West Bengal: Saumitra Khan, a BJP MP from West Bengal, writes to Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, requesting that he act immediately to “improve the justice and law enforcement situation in West Bengal and take appropriate action against the Kolkata Police Commissioner for failing to maintain the justice system effectively.”
West Bengal Lok Sabha Election Phase 7 Voting: In West Bengal, voting is underway for the seventh and final round of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. West Bengal is reportedly in a flurry of uproar in the interim. The EVM and VVPAT devices that were put at two booths in South 24 Parganas have been hurled into the pond by the mob. The Chief Electoral Office of West Bengal has informed about the looting of EVMs amid voting.
Sources claim that the crowd at Kultai, South 24 Parganas, hurled the VVPAT and EVM equipment from booths 40 and 41 into the water. Locals have informed that TMC supporters allegedly threatened voters, which infuriated the mob and caused them to toss the EVMs into the pond.
The Chief Electoral Office tweeted, “Today at 6.40 AM, Reserve EVMs and papers of Sector Officer near Benimadhavpur FP School in 129-Kultali AC of 19-Jayanagar (SC) PC were looted by local mob and 1 CU, 1 BU, 2 VVPAT machines were thrown inside the pond.
FIR has been lodged by the Sector Officer and necessary action has been initiated. The polling process is going on smoothly in all six booths under the sector and papers have been made available to Sector Officer.”
West Bengal: The challenges surrounding TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan are getting worse. In a money laundering investigation, the Enforcement Directorate has filed a criminal charge against Sheikh Shahjahan, the leader of the TMC, and three other individuals.
Based on 13 First Information Reports (FIRs) against Sheikh Shahjahan and others filed by the West Bengal Police under various sections of the IPC Act, 1860, and the Arms Act, 1959, the ED has opened an inquiry. Shahjahan and other individuals are accused of engaging in organized crime, including harming people, committing murder or attempting to commit murder, threatening extortion, seizing public land, and receiving illicit financial gains and benefits.
In the money laundering case against Shahjahan Sheikh and others, the Kolkata Regional Office of the ED has filed a prosecution complaint (PC) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 against SK Sahajan, SK Alamgir, Shib Prasad Hazra, and others before Special Judge, CBI-1, Bichar Bhavan, Kolkata.
According to the ED investigation, Shahjahan established a criminal empire centered on land grabs, illicit fishing and trade, occupying brick fields, contract cartelization, collecting illicit taxes and levies, and receiving commissions on land sales.
West Bengal‘s coastal areas are beginning to feel the effects of cyclonic storm Remal. In the coastal regions of Bangladesh and the neighboring West Bengal, the process of landslides has begun. The cyclonic storm’s top sea level speed during this period was measured at 135 km/h.
West Bengal is experiencing a great deal of damage as a result of it. Different parts of Birbhum, East Burdwan, Nadia, East Medinipur, Bankura, South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Kolkata, and Bidhannagar are seeing its effects. Here, it’s starting to rain heavily.
This morning, the Indian Coast Guard kept an eye on South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, with the disaster response team. Last night, Cyclone Remal caused chaos in North 24 Parganas. Following intense rains, waterlogging was observed in many areas of Kolkata. This could continue for a few hours. IMD has provided this data.
Speaking about the effect of Cyclone ‘Remal’ on trains, CPRO Kaushik Mitra of Eastern Railway states, ‘Fortunately, the cyclone had no effect on the trains. Since last night, the Howrah, Asansol, and Malda divisions have been operating as usual. There are no canceled trains. Although our authorities worked through the night to resolve several issues in the Sealdah division, restoration work is now underway.”
Bengal Teacher Recruitment Scam: The West Bengal government under Mamata has had a major setback today. The entire 2016 SSC recruitment panel is deemed void by the Calcutta High Court.
Every appointment from the 9th to 12th and groups C and D, where irregularities were discovered, have also been deemed void.
The administration has been directed by the court to move forward with new nominations within the next fifteen days. One exception to the rule has been noted by the court in the case of cancer sufferer Soma Das: her employment will be secure.
The Election Commission of India has directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to deploy 100 more companies of Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPF) in West Bengal to conduct free and fair Lok Sabha elections.
Based on ECI, the Home Ministry is deploying 45 companies of Border Security troops and 55 companies of the CRPF. According to ANI news, officials have been ordered to complete deploying an additional 100 CAPF companies in West Bengal by April 15th at the latest.
Lok Sabha Election: The BJP experienced a significant setback in West Bengal shortly before the Lok Sabha elections. Kunar Hembram, a BJP MP from Jhargram, Bengal, left the party on Saturday, March 9. Citing personal reasons, he resigned.
Hembram informed JP Nadda, the president of the BJP, in a letter: “I am announcing my departure from the party effective immediately.” I’ve thought about this decision before making it for personal reasons.
Hembram had informed the party about his decision a few days ago,” Bengal BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya stated. Questions have been raised about this resignation, which was made shortly before the Lok Sabha elections.
Leader and advocate of the West Bengal Congress and party member Koustav Bagchi resigned from the party on Wednesday, citing the party’s top command as having “more interest in forging a friendship with the TMC than strengthening the state party unit” and viewing “the Trinamool Congress as its West Bengal unit.”
There are several rumors that Bagchi will probably join the BJP before the next Lok Sabha elections.
In his letter, Bagchi said, “I believe the urge for forging an alliance by our Top Leadership with the TMC is nothing but a blatant insult to those loyal soldiers of the Congress party only for some parochial interests and/or gains of certain leaders and their associates…Without hesitation, I can firmly say that in the present day scenario, the Indian National Congress has lost its political character.”
Advocate Koustav Bagchi gained fame last year when he was detained by the police for remarks he made about West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Later, he shaved his head and declared that he would stay bald as long as the TMC government in the state was in power.
On Wednesday, Bagchi, one of the Congress spokespersons in the state, said he has tendered his resignation letter to the Congress high command and West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
West Bengal politics these days seem to be circling Sandeshkhali. These days, the violence in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas area, namely in the village of Sandeshkhali, is making headlines. The TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan is accused by the village’s women of stealing their land and abusing some of them sexually.
Meanwhile, the problems of Mamata Banerjee‘s government do not seem to be reducing. He is the target of constant protests from the opposition. Nawsad Siddique, an Indian Secular Front (ISF) MLA, and a reputed TMC sceptic, was prevented from traveling to Sandeshkhali.
The only member of the All India Secular Front (AISF) in the West Bengal Assembly, Nawsad Siddique, was detained early on Tuesday morning while en route to Sandeshkhali. In this troubled area, ongoing protests have sparked new unrest.
Kolkata: Due to “unruly and disorderly behavior inside the Assembly,” six BJP leaders—including Agnimitra Paul and West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari—were suspended for the balance of the assembly term.
By State Assembly Rule 348, he has been suspended. West Bengal Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay made the motion, which the Speaker brought to the House for approval.
Following their discussion of the Sandeshkhali issue in the House today, six BJP MLAs—including opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari and Agnimitra Paul—were suspended from the remainder of the Assembly session. “BJP will continue to raise voice for respect of women,” a LOP official states.
