Mangaluru: Cong leaders not happy with tickets distribution for MCC elections; blames Ramanath Rai
Mangaluru: The internal problems of Congress party ahead of Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) elections are in no mood to stop anytime soon. Senior local leaders of party on Friday called press conference and expressed their displeasure over reports that four former Mayors were not given party ticket in a bid to ignore supporters of former union minister Janardhan Poojary.
Speaking at the press conference called at press club in the city, former MLA Vijaykumar Shetty added that some party leaders with vested interests were compromising on the principles of the Congress party.
“Former Corporator Gulzar Banu, who became the Mayor when BJP was in power was ignored for party ticket in her own constituency. Now her son is framed for attacking for MLA and has been jailed. All this is very shameful. Former Mayors Purandar Das Koloor and Mahabala Marla were also ignored for tickets. The party is ignoring those who have worked really hard for the party” Shetty told reporters.
Slamming former minister Ramanath Rai over the issue, Shetty said “Ramanath Rai says he missed home ministry because of me. I told his history to everyone during the meeting. But still he was made minister and now he is blaming me for missing home minister’s post. He doesn’t have any knowledge about the principles of Congress party. I am not scared of anybody when it comes to speaking truth. I was offered tickets for assembly election by other parties but I never accepted it because for me Congress is the only political party I can be a part of. That’s why I am still in the party. There are a lot of things that are happening in the party which the senior party leader should know about”.
Another local party leader Tharnath Shetty added that informing Purandar Das that he would not get the ticket for the election would have been fair. “But inviting him to office, asking him to prepare B form and them cancelling his name in the last ten minutes was wrong. This is why we have called this press conference”.
Tharnath further alleged that the local leaders have this time ignored the party’s norms of selecting a candidate for the election, and has not taken anybody under their confidence before finalizing the names.
“Purandar Das, a Dalit leader has done remarkable job in his constituency. KPCC Incharge KC Venugopal and former Minister UT Khader had also discussed about it. But everything changed in last ten minutes which is very wrong” Tharnath said.
Congress leader Karunakar was also present at the press conference.
Meanwhile Purandar Das has added that he has received many call after he was dropped from the party’s ticket list. “I will decide in next two days about whom to support in the election” Das told reporters.
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2nd phase of Bengal poll: 39.97 per cent polling till 11 am amid sporadic violence
Kolkata (PTI): Nearly 40 per cent of the 3.21 crore electors voted till 11 am of the second phase of polling in West Bengal amid sporadic violence, while tension gripped the Bhabanipur seat briefly as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Suvendu Adhikari took swipes at one another in the same booth area.
Voters queued up from 7 am outside booths in Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, Nadia, North and South 24 Parganas and Purba Bardhaman districts, which form Bengal's electoral and political core.
Of the total electorate eligible to vote in this phase, 1.57 crore are women, and 792 are third-gender.
Till 11 am, West Bengal recorded 39.97 per cent polling with Purba Bardhaman registering the highest turnout at 44.50 per cent, followed by Hooghly at 43.12 per cent and Nadia at 40.34 per cent.
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Howrah recorded 39.45 per cent polling, while North 24 Parganas registered 38.43 per cent. Kolkata North and Kolkata South recorded 38.39 per cent and 36.78 per cent turnout, respectively.
South 24 Parganas, a politically crucial district witnessing several high-profile contests, recorded 37.9 per cent voting.
The first phase of polls in 152 Assembly seats of West Bengal on April 23 also recorded more than 41 per cent polling till 11 am.
"Polling is underway peacefully, barring some minor incidents in certain areas. We have sought reports from the officials concerned," a poll panel official said.
The early-morning convergence of Banerjee and Adhikari at the same booth area in Chakraberia turned Bhabanipur -- the chief minister's electoral bastion -- into the centrepiece of the day, reinforcing the symbolic weight of their prestige battle seen as a rematch of Nandigram, where the BJP leader had defeated her in 2021.
Banerjee was already seated outside the booth after receiving complaints of alleged intimidation of local TMC leaders when Adhikari arrived there amid heavy deployment of central forces.
Stepping out of his car, Adhikari declared, "I will not allow any hooliganism", while Banerjee accused the BJP of trying to "rig" the election using central forces, police observers and election officials.
"BJP wants to rig this election. Polls in Bengal are usually peaceful. Is there goonda raj here?" Banerjee told reporters, alleging CRPF personnel had visited the homes of TMC leaders late Tuesday night and unleashed terror in the area.
She alleged that election observers were acting at the BJP's behest and claimed TMC workers were being selectively targeted across districts.
Adhikari dismissed the charges as signs of "frustration", claiming Banerjee had realised that "not a single vote" was coming her way.
Banerjee, who usually steps out of her Kalighat residence late in the day to cast her vote at Mitra Institution School, broke convention and hit the ground before 8 am, moving through Chetla, Padmapukur and Chakraberia, underlining the stakes attached to Bhabanipur and the wider battle for south Bengal.
Reports of violence, vandalism and tension surfaced from several districts.
In Nadia district's Chapra, a BJP polling agent was allegedly assaulted inside a booth during a mock poll. The BJP accused TMC supporters of attacking its agent, while the ruling party denied the charge. In Shantipur, a BJP camp office was found vandalised.
In South 24 Pargana's Bhangar, the ISF alleged that its polling agents were prevented from entering booths.
Howrah's Bally constituency saw tension at a booth in Liluah after an EVM malfunction delayed voting, prompting central forces to lathi-charge agitated voters. Two people were arrested in the matter.
Police and RAF personnel were also seen chasing away crowds near a booth in Amdanga following complaints of unlawful gathering by bike-borne supporters.
In Panihati, BJP candidate Ratna Debnath, the mother of the RG Kar victim, faced protests and her car was allegedly stopped by TMC workers, while in Jagaddal, the recovery of a firearm near a polling booth triggered tension before police and central forces restored order.
BJP candidate from Basanti assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas, Bikash Sardar, on Wednesday, alleged that "200-250 TMC goons" attacked his car and assaulted his driver when he was visiting polling booths in the constituency.
The TMC did not immediately respond to the allegations.
Unlike the first phase, where the BJP sought to defend its north Bengal gains, the final round has shifted the battle squarely to the TMC's strongest belt.
In 2021, the ruling party had won 123 of these 142 seats, leaving just 18 for the BJP and one for the ISF. For the BJP, breaching this southern fortress remains critical if it hopes to mount a serious challenge for power in the state.
