BJP says will send 10 lakh 'Jai Shri Ram' postcards to Mamata
Kolkata, Jun 1: The BJP will send 10 lakh postcards with "Jai Shri Ram" written on them to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, a party leader said Saturday, in a move likely to add salt to the ruling TMC's wounds after a bruising performance in Lok Sabha polls.
"We have decided to send 10 lakh postcards with 'Jai Shri Ram' written on them to the chief minister's residence," newly elected lawmaker Arjun Singh said.
Singh, a former Trinamool Congress MLA who joined the BJP before the general election, said this after police lathicharged a group of saffron party workers who were chanting "Jai Shri Ram" during a demonstration outside a property where TMC leaders were holding a meeting.
TMC leaders had assembled in Kanchrapara in North 24 Parganas district to chalk out a strategy to retake party offices taken over allegedly by BJP workers, Trinamool sources said.
Kanchrapara comes under Singh's Barrackpore parliamentary constituency.
TMC leader and state minister Jyotipriya Mallick claimed Singh and Subhrangshu Roy, BJP leader Mukul Roy's son who quit TMC and joined the saffron party on Tuesday, had conspired to incite trouble in the area.
Police sources said those gathered outside the meeting venue raised slogans and alleged that the presence of Mallick and other TMC leaders like Madan Mitra, Tapas Roy and Sujit Bose was detrimental to peace in the area.
Police and Rapid Action Force personnel first tried to persuade the protesters but later restored to lathicharge when the situation started to slip out of their hands, the sources said.
"This is unprecedented. We had not seen this culture in Bengal. This is the culture of the BJP," Mallick said.
Singh denied the allegation.
"The TMC leaders are talking nonsense. People rejected the TMC and this is their reaction," he said.
In the just-concluded election, BJP emerged as a political force in Bengal and won 18 seats out of the total 42. Since then, TMC leaders have been switching over to the saffron party.
Asked if TMC will file a police complaint over the protest, Mallick said his party will deal with it politically. The state minister also alleged that the protesters tried to attack his car.
A police officer said shops and markets were shut down as tension prevailed there.
"No one was arrested but a police picket has been set up. We are taking all measures so that peace is not distributed in the area," he said.
On Friday, the West Bengal BJP hit out at Banerjee for losing her temper when a group of men shouted 'Jai Shri Ram' in front of her car. It asked whether it is a crime to chant the phrase in the state.
On Thursday, Banerjee had lost her cool when some men shouted 'Jai Shri Ram' as her motorcade passed through Bhatpara area under Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency.
Earlier this month in West Midnapore district, a video showed Banerjee getting angry when some men chanted 'Jai Shri Ram' at her motorcade.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
