"Its like kid refusing to attend school" Kanhaiya on Giriraj's reluctance to contest from Begusarai
Patna: Union Minister Giriraj Singh's "reluctance" to contest Lok Sabha polls from Begusarai was comparable to a kids refusal to attend school in the event of failing to complete his homework, the CPI candidate from the seat Kanhaiya Kumar has said.
"Watched the news on TV and learnt that the BJP minister known for sending off people to free of cost Pakistan tours is not ready to come to Begusarai for contesting the polls", Kumar said in a Facebook post late Monday night wherein he did not mention Singh by name.
A firebrand BJP leader, Giriraj Singh had caused a stir ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls when he said "those opposed to Narendra Modi should go to Pakistan."
He has continued with similar outbursts since then, the latest instance being his threat that those not coming out in support of the Prime Ministers Patna rally on March 3 would be deemed "anti-national" even though he himself ended up remaining absent on account of ill-health.
"I have a nephew who, similarly, refuses to go to school whenever he fails to do his homework. But even he never thinks of sending the teacher to Pakistan. Neither does he hate anybody nor he wants to get anybody expelled from the school", Kanhaiya Kumar added sarcastically in the post.
"This is the real India, vastly different from the shrill debates one watches on news channels", the former JNU students union president, who first came into limelight upon being booked for sedition in connection with alleged raising of anti-national slogans at a function held inside the varsity premises.
Kumars remarks came in the backdrop of Singh expressing unhappiness over his Nawada seat going to ally LJP this time. On Monday, he camped in New Delhi where he is believed to have tried to apprise the BJPs top leadership of his sentiments.
Singh is at present the BJP MP from Nawada Lok Sabha seat.
He (Singh) also told a news channel which interviewed him in the national capital, the footage of which he shared on his official twitter handle "it is a question of my self-respect. I had wanted to contest from Begusarai in 2014 but was asked to do so from Nawada instead. I followed the parties orders and emerged victorious."
"However, after five years of having nurtured a constituency I am being asked to give it up ... I consider it a privilege to contest Lok Sabha polls. But this must not happen at the cost of my self-respect", Singh said.
He also hastened to add "I have no complaints with the partys central leadership. It is the state leadership which has betrayed my trust".
Notably, when the news first came out that BJP will be forgoing its claim on Nawada, implying that Singh would lose his sitting seat, the Union minister had thrown a fit and complained that state president Nityanand Rai had promised that "I would get a ticket from whichever seat I choose".
Comprising pockets which have a very strong presence of the Left, earning it the epithet "Moscow of Bihar", Begusarai was won by the BJP for the first time in 2014. The seat has been lying vacant since the death of sitting MP Bhola Singh in October last year.
Both Singh and Kumar belong to the Bhumihar caste which dominates Begusarai, and if the "Mahagathbandhan" comprising RJD, Congress and other smaller parties fails to field a strong candidate the debutant may end up posing a formidable challenge to the BJP veteran.
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Ruckus outside counting centre in Mamata's constituency, TMC claims entry of car with BJP flag
Kolkata (PTI): The counting centre at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Bhabanipur assembly constituency witnessed a ruckus a day ahead of the counting of votes, with TMC workers alleging two cars bearing the BJP's flag were allowed entry to the compound where EVMs are kept.
The incident comes close on the heels of a four-hour-long sit-in by Banerjee in front of the same counting centre at the Sakhawat Memorial Girls School on Thursday night, alleging unauthorised entry of persons into the strongroom.
With the polling now over, the wrangling for power in West Bengal has turned into a battle of nerves between the incumbent TMC and the BJP. Workers and leaders of both parties have been keeping a steely gaze on the security of strongrooms across the state where the electoral fate of the candidates is sealed.
Despite expressing her confidence in a "landslide victory", Banerjee has repeatedly aired her apprehensions of "counting malpractice and EVM tampering ahead of the day of results".
On Sunday morning, TMC workers camping 100 metres from the counting centre alleged that two cars with BJP flags entered the premises and went near the strongroom.
"The CAPF personnel at the spot are not allowing any vehicle or person to enter the premises of the counting centre without valid identity proof. Then how come this car, which we have not seen in the past few days, was allowed entry? Once we protested, the central forces asked us to move 100 metres away," a TMC activist said.
The TMC claimed that while the police personnel posted there promised the vehicle would be removed from the spot, it remained there for some time.
A senior Election Commission official said the car was passing by the Harish Mukherjee Road, and after checking by security forces and police, it was allowed to leave as nothing objectionable was found in it.
On Thursday night, two counting centres, including one at Sakhawat Memorial Girls School in the city, witnessed high drama after TMC leaders alleged a lack of transparency and possible malpractice at the strongrooms housing sealed EVMs of the assembly polls, which concluded on April 29.
TMC leaders and candidates, Sashi Panja and Kunal Ghosh, held a sit-in outside the Khudiram Anushilan Kendra counting centre on Thursday evening, alleging unauthorised activities inside the strongroom amid the absence of TMC agents
In Howrah, TMC protested renovation work by the public works department at a place adjacent to the strongroom, and the EC stopped the work temporarily.
On Saturday, the ruling party filed a complaint with the poll panel, alleging unauthorised sorting of postal ballot covers at the EVM strongroom in Khudiram Anushilan Kendra.
Similar scenes were witnessed on Saturday outside the strongrooms at Asansol College in Paschim Bardhaman and the Barasat Government College in North 24 Parganas districts, where TMC workers held protests, alleging that CCTV cameras were switched off for several minutes.
The EC turned down all allegations, saying the surveillance cameras were working in an uninterrupted manner.
BJP spokesperson Sajal Ghosh told reporters that the people of Bengal were finding it "hilarious" that the TMC, "which used to win elections through unfair means and strongarm tactics" were now coming up with all sorts of "frivolous charges".
"Are they scared of losing?" he posed.
