Bengal civic polls: Protests depict rift in BJP leadership
27 March 2015 5:14 AM IST
The protest and clashes depict a rift in the party’s leadership in West Bengal. A large number of party workers, who alleged that ticket distributions were done in exchange of money, have been protesting outside the BJP’s state headquarters in the city for the past one week.
The situation worsened on Wednesday after Sinha, was gheraoed outside his office by dissident party workers. “We have already expelled three party members who were found involved in Tuesday’s unruly behaviour outside party office. I stand by the workers of our party’s Howrah unit for beating up those activists who were creating a drama outside the party office,” Sinha said.
Sinha claimed that most of the people involved in protests outside the party office were hooligans of other political parties, who had come to malign the BJP leadership.
Though the BJP is not taking the civic polls too seriously, ground realties suggest that the party’s base in the state is in a mess, with its declining number of supporters.
Even, BJP’s national secretary and in-charge of West Bengal, Siddharth Nath Singh, said they are not focusing on the civic polls, alleging that it will be “highly rigged”. “We are focusing on the Assembly polls,” he said.
With leaders openly expressing their anger for being denied tickets in the civic polls, the party is losing its grip in the state. Many feel that this could be disastrous for the saffron party and president Amit Shah’s dream to oust the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in West Bengal.
Created 1.2 lakh ponds in Bengal, says Mamata
Protecting environment and aiding livelihood, the West Bengal government has created more than 1.2 lakh ponds since coming to power, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said. In a Facebook post, Banerjee said when they came to power in May 2011, their target was to create 50,000 ponds in five years under the unique scheme 'Jal Dharo Jal Bharo' (Reserve and Preserve Water). "But in less than four years upto end February 2015, one lakh twenty-one thousand ponds have been created in the state. ," she said.
The situation worsened on Wednesday after Sinha, was gheraoed outside his office by dissident party workers. “We have already expelled three party members who were found involved in Tuesday’s unruly behaviour outside party office. I stand by the workers of our party’s Howrah unit for beating up those activists who were creating a drama outside the party office,” Sinha said.
Sinha claimed that most of the people involved in protests outside the party office were hooligans of other political parties, who had come to malign the BJP leadership.
Though the BJP is not taking the civic polls too seriously, ground realties suggest that the party’s base in the state is in a mess, with its declining number of supporters.
Even, BJP’s national secretary and in-charge of West Bengal, Siddharth Nath Singh, said they are not focusing on the civic polls, alleging that it will be “highly rigged”. “We are focusing on the Assembly polls,” he said.
With leaders openly expressing their anger for being denied tickets in the civic polls, the party is losing its grip in the state. Many feel that this could be disastrous for the saffron party and president Amit Shah’s dream to oust the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in West Bengal.
Created 1.2 lakh ponds in Bengal, says Mamata
Protecting environment and aiding livelihood, the West Bengal government has created more than 1.2 lakh ponds since coming to power, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said. In a Facebook post, Banerjee said when they came to power in May 2011, their target was to create 50,000 ponds in five years under the unique scheme 'Jal Dharo Jal Bharo' (Reserve and Preserve Water). "But in less than four years upto end February 2015, one lakh twenty-one thousand ponds have been created in the state. ," she said.
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