'Anga, Banga, Kalinga' will have BJP govts next month: Shah
Kolkata (PTI): Asserting that people voted with enthusiasm for a change in the first phase of the West Bengal assembly elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said 'Anga, Banga and Kalinga', the ancient kingdoms that ruled present-day eastern India, will have BJP governments next month.
Addressing a press conference in Kolkata, Shah said the BJP will bag more than 110 of the 152 seats that went to the polls in the first phase on Thursday.
"People of Bengal broke all records in the first phase and voted with enthusiasm for a change," he said, referring to the over 92 per cent turnout.
"I thank the Election Commission and security forces for ensuring no deaths during the first phase polls," he said, noting that 1,278 people were injured in the 2016 assembly elections, and 1,681 in 2021.
Claiming that the TMC's exit is imminent, Shah said the BJP will form a government in the state with an absolute majority.
"I see a tsunami this time, I feel the number of seats and margin of win will be much higher," he said.
"We will have governments in 'Anga, Banga and Kalinga' after May 5," he said, referring to the ancient kingdoms that once ruled the region.
Having come to power in Odisha in 2024, the BJP is now seeking a third consecutive term in Assam and aiming to unseat the 15-year-old TMC government in West Bengal. The party's first chief minister in Bihar, Samrat Choudhary, won a floor test in the assembly earlier in the day.
Assam voted for its 126-member assembly on April 9, while Bengal will vote for 142 seats in the second phase on April 29. The counting of votes will be held in both the states, along with Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry, on May 4.
"Since the beginning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has had a vision of equal development for both the eastern and western parts of the country, and by forming a government in West Bengal, that vision will be realised," Shah said.
He said anti-incumbency was at its peak in the state in 2021 as well, but the polling was not as fear-free as it should have been.
"A large number of booths were looted, and many people were not allowed to reach the polling stations in that election. But this time, the voters' list has been cleansed, security has been tightened, and the EC has made free and fair election its top priority," he said.
Shah claimed the BJP will get more votes in the state's Presidency Range, comprising Kolkata, Howrah, North and South 24 Parganas and Nadia districts in the southern part of the state, than it did in north Bengal, which has been the party's stronghold over the last few years.
Asked about Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's assertion that the TMC, along with other opposition parties, will "take over Delhi" after winning the West Bengal polls, he said with a wry smile, "Very good! There is nothing left here. Why will she come to Delhi? What should I say?"
He said a Bengal-born and Bengali-speaking person will be the first BJP chief minister of West Bengal, alleging that CM Banerjee was peddling the rumour that "outsiders" would be brought to rule here if the party wins.
Stating that thousands of hectares of land have been illegally encroached in the state over the years, Shah said, "Like Assam, we will undertake a massive drive to free such lands for the development of Bengal."
However, he said the BJP's top priority after forming the government in Bengal will be to ensure the safety and security of women.
"As a gesture in this regard, we have given nominations to women who have been affected by atrocities," he said.
The BJP has given a ticket to Ratna Debnath, the mother of the doctor who was raped and murdered at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, in Panihati and Rekha Patra, the face of the Sandeshkhali agitation, in Hingalganj.
"The woman chief minister of a state who says women should not venture out after 7 pm has no right to rule," Shah said, maintaining that even a teenage girl will be able to safely go out at 1 am if the BJP comes to power.
He said he firmly believes that women of Bengal will give an appropriate reply to the TMC for "opposing" the women's quota legislation in Parliament.
"I want to assure the constituencies where elections are yet to be held that we will abolish syndicate raj and 'bhaipo (nephew) tax'," he said, alluding to TMC MP Abhishek Bhanerjee, the nephew of the CM.
Shah said another priority of the new BJP government will be to allot land to the BSF at the India-Bangladesh border for fencing to prevent infiltration.
Accusing the Mamata Banerjee government of institutionalising corruption, Shah alleged that scams worth over Rs 10,000 crore took place during the TMC rule in the state since 2011.
He said that after the BJP comes to power in the state, a White Paper will be released on the alleged corruption that happened during the TMC rule, and an investigation will be done under the supervision of a retired Supreme Court judge.
Urging people to vote for 'parivartan' in the second phase as well, he said it does not mean just changing an MLA, a political party in power or a chief minister, but making the state free of infiltration, corruption and appeasement, and ensuring fast development, obliterating red tape and creating employment opportunities.
"A change in the state will also translate to making short-term and long-term policy for infrastructure development, and to make available resources for those to fructify," he said.
The TMC had come to power in 2011, calling for 'parivartan' of the CPI(M)-led Left Front government that ruled the state for an uninterrupted 34 years from 1977.
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AAP hit by exit of 7 MPs, faces test ahead of 2027 poll battles
New Delhi (PTI): With Seven MPs, including prominent faces such as Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh and Swati Maliwal, quitting the AAP on Friday, the party has not only lost numerical strength in Parliament but its preparedness for upcoming elections has also been hampered.
The development comes against the backdrop of a turbulent phase for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over the last two years, when several of its top leaders, including former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, were arrested in connection with the alleged excise-policy scam, leaving the party grappling with a leadership vacuum and testing its ability to function under pressure.
During that period, the party had sought to project resilience, with second-rung leaders, including Chadha, stepping in to keep both the government and organisation running.
Many among the seven MPs were seen as key pillars in shaping the AAP's outreach -- whether in policy articulation, organisational strategy, finances or public messaging -- making their collective departure more than a routine political shift and more of an organisational rupture.
Their move, meeting the two-thirds threshold under the anti-defection law, showcases both the scale and the severity of the split.
Chadha said on Friday that all seven MPs have merged with the BJP, asserting that the AAP has strayed from its principles, values and core morals. Besides Chadha, Pathak, Mittal, Singh and Maliwal, Rajinder Gupta and Vikram Sawhney have also quit the Kejriwal-led party.
For the AAP, the timing of the seven MPs' exit is particularly crucial. The party is gearing up for next year's electoral battles in Gujarat, Goa and Punjab, where it hopes to consolidate and expand its presence beyond Delhi, where it has formed the government thrice and enjoys a strong base.
AAP leaders have sought to project confidence, maintaining that the party’s grassroots connect and governance plank remain intact despite the departures.
On the ground, the party continues to hold power in Punjab and retains a presence in Delhi, along with a limited reach in Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir.
In Parliament, however, its reduced strength in the Rajya Sabha -- down from 13 to six now -- could limit its ability to assert itself in legislative debates.
For a party that built its identity on the anti-corruption plank, a collective leadership and a steady stream of new faces rising through the ranks, the current departure revives an old pattern of prominent colleagues parting ways, including former IPS officer Kiran Bedi and poet Kumar Vishwas.
In 2015, former AAP spokesperson Shazia Ilmi quit the party and later, joined the BJP, followed by senior leader Kapil Mishra in 2017 after a bitter public fallout over allegations of corruption within the party. In 2018, founding member Ashish Khetan stepped away from active politics altogether, citing personal reasons. Each of these departures came at a time when the AAP was attempting to stabilise or expand.
With the Gujarat, Goa and Punjab polls on the horizon, the immediate challenge before the Kejriwal-led party is to steady its organisation, rebuild its leadership bench and reassure workers that the political project it launched more than 10 years ago remains intact.
For the AAP, after weathering the arrests of its top leaders and with the exit of influential parliamentarians now, the current situation may well determine whether it can sustain its expansion ambitions or will be forced to consolidate around its existing strongholds.
