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Trinamool’s national ambitions come unstuck after drubbing in Goa, Tripura

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Soon after assuming charge as the Trinamool Congress’s national general secretary following the 2021 West Bengal assembly elections, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and party MP Abhishek Banerjee said that henceforth his party will target expansion in those states where it will have the chance to form the government or be an extremely strong opposition.

He added that henceforth the party’s focus will not be on just getting a couple of MLAs in a couple of states outside West Bengal.

Since then, Abhishek Banerjee has tried to achieve this thrice — the assembly elections in Goa, municipal elections in Tripura and the latest in the by-polls in Tripura. In the Goa assembly elections the Trinamool Congress was unable to open its account. In the Tripura civic elections, it failed to emerge as the major opposition party. In the Tripura by-polls the Trinamool Congress candidates finished in the fourth position in all the four assembly constituencies with their deposits forfeited. In two constituencies the votes secured by the party candidates did not cross the 1,000-mark.

In this backdrop two questions arise. The first is how far the Trinamool Congress will be able to expand its base outside West Bengal in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls? The second is how far Mamata Banerjee can become a key player in deciding matters in the ruling or opposition coalition, depending on the results, after 2024?

According to Trinamool Congress spokesman Kunal Ghosh, the latest by-poll results in Tripura cannot be taken as an indicator for the future considering that the party contested without much groundwork. Secondly, according to him, the Lok Sabha polls are always different from the assembly or civic polls, with bigger national issues.

“Since our chief minister Mamata Banerjee has already established herself as the face of a relentless movement against the Union government’s anti-people policies, no anti-BJP force would be able to undermine her in 2024,” he said.

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal assembly, Suvendu Adhikari has said that it would be better for Mamata Banerjee to concentrate on saving her chief minister’s chair rather than trying to be a key player in the ruling coalition after the 2024 polls.

“The game has begun with Maharashtra. We will reach West Bengal via Rajasthan and Jharkhand in 2023,” he said.

Political observers feel that there is a remote chance that Mamata Banerjee or the Trinamool Congress would be able to get established as key national players be it in the ruling coalition or in the opposition front.

According to political observer Rajagopal Dhar Chakraborty, Abhishek Banerjee’s announcement that his party will target expansion in those states where they will have a chance to emerge as the ruling party or an extremely strong opposition, was an over ambitious one.

“Trinamool Congress earlier managed to get MLAs in Tripura and later in Meghalaya. However, none of these MLAs were elected as Trinamool Congress candidates. They were just turncoat MLAs from the Congress or other regional parties, who at the first opportunity deserted the Trinamool.

“But when it came to contesting in states outside West Bengal, the results for the Trinamool have been pathetic. That is because the Trinamool Congress contested those elections without prolonged groundwork just depending on vote strategist Prashant Kishor and his organization I-PAC. No vote strategist can do wonders for any political party in any state unless that party has a sufficient and strong organizational network of its own in that state,” he said.

Secondly, he added, considering the Trinamool Congress’s pathetic performance in states outside West Bengal, it is unlikely that regional parties there will allow space to the Trinamool in any seat sharing agreement, however close their official relationship with Mamata Banerjee might be.

Political analyst Santanu Sanyal feels that before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Trinamool Congress will be so busy in its own turf of West Bengal that it will hardly have any opportunity to concentrate on other states.

“The Trinamool Congress leadership including the chief minister knows quite well that their importance in national politics, be it be as a part of the ruling coalition or the opposition front, will depend on how well the party can perform in West Bengal. So, in my opinion, in the 2024 polls the Trinamool Congress’ concentration will be solely on West Bengal and not on other states,” he said.

National News

Op Sindoor befitting blow to terrorism, Pak exposed before the world: PM Modi

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Bagdogra, May 29: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the brutal terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam was an assault on humanity itself, but India’s swift and precise response through Operation Sindoor has dealt a decisive blow to terrorism and exposed Pakistan on the global stage.

Addressing the 50th-anniversary celebrations of Sikkim’s statehood virtually from Bagdogra, PM Modi strongly condemned the Pahalgam attack, in which Pakistan-linked terrorists killed 26 people.

“Tourism is not just about leisure, it is a celebration of diversity. But what the terrorists did in Pahalgam was not just an attack on Indians; it was an attack on the soul of humanity, on the spirit of brotherhood,” the Prime Minister said.

Stressing the national unity in the face of terror, he said, “The terrorists shattered the happiness of many families; they conspired to divide us as Indians. Yet today, the entire world is witnessing a stronger, more united India.”

In a firm tone, PM Modi said India responded to terrorism and its sponsors with “unwavering unity and sent a strong, clear message”.

“They tried to wipe the sindoor off the heads of our daughters, leaving them in grief, but we responded with Operation Sindoor, delivering a fitting blow to terrorism,” he said.

Under Operation Sindoor, the Indian Armed Forces launched targeted precision strikes on nine high-value terror infrastructures located in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

PM Modi noted that while these hubs were dismantled, Pakistan retaliated by attacking Indian military, civilian, and religious sites.

“When the terror hubs were destroyed, Pakistan, in fear, tried to attack our citizens and armed forces. But in that too, Pakistan was exposed. We destroyed several of their air bases and proved that India can do whatever it wants with precision and promptness,” he said.

Earlier, in one of his speeches, the Prime Minister reiterated that Operation Sindoor is not over and is the “new normal” in India’s fight against Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism.

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National News

WBSSC case: Jobless teachers reach CM Banerjee’s doorstep; whisked away by cops

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Kolkata, May 29: A group of ‘untainted’ teachers in West Bengal, who lost their jobs following a Supreme Court order last month in the cash-for-job case, reached Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s official residence on Thursday morning to meet her and update her on their condition.

However, the teachers, who turned up at the Chief Minister’s residence without an appointment, did not get the chance to meet Mamata Banerjee.

They were taken away by the security personnel deployed near the Chief Minister’s official residence at Kalighat in South Kolkata.

A city police officer said that on Thursday morning, suddenly, a group of five teachers, all women, arrived at the doorsteps of the Chief Minister’s residence with a plea to meet her, without a prior appointment.

The police personnel there denied them entry and explained to them that meeting the Chief Minister without a prior appointment was not possible.

However, the women teachers started arguing with them.

Soon the security personnel, with the assistance of female cops, first detained them, put them into a police van, and took them away from near the Chief Minister’s residence. They were taken to the nearby Kalighat Police Station for interrogation.

The five detained teachers are Sahani Naznin, Rupa Karmakar, Shilpi Chakraborty, Nur Amina Gulshan and Sangeeta Saha.

During the altercations with the police personnel, Saha told media persons that since they did not have the time to seek an appointment, they came directly to the Chief Minister’s residence.

“Since the beginning, we had been seeking appointments with the Chief Minister. We had a hope that the Chief Minister would understand what we had been going through,” she said.

Earlier this week, the Chief Minister announced that the West Bengal School Service Commission’s (WBSSC) notification for fresh recruitments to vacant posts for teaching and non-teaching jobs will be issued on May 30.

She stated that even the ‘untainted’ teachers, who had lost their jobs following a Supreme Court order in the cash-for-job case, would have to appear for the written examination for recruitment.

However, insiders from the state secretariat said that the notification might be issued by Thursday evening.

On April 3, a Supreme Court Bench while upholding a previous order of the Calcutta High Court, which annulled 25,753 school appointments made through the WBSSC, also directed the state government to start a fresh recruitment process by issuing notifications or advertisements for the same by May 31.

Since the teachers who had got their jobs without paying any money had been insisting that they would not appear for a fresh written examination, the Chief Minister clarified that after the Supreme Court’s order, there was no other option before them but to appear for the test.

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Crime

Drugs valued at Rs 9.70 cr seized in Mizoram, Manipur; 4 held

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Aizawl/Imphal, May 28: Smuggling of various narcotic substances from Myanmar continues unabated in the northeastern states of India, as drugs valued at Rs 9.70 crore have been seized by the security forces in Manipur and Mizoram and four drug peddlers have been apprehended, officials said on Wednesday.

A Defence spokesman said that based on specific Intelligence regarding trafficking of narcotics, a mobile vehicle check post was established by Assam Rifles and Mizoram Police on Tuesday night at Teikhang area of Mizoram’s Saitual district.

During the operation, two individuals on two Chinese-made Kenbo bikes were intercepted, which resulted in the recovery of 758 grams of heroin with an approximate market value of Rs 5.30 crore.

In another incident in neighbouring Manipur, Assam Rifles, along with state police, conducted a search operation in Koide in Senapati district as part of ongoing efforts to curb drug trafficking. During the operation, 2.2 kg of brown sugar hidden in 220 soap cases and valued at Rs 4.40 crore was recovered.

The operation also led to two individuals being apprehended over suspicions of their involvement in illegal activities involving narcotics.

This successful joint operation reflects the steadfast commitment of Assam Rifles and Manipur Police in combating the drug menace and maintaining peace and security in the region, the spokesman said.

The seized drugs and the arrested drug peddlers were handed over to the police of the concerned state for further investigation and legal action.

Meanwhile, two people were arrested with drugs worth Rs 4 crore on the outskirts of Aizawl on Monday.

The Mizoram Excise and Narcotics Department officials, with the help of the Young Mizo Association’s anti-drugs squad, seized two kg of heroin and 9.8 kg of methamphetamine tablets, a police official said.

Officials said that as usual the seized drugs in Mizoram and Manipur were smuggled from Myanmar, which shares a 1,643 km unfenced border with four northeastern states of Mizoram, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland.

This serves as a key transit point for drugs, particularly heroin and methamphetamine tablets, entering India.

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