Ex-President Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit rejoins Congress after 4 years in TMC
Kolkata, Feb 12 (PTI): Former President Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit Mukherjee rejoined the Congress on Wednesday after a four-year-long stint in the Trinamool Congress.
The former Lok Sabha MP was given the Congress membership at the party's state headquarters here in the presence of AICC general secretary and West Bengal in-charge Ghulam Ahmed Mir.
Regretting his decision to have joined the TMC in 2021, Mukherjee said, "I apologise for this; it was not right for me to leave the Congress."
"This is my second birthday in the Congress and politics," Mukherjee told reporters after being handed over the party flag by the national and state leadership.
Claiming that there is no alternative to the grand old party in the country's politics, he said, "Only the Congress takes along all people irrespective of their caste, creed and religion."
Mukherjee said that he had expressed his desire to rejoin the Congress in June last year, but owing to different state elections, it could take place now.
He returned to the Congress four years after switching over to the Trinamool Congress in July 2021.
Mukherjee had not been seen in a much active role during his stint in the TMC.
Maintaining that Mukherjee has come back to the "right party," Mir said that his joining will help the Congress in its efforts to strengthen the party's base in West Bengal.
"There are two types of ideologies working in the political arena at present in the country - on one side are the divisive forces and on the other the secular forces who take everyone together," said Mir, an MLA of Jammu and Kashmir.
He claimed that the Congress was working together with all sections of the society.
"While one force is trying to change the Constitution, the Congress is working for the welfare of all within the scope of the Constitution," Mir said.
Stating that several political parties in different parts of the country want to tread the path of secularism, "but some are indirectly playing into the hands of others."
Mukherjee had won a bye-election to the Jangipur Lok Sabha constituency in 2012 on a Congress ticket after his illustrious father, who had helmed several key positions in the Union government as a Congress leader, was elected the President of India.
Mukherjee had also won the 2014 parliamentary elections from the same constituency as a Congress candidate.
He had lost in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Jangipur securing the third position after the candidates of the TMC and the BJP.
He joined the Congress party as a political novice in 2011 and won the 2011 assembly polls as its candidate from the Nalhati segment.
Prior to joining politics in 2011, Mukherjee worked as a corporate executive both in the private and public sectors.
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Activists write open letter to Odisha govt flagging anti-Christian violence
New Delhi: Activists and rights campaigners John Dayal, Aakar Patel, Vidya Dinker and Harsh Mander have expressed serious concern over the alleged rise in violence and intimidation against Christians in several districts, accusing both Hindutva organisations and sections of the police of targeting the minority community.
In a strongly worded communication addressed to the state administration, the signatories said they had received disturbing testimonies from affected people regarding social boycott, denial of burial rights, physical assaults and police intimidation.
According to the activists, Christians in some areas were allegedly boycotted by villagers, while people who traded with them, employed them or provided them shelter were also targeted.
The letter also highlighted what it described as “gruesome” incidents involving the prevention of burials of Christians within village burial grounds and even on privately owned lands belonging to Christian families. The activists said there were cases where bodies remained unburied for days due to opposition from local groups, while in some instances burials were allegedly forced to take place in forest areas outside village limits. Funeral prayers were also reportedly disrupted.
The signatories further alleged that in certain districts the violence escalated into physical assaults on Christians. They claimed that some victims were tied to trees and beaten, while others were allegedly placed inside sacks and assaulted. The letter also mentioned a few reported instances of sexual violence and attempts to burn people alive, which, according to them, were stopped at the last moment.
Expressing particular concern, the activists said many victims had testified that police personnel joined hands with Hindutva organisations to force Christians into signing “compromise” agreements. These agreements allegedly required them to give up their faith and stop collective worship.
The letter also accused the police of registering serious criminal cases against victims of attacks instead of taking action against the attackers. According to the signatories, many of those attacked were detained in police stations and jails, while in some cases the police themselves allegedly played a direct role in intimidation and violence against Christians.
Stating that there appeared to be a “complete breakdown in the constitutional machinery of the state” in relation to Christian minorities, the activists urged the administration to uphold and protect the constitutional and religious rights of all citizens without discrimination based on religion, caste or creed.
The letter was signed by John Dayal, Aakar Patel, Vidya Dinker and Harsh Mander.
