Page 33 - Tmc

WB polls: BJP chief sits on dharna, accuses TMC of fabricating results

Alleging the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) of fabricating the results, State BJP Chief Majumdar said that he will be opting for legal action in the matter

TMC set to dominate Bengal rural polls, bags 18,606 gram panchayat seats

TMC looked set to sweep the violence-scarred rural polls keeping intact the mandate it won two years back during the assembly polls by taking a seemingly unassailable lead in results declared till now by the State Election Commission. The ruling TMC has won in 18,606 gram panchayat seats out of the 27,985 seats declared, besides leading in 8,180 seats, according to the SEC as of 7.30 pm on Tuesday. Its nearest rival BJP has won 4,482 seats and is leading in 2,419 seats. In all elections are being held for 63,229 gram panchayat seats. The Left Front has won 1,502 seats, of which the CPI(M) alone has won 1,424. The Left is currently leading in 969 seats. The Congress won 1,073 seats and is leading in 693. Other parties won 476 seats and led in 208 seats, while independents which included TMC rebels won 1,060 seats and led in 466 seats. Candidates tied for 785 seats so far. The ruling TMC won 118 Panchayat samiti seats while leading 782 seats. BJP has drawn a blank till now though it

WB rural polls counting underway, TMC leading in over 3,068 gram panchayats

Early trends indicate that the Trinamool Congress is leading in over 2,229 gram panchayat seats in West Bengal while the BJP is ahead in 664 seats, State Election Commission officials said on Tuesday. The CPI(M) is currently leading in over 460 gram panchayat seats followed by its ally Congress in 168, they said. The ruling TMC is also leading in 28 seats of gram samities, SEC officials said. "These are unofficial figures, we will make an official announcement later," a poll official told PTI. The counting of votes for the three-tier panchayat polls to nearly 74,000 seats in West Bengal began in a peaceful manner amid tight security, officials said. There are around 339 counting venues spread across 22 districts. The maximum number of counting centres was in South 24 Parganas at 28, while the minimum was in Kalimpong at four. Some northern districts are also facing inclement weather. "The counting, which began at 8 am, is likely to continue for the next two days. It will take ti

WB Panchayat elections: Counting begins at 696 booths after re-polling

All counting venues will be manned by armed state police personnel and central forces, with prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC being imposed outside the venue to avoid any untoward incidents

Repolling underway in 700 booths; BJP, TMC in war of words over violence

No major incident was reported as fresh polling was underway in nearly 700 booths in 19 districts of West Bengal where voting for the panchayat elections was declared void, officials said. The repolling was ordered in 696 booths by the State Election Commission (SEC) on Sunday evening amid allegations of tampering with ballot boxes and the violence that left 15 people dead, they said. The repolling started at 7 am amid tight security with four central forces personnel deployed in each booth, besides state police. Till 1 pm, 30.54 per cent voter turnout was recorded. Voting started late in a few booths as ballot boxes did not reach on time, officials said. These booths will be given extra time to complete the polling, they said. "No major untoward incidents were reported from the districts where repolling is underway. A couple of stray incidents happened and those were managed by the police," an SEC official said. In Malda, locals blocked a booth in Dogachi in Raniganj panchayat i

Derek O'Brien, Saket Gokhale among 6 candidates named by TMC for RS polls

The Trinamool Congress on Monday announced its candidates for the six Rajya Sabha seats in West Bengal that will go to polls later this month. Among these candidates were Derek O'Brien, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and Dola Sen. O'Brien, an MP since 2011, is the TMC's leader in Rajya Sabha, while Ray who was first sent to the Upper House of Parliament in 2012 is the deputy chief whip, and Sen, a senior leader and trade unionist, became an MP in 2017. The newcomers on the list were Bangla Sanskriti Mancha president Samirul Islam, TMC's Alipurduar district president Prakash Chik Baraik, and RTI activist and TMC spokesperson Saket Gokhale. Besides O'Brien, Ray and Sen, the tenures of Congress MP Pradip Bhattacharya, TMC's Assam leader Sushmita Dev and its Darjeeling leader Shanta Chhetri's ended, following which these six seats fell vacant. A seventh Rajya Sabha seat from West Bengal is also vacant after former Goa chief minister Luizinho Faleiro resigned as a TMC MP in April. A bypoll will be

Shaping political alliances

Opposition unity has suffered a setback

Bengal SEC orders repolling on July 10 in booths where voting declared void

The West Bengal State Election Commission announced that repolling will be held on Monday in all booths where voting for the rural elections has been declared void. The SEC, which held a meeting on Sunday evening, went through reports of vote-tampering and violence which affected polling in many places, and passed the order, an official said. Among districts where repolling was announced, Murshidabad has the highest number of booths at 175, followed by Malda with 112. Violence-hit Nadia will see repolling in 89 booths, while North and South 24 Parganas districts will witness repolling in 46 and 36 booths respectively.

West Bengal Governor Ananda Bose to visit Delhi, likely to meet Amit Shah

Meanwhile, West Bengal State Election Commission on Sunday said the Police have confirmed 10 deaths in poll-related violence across the state

BJP alleges central forces 'deliberately' not deployed in panchayat polls

The opposition BJP in West Bengal on Sunday alleged that the central forces were not deployed "deliberately" during the panchayat elections, inviting a sharp retort from the ruling TMC which said there was no guarantee that violence would not have happened if the forces were deployed. BJP national vice president Dilip Ghosh said if the central forces were deployed in sensitive places, there would not have been so much violence, and people could have exercised their franchise freely and without fear. "The central forces were not deployed in sensitive areas deliberately," he said. Ghosh alleged that instead of deploying the forces in the polling booths, they were made to patrol highways or were kept at police stations. "Even where they were deployed, that was done only after the violence and looting of votes," he claimed. "They were ordered to be deployed in all booths by the Calcutta High Court, but that was not done," he said. TMC said there was no guarantee that violence would n

BJP's Amit Malviya alleges 'Ballot Box' change by TMC in Bengal's Malda

The three-tier panchayat elections in 20 districts were marked by widespread violence, looting of ballots papers and rigging

Anurag Thakur expresses concern over panchayat election violence in Bengal

The deteriorating law and order situation in Bengal, which has resulted in multiple deaths and injuries, has drew attention and raised worries throughout the country and abroad, he said

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury meets victim's familyof Panchayat poll violence

There were reports of booth capturing, damaging of ballot boxes and assault of presiding officers from several districts such as Murshidabad, Cooch Behar, Malda, South 24 Parganas, North Dinajpur

Bengal Panchayat polls: No info received on sensitive booths, says BSF DIG

BSF informed that the State Election Commission has set up a total of 61,636 polling booths to conduct elections for 3317 Gram Panchayats

Bengal under TMC known for crimes, anti-national activities, says BJP

The BJP on Saturday attacked the TMC government in West Bengal, alleging that the state under its rule has become a tragic example of violence in democracy. Hitting out at the TMC over violence during the panchayat elections, BJP spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Sudhanshu Trivedi told reporters that the state used to be a centre of art, culture and science. Now, it is known for "crimes, anti-national activities and dangerous appeasement". He alleged that the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led government has been using criminals for violence during the elections by giving them protection. Members of the BJP and the Left-Congress combine have been killed and such a situation has emerged that different factions of the TMC are attacking each other, Trivedi alleged. Violence has been going on in Bengal for years. It is not only continuing but gradually rising, he said. Taking a swipe at the BJP's critics, Trivedi said they cannot see these murders in their opposition to the party an

BJP-led govt stopping funds intended for Bengal: TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee

This is the first time that the CRPF has been deployed during panchayat polls. We have no problem with that. We respect the court's instructions," he further said

Next Opposition meet of parties to be held in Bengaluru on July 17-18: Cong

The Congress announced on Monday that the next meeting of opposition parties will be held in Bengaluru on July 17 and 18. Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal made the announcement on Twitter and said "we are steadfast in our unwavering resolve to defeat the fascist and undemocratic forces". In a tweet, Venugopal said, "After a hugely successful all-opposition meeting in Patna, we will be holding the next meeting in Bengaluru on 17 and 18 July, 2023. We are steadfast in our unwavering resolve to defeat the fascist and undemocratic forces and present a bold vision to take the country forward." Earlier, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar had said the next opposition meet will be held in Bengaluru on July 13-14. Those dates were said to be clashing with the Assembly sessions in a few states. The first such meeting of opposition parties was held in Bihar's Patna on June 23.

Govt spending Rs 20k cr for central vista, but held back Bengal funds: TMC

The BJP-led government at the Centre was spending Rs 20,000 crore for the central vista project, but held back Rs 7,500 crore due to West Bengal which would have provided work to the poor under MGNREGA, senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee claimed on Saturday. Addressing a rally at Falakata in Alipurduar, Banerjee said his party will continue to protest against the alleged discrimination of the people of West Bengal by the Centre. "You may continue to deploy central agencies such as CBI and ED against us, but we will not bow our heads in front of outsiders who are least bothered about the living conditions of the people of Bengal," he said. Banerjee said that over the last three years, the CBI and ED have been sending notices to him regularly. "But, they could not break my resolve to stand up for the poor of Bengal." He alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was boasting about being the guarantor against corruption, but he never took action against BJP leaders indulging in such .

WB panchayat poll : BJP apprehends attempts by TMC to rig election

Pledging to usher in panchayats "purged of thieves" in the coming rural poll in West Bengal in the event of a win by BJP, the party Saturday expressed apprehensions that there will be attempts at largescale rigging and violence by the ruling TMC on the voting day. BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar releasing the BJP's manifesto said the role of the State Election Commission (SEC), which conducts the rural polls, is not above suspicion as it was not found to be vigilant enough to curb incidents of violence in the run up to the July 8 election. BJP, he said, will gift a 'chor mukto panchayat' system (panchayats purged of thieves) which will stop "siphoning off" of cut money in the implementation of central projects like Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the PM's project for farmers and MGNREGS and usher in a transparent administration. "Wherever BJP is strong, our workers will play the role of central forces," he said referring to reports that the SEC will not deploy central paramilitary

You are leading the largest opposition party: Derek O'Brien to PM

The TMC on Saturday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi the leader of the "largest opposition party", which is "opposed" to providing jobs, nurturing democracy, preserving federalism and controlling prices. The party was responding to Modi's attacks on "opposition parties" in his speech in Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh. TMC Rajya Sabha member Derek O'Brien accused the BJP of being opposed to jobs, democracy and federalism. "These are NOT 'opposition parties', Mr Prime Minister! It is YOU who is leading the largest 'opposition party'. Your party is opposed to giving young people jobs. Opposed to nurturing democracy. Opposed to preserving federalism. Opposed to controlling prices," he said in a tweet. Modi in his speech said, "The social media posts of those (opposition parties), who want to come together, are getting viral these days. These opposition parties are only uniting to promote dynastic politics." After the recent meeting of the Opposition parties in Patna, the BJP has ...