Tag: west bengal assembly elections 2021

AIMIM to Field 13 Candidates in Bengal; Cong CEC Meet Today

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Assembly Elections 2021 News LIVE Updates: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be addressing rallies in West Bengal’s Kharagpur in the morning and another rally in Assam in the afternoon on Saturday to campaign for the BJP in the two states.

The prime minister has already addressed multiple rallies in these states ahead of the elections. In Bengal the BJP has also told the Election Commission that central forces need to be present in polling booths in West Bengal and check ID cards of each voter to ensure free and fair elections.

Meanwhile, the TMC has continued to attack the BJP and the leaders who moved to the BJP. On Friday while addressing a rally in East Midnapore’s Tamluk area said, “I blindly supported him. My care towards him was blind. But now I will not tolerate it any more. No place for ‘gaddar’ (traitor). No place for ‘Mir Jafar’. We will not leave an inch to him and to any opposition candidates in any seats in Bengal.”

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Party says EC decisions ‘partisan, biased’: TMC demands police be allowed near polling booths, tally of all VVPATs

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A delegation of senior TMC leaders met with officials of the Election Commission (EC) on Friday, objecting to recent decisions taken by the body and calling their approach “partisan and biased”.

The TMC and the EC have had a frosty relationship of late, with the ruling party in West Bengal having questioned the commission’s decisions and accusing it of acting in favour of the BJP.

The TMC continued to question the EC in a letter submitted Friday.

“It is becoming increasingly clear that free, fair and transparent elections in the state of West Bengal is becoming a distant reality. This is evident from the partisan and biased approach taken by the EC in respect of the ongoing elections in the state,” said the letter, which was signed by TMC MPs Derek O’Brien, Saugata Roy and Mahua Moitra as well as former BJP leader and Union minister Yashwant Sinha, who recently joined the party.

The party took umbrage over media reports of an EC decision that state police personnel would not be allowed within 100 metres of polling stations.

“It has been reported in the media that the EC has decided to not permit the presence of state police within 100 metres of polling stations and only deploy Central Forces in such an arena. If true, this decision is unprecedented and casts severe aspersions on the reputation of the police administration in the state of West Bengal,” the letter states.

Sources in the EC told The Indian Express that it has not prohibited the state police’s presence but rather, the instruction is meant for the civic police, who are civic volunteers who are deployed in aid of the state police. They do not have legal police powers but aid in maintenance of order and traffic control usually.

The second issue raised by the TMC was a demand of the tally of all VVPAT machines, which they claimed have been “summarily dismissed… allegedly on account of the Supreme Court of India decision in March 2019”.

“It may be noted that the very purpose of installing VVPAT machines are considerable cost has deliberately been made redundant and ineffective. We may remind you, that not only was the said judgement primarily meant for the 2019 general elections but that the law insists that every time EVMs are used, there must be a sui generis consideration of facts, circumstances and necessities,” the letter states.

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Inside the BJP’s Playbook for Wresting West Bengal

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Billed as the most remarkable state election in recent times, the showdown in West Bengal boils down to two questions in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) camp: who is the David and who is the Goliath in this epic encounter, and can the party cash in on sub-regional equations and what it believes to be a sentiment in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in order to dislodge chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s government?

Ask senior BJP leaders in Delhi and they cite Banerjee’s recent injury to drive home the point that the Goliath is now trying to portray itself as the David, a reference to the biblical story of underdog David defeating the giant Goliath in combat.

According to party insiders, the visuals of Banerjee campaigning on a wheelchair after she was injured at a rally in the high-profile Nandigram constituency earlier this month — she has alleged a BJP plot to kill her — appear to be a last and desperate throw of the dice by the chief minister.

“Here is a two-time CM with the muscle power of a well-entrenched cadre, money and resources…(but) the proverbial Goliath suddenly wants to play the sympathy card against a party that was a non-entity in the state with just three seats five years ago,” a BJP leader says, requesting anonymity.

Instead, the BJP says, it is the one that has struggled to find even hoarding space for publicity materials in the state, especially in Kolkata, which is plastered with Banerjee’s face, but is still being projected frantically by the ruling Trinamool Congress as an “outsider” and the dominant aggressor.

Nonetheless, the BJP camp thinks it has multiple reasons for its confidence that it will win Bengal, which has 294 seats. The BJP leadership has set a target of winning over 200 of them.

Replicating UP, Tripura Strategy

Bengal will be to Modi’s NDA II what Uttar Pradesh (UP) was to Modi’s NDA I, the BJP camp believes. In India’s most populous state, which has a 403-member assembly, the party rose from 47 seats in 2012 to 325 seats in 2017. Now, it sees a similar momentum in Bengal. The strategy for the eastern state seems borrowed heavily from UP as well as Tripura, where the BJP had a tough job in hand. But eventually, it ended the Left’s 20-year-old rule in Tripura in 2018, winning 36 of the state’s 60 seats. Significantly, it had drawn a blank five years ago.

A pointer to the “sweep” the BJP expects in Bengal is the response that Modi has been getting in there since 2019, party insiders say, claiming similarities in UP between 2014 and 2016 with people thronging his rallies.

This is said to be the reason why Modi could address as many as two dozen rallies in all in Bengal, rivalling what he did in UP, which has 37% more seats, in 2017. In Bengal, Modi has chosen to attack alleged corruption and nepotism under Banerjee’s watch, factors the BJP feels reflect the ground narrative.

BJP leaders cite smaller pointers too. Like a section of people in Nandigram coming out to counter Bannerjee and the Trinamool’s version of events leading up to her injury. This kind of a reaction is unlikely towards a government that is returning to power, a senior minister and a star campaigner says. Another is “Jai Sri Ram” becoming a slogan “that has come from the people” and a sign of discontent against the Trinamool government, the minister adds. This, the BJP feels, has reflected in the CM’s recitals of Chandi Path to showcase her Hindu identity, and her manifesto dropping a specific section on Muslim welfare, which was there in 2016. Moreover, her increasing personal attacks on Modi only work in the BJP’s favour, as she does not seem to have picked a trick on this front from Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, according to party insiders.

The PM is focusing on promises that the BJP feels are silently ringing a bell among the electorate on the ground — Rs 18,000 pay-out to each farmer in one go under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi plan, Rs 5-lakh medical insurance cover under Ayushman Bharat, the roll-out of ambitious drinking water scheme Har Ghar Jal, and bringing Hindu OBCs (Other Backward Classes) into the reservation net. Banerjee has had to counter this by promising monthly income support for state residents and reservation for some backward Hindu caste groups under the OBC umbrella.

Meanwhile, BJP’s ministers have been told to drill in the point that the state’s infrastructure is stuck in the 1960s and that Banerjee has refused to implement the Centre’s schemes for political reasons and minority appeasement. The law and order plank is being raked up to dent Banerjee’s women voter base.

Countering Trinamool

The BJP is, however, cognisant of the Trinamool’s sub-regional strength. It also remembers its below-par showing in the large pocket of South Bengal even in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, in which it won 18 out of the 42 seats. But 2021 is not 2019. The mood is “all-pervasive” and the party has built upon its 2019 success, BJP insiders reason. This includes wooing the tribal people and the Scheduled Castes (SCs), reaching out to the Dalit Matua community, and BJP president JP Nadda’s promise to include “left out” Hindu castes in the OBC list if the party wins the elections. It hopes this would offset 30% Muslim votes that could consolidate behind the Trinamool, although the Left-Congress-Indian Secular Front bloc is also in the fray.

Divided on the lines of religion, caste and community, Bengal offers a complex challenge of sub-regional politics. Banerjee’s strongest fort is South Bengal with over 90 assembly seats, but the BJP feels the region may have a different pattern of voting for the first time. The North 24-Paraganas and Nadia districts (40 seats) near the border with Bangladesh have the Matua community, who are refugees from Bangladesh, as the deciding factor in 15-16 constituencies. The BJP feels it has an edge with the promise of operationalising the Citizenship Amendment Act, or CAA, once the Covid-19 vaccination is over. The BJP leadership has stressed its commitment to implementing the law that fast-tracks citizenship of Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Christians and Parsis who have arrived in India from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh before 2015. Modi’s planned visit to a Matua temple during his Bangladesh trip, on the first day of polling in Bengal, will be an event high on optics.

The road remains tough for the BJP in South Bengal’s big district of South 24-Parganas, which is the only district where the Trinamool got leads in all 31 assembly segments in 2019. Muslims account for at least 30% of the total population here, and that makes the BJP’s challenge difficult until there is an absolute polarisation of votes. The party is, however, hoping for a turnaround in the key East Midnapore district, which has been a strong citadel of Banerjee. With Suvendu Adhikari, who used to manage these areas for the CM, defecting and being fielded against her from Nandigram, the BJP hopes political equations will change.

The BJP is also trying its best to hold on to its dominance in ‘Jangalmahal’, the forested and interior rural areas of Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapore that contributed to its impressive showing in 2019. Banerjee has launched several cash schemes for tribal people here to regain lost ground. Similar are the expectations from North Bengal, where the BJP won all six Lok Sabha seats in 2019 with support from Rajbanshi indigenous communities in Coochbehar and the namasudras in border districts. Namasudras, including Matuas, are refugees from Bangladesh. For them, the CAA promise is a key factor.

The BJP is also hoping that the Muslim-majority districts of Malda and Murshidabad will side with the Congress again, causing a split in Muslim votes and denting Banerjee’s chances in the process. The hill districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar, however, remain a mystery with the traditionally strong party, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, splitting into two factions. The one led by Bimal Gurung has joined hands with the Trinamool, while the BJP has chosen not to align with any faction.

War of Wits

The BJP won’t cross 100 seats, the Trinamool’s strategist, Prashant Kishor, has said, a claim the BJP sees as a tacit admission of its impending rise. The ruling party is playing up protests inside the BJP over ticket distribution and has alleged low attendance at rallies by BJP leaders. As the battle heats up, some assume the BJP may run Trinamool close, but not win. They think that the BJP will have to be content with a “moral victory” like the Congress claimed to have in Gujarat in 2017. But home minister Amit Shah’s declaration that the BJP will win 200+ seats shows each seat matters. For Modi and Shah, David, or the BJP in battle ground Bengal, beating Goliath paves the road to a third term at the Centre in 2024.

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Rahul Gandhi in Assam Today, To Hold Public Meeting

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(Image: Twitter/Congress)

(Image: Twitter/Congress)

Assembly Elections 2021 News LIVE Updates: In Bengal, TMC’s Sisir Adhikari may join the BJP.

  • Last Updated:March 19, 2021, 07:44 IST
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Assembly Elections 2021 News LIVE Updates: As the elections in the five states of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry get closer and parties have announced most of their candidates list, it is becoming clear what the battle will look like in each state.

On Friday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be in Assam to campaign. He will interact with college students at Lahowal, Dibrugarh. He will then meet tea garden workers in Dinjoy Tea Estate in Chabua and have a public meeting in Tinsukia.

Meanwhile in Bengal, more TMC leaders are jumping parties. Sisir Adhikari is also likely to join the BJP.

This comes even as TMC leaders including two TMC MLAs, one former MP, a former TMC minister and a CPI MLA who joined BJP recently could not find their names in the list of candidates for the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth phases of West Bengal Assembly elections.

BJP General Secretary Arun Singh said, “BJP’s central election committee (CEC) has approved the names of candidates on 148 seats for West Bengal Assembly elections.”

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EC Full Bench Likely to Visit West Bengal on Mar 23 to Review Poll Preparedness

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The full bench of the Election Commission of India (ECI) is likely to visit West Bengal on March 23 to review the preparedness for the ensuing assembly elections in the state, a poll official said on Thursday. The eight-phase elections to the 294-member assembly will begin on March 27. Results will be declared on May 2.

”The full bench of the ECI is likely to visit West Bengal on March 23 to supervise poll preparations. They will hold meetings with senior officials of the state administration, particularly of those areas which are going to polls in the first phase,” the official told PTI. At least 191 candidates have been found eligible for contesting the elections in the first phase, he said.

A total of 172 nominees will contest the elections in the second phase, the official said. The first phase of polling will be held in Purulia, Bankura, Jhargram, Purba Medinipur (Part I) and Paschim Medinipur (Part I).

The second phase of polling will be held in Bankura (Part II), Purba Medinipur (Part II), Paschim Medinipur (Part II) and South 24 Parganas (Part I).

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‘Vikas Hobe’, Says PM Modi in Dig at Mamata’s ‘Khela Hobe’ Slogan, Dubs TMC ‘Transfer My Commission’ Party

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi tore into West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her party TMC as he played on the “Khela Hobe” slogan to say: “Didi, O Didi – you played for 10 years. Now the game will end and development will begin”.

Speaking in Purulia ahead of the eight-phase Bengal election starting March 27, the prime minister targeted Banerjee over “corruption and lack of development”.

“Didi says khela hobe, BJP says jobs; Didi says khela hobe, BJP says education; Didi says khela hobe, BJP says development; Didi says khela hobe, BJP says the rise of women; Didi says khela hobe, BJP says jobs; Didi says khela hobe, BJP says you will get a pucca house, clean water and taps in every home,” said the PM.

PM Modi also accused Banerjee of encouraging Maoists and dubbed the TMC ‘Transfer My Commission’ Party.

Declaring that the countdown for the defeat of the Trinamool Congress in Bengal had begun, the prime minister said in Bengali: “Atyachar onek korechho Didi. Ebar Ma Durgar ashirbadey korbay tomaye oporosto (You have oppressed people for long. Now with blessings of Ma Durga, you will be defeated).”

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Assembly Election 2021 News LIVE Updates: Cong Releases Candidates List for Puducherry Polls, No Ticket for Ex-CM Narayanasamy

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Jain cheekily also scribbled “With utmost regards” while signing the letter.

Earlier, at a rally in Mejia, Banerjee said no one will stop her from taking forward her battle against the BJP. “Amit Shah is getting frustrated as there is a poor turnout at his rallies. Instead of running the country, he is sitting in Kolkata and hatching a conspiracy to harass TMC leaders. What do they want? Do they want to kill me? Do they think that they will win this election by killing me? They are wrong,” she said.

Banerjee also wondered whether the Election Commission has lost its independence, and alleged that the poll panel is working as per Shah’s instructions. “Is Amit Shah running the EC? He is giving instructions to the EC. What happened to their independence? My director, security (Vivek Sahay) was removed (by EC) as per his instructions,” she alleged.

All senior BJP leaders in Bengal are flying to Delhi tonight amid speculations that the saffron party is facing internal conflict over its list of candidates for the upcoming assembly polls as it mounts a high-voltage campaign against the Mamata-led TMC on a war footing.

Mukul Roy and Dilip Ghosh are among those summoned to Delhi on an urgent basis, sources told CNN-News18. Rumour mills are abuzz that both senior leaders will be fielded as candidates.

The BJP’s core group meeting has been scheduled to address the issue at 10 am tomorrow.

A week after he quit the Congress, senior leader PC Chacko joined the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in the presence of Party supremo Sharad Pawar, Supriya Sule and Praful Patel.

Chacko, a former Lok Sabha MP, said the need of the hour is a united front against the BJP which ‘I  could not see that in the party where I was earlier’.

“My association with the left parties is not new. Today when I join the NCP, I will be part of LDF. I have been given instruction by Sharad Pawar ji to travel all across Kerala.”

“LDF will come back to power,” he asserted.

“There are two fronts in Kerala. One is led by the Congress another by the Left. I left Congress, so naturally, I have to take a position. I can support the LDF,” Chacko was quoted as saying earlier in the day.

The Election Commission has taken suo motu cognizance of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s announcement of free delivery of ration at the doorstep.

Commission has sought a report from Purulia district authorities on whether Banerjee promised any new public welfare scheme in violation of MCC

Commission has asked for videos of Banerjee’s public meeting to ascertain the matter. The TMC is scheduled to release its poll manifesto on Wednesday where it is likely to announce ‘Duare Ration’ scheme to deliver free ration to households if it comes to power

Banerjee allegedly made that announcement during her public meeting in Purulia on Monday.

In a big push to Hindutva, BJP National President JP Nadda, who is campaigning in West Bengal, promised to bring all “left-out” Hindu castes under the ambit of OBC.

“The BJP government will constitute a commission and recommend their inclusion,” BJP Spokesperson Amit Malviya tweeted.

Pishi denied them this reservation for a decade, he added.

Union Minister Rajnath Singh hit out at the TMC on Tuesday as it accused the Mamata Banerjee-led party of corruption and political foulplay.

“West Bengal is now known for it’s cut money… not one person in the world can point out a figure and call BJP a corrupt party, he said at a rally in the Sabang constituency.

“Isn’t it correct that bombs are made in West Bengal, and political workers are killed? The day we form the government, we will see who has had ‘Maa Ka Dudh’ to make bombs and attack people,” Defence Minister & BJP leader Rajnath Singh in West Midnapore, West Bengal

Rajya Sabha member Swapan Dasgupta, nominated by the BJP for the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections, resigned from the Upper House today amid a row over his nomination. The TMC had decided to move a disqualification notice against Dasgupta for “violating the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution”, after the BJP gave him ticket to contest. The Tenth Schedule of the Constitution says a nominated member of Parliament shall be disqualified if he or she joins a political party after the expiry of six months from the date of taking the seat. The BJP announced Sunday that Dasgupta would be the party’s candidate from Tarakeshwar constituency in Bengal that is going to assembly polls in eight phases starting March 27.

Protests were held across West Bengal after several aspirants criticised the party and resigned after they were denied tickets for the assembly elections. BJP leader and TMC turncoat Sovan Chatterjee along with with his friend Baisakhi Bandopadhyay quit the party after both of them were denied tickets. Chatterjee’s constituency for several decades, Behala Purba, was given to actor-turned- politician Payel Sarkar, who joined the party a few days back. Sovan requested the BJP leadership that he wanted to contest from Behala East but the party has given him the ticket to contest from Behala West.

In a letter to BJP State President Dilip Ghosh, Sovan mentioned, “I fondly remember how you took the initiative of inducting me into the party in 2019. You have always been encouraging but a few minutes back, I got a call from Shiv Prakash ji (National Joint Secretary, Organisation) who told me that the party has decided to give me ticket from Behala West. Also, the party has decided not to give Baisakhi Banerjee, Co-convenor, Kolkata Zone any ticket from anywhere. I feel extremely humiliated and pained to accept this decision as being a public representative for thirty six year.” His letter reads, “As a Mayor and minister, I have contributed to the development of not only Behala, but entire Kolkata. My commitment to the people of West Bengal at large cannot be denied even by my Opposition parties. But the party’s decision not to give me nomination from Behala East is a moral defeat for me and I have never compromised with my principles.”

On the context of Baisakhi Banerjee’s resignation, he mentioned, “Whenever, I have interacted with you, I clearly said that Baisakhi and I have contributed jointly and in a very small span of time, she has managed to garner huge support in the entire Kolkata zone, especially in Behala. But you have decided to overlook her contribution and have decided not to give her an opportunity to contest the election. Therefore, I tender my protest against that also.”

In August 14, 2019, Sovan Chatterjee joined the BJP and then many in the political fraternity questioned that how he will survive in politics due to his hibernation for nearly two years (after resigning from the TMC in November 2018) coupled with health related issues.

On October 29, 2019, Sovan and Baisakhi sprung a surprise after they met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at her Kalighat residence on the occasion of ‘Bhai Phonta’ (Bhai Dooj).

Then, sensing that Sovan, Mamata’s once blue-eyed boy ‘Kanan’ (as he was fondly called), may rejoin the TMC, the BJP reached out to him. Then, the first one to approach him was Arvind Menon (BJP National Secretary) followed by other senior party leaders over telephone.

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In West Bengal’s Jhargram, RSS is Reaching People Where TMC is Unable to

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The dimly lit classroom with wooden benches near the Jhargram Raj College looks like that of any other school. But these are special schools. They are the Shishu Shiksha Kendras, pre-primary informal schools run by the RSS. The teachers in these schools don’t necessarily teach from books, there are games and the children are relaxed.

These schools have had a deep impact in the tribal green belt of Bengal. Just as the Left hold on this area waned and Mamata Bannerjee government pushed several development works in this area, once the hub of Naxal activities, the RSS saw an opportunity. Simmering discontent over land, the need for modern farming techniques and people’s ambition to get good jobs — these were perfect ingredients for the entry of the RSS. Several Hari Sabhas or religious clubs were set up. Student hostels, Ekal Vidyalayas or coaching centres began to crop up.

Wearing gamchhaas over their shoulders, many locals began advising farmers on how to use traditional methods to increase crop output and even cultivate abandoned infertile land. They were the RSS swayamsevaks. And slowly the BJP began to make inroads. It bore fruit when in the 2018 Panchayat polls where the TMC received a jolt. Of the 20 seats in the Balarampur Panchayat Samiti, the BJP won 18. It also swept 7 gram panchayat and two zilla parishad seats in Balarampur that falls in the Jhargram assembly segment.

RSS swayamsevaks began work in the area since 2014, in the spheres of health, education and moral ‘upliftment’ of people.

Water is one of the basic problems in this area. Eighty-two-year-old Lulu Mahato has just had a cataract operation and can barely see. But what he can certainly see is the lack of basic facilities like water and sanitation. “Look at this gutter, it’s so dirty. We don’t get water. Some people come and give it to us, they are the RSS people we know. But suddenly a few days back this tap was set up. We know elections are here.”

Sudhir Gorai, who has come to check on his friend Lulu, agrees. “Yes the TMC government has done a lot of work here. We have seen development. But I see how my family suffers for want of water.”

The RSS and BJP have scored in beginning small. The swayamsevaks saw that providing basic facilities like tube wells and drains would help them reach out to the people of Jhargram. As development came into this area, ambitions rose. The youth want jobs, and the many coaching and training centres have given hope that the technical skill acquired would help them get jobs in big cities like Kolkata.

The TMC came in for another rude shock when in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when the BJP won the seat. Kunar Hembram is the Jhargram MP. It is believed that the anti-TMC, Congress and Left votes went to the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections and helped the BJP win. Having tasted success, the BJP wants to repeat it in the assembly seats as well. This is why top leaders like Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and JP Nadda have been campaigning here. But the TMC has now woken up. Mamata Bannerjee, in an obvious reach out to her pet Jangalmahal area, in which Jhargram falls, has promised water supply, free ration at people’s doorsteps and technical education.

Hovering around Sudhir Gorai are a handful of boys in their twenties. They said, “Those who give us jobs we will go for them. That’s all what matters to us. We don’t want to farm, we want to move out of Jhargram.”

The statues of tribal leaders like Sidhu Kanu, who are worshipped as gods in this belt, have been witness to many changes in this area. From being a Naxal stronghold, patronised by the Left to several incident of violence. It has seen development too, when Mamata Bannerjee nurtured this area. The Jhargram Rajbari, or palace, has been transformed into a popular heritage hotel and is a popular tourist destination. But Sidhu Kanu is also seeing some dissatisfaction creeping in. With development comes desire. There are complaints that local TMC leaders don’t let the benefits percolate down. The RSS uses its conventional door to door meetings to reach out, where the state government is unable to. And BJP is hopeful. Maybe Sidhu Kanu will see another change here.

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BJP Leader Visits Sisir Adhikari at His Residence, Speculation Rife Over TMC MP’s Next Move

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BJP MP Locket Chatterjee on Saturday visited the residence of TMC’s Lok Sabha member Sisir Adhikari, who is also the father of political heavyweight and the saffron party’s Nandigram candidate Suvendu Adhikari, raising speculation that the veteran leader might switch camp ahead of the Bengal assembly polls. Chatterjee, who had lunch at the Adhikari residence at Contai, stressed that it was ”courtesy call”, and Sisir Adhikaris political move was not discussed during the meeting, even as political corridors went abuzz with murmurs that the TMC MP might join the saffron camp during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the state later this month.

Sources told News18 that Locket Chatterjee has invited Sisir Adhikari to PM Modi’s Contai on March 24.

”It was a courtesy lunch. Sisirda is a senior politician and the Adhikari family is synonymous with Medinipur (of which Nandigram is a part). He had once praised my Lok Sabha speech. We share good rapport. He requested me to visit him again,” the BJP leader said. She, however, clarified that the BJP would welcome the TMC MP with open arms if he decides to join the party.

Sisir Adhikari, on his part, told reporters that two of his sons are BJP members, and ”Locket visiting his residence should not surprise anyone. Why should anyone have their eyebrows raised when a leader makes a courtesy visit?” Veteran TMC leader Sougata Roy, when approached, said ”Sisirda has largely remained inactive in the recent times…We will urge him not to join the ’dal badal’ (party changing) game, given his advanced age and ailments.” BJP spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya claimed that all of Purba Medinipur wants the Adhikari family patriarch to join the saffron camp.

Notably, Suvendu Adhikari and his brother Soumendu, who also joined the BJP two months ago, were not at home during the BJP MP’s visit to their residence. Their other brother, Dibyendu — also a TMC MP – was present at the lunch meet.

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Assembly Elections 2021 News LIVE Updates: Smriti Irani to Show Support At Suvendu Adhikari Rally; TMC to Meet EC Over Mamata Injury

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Assembly Elections 2021 News LIVE Updates: While West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was in hospital, it was learnt that programmes on her schedule for the next two days have been cancelled because of her condition.

Meanwhile, a medical board will re-examine her at 11 am on Friday to take a decision on when she can be discharged.

While a TMC delegation met the Bengal Chief Electoral Officer and insisted the Election Commission cannot absolve itself of culpability in Banerjee’s accident, insisting that maintaining law and order was the EC’s responsibility once the election has been announced, the EC sent a strongly-worded letter to the Trinamool Congress saying it looks “undignified to even respond” to allegations that the poll panel is doing things in the state at the behest of a “particular party”.

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