Ram Navami was being celebrated across West Bengal on Thursday. Reportedly, processions were held in almost all the districts. However, there was a clash between the two groups during Ram Navami in Howrah. Allegedly, there were attacks targeting a group of people and houses. Several people were injured in this incident. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced strict action against those involved in the clashes. There have been incidents of attacks and vandalism in Maharashtra too. A police car was set on fire there.

In Howrah, eyewitnesses told us that the trouble started from a procession in Shivpur and by noon there was extreme tension in the area and frequent bombings began. Meanwhile, It started raining. Amidst this, shops were vandalised in various places along with some cars. There were reports of arson, as well. A large police force and RAF (Rapid Action Force) were deployed in the area to control the situation. 

Leader of Opposition in the state, Subhendu Adhikari, participated in the Ram Navami procession at Ramrajatala in Howrah. The clash took place at Shibpur, about three and a half kilometres from Ramrajatala.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, said on the issue of Howrah, “Those who rioted today, no matter how many cases they file and attack, I will not listen to any excuse. Police are constantly working and they are trying their best to maintain peace and decorum.  I am making it clear, I will take strict action against those responsible for today’s incident, those who allowed them (people from outside) to enter.”

Secretary Surendra Varma said on behalf of the processions, “The procession was happening peacefully. Suddenly some people came from outside and attacked us. Suddenly, bombs were being hurled.”

Meanwhile, processions and rallies were also held in Kolkata. All of them had police security. 

Tension in Vadodara , Gujarat during Ram Navami procession

A Stone pelting incident at Ram Navami procession in Gujarat’s Vadodara sparked tension. According to the police, even though there were disturbances because of this stone pelting incident in Fatepura area, the processions passed through allotted routes. In spite of this, some cars were damaged. But right now, the situation is calm. No one was injured. 

A local leader of the Bajrang Dal under the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh told reporters that even though the procession takes place on this route every year, still the police cannot provide protection to them. However, a police officer told reporters that when the procession passed by a mosque in Fatepura area, local people came out. He denied that this was a communal incident. 

Maharashtra witnesses clashes during rallies 

Clashes erupted over a Ram Navami procession passing through a minority-dominated area in Chatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, erstwhile Aurangabad. Allegedly, tension around the Ram Navami procession started from Wednesday night. Loud music was being played on the microphone next to a mosque.

Reportedly, in Kiradpura, when the procession was moving on Thursday, while playing loud music, two groups of youths started fighting. Abusive and provocative slogans were raised and then the stone pelting started. Many cars were vandalised. A police car was also set on fire. After about an hour of violence, the police fired tear gas and brought the situation under control.

Sanjay Raut, leader of Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, said, “We were rightfully afraid that there would be riots. It seems like the Department of Home Affairs doesn’t exist in Maharashtra anymore.”

Related:

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Violence over Ram Navami procession in Bengal’s Howrah, state a particular target

Ram Navami: West Bengal administration on alert as 2000 celebrations planned

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Today, Ramnavami, marks the celebration of Lord Ram’s birthday in India. The festival will be celebrated in about five lakh villages of India.  In West Bengal, processions, religious gatherings and various cultural events are being organised at around 2,000 places. This was announced in a statement by the media in-charge of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (West Bengal) Sourish Mukherjee.

According to the statement, Vishwa Hindu Parishad will hold celebrations from March 30th to Hanuman Jayanti on April the 6th. It said, “Ram’s birthday would be celebrated on a grand scale this year, keeping in mind the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh next year.”

Ramnavami has been celebrated with much fanfare in West Bengal over the past few years. It was however not such a major festival before the BJP came to power in 2014l 

In this context, Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen had said in 2019 that the slogan ‘Jai Sri Ram’ , recently popularised in West Bengal was being used to beat people up. In various parts of India, including West Bengal, many people are asked to chant Jai Shri Ram during Ram Navami and they are beaten up if they do not.

Last Sunday, Imam Zakir Syed Khawaja of Anoa village of Jalna district of Central Maharashtra was allegedly attacked by three goons who barged inside the mosque and ordered him to chant ‘Jai Sriram’ . On refusing to do so, he was beaten up and his beard was cut-off. He had to be hospitalised after the incident. This news was widely reported in the media and condemned by the civil society. 

In the last decade, West Bengal has seen multiple attacks on minorities and mosques in the month of March-April. Often mosques were surrounded, loud music was played and ordinary muslims were threatened. Since these incidents have happened in full public glare, the ruling TMC has found it difficult to issue denials. Complaints have been registered with the police at many places.

Representation Image
 

This is why Ram Navami is of particular concern to the West Bengal administration. Because, during the festival, Ram devotees bring out rallies with sharp weapons, including swords, at several places. Another organisation called Hindu Jagran Manch, along with Vishwa Hindu Parishad often leads such rallies. 

An inspector general of the state administration talked to us about the fact that they have strengthened security in the entire state. Police security has been increased in the mosque and adjoining areas. The chief minister’s office is keeping a regular check on this matter.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, however, has said that there has been no call for carrying weapons at these rallies. Sachindranath Singh, All-India co-editor of the Parishad, told reporters, “We never talk about marching with weapons. If people organise weapon parades on their own in their own local areas, we have no say in the matter.”

Related:

Police to closely monitor Ram Navami processions in Hyderabad and Mumbai

Kajal Hindusthani, Kapil Mishra, amongst others, target Muslim religious minorities, calls for their “erasure” and “Ghar Wapasi” unchallenged

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They could not defeat the BJP. In the initial analysis within 48 hours of the declaration of results in the state, two of the reasons for the Congress-Left Front are looming large. Many in Tripura consider these two factors to be one of the most influential factors in the outcome. Of these two, the first is the absence of one in the Tripura elections, and the second is the overwhelming presence of the other. Before going into the analysis of these two issues, let’s take a look at the statistical aspect.

Both the main parties BJP and CPI(M) (Communist Party of India—Marxist) have lost both votes and seats compared to the last 2018 elections in Tripura state. On the other hand, Congress has gained little. And Tipra Motha, the new party of Pradyot Devavarman, son of the royal family, had made incredible gains and rise. Before moving on to Tipra, let’s look at the loss of BJP and CPI(M).

In 2018, the BJP’s 36 seats and 43.5 percent vote share have reduced by four seats to 32 seats and a little less than 39 percent vote share. This time, in addition to reducing their four seats, the vote has decreased by 4 and a half percent. Their ally, the tribal party Indigenous Front of Tripura (IPFT), saw its vote fall by 6 percent and its seats from 8 to 1. It is clear that the people of Tripura have voted against the establishment i.e. BJP. That is why BJP got only 1 seat as opposed to the required 31 seats to get a majority.

There are various explanations for the BJP’s poor performance—from the administrative negligence and disorganisation of previous Chief Minister Biplap Kumar Dev to deep corruption and factionalism. Due to the many controversies surrounding the revolution, it seemed that the Left-Congress alliance had a good chance of winning. But they could not turn that possibility into votes.

On the other hand, the votes of the CPI(M) dropped from 42 percent to 24 percent in 2018. The Left Front’s vote dropped from 44 percent to 26.16 percent. Senior journalist Jayant Bhattacharya felt that the 2016 West Bengal elections will be repeated in Tripura state in 2023.

In West Bengal, Seva’s Left Front and Congress agreed on seats. The results of the election show that the votes of CPI(M) have decreased by 10 percent compared to 2011. On the other hand, Congress votes increased by almost 4 percent.

In Tripura too, it is seen that the votes of the left parties have decreased but the votes of the Congress have increased. Congress vote has increased from 1.80 (2018) to 8.5 percent. Five years ago the Congress won no seats in the state assembly, this time it won three seats. Like West Bengal, the votes of the Left went to the Congress, but the votes of the Congress did not go to the Left, but went to the BJP.

How did the alliance work?

Journalist Jayant Bhattacharya was saying that even when this alliance survey did not work in West Bengal, questions would arise within the party as to why an alliance was formed in Tripura in the same manner. 

Another senior journalist and editor of Tripura, Pradeep Dutta Bhowmik, also roughly agrees with Jayant’s statement. He said, “it goes without saying that the coalition did not work in this election. If you analyse seat by seat, it can be said more specifically whether the two parties have been able to ‘transfer’ the votes of one to the other or not.”

The Left Front’s organisational weakness in conducting elections, taking decisions based on actual conditions, implementing those decisions on the ground, lack of money – put the Left Front and Congress in danger. Of course, there is no denying that in Indian politics these words are easy to say, but finding solutions to problems is a difficult task. Especially the Left Front and the Congress—both parties who are the Center and the states are nowhere in power.

However, the vote was not ‘transferred’, Congress and Left Front leaders-activists-supporters do not fully agree with this statement. Their statements are different. They think that the vote has been ‘transferred’, but it may not have been as smooth as it should have been.

Rahul Gandhi did not come to campaign in Tripura. This enabled the BJP to label the Left-Congress alliance as an ‘immoral’ alliance. Even the top Congress leadership did not issue a statement asking for support. A senior journalist of a left-wing newspaper in Tripura said, “Everyone knows that Congress means the Gandhi family.” But when they finally did not come or even give a statement, it naturally favoured the BJP.

After the end of the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra‘ in January, Rahul Gandhi took a long vacation. He shared the picture on Twitter in mid-February, just in time for the Tripura elections. In the picture, he was seen playing in snow with sister Priyanka Gandhi on the streets of Gulmarg in Kashmir. BJP spread these pictures all over India for the benefit of social media. The picture was also spread in the constituency state of Tripura.

And Rahul was in the UK when the election results were out. He was giving a speech on Indian democracy. But when the democratic process was going on in Northeast India, he did not set foot there – this is a regret among the leaders and workers of his party.

A top leader of the Tripura state Congress said that even if Rahul Gandhi had campaigned, he would have been blamed if the alliance lost. However, a section of the state Congress leadership has a different view. As another leader said, “Narendra Modi has come twice in a row right before the elections. BJP’s top leadership, including Amit Shah, have repeatedly visited and stayed in the state, campaigned and seen the work of the organisation. A section of the top leadership of the Left Front also campaigned in the state. But Rahul Gandhi did not come. No matter how you explain it, in the end it will be a fact.”

Congress leaders and workers alleged that by sending young leaders like Mukul Wasnik or Alka Lambad, who are completely unknown to Tripura, Rahul Gandhi has given a clear indication that he and the Congress do not value elections in Northeast India.

In other words, the most important political leader of the Gandhi family has recently become an electoral issue within a party in three states of Northeast India including Tripura.

Wide spread campaign of the Tipra Motha

Pradyot Devavarman, the most important member of the Tripura royal family and Rahul’s friend, became an issue by being present all the time. In his sickness, he ploughed almost all over the state, campaigning. Now it is being said that BJP has won because of his vigorous campaigning and fielding candidates in 42 out of 60 seats in the state.

Out of 60 seats in Tripura, 20 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and 10 for Scheduled Tribes. Remaining 30 seats are open for all. Out of the 13 seats won by the Tipra Motha party, its candidates won 12 seats reserved for tribals.

People who keep a close eye on the politics of Tripura say that the anti-BJP vote (i.e. alliance vote) would not have been slashed if Pradyot Devbarman had not fielded one candidate each in 40 constituencies. Even in seats reserved for sub-castes, there is a 10-30 percent tribal vote. They voted for Tipra Motha instead of the Left-Congress alliance. It appears that Tipra got more votes than the Left-Congress alliance in at least 15 seats.

According to Jayant Bhattacharya, “it is generally believed that the CPI(M) has a lot of votes among the tribal community. Tipra got this vote in the reserved seats. There, the tribal votes of the CPI(M) also went to them. But the alliance is in jeopardy as the vote of the tribals in sub-caste areas went to Tipra instead of CPI(M). BJP has benefited from this.”

Jayant Bhattacharya also gives an example. He said that the state secretary Jitendra Chowdhury Joy is the candidate of CPI(M) party in Sabroom constituency of South Tripura. There are several thousand tribal votes in that centre. But Tipra did not put a candidate there. As a result, Chowdhury won by 400 votes in that seat. The Left Front leadership seems to have gotten it wrong. Before the elections, they thought that BJP would lose votes to Tipra. After the declaration of results, it was seen that Tipra has benefited the BJP by cutting the votes of the Left Front.

In a multi-party democracy, any party has the right to nominate candidates for any seat. So you can nominate any seat like Tipra. But like Jitendra Chowdhury told us before the elections, “it would have been better to have an alliance with Tipra Motha.” Leaders-supporters of the Left-Congress alliance are realising the importance of Chowdhury’s speech after the announcement of the election results.

BJP has won the required seats in this election, alone. In this situation, the Left Front and Congress members will have to sit on the opposition bench in the Legislative Assembly for another five years.

The Left-Congress leaders understand that it will not be easy to stand against Narendra Modi in India and BJP in Tripura in the next phase of 2024. Standing in Agartala after the elections, they admitted that the opportunity that came before them due to the disorganisation and internal conflicts of the BJP, may not come in the 2028 assembly elections. Because parties like BJP will learn from past mistakes and change themselves.

Presumably, the prospective Chief Minister Manik Saha will not repeat the mistakes of his predecessor Biplab Dev. In that case, in Tripura as in other states, the work of the opposition will be tougher in the coming days. Massive backlash against the opposition has already started in Tripura.

To survive the fight in this situation, the whole country, especially West Bengal, will be watching what policies the Left Front will adopt. Even after an era of losing power in this state, CPI(M) and the Left Front have not found a solid ground under their feet.

Related:

Why the Tripura election is so important for India

Tripura: CAA and the rise of Tipra Motha

Why did it take an order from the Tripura HC to ensure proper enrollment of Bru voters?

Tripura: Hundreds Join SFI, TSF Jatha Against NEP, ‘Save India, Save Constitution’

The post Tripura Elections: The root causes of the BJP-IPFT win  appeared first on SabrangIndia.

A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Calcutta High Court against Adani Group’s power supply project in Bangladesh. It was filed by 30 farmers of Murshidabad district and The Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR), a Bengal-based civil rights group. The case was filed on Tuesday, January 31  and the expected date of hearing is February 07. 

The case was filed against Adani’s coal-based power project’s activities in Murshidabad district of middle Bengal, said General Secretary of APDR, Ranjit Sur. It has come at a time when the US-based financial fraud research firm Hindenburg Research has claimed that the Adani group had “perpetrated economic manipulation in the stock market for decades.” However, Sur said, the timing of the PIL – filed through a Calcutta advocate Jhuma Sen – is “merely coincidental.”

Following the report, the share prices of all companies of Adani Group in the stock market have fallen. The Group chief Gautam Adani’s personal wealth has also taken a beating. He has been moved from the third to the eleventh spot in the list of the richest people in the world.

The Adani Group has built a 1,600 MW power project in Jharkhand’s Godda district to deliver electricity from India to Bangladesh. This project is defined as an ‘ultra super critical coal-based power plant‘. Environmentalists in Jharkhand had previously raised questions about the plant.

According to the plan, the electricity cables from Godda will pass through several districts of North-West Bengal including Farakka in Murshidabad and Malda to finally enter Bangladesh. Adani’s Power Generation and Supply Company has planned to raise high-capacity electric lines over some of the villages in Farakka district. 

Eventually a major clash took place in Farakka in July 2022, when residents of Farakka’s Beniagram and Imamnagar village protested and managed to stop the project, at the time. According to the protesters, there were no prior discussions with them to lay high tension electric cables. Youth Congress leader Asif Iqbal led the protest. Some local leaders of Trinamool Congress also participated and harassed several workers of Adani Group, indicated district police. Some of the agitators were booked as well. 

One of the leaders of the protesting crowd Asif Iqbal, a youth Congress worker, earlier raised his concerns over the fact that high tension electrical wires passing over several houses made it almost impossible for the homeowners to build an extra storey of their respective houses. There has to be suitable compensation for this kind of a situation, he argued. 

According to the villagers, the Adani group has proposed to compensate only when houses have fallen under the cable. No compensation was offered to the owners of various mango and litchi gardens even though the wires were set between towers atop their farmland, argued local residents. 

Sur said that “from July 2022, preparations for the PIL began.” 

“The case was filed earlier this week. It has nothing to do with the Hindenburg Report. It is merely coincidental,” Sur told CJP. 

The agitation has stopped the installation of power lines in Farakka. However, even two weeks ago, agency workers came to cut down some of the trees in the project area. Sur said that the “villagers resisted the felling of the trees and workers engaged by Adani Group ran away.” However, following the July agitation, Adani’s company has completed the work substantially with police help.

Sur said that the Adani Group has neither signed an agreement with the Government of West Bengal, nor sought consent of the farmers, and planned unilaterally to raise high-tension electric lines purely by force. Towers were installed just by locally distributing some money.”

“The protesting farmers were framed by the police, fake allegations were made and cases were registered, they were severely beaten. We protested even in July and prepared for a legal battle,” he said. Adani Group has not made any statement so far. 

The Adani group is also planning to build a deep sea port at Tajpur in West Bengal’s East Medinipur district at a cost of around 25 thousand crore rupees. A few years ago in 2017, the farmers and residents of South 24 Parganas district protested against the installation of ‘high tension’ electricity in Bhangar. A few died in the movement. The work was delayed.

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