Trinamul Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday that the BJP’s chances of returning to power are becoming bleak while predicting a rich harvest for her party in Bengal. “The ground reality is this – the chances of BJP returning to power is bleak and they will face significant losses in Uttar Pradesh where Akhilesh (Yadav)’s party is giving them a tough contest. In Rajasthan their fate has already been sealed, in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Telengana, their tally will be slashed to half.

In Tamil Nadu the BJP will get a zero and in Kerala, the CPI-M and the Congress will split the seats,” Miss Banerjee said. The state chief minister, who has been camping in Durgapur since yesterday addressed two election rallies in Ausgram and in Budbud of East Burdwan for her party candidates – Asit Mal (Bolpur), Kirti Azad (Bardhaman Durgapur) and Dr Sharmila Sarkar (Bardhaman Purba). Expressing concern over the prevailing heat wave conditions, Miss Banerjee ridiculed the Election Commission of India for stretching the electoral process over seven phases and said: “The schedule was made on purpose to facilitate the BJP. Still, we won’t allow a foothold to them.

I’ve been out campaigning since March and there is another month to go. I hope I’d be able to continue till the end.” Miss Banerjee said: “The more seats we can achieve, the more we will be able to strengthen the INDI Alliance at the Centre.” Attacking Union defence minister Rajnath Singh, she said in Budbud: “I had respect for him. But I was shocked to learn that he’s used abusive language while campaigning here the other day, which I never expected from him. He’s quoted as saying – Koi Mai ka Laal hai joCAA rok dega(is there anyone who can stop CAA)? I’m telling him, We’ll resist CAA.”

She went on to say: “We know you are protecting your chair offering pranama to Modi every day and night but you could have become the Prime Minister, we would have had no objection.” Miss Banerjee rebuked the BJP for choosing Narendra Modi as Prime Minister and said: “Why did they choose persons having blood on their hands?” She went on to say: “Sabko arrest karlo, ED, CBI, NIA vej do aur1 month Raaj korlo(send CBI, ED and arrest everyone. Enjoy your power for one more month).” She added: “He wants to paint everything saffron right from the trains to Doordarshan.

If he’d the ability, he would have painted the sky saffron too!” The TMC chief in both her poll rallies today complained that the Central forces deployed in Bengal like the BSF, the CRPF were intimidating the voters. She said: “They are asking the voters either to press the lotus button, or face bullets. I’ve got a copy of an FIR registered in Gsngarampur, Balurghat lodged by a victim’s family. Even the Railway employees are ordered to vote for BJP.” She also reiterated her anguish today over the Calcutta High Court’s judgment cancelling the appointment of over 25,000 teaching and non-teaching jobs. She said: “I’ve 10 lakh government jobs ready for our unemployed youths, but I’m afraid Calcutta High Court will create a hurdle to that, like how they’ve scrapped the teachers under the directions of the BJP.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will campaign in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh on Thursday for the Lok Sabha elections.

The Prime Minister will address a ‘Vijay Sankalp Rally’ in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena at 11:30 a.m. From there, he will proceed to Uttar Pradesh to address public meetings in Agra at 1:15 p.m., Bareilly’s Alampur Jafrabad at 3.30 p.m., and Shahjahanpur at around 5:15 p.m.

Major political events that will unfold across the country today:

* Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address a public meeting in Telangana’s Siddipet on Thursday. From there, he will go to Odisha to address a public meeting at Sonepur under the Bolangir Lok Sabha constituency at around 4:00 p.m. The Home Minister will stay in Bhubaneswar on Thursday night, during which he will hold a meeting with senior BJP leaders.

* Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will address public meetings in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri at 11:30 a.m. and Rajpur (Kanpur Dehat) at 1:40 p.m. on Thursday.

* Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will address a public meeting in Etawah’s Jaswantnagar on Thursday.

* Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav will file his nomination from Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj Lok Sabha seat on Thursday at around 12:00 noon.

* Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya will hold a public meeting in Kannauj on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. After the public meeting, BJP candidate Subrata Pathak will file his nomination paper from the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat in the presence of the Deputy CM.

* BSP National Coordinator Akash Anand will address an election rally at Lalganj in Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh district at around 11:00 a.m. on Thursday.

* BJP leader Sanjay Kumar Bandi will file his nomination paper from Telangan’s Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday in the presence of Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.

* Congress leader Sachin Pilot will attend multiple campaign events of the Congress in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday. He is scheduled to visit Ujjain, Mandsaur and Dewas districts. The former Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister will be accompanied by Madhya Pradesh Congress President Jitu Patwari, Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar, and Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha during the visit.

* AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi will address an election rally of PDM Alliance in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi on Thursday. The rally will also be attended by Apna Dal (K) leader Pallavi Patel.

People of three parliamentary constituencies in north Bengal will exercise their franchise in the second phase of the 18th Lok Sabha polls on 26 April.

When the district election officials of Darjeeling, North and South Dinajpur are readying the stage for polling with tight security by deploying central forces, contesting candidates, belonging to different political parties were busy in their last-minute campaigning in some specific areas in Darjeeling, Raiganj and Balurghat Lok Sabha constituencies, today.

Notably, the first phase of polling has been completed in Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri in north Bengal on 19 April and the people witnessed several incidents of violence.

The BJP had bagged all six seats in 2019.

Significantly, the BJP in association with the Hill based regional parties, has won Darjeeling LS seat since 2009. BJP candidate Raju Bista, who was elected from Darjeeling in 2019 and obtained over 59 per cent votes, is contesting here for the second time.

Congress had won Darjeeling LS seat in 1977, though it was under the control of the CPM when Ratanlal Brahmin was elected in 1971. CPM had recovered its Darjeeling LS seat in 1980 by fielding Ananda Pathak. The late CPM leader Ananda Pathak was elected in 1984 and even in 1998 LS polls. Significantly, when the founder president of Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) Subash Ghisingh took control of the Hills, Congress leader Inderjit was elected twice from the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat in 1989 and 1991. Interestingly, since 1996 to 1999, the CPM candidates, including RB Rai and SP Lepcha were elected from this seat but in 2004 the Congress bagged the seat by fielding Dawa Narbula.

After Ghising, a new era began in the Hills under the leadership of Bimal Gurung, founder president of Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM). The BJP joined hands with Mr Gurung and bagged the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat by fielding Jaswant Singh in 2009. In 2014, BJP candidate SS Ahluwalia was elected and then Mr Bista, who was born in Manipur and brought up in Delhi, was nominated by BJP in 2019. Very interestingly, both the GNLF and GJMM jointly extended support to the BJP in 2019 as the saffron party promised a permanent political solution for the Hills in its manifesto.

On the other hand, despite a relationship between chairperson of Trinamul Congress Mamata Banerjee and GJMM president Bimal Gurung, TMC could not win the Darjeeling seat despite several attempts. The TMC candidate Amar Singh Rai managed only 26.51 per cent votes in 2019.

TMC has fielded Gopal Lama from Darjeeling in association with the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) under the leadership of Anit Thapa, a former GJMM leader, who keeps control over the Hills as a chief executive of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA). On the other hand, Congress has fielded Dr Munish Tamang from Darjeeling.

Both Dr Tamang and Mr Bista campaigned in Kalimpong today. Mr Bista ended his colourful campaign in Siliguri last evening with other party leaders, including party’s Cooch Behar candidate Nisith Pramanik and Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.

According to political observers, TMC and BGPM are jointly trying hard to take on the BJP in Darjeeling and all leaders of both the parties campaigned on behalf of Mr Lama in their respective areas today.

In the last Assembly election, the BJP bagged five seats of the seven in Darjeeling LS constituency except Kalimpong and Chopra in North Dinajpur.

The people of Raiganj constituency in North Dinajpur will witness a triangular political fight on 26 April.

Notably, former chief minister of West Bengal late Siddhartha Shankar Roy was elected from Raiganj in 1971. Since 1980, Congress candidate Golam Yazdani was elected from Raiganj thrice. Since 1991, CPM candidate Subrata Mukherjee was elected thrice from this seat. Congress leader, late Priya Ranjan Das Munish was elected in 1999, 2004, while his widow Deepa Das Munish was elected in 2009. Ms Munshi was defeated by CPM candidate Md Salim by a narrow margin in 2014. In 2019, BJP candidate Debasree Chowdhury was elected and obtained 40.03 per cent votes. TMC candidate Kanaialal Agarwal managed 35.29 per cent votes.

BJP leadership has fielded a new candidate Kartik Pual, a Kaliyaganj-based Congress leader, who joined the BJP recently, from Raiganj.

The TMC has nominated Krishna Kalyani, who was elected as an MLA from Raiganj on BJP ticket. Congress has nominated Ali Imran Ramz alias Victor, a popular Forward Bloc leader, who is working hard to bag the seat with the help of the Left without support of any star campaigners from INDIA Bloc.

Interestingly, chief minister Mamata Banerjee, during her recent political campaigning in Raiganj, branded Victor, who would cut TMC votes to help the BJP.

Union Home minister Amit Shah, yesterday campaigned at Karandighi in Raiganj for Kartik Pual. Today, Mr Paul has given a finishing touch when Alipurduar BJP candidate chief whip of state Assembly Manoj Tigga campaigned for him.

As Mr Paul has a strong base in Kaliyaganj, Mr Kalyani today campaigned showcasing actor-cum-politician Dev.

In 2021 Assembly polls, TMC bagged five seats of the seven. Later, both the BJP MLAs joined the TMC and later one elected from Kaliyaganj returned to BJP camp recently.

Even in Balurghat LS constituency, TMC bagged four Assembly segments of the seven. BJP managed only three segments.

The Balurghat LS seat was under the control of RSP since 1977. TMC bagged the seat by fielding Arpita Ghosh in 2014. But Ms Ghosh failed to retain the seat in 2019, allegedly due to non cooperation of local party leaders. As a result, BJP candidate Dr Sukanta Majumdar was elected and obtained 45 per cent vote while Ms Ghosh managed 42 per cent.

Calling the Congress and CPM as the B team of BJP, Trinamul Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee urged people of Murshidabad not to vote for the traitors, who have not protested against Bengal’s deprivation by the Centre.

He was addressing a rally at Jangipur in Murshidabad this afternoon. Khalilur Rahaman of Trinamul Congress had won the seat in 2019 by 2.5 lakh votes.

Coming down heavily on the Bengal Congress and calling Adhir Chowdhury as the “branch manager” he said, “On 2 September, 2023 when Miss Banerjee attended the INDIA alliance meet, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were eager to form an alliance with Trinamul Congress. On the same day, Adhir Chowdhury criticized Trinamul Congress at the Dhupguri by-election. When the leaders in Delhi were eager to make an alliance, the branch manager here had opposed it just to keep his narrow interests intact. He had challenged Mamata Banerjee to contest against him in Baharampur, but never challenged any of the BJP leaders like Dilip Ghosh or Sunakta Mazumdar or Suvendu Adhikari to fight against him.

This clearly shows for whom he is working. He has to keep his CPM and BJP bosses happy for his own narrow interests. “Malda and Murshidabad had been Congress’s strongholds. However, in the 2021 Assembly election, 28 out of 34 seats in these two districts were bagged by Trinamul Congress,” said Abhishek.

He said when the Trinamul Congress was protesting in Delhi urging the Centre to clear the dues of the job card holders under MGNREGA, no letter to the Centre on this issue had been written either by Adhir Chowdhury or AH Khan Chowdhury. “Hope the people of Malda and Murshidabad have identified the traitors and will give them a befitting reply in the EVMs on 7 May.”

Criticising CPM candidate Mohammad Selim, the TMC national general secretary, said, “This migrant politician had contested from Raigunj, north Kolkata and now contesting from Murshidabad. Have you ever seen him saying a single word when the BJP deliberately stopped Bengal’s dues?”

Mr Banerjee said 18 lakh women had received Lakshmir Bhandar in Murshidabad, while 2.34 lakh job card holders have received their dues given by the state government. Kanyashri scheme is being enjoyed by 28 lakh girls while another 76 lakh students are getting Aikayashree scholarship.” Mamata Banerjee looks after all sections of the community but the BJP leader has announced that if it comes to power, within three months, Lakshmir Bhandar scheme will be stopped. No action has been taken against the leader. I assure the women that they will continue to get Lakshmir Bhandar so long as Ma Mati Manush government is in power.

Coming down heavily on PM Narendra Modi, he said, “Mark his language and the way he is attacking a particular religious community.”

Abhishek urged people to vote for Trinamul Congress to strengthen the hands of INDIA alliance. “Vote for Trinamul for uninterrupted development and punish the traitors.”

In Berhampur, five-time Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury submitted his nomination for the sixth time, today.

During the notable submission of his nomination, Minakshi Mukherjee DYFI general secretary and DYFI state president Dhrubajyoti Saha were present by his side. Berhampur used to symbolize Adhir’s fight with the Left. He was so determined in that fight that he didn’t even want to ally with the Trinamul during the regime changes in Bengal.

Adhir has been winning in Berhampur for a long time. But he did not fight alone for himself but also fought to secure victory of erstwhile Congress leader Mannan Hossain and former President of India Pranab Mukherjee in Murshidabad and Jangipur at one time.

With changing political dynamics in Bengal, a unique image was created in Berhampur on Wednesday. The focus was on the fact that even if there is no 100 per cent unity sweep across Bengal between Left and Congress, at least there is a united fight between the Left and Congress in Murshidabad district, said Adhir’s followers. Adhir reached Berhampur to submit his nomination by organizing a procession from the Textile More. The atmosphere at the procession seemed enthusiastic for the Congress supporters.

Adhir doesn’t behave like typical politicians of these days. He doesn’t wear white kurta pajamas. Even today, he wore pants and a shirt and a white hat on his head due to the heat. It is known that there was talk of Left leaders attending the procession. But due to the party’s schedule in Bhagaban Gola, Minakshi’s arrival was delayed. Even if she couldn’t attend the procession, she reached the district administrative building to wish Adhir when he submitted his nomination.

The picture in Berhampur on Wednesday was significant. Berhampur has seven Assembly seats in the Lok Sabha area. Among them, Berhampur has the largest lead from the Assembly as Adhir’s name is associated with it. This was also the case in the last Lok Sabha election. According to many observers, this time there could be a fight between the BJP and Congress in the Berhampur Assembly seat. But the main fight could be between the Trinamul and Congress in the remaining six Assembly seats. For more than 10 years in Murshidabad, it has been seen that if the main opposition against Congress is Trinamul, the minority vote and some consolidation do not work. In that case, the Left works as an auxiliary force for the Congress. This was also the case in the Sagardighi by-election. That’s why Congress candidate Bayron Biswas won by a huge margin there. Currently, Adhir-Selim alliance wants to work on this formula even in the Lok Sabha elections.

After the high court’s Division Bench “null and void” order on 2016 SSC panel, the same court today set up a committee of experts from Visva-Bharati University to vet alleged wrongs in question papers for the 2017 TET exam.

A section of the examinees alleged that 21 wrong questions were set for the examinees of 2017 TET at the Single Bench of justice Rajasekhar Mantha today.

The court, in a ruling, set up a special committee of experts from the Visva-Bharati University to examine the alleged wrong questions and submit a report to the court after necessary action.

In 2017, teacher’s eligibility test was taken after the TMC government came to power and there were allegations of at least 21 wrong questions on Bengali and environmental studies had allegedly been set by the primary board. A case was filed at the then court of justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay for a review of the question papers in 2022.

Author and journalist Syed Ali Mujtaba unveiled his new book, Changing Nature of Indian State, at Press Club today. The book launch was followed by a thought-provoking panel discussion featuring eminent personalities such as Jawhar Sircar, former IAS and Member of Parliament, Om Prakash Mishra, former vice-chancellor of North Bengal University, Snehasis Sur, president of the Press Club of Kolkata, and Prof Gazala Yasmin from the department of mass communication, Aliah University.

The panel discussed India’s frightening trend of losing its multicultural ethos, with a focus on the creation of a regime based on religion.

Jawhar Sircar highlighted the impact of five significant Bills, including the Telecom Bill, IT rules, Cinematography Act, Data Protection Act, and Broadcasting Bill, on press freedom, stating that they have significantly reduced press liberty and enabled intrusion into private affairs. He also underscored the concerning statistic that the Enforcement Directorate’s success rate was merely 0.3%, with 99.7% constituting legitimate harassment.

Additionally, he criticized the Election Commission for taking four days to determine whether the Banswara speech of PM Modi in Rajasthan was communal or not.

O P Mishra emphasized the erosion of India’s diversity, particularly in regions like Manipur and Ladakh because of their limited Lok Sabha representation. He highlighted how laws like CAA claim to protect refugees but discriminate based on religion. “India has become one country where the respect for human rights and international law has rapidly deteriorated,” he remarked.

The panel discussion overall underscored how India, once acclaimed for its diversity, is now seeing a disturbing trend of homogeneity, with its unique tapestry of cultures and identities being suppressed.

After the recent verdict by the Calcutta High Court on cancellation of appointments of teachers and non-teaching staff, district schools are feeling the ‘heat’ in terms of manpower shortage.

The Serampore Girls High School and Rishra Vidyapith Higher Secondary School are now facing acute shortage of teachers.

The headmistress of Serampore Girls high school Dr Ivy Sarkar said, “We have lost four teachers. They were language teachers, teaching English and Bengali in secondary and higher secondary sections. Moreover, all the four teachers were also intimately involved in the school’s extra-curricular activities.

Dr Sarkar added the Serampore Girls High School is also running English medium section from Class V to X, for the last five years the state education board has not sent a single teacher for the English medium section. Now the loss of four teachers has made things impossible for us. We also started online classes in the extended summer vacation but the classes have come to an abrupt halt. “After the reopening of the school nearly all the language classes for secondary and higher secondary sections will go dry,” she added.

The Rishra Vidyapith Higher Secondary School headmaster Pramod Tiwari said, “Till day 20 vacancies have not been filled up by the school education department. Now, after the court verdict we lost eight deserving teachers. There has been no recruitment in the English medium section, the loss of eight teachers will badly affect the biology ,physics, Hindi and English classes in both the secondary and higher secondary section. The English medium section will also be badly affected by the shortage of teachers. The school’s limited funds do not allow us to keep part-time teachers.”

US State Department Assistant Secretary Donald Lu on Wednesday visited Jain Temple in California and stressed that the Indian-Americans are the backbone of strong relationship between the two countries.

Following his visit, community leader Ajay Bhutoria welcomed State Department Assistant Secretary Donald Lu along with Senior Advisor for Domestic Outreach Jennifer Miller and Marissa Morales, Administrative Support Specialist to the Assistant Secretary Joined by the Southern California Jain temple leadership team, which included JAINA Past Jain President Mahesh Wadher, Jain Temple President Sameer Shah, Vice President Ketan Shah and executive team members.

Their gathering aimed to foster dialogue and stronger understanding between the US State Department and the Jain community in the US.
During the visit, President Sameer Shah, Mahesh Wadher and the temple executive team shared invaluable insights into Jainism, its food practices, philosophy of non-violence, Lord Mahavir message of Peace, Compassion and Non violence and Jain way of fasting traditions.
Moreover, they also shared insights on community outreach and philanthropy work carried out by JAINA and the Jain temple to support individuals both locally in Los Angeles and others parts of US and also in India and Nigeria.

The team shared that the Jain Temple of Southern California is a spiritual and cultural hub for the Jain community in the region.
They are further committed to promoting Jain values of compassion, non-violence, and selflessness, adding that the temple provides a space for worship, learning, and community service.

Ajay Bhutoria shed light on the Anuvrat Digital Detox Program initiated by Jain Terapanth Sect Acharya Mahasharman ji, and emphasised the program’s benefits to human relationships, mental health, and emotional intelligence.

He further urged Assistant Secretary Lu to consider integrating the Digital Detox program into the State Department’s initiatives to support Mental Health wellbeing essential.
Additionally, concerns regarding delays in visitor visa appointments in India were also raised by the community.

Assistant Secretary Donald Lu expressed gratitude for the opportunity to connect with the Jain community in Southern California, and acknowledged their significant contributions to the broader Los Angeles area.
He emphasised the vital role of Indian-Americans in strengthening the relationship between India and US.

“Indian-Americans are the backbone of our strong relationship with India. It was wonderful to connect with the Jain community in Southern California and learn about their many contributions to the wider Los Angeles area,” he said.
Later, Ajay Bhutoria expressed his appreciation for the State Department team’s visit to the Jain temple, highlighting the importance Lord Mahavir message of promoting peace, non-violence, and compassion.

Bhutoria also stressed that the India-US relationship is strongest under President Joe Biden and Secretary Blinken and these people to people dialogues would further strengthen the US India relationship and help promote US Interests and shared values.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) rescued a horse from the Maidan area that was abused and manhandled for several months.

The horse showed alarming signs of mistreatment, including untreated wounds, swollen limbs and severe weakness. Equine specialists determined that the festering wounds were likely inflicted by ill fitting saddles and the swelling and severe injuries on the animal’s legs were caused by being forced to work on hard roads. There was acute malnutrition and dehydration and needed immediate medical attention.

The horse has been taken to a sanctuary managed by Animal Rahat, an organization recognized by the Animal Welfare Board with the help of PETA India. The sanctuary will provide the horse with the treatment and care required to recover from her traumatic ordeal. The cooperation of the Maidan Police helped in the confiscation of the horse in distress for urgent medical care.

Khusboo Gupta, PETA India director of Advocacy, said, “The use of horse-drawn carriages in Kolkata has left animals injured and sick and caused traffic accidents. We call on authorities to follow Mumbai’s lead by replacing horse-drawn carriages with heritage style electric vehicles. PETA has pointed out that the majority of the horse-drawn carriages are unlicensed and there are no licensed stables in the city.

In recent months six horses died in Kolkata. Over 150 veterinarians have appealed to chief minister Mamata Banerjee, requesting her to prohibit the use of horse-drawn carriages.

West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) on Wednesday filed a special leave petition (SLP) case in the Supreme Court against the Calcutta High Court order cancelling all appointments of teachers and non-teaching staff made after the recruitment test in 2016.

The state government has also filed a SLP in the apex court today against the HC order, it’s learnt.

On Monday, the Division Bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Md Shabbar Rashidi in the HC had ordered cancellation of all the appointments of teachers, Group C and D employees made through the recruitment process of the State Level Selection Test-2016 (SLST) in state government-sponsored and aided schools in the city and districts, declaring it as “null and void”.

The Bench also directed the SSC to initiate a fresh recruitment process.

The HC in its order had also said those appointed outside the officially available 24,640 vacancies, appointed after the expiry of the official date of recruitment, and those who submitted blank OMR sheets but obtained appointment to return all remunerations and benefits received by them with 12 per cent interest per annum within four weeks.

“It is shocking that, at the level of the state cabinet, a decision is taken to protect employment obtained fraudulently in a selection process conducted by SSC for state-funded schools, knowing fully well that such appointments were obtained beyond the panel and after expiry of the panel, at the bare minimum,” the HC had said.

It had said unless, “There is a deep connection between the persons perpetuating the fraud and the beneficiaries” with persons involved in the decision-making process, such action to create supernumerary posts to protect illegal appointments is “inconceivable”.

“The court has nullified about 24,000 jobs and we will approach the Supreme Court, challenging the verdict after going through the complete HC order,” Siddhartha Majumder, chairman of the WBSSC, had told reporters on Monday while reacting to the order of the HC.

“We will go through the 300-page order… discuss and understand the legal aspects,” Majumder had said during a press conference.

“There were allegations in connection with appointments of 5,000 candidates as per the CBI investigations.

Besides these 5,000 candidates, there are more than 19,000 teachers and non-teaching staff who are now jobless. Why did the HC scrap jobs of more than 19,000 candidates? We have moved the apex court after discussing the issue with the state government,” Mr Majumder said today.

When a JCB, deployed by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation moved into action to restore a more-than-half-filled pond this morning, it gave the residents of Ward 99 some ray of hope.

Locals of Jora Bagan in the southern fringes of the city had since long been witness to the water body being gradually filled up, allegedly for promoting purpose. According to them, from the 1980’s the pond was targeted for being filled up. They also claimed to have seen such instances of water bodies being filled up and developed into sprawling residential units in the past. Even this water body was being filled up with garbage and other wastes with similar intentions, they alleged. “There was a pond beside the water body which is being restored now. It has been filled up over the years and is on the verge of becoming non-existent now,” claimed a resident of the area.

The KMC’s JCB hit the ground today following complaints from the residents of the ward about the water body being filled up. The complaint is even said to have been escalated to KMC mayor Firhad Hakim. Close on the heels of receiving the complaint, the environment department of the KMC, along with the local police of Netaji Nagar police station swung into action with a JCB for clearing and restoring the reservoir.

As pointed out by the local residents, in a recent incident of fire in the area, water had to be brought from a distance to douse the flames. “Had the pond had water in it, the fire fighting process would have been much smoother and faster,” pointed out a resident, who claimed to be a resident for over 60 years.

The local residents however, demanded action to curb such malpractices by promoters. “This is a good sign and a ray of hope for us. But promoters would not have the courage to repeat such things if the municipal corporation continues to take such action,” added another resident.

Two individuals were arrested on charges of extortion for promising jobs in the state food and supplies department.

Police tried to ensure their safety as they took them to the court in Baruipur, South 24-Parganas district, today as huge crowds gathered in the court and demanded to hand over the accused persons to them.

The arrests were made based on a complaint by a woman from Narayanpur in South 24-Parganas. The accused, Shambhunath Mistri and Samiran Haldar, allegedly took Rs 8 lakh from her, promising her a job at the food and supplies department through forged government documents. Upon investigation, it was found that the documents were fake, leading to suspicion.

She was a victim of extortion. She then filed a complaint at the Narayanpur police station. Based on her complaint, the police arrested the two accused. The initial suspicion of the police is that many others besides this woman have fallen victim to the extortion racket. They are trying to determine the exact amount of money extorted and the number of people deceived. It may be mentioned that a single-judge Bench of the Calcutta High Court yesterday stayed the process of recruitment of sub-inspectors in the state food and supplies department over allegations that the question paper for the recruitment examination was leaked on social media.

The single-judge Bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha had ordered a probe by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in the matter. Justice Mantha also directed the CID to submit a report in the matter by 22 May.

The West Bengal Public Service Commission (WBPSC) had conducted the written examination for recruitment of sub-inspectors for the department, last month. Soon after that, some candidates approached the Calcutta High Court claiming that the question paper was leaked on social media just an hour before the examination started. The litigants complained that despite that, examinations continued and hence some candidates came to examination centres knowing the questions well in advance. After a detailed hearing in the matter, Justice Mantha stayed the process of recruitment.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delegation complained to the Election Commission for alleged malicious, false, unverified and defamatory advertisements by the Congress party in all notable newspapers.

In its letter to the ECI, the BJP said, “This is to bring to your kind notice that, today, i.e. on April 24, just two days before the poll, the Congress party published totally false, malicious and defamatory news advertisements in the front page of almost all notable newspapers.”

The BJP alleged that the Congress Party has published an advertisement with the heading ‘Chambu’ to portray that the Central Government has cheated the state of Karnataka.
“It has published an advertisement with the heading ‘Chambu’ along with its picture. The word ‘Chambu’ is a slang term used to refer to ‘being cheated or empty promise’. The insinuation of the Congress party by publishing such an advertisement is to portray that the Central Government has cheated the state of Karnataka,” the letter said.
The party in its letter also shared some of the advertisements published in the notable newspapers.

The BJP alleged that the Congress knowing fully well about the above actual statistics has falsely made the advertisement on the front pages of notable newspapers after severe deliberations and calculations, in order to prejudice the minds of the voters, to influence the outcome of the elections by making false statements without any basis.
“This advertisement will have serious implications on the outcome of the election, which is violative of the Model Code of Conduct and the Representative of the People Act. The said ad grossly violates the provisions enshrined under the Model Code of Conduct,” the letter added.

The 28 seats of Karnataka are going to polls in two phases — April 26 and May 7. The counting is scheduled for June 4.
BJP registered a strong performance in the state in the 2019 general elections as it won 25 out of 28 seats.

South Bengal and north Bengal transport operation was halted for several hours today following an incident of fire on a goods-laden truck near Gate 48 of the Farakka Barrage in Murshidabad, today

Subsequently, the CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) of the Farakka Barrage Project informed the fire brigade. Two engines initially arrived at the scene to control the fire. The incident caused the creation of a traffic jam on national highway 34, this morning. The truck was on fire for quite a long time. The site was crowded with a large police contingent, central forces and multiple fire engines. Extensive traffic congestion occurred due to the accident on the barrage. Communication between north and south Bengal through the roads had been completely disrupted. Rail communication was also affected.

According to police sources, near Gate 48 of the Farakka Barrage, a fire broke out on a truck transporting goods, bound for north Bengal. This led to a severe traffic jam with the entire barrage being affected. A passenger intending to travel from Kolkata to Siliguri, stranded on the bridge, said, “We were heading to Siliguri. We woke up in the morning to find traffic halted due to the fire at Farakka Barrage. We’re all suffering because of it.”

A fire official stated, “Efforts are underway to control the fire. The truck is being swiftly removed from the barrage to normalize traffic movement. Hopefully, everything will be back to normal soon.”

After the announcement of dates for the Lok Sabha (Assembly by-election at a few), government doctors in West Bengal await a harrowing time for two months in the scorching summer as many of them are on duty during VVIP political leaders’ election rallies across districts.

The reason: Government doctors in the rank of medical officers, assistant professors and associate professors, associated with state-run medical colleges and hospitals, allegedly do not get minimum refreshments like water, snacks etc and even small waiting rooms while they are deputed at different venues of big political rallies particularly during elections.

Usually, every district health administration sends ambulances and medical teams comprising doctors and technicians when VVIP leaders like the Prime Minister, Union home minister, chief minister, opposition leader in the parliament and others belonging to Z-plus category attend political programmes in the districts.

In Kolkata too, state-run medical colleges send ambulances and medical teams when such political programmes of VVIP leaders are held.

In many events, Dr Manas Gumta, secretary of the Association of Health Service Doctors (AHSD), alleged that members of the medical teams do not get minimum respect and dignity when they are deputed in such programmes. Doctors spend the entire period of about four to five hours, on an average, inside their ambulances without water and snacks.

The situation becomes harrowing when the medical teams go to the rally grounds in remote districts and spend hours inside non-AC ambulances in the heat, Dr Gumta said, adding, “Sometimes doctors are also being deputed in small political programmes and family programmes of political leaders.”

Earlier in December 2023, allegedly there had been a controversy when an army of government doctors attached with state-run healthcare facilities in north Bengal were given duty for seven days during the wedding ceremony of the chief minister, Mamata Banerjee’s family in Kurseong. The doctors were allegedly not given proper accommodations and food for the first few days of the event.

Medical teams, comprising doctors of different government hospitals and medical colleges were also provided in every district during 56-day-long ‘Nabo Jowar’ jatra of Abhishek Banerjee, the national general secretary of the Trinamul Congress, from Cooch Behar to Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas in 2023.

“We have submitted a memorandum to N S Nigam, principal secretary of health department, and a special secretary, on Tuesday briefing them about the plights of government doctors when they are asked to go on duty in political rallies and meetings of top leaders belonging to the Z-plus security category. Mr Nigam has assured us to look into our issue so that doctors can get minimum respect,” Dr Gumta said.

“We have requested them to publish a white paper giving guidelines on distribution and deployment of medical teams, considering security coverage criteria of the political leaders,” he said.

A senior health department official attached to a medical college hospital said doctors are not given proper arrangements like minimum refreshments and at least a room when they go on VVIP programmes. It also happens in Kolkata.

Doctors are not even given a minimum space to wait when VVIPs come and stay in a city hotel.

They either stay inside their ambulances or hang around the hotel till the VVIPs leave, said a source.

A seminar titled, Understanding Films: A Paradigm Shift was held at Women’s College Calcutta, today.

It was organized by the Cine Club Women’s College Calcutta and the departments of English and psychology in collaboration with IQAC.

Two films were shown and they were Anoochharito (unuttered) and Nibhritochari (The solitary soul) conceptualized and directed by filmmaker Saurav Sarkar.

The first film reflected the untold pain of the broken soul of a lonely child and the second film attempted to remove stigmas related to old age.

Professor Anupama Chowdhury, principal of Women’s College Calcutta said such short films have healing effect. Sensitizing the students about these issues surely will lead to their holistic development and pave the path for a better tomorrow.

Mr Sarkar offered a frame-by-frame analysis of the movies.