Here’s how Muslim candidates fared in West Bengal Elections; Detailed report
41 of 42 Mamata’s Muslim candidates won, but overall Muslim numbers in state assembly declines
Kolkata: The number of Muslim MLAs in the newly-elected 292-member West Bengal assembly is on a constant decline since the 2011 state elections even as 41 of 42 Muslim candidates fielded by Mamata Banerjee’s TMC emerged victorious in the new assembly.
In the 2011 assembly election, 59 Muslim candidates marched into the state assembly while the numbers dipped down to 56 in 2016. In 2021, when 41 Muslim candidates of TMC alone emerged victorious in the polls, the overall numbers remained a meagre 42.
Rashtriya Secular Majlis Party (RSMP) candidate Md. Nawsad Siddique is the lone Muslim MLA to walk into the WB assembly who does not belong to Mamata Banerjee’s party.
TMC contested on all of 292 constituencies that went to the polls (Bypolls will be held on two constituencies later) and won 213 seats to retain the power for the third consecutive term of CM Mamata Banerjee. They had fielded Muslim candidates of 42 seats, all of them but one candidate made it to the assembly.
Among Mamata’s 41 Muslim MLAs is Humayun Kabir, the police commissioner Chandannagar near Kolkata who had quit the police force and joined the politics a few months before the election.
The BJP on the other hand won a total of 77 seats but none of them is a Muslim.
Congress and CPI-M, however, failed to register win on even one seat let alone Muslim candidate in the election, in what has been their worst electoral show in the state.
Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM fielded 5 candidates in the election and none of them could win any seat for the party.
Indian Secular Front (ISF) of Abbas Siddiqui had fielded candidates in 26 seats but could not manage to win any seats.
The only positive for the Muslim community from the WB election is the winning percentage of TMC's Muslim candidates despite the communal politics triggered by the right-wing to steer elections into their favor, but the community will surely look for answers when it comes to the declining overall numbers of its candidates in the 294-member assembly of the state.
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ED arrests Sandeepa Virk, 'cosmetologist' for alleged money laundering
New Delhi, Aug 13 (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate said on Wednesday it has arrested a woman, who claims to be an actor and a cosmetologist, under the anti-money laundering law in a case of alleged fraud and misrepresentation.
The agency said the purported links of the woman, Sandeepa Virk, with a Reliance Group executive, Angarai Natarajan Sethuraman (President, Corporate Affairs), are also under its scanner. Sethuraman, in a statement, denied any connection with Virk or any transactions related to her.
Virk was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Tuesday after searches were conducted against her and her associates in Delhi and Mumbai over the last two days.
A special court sent her to the ED's custody till August 14, the agency said. The woman claims to be the owner of a skin care products selling website named hyboocare.com, which the ED claimed was a "front" for money laundering.
She and her associates are being probed for allegedly exerting undue influence through "misrepresentation" and "defrauding" individuals by soliciting money under false pretences.
According to an Instagram ID of Virk, she is an actor and entrepreneur and the founder of the said website.
The federal agency said in a statement that the woman was also "in touch with" Sethuraman, former director of erstwhile Reliance Capital Limited.
She was communicating with him regarding "illegal liaisoning", the ED claimed, adding that the searches at Sethuraman's residence "confirmed" these allegations.
"Besides, diversion of funds for personal benefit has also been unearthed during the course of the search action," it said.
The ED alleged that public money worth about Rs 18 crore belonging to Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL) was disbursed to Sethuraman in 2018 by "flouting" prudent lending norms.
The funds were lent under terms that allowed a deferment of the principal amount as well as the interest, with multiple waivers granted and no due diligence conducted, it said.
The ED claimed that besides this, a home loan of Rs 22 crore was provided by Reliance Capital Limited by "violating" the prudential norms. "A large part of these loans are seen to have been eventually siphoned off and remained unpaid," it alleged.
Sethuraman, in a statement, dismissed the allegations as "baseless". He denied any connection with Virk or any transactions related to her.
Detailing about Virk's web portal, the agency said it purportedly sold FDA-approved beauty products. However, the ED said the products listed on the website have been found to be non-existent and the portal lacks a user registration option and is plagued by persistent payment gateway issues.
A scrutiny of the website uncovered minimal social-media engagement, an inactive WhatsApp contact number and an absence of transparent organisational details, all of which reinforce the finding of "non-genuine" commercial activity, the ED claimed.
"These factors, including limited product range, inflated pricing, false claims of FDA approval and technical inconsistencies, indicate that the website serves as a front for laundering funds," it said.
Another social media-hosted bio data of the woman said she is a certified cosmetologist.
The ED said several "incriminating" documents were seized during the searches and the statement of a man named Farrukh Ali, stated to be an associate of Virk, was recorded.
The money-laundering case stems from an FIR lodged by the Punjab Police.
Sethuraman said that the home loan he received from Reliance Capital was granted following due process and was secured by the property offered as collateral.
