Kolkata, Dec 9: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Tuesday, challenged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to speak against the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP A. Raja, for making baseless allegations linking Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Vande Mataram’s composer and legendary Bengali writer, to past communal tensions in the state.

BJP had raised the question whether Mamata Banerjee would dare to speak against Raja, considering that both Trinamool Congress and FMK are part of the opposition Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).

“Mamata Banerjee must speak up against the INDI Alliance, of which she is a part, as it continues to denigrate and defile the rich legacy of Rishi Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. Is TMC’s alliance with the DMK and Congress more important than the pride of West Bengal? Shame on her,” observed BJP’s Information Technology Cell Chief and the party’s central observer for West Bengal, Amit Malviya, in a social media statement.

Earlier, the BJP had also issued a statement accusing Raja of “irresponsibly” linking West Bengal’s communal tensions to Bankim Chandra’s writings and thus “twisting facts” in an attempt to paint him as “regressive”.

“Raja’s accusation that Bankim Chandra opposed women’s education and social reform is deeply misleading. Bankim believed real reform must arise from a renewed and awakened Hindu society, not just from superficial legislation – a difference in approach, not in values. Through his novels, Bankim Chandra introduced strong, layered, assertive female characters and consistently encouraged women’s education,” the statement issued by the BJP read.

The BJP also claimed that Mamata Banerjee should answer whether West Bengal’s pride was negotiable for power.

Incidentally, the BJP’s observations come just a couple of hours after CM Mamata, earlier in the day, criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his inadvertent reference to Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay as “Bankim Da” during his speech in Parliament.

The Prime Minister immediately amended his words and said he would henceforth address Chattopadhyay as “Bankim Babu”.

Nagpur: Samajwadi Party MLA from Bhiwandi East Raees Sheikh raised the issue of dilapidated roads, debris lying everywhere and increasing road accidents in Bhiwandi city on the first day of the ongoing winter session of the Maharashtra Assembly in Nagpur. Raees Sheikh asked in the Maharashtra Assembly that when will the roads be constructed in Bhiwandi and when will the road accidents due to bad roads be controlled.

Raees Sheikh said that looking at Bhiwandi city, it seems that there is debris lying everywhere in the entire city and there is no explanation as to when will the roads be constructed in Bhiwandi city and where will the funds for its work come from? Raees Sheikh said that the Chief Minister had called a meeting regarding the construction of roads in Bhiwandi city and in this meeting the Chief Minister had formed a committee which includes the Municipal Corporation Commissioner and MMRDA officers and for the construction of these roads the Chief Minister had said that a proposal of Rs 1,000 crores would be presented. Raees Sheikh said that the people who are being affected during the development work and whose structures are being affected should get compensation from the government. Raees Sheikh also stressed that a policy on this should be made in the current meeting and at the Mumbai level and the government should also clarify by when the roads will be constructed? Raees Sheikh raised the issue of road accidents in the assembly

Raees Sheikh, while raising the issue of dilapidated roads in Bhiwandi city in the Maharashtra Assembly, said that recently, Dr. Omar was taking his five-year-old daughter home from school in Bhiwandi city, during which his five-year-old daughter Khadija died in a tragic road accident while he was also seriously injured. Apart from this, a person named Raj Singh also lost his life due to a road accident. He said that the increasing number of road accidents due to dilapidated roads and potholes in Bhiwandi city is a matter of great concern, so the government should explain when these accidents will be controlled and when the roads will be constructed.

Thane: The Thane Police has announced major traffic diversions in parts of Kalyan-Dombivli due to water pipeline work at Dombivali East’s Kolegaon area. According to the official notification by the Thane Police, due to the ongoing work to replace the main water pipeline under the 12th water supply scheme at Kolegaon, traffic on the Kolegaon Square–Premier Ground–Kalyan Shil Road route will be affected till December 21.

The traffic diversions will be effective from 12 am on December 9 until 1 am on December 21.

All types of vehicles coming from Kolegaon Chowk towards Premier Maidan, Kalyan Shil Gate will be ‘closed’ at Dombivli East’s Kolegaon Chowk. Alternate Route The said vehicles will travel along the Badlapur Pipe Line to Rohane Katai Badlapur Chowk and from there onwards to the desired destination.

– Entry for all types of vehicles from Kolegaon to Kolegaon Chowk will be closed in front of the Shiv Sena branch in Kolegaon. Alternative route The said vehicles will proceed from near Premier Maidan to the Hanhat location via Kanyat Shik Road.

Meanwhile, a 15-hour water supply cut was announced today, December 9, due to maintenance work on the water supply network. The water supply is scheduled to remain shut from 9 am to midnight today, and several areas of Dombivali West and East are said to be affected.

The maintenance work scheduled today involves replacing the filter bed outlet pipeline at the Netivli Water Purification Centre and conducting repairs on the water distribution system in the Dombivli division.