Nirbhar Bharat" here on Saturday, had said indiscriminate borrowing and spending by certain states on non-merit goods and expenditure is a matter of concern. Govindan contended that the Centre wants to control everything and prevent states from implementing welfare schemes within their own financial limitations. "The LDF and CPI(M) cannot accept this stand of the Central government," he told report
As many as 650 active Maoist supporters -- residents of villages along the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border -- surrendered before the police, a senior officer here said. Most of them are members of local village committees or Chetana Natya Mandali a cultural outfit linked to CPI(Maoist) in Swabhiman Anchal of Malkangiri district, once a Red corridor that lay cut-off from mainland Odisha, the police officer said. "The surrendered Maoist supporters hail from remote villages of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. The supporters used to assist the cadres of the banned outfit in carrying out attacks on security forces and civilians, besides other violent activities," said Rajesh Pandit, DIG (south-western range). Raising slogans such as "Maobadi Murdabad, Ama Sarkar Jindabad", the sympathisers burnt Maoist literature, effigies, and uniforms worn by cadres of the banned outfit before surrendering on Saturday. The Swabhiman Anchal, comprising 182 villages, is experiencing a "quick turnaround", with
The CPI(M) accused Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Tuesday of advancing the political objectives of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by attempting to destabilise the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in the state. Addressing a press conference here, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury alleged that Khan's actions had no sanction of the Constitution. "The CPI(M) Central Committee strongly denounced the steps being taken by the governor of Kerala to advance the political objectives of the BJP to destabilise the LDF government. The manner in which he demanded the resignation of the vice-chancellors of various universities in the southern state and later, the resignation of the state finance minister, has no sanction of the Indian Constitution. "The governor, in his capacity as the chancellor of the universities in the state, has no authority given by the University Acts passed by the state legislature to initiate such actions," he said. Yechu
CPI leader Binoy Viswam has hit out at the BJP over the bridge collapse in Gujarat's Morbi city on Sunday in which at least 32 people were killed, claiming that it points to the "gross negligence" of the state government. The nearly century-old suspension bridge on the Machchhu river collapsed around 6.30 pm owing to too many people on it following its reopening just four days ago after renovation. "Cable bridge collapse in Gujarat points to the gross negligence of the BJP government. Its repair was said to be done five days back. Where from the contractors got this courage? The compensation needs to be increased. A reliable enquiry should take place to unveil political involvement," Viswam tweeted. A private operator had carried out the repair work of the bridge for nearly six months before it was reopened to the public on the Gujarati New Year day celebrated on October 26.
The sexual assault charges raised by gold smuggling through diplomatic channel case prime accused Swapna Suresh against three prominent leaders of the ruling CPI(M) triggered a political controversy in Kerala on Saturday. Opposition Congress and BJP leaders urged the police to register a case against the trio and asked the Left government to shed its silence over the issue. Suresh, while talking to a TV channel, had alleged on Friday that the leaders -- two former ministers and an ex-Assembly speaker -- had sought sexual favours from her. However, neither the leaders nor the Marxist party reacted to the startling charges so far. KPCC chief K Sudhakaran and Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly V D Satheesan said it has been seen in Kerala's history that an FIR gets registered and investigated when such grave allegations are levelled. Pointing out the recent rape and assault cases registered against their party MLA Eldhose Kunnappilly, the Congress leaders also said if a case
On a sunny afternoon just two days before Durga Puja in 2008, then Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata had announced to pull out the ambitious Nano small car project from Singur in West Bengal's