#west bengal by election result

[reasonsforhope]

"It was widely described as the week that India’s beleaguered democracy was pulled back from the brink. As the election results rolled in on Tuesday [June 4, 2024], all predictions and polls were defied as Narendra Modi lost his outright majority for the first time in a decade while the opposition re-emerged as a legitimate political force. On Sunday evening, Modi will be sworn in as prime minister yet many believe his power and mandate stands diminished.

For one opposition politician in particular, the humbling of the strongman prime minister was a moment to savour. Late last year, Mahua Moitra, one of the most outspoken critics of Modi and his Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), found herself unceremoniously expelled from parliament and kicked out of her bungalow, after what she described as a “political witch-hunt” for daring to stand up to Modi.

The murky and allegedly undemocratic circumstances of Moitra’s expulsion from parliament was seen by many to symbolise Modi’s approach to dissenting voices and the steady erosion of India’s democracy. She was among several vocal opposition politicians who were subjected to investigations by government crime agencies.

But having won a landslide re-election in her home state of West Bengal, Moitra will return once again to parliament, part of the newly empowered opposition coalition. “I can’t wait,” said Moitra. “They went to egregious lengths to discredit and destroy me and abused every process to do it. If I had gone down, it would have meant that brute force had triumphed over democracy.”

While he may be returning for a historic third term, many have portrayed the results as something of a defeat for Modi, who has had to rely on coalition partners to form a government. The BJP’s campaign had been solely centred around him – even the manifesto was titled “Modi’s guarantee” – and in many constituencies, local BJP candidates often played second fiddle to the prime minister, who loomed large over almost every seat. He told one interviewer he believed his mandate to rule was given directly by God.

“Modi’s aura was invincibility, that the BJP could not win elections without him,” said Moitra. “But the people of India didn’t give him a simple majority. They were voting against authoritarianism and they were voting against fascism. This was an overwhelming, resounding anti-Modi vote.”

During his past decade in power, Modi and the BJP enjoyed a powerful outright majority and oversaw an unprecedented concentration of power under the prime minister’s office, where key decisions were widely known to be made by a select few.

The Modi government was accused of imposing various authoritarian measures, including the harassment and arrest of critics under terrorism laws, while the country tumbled in global democracy and press freedom rankings. Modi never faced a press conference or any committee of accountability for the often divisive actions of his government. Politicians regularly complained that parliament was simply reduced to a rubber-stamping role for the BJP’s Hindu-first agenda.

Yet on Tuesday [June 40, it became clear that the more than 25 opposition parties, united as a coalition under the acronym INDIA, had inflicted substantial losses on the BJP to take away its simple majority. Analysts said the opposition’s performance was all the more remarkable given that the BJP stands accused of subverting and manipulating the election commission, as well as putting key opposition leaders behind bars and far outspending all other parties on its campaign. The BJP has denied any attempts to skew the election in its favour.

“This election proved that the voter is still the ultimate king,” said Moitra. “Modi was so shameless, yet despite them using every tool they had to engineer this election to their advantage, our democracy fought back.”

Moitra said she was confident it was “the end of Mr Modi’s autocratic way of ruling”. Several of the parties in the BJP’s alliance who he is relying on for a parliamentary majority and who will sit in Modi’s cabinet do not share his Hindu nationalist ideology...

Moitra was not alone in describing this week’s election as a reprieve for the troubling trajectory of India’s democracy. Columns heralding that the “mirror has cracked” and the “idea of India is reborn” were plastered across the country’s biggest newspapers, and editorials spoke of the end of “supremo syndrome”. “The bulldozer now has brakes,” wrote the Deccan Chronicle newspaper. “And once a bulldozer has brakes, it becomes just a lawnmower.” ...

“This was not a normal election, it was clearly an unfair and unlevel playing field,” said Yadav. “But still, there is now a hope and a possibility that the authoritarian element could be reversed.”

Harsh Mander, one of India’s most prominent human rights and peace activists who is facing numerous criminal investigations for his work, called the election the “most important in India’s post independence history”, adding: “The resilience of Indian democracy has proved to be spectacular.”

He said it was encouraging that an “intoxication of majoritarian hate politics” had not ultimately shaped the outcome, referring to Modi’s apparent attempts to stir up religious animosity on the campaign trail as he referred to Muslims as “infiltrators” and “those who have more children”.

“The past decade has seen the freedom of religion and the freedom of conscience and dissent taken away,” said Mander. “If this election had gone fully the BJP way, then India would not remain a constitutional secular democracy.”"

-via The Guardian, June 9, 2024

[sivavakkiyar]

The demand for a caste census continues to gain popularity. After Bihar published the results of its case census in October, pressure is growing on the Karnataka government to release its findings. Andhra Pradesh has started its caste census and there are increasing calls for a similar exercise in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

With direct implications for reservations in education and public sector jobs, welfare provisions and political mobilisation, caste censuses could be decisive to uncovering power relations in the country.

The 2024 general elections are due soon and a caste census may momentarily seem to have diminished in importance, given the gains made by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance with inauguration of the Ram temple in January. But its significance will doubtless become apparent after the election when the challenges of poverty, unemployment and related issues of resource distribution rise to the fore.

So far, the focus in caste census discussions has largely been on ascertaining the populations of caste communities and tackling problems related to the multiplicity of jati names. How people identify themselves is shaped by a complex mix of tradition, personal beliefs political positioning and the influence of community organisations. Understanding identities is, therefore, a weighty task.

At the same time, equal attention must be paid to the opportunity presented by the exercise to measure land ownership by caste. Caste censuses can reveal crucial patterns in how power in India is enmeshed in land. Most importantly, the caste census has the potential to bring land reform back to political agendas.

[kuch-toh-garbad-hai-daya]

Indian Elections: The Campaign and how much it worked (Part 1)

Since the results are out, let's talk about it (as if we haven't been doing it since the last few hours) properly.

First of all, Uttar Pradesh voters, you people are betrayers. I'm not saying it, BJP & its supporters are. But seriously, Samajvadi Party's campaign for this year was definitely strong. Yogi really thought that it's going to be a piece of cake didn't he. Thank you voters for showing them the ground reality. Ayodhya, Amethi, Raebareli, the trinity of my joy.

Rajasthan. Yes, BJP won here with 14 seats. But lost 10 seats. Congress really shone on its own here, gaining 8 seats when in the last election, it was on the zero mark. Sachin Pilot and that man alone worked on Rajasthan. Honestly they need to put him front and center.

Madhya Pradesh is 100% a well-deserved BJP sweep. Let's not forget that it's not the Modi factor that worked here, it was Shivraj Singh Chauhan. That man worked his ass off during Vidhaan Sabha campaign last year and it really paid off in Lok Sabha. (God, I still remember women crying when he didn't become the Chief Minister).

I guess it was tough for West Bengal voters, no? I'm not much familiar Bengal politics but from what I've heard, they had to choose between two evils. Still, Didi gets 29 out of 42 seats, leaving BJP and Congress on the 6 and 1 mark respectively.

Lmao, they fucked up in Bihar. I can rant for hours about this. The seat distribution was already messed up, but Nitish Babu leaving put the nail in the coffin. BJP and JD(U) won 12 seats each, with RJD and Congress winning 4 and 3 respectively. Left also got 2 or 3 seats. I'm glad Pappu Yadav (on Purniya seat) won nirdaliye. Well deserved.

As for Odisha, I guess people have lost all the hopes in Naveen Patnaik, because BJD remained on zero, BJP getting all of its seats (20). Congress won 1 seat here.

I don't have much to say about Delhi. It's a BJP sweep. I guess AAP didn't get to campaign much since Arvind Kejriwal was literally put in jail? I'm still salty that Kanhaiya Kumar lost.

That's all for now, rest in the next part.

[mariacallous]

While India’s Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi appear poised to return to power for a third consecutive term—a feat accomplished by a premier only once before in the country’s history—they are much diminished, having failed to secure a parliamentary majority on their own. In his 10 years in power, Modi has never had to rely on coalition partners. The election marks not only the end of single-party control in the Indian Parliament but also the BJP’s having peaked. Coalition governments—the natural order for India’s democracy since the late 1980s, except for the past decade—are back to stay.

The BJP’s supremacy over the past decade was the result of several factors. In Modi, the party had a once-in-a-generation leader whose charisma and communication abilities placed him head and shoulders above the competition in terms of popularity among voters. Religious appeals, welfare programs (especially those aimed at women and the poor), and organizational capabilities that gave the party a superior ground game all helped. So did a ruthlessness in deploying the dark arts of politics, a disunited and weak opposition, and access to oodles of campaign finance.

The BJP’s manifest hegemony appeared to presage its continued dominance of the Indian political landscape well into the future. But from the summit, the only way is down. Of course, the party may stay near its peak for a while and climb down slowly—but that is not a matter of if, but when.

Although robust political competition is a hallmark of democracies, a surprisingly large number have been dominated by a single political party for long periods of time. Examples include Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party, the Christian Democrats in Italy, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in Mexico, and the Democratic Party in Botswana. India itself was dominated by the Indian National Congress party for many decades, and the communist Left Front ran the state of West Bengal unchallenged for three-and-half decades.

When in power, these dominant parties seemed unassailable—until they were not. In some cases, this happened when economic development and technological change altered the structure of the economy and the relative power of different social groups. The green revolution in India, for example, empowered farmers from middle castes who had long been excluded from the Congress party’s social coalition. Their economic ascendency translated into political power that pushed out the Congress in populous North Indian states. The shift from manufacturing to services and the concomitant decline of unions also undermined a major social base of the dominant left-of-center parties.

In many postcolonial states, the party that led the country to independence enjoyed a special legitimacy. But with each successive generation, societal memories of epochal historical events faded. It took seven decades with the PRI in Mexico and three decades with the African National Congress in South Africa (as last week’s election results demonstrate). India’s Congress party played a pivotal role in the nation’s freedom struggle, but while the halo effect persisted for decades, it inevitably dimmed.

Dominant parties can also fade because of national crises driven by international events—such as an economic shock or a defeat in wars. But for many of them, the longer that they are in power, the more that institutional sclerosis sets in. Call it the law of political entropy. As the French political scientist Maurice Duverger put it in the 1960s, the dominant party “wears itself out in office, it loses its vigor, its arteries harden. … Every domination bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction.”

The longer that the BJP was in power, the more that those seeds sprouted within the party. The BJP’s singular strength has been its leader, Narendra Modi. The Congress party also had such a leader in Indira Gandhi, who—like Modi—towered above her contemporaries. The popularity of both leaders far outweighed that of their parties.

But that very strength became their Achilles’ heel as a personality-driven style of party and politics emerged. For the BJP, increasing centralization, declining intraparty democracy, and the cutting-to-size of regional leaders who were not subserviently loyal to national the leader all took their toll. Efforts to engineer defections from opposition parties (through both blandishments and coercion) meant that gradually, the party became a magnet for opportunists rather than those with deep ideological commitments.

Under Modi’s rule, such coercion often took the form of dropping corruption cases against opposition party members who defected to the BJP. But this did not mean that the defectors became less corrupt; a leopard doesn’t change its spots. There’s little wonder, then, that even though the BJP had ridden an anti-corruption wave to power in 2014, preelection polls published in April this year found that more than half of respondents (55 percent) believed that corruption had increased in the past five years. Committed party workers have begun to lose interest as party hoppers brought in for short-term gains crowd them out in coveted positions. A favorite goal of the BJP’s leadership was to create a Congress mukt Bharat (“An India free of the Congress”). Ironically, in attempting to do so, the BJP became the embodiment of that very Congress culture.

If the art of victory is learned in defeat, for the BJP, the opposite is proving true. Each new victory brought a validation of the party’s strategies, whether muzzling critics, coercing opponents, or marginalizing religious minorities. The premium on loyalty increased, and voices of dissent become more quiescent. The initial self-confidence that allowed for risk-taking became an overconfidence spilling over to reckless behavior—exemplified by allegations of India’s intelligence agencies seeking to silence overseas critics in Canada and the United States.

The arrogance meant that the party overlooked three countervailing forces.

First, the manifest reality that no party in India wins with a majority of the votes. For a party to win in India’s first-past-the-post system, it needs a plurality of votes—which requires a fragmented opposition. The more hegemonic that the BJP became, the more authoritarian that it became, putting pressure on opposition parties and their leaders. But instead of weakening them, it brought them together. Nothing concentrates the mind like a fight for survival, and, while imperfect and incomplete, the opposition’s decision to join forces in the so-called INDIA coalition limited vote fragmentation.

Second, while successful political parties embody a set of ideas and ideologies that are yoked to policies and programs, all ideas have their life cycles. Postwar Keynesianism had its day for a quarter-century, and neoliberalism subsequently had its own for about three decades. Both are passé today. Political Islam rode high for around three decades after the Iranian revolution, but its energies have since flagged. In India, the secular socialist idea had a run for nearly a half-century, but its increasing opportunism tripped it up, and it was gradually pushed out as the BJP tapped into the plentiful waters of the anxieties and resentments of the Hindu majority.

But the Hindutva ideology has its limits, too. Even though the BJP did deliver on its promise on constructing a Ram temple on the site of a historic mosque, the expected political payoffs did not materialize. In this election, the BJP failed to win even the constituency where the temple was built. Populism can—and does—secure votes for a while. But India’s complex social mosaic cannot be easily pigeonholed into binary categories.

Third, ideologies do not address the quotidian challenges facing voters. The wellsprings of voter discontent run deep, and addressing them is—and will be—difficult.

The foremost challenge is the economy, which has simply been unable to supply decent jobs in adequate numbers. More and more Indians have formal education credentials but meager skills, a sad testimony to the poor quality of the country’s education system. Rising aspirations are hitting the brick wall of precarious jobs as India continues to struggle to strengthen its manufacturing sector. At some point, the millions of disgruntled youths will find ways to voice their frustrations.

These challenges will be greater given the extraordinary technological changes that are upending labor markets—not just in manufacturing, but also the tech services that have been India’s one categorical success. Even robust growth is unlikely to produce the sort of labor demand that one might have expected in the past. And a febrile politics will be rocked even more in the future, as technological change in the form of artificial intelligence is poised to further political turmoil. Managing this will be hard in the best of circumstances. In a polity where polarization is actively encouraged, it’s hard to be sanguine about where this may lead.

India’s election was held under a searing heat wave, a vivid reminder of the inexorable impacts of climate change, whose afflictions are mounting. Indian agriculture is particularly vulnerable as temperatures climb and rainfall patterns change. A bedraggled urban India will face further pressures as the recent water shortages in India’s booming information technology capital, Bengaluru, illustrate. And this is just the beginning.

These are all exceedingly difficult challenges no matter which political party is in power in India. But for now, the one silver lining is that while commentators and experts have been deeply apprehensive about India’s democracy, its voters clearly seem to be less so. Just ask the BJP.

[srbachchan]

DAY 5391

Jalsa, Mumbai                    Nov 16,  2022                Wed 11:14 PM

💛🪔 , November 17 .. joyful birthday wishes to Ef Deep Joy Sarkar from the City of Joy Kolkata .. And .. love and togetherness .. to Ef Dipesh Arora and his better half Mrs. Ragini Arora .. from Surat .. for the 17th Wedding Anniversary on the 17th .. 💕💍 SPECIAL ONE for Ef SATYAM .. who had his birthday on August 20 .. one of our oldest Ef .. cherished and with vast knowledge .. and we should have wished you long time ago , Satyam .. but better late than never .. we remember you .. and we hope you're well .. keep happy .. and keep connected .. ❤️❤️❤️ And another .. belated but with the same affection of gratitude and greeting .. to .. Ef S P Kamat Rajan from Dum Dum Kolkata .. his birthday on September 10 .. wishes to you .. and thank you for the A.B.F.A. Dum Dum Kolkata West Bengal .. and for all your love and kind dedication all these years .. I am overwhelmingly humbled .. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

The time of the time visits the mind of occupied transitory phases and builds the desire to be in the timelines of all that has been transpiring irregularity in the posts of the DAY .. but the trend changeth in good measure and here then we are in the several personalities that hav existed form the start of the blogomaestra .. tra ..

When work eludes the horizon there are many attention seeking devices that need concern and care and to be given the respect and the dignity they deserve .. 

Deserve is better .. but the deserving must come in voluntary gifts of presence and care and the valid nominations of the elect .. 

Elect then them that are of opinion on the plane of your degree and validity .. of a measure and design that needs no formality .. that complies with the norms of the day needed visibility .. to see to seek to learn .. 

More learn than any other ..

the entrè remains balanced and fine defined .. they like the strut before and the power of the introduction soon after .. the end result shall ever be an unconcerned attend to what may seem disinterest , but is in the factual realm of deep acceptance ..

be then and be in the realm of it .. the love and the care that exudes each hour .. 

Amitabh Bachchan

[head-post]

Modi claims victory in Indian general election, but falling support pushes for coalition

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his alliance’s victory in the Indian general election, according to AP News.

He claimed a mandate to push his programme, although his party lost ground to a stronger-than-expected opposition. It opposed his controversial economic course and polarising policies.

Today’s victory is the victory of the world’s largest democracy.

Modi told his party’s headquarters on Tuesday that Indian voters had “shown immense faith” in both his party and his National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition.

Official results from the Indian Election Commission on Wednesday showed that the NDA won 294 seats. This is more than the 272 seats needed to win a majority, but still far less than expected. For the first time since its Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014, it did not secure a majority on its own. In 2019, it managed to win a record 303 seats.

The Congress Party won 99 seats, improving its result from 52 in the 2019 elections. The Samajwadi Party also secured 37 seats in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, a major disappointment for the BJP. Meanwhile, the All India Trinamool Congress won 29 seats in the state of West Bengal and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam gained 22 seats in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

The opposition INDIA coalition won a total of 232 seats. Milan Vaishnav, director of the South Asia Programme at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, stated:

At the very least, the result pricks the bubble Prime Minister Modi’s authority. He made this election about himself. Today, he is just another politician, cut to size by the people.

Read more HERE

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 5.28 (after 1960)

1961 – Peter Benenson's article The Forgotten Prisoners is published in several internationally read newspapers. This will later be thought of as the founding of the human rights organization Amnesty International. 1964 – The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is founded, with Yasser Arafat elected as its first leader. 1968 – Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 892 crashes near Nala Sopara in India, killing 30. 1974 – Northern Ireland's power-sharing Sunningdale Agreement collapses following a general strike by loyalists. 1975 – Fifteen West African countries sign the Treaty of Lagos, creating the Economic Community of West African States. 1977 – In Southgate, Kentucky, the Beverly Hills Supper Club is engulfed in fire, killing 165 people inside. 1979 – Konstantinos Karamanlis signs the full treaty of the accession of Greece with the European Economic Community. 1987 – An 18-year-old West German pilot, Mathias Rust, evades Soviet Union air defences and lands a private plane in Red Square in Moscow, Russia. 1991 – The capital city of Addis Ababa falls to the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, ending both the Derg regime in Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Civil War. 1995 – The 7.0 Mw  Neftegorsk earthquake shakes the former Russian settlement of Neftegorsk with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). Total damage was $64.1–300 million, with 1,989 deaths and 750 injured. The settlement was not rebuilt. 1996 – U.S. President Bill Clinton's former business partners in the Whitewater land deal, Jim McDougal and Susan McDougal, and the Governor of Arkansas, Jim Guy Tucker, are convicted of fraud. 1998 – Nuclear testing: Pakistan responds to a series of nuclear tests by India with five of its own codenamed Chagai-I, prompting the United States, Japan, and other nations to impose economic sanctions. Pakistan celebrates Youm-e-Takbir annually. 1999 – In Milan, Italy, after 22 years of restoration work, Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece The Last Supper is put back on display. 2002 – The last steel girder is removed from the original World Trade Center site. Cleanup duties officially end with closing ceremonies at Ground Zero in Manhattan, New York City. 2003 – Peter Hollingworth resigns as Governor-General of Australia following criticism of his handling of child sexual abuse allegations during his tenure as Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane. 2004 – The Iraqi Governing Council chooses Ayad Allawi, a longtime anti-Saddam Hussein exile, as prime minister of Iraq's interim government. 2008 – The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal formally declares Nepal a republic, ending the 240-year reign of the Shah dynasty. 2010 – In West Bengal, India, the Jnaneswari Express train derailment and subsequent collision kills 148 passengers. 2011 – Malta votes on the introduction of divorce; the proposal was approved by 53% of voters, resulting in a law allowing divorce under certain conditions being enacted later in the year. 2016 – Harambe, a gorilla, is shot to death after grabbing a three-year-old boy in his enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, resulting in widespread criticism and sparking various internet memes. 2017 – Former Formula One driver Takuma Sato wins his first Indianapolis 500, the first Japanese and Asian driver to do so. Double world champion Fernando Alonso retires from an engine issue in his first entry of the event.

[buzz-london]

Voter turnout in 2024 Lok Sabha elections:

Maharashtra (1): Muslim voter turnout was 93.87 per cent. The Hindu vote share was 57.33%.

42.67% of Hindus did not vote. *

Rajasthan (2): Muslim turnout was 94.62 per cent. Hindu votes - 60.04%

39.96% of Hindus did not vote. *

West Bengal (3) Muslim voters: 95.45 per cent Hindu votes: 62.41%

37.59% of Hindus did not vote. *

(a) Uttar Pradesh: Muslim turnout was 92.38 per cent. Hindu votes - 61.07%

38.93% of Hindus did not vote. *

These are the voting trends in the four states.

On an average, only 6% Muslim voters did not cast their votes and * 40% Hindu voters did not turn up for voting. *

The situation is similar across India.

60% of Hindu voters, who come to vote, vote in the name of caste and other reasons. This has further worsened the situation.

On the other hand, 94% of Muslim voters unanimously voted in favour of the anti-BJP candidate. *

A large chunk of these 40% Hindu voters (who do not perform their voting duty) are actually educated. Many of them are BJP supporters and they spend their time on social media supporting Modi, liking and forwarding posts in favour of the BJP. But they don't turn up where the most important task is - the polling station. *

After the results are announced, the same people rush to express their shock and disbelief on social media and wonder how the BJP lost so many seats.

He was sitting comfortably at home. Modi remains unfazed by the belief that he is coming back to power and is at the forefront of making barren verbal reversals on what went wrong when it happened. *

This is the day when they will realize wisdom and reality. But if it's too late, it's not worth it. * Let's make a record by voting 100%. 100% voting will be held on November 20.

[hindustanmorning]

Abhishek Banerjee likely next Bengal Chief Minister after Kunal Ghosh's speculation on Facebook

The upcoming West Bengal assembly elections will take place in 2026. Trinamool Congress and BJP are getting ready for the upcoming elections. Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of Trinamool Congress MP and CM Mamata Banerjee, was born on November 7. Prior to his birthday, the political situation in Bengal became tense as a result of a Facebook post made by Kunal Ghosh, a Trinamool Congress leader and…

[sa7abnews]

Bangladesh coup was US revenge for military base refusal – ousted PM

New Post has been published on https://sa7ab.info/2024/08/16/bangladesh-coup-was-us-revenge-for-military-base-refusal-ousted-pm/

Bangladesh coup was US revenge for military base refusal – ousted PM

Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign and flee the country earlier this week amid violent protests

Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was forced to resign and flee the country amid mass protests earlier this week, has accused the US of involvement in her ouster. In a message on Sunday cited by the Economic Times, Hasina signaled that she could have retained power if she had agreed to host a US military base in Bangladesh. “I resigned, so that I did not have to see the procession of dead bodies. They wanted to come to power over the dead bodies of students, but I did not allow it, I resigned from premiership,” Hasina was cited as saying. “I could have remained in power if I had surrendered the sovereignty of Saint Martin Island and allowed America to hold sway over the Bay of Bengal. I beseech the people of my land, please do not be manipulated by radicals.”

Read more

A serious crisis is brewing on India’s doorstep, and the West has a role in it

Hasina was referring to Bangladesh’s coral reef island in the northeastern part of the Bay of Bengal and Washington’s alleged attempts to seize control over it. A number of Bangladeshi officials claimed over the past months that the US had proposed leasing the island on several occasions, but was refused. Hasina said that “white men” – her term for US officials – met with her before the previous election and sought her support in building an air base on Saint Martin. The 76-year-old politician, who held office for 15 years, fled to neighboring India following her resignation on August 5. She pledged to return to Dhaka “soon… with the grace of almighty Allah.” Hasina’s ouster came after weeks of nationwide student-led demonstrations against a quota system for government jobs, which was criticized for favoring people with connections to the ruling party. Starting off peacefully, the protests quickly turned violent, reportedly resulting in over 400 deaths and around 11,000 arrests.

READ MORE: India to monitor safety of Hindus in Bangladesh amid ongoing unrest

Shortly after Hasina resigned, the chief of army staff, General Waker-uz-Zaman, announced that he would form an interim government. Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize winner known for pioneering the concepts of microcredit and microfinance, was sworn in as head of the interim government on August 8.

[itwillallbeokay]

Sometimes I wonder if the people forming the government are simply too ignorant or too spineless to actually do something about West Bengal. It's a state in shambles. There's nothing resembling law and order, elections mean nightmares, and if you're an Opposition aka BJP supporter in this state you get to have a target painted on your back, and if you or your family get killed the state protects your killers.

I don't understand what's stopping them from taking any steps regarding this state? Do you want the situation to get as bad as Kashmir before you do anything? Are you willfully ignorant? Or in cahoots with the state? I cannot believe that this party, whose workers are killed on an almost daily basis in this state, are just sitting around doing nothing. Why can't you do something for them? You form the government at the Centre!!! Why must Suvendu Adhikari be the one to speak up every time?

Support those working for your party at the ground level! They risk their lives only to have no one from the top brass even glance their way. I'm not even bringing up actually making sure the victims get justice. Call me crazy but maybe if you stood by your workers, supported them and actually helped them further their political careers because they know the ground realities of this state, you'd have better results. I know CPI(M) (the most prominent communist party in Bengal) and Congress workers get beaten up too, but they're hypocrites, so it's expected of them. But not from the BJP. You are the government ! Why won't you help the people of West Bengal?

Years and years of hearing that Modi, Amit Shah, etc are fearless leaders, and that this government is not afraid to make tough decisions, and none of it ever applies to their policies for Bengal. "The government of India will interfere when things get bad!!!" Must be nice to live in a dreamworld where that is the reality.

[uplift-daily]

Opposition gains power in India, limiting Prime Minister Modi's ability to exercise authoritarian rule

Over the last decade, concerns have been raised about the health of India's democracy, as Prime Minister Modi's populist leadership has prioritized Hindu national policies.

But in the most recent elections, the united 25 opposition parties (under the acronym INDIA) made significant gains, thus denying Modi's BJP party a majority. As a result, Modi now needs to rely on coalition partners to form a government. This will curb the BJP's authoritarian powers.

Mahua Moitra, who was previously unceremoniously ejected from parliament after challenging Modi, also returned to her seat in parliament after winning a landslide election in West Bengal.

"[The people of India] were voting against authoritarianism and they were voting against fascism," said Moitra. "This election proved that the voter is still the ultimate king."

[ezivoteofficial]

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Results: Comprehensive Overview

The results of the Lok Sabha Election 2024 are in, with all 543 constituencies reporting. Here is the detailed breakdown of the outcome across various political parties:

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

Seats Won: 240

Seats Lost: 63

The BJP remains the single largest party, securing 240 seats, a significant decline from their previous tally, reflecting a loss of 63 seats.

Indian National Congress (INC)

Seats Won: 99

Seats Gained: 47

The Congress has seen a resurgence, winning 99 seats, a gain of 47 seats from the previous election, signaling a strengthening of their position in Indian politics.

Samajwadi Party (SP)

Seats Won: 37

Seats Gained: 32

The Samajwadi Party has made notable gains, winning 37 seats, an increase of 32 seats, showing significant growth in their political influence.

All India Trinamool Congress (AITC)

Seats Won: 29

Seats Gained: 7

The AITC has also increased its tally, securing 29 seats, up by 7 seats, maintaining its stronghold particularly in West Bengal.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)

Seats Won: 22

Seats Lost: 2

The DMK has won 22 seats, experiencing a slight decline with a loss of 2 seats, yet continues to hold substantial influence in Tamil Nadu.

Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)]

Seats Won: 12

Seats Lost: 4

JD(U) has secured 12 seats, a decrease of 4 seats, reflecting a minor dip in their representation.

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[india-times]

Left-Congress Combine Dents BJP's Prospects in Bengal: Analyzing the Impact

In the latest election cycle, the Left-Congress alliance emerged as a formidable force, significantly affecting the BJP’s performance in West Bengal. Despite the BJP banking on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) to win over voters, the combined opposition of the Left and Congress, along with other factors, played a crucial role in the BJP’s setbacks.

The Left-Congress alliance secured 12% of the vote across West Bengal’s 42 Lok Sabha seats, influencing the outcomes in at least 12 seats. Their presence also impacted the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in three to four seats in North Bengal. The coalition, comprising popular and senior leaders, aimed to maximize their seat count. While they did not increase their tally significantly, their vote share saw a notable rise.

Election Data Insights

According to Election Commission data, the Congress-Left combine’s performance notably affected TMC’s chances in seats like Balurghat, Raigunj, and Maldaha Uttar. For instance, in Maldaha Uttar and Raigunj, Congress candidates secured over 2 and 3 lakh votes respectively, contributing to TMC’s losses in these constituencies by margins of 77,708 and 68,197 votes.

In terms of specific outcomes, the Congress contested 12 seats, winning one — Maldaha Dakshin — and securing second place in Baharampur and Jangipur with a 19% vote share. A senior Congress leader noted an increase in their vote share compared to the 2021 Assembly election, particularly in North Bengal and Murshidabad.

The Left’s Impact in South Bengal

In South Bengal, the CPI(M) managed to regain a minor share of the Hindu vote, previously consolidated in favor of the BJP. This shift was crucial in affecting the BJP’s prospects in around a dozen seats. For example, in Asansol, BJP’s S S Ahluwalia lost by 59,564 votes, while the CPI(M) candidate secured over 1 lakh votes, contributing to TMC’s Shatrughan Sinha’s victory. Similarly, in Arambagh, the CPI(M) secured over 92,000 votes, narrowing the TMC’s winning margin to 6,399 votes.

The CAA’s Limited Impact

The BJP’s reliance on the CAA to win over the Matua community, which has around 1.5 crore Dalit members who migrated from Bangladesh, did not yield the expected results. Despite the BJP notifying the CAA rules ahead of the polls, their performance in the six Matua-dominated seats was underwhelming. The BJP retained Bangaon and Ranaghat with a slight dip in vote share but lost Cooch Behar. TMC retained the other three Matua-dominated seats — Krishnanagar, Barasat, and Bardhaman Purba.

TMC’s Counter Campaign

BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya accused TMC of misleading the Matua community regarding the CAA, creating fear and confusion about potential detention camps. TMC’s campaign effectively countered the BJP’s narrative, maintaining their hold on significant Matua-dominated constituencies.

Conclusion

The Left-Congress combine played a crucial role in shaping the electoral landscape in West Bengal, affecting both BJP and TMC’s performances in various constituencies. The combined opposition’s strategic influence, along with local factors and effective counter-campaigns, underscores the complex dynamics at play in Bengal’s political arena. As the dust settles, these results highlight the importance of coalition politics and voter perception in determining electoral outcomes.

[cavenewstimes]

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[mithilatoday]

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