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TMC in WB; BJP in Assam; AIADMK in TN; LDF in Kerala

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West Bengal Tamil Nadu

New Delhi: The BJP appears to have stormed Assam unseating Congress which also looks like losing Kerala as incumbent TMC and AIADMK are cruising comfortably to retain power in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.

In the Union Territory of Puducherry, Congress-DMK alliance was ahead in the 30-member assembly closely followed by AINRC headed by Chief Minister and former Congressman N Rangaswamy.

Assam is on the road to making history with BJP set to get its first government in the North East by dislodging Congress which has been in power for three consecutive terms.

The saffron party was leading in 73 of the 126 seats while the ruling Congress was trailing far behind at 33. The ADUF led by Badaruddin Ajmal was ahead in 13 seats. ‘Others’ were leading in eight seats.

In West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee’s TMC maintained its hold against an unlikely alliance of CPI(M) and Congress and her look like bettering its last election performance. The TMC was ahead in 216 seats out of total 294. The Left parties are leading in 30 and Congress in 37 while BJP was ahead in 9 seats.

As per trends, J Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK appears to be winning Tamil Nadu for a straight second term, bucking the tradition since 1989 when a ruling party has not returned to power. AIADMK’s performance has also disproved several exit poll predictions which had tipped the DMK-Congress alliance to come to power.

The AIADMK was leading in 126 seats while DMK-Congress alliance was ahead in 91 seats. While the third front of parties headed by DMDK’s Vijaykant failed to make any impact, the PMK which contested all the 234 seats could lead only in seven seats.

In Kerala, the Left Front was well on the road to dislodge Congress from power keeping up the tradition of voting out the incumbent government. The Left Democratic Front was ahead in 88 of the 140 seats while the ruling UDF was behind at 50.

According to trends, BJP may make a maiden entry in the state with the party said to be leading in one seat.

In Puducherry, the Congress-DMK alliance was leading in 13 of the 30 seats. The ruling AINRC was leading in 12 seats while AIADMK was ahead in two seats.

(Agencies)

60 per cent turnout till 1 PM in Bengal

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(AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

(AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Kolkata: Amid reports of stray incidents of violence in some pockets, an estimated 60 per cent voters today exercised their franchise till 1 PM in 31 assembly constituencies in three districts of West Bengal in part two of the first phase of election.

Election Commission officials here said an average 60 per cent polling was recorded in Bankura, West Midnapore and Burdwan districts till 1 PM as people queued outside polling booths since morning to cast their votes.

West Midnapore recorded 65 per cent turnout, Bankura 57.6 per cent and Burdwan 56.7 per cent, officials said.

A large number of people lined up in front of the polling booths even before 7 AM when voting began to beat the sweltering heat as day temperatures are above 40 degrees C due to a heatwave.

Sporadic incidents of violence were reported from polling booths in Jamuria Assembly constituency in Burdwan.

A CPI(M) agent was injured after he was allegedly beaten up by Trinamool Congress workers and obstructed from entering a polling booth in Jamuria. TMC denied the allegation.

Two bags containing bombs were found near a polling booth in Jamuria by police.

Polling was disrupted for some time at a booth in Pandaveswar constituency in Burdwan district when a polling officer Parimal Bauri died of heart attack. Voting resumed after another officer took charge.

Seven EVMs were found to be malfunctioning at Barjora, two at Bankura and three at Chatna constituency before polling began in Bankura district. The EVMs were replaced quickly.

One EVM developed problem during voting at Chatna which was also replaced.

Surjya Kanta Mishra, CPI-M state secretary and sitting MLA from Narayangarh seat was among the early voters.

Repoll in two booths of Bankura and West Midnapore districts, where polling was held in the first part of the first phase poll on April 4, is also being held today.

(Agencies)

Heavy voting in West Bengal, Assam in first phase of Assembly polls

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(AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

(AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Kolkata: Brisk polling was recorded in the first phase of balloting in the Assembly elections in West Bengal and Assam with an estimated 70 and 67 per cent voters respectively exercising their franchise in the two states till 3:30 pm.

Polling is being conducted under heavy security and no violence or untoward incident has been reported from anywhere in the two states so far, official sources said.

In West Bengal, where Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress is making a determined bid for a second successive term, heavy voter turnout was recorded with an estimated 70 per cent of 40.09 lakh electors casting their ballots in 18 of the state’s 294 constituencies where polling is in progress till 3:30 pm. Most of these constituencies are in areas where Maoists earlier wielded considerable influence.

“There were some issues with EVMs in some booths which were immediately addressed and polling is going on smoothly. We got some other complaints also and they have been addressed,” Additional Chief Electoral Officer Dibyendu Sarkar told PTI.

Of the 18 seats, 13 are in Jangalmahal area earlier affected by Maoist violence where voting will end at 4 PM due to security considerations. In the remaining five seats of Purulia, Manbazar, Kashipur, Para and Raghunathpur voting will go on till 6 PM.

A key contestant in this phase is Tribal Affairs Minister Sukumar Hansda, who is trying his luck from Jhargram.

All major contenders to power- Trinamool, Left-Congress alliance and BJP- have fielded candidates in all 18 seats.

Mamata Banerjee, who has held sway over West Bengal politics since coming to power five years ago, if facing a challenge from foe-turned-friends– the CPI(M)-led Left Front-Congress combine, besides BJP, which is seeking to make inroads into the eastern state.

In Assam, where Congress under Tarun Gogoi is seeking a fourth straight term, 67 per cent of little over 95.11 lakh voters cast their ballots till 3:30 pm. There were no reports of violence in any of the 65 of the 126 constituencies where polling is being held in the first phase.

The 65 constituencies are spread across Upper Assam, the hill districts, the northern banks and the Barak Valley.

Prominent Congress candidates in the fray in the first phas include Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi from Titabor and Speaker of the outgoing Assembly Pranab Gogoi from Sibsagar.

BJP’s chief ministerial candidate Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal is trying his luck from Majuli, while party’s Lok Sabha member from Jorhat Kamakhya Prasad Tasa is crossing swords with Tarun Gogoi in Titabor.

(PTI)

W Bengal: 800 fall ill after eating ‘prasad’ served in a ceremony

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Prasad

Barasat: About 800 people have fallen ill after consuming ‘prasad’ distributed in a religious function at Mitpukuria in North-24 parganas district, a health official said today.

The affected people include those from neigbouring villages of Kalikapur, Sardarhati and Mallikpara.

They all complained of stomach pain, loose motion and vomiting after eating ‘prasad’ at the ceremony on Tuesday night, the district’s Chief Medical Officer (Health) Proloy Acharya said.

All 800 of them were admitted to several hospitals and Primary Health Centres on the following day, he added.

About 300 people continued to be under treatment in different health facilities including the Barasat hospital, Acharya said adding, that even today many people are coming for treatment with similar ailments.

The Health department has collected samples of the ‘prasad’ served on Tuesday, he said.

(PTI)

CPI-M not to forge alliance with Cong in West Bengal

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CPI-M

New Delhi: Rejecting the West Bengal state unit’s demand, the CPI(M) Central Committee has decided not to form an alliance with the Congress in West Bengal.

The party, however, has directed the West Bengal state unit to do efforts to bring down the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government in the Assembly election.

“There will not be any political alliance with the Congress in West Bengal,” a central committee member told Madhyamam Online.

The West Bengal state committee of the CPI (M) had decided to join hands with Congress in the coming Assembly election and left it for the Central Committee to ratify the move.

(Agencies)

11 sentenced to death for killing woman in West Bengal

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west-bengal

Kolkata: Eleven people were given the death sentence by a West Bengal court on Thursday for killing a woman to grab land.

Aparna Bag was shot dead when she tried to prevent the attackers from grabbing land in Krishnaganj in Nadia district on November 23, 2015.

Two others were also shot but survived the attack.

A West Bengal court on Thursday awarded the death sentence to 11 people charged with murdering the 38-year-old housewife, the Hindustan Times reported.

According to police, one of the accused is still absconding.

Lankeshwar Ghosh, who claimed to be a local Trinamool leader, is the main accused but local party leaders, however, rejected his claim that he has anything to do with the party.

(Agencies)

Growing intolerance: A letter to the president of India by creative and academic community of West Bengal

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pranab-mukherjee

To Sri Pranab Mukherjee

The President of India

Your Excellency,

As citizens of a democratic country, we are deeply concerned about the growing culture of murderous intolerance and the brazen assault on the fundamental right to life of those who maintain the core values of diversity, plurality and tolerance of which you yourself have recently reminded us. The targeting of innocents like the recent killing of Muhammad Akhlaq in Dadri and the series of attacks against rationalists and freethinkers including the gruesomely casual killing of Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and M.M. Kalburgi has made us strangers in our own country. We are horrified at the callous lack of support and apathy of the state in finding and bringing the culprits to justice. The stifling atmosphere of fear and uncertainty is fatal to the freedom of expression that is at the heart of our shared lives, and it is for the restoration of this common fabric that we urge you to intervene.

On behalf of the freethinking, creative minds of India – indeed, on behalf of every citizen of India – we urge you, the guardian of the Constitution of India, to ensure that those who have infringed upon this founding document of the State with impunity, whether overtly or by silent complicity, be brought to justice. Throttling the right to free thought and expression threatens the very existence of our plural society. We demand your active intervention in protecting the basic freedom which is the right of all Indian citizens without discrimination by religion, caste, class or gender. We appeal to you to take firm and immediate steps to combat this well-planned conspiracy to endanger Indian democracy.

From the creative and academic community of West Bengal,

  • Nabaneeta Dev Sen
  • Nirendranath Chakraborty
  • Ashok Mitra
  • Shankha Ghosh
  • Alokranjan Dasgupta
  • Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay
  • Pabitra Sarkar
  • Ipshita Chanda
  • Samaresh Majumder
  • Amiya Bagchi
  • Bibhash Chakraborty
  • Rudraprasad Sengupta
  • Swatilekha Sengupta
  • Bani Basu
  • Subodh Sarkar
  • Antara Dev Sen
  • Pratik Kanjilal
  • Nandana Dev Sen
  • Wasim Kapoor
  • Dipali Bhattacharya
  • Srijato
  • Sohini Sengupta
  • Emanul Haque
  • Bikashranjan Bhattacharya
  • Chitra Sen
  • Kaushik Sen
  • Reshmi Sen
  • Srikanta Acharya
  • Bijaya Mukhopadhyay
  • Sarat Mukhopadyay
  • Gargi Roychoudhury
  • Arna Sheel
  • Ujjwal Chattopadhyay
  • Meghnad Bhattacharya
  • Kishor Sengupta
  • Subrata Gangopadhyay
  • Samir Aich
  • Srabasti Basu
  • All Members of P.E.N International, India, West Bengal Branch
  • Krishna Bose
  • Ranjan Gupta
  • Shyamal Mukhopadhyay
  • Sugata Choudhuri
  • Arindam Acharjee
  • Barun Chakrabarty
  • Krishna Sen
  • All Members of SOI, Forum for Creative Women
  • Anjali Das
  • Jyotsna Karmakar
  • Sharmishtha Dasgupta
  • Maya Siddhanta
  • Dipanwita Roy
  • Chitra Lahiri
  • Chaitali Chattopadhyay
  • Sutapa Bhattacharya
  • Sanjukta Bandopadhyay
  • Esha De
  • Ishita Bhaduri
  • Kana Basu Misra
  • Susmeli Dutta
  • Deepshikha Poddar
  • Binata Roychowdhury
  • Pritha Bal
  • Dipannita Datta
  • Bubun Chattopadhyay
  • Banani Das
  • Swapna Bandopadhyay
  • Kasturi Chattopadhyay
  • Sanhita Bandopadhyay
  • Tanbir Nasreen
  • Kamalakkha Gangopadhyay
  • Manasij Majumder
  • Dhritikanta Lahiri Choudhury
  • Shankar Majumder
  • Pratibha Mandal
  • Bidisha Ghosh Biswas
  • Agnimitra Biswas
  • K. Biswanath
  • Anit Bose
  • Paushali Sengupta
  • Rangan Sengupta
  • Bipasha Raha
  • Subha Chakraborty Dasgupta
  • Arnab Dutta
  • Judhajit Sarkar
  • Nabin Mandal
  • Sheila Lahiri Chowdhury
  • Dipkanta Lahiri Chowdhury
  • Debjani Lahiri Chowdhury
  • Ridhi Sen
  • Pankaj Saha
  • Avery Chaurey
  • Indira Mukherjee
  • Riya Chatterjee
  • Kanai Barui
  • Bulbul Datta
  • S.N. Paul
  • Amitabha Mandal
  • Jharna Barui
  • Neelu Das
  • Sukanta Chaudhuri
  • Supriya Chaudhuri
  • Sounak Chakraborty
  • Sebanti Ghosh
  • Sudhir Chandra
  • Minati Chatterjee
  • Jayati Ghosh
  • Bikash Mukherjee
  • Sudip Nath
  • Indira Chakraborty
  • Amit Das
  • Nandita Kundu
  • Jhinuk Roy
  • Saumen Mukhopadhyay
  • Anish Sengupta
  • Mahashweta Samajdar
  • Anuttama Banerji
  • Soumyajit Paul
  • Soma Roychowdhury
  • Himanshu Biswas
  • Arpita Sikka
  • Prabhas Ghosh
  • Ayan Majumdar
  • Biswajit Bhowmik
  • Chaitali Chatterji
  • Sharmila Das
  • T.K. Mandal
  • Abhijit Ghosh
  • Yasodhara Roychowdhury
  • Upasana Mukherjee
  • Biplab Gangopadhyay
  • Amit Kr. Pandit
  • Gargi Sarkar
  • Debu
  • Sreyash Sarkar
  • Agomani Dasgupta Mukherji
  • Roshni Charaborty
  • Ajeya Sarkar
  • Sreyashi Musafir
  • Swapna Chakraborty
  • Sremayi Bhatta
  • Nilanjana Chatterjee
  • Sudakshina Bhagat
  • Swastika
  • Swapna Dutta
  • Sajal Samudra
  • Paula Sengupta
  • Abhimanyu Mahato
  • Pias Majid
  • Arvind Deb Sarkar
  • Alamgir Haque
  • Sharmila Sen
  • Pallabi Dey
  • Anamika Dutta Sarkar
  • Samapan Saha
  • Saumitra Polley
  • Anjan Achariya
  • Anirban Das
  • Amlan Chaudhuri
  • Md. Inasuddin
  • Biplab Kr. Pal
  • Swapan Bose
  • Ramkumar Acharya

Bose alive in China in 1948, indicates declassified file

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Subhash_Chandra_Bose

Kolkata: Freedom fighter Netaji Subash Chandra Bose was “alive” and “somewhere in Manchuria, China” in 1948, one of his trusted aides, Deb Nath Das, had claimed then, according to the declassified files by the West Bengal government.

Among the released dossier, file No. 22 sheds light on intelligence gathered by the Bengal government (office of the deputy commissioner of police), on INA leaders, including Das.

An extract dated August 9, 1948, says: “Deb Nath Das, an ex-INA leader who is actively engaged in anti-Congress propaganda, is preaching in political and party circles that Netaji Subash Chandra Bose is alive and is somewhere in Manchuria, China at present.”

“To rouse the curiosity and even belief of the people, he (Das) says that Netaji told him before the plane-crash that the possibility of a third world war would emerge in the wake of the second world war.”

On August 22, 1945, Tokyo Radio announced the “death” of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in an air crash in Formosa (now Taiwan) on August 18, 1945, en route to Japan.

But the crash theory has been rejected by scores of Bose’s followers and admirers and claims of the revolutionary leader resurfacing continue to intrigue and divide Indians over the years.

Adding to the controversy, the extract further states that Das had asserted that in 1948 Bose was keeping tabs on the international as well as national scenario.

“Das adds that Netaji is watching both the international and national situation, vis-A-vis India, to find out as to which among the foreign powers was her friend or enemy. There is a talk that Deb Nath Das may contest the by-election from south Calcutta constituency of the West Bengal Assembly.”

Das, according to a declassified 1948 confidential diary page of the Calcutta police, was known to give “fiery lectures” against the then Indian government.

“Except for the meetings attended or presided over by Das, in which he always gave fiery lectures against the government of India, nothing else could be known of his anti-Congress activities.”

The Bengal government on Friday made public 64 files to help unravel the mystery behind Bose’s disappearance.

Bose, once the Congress president, made contact with the Axis powers during World War II. He formed the Indian National Army in Singapore, with the help of the Japanese, and fought the British Indian Army.

Ex-INA leader Das, was a key member of the provisional government-in-exile formed by Bose in 1943.

(IANS)

Centre needs to tread cautiously on Netaji files: Venkaiah Naidu

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Venkaiah Naidu

Hyderabad: The Centre will take a decision on declassification of files related to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose only after studying its impact on India’s relations with other countries, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said here today.

“The West Bengal government has made public certain confidential files related to Netaji. It is good… It needs to be studied what is there in those files before the Centre takes such a decision, its impact on the international community, our relations with other countries, neighbouring countries, needs to be studied.

“The Centre will have to take a final decision after studying that. I personally feel that people of the country have the right to know the truth on the Netaji issue. Government will think of it and decide how and when to do it,” the Parliamentary Affairs minister told reporters here on the sidelines of an event.

Seventy years after his mysterious disappearance, 64 files running into nearly 13,000 pages were declassified yesterday which shows some of Netaji’s family members were spied upon in independent India.

However, there was no clarity on whether Bose died in an air crash in 1945 as is widely believed.

Tucked away in police and government lockers for decades, the files containing 12,744 pages were declassified by West Bengal government in the presence of Bose’s family members, who have been demanding that information on Netaji be made public.

The files have been kept inside glass cases at the Kolkata Police Museum before they are made accessible to the public on Monday.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has demanded that the Centre declassify files pertaining to the nationalist leader and said that it is unfortunate that the mystery of Netaji’s disappearance has remained unresolved for 70 years.

Some of Netaji’s family members have rejected the theory that he had died in a plane crash in Taihoku airport in Taiwan on August 18, 1945.

(Agencies)

West Bengal government declassifies 64 files related to Netaji

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Subhash_Chandra_Bose

Kolkata: The West Bengal government today declassified 64 files relating to Subhas Chandra Bose which might throw some light on his mysterious disappearance as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the Centre should also make public its files on him.

The 64 files containing 12,744 pages were declassified in the presence of his family members who have been demanding that information on Bose, kept confidential till now, should be made public.

The files were displayed in glass cascades in Kolkata Police Museum here and they would be made accessible to the public from Monday, City Police Commissioner Surajit Kar Purakayastha said.

Of the 64 files, 55 were with Kolkata Police while another nine were with the state police.

Purakayastha handed over a DVD containing the files in digitised format to the family members of Netaji.

Chief Minister Banerjee, who visited the police museum, tweeted, “Today is a historic day. Our government has made all Netaji files public. People have a right to know about the brave son of India.”

Later, she said, “We made a beginning. The people should know the truth. Let the central government also declassify the files (on Netaji). Let good sense prevail on all of us. You cannot suppress the truth. Let truth come out.

“In 70 years, the mystery has not been solved. We did not know what happened (to Netaji). It is unfortunate. How long you can keep it under secrecy. You read the files in details,” she said.

Welcoming the declassification of the 64 files by the state government, Chandra Bose, Netaji’s grandnephew said, “It is a correct step. Now it is the duty of the central government to declassify 130 files it has with it.

(Agencies)

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