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Deposits of 7 BJP candidates forfeited in WB polls

The seven saffron party nominees who suffered humiliating defeats were from Bhaganbangola, Lalgola, Raghunathganj, Canning East, Bhangar, Hariharpara and Sujapur….reports Asian Lite News

Of the 292 candidates who contested in the recently concluded Assembly elections in West Bengal, the deposits of seven BJP candidates have been forfeited.

The seven saffron party nominees who suffered humiliating defeats were from Bhaganbangola, Lalgola, Raghunathganj, Canning East, Bhangar, Hariharpara and Sujapur.

Election deposit is an amount deposited by the candidate while submitting his or her nomination. According to Election Commission rules, for state Assembly polls, the amount is Rs 10,000 while it is Rs 5,000 for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates.

As it is a caution money, the EC returns the amount to the candidates, but as per Section 34, 1 (a) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, if a candidate fails to get 1/6th (16.5 per cent) of the total valid votes franchised in that constituency, then the amount deposited by him/her is seized by the poll panel.

he BJP candidate from the Bhagawangola Assembly constituency in Murshidabad district, Mehebub Alam, suffered a huge defeat as he went down to his nearest rival of Trinamool Congress by a margin of 137,088 votes. Trinamool’s Idris Ali got 153,795 votes against Alam’s 16,707, which is 7.2 per cent of the total votes cast.

West Bengal polls (Twitter)

The BJP candidate from Sujapur Assembly constituency in Malda district, S.K. Ziauddin, also suffered a huge defeat against Trinamool’s Md Abdul Ghani. Ghani got 152,445 votes against Ziauddin’s 14,789, which is just 7.1 per cent of the total votes polled.

The Trinamool candidate from Canning East in South 24 Parganas district, Soakat Molla, defeated his nearest rival Kalipada Naskar of the BJP by a margin of 87,059 votes. While Molla got 121,562 votes, Naskar could manage 34,503 votes, which is 14.5 per cent of the total votes cast.

Similarly, the BJP candidate from the Raghunathganj Assembly constituency in Murshidabad district managed to get only 14.9 per cent of the total votes polled. While BJP’s Golam Mudassuer got 28,251 votes, Trinamool candidate Akruzzaman was far ahead of him with 126,834 votes.

Abdul Kahelque Mollah, the Trinamool candidate from the Metiabruz Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district, defeated his nearest rival Ramjit Prasad of the BJP by a margin of 84,282 votes. Mollah got 102,660 votes against Prasad’s tally of 31,357, which is 16 per cent of the total votes cast.

Similarly, the BJP candidate from Lalgola in Murshidabad district lost to his Trinamool rival by a margin of 78,363 votes, managing only 15.4 per cent of the vote share. While Trinamool’s Ali Mohammad got 107,703 votes, BJP’s Kalpana Ghosh’s tally stopped at 46,891.

In the Bhangar Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district, BJP candidate Soumi Hati went down to the third position, getting only 38,726 votes against the winning ISF candidate Naushad Siddiqui’s tally of 109,063 votes.

Also read:Mamata accuses BJP of instigating violence

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India News West Bengal

MoS Muraleedharan’s convoy attacked in WB

Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan

The incident took place when Muraleedharan accompanied by BJP state leader Rahul Sinha was going to Ghatal in East Midnapore to meet some of the BJP supporters…reports Asian Lite News

In a shocking incident, the convoy of Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan was attacked by a group of unidentified miscreants at Panchkhuri area in West Midnapore district on Thursday afternoon.

The BJP alleged that the attack was a handiwork of the TMC goons but it was strongly refuted by the TMC leadership alleging that the BJP leadership is provoking people to resort to violence.

The incident took place when Muraleedharan accompanied by BJP state leader Rahul Sinha was going to Ghatal in East Midnapore to meet some of the BJP supporters who were injured in the attack allegedly by the TMC goons. When his convoy was at Panchkhuri that falls under West Midnapore, suddenly there was brick batting on his vehicle and people came with sticks and other things and stopped his vehicle.

He posted a video on Twitter and wrote, “TMC goons attacked my convoy in West Midnapore, broke windows, attacked personal staff. Cutting short my trip.”

Later speaking to the reporters, the union minister said, “The attack was orchestrated by TMC workers. He said that the incident took place in the presence of police, adding that the Mamata Banerjee government has turned a blind eye. I shall give my report to the central government”.

Also read:Mamata accuses BJP of instigating violence

The Ministry of Home Affairs asked West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar to send a report on the law-and-order situation in the state, sources in the government said.

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said that the ruling Trinamool Congress is responsible for this. “The Trinamool violence has crossed all limits. So far 14 BJP workers have been killed and lakhs of people have left their homes. This cannot be democracy”.

New Delhi: MoS External Affairs V. Muraleedharan participated in the 27th Regional Forum Ministerial via video conferencing in New Delhi on Sep 12, 2020. (Photo: IANS/MEA)

The Trinamool Congress leadership has strongly refuted the allegation. TMC district secretary of West Midnapore Ajit Maity claimed that nothing had happened and BJP was trying to create sensation.

Speaking to the media, veteran Trinamool leader Sougata Roy said, “Muraleedharan is a person from Kerala. What was he doing in West Bengal? They are now defeated and so they are trying to create disturbance in different areas. The BJP has won in most of the places where there are disturbances. I ask them to go back. We will take care of the law-and-order situation”.

Also read:Cong leaders praise Mamata, ignoring defeat

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Mamata accuses BJP of instigating violence

Mamata Banerjee

Banerjee also said that the BJP leadership should control itself and accept the mandate of the people….reports Asian Lite News

Hours after Union minister and senior BJP leader V. Muraleedharan alleged that his convoy was attacked by Trinamool Congress supporters in West Midnapore district, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused the saffron party of instigating violence in Bengal to put undue pressure on the state government on the issue of law and order.

Speaking at a press conference at state secretariat Nabanna, Banerjee said, “One minister is trying to provoke people. Some sporadic incidents happen after elections and that is natural, but the BJP-led Central government is trying to exaggerate the whole thing. They are instigating violence.”

Banerjee also said that the BJP leadership should control itself and accept the mandate of the people.

Announcing a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each for the people who died in post-poll violence in the state, the Chief Minister said, “Altogether 16 people have died. Half of them are from the BJP, one from the ISF and rest from our party. So people from all the parties have died and I am really sorry for them. But what the BJP is doing is not acceptable.”

Mamata

Accusing the Centre of putting pressure on the state government, Banerjee said, “I took oath at 11 am on Wednesday and in the evening, they sent a strong letter and the next day they sent a Central team. Why are they in such a hurry? I don’t see this kind of prompt reaction when it comes to supply of oxygen, vaccines, emergency medicines or saline. They don’t send their teams then. They can’t accept their defeat.”

The Chief Minister also made it clear that controlling the Covid situation is her priority and she would work to keep the people of the state safe.

Also read:Mamata sworn in as CM for 3rd time

“I don’t have the time to fight with the BJP now. The elections are over. I want to make one thing clear that whoever comes to the state needs to get an RT PCR test done. I shall not allow anyone into the state without that,” Banerjee said.

“Even a Central minister or a businessman coming by a chartered flight will have to come with a fit medical certificate and I shall not allow anybody without that. If the person tests positive, he or she will have to stay in quarantine for 14 days at his own cost. I shall do everything for the poor people but not for those who have money,” she added.

New Delhi: MoS External Affairs V. Muraleedharan participated in the 27th Regional Forum Ministerial via video conferencing in New Delhi on Sep 12, 2020. (Photo: IANS/MEA)

When asked about people fleeing from Bengal and taking shelter in Assam, the Chief Minister said, “They are teaching the chief ministers to speak against me. When there was a problem in Assam, people came to Bengal. It happens in the bordering districts. I can see this more in Cooch Behar where the BJP has done well.”

Speaking on the Covid situation, Banerjee cautioned everybody to stay safe for the next 14 days.

“The state government has decided to develop oxygen plants in all the 105 state-run hospitals and it has already been prepared in Diamond Harbour and Cooch Behar. We have also asked the intern doctors and the post-graduate doctors to come forward and join our war against Covid. This will give an additional strength of 2,000 doctors,” she said.

Also read:Cong leaders praise Mamata, ignoring defeat

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Kerala Politics

Cong says it closed BJP’s account in Kerala

He said his party would sit down and discuss and debate the poll debacle which saw the Vijayan government retain power and the Congress was left to bite the dust…reports Asian Lite News.

Congress Lok Sabha member K. Muraleedharan who contested the Nemom assembly seat in the capital district, said here on Wednesday, he is proud that it was due to his party’s efforts that the BJP could not open its account in Kerala.

Muraleedharan, son of legendary Congress leader K. Karunakaran was drafted to contest the assembly polls after widespread canards were spread by the ruling Left that it was the Congress that helped BJP open its account in 2016 when BJP veteran O. Rajagopal won the Nemom seat defeating V. Sivankutty of the CPI-M by less than 9,000 votes and the ally of the Congress, V. Surendran Pillai came a dismal third with just around 13,000 votes.

“Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has now gone to town saying that the Congress and the BJP are hands in glove and if that was the case, the CPI-M would not have won from Nemom this time. But the truth is had I not got above 30,000 votes, BJP candidate would have won and since I secured this many votes, the CPI-M candidate won with a margin of 3,949 votes,” said Muraleedharan.

“All the truths have now come out the BDJS- the second biggest ally of the BJP-led NDA has been silent and just see their total tally of votes in the state. In the 2016 polls, they secured over 4 percent votes, and this time it has fallen below 2 percent. Moreover, we did not get the support of the minority communities. All of us heard the Social Democratic Party of India (the political outfit of the Popular Front of India) stating that they had given their votes to the Left at Nemom,” added Muraleedharan.

He said his party would sit down and discuss and debate the poll debacle which saw the Vijayan government retain power and the Congress was left to bite the dust.

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan

The Congress-led UDF saw its tally came down from 47 in 2016 to 41 in 2021.

“The final outcome that has emerged after the polls here is that it has now become evidently clear that the CPI-M’s only agenda was to see the back of the Congress and for that, they effectively used the BJP. To cover up all that Vijayan is spreading canards that it was we who had the deal with the BJP. Time will prove everything and none should forget West Bengal which they ruled for over three decades is not there anymore and in the recent elections they were with us,” added Muraleedharan.

Also Read-Kerala locks down till May 16

Read More-Kerala’s oxygen war rooms ready for Covid fight

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India News Kerala Politics

Ramesh alleges CPI-M, BJP of cutting deals

The BJP vote percentage saw a fall from 15.01 per cent in the 2016 Assembly polls to 12.47 per cent after votes were counted on Sunday to the 140-member Kerala Assembly….reports Asian Lite News

Hours after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan alleged that there was large scale trading of votes between the Congress and the BJP, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala on Tuesday hit back, saying the deal was between the CPI-M and the BJP in 69 seats.

Chennithala said that Vijayan’s statement, soon after returning from his home town in Kannur, to the media in the state capital that the deal was between the Congress and the BJP was “meant to fool people and was taking anticipatory bail to suppress the real truth”.

“If one looks into the figures, it was the Congress which prevented the BJP from surging forward and because of that, they could not win the lone seat that they won for the first time in the state at Nemom in 2016. In seats like Manjeswaram and Palakkad, it was the Congress which prevented the BJP from winning,” he contended.

The BJP vote percentage saw a fall from 15.01 per cent in the 2016 Assembly polls to 12.47 per cent after votes were counted on Sunday to the 140-member Kerala Assembly.

LDF CPI-M workers celebrate party’s performance

The Left secured 99 seats, while the Congress-led UDF could manage only 41 seats and the BJP drew a blank.

Vijayan had alleged that the Congress-led UDF would have lost 10 more seats if the secret deal was not there with the BJP and also that the BJP lost their votes in 90 seats as compared to the 2016 polls.

Chennithala, however, said: “In the three seats at Nemom, Palakkad and Manjeswaram, it was because of the performance of the Congress that the victory of BJP was prevented and the votes of the CPI-M in these constituencies, compared to the 2016 polls, had come down and the votes of the Congress had gone up.”

Also read:Kerala Polls: Advantage LDF as Congress Withers

Had the Congress won lesser votes, the BJP would have won at Nemom, but since the vote share of the Congress grew, the CPI-M won, he added.

At Palakkad and Manjeswaram, it was the Congress which won.

“This time, the BJP got 4,35,606 votes and it was 3.71 per cent less than what they got in 2016. This decreased vote share was the deal and as a result in 69 constituencies, the Left benefitted. At the Kalamassery seat, the BJP candidate got 13,065 votes less votes than in 2016 and hence the CPI-M candidate P. Rajeev won. At Kuttanadu, the ally of the BJP got 18,098 votes less than in 2016 and the direct beneficiary was the Left candidate,” said Chennithala.

He listed out many other constituencies where the “BJP-CPI-M deal was in place”.

UDF

“With this, it has now come out true what Balasankar, the former editor of RSS mouthpiece, before the elections said that there was a secret deal between the BJP and the CPI-M .Moreover just look into the fate of the various scams like gold smuggling and dollar smuggling and see those cases all have gone into the freezer, as this was part of the deal as the BJP’s sole agenda is ‘Congress Mukt-Bharat’,” Chennithala added.

State BJP President K. Surendran, however, dismissed all the theories of deal and trade as humbug.

“The truth is the BJP has lost the one seat it had and the vote share also has come down. I am fully responsible for the set back and am prepared to take whatever the party says. The real reason for this verdict is there was a consolidation of minority votes to the Left. Our party will sit down and find out what went wrong and corrective measures would be taken. Even though we do not have a representation inside the assembly, we will be there outside,” he asserted.

Also read:Pinarayi leads LDF to historic win in Kerala

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India News Kerala Politics

‘BJP’s North Indian strategy won’t work in Kerala’

This setback has come after an array of its biggest leaders which include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, UP Chief Minister Yogi Aditiyanath who came to the state more than once…reports Asian Lite News

At a time when the Kerala unit of the BJP decided to sit down to discuss the rather poor performance in the just held assembly polls when it not only saw the one seat that they had in 2016 disappear, but also saw a dip in the total votes, a top BJP state leader made no bones of the dismal performance who said that strategies adopted in North India won’t work in Kerala.

What has hurt the party and has come as a shocker is their vote percentage which saw a fall from 15.01 per cent in the 2016 Assembly polls to a 12.47 per cent after votes were counted on Sunday for the 140-member Kerala Assembly.

If there is any solace for them is they managed to come second in nine constituencies.

This setback has come after an array of its biggest leaders which include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, UP Chief Minister Yogi Aditiyanath who came to the state more than once and others who came once included Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Smriti Irani, to name a few.

Bihar BJP workers .

Former State BJP president C.K. Padmanabhan who was the party candidate against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at Dharamadom constituency in Kannur came a distant third with over 14,000 votes.

He spoke to the media on Tuesday and said this is a victory for the work of Vijayan.

Also read:BJP in trouble over K’taka minister’s remarks on farmers

“The people of Kerala wished a second term for Vijayan and we all should welcome the verdict of the people,” said Padmanabhan.

“If anyone thinks that the strategy adopted in North India will work in Kerala, then it will not work out and all should first understand that,” added Padmanabhan.

He was also critical in the manner in which the present State BJP president K. Surendran who contested in two constituencies and opined that it was not needed.

Kevadia: Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Photo: IANS)

“Correctional steps will have to be taken, if things do not go the way the party wishes,” said Padmanabhan.

The state leadership which had a first round meeting to find out what had happened, after raising huge hopes that the BJP will form the new state government and it required only 35 seats in the 140 member Kerala assembly and it even had declared Metroman as the Chief Minister.

At its meeting the only decision that was taken was to constitute a committee which will look into the reasons for this debacle.

On Monday, Vijayan rubbed further salt into the wounds of the ‘wounded’ BJP leadership here when he alleged that in 90 of the 140 constituencies the BJP has lost its vote as compared to the 2016 assembly polls and added that in 10 seats this was the reason for the Congress led Opposition getting to the present tally of theirs to 41 seats.

Also read:Pinarayi creates history, Mamata humbles BJP

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India News Politics

No Muslim member in Assam treasury bench, opposition has 31

No Muslim member in Assam treasury bench, opposition has 31

In this year’s elections, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party put up eight Muslim candidates, the Congress fielded 17…reports Asian Lite News

For the first time in 50 years, the treasury bench of the 126-member new Assam Assembly will not have any Muslim member even as 31 members from the community, the second-highest in 38 years, have been elected in the recently concluded elections.

In this year’s elections, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party put up eight Muslim candidates, the Congress fielded 17, while the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) nominated 19 Muslims and a Hindu candidate.

Of the 31 Muslims elected to the new House, the second-highest after the controversial 1983 elections during the height of the Assam agitation, 16 are from the Congress and 15 from the AIUDF.

Karim Uddin Barbhuiya(Twitter)

In the outgoing House, the NDA comprising BJP, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), had 86 members with Aminul Haque Laskar being the Muslim representative.

Laskar, 55, who was the Deputy Speaker in the Assembly, could not retain his Sonai seat in the Bengali-dominated Barak Valley where he was defeated by Karim Uddin Barbhuiya of AIUDF by a margin of 19,654 votes.

The AIUDF was one of the main allies of the Congress-led 10-party ‘Mahajot’ (grand alliance) that won 50 seats against the 75 seats won by the BJP led alliance. Jailed anti-CAA activist and prominent peasant leader Akhil Gogoi, the president of the newly floated Raijor Dal, won the remaining seat from Sibsagar as an Independent candidate.

Congress paid the price of pact with AIUDF in Assam

The Congress and the AIUDF won 29 and 16 seats, respectively, improving their 2016 performance by three seats each.

Other partners of the Mahajot, BPF got four seats while the CPI-M won one seat.

Apart from 1983, the number of Muslim members in the Assembly has usually hovered around the 25-mark.

Also read:No entry to Punjab without Covid negative report

According to political analysts and commentators, the alliance with the AIUDF shattered Congress’ dream to capture power in Assam, though the grand old party performed better this time as compared to 2016, when it was defeated by the BJP after 15 years.

Political observers categorically said that the Congress paid the price for the coalition with the Muslim-based body, AIUDF, in Assam.

Aminul Haque Laskar(Twitter)

The BJP and few other non-BJP parties had accused the AIUDF and its leadership of patronising “illegal immigrants” and most Assamese people had accepted the logic, they said.

According to Census 2011, Muslims account for 34.22 per cent population in the state, while Hindus and other religions account for the rest of the 3.12 crore total population of Assam.

Of the 126 Assembly seats, religious minorities decide the electoral fate in 23 seats, mostly in western and southern Assam, and play a crucial role in about seven more Assembly seats in different districts.

Of Assam’s 34 districts, 12 per cent or more Muslim population resides in 19 districts and in six districts the Muslim population constitutes 50 per cent or more.

Also read:Mamata meets Governor after landslide victory

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ELECTION UPDATES 2021: NDA leads in Assam

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and AGP chief and minister Atul Bora are leading from Majuli, Jalukbari and Bokakhat seats respectively…reports Asian Lite News.

BJP is on great relief as the party is getting a good lead-in Assam ahead of the 2021 Assembly election counting is in progress. The ruling BJP-led NDA is leading on 39 seats, while the Grand Alliance led by the Congress is ahead on eight assembly constituencies, elections officials said on Sunday.

According to the Election Commission’s initial trends of the results, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is leading on 27 seats while its ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) on six seats and United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) on six.

The Congress has established initial leads only on five seats while its partners Bodoland Peoples Front on two seats and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) on one seat.

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and AGP chief and minister Atul Bora are leading from Majuli, Jalukbari and Bokakhat seats respectively.

Congress Legislative Party leader and his deputy Debabrata Saikia and Rakibul Hussain both are trailing from Nazira and Samaguri respectively.

The counting of votes for 126 Assembly seats in Assam for which polling was held in three phases began on Sunday morning in 34 districts amid tight security measures and all Covid-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

Assam Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Nitin Khade said counting of votes are being held in 50 Election Districts (34 administrative districts) and there are three tiers of security put in place in and around the counting centres and adjoining areas.

“To maintain Covid protocols and guidelines issued by the Election Commission, numbers of counting halls have been increased by 131 per cent — from 143 in 2016 Assembly election to 331 this time,” the CEO said.

In all, 946 candidates including 74 female candidates of different political parties including BJP and Congress contested the elections.

Sunday’s polling outcome would decide the electoral fate of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal (Majuli), BJP’s northeast region points man and Finance, Health, Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma (Jalukbari), Assembly Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami (Jorhat), ruling BJP’s state President Ranjeet Kumar Dass (Patacharkuchi), Congress President Ripun Bora (Gohpur), party’s Legislature Party leader Debabrata Saikia (Nazira), Asom Gana Parishad chief and minister Atul Bora (Bokakhat), jailed Raijor Dal President and prominent peasant leader Akhil Gogoi (Sibsagar) and Assam Jatiya Parishad President Lurinjyoti Gogoi (Duliajan).

Also Read-BJP targets division of non-BJP votes for Bengal polls

Read More-Rajasthan betting hub predicts BJP victory in WB

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India News Politics West Bengal

75.06% turnout in peaceful 7th phase of polls

WB

The overall voting percentage was 75.06 per cent with Murshidabad recording the highest turnout at 80.30 per cent, according to election commission data…reports Asian Lite News

The penultimate phase of the eight-phase Assembly elections in West Bengal spanning across five districts with 11,376 polling stations ended peacefully on Monday.

The data released by the Election Commission till 5 p.m. showed that the overall voting percentage was 75.06 per cent with Murshidabad recording the highest turnout at 80.30 per cent.

According to the data, Murshidabad, where nine constituencies went to the polls, recorded the highest turnout of 80.30 per cent, while the four seats in South Kolkata reported the lowest turnout of 59.9 per cent.

Malda with six constituencies recorded 78.86 percent polling, while South Dinajpur reported 80.21 per cent turnout in six constituencies. The nine constituencies in West Burdwan recorded 70.24 per cent polling.

West Bengal polls (Twitter)

As far as individual constituencies are concerned, Raninagar in West Burdwan district recorded the highest polling of 84.35 per cent, while Rashbehari in South Kolkata recorded the lowest turnout of only 53.93 per cent.

Among the four Assembly constituencies in the state capital, including Kolkata Port, Rashbehari, Bhowanipore and Ballygunge, Rashbehari had the lowest turnout of only 55.9 per cent, which was around 66.9 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Bhowanipur, from where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had won last time, recorded a turnout of 60 per cent, which was 66.8 per cent in the 2019 general elections.

Also read:BJP targets division of non-BJP votes for Bengal polls

Similarly, Kolkata Port and Ballygunje recorded a voter turnout of 64 per cent and 59.5 per cent, which was 64.2 per cent and 66.2 per cent in the Lok Sabha polls in 2019, respectively.

As far as vote share is concerned, Trinamool had an edge over the saffron brigade in the last Lok Sabha polls.

Polling Personnel at the Receiving Centre under 282 Kulti Assembly Constituency of Paschim Bardhaman District.(Twitter)

Despite a strong BJP wind in the state that helped the saffron party win 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats, Trinamool was successful in holding back its forte in these four seats in South Kolkata.

The Assembly seat-wise analysis shows that Trinamool’s Mala Roy maintained her lead in three of the four Assembly constituencies. Rashbehari was the only constituency where BJP candidate Chandra Bose was able to win over his Trinamool counterpart.

Major Trinamool Congress, including Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Trinamool youth wing leader Abhishek Banerjee, state Power Minister Shovondeb Chattopadhayay and Urban Development Minister and former Mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation Firhad Hakim, exercised their franchise on Monday.

Banerjee, a resident of Harish Chatterjee Street in South Kolkata, exercised her franchise at a polling booth in Mitra Institution school at around 3.50 p.m. Sitting on a wheelchair, she briefly paused before the photojournalists while coming out amid shouts of ‘Didi, Didi’, before boarding her car. She also flashed a victory sign towards the cameras.

However, former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who is a resident of Palm Avenue and a voter in the Ballygunje Assembly constituency, failed to cast his vote owing to poor health condition.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee

A few incidents of scuffle were reported from the Asansol area, where Trinamool candidate Saayoni Ghosh claimed that BJP activists tried to jam the booths in the constituency. The allegation was dubbed as baseless by BJP candidate Agnimitra Paul.

In the Jamuria constituency, Left Front candidate Aishe Ghosh alleged that her party agents were stopped from entering the booth by Trinamool workers, a charge which has been denied by the ruling party.

As many as 742 arrests made by the police during the elections with 12 arrests in specific cases and 11 for violation of Section 144. The rest of the arrests were all preventive. Also, 57 bombs were recovered, including 22 in Murshidabad and 35 in Kolkata. Kolkata South had 380 sensitive booths.

Both Murshidabad and Malda had a previous history of poll violence and as per the Election Commission, there were 1680 sensitive booths in Murshidabad and 1,120 in Malda.

“Not a single bomb exploded anywhere in the state during the seventh phase of elections, which was the most peaceful among all the phases conducted so far. The police and the central forces have done excellent work,” said Jagmohan, ADG

Also read:Penultimate phase of polling underway in Bengal

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-Top News India News

No big BJP rallies in Bengal any further

The party has decided to hold small public meetings of not more than 500 people to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior central leaders….reports Asian Lite News

Concerned with the rising case of Covid, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday decided not to hold big rallies in poll bound West Bengal.

The party has decided to hold small public meetings of not more than 500 people to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior central leaders.

In a statement the BJP said that all these small public meetings will be organised in open spaces following all the Covid guidelines.”Assembly polls in West Bengal are going on and the completion of this constitutional and democratic process is also very important.

West Bengal polls (Twitter)

“Keeping this in mind, the BJP Chief J P Nadda, has decided that only in West Bengal small public meetings of all the central leaders including the Prime Minister ANarendra Modi will be held in which not more than 500 persons will be allowed to attend,” the BJP said in a statement.

The BJP said it has decided to stop big rallies in West Bengal as it is much needed to break the chain of Covid infections.

Also read:BJP targets division of non-BJP votes for Bengal polls

Yesterday former Congress president Rahul Gandhi cancelled his political rallies in West Bengal. After Gandhi’s announcement,the Trinamool Congress announced that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will not be campaigning in Kolkata and she has also decided to hold rallies for not more than 30 minutes in other districts.

Kevadia: Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Photo: IANS)

Of the eight phases of West Bengal Assembly, polling has taken place in five phases and voting for eight and final phase will take place on April 29. Counting of votes for the West Bengal Assembly will take place on May 2.

On Sunday, Nadda held a virtual meeting of the party national office bearers and state unit presidents to discuss the growing cases of Corona in the country.

The BJP Chief asked them to start the campaign of “Apna Booth Corona Mukt” (My Booth Corona Free) and make it a success.

Nadda also directed all state units of the BJP should immediately set up a ‘Corona Helpdesk’ and also start a ‘Corona Helpline’ to help the people in their states.

Also read:Rajasthan betting hub predicts BJP victory in WB