Mamata alleges BJP 'struck Rs 1,000-crore deal' to unseat TMC from power in Bengal
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday alleged the BJP has "struck a Rs 1,000-crore deal" to unseat the Trinamool Congress from power in the state.
She made the claims while ostensibly referring to a now-viral video in which Aam Janata Unnayan Party chief Humayun Kabir was purportedly heard saying he was in touch with BJP leaders to unseat her from power, and receiving Rs 200 crore as an advance to a Rs 1,000-crore deal to split the minority votes.
However, PTI could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
Addressing a rally in Bankura's Onda, Banerjee said that while some leaders were dismissing the video as AI-generated, "the person seen in the clip had himself acknowledged its authenticity".
"If it is AI-generated, then why is the person concerned admitting to it? Why are you suddenly defending him?" the TMC supremo posed.
Her remarks come a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking at a rally in Murshidabad's Jangipur, alleged the TMC had resorted to creating fake videos using AI, sensing defeat in the upcoming elections.
Hitting back, Banerjee said, "They have struck a Rs 1,000-crore deal to unseat the TMC from power in West Bengal."
The controversy deepened after Kabir gave conflicting statements about the video. He initially claimed it was AI-generated, only to later say that only a portion of a longer video had been circulated without any context, and the full clip would be released soon.
Banerjee also accused the BJP of attempting to polarise voters along religious lines. "They are misleading both Hindus and Muslims. Their character changes like a chameleon," she said.
Addressing poll rallies at Paschim Bardhaman's Asansol, Bankura district's Chhatna and Onda and in Purba Bardhaman's Khandagosh, the TMC supremo said, "The BJP is threatening our candidates, including ministers, seeking their support if it falls short of the majority mark after the polls."
The majority mark in the West Bengal Assembly is 148. The BJP won 77 seats in the 2021 polls.
Stepping up her attack, Banerjee alleged the BJP was conspiring to curtail people's rights and warned that it might carry out delimitation and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise in the future.
Referring to the NRC exercise in Assam, she claimed that lakhs of names were deleted in the northeastern state and warned that a similar process might be carried out in Bengal if the BJP wins.
"To protect your rights, there is no alternative but to vote for the TMC," she asserted.
"Take my words, the BJP is planning to bring in a delimitation exercise to divide West Bengal into three parts. Then, I do not know, it may merge parts of West Bengal with Bihar or Odisha, and torture Bengalis there," she said.
Banerjee also alleged that central forces deployed in the state for the upcoming polls were "disrespecting" women in the name of conducting searches. Any misconduct by central forces should be met with immediate FIRs, she told the gathering.
Her comments came against the backdrop of actor Sreemoyee Chattoraj, the wife of outgoing TMC MLA Kanchan Mallick, taking to social media to allege that she was harassed by the central forces at a checkpost in Kolkata, rummaging through her personal belongings, including undergarments and sanitary napkins.
The chief minister also claimed that she was denied permission to hold a rally despite the venue being available, while quick clearance was given for PM Modi's meeting.
She also accused the BJP of bribing voters before elections, and called the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls the "country's biggest scam" in recent times.
"The SIR is the biggest scam the country has seen in recent times. Everyone in the world knows that your government will topple in 2026. We will then scrap all the anti-people laws brought in by your government," she added.
"The BJP bribes voters before the elections. But they forget their promises soon after the polling is over. That was seen in the Bihar elections," Banerjee said.
She also questioned the BJP's poll promise of filling up vacancies in the state government departments, asking, "What happened to his (Modi) promise of providing two crore jobs to youths?"
The TMC chief further alleged the BJP would try to manipulate the polling process to win the election and urged people to remain alert and keep a tab on the voting machines.
Banerjee also alleged a "major conspiracy" by the BJP in the poll-bound state and claimed an "operation" would begin from midnight, without elaborating much about the matter.
She warned people that there might be attempts to influence voting and counting processes.
"Be alert about the voting machines. They are planning slow voting and slow counting. At first, they will show BJP is winning, but do not believe such claims. We will foil all their plans and win. No force can defeat us," she said, expressing confidence that her party would retain power.
Banerjee also advised people to remain cautious about food and drinks while attending political events.
Her advice came in the wake of an incident in Jhargram where at least 16 people, while returning from a political rally, reportedly fell ill after allegedly consuming pesticide, mistaking it for ORS. Several of them, belonging to the Shabar community, were hospitalised, including a local TMC booth president.
"Be careful about what you eat, especially during elections. Do not consume anything given by strangers. Always check before eating," she said at another rally in Chatna.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
