Tag: West Bengal Assembly elections 2021

West Bengal Budget 2021: Ahead of polls, Mamata bets big on roads, flyovers, education

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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In a first, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee read out the Budget statement for 2021-22 on Friday. In 2002, Mamata was the first woman to present the Railways Budget in Parliament.

West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra is under medical supervision and had urged Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and Speaker Biman Banerjee if Mamata could present the budget in his absence. So, the Trinamool Congress supremo delivered the budget speech with the permission of the Speaker and Governor.

Before delivering the budget speech, the Chief Minister said that GDP of the state has increased by 2.5 percent. Elections to the 294-seat West Bengal legislative assembly are likely to be held in April or May.

Key takeaways

The budget proposal for FY2021-22 is Rs 29,96,88 crore. The budget has made huge allocations for the education sector.

An amount of Rs 50 crore has been allotted to build 500 new schools in Alchiki language. This apart, 100 new schools have been proposed for Nepali, Urdu, Kamtapuri and Kurmali language. To build 100 new English medium schools for students from ST/ST and economically backward sections, Rs 50 crore was allotted. There is also a proposal to recruit 1,500 para-teachers for 500 Santhali schools. They will get a hike of 3 per cent every year. Meritorious students will receive tabs, and Rs 50 crore will be allotted in the next financial year for Madrasas. A new project called Juvashakti was also launched, where 10,000 students will be inducted into government organisations as interns every three years.

The budget has also given importance to infrastructure, with proposals to build flyovers in major cities, including capital Kolkata, and rural areas. About 48,000km of new roads have been proposed for rural areas. New roadways will be developed in Cooch Behar. In Kolkata, at least four new flyovers have been proposed. Road taxes, too, have been lifted from January 21 to June 21 due to COVID-19.

For 10 lakh new self-help groups — to be named Matribandana — the budget proposed a loan provision of Rs 25,000 crore from cooperative banks in the next five years.

Expenditure in Agri and allied sectors has been increased by 6.1 times. Financial assistance for farmers under the Krishak Bandhu scheme has been raised from Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000.

In terms of housing, 20 lakh new houses will be constructed for SC/ST, and Rs 1,500 crore was allotted for this. Land documents will be given to 1.5 lakh refugees, and Rs 100 crore has been earmarked for this.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

West Bengal Polls: Why Mamata Banerjee chose to contest from Nandigram?

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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As the battle for 294-assembly seats in West Bengal heats up, Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee on Monday announced her decision to contest from Nandigram. Although many were caught unaware of this big announcement, others said it was a calculative move by the CM to send a bigger message to the masses.

While addressing a public rally at Tekhali in Nandigram, Banerjee on said Monday, “Nandigram is close to my heart. I can forget my name but I cannot forget Nandigram. Considering the emotional attachment I have with the people of Nandigram, today I am announcing that I wish to contest the upcoming polls from Nandigram.”

She added that she could also contest from Bhawanipore in South Kolkata — the seat she won in 2011 and 2016 assembly polls. If sources are to be believed, there is a buzz that Prashant Kishor, a political strategist, was behind the decision. The TMC’s campaign is being managed by the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), which has previously worked with the BJP, JD(U), YRS Congress and Shiv Sena.

Nandigram assumes significance for Banerjee as it holds the road to her chief ministership in 2011. It was one of the places of TMC’s anti-land acquisition protest, while the other being Singur. Fourteen villagers were killed in police firing in 2007 when they were protesting against land acquisition for a chemical hub of Indonesian firm Salim Group.

It was at Nandigram that the slogan ‘Maa, Mati, Manush’ (Mother, Motherland and People) was coined and is being used by the party in every election. Nandigram also marks the return on Banerjee to street politics, something she is popular for.

Secondly, the seat was won by former party MLA Suvendu Adhikari, who turned rebel and joined the BJP ahead of the polls. Banerjee’s move leaves a message that she would do whatever it takes for her party and would take on the saffron party, which is looking to make inroads in West Bengal. However, it remains to be seen whether Adhikari would get a ticket from Nanidgram as he has claimed “to defeat Banerjee by at least by 50,000 votes”.

Moreover, the move would help Banerjee in giving out a message that she is a fighter and not just contesting from a safe seat. In 2016, Banerjee defeated Congress’s Deepa Dasmunshi by 25,000 votes and won by a 54,000-vote margin in 2011.

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Mamata Banerjee says will contest Assembly elections from Suvendu Adhikari’s stronghold Nandigram; will defeat her, he hits back

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday announced that she will fight the upcoming Assembly Elections from her former aide Suvendu Adhikari’s turf Nandigram.

Adhikari won the Nandigram seat in 2016 as TMC candidate. He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) last month, after ending his two-decade-old relationship with Trinamool Congress (TMC).

Addressing a rally in Nandigram, Banerjee said she is not worried about those jumping to other parties as when TMC was formed none of them were there, in a reference to the party leaders including Adhikar.

Mamata Banerjee is at present the MLA from Bhawanipore in south Kolkata.

Responding to Mamata’s announcement, Adhikari asserted that he will defeat her or quit politics”

“If I am fielded by my party from Nandigram, I will defeat her by a margin of at least 50,000 votes or I will quit politics,” he said.

The Assembly Elections are scheduled to be held in April-May this year.

(With inputs from PTI)

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

BJP a ‘junk’ party, inducts rotten elements of other parties: Mamata Banerjee

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday took a potshot at the Bharatiya Janata Party and termed it a “junk party”. “BJP has turned into “junk” party, inducts rotten elements of other parties,” Banerjee said.

“You must have seen some (TMC) leaders switch over to the BJP. They have done it to protect the public money they had looted. The BJP runs the party like a washing machine, where corrupt leaders turn into saints the moment they join them,” she said, addressing a rally here in Nadia district, PTI reported.

Drawing a parallel between BJP cadres and US President Donald Trump, the Trinamool Congress chief added, “BJP cadres will behave like Trump supporters the day they lose elections.” West Bengal will witness a triangular fight between TMC, BJP, and Left for state elections scheduled in April this year.

She raised the issue of farm laws and hit out at the BJP for its “adamant” approach. “The country is staring at a food crisis. If the BJP continues to remain adamant on the farm laws, there will be a food shortage in our country. The farmers are assets of our country and we should not do anything that goes against their interest,” she said. The TMC supremo also demanded an immediate repeal of the three farm laws, as being demanded by farmers agitating at Delhi’s borders.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

West Bengal politics in crucial stage: All you need to know about 2021 Assembly elections

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The political situation in West Bengal is heating up ahead of the Assembly elections, with all rival parties accusing each other of similar sins.

It will be a triangular contest between Trinamool Congress (TMC), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and recently formed electoral alliance of Congress and Left.

The elections will be held in April-May next year.

Does BJP stand a chance?

The BJP has emerged as the main rival to the Trinamool Congress in this elections. The Saffron party, which has never been in power in the state, won 18 of the 42 seats in West Bengal in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Its vote share increased to 40.64 percent from 10.16 percent in 2016 when it won only 3 seats.

BJP’s performance in the general elections worked as a morale booster for the party leaders, who now claim that the Saffron party will end didi’s decade long rule in the politically polarised state in Assembly polls.

Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Amit Shah was in the state recently on a two-day visit to take stock of the party affairs. His roadshow attracted a huge crowd where he claimed that the party will form the next government in the state. “People of West Bengal are “angry” with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and want a change,” he said.

In a boost for the BJP, TMC’s heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari joined the Saffron party in December. Earlier in 2017, Mukul Roy, who was considered the right hand of Mamata Banerjee, had left Trinamool to join the Saffron party. He is familiar with Mamata Banerjee’s style of working.

Although West Bengal will witness a three-way contest in the Assembly elections, the tough fight will be between the BJP and TMC.

Will it be a hat-trick for Mamata Banerjee?

TMC in alliance with the Congress wiped out the CPI(M)-led Left Front government in 2011, securing 184 seats of the 294 seats.

In 2016 Assembly elections, TMC won 211 seats on its own. During the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, Mamata Banerjee played a significant role in uniting opposition parties against the BJP.

She even organised a mega rally of opposition parties in Kolkata to target the BJP. TMC won 22 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 elections, which accounts to 44 percent vote share.

Last year, Mamata also roped in poll strategist Prashant Kishor for her image makeover and prepare a battlefield for Assembly elections.

Mamata, accused of dividing people of the state on religious lines to secure its vote bank, is trying to balance it out after Lok Sabha elections.

Kishor devised several campaigns to help Mamata regain a direct connect with people of the state.

Mamata is indeed a popular and powerful leader who has always taken on the BJP head-on. TMC’s vote share has remained intact despite BJP’s rise in the state in the last five years.

Left-Congress Alliance

Congress announced an alliance with the Left last week for the 2021 Assembly elections in West Bengal to take on the BJP and TMC.

The two parties also contested the 2016 Assembly elections in the state together, securing 76 seats. However, the Congress contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections all alone and won only 2 seats and 5.6 percent vote share whereas Left failed to secure even a single seat.

Left and Congress alliance doesn’t hold any chance to win the elections, however, it would stop the loyal voter base of Left from shifting to the BJP.

Both Left and Congress have seen a steady decline in their vote share in the state and by coming together, they hope to regain some lost ground in these elections.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Mission Bengal: Host of BJP ministers, including Amit Shah, to visit state

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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With eye on the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, the BJP has been bolstering its campaign in the state on war footing, deploying Union ministers, a deputy CM and central leaders and assigning them six to seven Lok Sabha constituencies each. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be in the state this weekend, while his colleagues Gajendra Shekhawat, Sanjeev Balyan, Prahlad Patel, Arjun Munda and Mansukh Mandaviya will be visiting in the next few days, sources in the party said on Thursday.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and Madhya Pradesh cabinet minister Narottam Mishra have also been assigned responsibilities in West Bengal, the sources said. When contacted, Union minister Patel confirmed that he has been given charge of the party’s poll preparations in north Bengal.

All these leaders will attend a meeting on December 19 chaired by Shah, the sources said. The Union home minister will be on a two-day visit to West Bengal this weekend. He will address a political rally and have lunch at a farmer’s residence in Midnapore.

Amid reports and heightened speculations in some quarters, rebel Trinamool Congress leader Suvendu Adhikari, who resigned as an MLA on Wednesday, is expected to join the BJP in Shah’s presence. Earlier, the saffron party had assigned its office bearers to gather feedback from five different zones of the poll-bound state.

The party has emerged as the main challenger to the ruling TMC, winning 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 elections, and is leaving no stone unturned in its effort to form the next government in the state.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow