Kolkata Mar 18 PTI TMC candidate for Ballygunge assembly by-poll Babul Supriyo who switched over to the Mamata Banerjee-led party from the BJP last September on Friday said his decision to quit the saffron party was prompted by politics of hatred and divisiveness practised by its membersThe former MP had left the BJP shortly after losing his ministerial berth at the CentreOften trolled on social media over his decision to switch camps Supriyo on Friday tagging Bengal BJPs official page tweeted My decision to quit was prompted by the politics of hatred divisiveness practised in the saffron camp I could no longer reconcile to such brand of politics Asserting that he would do whatever was needed to protect the heritage culture and secular values of Bengal Supriyo said People of Asansol know I had never practiced the sectarian and narrow 7030 or 8020 politics in Bengal and will never do that The Left had accused the former minister of fuelling communal sentiments following a riot in Asansol area of Paschim Bardhaman district in 2018Alleging that he was betrayed by the BJP leadership in Bengal Supriyo stated I would work to uphold the motto of unity in diversity He also said that he could not accept the regular insults made to Bengalis the refusal to acknowledge the good work of a BengaliResponding to his allegations BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh wondered why he woke up to the true character of the BJP this lateWe never saw such a treacherous personality before he saidIf he thinks Bengalis are not getting due recognition how come he was made a union minister by Shri Narendra Modi in 2014 despite being a new entrant in politics He was a singer and had no political background Has he forgotten how he was defeated by the TMC in Tollygunje last year Ghosh saidEchoing him BJP national secretary Anupam Hazra said it was ironical that Supriyo did not discover these traits and vices when he was a minister We are lucky to have got ridden of such unprincipled unethical person Hazra said PTI SUS RMS RMS

Panaji Feb 22 PTI Goa Trinamool Congress TMC chief Kiran Kandolkar has claimed that their political consultant I-PAC abandoned the party candidates after the state Assembly polls held last week Talking to reporters here on Monday Kandolkar also said he was not quitting as TMCs Goa unit chief but was upset with I-PAC head Prashant Kishor and his team There have been speculations since some time about a rift between the TMC and I-PAC Indian Political Action Committee which had helped the Mamata Banerjee-led party during the West Bengal Assembly polls The TMC contested the Goa Assembly elections in alliance with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MGP Polling was held on February 14 and the counting of votes will be done on March 10 Kandolkar had contested the election from Aldona Assembly seat while his wife Kavita contested from Thivim on TMCs ticket He claimed that most of the TMC candidates in Goa felt they were abandoned by the I-PAC after the polls All candidates fielded by the TMC have some or the other issues with the I-PAC When the candidates told me about their issues with Prashant Kishor and his I-PAC team I discussed the matter with my party workers who advised me to quit as the TMC Goa president he said I am not quitting as TMC Goa head but I am upset with Prashant Kishor and the I-PAC team he said A meeting of all party candidates has been called on Tuesday to discuss the polling in their respective Assembly constituencies he added PTI RPS GK GK

Panaji Jan 24 PTI Trinamool Congress TMC vice-president Yashwant Sinha on Monday dubbed the BJPs oft-repeated phrase double engine governments as a way to promote dictatorshipThe former Union minister assured that pre-poll promises made by the TMC in Goa would be implemented if the Mamata Banerjee-led party comes to power in the coastal state after the February 14 assembly pollsTalking to reporters here the bureaucrat-turned-politician said Sometimes in double engine governments it is possible that one engine goes in one direction and the other in another direction On a serious note I want to mention that if the central government of the BJP is trying to emphasize on wanting to run double engine governments then all they want is to run a dictatorship Sinha saidHe said insisting on double engine means the BJP does not want any other party to come to power in states and form governmentToday they are talking about double engines with respect to state governments tomorrow they will talk about triple engine with respect to panchayats How will this work he questionedAs part its double engine campaign narrative BJP leaders appeal to voters to select the same party BJP or the alliance led by it NDA in poll-bound states as the one ruling at the Centre to ensure better development of their statesSinha said the TMCs pre-poll assurances in Goa are doable and the party will implement them when voted to powerThe TMC has forged an alliance with Goas oldest regional party MGP for the assembly pollsIt is my personal assurance that the pre-poll promises made by the TMC in Goa would be implemented he saidThree welfare schemes announced by the TMC - targeted at different sections of the society including women and youth - will be implemented as soon as the party forms a government in Goa Sinha saidThe former Union finance minister said these schemes - Griha Laxmi Yuva Shakti and Mhaje Ghar Maalki Hakk My Home My right - can be funded with government money and implemented with proper fiscal managementSinha said these welfare schemes together will cost the government around Rs 3300 crore annually and they can be implemented without imposing any additional tax on people or borrowing funds from the marketIn terms of the norms which have been fixed by the Finance Commission and the Reserve Bank of India Goa already has an additional fiscal space of Rs 2100 crore So that leaves us with Rs 1200 crore more and in a state budget of Rs 25000 crore this amount can easily be allotted and spent on these welfare schemes he added PTI RPS RSY RSY

Panaji Jan 22 PTI As many as 24 legislators in Goa which is 60 per cent of the total strength of the 40-member state Assembly have switched parties in the last five years a report by an organisation has said The Association of Democratic Reforms ADR said in its report that with this Goa has set a unique record which is unparalleled in the history of Indian democracy Assembly polls in Goa will be held on February 14 In the five year tenure of the current Assembly 2017-2022 as many as 24 MLAs have changed their parties which is 60 per cent of the total strength of the House It has never happened anywhere else in India A clear reflection of utter disrespect to the mandate of voters A callous approach to ethics and discipline overborne by uncontrolled greed at its worst the report stated It said the list of 24 MLAs does not include the names of Vishwajit Rane Subhash Shirodkar and Dayanand Sopte who had resigned as Congress MLAs in 2017 and joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party BJP before contesting elections on its tickets Ten Congress legislators had crossed over to the BJP in 2019 They included the then leader of opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar Quepem constituency Other Congress MLAs who had switched over to the BJP are - Jennifer Monserrate Taleigao Francisco Silveria St Andre Filipe Nery Rodrigues Velim Wilfred Nazareth Menino Dsa Nuvem Clafasio Dias Cuncolim Antonio Carano Fernandes St Cruz Neelkanth Halarnkar Tivim Isidore Fernandes Cancona Atanasio Monserrate who won the Panaji by election in 2019 after death of Manohar Parrikar Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MGP MLAs Deepak Pauskar Sanvordem and Manohar Ajgaonkar Pernem had also switched over to BJP during the same period Jayesh Salgoankar of the Goa Forward Party GFP from Saligao had also joined the BJP Recently former Goa chief minister Ravi Naik a Congress MLA from Ponda joined the ruling saffron party Another former CM and Congress leader Luizinho Faleiro Navelim had joined the Trinamool Congress TMC which is trying its electoral luck in Goa for the time in the February 14 assembly polls Churchill Alemao a former CM who had won on the Nationalist Congress Party NCP ticket in 2017 also switched to the TMC recently Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco a Congress MLA from Curtorim also joined the Mamata Banerjee-led party However Lourenco resigned from the TMC as well and wanted to return to the Congress but wasnt taken He has now decided to contest the upcoming polls as an independent Another MLA Wilfred Dsa who had quit the Congress and joined the BJP in 2019 has resigned from the ruling party and is contesting as an independent Deepak Pauskar has quit the BJP as well Independent MLAs Rohan Khaunte Porvorim and Govind Gaude Priol have joined the BJP while another independent legislator Prasad Gaonkar has joined the Congress The BJP MLAs who quit the party are - Pravin Zantye Maem who has now joined the MGP Michael Lobo Calangute who has joined the Congress Jose Luis Carlos Almeida Vasco Da Gama has joined the Congress while Alina Saldanha Cortalim has joined the Aam Aadmi party AAP After defections and resignation of MLAs the current strength of the Congress in the House is two while that of the BJP is 27 The electoral battle for Goa has become multi-cornered with the entry of the TMC and aggressive campaigning by the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP So far poll tie-ups were forged between the regional MGP and the TMC and between the Congress and the GFP In the 2017 elections the Congress had emerged as the single-largest party in Goa by winning 17 seats in the 40-member House but could not come to power as the BJP which bagged 13 allied with some independents and regional parties to form the government PTI MR NP NP

Kolkata Dec 26 PTI Trinamool Congress MLA Humayun Kabir courted controversy on Sunday when he allegedly asked an officer-in-charge of a police station to stop acting as an agent of opposition parties or be ready for transferKabir the TMC MLA from Bharatpur in West Bengals Murshidabad district was heard making the remarks in a purported video which has gone viral on social mediaIt showed him addressing people during a party workers meetingTarzan a local party activist was called up by the OC Bharatpur I have told Tarzan the OC will either stop acting as agent of opposition or be ready for transfer in 48 hoursIf necessary I will go to the police station and sit in front of the OC putting my feet on his table You OC will automatically realise what stuff I am made of said Kabir in the video the veracity of which PTI could not independently verifyTMC spokesman Kunal Ghosh said it was not clear whether the video was an old recording and that the ruling party will talk to Kabir as we dont approve of such utterances Opposition BJP criticised Kabir alleging that several TMC leaders speak in such rude languageKabirs comments reflect the ruling partys attitude towards police BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar saidThe TMC MLA however denied that he threatened the police officerI only cautioned him that he should not work in favour of any party He had refused permission for a TMC programme near the police station He should not do such things Kabir saidHe joined the TMC and left the party in 2018 to be a part of the BJP After his loss in the Lok Sabha polls he came back to the Mamata Banerjee-led party before the assembly polls and won from Bharatpur PTI SUS RBT RBT

Panaji Dec 24 PTI Nearly three months after joining the Trinamool Congress TMC former Goa legislator Lavoo Mamlatdar on Friday resigned from the party accusing it of being communal and trying to create a divide between Hindus and Christians for votes ahead of the state Assembly polls The former Ponda MLA had joined the Mamata Banerjee-led party in the last week of September He was among the first few local leaders in the state to join the TMC which has decided to contest all 40 seats in the Goa Assembly polls due in February 2022 He also alleged that the TMC was collecting the data of people in the name of rolling out a welfare scheme for women in the state if it is voted to power after the elections Talking to reporters after resigning from the party Mamlatdar said I had joined the TMC because I was fully impressed with Mamata Banerjee-led partys performance in West Bengal Assembly polls held earlier this year I was under the impression that TMC is a very secular party But from whatever I have noticed in the last 15-20 days I came to know that it is worse than the BJP he alleged The TMC has forged a pre-poll alliance with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MGP of which Mamlatdar was an MLA between 2012 and 2017 He alleged that the TMC was trying to divide Hindu and Christian votes As part of their pre-poll alliance they want that the Christian votes should go to the TMC and Hindu votes to the MGPThe TMC is a communal party which is trying to disturb the secular fabric he alleged He accused the TMC of trying to collect the data of people in the name of its Griha Laxmi scheme We have found that under its Laxmi Bhandar scheme introduced in West Bengal only Rs 500 are given while here they are promising Rs 5000 to women under the Griha Laxmi scheme which is next to impossible The promise of the scheme is entirely to collect data from Goa he said PTI RPS NP NP

Panaji Dec 22 PTI Aam Aadmi Partys national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday assured a corruption-free and honest government in Goa if the AAP is voted to power in the Assembly polls due next year Kejriwal told reporters here that the guarantee was made based on the track record of the AAPs Delhi government where its own minister was sacked for seeking a bribe from a shopkeeper Ministers or MLAs wont be spared from punishment if they are found demanding bribe the Delhi chief minister said We will provide the first corruption-free and honest government in Goa he claimed If the AAP is voted to power in Goa its government will also stop petty level corruption by introducing doorstep delivery of services Kejriwal said We have already introduced doorstep delivery of services in Delhi All the government services would be available at your doorstep he said In Delhi government officers visit an applicants residence to collect the documents and a similar system will be introduced in Goa he said Right from your panchayat work to the assistance from chief minister everything will be at your doorstep he said The AAP leader also claimed that if his party comes to power in Goa people will see huge changes within a month in the way of the governments functioning The government will also help the industrial houses to conduct their business in the state he said The AAP government would facilitate the re-entry of industries which have left the coastal state by providing them all the required assistance Kejriwal said On pre-poll alliance with the Trinamool Congress TMC which has jumped into the fray in Goa he claimed the Mamata Banerjee-led party is not even in the race There are 1350 parties in the country should I start mentioning everyone he said when asked about his silence on the TMC Kejriwal said the TMC does not have even have one per cent vote share You cannot win the election merely on posters You need to work and take your achievement to the people while asking for votes he said The AAP had contested the 2017 Goa Assembly elections but did not win a single seat in the 40-member House The TMC has announced that it will contest all the 40 seats in the forthcoming elections in the coastal state PTI RPS GK GK

Raipur : On Mamata Banerjee’s UPA comment Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday attacked on TMC Chief Mamata Banerjee. He stated that no alliance is possible on national level without the Congress which has to be the main pillar of the bloc taking on the BJP. He further said that she must clarify whether she wants to make TMC the main Opposition party by fighting those in power or by taking on fellow Opposition parties.

Agartala (Tripura) [India], December 2 (ANI): Negating the possibility of a poll alliance between Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Left parties, former Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar on Wednesday lashed out at the Mamata Banerjee-led party for its double-standard politics.

New Delhi [India], November 28 (ANI): Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Sunday attended the all-party meeting which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.