Purulia (West Bengal) [India], March 18 (ANI): Accusing the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government of crime, violence and corruption, Prime Minister Narendra Modi questioned her governance and assured the people of the poll-bound state of West Bengal that rule of law will be re-established in the state as soon as the BJP government is elected to power.
Addressing a public meeting in West Bengal’s Purulia ahead of the state Assembly elections, Prime Minister Modi said, “What has Didi done to Bengal? There are crimes, criminals, but not in jail. There are mafias, intruders, but roaming freely. There is a syndicate, a scam, but no action. Just last night, more than a dozen places were bombed in 24 North Parganas. BJP workers have been targeted. This situation is not right. This revenge, violence, atrocity, mafia raj will not be tolerated anymore. I assure the people of Bengal, every BJP worker that, after the formation of the BJP government on May 2, every criminal will be punished according to the law. The rule of law will be re-established under the BJP government.”
The Prime Minister stated that the state has made up its mind to remove TMC from power in the state, adding that this is why West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is frustrated with him.
He further said that despite her frustration, he respects her just like the crores of daughters of India and prays for her speedy recovery.
“Bengal made up its mind long back. It’s been saying ‘Lok Sabha mein TMC half aur iss baar poori saaf’. Seeing this determination, didi is taking out her frustration on me. But for us, she’s a daughter like crores of daughters of India. Respect for them is part of our culture. That is why we were concerned when didi got injured. I pray to God that her leg injury heals soon,” he said.
Creating a new definition for TMC, the Prime Minister said that, “unlike the Centre’s Direct Benefit Transfer policy, the West Bengal government follows the Transfer My Commission policy.”
The Prime Minister remarked, “Didi is scared of your Jan Dhan accounts. Crores of Jan Dhan accounts opened in Bengal guarantees you your right. Friends, your roar indicates that the countdown to the Didi government has begun.”
He further stated that West Bengal can only develop when all the sections of the society come together and alleged that Mamata Banerjee ignored the backward sections of the society.
“West Bengal can only develop when all sections come together. Mamata didi, however, never brought together the Dalits, tribals, SCs/STs and other such classes. The 10 years of corruption has dealt a massive blow to these people,” said PM Modi.
The Prime Minister further said, “It was Atal Ji’s government that created a separate ministry for the protection and welfare of tribal interests. The Central government created a separate budget for tribal interests, many schemes have been launched. More than 36 lakh Ujjwala gas connections have been received by Dalit, Adivasi and backward families in Bengal. Along with increasing the MSP of forest products, our government has also increased the number of forest produce.”
He also emphasised the need to re-create ‘Sonar Bangla’ where the poor live a dignified life, women are safe, education and employment opportunities are in abundance and criminals are in jails.
“Together we have to re-create the ‘Sonar Bangla’ that great personalities like Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, and Swami Vivekananda dreamt of. The Sonar Bangla, where the golden pride of Bengal and power of self-reliance will co-exist, where every poor, labourer, tribal, farmer brother-in-law will live a dignified life; where the mothers, sisters, daughters will be safe and fear-free, where the youth of the country will have education and employment opportunities in abundance, where there will be no shortage of industries, where there will be no place for corruption, where criminals will be in jail and not on the streets,” he said.
“Each person of Bengal has to remember. This is the time to do something for your motherland. This is the time to liberate Bengal from oppressive and tyrannical rule. This is the time to put full force into your ideals and ideas,” he added.
Elections to the 294-member state Assembly will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. (ANI)

Charkhi Dadri (Haryana) [India], March 18 (ANI): Ritika Phogat, wrestler and cousin of wrestlers Geeta Phogat and Babita Phogat, allegedly committed suicide on Monday after she lost a final bout at a wrestling tournament in Bharatpur, Rajasthan.
Haryana police said that the reason behind the suicide might be her defeat in a state-level competition held in Bharatpur between March 12 and 14.
Ram Singh Bishnoi Deputy Superintendent of Police Charkhi Dadri said, “Ritika lost the final of a junior championship at Bharatpur by one point and she came in second place which may have been the reason behind her suicide.”
He said that post mortem had been conducted and further investigation is underway. The body has been handed over to the relatives after the post-mortem.
She was found dead at the home of her uncle and legendary wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat late Monday
Vijay Kumar Singh, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways also posted on Twitter: “Terrible news that we lost #RitikaPhogat who had a brilliant career ahead. The world has changed from where it was some decades ago. Athletes are facing pressures which were not there earlier. An essential part of their training should be to deal with these pressures.”
17-year-old Ritika has for several years been training at the academy of Dronacharya Awardee Mahabir Phogat in Balali.
Ritika’s brother, Harendra Mamera said: “I do not know why Ritika took such a step. Mahabir Pahalwan and Ritika’s father were also with Ritika during the match. After the defeat, she was also told of the importance of victory and defeat,” he added. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 18 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear on March 24 plea of a non-governmental organisation Association For Democratic Reforms (ADR) seeking a stay on the sale of fresh electoral bonds ahead of state assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde said it heard the matter on Wednesday after advocate Prashant Bhushan appearing for the NGO mentioned the matter before the court for urgent hearing.
Mentioning the matter for urgent hearing, Bhushan contended that a new set of electoral bonds is to be issued from April for upcoming elections.
“We need an urgent hearing of the case. We are seeking a stay on the fresh issue of electoral bonds. Two documents from RBI and Election Commission say these bonds are very detrimental to our democracy,” Bhushan argued.
The plea of the NGO sought an urgent hearing of the case stating that the sale of fresh electoral bonds should be stopped till the top court decides the three pending petitions challenging the Electoral Bond Scheme 2018 which grants anonymity to donors of political parties.
“There is a serious apprehension that any further sale of Electoral Bonds before the upcoming state elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam, would further increase illegal and illicit funding of political parties through shell companies. Thus, the petitioner seeks a direction that no further opening of the window for the sale of Electoral Bonds be allowed during the pendency of the instant writ petition,” the petition stated.
The fresh application is filed in an already pending petition filed by the NGO in 2017, challenging the provisions of Finance Act 2017 which paved the way for anonymous electoral bonds.
The Petitioner-NGO in it is application stated that previously, on two occasions, the government opened a special sale window of electoral bonds right before the State assembly elections, and so far more than Rs 6500 crores worth of Electoral Bonds have been sold with the majority of donations going to the ruling party.
An electoral bond is an instrument in the nature of a promissory note or bearer bond which can be purchased by any individual, company, firm or association of persons provided the person or body is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India. The bonds are issued specifically for the purpose of contributing of funds to political parties.
The electoral bond scheme was notified by the central government on January 2, 2018. (ANI)

Barabanki (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 18 (ANI): A girl has alleged that she was raped by four youth from her village in Zaidpur of Uttar Pradesh’s Barabanki district on Wednesday, said the police.
Manoj Kumar Pandey, Additional Superintendent of Police, Barabanki, said, “A girl hailing from Zaidpur has filed a complaint in which four youths of the village have been accused of abducting and gang-raping her. An FIR has been filed and the girl has been sent for medical examination.”
As per the victim’s statement, she was going to school to study when the four accused youth kidnapped her and took her to a deserted place and gang-raped her. She further stated that after reaching home she narrated her ordeal to her family members after which a complaint was lodged with the police.
The victim’s father said that he is a candidate for the village head in the upcoming panchayat elections and he was being pressurised for not contesting the elections. He further alleged that when he disagreed, he was lured with money. However, after he refused to accept the offer his 16-year-old daughter was kidnapped yesterday by four youth of the village named Akash Verma, Lalji Verma, Sachin Verma and Shivam Verma, while she was going to the school. He added that after committing the crime they left his daughter near their house.
“The victim’s statement has been recorded and a complaint has been filed. We have launched an investigation and will take appropriate action against the accused persons once the medical reports of the victim are received,” added Pandey. (ANI)

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 18 (ANI): A total of 36,39,989 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in the state till March 17, the Maharashtra government said in a statement on Thursday.
Yesterday, 2,74,037 people (2,22,771 Covishield and 51266 Covaxin) were vaccinated in 2908 sessions, the state government further said.
Among the districts with the most number of active COVID-19 cases, 9081 people were vaccinated in Mumbai on Wednesday, 19085 people were vaccinated in Nagpur, 22339 in Pune, 22339 in Thane, 7120 in Amravati, 12264 in Jalgaon, 13331 in Nashik and 7731 were vaccinated in Aurangabad, as per the data of the state health department.
Earlier, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope met Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on March 16 and gave a letter to Principal Secretary Rajesh Bhushan requesting the Union Health Ministry to provide 20 lakh vaccine doses per week to Maharashtra.
“Currently, we are aiming to vaccinate three lakh people every day, for which we will need about 2 million doses every week. We have informed the Union Health Ministry,” Tope had said.
He had further said, “So far, those who are eligible for vaccination, such as Healthcare workers, frontline workers, senior citizens above 60 years and people with co-morbidities above the age of 45 years, are 1.77 crores. To give them both first and second doses, around 2 crore doses of vaccine are required. We have conveyed this to the Union Health Ministry.”
The state Health Minister further requested the Central Government to grant permission to 367 hospitals in Maharashtra to carry out vaccinations.
“But only 209 hospitals have been recognised so far. About 150 hospitals have not been recognised. At present, according to the policy of the Central Government, only hospitals with a capacity of 100 beds or more can be turned into a vaccination centre,” the minister had said.
“We have requested that hospitals which can complete the process of vaccination as per the standards should be considered eligible to carry out vaccination even if they have a capacity of 50 beds. This will allow the vaccination drive to be completed faster and in a better manner”, he added. (ANI)

Malappuram (Kerala) [India], March 18 (ANI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that after the Supreme Court delivers its final verdict on Sabarimala, the state government will discuss it with believers, including those who have a difference in opinion.
Speaking to media persons in Malappuram during his campaign trail on Thursday, the Chief Minister said there is no problem in Sabarimala now.
“Everything is going well. There is no need to discuss Sabarimala now. Now that the assembly election has come, some people have taken a keen interest in the shrine. Their purpose is clear. Just look at it as part of it. The issue was also raised during the local body elections,” Vijayan said.
Regarding the Left government stand on women’s entry to Sabarimala, which had become a big controversy in Kerala, Vijayan said: “The Supreme Court took a stand on the Sabarimala issue.
The top court itself later made some concessions. Now the case is set aside for final judgment and when it comes, the government will then take a decision after consulting with all believers if they have specific opinions. That is something that has been made clear before.”
Regarding the remark of Bharatiya Janata Party veteran O Rajagopal that there was an understanding between BJP and UDF in past to defeat the Left, Vijayan said the BJP leaders himself has made the revelation and that Congress should be ashamed.
Dismissing BJP leader R Balaahankar’s allegation that there is a “deal between BJP and CPI(M) in some seats,” as internal problems of the party, he said Congress has become B Team of BJP.
“We have heard the remark of BJP president that they will form a government if they can get 35 seats. Like in other states where Congress won, BJP is forming the government as Congress MLAs are joining BJP. Their intention is clear. Congress has become across the country,” he added.
The election for 140-member Kerala Assembly will be held on April 6, the Election Commission of India (ECI) had announced. (ANI)