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Tag: Mamata Banerjee

  • Emergency landing of Mamata Banerjee’s helicopter

    Emergency landing of Mamata Banerjee’s helicopter

    Kolkata (IANS). The helicopter carrying West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had to make an emergency landing at Army’s Sevak airbase near Siliguri soon after take off.

    The Chief Minister addressed a public rally at Jalpaiguri on Tuesday afternoon. Thereafter, the helicopter carrying his personal security officer and a scribe took off from Kranti helipad in Jalpaiguri to Bagdogra airport in Darjeeling district.

    The Chief Minister was to spend the night in Siliguri on Tuesday and take a flight from Bagdogra to Kolkata in the morning.

    Sources said soon after take-off, the chopper carrying the chief minister faced uncertain conditions due to overcast sky and strong wind accompanied by heavy rain.

    It is learned that the pilot had no clue when trying to find the right place to land the helicopter. The dense forest of Baikunthpur below added to the trouble.

    However, luckily at the same time the airbase of the armed forces came into their sight. He immediately contacted the airbase authorities and got the helicopter landed there. The landing was safe and none of the passengers were injured.

    Till the filing of the report, the Chief Minister’s convoy was going back to Bagdogra by road.

  • Mamta Banerjee took press conference regarding Balasore accident

    Mamta Banerjee took press conference regarding Balasore accident

    West Bengal. Those who have survived the Balasore accident and have returned to their homes but are in trauma, the state government will give Rs 10,000 and Rs 2,000 per family and relief material for the next three months.
I got a message in which there was a big list that how many people were killed during the time of Nitish, Lalu and me? Have these people ever thought how much I modernized the railways during my time. All the information is wrong... I ask how many people were killed in Godhra?
We have worked very hard. We made all the metro trains in our time. Who formed the Mumbai Railway Development Corporation? I made it in my time. Had I not been there, the Delhi Metro would not have started at all.
Why was the railway minister silent yesterday when I mentioned about the anti-collision thing? Two types of statements are coming, there is something black in the lentils. I want the truth to come out. I don't want Railway Minister's resignation: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Kolkata
  • Mamata Banerjee demands proper probe into Odisha train accident

    Mamata Banerjee demands proper probe into Odisha train accident

    Kolkata (IANS) | West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday demanded a proper inquiry to find out the exact cause of the tragic train accident in Odisha’s Balasore district. 261 people were killed and more than 900 were injured in this accident. Former Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee reached the accident site earlier in the day. He interacted with Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav and other top officials.

    During his conversation with Vaishnav, he was heard complaining about the lack of coordination in the railway department.

    Later talking to media persons he said, definitely something has happened. There should be a proper investigation to find out.

    He also expressed apprehension that a fault in the anti-collision system could be a reason for the accident, which is one of the worst rail accidents in the last 15 years.

    When I was the railway minister for three terms, I took the initiative to set up an anti-collision system. I think if the system was in place, the accident could have been avoided. A large number of people who died in the accident are from West Bengal. My government officials are coordinating with their counterparts in Odisha for smooth rescue operations.

    He also announced a compensation of five lakh rupees each for the families of the deceased from Bengal.

    Meanwhile, a statement issued from the West Bengal secretariat claimed that at least 70 ambulances and 10 buses and 20 mini trucks with 34 doctors had reached Balasore by 12 noon on Saturday.

    Two disaster management group teams of the police are going to Balasore, the statement said.

    It also claimed that 20 ambulances and 120 passengers have left for West Bengal from Balasore and 11 patients are admitted in various hospitals in West Bengal.

    –IANS

  • Mamta Banerjee condemned the misbehavior with the wrestlers

    Mamta Banerjee condemned the misbehavior with the wrestlers

    Kolkata (IANS) | West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday condemned the alleged manhandling of international wrestlers by the Delhi Police in the national capital. In a Twitter message, the chief minister accused the central government of acting in an autocratic manner against those who brought laurels to the country.

    They have also demanded the immediate release of the detained wrestlers.

    He said in his tweet, I strongly condemn the way Delhi Police assaulted Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and other wrestlers. It is shameful that our champions are treated like this. Democracy is rooted in tolerance, but autocratic forces thrive on intolerance and suppressing dissent. I demand that he be released immediately by the police. I stand with our wrestlers.

    This is the second time in a month that Banerjee has shown solidarity with the protesting wrestlers.

    Even before this, in a tweet on May 4, a day after the complaint of misbehavior by the police, he wrote, it is very shameful to hurt the honor of our daughters in this way. India stands with its daughters and I as a human being definitely stand with our wrestlers. Law is one for all. The ‘rule of the ruler’ cannot abduct one’s dignity. You can attack them but cannot break their morale. The fight is right and the fight will go on. Don’t you dare hurt our wrestlers. The country is seeing their tears and the country will not forgive you. I urge our wrestlers to stay strong. I share all my power with him.

    The protesting wrestlers are protesting demanding the arrest of Wrestling Federation of India President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Women players have accused him of molestation and sexual harassment.

    –IANS

  • Mamata Banerjee to skip Niti Aayog meet

    Mamata Banerjee to skip Niti Aayog meet

    Projecting her party as the mainstay of anti-BJP parties’ march before the 2024 general elections, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to skip Niti Aayog meeting scheduled on May 27 in Delhi, said state secretariat officials at Nabanna.

    Mamata’s decision came a day after her party Trinamool Congress decided to boycott the inauguration of the newly- built Parliament building. It is not the first time Mamata will be skipping a Niti Aayog
    meeting. She has skipped the meetings in 2018, 2019 and 2021 claiming the think-tank has no power and the meetings were “fruitless”.

    The reason behind Banerjee’s skipping of the Niti Aayog meeting this time is not known.“On Wednesday
    afternoon, the chief minister said that she would not attend the Niti Aayog meeting and asked to cancel her Delhi visit on May 27,” said an official of the state government.

    Mamata had earlier this month expressed interest in participating in the meeting and said that she will
    highlight the issue of the state which being allegedly deprived by the Centre. She had then said, “I will be participating at the Niti Ayog meeting on May 27 in New Delhi because it is the only platform to highlight the issues of a state”. Mamata had asked Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar to hold a meeting of opposition parties in Patna at the end of this month to prepare together for the 2024 Lok Sabha poll. But it does not seem to be possible at this juncture

    The senior TMC leadership found Mamata’s decision to skip Neeti Aayog meeting was politically well-calculated. “Her earlier Niti Aayog meeting boycott had made news with little political impact but her decision to skip this year’s event assumes significance, especially on a day when all 19 Opposition parties joined to boycott the inaugural event on May 28. Besides, she is now desperate to portray her party as the prime political force against the BJP in the backdrop of Congress’s impressive performance in Karnataka derailing the saffron camp from the power,” said a senior TMC leader.

    On the day of Karanataka election results, Mamata described it as people’s verdict against the BJP and in favour of unity in diversity, without mentioning Congress’s name. Though she appreciated HD Kumaraswami for his party Janata Dal Secular’s (JDS) performance in the Karnataka elections, the West Bengal chief minister did not drop names of Congress and Rahul Gandhi while congratulating the candidates who secured victory against the BJP.

    Mamata has been portraying the Trinamool Congress as the only political force which can defeat the saffron camp since her party came to power for straight third term in the 2021 Assembly elections.
    Shortly after returning to power in 2021, Mamata also held a meeting with Sonia Gandhi in Delhi eyeing Opposition parties’ unity against the BJP. But her relationship with the Congress turned sour and it became public before the elections in Goa as refused to accept the Congress party as the leader of the

    She claimed TMC is the only political force that can defeat the BJP. “But Congress’s impressive victory in Karnataka has caused a jolt to her claim. Besides, elections are approaching in Madhya Pradesh
    and Chhattisgarh and if the Congress manages to win in both the states, Mamata’s claim of being principal anti-BJP party will be challenged and the Congress will definitely play a lead role in the oppositions’ alliance before the 2024 general elections,” admitted a senior TMC leader.

  • Opposition unity: Nitish Kumar to meet Mamata Banerjee today

    Opposition unity: Nitish Kumar to meet Mamata Banerjee today

    Kolkata: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has taken upon himself the task of uniting Opposition forces against the BJP-led government at the Centre, will call on his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata on Monday.

    The meeting will come close on the heels of his visit to the national capital to meet Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge and former MP Rahul Gandhi. The meeting was seen as the major step to laying the groundwork for a grand Opposition alliance ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha elections.

    Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Rahul said it was a “historic step” towards Opposition unity and for an “ideological fight”.

    Rahul, who posted a picture of himself with Kharge and JDU and RJD leaders, said they are “standing together, will fight together for India”.

    “In this battle of ideology, a historic step has been taken today towards Opposition unity. (We are) standing together, will fight together – for India!” Rahul Gandhi had said in a tweet after the meeting Nitish Kumar.

    Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and Janata Dal-United president Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh was also present at the meeting held at Kharge’s residence.

    CM Mamata Banerjee is also leaving no stone unturned in closing in ranks with other parties ahead of the 2024 polls, as she met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav at her residence in Kolkata last month.

  • Mamata Banerjee steps up offensive against Centre

    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday threatened to take her sit-in-protest to Delhi if the Centre does not clear the state’s dues. “We waited till Thursday because we thought the Centre will respond to our demand. But no leader did that. Not only in Kolkata, but we can also take our movement to Delhi. If necessary, we will hire trains to reach the national capital.

    We will stage sit-in-demonstration wherever they will stop us,” she said while addressing on the last day of her two-day dharna on Red Road in Kolkata in protest against the state’s dues from central government and misuse of central agencies. Mamata, however, did not specify any date for continuing her movement in Delhi.

    She also mentioned the opposition’s unity to derail the BJP from the Centre. “They will have to accept people’s verdict and step down. The day will come soon,” she said. The Bengal chief minister alleged the Centre is yet to clear the state’s dues to the tune of Rs 1,15,000 crore. She also accused the BJP-led Centre of showing discrimination against West Bengal.

    Elaborating on the reason behind her sit-in-demonstration, Mamata said, ‘’Many people told me I should have held dialogues with the Centre before staging the dharna. I discussed the issue with the Centre 10 times. How many times we will have to tell them.’’

  • Mamata Banerjee gives ‘aur ek dafa Delhi chalo’ call to oust BJP from power 

    Mamata Banerjee gives ‘aur ek dafa Delhi chalo’ call to oust BJP from power 

    KOLKATA: Taking forward her sharp attack against arch-rival BJP, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, who has been on an overnight ‘sit-in protest’ here against the Center’s alleged discrimination against ek dafa Delhi chalo, called for an “aur ek dafa Delhi chalo” (another march to Delhi) to oust the right-wing party from power.

    A day before, the West Bengal Chief Minister and stormy petrel of Indian politics had in a change of stance urged all parties in the country to unitedly fight the BJP in next year’s Lok Sabha election, a departure from an earlier decision to remain equidistant from both the Congress and the saffron party.

    The ‘aur ek bar Delhi Chalo’ call made from the feet of the Dr B R Ambedkar’s statue on Kolkata’s Red Road, an obvious take on Netaji Subhas Bose’s more famous ‘Delhi Chalo’ clarion call delivered in Singapore 80 years ago, resounded well with her supporters, who had thronged the venue of the sit-in, in large numbers.

    Banerjee had started the two-day demonstration on Wednesday noon against the Centre’s “stoppage” of funds to the state for MGNREGA and other schemes of the housing and public works departments.

    “All of us have to unite, fight against the BJP and defeat it. If needed, we will march to Delhi to protest against the Centre’s attempts to destroy the country’s federal structure and keep states ruled by non-BJP parties bereft of funds.”

    “I was under the impression that the Union government would communicate and inform us that it would pay our dues. But, nothing like that has happened. The BJP is running a government by the (central) agencies and of the agencies. The party is trying to project all opposition parties as corrupt, and itself as saint,” she said.

    Stating that the 2024 Parliamentary polls will be a fight between the citizens of the country and the BJP, Banerjee had Wednesday said people across religions must unite to defeat the saffron party and save the poor of the country.

    She described the BJP as ‘Dushasana’ and ‘Duryodhana’ – the two antagonists from the epic ‘Mahabharata’.

    “I urge every political party in India to unite to oust this ‘Dushasana’ BJP government. ‘This Duryodhana’ BJP should be removed from power to save the country’s common man as well as Indian democracy,” Banerjee said.

    The Trinamool Congress chief also hit out at a section of state government employees, who have been demanding enhanced Dearness Allowance (DA) on par with that of the Centre, alleging that those who had got jobs on recommendations of CPI (M) leaders during the Left regime, are trying to malign the state.

    “The ones who got everything from West Bengal, are now protesting against the state government. I have asked officials to look for their recruitment files. They are taking public money and are busy in agitating,” she said.

    The chief minister was accompanied by several TMC Aleaders, including Firhad Hakim and Aroop Biswas, at the protest site.

    Draped in a white cotton saree, Banerjee is on a 30-hour sit-in protest at the city’s landmark, which is likely to end at 7 pm.

    She has also heard singing songs with party leaders in the morning.

    Kolkata has been witnessing a flurry of political activity ahead of the panchayat elections slated for this summer, which has now received a green signal from the Calcutta High Court.

    The state’s political temperature has risen by a few notches with rallies by Banerjee’s nephew and TMC leader Abhisek, BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari and a march organised by the Left-Congress alliance, alongside the sit-in, which has been drawing large crowds of onlookers.

  • Mamata Banerjee will protest against the Center

    Mamata Banerjee will protest against the Center

    Chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Tuesday that she would hold a dharna for around 30 hours from March 29 near B.R. Ambedkar’s statue to protest against allegedly dictatorial attempts to malign her government and deprive Bengal of its rightful dues from the Centre.

    Although Mamata did not specify which Ambedkar statue she would hold the sit-in by, sources in the Trinamul Congress said she had probably meant one on Red Road in Calcutta and not in Delhi. However, there is a possibility of the chief minister visiting Delhi next week to participate in a non-Congress, non-BJP political exercise being planned by AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal.

    “I will do this (the dharna near the Ambedkar statue) as the chief minister of Bengal to protest against this dictatorial attempt to malign the state government and deprive our state of its rightful dues,” said the Trinamul chairperson at the Calcutta airport, en route to Bhubaneswar to meet her Odisha counterpart and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik.

    Mamata is scheduled to meet Naveen on Thursday, six days after she hosted Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav at her residence in Calcutta. On Friday, JDS leader H.D. Kumaraswamy is slated to call on Mamata at her Kalighat home.

    These meetings take place against the backdrop of stern criticism of Rahul Gandhi and the Congress by Mamata and seniors in her party, with indications of her preference — at least at the moment — for equidistance from the BJP and the Grand Old Party.

    Although there are murmurs that the meeting between Mamata and Naveen could be a stepping-stone towards the formation of an alliance of regional satraps ahead of the general election, BJD insiders dismissed the possibility, while Mamata played down the political significance of the talks.

    “This is not a matter of united Opposition or anything (like that). It is a personal meeting, a courtesy meeting,” she said in Calcutta.

    Naveen Patnaik.
    Naveen Patnaik.
    File picture
    Asked if it was her desire to see regional parties stepping forward to take the lead ahead of 2024, she said: “Regional parties are always strong.”

    “The central government just gives the policies, but the state governments are the implementing authorities…. So, wherever we go, whenever we meet somebody, we want to discuss the development of the states, the federal structure,” Mamata added. “But this meeting (with Naveen), I have decided it is a courtesy meeting, let me see.”

    The Bengal chief minister will be in Puri for an hour from around 4pm on Wednesday and is likely to offer prayers at the 12th-century Jagannath shrine there.

    “We have organised a number of functions, including a special puja for her. She will also offer prayers at the temples of Maha Laxmi, Maa Bimala, Lord Hanuman, and others located inside the shrine,” said senior servitor Jagannath Swain Mohapatra.

    Mamata is likely to make a spot assessment of the land allocated by the Odisha government to Bengal for the construction of a guesthouse in Puri for tourists from the state.

    Before leaving for Odisha, Mamata repeated her attack on the BJP-led Centre. “Not a paisa was given to Bengal under the 100-day employment guarantee scheme. This is the only state, (to which) nothing is being given…. We are spending our own money on (various central) projects,” said Mamata.

    “I personally met the Prime Minister over the Rs 1.15 lakh crore due to Bengal from the Centre. (Union home minister) Amit Shah was here for a meeting, I told him, too. Everybody there has been written to, spoken to, repeatedly. Despite that, we can see a deliberate attempt to stop the funds,” added the Bengal chief minister.

    Referring to the removal of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi’s name from the Interpol Red Corner notice list, Mamata has said people like him and industrialist Gautam Adani are the “best friends” of the Centre.