Archives for September 2024

The incident sparked a sustained mass movement transcending political affiliations, with citizens from all walks of life demanding justice and accountability, and its grassroots intensity and lack of overt political banners have made it the most formidable civil movement since Banerjee’s rise to power, exposing deep-seated frustrations over governance and safety under her administration.

Political observers and leaders believe the sustained mass movement following the tragedy has created fertile ground for a new political party in West Bengal driven by ordinary citizens, students, and professionals disillusioned with the ruling TMC and opposition BJP and CPI(M).

“The movement’s strength lies in its independence from traditional political banners, reflecting a broad demand for justice, transparency, and effective governance. It has exposed a leadership vacuum in the existing opposition parties that a new party could potentially fill by aligning with the protesters’ calls for accountability,” political scientist Maidul Islam said.

The young doctor, whose body was found on August 9, was allegedly raped and murdered while on duty. A civic volunteer was arrested by Kolkata Police the next day.

The public reaction was intense, with thousands of medical professionals, students, activists, and ordinary citizens flooding the streets of Kolkata and other cities in protests marked by poignant displays of grief and anger.

Initially “slow and controversial” in its response, the TMC’s handling of the case has been widely criticised as inadequate and reactive.

The CM’s public condemnation and promises of swift justice failed to quell public anger or restore faith in her administration’s ability to protect its citizens.

while Kolkata Police arrested the main accused within 24 hours administrative missteps and allegations from the victim’s parents led to a public perception of government cover-up.

This left the party and administration struggling to counter the mass movement and on the defensive.

TMC spokesperson Krishanu Mitra defended the party’s commitment to justice by stating that “the protests prove there is a democratic space for agitation in West Bengal, unlike BJP-ruled states”.

However, he admitted that the incident has put the TMC in a tight spot, despite its strong popular support, as opposition forces work to capitalise on the tragedy.

The incident has also brought out differences within the ruling TMC.

TMC deputy leader in Rajya Sabha, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, faced party backlash after publicly supporting the ‘Reclaim the Night’ programme and calling for the CBI to question arrested former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Sandip Ghosh, and Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal.

Meanwhile, his colleague Jawhar Sircar announced his resignation from the Rajya Sabha and exited politics, citing frustration with the state government’s inaction against corrupt doctors.

“This incident poses one of the biggest challenges for the party as it is coming from a non-political force,” a TMC leader said.

Opposition parties BJP and CPI(M) have swiftly capitalised on the tragedy to criticise the TMC’s governance, launching aggressive campaigns that accuse the ruling party of failing to ensure basic safety for women.

“This is a direct consequence of the TMC’s failure to provide a secure environment. Banerjee, who is also the home minister, must resign immediately,” senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said at a rally.

The CPI(M) emphasised the systemic governance failures that the incident has highlighted.

Political analysts pointed out that the opposition parties have failed to penetrate the mass movements organised by civil society, common people, and doctors.

“The RG Kar incident has again brought to the fore the power of civil society movements, which, during the last 13 years of the TMC regime, had been absent. Additionally, the failure of the BJP and CPI(M) to take the lead in this spontaneous mass movement has shown that people are yearning for a new political force to challenge the TMC,” political scientist Biswanath Chakraborty said.

Echoing similar views, political analyst Suman Bhattacharya said that although there is a visible dent in TMC’s urban votes, especially among women, the CPI(M) and BJP are unlikely to benefit from this.

“There is a visible attempt to build a new political force to take on the TMC, which can appeal to both liberal voters who are apathetic towards the BJP and a section of disillusioned urban and semi-urban voters who want an alternative to the TMC-BJP binary,” he said.

Mitra also acknowledged that there is an attempt to create a new political force, but whether this effort will succeed remains to be seen.

Speaking about the future of the stir, Rimjhim Sinha, who launched the ‘Reclaim the Night’ initiative, described it as a new fight for women’s freedom.

“I don’t want to talk about politics, but the fact remains that all the political parties have failed to fight for the cause and rights of women. If the parties are not serious about fighting for our rights, we will fight it out on our own,” she added.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi

Washington: Love, respect and humility are missing in Indian politics, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said in his address to the Indian American community in Texas, where he also criticised the RSS for believing that India is “one idea”.

Gandhi made the remarks on Sunday in Dallas during his first interaction with the Indian diaspora after becoming Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha this summer.

“RSS believes that India is one idea. We believe that India is a multiplicity of ideas,” he said.

“Very much like the United States, we believe everybody should be allowed to participate. We believe that everybody should be allowed to dream, (and) everybody should be given space, regardless of their caste, language, religion, tradition, history,” he said.

“This is the fight. The fight crystallised in the election when millions of people in India clearly understood that the Prime Minister of India was attacking the Constitution of India. Because what I am saying to you is the union of states, respect to languages, respect to religions, respect to traditions, respect to caste. This is all in the Constitution,” Gandhi added.

In his address, Gandhi said his role was to inject values of love, respect and humility into Indian politics.

“I think what is missing in our political systems and across parties is love, respect and humility. Love to all human beings, not necessarily only people of one religion, one community, one caste, one State, or to those who speak one language,” he said.

“Respect to everybody who is trying to build an India, not just the most powerful, but the weakest and humility, not in others, but in oneself. I think that is how I see my own,” he added.

Making an indirect reference to the Lok Sabha results in which the BJP failed to get a majority on its own, Gandhi said, “The people were saying the BJP is attacking our tradition, attacking our language, etc. What they understood was that anybody who is attacking the Constitution of India is also attacking our religious tradition.”

“We saw that immediately, within minutes of the election result, nobody in India was scared of the BJP, of the Prime Minister. These are huge achievements. These are huge achievements of the people of India who realised democracy, of the people of India who realised that we are not going to accept an attack on our Constitution. We’re not going to accept an attack on our religion. We’re not going to accept an attack on our States,” he said.

Asserting that the US needs India and vice versa, Gandhi said the Indian diaspora is a “bridge” between the two nations.

“In my view, you should travel freely between these two homes. You should bring the idea of India to the United States and the ideas of the United States to India,” Gandhi said in his remarks.

“You have a very important role because the relationship between these two unions is going to determine the future of both” the countries, he said.

At least 15 people, including four women and an equal number of children, travelling in a van were killed on Friday after a roadways bus hit the vehicle from behind on National Highway 93 here, officials said.

Thirteen others were injured in the accident and they have been admitted to a government hospital.

Taking cognisance of the accident, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed district officials to reach the spot and take care of relief measures. The CM has also asked officials to ensure proper treatment of the injured.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Nipun Agarwal said, “The accident occurred when the bus hit the van while trying to overtake it on the Agra-Aligarh National Highway.”

The accident occurred near the Kanwarpur village, about 10 kilometers away from the district headquarters.

The passengers were on their way to Agra from Hathras.

Condoling the deaths, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished a speedy recovery to the injured. The local administration is providing all possible help to the victims under the supervision of the state government, he said on X.

He announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the family of each deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured.

President Droupadi Murmu also condoled the loss of lives in the accident and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.

“The news of the death of several people in a road accident in the Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh is extremely sad. I express my deepest condolences to the bereaved families who lost their loved ones and pray for the speedy recovery of those injured,” Murmu said in a post on X in Hindi.

The Congress on Friday released its first list of 31 candidates for the Haryana Assembly polls, fielding former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi, state unit chief Udai Bhan from Hodal and wrestler Vinesh Phogat from Julana.

The list was released after the Central Election Committee (CEC) of the Congress met here, with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Sonia Gandhi, party general secretary in-charge organisation K C Venugopal, All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Haryana Deepak Babaria and Hooda, among others, attending the meeting.

Besides Hooda, Bhan and Phogat, the Congress has fielded Mewa Singh from Ladwa to take on Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini.

The party has also fielded Surender Panwar from Sonipat, Bharat Bhushan Batra from Rohtak, Kuldeep Vats from Badli, Chiranjeev Rao from Revari and Neeraj Sharma from Faridabad NIT.

Earlier, on the possibility of any MP contesting the polls, Babaria said after the CEC meeting, “To date, no MP has been permitted to contest Assembly elections.” Asked about Phogat contesting the polls, he said, “I think it has been decided that she will contest from Julana.”

The Congress is also engaged in seat-sharing talks with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)for the Haryana polls, with hard bargaining going on from both sides.

However, the prospects of a tie-up appeared bleak on Friday with both sides hardening their stance.

The Congress has been engaged in hectic consultations over the last few days to explore the possibility of an alliance with the AAP for the Haryana polls, even as some of its leaders have expressed reservations over a tie-up with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party.

The sources said the Hooda faction of the grand old party and some other leaders are opposed to a seat-sharing deal with the AAP. According to these leaders, Kejriwal’s party does not have much ground in Haryana.

Olympians Phogat and Bajrang Punia, who were at the forefront of the wrestlers’ protest against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh last year, entered the political arena on Friday by joining the Congress with a vow of “not being scared or backing off”.

Hours after joining the Congress, Punia was appointed the working chairman of the All India Kisan Congress. It seems unlikely now that he would be fielded in the polls.

The 90-member Haryana Assembly is scheduled to go to polls on October 5 and the counting of votes will be undertaken on October 8.