Kolkata Mar 31 PTI Trinamool Congress on Thursday filed a complaint with the Election Commission against Agnimitra Paul BJPs candidate for the by-poll to the Asansol Lok Sabha seat for her alleged comment blow lands on us we will retaliate during the ongoing election campaign A purported video went viral on Wednesday where Paul was heard shouting to her party supporters during a meeting in Asansol I am telling you if a blow lands on us we will retaliate in equal measure Justifying her alleged comments she told reporters later if someone punches us we cannot reciprocate by namaskar polite greeting we cannot hug that person Our response will be to land a counter punch on the assaulter Earlier a purported video footage of the Pandabeswar Trinamool Congress MLA Narendranath Chakraborty created a storm where he was heard telling party workers to intimidate committed BJP supporters so that they do not go to booths on the day of polling The EC had on Wednesday barred Chakraborty from campaigning for the Asansol by-elections for violating the model code of conduct by allegedly issuing such open threats to BJP voters and supporters at a party meeting Attaching the video and the press meet footage of Agnimitra Paul an actress and BJP leader TMC state General Secretary Kunal Ghosh said in a mail to the CEOs office from her conduct it is evident that Paul has decided to repeatedly promote violence in a desperate bid to win her seat Her speeches not only emboldened memberssupporters of BJP to use violence against opponents but has also eventually terrorise the entire electorate the letter said The ruling party advocated immediate action including but not limited to criminal proceedings against Paul The other steps it suggested included taking necessary steps to ensure BJP and Agnimitra Paul are refrained from repeating such violations during the pendency of the ensuing election Referring to the TMC complaint BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya told PTI When the state police becomes mere stooges of the ruling party and the opposition is subjected to brutal violence by TMC the peoples representatives feel helpless and insecure Bhattacharya said it has to be kept in mind in what circumstances a peoples representative and a candidate from the opposition has made such a comment to boost the morale of party members and supporters Does the TMC understand the language of civility and culture Paul who is the BJP MLA from Asansol South assembly seat and is contesting the Asansol Lok Sabha seat against Bollywood hero of yesteryears Shatrughan Sinha nominated by TMC for the seat which was vacated by Babul Supriyo after he left BJP to join TMC Supriyo is contesting on a TMC ticket from Ballygunge assembly seat where by-poll was necessitated after the untimely death of TMC heavyweight Subrata Mukherjee By-polls to the Asansol Lok Sabha constituency and the Ballygunge assembly seat will be held on April 12 and votes will be counted on April 16 PTI SUS JRC JRC

Kolkata Feb 28 PTI Trinamool Congress students wing on Monday took out a rally in the city protesting against the alleged efforts by opposition Left and other organisations to politicise the mysterious death of student leader Anis Khan Trinamool Chhatra Parishad state President Trinankur Bhattacharya Trinamool Youth Congress leader Debangshu Bhattacharya were in the forefront of the rally in which thousands of students walked 4 km from Ramlila Maidan at Entally to Mayo Road Despite the ordering of a probe by a special investigating team in the Anis Khan death and initiatives to conduct a fast investigation by the TMC government the opposition Left and some other organisations are trying to politicise Anis unfortunate death They are trying to create lawlessness and are instigating his family and locals not to cooperate with the SIT for political reasons Trinankur Bhattacharya told reporters Debangshu Bhattacharya said The youth and student community of the state reiterate their resolve to be on West Bengal chief ministers side in every step taken by her including in the Anis Khan death probe We will foil the game plan of the vested interests who want to push Bengal backward SFI had been taking out rallies demanding high level probe but not under the supervision of the state police in the Anis Khan death case and had staged sit-ins before the police station at Amta where the student leader had died and the office of superintendent of police rural Howrah last week It had also demonstrated in the city The left students wing and CPI-M had alleged that uniformed police personnel from Amta were behind his death on February 18 midnight and demanded the arrest of the officer in-charge of Amta police station and action against the SPRural Howrah Meanwhile Uluberia Dakshin MLA and West Bengal minister Pulak Roy met the father of Anis at his Amta residence during the day Roy later told reporters Vested interests are trying to mislead the family and derail the SIT probe for political reasons But we want truth to come out We are with the family Anis family had alleged that three policemen one of them in uniform and armed had raided their residence on February 18 midnight They had gone to the incomplete third floor of the house and after a brief argument with the Aliah University alumnus there pushed him to death Two persons- a civic volunteer and a home guard attached with Amta police station - have been arrested by the SIT and their custodial interrogation is on to find the truth director general of police Manoj Malviya had said Anis septuagenarian father Salem Khan said he could not see the man in police uniform in the test identification parade but assured that he will cooperate in the SIT probe as directed by Calcutta High Court The family is demanding a Court monitored probe by CBI PTI SUS KK KK

Panaji Jan 30 PTI The Trinamool Congress and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party have released their common manifesto for the upcoming Goa Assembly polls promising resumption of mining operations and reservation for women in jobs and local bodies in the coastal state if they come to power The mining operations which used to be one of the main sources of revenue for Goa came to a grinding halt in the state in March 2018 after the Supreme Court quashed 88 mining leases The poll manifesto released by alliance partners TMC and MGP on Saturday ahead of the state polls on February 14 mentioned that instituting environmentally sustainable mining practices with 80 per cent reservation for Goans in extraction contracts and mining jobs would be the priority of their government All income generated through the Goa Mineral Corporation would be utilised to fund welfare schemes in the state it said The manifesto also promised 33 per cent reservation for Goan women in all jobs including the private sector and 50 per cent reservation for women in all the local bodies The TMC-MGP alliance has also assured two fast track courts to address crimes against women and children and a mobile app for womens safety According to the manifesto the TMC-MGP government would boost Goas gross domestic product to Rs 18 lakh crore from the existing Rs 071 lakh crore by creating 200000 new jobs with 80 per cent reservation for Goans and 10000 vacancies in the government sector to be filled in three years The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC which is contesting the Goa poll for the first time forged an alliance with the states oldest regional party MGP last month In the 2017 Goa Assembly polls the MGP won three seats in the 40-member Assembly PTI RPS GK GK

Kolkata Dec 23 PTI The Trinamool Congress on Thursday named minister Firhad Hakim as the next mayor of Kolkata after a meeting of the newly-elected councillors of the city civic bodyHakim who won the Kolkata Municipal Corporation KMC election from ward 82 is the former mayor of the city and was appointed the civic bodys administrator after the earlier boards term expired in 2020 but elections could not be held due to the pandemicHakim who is also an MLA from the Kolkata Port assembly segment holds the Transport and Housing portfolios in the state Cabinet I want to thank Mamata Banerjee for giving me this opportunity to serve the people of Kolkata again I have been appointed as the leader of the party and after taking oath as mayor I will work towards implementing the manifesto Hakim the first Muslim mayor of the city saidHe became the mayor of Kolkata in December 2018 after Sovan Chatterjees abrupt exitSouth Kolkata Lok Sabha MP Mala Roy re-elected as councillor from ward 88 was named the chairperson of the KMC after the meeting held at Maharashtra Niwas here She was chairperson of the civic body in the earlier term as wellKashipur-Belgachia MLA Atin Ghosh who became the councillor from ward 11 was again appointed the deputy mayor of the civic bodyAll the 134 newly-elected councillors of the 144-ward KMC were present in the meetingThe BJP won three wards while the Left Front and Congress won two each in the elections held on Sunday Three Independent candidates also won the electionsThe results were declared on Tuesday PTI PNT SOM SOM

Kolkata Dec 21 PTI The ruling Trinamool Congress looks set to retain power in KMC for the third consecutive term with its candidates leading in 112 wards and winning 13 seats that went to polls while BJP nominees were ahead in five wards SEC officials said on TuesdayCounting of votes for 144 wards of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation KMC began this morning at 8 amAs per the trends the TMC has taken the lead in 112 wards and has won 13 seats The BJP is leading in five wards while the CPIM and the Congress are leading in one ward each the State Election Commission official saidTMC candidate in ward number 117 Amit Singh and Kakoli Bag in ward number 119 have emerged victorious data on the SEC website showedLok Sabha MP and five-time councillor Mala Roy retained her seat in ward number 88 for the sixth consecutive time and TMC MLA and sitting councillor Debashis Kumar also won in ward number 85TMC MLA and sitting councillor Atin Ghosh was leading in ward number 11 in north Kolkata In ward number 13 the partys Anindya Routh was ahead of othersThe BJP is leading in ward number 22 23 41 42 and 50 and the Congress in ward number 45 The CPIM is leading in ward number 103The KMC is divided into 144 administrative wards which are grouped into 16 boroughs Sporadic incidents of violence including hurling of bombs at two booths marred the KMC elections on Sunday even as over 63 per cent of the nearly 405 lakh voters exercised their franchiseThe TMC has been in power in KMC since 2010In the last KMC polls in 2015 it had won 124 seats whereas the Left Front bagged 13 The BJP and the Congress had secured five and two seats respectively PTI PNT RBT RBT

Kolkata Nov 27 PTI Trinamool Congress on Saturday expressed misgivings about the real intent of the data protection bill and said it may invade privacy The Joint Committee of Parliament on Personal Data Protection Bill has maintained the contentious clause 35 of the proposed act which empowers central government and its law enforcing agencies to process data without seeking permission from the individual for the purpose of sovereignty safety of the state and for friendly relations with foreign states The government and its agencies like the police CBI ED RAW IB and UIDAI may be exempt from the proposed data protection law for national security and public welfare reasons provided they follow the prescribed procedures that are fair and reasonable the parliamentary panel recommended in the report adopted on Monday Iterating its reservations the TMC tweeted Saturday Will the Data Protection Bill really protect our data The party posted on the microblogging site We have seen STATE-SPONSORED SNOOPING on the people of India Now Section 35 of the Bill will give the govt exclusive rights to invade our privacy whenever they want WITHOUT CONSENT Our privacy SHOULD NOT be compromised Congress and TMC have already given dissent notes to the committee PTI SUS KK KK KK

Kolkata Nov 22 PTI Trinamool Congress leader Luizinho Faleiro on Monday was elected to the Rajya Sabha unopposed in a by-poll according to a notification of the West Bengal assemblyThe TMC last week named its vice-president Luizinho Faleiro a former chief minister of Goa as its candidate for the by-electionThe assembly secretary in a notification today announced that Luizinho Faleiro has been elected to Rajya Sabha in the by-poll After scrutiny of papers he was declared elected unopposed TMC Chief Whip Nirmal Ghosh said He will collect his certificate on Tuesday Ghosh saidThe by-poll to the RS seat was necessitated following the resignation of TMC MP Arpita Ghosh from the Upper House of ParliamentJust like the previous two Rajya Sabha by-polls Falerio too has been elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha The time too the opposition BJP did not field any candidate he saidTMC candidates Sushmita Dev and Jawhar Sircar were earlier elected to the RS unopposedFaleiro ended his decades-long association with the Congress and joined the TMC in September in Kolkata He was appointed as the partys national vice-president last monthThe Trinamool Congress after a stunning victory in the West Bengal Assembly elections earlier this year is trying to expand its footprint in BJP-ruled Goa and TripuraAssembly elections in Goa and Tripura are due in 2022 and 2023 respectively PTI PNT NN NN