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Tag: Abhishek Banerjee

  • FIR lodged against central forces for protesting against Abhishek Banerjee

    FIR lodged against central forces for protesting against Abhishek Banerjee

    Kolkata (IANS) | The West Bengal Police on Monday registered four FIRs against some personnel of the Central Armed Forces in connection with a protest by members of the Matua community in Thakurnagar against Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee. An FIR has been lodged against the personnel providing security to Union Minister of State and BJP Lok Sabha member from Bangaon Shantanu Thakur who reached the spot on Sunday during the protest.

    In the FIR, the central forces have been accused of obstructing the policemen from performing their duty and rescuing an accused from the clutches of the police.

    After Banerjee reached the temple of Matua spiritual leader late Binapani Devi, or Boro Maa, on Sunday afternoon, several people from the community started showing her black flags and raising slogans, claiming that they would not be allowed to enter the shrine.

    The situation turned critical after Thakur reached the spot and locked the temple gate from inside with the help of central forces.

    Reacting to the police registering the case, BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said that police administration and Trinamool Congress have become synonymous in the state.

    At the same time, the police released Trinamool Congress leaders who were caught with illegal weapons at the time of nomination.

    –IANS

  • Matua Citadel Turns Into Battlefield During Abhishek Banerjee’s Visit

    Matua Citadel Turns Into Battlefield During Abhishek Banerjee’s Visit

    Thakurbari in Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas turned into a battlefield on Sunday after Trinamool Congress (TMC) national secretary Abhishek Banerjee decided to pay homage to Matua temple as a part of his public outreach programme.

    Matua Mahasabha had set up posters slamming Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for allegedly insulting their ancestors. Ahead of Banerjee’s visit, the BJP supporters and a section of Matua Mahasabha was seen holding black flags and chanted ‘Go Back’ slogan to the TMC national secretary.

    Union Minister of States of Ports and Shipping Shantanu Thakur and members of Matua Mahasabha locked the main temple so that Banerjee doesn’t get to enter the temple.


    Exchange of political barbs

    Union Minister Shantanu Thakur said that the temple is for everyone but it is not the place to do politics. “Host of police and goons were sent to the temple before Banerjee came; those were harassing people,” said Thakur. TMC national secretary Abhishek Banerjee said that Shantanu Thakur is blackening the good deeds done by Harichand Thakur.

    “Matua temple is for everyone and not anyone’s personal property. It may take 5 minutes to use force and enter Thakurbari, but we don’t do violent politics. The central forces have heckled TMC women supporters. I will come here every three months. The house where Shantanu Thakur stays, the water connection and roads are built by Mamata Banerjee. Matua’s Boroma’s treatment was also done by our Chief Minister and not anyone from the Centre,” added Banerjee.

    Police are hand-in-glove with TMC

    Later in the day, while Union Minister Shantanu Thakur and his brother Subrata Thakur, who is also a BJP MLA, went to visit their injured party worker at a hospital, they were allegedly heckled by local police.

    “The local police instead of protecting the minister had beaten me. They (police) are working at the behest of TMC. Instead of warning the TMC supporters they have had detained BJP workers,” further added Thakur.

    Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari taking to Twitter said, “TMC goons have attacked the Holy Shree Dham Temple; Thakurbari of the Matua Community, in front of the police. I request the Hon’ble Union Home Minister; Shri AmitShah Ji and HMO India to kindly intervene urgently and provide protection to the members and office bearers of the All India Matua Mahasangha and the Matua Community members.”

    It is pertinent to mention that Matuas play a crucial role in West Bengal politics, and a section of them supported Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections after the saffron camp had promised citizenship to them. During the pandemic the Matuas got miffed with the central government after CAA was not implemented despite promise.

    TMC national secretary Abhishek Banerjee slamming the CAA said, “CAA was passed three years back and the rules are not yet framed.”

  • West Bengal: Tribal organisations call a strike on June 8 after attack on Abhishek Banerjee’s convoy

    West Bengal: Tribal organisations call a strike on June 8 after attack on Abhishek Banerjee’s convoy

    Fourteen tribal organisations have jointly called for a strike in West Bengal on June 8 to protest against the recent convoy attack on Abhishek Banerjee, the national secretary of Trinamool Congress (TMC), as well as the vandalism of the car belonging to Birbaha Hansda, a tribal woman and state minister.

    Tribals to protest by stopping trains and buses

    According to sources, the tribal communities will protest on June 8 by staging a demonstration that will involve restricting the movement of trains and buses in the region.

    Conversely, following the arrest of their leader Rajesh Mahata by the police, members of the Kurmi community, who were initially accused of the attack, staged protests at multiple locations throughout the state.

    During the protests, a participant expressed their discontent by stating that their demonstration was aimed at denouncing the police for the arrest of Rajesh Mahata.

    Kurmi protestors question Mahata’s arrest

    “On May 27, our Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stated that Kurmis are peace-loving people and not involved in the attack. So, why did the police arrest Rajesh Mahata? Our protest will persist until he is released,” expressed a protestor.

    It should be noted that prior to his arrest, Rajesh Mahata, who is also a teacher, was transferred from Kharagpur to Cooch Behar on Saturday.

    Attack on Abhishek Banerjee’s convoy

    On Friday evening, the convoy of Abhishek Banerjee was targeted in an attack in Garh Salboni. While his car managed to escape unscathed, the vehicle belonging to state minister Birbaha Hansda, along with a few other party workers, was vandalised during the incident.

    During her participation in TMC’s public outreach program, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stated that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was responsible for the attack, alleging that they had disguised themselves as members of the Kurmi community.

  • Calcutta High Court refuses to exempt Abhishek Banerjee from CBI questioning

    Calcutta High Court refuses to exempt Abhishek Banerjee from CBI questioning

    Kolkata (IANS) | A single-judge bench of Justice Amrita Sinha of the Calcutta High Court on Friday refused to exempt Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee from questioning by the CBI in a matter related to the letter of expelled youth leader Kuntal Ghosh from the party. In his letter, Ghosh accused central agencies of pressurizing him to name Banerjee in an alleged multi-crore recruitment scam in government schools in West Bengal.

    Originally, a bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay had allowed the CBI to interrogate Banerjee in the matter. However, following an order from the Supreme Court, two cases related to this case were transferred to Justice Sinha’s bench.

    Banerjee, a Lok Sabha member, on Thursday filed a fresh appeal before Sinha’s bench seeking relief from the CBI inquiry in the case.

    However, on Friday, Justice Sinha dismissed the plea and virtually upheld Justice Gangopadhyay’s order allowing the CBI to question Banerjee in the matter.

    Banerjee’s counsel argued that if protection from interrogation is not granted, there is every possibility that the CBI will take some coercive steps. However, refusing to accept that argument, Justice Sinha said that since the court would be open on round-the-clock basis, there would be scope to approach the court at any point of time.

    During the first hearing of the matter in his bench earlier this week, Justice Sinha had said that Banerjee should cooperate with the investigation.

    Justice Sinha told Banerjee’s counsel, “No one is above the investigation. Please cooperate with the process of investigation. What is the problem there.

    Significantly, Kuntal Ghosh had sent a letter to a local police station and a special CBI court judge, claiming that central agencies were pressurizing him to name Banerjee in the alleged recruitment scam.

    On being pointed out by the central agencies, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay had authorized the CBI to interrogate Banerjee in the matter.

    Banerjee had approached the Supreme Court against the order, following which the apex court had granted an interim stay on Justice Gangopadhyay’s order for a specific period, which had expired.

    –IANS

  • Coochbehar: Controversy begins Abhishek Banerjee’s journey

    Coochbehar: Controversy begins Abhishek Banerjee’s journey

    The launch of the statewide outreach drive by the Trinamul Congress, with the party’s all-India general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in the lead, on Tuesday was overshadowed by multiple incidents of infighting among party supporters at different venues in Cooch Behar district.

    While Abhishek launched his two-month-long initiative, his attempt to seek public feedback on candidates for upcoming panchayat polls went awry in Cooch Behar.

    With its “Gram Banglar Motamot (opinion of rural Bengal)”, the party on Tuesday formally approached common people to recommend candidates for three tiers of the panchayat system through ballot boxes or a website. There is also an opportunity for people to articulate their views at the workers’ meeting which Abhishek will have every day in rural belts.

    The bottom-up approach that Abhishek launched from Sahebganj in Dinhata was derailed immediately after he left the venue as groups of Trinamul supporters were seen jostling with and attacking each other to grab the ballot boxes and ballot papers to keep other factions away.

    “They wanted to grab the ballot boxes and ballot papers and put their preferred names while stopping the other side from doing the same. This led to the fight,” said a Trinamul leader.

    The boxes were broken and ballots torn and tossed in the air even as police and party leaders stood helplessly.

    “Such incidents have been reported in at least three locations. Minutes after Abhishek left the spot, our supporters got into a spat. It is unfortunate that on the first day of the drive, acute infighting, which persists within the party, surfaced,” said a senior Trinamul functionary of the district.

    A similar incident occurred at the public meeting in Gosanimari. Also, in Sitalkuchi, a section of party supporters was seen blaming another lobby for taking away the papers and boxes.

    Several Trinamul insiders admitted that the unruly scenes at rally venues took the focus away from his first-of-its-kind initiative. The Trinamul heir-apparent’s message to the Bengal electorate — like the BJP-led Centre’s alleged denial of funds to Bengal and that he would do everything possible to get the funds from Delhi — was lost in the din.

    Later in the day, the Diamond Harbour MP said: “If anybody feels that he will put the name of his candidates in the box so that he/she will get nominations, it will not happen…. Let me assert that Abhishek Banerjee is standing as the guard. Tomorrow, the process will be repeated at Gosanimari in the presence of district leaders.”

    Trinamul’s state general secretary Kunal Ghosh tried to control the damage and said it had happened because of people’s excitement.

    “Given the excitement of people for the new ballot system, the crowd hogged the stage in large numbers in an unorganized manner because of which such a chaotic situation took place,” he tweeted.

    A section of Trinamul’s insiders, however, said it would be tough to select candidates through ballot boxes. “There are close to 50,000 seats at the panchayat level and we can’t deny that there is a huge rush for the nominations. The concept which Abhishek Banerjee came up with is meticulous and transparent, but there can be problems in executing it, as was evident today,” said a Trinamul leader.