'Only because of the absence of a dedication record in writing, how can such properties be treated as located on misappropriated government land?'
Supporters of the Indian Secular Front (ISF) clashed with police in West Bengal on Monday during protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act, leading to several injuries and the torching of multiple police vehicles. The clash occurred after police stopped ISF supporters from attending an anti-Waqf Act rally in Kolkata. The protests escalated when the crowd attempted to break through police barricades. The situation was brought under control after a large police force was deployed. ISF leader Naushad Siddique condemned the Waqf Act and accused the BJP of trying to incite communal tension. Meanwhile, the ruling Trinamool Congress dismissed the ISF as a "party of no consequence." Communal violence related to the Waqf Act has also occurred in other parts of West Bengal.
The state police said the situation in Murshidabad is gradually returning to normal, with shops reopening and displaced families starting to come back.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday appealed for peaceful protests in the wake of violence that erupted in several parts of the state during protests against the amended Wakf law. She emphasized the importance of respecting the law and urged people not to indulge in non-religious activities in the name of religion.
Sporadic incidents of unrest marred the West Bengal bypolls, with a local Trinamool Congress worker Ashok Shaw dying following a crude bomb attack in Bhatpara, an area adjoining Naihati assembly constituency where voting was underway.
Widespread violence between supporters of the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party over alleged electoral malpractices in strife-torn Sandeshkhali marred the final phase of Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal on Saturday, resulting in injuries to a number of people.
As the final five phases of polls draw closer, rift among Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners, Congress-Left combine and the Trinamool Congress, which are fighting separately has intensified, triggering a fierce contest across half of the remaining 36 constituencies in West Bengal driven by local issues such as Sandeshkhali and the SSC scam.
The marathon polling process to elect the 18th Lok Sabha ended on Saturday with the seventh phase of elections witnessing an approximate voter turnout of 62.36 per cent, amid clashes between Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party supporters in Sandeshkhali and some other parts of West Bengal.
Newly floated Indian Secular Front had initially demanded 15 seats from the Congress, but the party had agreed to give only five to it.
Three persons, including two supporters of the Indian Secular Front (ISF), were killed and several policemen injured in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district as a clash broke out outside a centre where counting of votes for rural polls was going on, police said on Wednesday.
On a tour to the US, Gandhi told reporters in Washington that the Muslim League is a completely secular party and there is nothing non-secular about it.
Banerjee, who also holds the home portfolio, said that the SIT will submit its report to her within 15 days.
Violence rocked parts of West Bengal over the filing of nominations for the July 8 panchayat poll as activists of the ruling Trinamool Congress and opposition parties clashed prompting the police to use force to disperse the mob.
A TMC worker, identified as 52-year-old Jiyarul Molla, was shot dead in Phulmalancha area in Basanti in South 24 Parganas district late on Saturday night while he was returning home, a police officer said.
West Bengal Governor Dr CV Ananda Bose on Friday said that political violence in the state must come to an end, after visiting Bhangore, where supporters of two political parties clashed a day before leaving three dead.
Rescue officials confirmed casualties in the incident, claiming to have already recovered 5 bodies from the heap of debris where the cracker manufacturing unit once stood.
The TMC has won in 34,560 gram panchayat seats, besides leading in 705 seats, according to the SEC as of 11.30 am on Wednesday.
The court noted that no appreciable steps have been taken ever since an order was passed by it on June 13 to deploy central forces in sensitive areas for the poll process.
Siddiqui, a Muslim cleric who launched the ISF last month, addressed a mega rally at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata on Sunday, expressing gratitude to the Left for keeping 30 seats for his party to contest as part of the alliance.
He also said that the party "cannot be selective in fighting the communists" and it must do so in all its manifestations, irrespective of religion and colour.
Three persons were shot dead and several others were injured as violence and arson marked the conclusion of nomination filing for the three-tier West Bengal panchayat polls slated next month.
The development came just days after West Bengal Left Front chairman and CPI-M Politburo member Biman Bose in a change of stance had said the party is ready to join hands with Trinamool Congress to fight the BJP at the national level.
Among those killed were eight from TMC, and one worker each of the BJP, the CPI-M, the Congress and the ISF.
Interestingly, the Muslim representation in West Bengal assembly has dropped this time when compared to what it was in 2016, even as members of the community voted en masse for the Mamata Banerjee camp.
The pirzada said that the newly launched outfit might contest state elections from all 294 assembly seats.
In a new political alignment in poll-bound West Bengal, state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday announced the inclusion of newly formed Indian Secular Front (ISF) of Furfura Sharif cleric Abbas Siddiqui in the Left Front-Congress alliance.
Upholding principles was a luxury when there were charismatic leaders capable of winning elections without stooping low to indulge in identity politics, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Normal life in West Bengal was partially affected on Friday due to the 12-hour state-wide bandh called by the Left Front in protest against police action on its activists during their march towards state secretariat Nabanna.
The BJP which won only three seats in the last assembly election is looking confident to make inroads is Mamata's den.
AIMIM supremo Asaduddin Owaisi's first rally in Kolkata, scheduled to be held on Thursday, has been cancelled as the city police denied permission for it, party sources claimed.
Though the BJP failed in its effort to dislodge Banerjee from power, it's for the first time that it will be the main opposition party in the state assembly, rising from a measly three seats in 2016 to 77.
Sharma had on Monday slammed Congress' association with the ISF led by Muslim cleric Abbas Siddiqui in West Bengal, contending that it was against the "Gandhian and Nehruvian secularism" and the party cannot be selective in fighting "communalists".
The Grand Old Party must bring widespread reforms across all levels of the organisation to show it is no longer in a state of inertia and to present itself as a viable political alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress veteran Kapil Sibal said.
'The last three phases, the Trinamool gained more than expected due to Covid mismanagement by the Centre.'
"We are ready to work with any anti-BJP party. This has been our stance whenever the need arose for a big movement against divisive forces from Kashmir to Kanyakumari," CPI-M politburo member Biman Bose told reporters to a question on whether the CPI-M will be with the TMC to prevent the BJP from coming to power in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
Following a debacle in the West Bengal assembly election, state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has said he does not want to contest any future election in an alliance which has the Indian Secular Front (ISF) as a partner.
'With sufficient gaps between polling dates, the BJP will have time to convert the 'fence-sitter' votes,' observes Payal Mohanka.
Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad announced Adhikari's name as leader of the BJP legislature party in the assembly after a meeting of the legislators at the party's Hastings office.
The BJP on Sunday congratulated Mamata Banerjee and TMC for winning the West Bengal assembly election for the third successive term and assured that the saffron party will work as a constructive opposition.
The Lok Sabha MP from Maldaha Dakshin said Congress' alliance partner Communist Party of India-Marxist forged a tie-up with Indian Secular Front of Furfura Sharif cleric Abbas Siddiqui as it feared it will not be able to win a single seat.
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