Poll strategist Prashant Kishor meets Mamata
May work to fine-tune TMC's strategy for 2021 Bengal polls
Kolkata, Jun 6: Poll strategist Prashant Kishor met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee here on Thursday, raising speculation about working with her in the near future to help her foil the BJP's growing influence in the state and maintain her grip on Bengal for the 2021 state polls.
Accompanied by TMC MP and the chief minister's nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, Kishor had a discussion with the CM at Nabanna, the state secretariat, for nearly two-and-a-half hours, sources said.
They said Kishor agreed to work with her if she so desired.
While leaving Nabanna, Banerjee did not speak to anybody from the media about her meeting with Kishor.
Attempts to reach out to the leaders of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by Banerjee, to know about the outcome of the meeting did not bear any fruit.
The TMC supremo left for Nimta in north Kolkata to meet the family members of a party leader who was killed late Tuesday evening. A BJP worker is among the two persons arrested by the police in connection with the incident.
Banerjee's meeting with Kishor took place at a time when the TMC supremo is facing a tough challenge from the BJP on her home turf.
The saffron party won 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal in the recently-concluded general election, only four less than the TMC's 22.
Buoyed by the stupendous performance, BJP leaders are now claiming that their next target is to overthrow the TMC from power in the 2021 Bengal polls.
Kishor, who shot into the limelight after the BJP's spectacular victory in the 2014 general election, subsequently worked with several leaders of different political parties.
He joined Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) last year as its vice-president. But he continues to work as a poll strategist.
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Telangana CM urges Amit Shah to increase sanctioned strength of IPS officers in state
Hyderabad (PTI): Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday night and urged him to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state in view of its growing administrative and security needs.
The two leaders also discussed the recent surrender of several senior Maoist leaders before the Telangana Police and other issues.
"During the meeting, the two leaders discussed the issue of Maoist surrenders and their rehabilitation. The chief minister informed Shah that significant improvements in policing have taken place in Telangana over the past two years," an official release here said.
Highlighting that 591 Maoists have laid down their arms and joined the mainstream of society during this period, the chief minister said the state government was providing them compensation and rehabilitation assistance as per the rules.
He requested the Union home minister to extend financial support from the central government for development works in the backward regions of the state.
Reddy also urged Shah to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state from 83 to 105 in line with the state's growing administrative and security needs, the statement said.
The first cadre review after the formation of Telangana was conducted in 2016, while the next review, due in 2021, was delayed and finally carried out in 2025. Even then, only seven additional IPS officers were allocated to the state, the chief minister informed Shah and requested that the third cadre review be conducted in 2026 as per the schedule.
Reddy explained that Telangana, like the rest of the country, is facing several modern challenges, including cybercrime, drug trafficking, white-collar crimes, and other emerging security threats.
He highlighted the reorganisation of the Hyderabad, Cyberabad, and Malkajgiri Police Commissionerates, the proposed formation of the Future City Commissionerate and the rapidly growing population in Hyderabad to underline the increasing administrative requirements of the state.
