It has been decided that only small public meetings with not more than 500 people will be held by PM Modi and other central ministers in West Bengal. All these public meetings will be held in open spaces following COVID19 guidelines. (ANI)
West Bengal Elections 2021 Highlights: It’s the assembly elections season in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Puducherry. Polling happened in a single phase in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on April 6, while voters in Assam cast their votes in three phases. Polling in Bengal is happening in eight phases. Of these, five phases have concluded. The next phase will take place on April 22. The election campaign and canvassing have continued there in full swing. Counting of votes in all states will happen on May 2. In Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress is fighting to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s surge at bay. The saffron party has shown a dramatic electoral rise in the state over the last few years. In Assam, the state’s governing BJP is hoping to retain power even as it faces ‘Mahajot’, the joint opposition alliance comprising the Congress, AIUDF and other regional parties. Congress and the Left Front, which are allies in Bengal, are competing for power in Kerala. The Congress-led UDF and the ruling LDF have been winning alternate elections since the early 1980s. Tamil Nadu’s ruling AIADMK has continued its alliance with the BJP amid a challenge from MK Stalin-led DMK and its alliance partners. However, one of the key things to watch out for in the southern state is how some of the smaller parties – including that of actor Kamal Haasan and TTV Dhinakaran’s AMMK – may impact the poll outcome. With their government having collapsed due to defections weeks before the election, V Narayanasamy-led Congress is battling the BJP-NR Congress alliance in Puducherry.
It has been decided that only small public meetings with not more than 500 people will be held by PM Modi and other central ministers in West Bengal. All these public meetings will be held in open spaces following COVID19 guidelines. (ANI)
We have set a target of distribution of 6 crore masks and sanitisers in West Bengal
If Bengal ends up being governed by central rulers, not local leaders, it will strengthen concentration of power in hands of those whose record on economic policy, social justice are 'seriously defective'.
A BJP candidate's house was attacked with crude bombs in West Bengal's North 24Parganas district, police said today. The house of Sanmoy Bandopadhyay, BJP's Panihaticandidate, was attacked late yesterday, they said. The incident happened in the Khardaha police stationarea where Bandopadhyay lives, they added. A person was arrested in connection with the incident, a senior officer of the Barrackpore Police said. There was no report of any injury to anyone, he said. (PTI)
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee blames PM Modi for second wave of COVID-19
Holding prime minister Narendra Modi responsible for the second wave of COVID-19 in India, West Bengal chief minister inKaliganj said, "Why didn't you (PM) make plans to stop corona in the last 6 months?... You have to answer this. Prime Minister is responsible for second wave of COVID19. If he would have taken responsible at right time then this wouldn't have happened." (ANI)
With folded hands, I urge EC to hold last three phases of polls on a single day or in two days amid COVID-19 surge.
Fast-track courts established across country for fast-tracking cases of sexual offences against children, wherein Centre provides 50 percent funds and remaining states do. 123 fast-track courts sanctioned for Bengal. Been writing toMamataBanerjeefor her consent but all in vain. You're a woman chief minister. What's the problem with fast-track courts for sexualoffencesagainst children? (ANI)
Pointing to a purported audio tape, in which the TMC boss is apparently heard proposing a rally with the bodies ofCooch Behar firing victims, Union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah yesterday said he has so far never come across any person who "plays politics over the dead".Insisting that infiltrators are taking away the benefits meant for the country's citizens, he said, "Peoplelike you and I are second-grade citizens for Didi as we do not add heft to her vote bank." He gave assurance that his party, if voted to power in West Bengal, will ensure that cross-border cattle smugglingcomes to a stop once and for all. (PTI)
Elections won't be needed to be conducted under the security provided by central forces after the BJP comes to power in West Bengal, said state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh while addressing an election rally at Bhatar constituency in Purba Bardhaman district. "We will straighten the spine of the state police thathas been curved by turning the force into the political agent of the ruling party," Ghosh said.
80+ electors cast their votes through postal ballot at 161 Ballygunge Assembly constituency of Kolkata South District (Source: CEO West Bengal)
A look at seats won by political parties in the last five West Bengal Assembly polls
West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Aariz Aftab yesterday said that 82.49 percent of 1.13crore voters in 45 assembly constituencies exercised their franchise during the fifth phase of polling on April 17. Of the 45 seats that went to the polls on April 17, 16 were in North 24Parganas, eight each inPurbaMedinipurand Nadia, seven inJalpaiguri, five in Darjeeling and one inKalimpongdistricts. Thebextphase of polling in Bengal will be held on April 22.
