Mamata Banerjee shuts West Bengal-Jharkhand border for 3 days amid flood crisis
thousands of heavy vehicles stuck
Ranchi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ordered the closure of the interstate border for three days on Thursday evening. Mamata had criticized the Jharkhand government on Friday, claiming that the state's flood-like situation had increased because the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) was releasing water from its dam to save Jharkhand. On Thursday evening, the West Bengal government sealed the Dibrugarh check post, causing heavy vehicles from Barakar Bridge to Maithon at NH-19 from Jharkhand.
Mamta has expressed her intention to cut all connections with the DVC, blaming it for the "man-made" floods in Bengal.Additionally, she charged that the Jharkhand government neglected to do dredging at the DVC dams, allowing water to leak out and causing flooding in a number of West Bengal districts.
While expressing outrage at this step taken by the Bengal administration, Jharkhand officials remain silent on the matter. According to government sources, senior authorities have been told about this, but the issue has not yet been handled.
On August 4, the West Bengal Chief Minister posted on X, “Just now, I spoke to the Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Hemant Soren ji, and discussed with him the evolving flood situation. I discussed with him the case of sudden and huge release of water from Tenughat, which has already started flooding Bengal. I told him that Jharkhand waters have been flooding Bengal, and this is man-made! I requested him to please take care of this.”
Mamta stated that she has been closely monitoring the situation and has instructed all district magistrates in both South and North Bengal to remain vigilant and manage the calamity over the next three to four days. She emphasized the importance of taking all necessary precautions to prevent any incidents. Meanwhile, Jharkhand officials reported that they had received no prior notice regarding the West Bengal government's border closures.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
