Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav meets West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at Nabanna. (Photo: ANI)Assembly Elections 2021 Live Updates: Looking to unite all secular parties in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday met RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and appealed to the people from Bihar domiciled in the state to vote against the BJP. After the meeting with the TMC chief, Yadav said that the first priority of his party was to stop the BJP’s progress in West Bengal.
“Our party’s stand is to provide full support to Mamataji,” he said, appealing to the people from Bihar domiciled in Bengal to stand with Banerjee’s party. Seeking fair elections in the state, Mamata said her government does not want the BJP to control the Election Commission. The two leaders, however, evaded questions on the possibility of alliance between TMC and RJD.
Meanwhile, launching an attack at the NDA, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that Tamil Nadu should show the way to India in keeping away the forces that are inimical to language and culture and those projecting “one culture, one nation, and one history” concept. Addressing a rally in Kanyakumari, Gandhi also said that history has shown that nobody can rule Tamil Nadu other than the Tamil people. “This election will show the same thing that only a person who truly represents the Tamil people can be a chief minister of Tamil Nadu,”, he said during a public address in Kanyakumari as part of his three-day tour of poll-bound Tamil Nadu.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra began her two-day visit to poll-bound Assam today by offering prayers at the famed Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati. Clad in a red outfit, the prevalent colour symbolising Shakti, the Congress leader said that she wanted to visit the temple for long and “her wish has come true”.
Congress leader questions party's West Bengal alliance
Indicating a division in the Congress ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections, senior leader Anand Sharma has questioned the party's alliance with the Indian Secular Front in the state.
Taking to Twitter, Sharma said the Congress cannot be selective in fighting communalists but must do so in all its manifestations, irrespective of religion and colour.
He further said that the Congress’ alliance with parties like ISF and other such forces militates against the core ideology of the party and Gandhian and Nehruvian secularism, and added: 'These issues need to be approved by the CWC.'
The ISF is a party floated by Abbas Siddiqui, an influential cleric of the prominent religious shrine Furfura Sharif.
Bengali actor Srabanti Chatterjee on Friday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in Kolkata, adding to a list of celebrities joining the party ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections starting March 27. The actor joined the party in the presence of BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and state party president Dilip Ghosh.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday claimed that BJP leaders talk about implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in various parts of the country, but lack the courage to mention it in Assam.
Assam witnessed violent protests against the CAA in 2019 and five persons lost their lives.
The grand alliance of the Congress and six other parties will form the government in Assam after the election as the people are fed up with the false promises made by the BJP, she said. BJP leaders move around the country talking about implementing the CAA but are silent about it when they come to Assam, Gandhi added. (PTI)
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav met Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday and appealed to the people from Bihar domiciled here to vote for the ruling TMC. Emerging from a meeting with Banerjee at the state secretariat, Yadav said that the first priority of his party was to stop the BJP's progress in West Bengal.
He, however, avoided giving a straightforward answer to questions by journalists about whether the RJD will contest the elections in alliance with the TMC, saying the upcoming polls will be a fight for saving "ideals and values". "Our party's stand is to provide full support to Mamataji," he said, appealing to the people from Bihar domiciled in Bengal to stand with Banerjee's party.
Banerjee, on her part, said she and jailed RJD supremo Lalu prasad share "mutual respect". "When we are fighting, it is brother Tejashwi who is also fighting, we are together," Banerjee said. PTI
Tamil Nadu should show the way to India in keeping away forces that are inimical to language and culture and those projecting "one culture, one nation and one history" concept, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Monday.
The Lok Sabha MP participated in multiple engagements in this district as part of his three-day tour of Tamil Nadu, ahead of the April 6 Assembly polls in the state which his party is facing in alliance with the M K Stalin-led DMK. (PTI)
The Congress on Monday set up a screening committee for the upcoming Assam assembly elections and appointed former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan as its chairman.
Chavan is a part of the 'Group of 23' Congress leaders who had written to party chief Sonia Gandhi demanding an organisational overhaul and internal elections for every post. The committee will screen candidates for the assembly polls and make recommendations to the Central Election Committee. Chaired by Gandhi, the Central Election Committee will make the final decision on party candidates.
Other members of the committee are ex-officio. They include AICC general secretary in-charge of Assam Jitendra Singh, PCC president Ripun Bora and CLP leader Debabrata Saikia.
Elections to the 126-member Assam Assembly will be held in three phases on March 27, April 1 and April 6. The counting of votes will be taken up on May 2. (PTI)
The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has appointed 28 observers for poll-bound West Bengal, a senior leader said on Monday.
Congress leaders from states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand have been appointed as observers for the eight-phase elections to the 294-member West Bengal assembly.
Assembly elections will be held in the state in eight phases between March 27 and April 29. (PTI)
The LDF and the UDF are expected to finalise the seat-sharing arrangements among its respective partners by the end of the week for the Assembly election scheduled on April 6.
There’s pressure from the cadres on the leadership of both fronts to include more women and youngsters in the candidate list.
For the LDF, the biggest challenge in seat distribution pertains to the Kerala Congress (M), the regional party headed by Jose K Mani which wields influence primarily among Catholic Christian voters in central Kerala.
As for the UDF, the talks on seat allocation will face hurdles primarily with the Kerala Congress (Joseph) which wants 15 seats. Read more
DMK president MK Stalin on Sunday submitted his application to the party, seeking to contest from the Kolathur constituency for the upcoming assembly elections in Tamil Nadu. This will be the third time the DMK leader will be contesting from the constituency after winning the previous two elections.
In 2011, he won by a slender margin against AIADMK’s Saidai Duraisamy. However, in 2016, he defeated AIADMK’s JCD Prabhakar by a landslide. Prior to 2011, Stalin contested from the Thousand Lights constituency. Out of the six times he contested on a DMK ticket, Stalin managed to best his opponents on four occasions. This will be the first election in which Stalin would be contesting as president of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi dances with students in Tamil Nadu
DMK leader M K Stalin on Monday sought to make light of Union Home Minister Amit Shah”s allegation of corruption against his party, saying it was the BJP that “stands by corruption” by aligning with the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu.
Ridiculing Stalin for speaking on corruption issues, Shah had at a rally in Villupuram on Sunday asked him to “look within,” asking “who did the 2G (spectrum allocation) scam” in which party MPs Kanimozhi and A Raja are accused.
The DMK was part of the Congress-led government when the lead party did “Rs 12 lakh crore” worth scams, he had said.
Priyanka Gandhi dances with locals in Assam
Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP-led government at the Centre as well as the Palaniswami government of not respecting Tamil language, culture or tradition. "We have a chief minister here who submits to everything that Modi says. The chief minister represents what Modi wants to do but not the people of Tamil Nadu," he charged.
The RSS and Modi "insult Tamil language and culture", he said, adding the people should not to allow them to to gain a foothold.
Rahul further said "Modi talks about one culture, one nation, one history and one leader." "Is Tamil not an Indian language? Is Bengali not an Indian language? Is Tamil culture not Indian culture? This is the battle that is being fought in this election, Gandhi said as the crowd cheered.
A plea challenging the Election Commission's decision to conduct assembly elections over eight phases in West Bengal was filed in the Supreme Court on Monday. The plea, filed by lawyer M L Sharma, seeks the apex court's direction to the poll panel to stop it from conducting eight-phase elections in the state as it violates Article 14 (right to life) and Article 21 (right to life) of the Constitution. The plea, which may come up for hearing in few days, also seeks a direction to the CBI to register an FIR into the alleged chanting of religious slogans during electioneering in West Bengal.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi today offered prayers at the famed Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati.
Clad in a red outfit, the prevalent colour symbolising Shakti, Priyanka Gandhi said that she wanted to visit the temple for long and "her wish has come true". "I sought blessings for myself, my family and above all for the people of Assam," she told reporters. Asked about the forthcoming elections in the state, she said she will talk later about politics. "I come to temples to seek blessings and offer thanks to the God who has given me a lot," she added.