Speaker Om Birla to inaugurate CPA India Region meet in Panaji on Thursday
New Delhi (PTI): Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will inaugurate a two-day conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) India Region in Panaji on Thursday.
The conference of Zone-7 of the CPA aims to strengthen parliamentary cooperation, promote exchange of best practices and deliberate on key development priorities of the region, according to an official statement.
The dignitaries will deliberate on subjects such as "The Role of Young Legislators in Achieving the Goal of a Developed India by 2047" and "Priorities of Zone-7 in Trade, Tourism, Urbanisation, Environment and Coastal Connectivity", among others.
The CPA India Region Zone-7 comprises the legislatures of Goa, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
This will be the first conference of Zone-7 after the CPA India Region was restructured into nine zones in 2024.
Currently, the speaker of the Gujarat legislative assembly serves as the chairperson of CPA India Region Zone-7.
The valedictory session on April 10 will be graced by Goa Governor Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju, along with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, Maharashtra Legislative Council Chairman Ram Shinde, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar, and Gujarat Assembly Speaker Shankarbhai Chaudhary will also address the dignitaries.
Besides, the presiding officers of the legislatures of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Telangana, the Union minister and MPs from Goa, and legislators from the three member states will also attend the conference, the statement said.
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Everything in my life began from here: Mamata after filing nomination for Bhabanipur seat
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday filed her nomination papers as the TMC candidate for the Bhabanipur assembly seat, and said everything in her life began from here.
Amid a sea of supporters raising slogans of 'Mamata Banerjee zindabad' and 'TMC zindabad', Banerjee led a roadshow from her Kalighat residence to the Alipore Survey Building, where she filed the nomination papers.
She walked nearly 800 metres with folded hands and her trademark smile, greeting party workers lined up on both sides of the road.
"I was born and brought up here in Bhabanipur only. Everything in my life began from here," Banerjee told reporters after filing her nomination papers.
Seeking support for the TMC beyond the Bhabanipur contest, she said, "I would appeal to the people, not just in Bhabanipur but across all 294 seats, to ensure the victory of our candidates. We will win with a bigger mandate."
The TMC had won 213 seats in the 2021 assembly polls.
Banerjee, however, expressed concern over the deletion of names from the electoral rolls and said her party would again move a court against the freezing of the voter list.
"I am really pained that so many names have been deleted from the electoral rolls. I fail to understand why the voter lists have been frozen. We will again move a court against it," Banerjee added.
The three-time MLA from Bhabanipur is set to take on BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari in the high-profile contest.
Those who accompanied her during the nomination filing included Rubi Hakim, wife of Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, TMC block president of Ward 71 Bablu Singh and Miraj Shah of the Bhabanipur Education Society.
Her family members also accompanied her.
The TMC projected Banerjee's roadshow and nomination filing as a message of Bengal's pluralist ethos in Bhabanipur, a constituency where Gujarati businessmen, Bengali families, Punjabi households and Muslim residents have lived side by side for decades.
The ruling party sought to portray Bhabanipur as a "mini-India" and a symbol of West Bengal's inclusive identity.
The elections to the 294-member West Bengal assembly will be held in two phases - on April 23 and 29. Votes will be counted on May 4.
