'Mamata is campaigning hard and not giving the BJP a walkover.'
Two days before the end of the fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday announced a slew of relaxations, including reopening of shrines from June 1.
'For the women of a community whose seclusion has been a byword of their lifestyle to take to the streets as a means of protest is an unprecedented event,' notes Amulya Ganguli.
'The Shaheen Bagh model of bullets and biryani won't work. The RSS looked at a template that would play to Bengali pride and harp on the state's development. Mamata's slogan to defeat the Left Front was 'Bengal awake and arise'. She promised to check the flight of capital from Bengal to far-flung states and usher in a renaissance. The RSS wants the BJP to pitch this line because it feels Mamata hasn't delivered on her promises.'
The controversy was triggered by a reply from the ministry of home affairs to an RTI filed by a Kolkata resident.
'For the time being, the party to put on hold induction of TMC leaders and focus on strengthening its grassroot level organisation.'
The matter was brought into public domain by the BJP's West Bengal unit president Dilip Ghosh who took to Twitter to slam the government for its directive.
In the Narendra Modi-Shah masterminded regime, organisational elections have acquired the gravity, authority and colour of a national or state poll, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
With a substantially weakened Left Front and the Congress, political observers say the anti-Trinamool vote will go to the BJP.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee directed the director general of police to instruct all the superintendents of police to take strong action against those who carried arms in the rallies.
Trying to allay apprehensions of then Bharatiya Janata Party and some state governments, the Centre has decided to drop several provisions in the controversial communal violence bill to ensure that it is neutral to all communities and also reduce the role of the central government in case of riots.
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