New Delhi
The mess Trinamool Congress is in over differences between Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee can have a much bigger impact politically.
Mamata Banerjee's row with West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar is nothing new.
There is yet another controversy now on matters pertaining to the 'prorogue' of the state assembly session.
DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin too has been roped in. Stalin has his issues with Governor R N Ravi in his home state.
But kicking off the latest controversy is perhaps an attempt to divert focus from the bigger troubleand virtual mess her party has landed over differences between Mamata and her handpicked nephew - the much beloved Bhaipo - Abhishek Banerjee.
Mamata is reportedly upset at the functioning style of Abhishek, who was made national general secretary
of the party not long ago.
Curiously within the 'Banerjee family circle', a few of his cousins and other kins have
reportedly backed him in the power tussle while Mamata is apparently unable to disown some of
her senior colleagues and fellow compatriots of many years.
These are supposed to be unforeseen and unpredictable episodes in the Chief Minister's household
which has always tried to present a united face.
Some of the senior colleagues such as Partha Chatterjee and Firhad Hakim are perhaps not quite pleased with
Abhishek's insistence of a one-man-one post norm.
It has been also claimed that such a norm does not have endorsement of the party supremo, Mamata and
Abhishek had tried to push this line on his own.
Now Mamata as the newly elected party chairperson has taken over 'complete control' of the party apparatus
and abolished all organisational posts. Significantly this also includes Abhishek.
In her 20-member working committee, now while her nephew Abhishek Banerjee is obviously
there, some expected faces like Derek-O'-Brien and Prashant Kishor are not there.
The panel has likes of Partha Chatterjee, Subrata Bakshi, Kakali Ghosh Dastidar, Anubrata Mondal, and
known Mamata acolytes Firhad Hakim and former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha.
Meanwhile, a fresh row surfaced over Governor Dhankhar's decision to prorogue the assembly proceedings.
The Mamata camp has tried to give out a line that the Governor did so on his own.
A tweet from Raj Bhavan said that the Governor found it "unusually expedient to respectfully invite the indulgent attention of TN CM @mkstalin that his extremely harsh hurtful observations are not in the least in conformity with facts". The Assembly was prorogued at "express request" of the Chief Minister, the Raj Bhavan said.
However, M K Stalin has tweeted now saying, "I assured her of DMK’s commitment to uphold State
autonomy. Convention of Opposition CMs will soon happen out of Delhi".
But the mess within Trinamool within can have a much bigger impact politically.
Not long ago, BJP Yuva president Dr Indranil Khan said, "They don’t differ. It is an entire drama."
Khan asked that if Abhishek was so concerned, why did he host a New Year bash on December 31, which was attended by thousands.
"It is just an attempt at image makeover."
Mamata Banerjee had given the go-ahead to 'Makar Sankranti' mela at Ganga Sagar, her 'powerful' nephew Abhishek called for stopping all religious and political activities. He also called for a crackdown on COVID violators.
BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh remarked, "I think it is their new strategy. The nephew will portray himself as a hard taskmaster and Pishi (aunt, that is, Mamata) will be liberal".
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Goa, Uttarakhand and 55 seats in UP go for voting on Monday
New Delhi
All necessary preparations have been made for polls to the 40-member Goa assembly on Monday.
The state of Uttarakhand also goes to the polls.
The second phase of polling to 55 seats in Uttar Pradesh will also take place on Monday, Feb 14.
In Goa, 301 candidates including 26 women are contesting for 40 seats out of which one seat is reserved for the Scheduled Castes. An estimated 11,64,224 electors including 5,97,974 females and nine third gender voters will decide the fate of the candidates and political parties.
The BJP, which formed the government in 2017, in alliance with partners, is contesting the polls on its ownthis time.
The Nationalist Congress Party has formed an alliance with Shiv Sena. The Congress is in alliance with Goa Forward Party and Trinamool Congress and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) have formedtheir alliance. AAP is also in the fray.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Deputy Chief Ministers Manohar Ajgaonkar and Chandrakant Kavlekar, other prominent candidates include Chief Minister Ravi Naik, Ministers Vishwajeet Rane and also Atanasio Monserrate and Dayanand Sopte.
Former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat and Dharam Sanglani are among prominent faces from Congress.
Utpal, son of former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, is also trying his luck as an independent candidate.
In Uttar Pradesh, in the Second Phase of polls, voters will decide the fortunes of as many as 586 candidates including 69 women.Five years back, the BJP had won 38 of them.
The Second Phase of polling will be conducted in the key districts of Saharanpur, Bijnor, Amroha (J.P. Nagar), Moradabad, Bareilly, Rampur, Sambhal (Bhim Nagar), Badaun and Shahjahanpur.
The BJP has an alliance with Ms Anupriya Patel’s Apna Dal (Sonelal) and NISHAD Party-led by Sanjay Nishad.
The Samajwadi Party has entered into an alliance with the Rashtriya Lok Dal, Shivpal Yadav's Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) and also Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party.
The Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party are also contesting the polls without any alliance.
Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen has formed an alliance with two smaller parties,Babu Singh Kushwaha’s Jan Adhikar Party and Bharat Mukti Morcha.
In Uttarakhand, total 632 candidates including 63 women are vying for 70 seats out of which 13 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and two seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.
The state's ruling BJP and the Congress are contesting in Uttarakhand on their own strengths, notably,the Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist ) have come together to form the Left Front to fight the election.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and state BJP Chief Madan Kaushik and Minister Satpal Maharaj are among prominent candidates from BJP.
Former Chief Minister Harish Rawat and Aam Aadmi Party's Chief Ministerial face Colonel Ajay Kothiyal are among other prominent candidates.
In view of the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, the Election Commission has laid focus on COVID-safe elections with maximum participation.
It is going to ensure the safety of vote and voters as both are equally and critically important in the democracy.
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