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Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
TMC MLA Humayun Kabir threatens to start new political outfit again, TMC mulls stern action
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) is likely to take disciplinary action against West Bengal's Bharatpur MLA Humayun Kabir, who has once again threatened to float a new political outfit if the party leadership in Murshidabad is not changed by August 15. 'I will wait till August 15. If there is no change or course correction in the district leadership, I have no option but to listen to the people, both Muslims and some Hindus, who are urging me to chart an alternative path,' Kabir said. This is not the first time Kabir has issued such an ultimatum. Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, he had similarly threatened to float a party when cricketer Yousuf Pathan was fielded as the TMC candidate from Berhampore. He later withdrew his remarks. A former Congress and BJP member, Kabir has had a chequered political journey and has often been at odds with the TMC leadership. Over the past few months, he has been publicly critical of the party's district leadership in Murshidabad and has been show-caused multiple times for his remarks. Despite his criticism, Kabir has maintained that he has no differences with Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee or national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee. 'TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee will come to power. The leader will be the next Chief Minister. But people are being insulted. My initiative is to stop that insult,' he said, in a comment seen as an attempt to disassociate his rebellion from the central leadership while building pressure on the local leadership. Kabir has hinted that his proposed party will focus on constituencies with significant minority populations: Murshidabad, Malda, Uttar Dinajpur, parts of Nadia and Dakshin Dinajpur. 'There will not be just one Humayun Kabir, there will be many,' he said. According to him, the new party would be officially launched on January 1, 2026, with plans to contest 50-52 seats across West Bengal. Sources in the TMC said the latest threat has angered Mamata Banerjee. 'This time, the party supremo is very upset. In her inner circle, she has said that stern action should be taken. If Kabir does not back down, the party may act against him even before August 15. Expulsion is being considered,' a senior TMC leader told The Indian Express. While the party has not issued any official communication yet, TMC spokesperson Joyprakash Majumder dismissed Kabir's deadline as posturing. 'A party has rules. If you want to stay, follow them. Otherwise, the road is open,' he said. The BJP weighed in, with state president Samik Bhattacharya claiming Kabir's threat was a symptom of larger discontent. 'The TMC's farewell is confirmed. Their MLAs know it. There is growing public anger. Whether Kabir is really forming a new party or the TMC is behind it, we don't know. But people will see through it,' he said. CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty took a swipe at Kabir's shifting allegiances. 'He has been in Congress, then BJP, then TMC, back to Congress, and again TMC. Now, he's talking about a new party? This is not politics, it's opportunistic deal-making. He says he is with Mamata Banerjee and also Abhishek Banerjee. So, if he is with both, then who is he rebelling against? This is just bargaining before ticket distribution,' Chakraborty said. Kabir's latest move has raised concern within the TMC about potential fissures in its minority vote base, especially in Murshidabad, Malda, and parts of north Bengal. 'The worry is that Kabir's posturing, even if it doesn't result in a new party, could damage morale and confuse the minority electorate that has traditionally supported the TMC,' a party leader said. Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal. Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur. He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More
New Indian Express
12 hours ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
PM's foreign visits cost Centre Rs 350 cr since '21
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign visits between 2021 and July 2025 might have strengthened India's bilateral ties with the host nations, but they have also incurred a cost of nearly Rs 300 crore to the exchequer. That includes Rs 67 crore spent on his five foreign visits in February, March and April this year to the United States, France, Mauritius, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Saudi Arabia. The Ministry of External Affairs, in a written reply to the questions of TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien, has shared the details of expenditures. The data reveal that Modi visited France and the United States between February 10 and 13, for which the expenses totalled Rs 25,59,82,902 for the French visit and Rs 16,54,84,302 for the US visit, respectively. His visits to Thailand and Sri Lanka from April 3 to 6 cost over Rs 9 crore (`4,92,81,208 in Thailand and Rs 4,46,21,690 in Sri Lanka). He went to Saudi Arabia from April 22 to 23, during which Rs 15,54,03,792.47 was incurred. The PM also visited Mauritius(March 11-12), Cyprus, Canada and Croatia (July 15-19) and Ghana, Trinidad &Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, and Namibia (July 2-9), but the expenditures have not been shared as the bills are still under settlement. In 2024, the PM visited the UAE and Qatar (February 13-15), during which the exchequer spent Rs 3,14,30,607 (Qatar), while on his next visit to Bhutan (March 22-23), Rs 4,50,27,271 was spent. An amount of Rs 14,36,55,289 was spent on his visit to Italy (June 13-14). His visits to Austria and Russia from July 8 to 10 cost Rs 4,35,35,765 and Rs 5,34,71,726, respectively.
New Indian Express
13 hours ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
TMC differs from Oppn line, wants debate on SIR first
NEW DELHI: As both Houses of Parliament are set to take up a debate on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor early next week, the INDIA bloc ally Trinamool Congress (TMC) has taken a divergent stand by insisting that a debate on the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar be taken up first. The government has agreed to discuss Operation Sindoor for 16 hours in the Lok Sabha on Monday. It will come up for discussion in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. According to TMC sources, the party raised the demand in the first meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. However, the government did not pay heed to the demand, said a leader. Incidentally, it was the first BAC meeting which was held after Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar's resignation. The leader further said that the party may even abstain from the debate on Operation Sindoor and Pahalgam if the government ignores their demand. In the meeting, the government was non-committal on the Opposition's demand for a debate on the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar. Although the other INDIA bloc members had earlier wanted the discussion on Operation Sindoor to be held immediately, the government said that debate would be possible only after Prime Minister Modi's return from a two-nation visit on June 26. While the other INDIA bloc partners have agreed with the government on the debate on Operation Sindoor, the TMC feels that SIR must be given priority, as it will have devastating effects on voting rights and citizenship of citizens. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has been demanding roll back of the revision. Op Sindoor debate later Although the other INDIA bloc members had earlier wanted the discussion on Operation Sindoor to be held immediately, the government said that debate would be possible only after Prime Minister Modi's return from a two-nation visit on June 26.
Indian Express
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
BJP-ruled states have unleashed linguistic terror against Bangla speakers: Mamata Banerjee
Claiming that the West Bengal government has been receiving reports of Bengali-speaking migrants being 'detained and tortured' in Haryana and Rajasthan, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused the BJP of 'unleashing linguistic terror' in the country. In a strongly worded post on X, the TMC supremo wrote: 'Have been increasingly receiving reports of detentions and atrocities on our Bengali-speaking people from different districts of West Bengal in Gurgaon, Haryana. West Bengal Police is receiving these reports from Haryana police in the name of requests for identity searches… Have been separately and increasingly receiving reports from other states like Rajasthan etc about illegal 'pushbacks' of West Bengal citizens with all proper documents to Bangladesh directly!! Our officers have received copies of their appropriate documents!.. There are tortures and tortures on hapless poor Bengali workers from West Bengal in these states.' Hitting out at the BJP and their government in those states, the chief minister said: 'I am shocked to see these terrible atrocities of the double-engine governments on Bengalis in India. What do you want to prove?' Calling it 'atrocious and terrible', the chief minister said that her government and party would not 'tolerate this'. 'Stop this linguistic terror,' Mamata added. Later in the day, speaking at a film award ceremony in memory of legendary Bengali actor Uttam Kumar in Kolkata, the chief minister urged Bengali film personalities to oppose the 'targeting of Bangla-speaking people' and asked them to take part in protests against 'linguistic terrorism'. Speaking at the Mahanayak Award ceremony, the chief minister said: 'A kind of linguistic terrorism has been declared against the Bangla language. Another Bhasha Andolan is needed to awaken everyone. People are being harassed for speaking Bangla in many places. Bangla is the fifth most spoken language in the world, and second in Asia. Around 30 crore people speak Bangla. And today, Bangla-speaking people are being sent to jail. I cannot accept this, and I believe you cannot either. People cannot be detained just for speaking Bangla. We cannot tolerate this. Programmes must be organised on this issue at all levels. This issue is not just mine; it belongs to everyone. Bengal is everything to us. We must protect this land.' On Monday, during the Martyrs' Day rally, the TMC supremo had called for a mass movement from July 27 against the alleged harassment of Bangla-speaking people in several states. Sources in the government said that at least 52 people from West Bengal have been detained in Haryana on suspicion of being illegal migrants from Bangladesh. Most of those detained hail from Nadia, Murshidabad, and Malda districts of West Bengal, they added. 'We are verifying the names and checking the details before sending them to our counterparts in Haryana through email. They (Haryana police) are looking into it and also releasing the migrant workers once the documents prove them to be residents of West Bengal,' Superintendent of Police (Murshidabad) Kumar Sunny Raj said. According to R Kaleem Ullah, national vice-president of All India Sramik Swaraj Kendra (AISSK) that works for migrant workers, those detained are mostly garbage collectors and some work as domestic helps. 'The migrants are mainly from Nadia, Murshidabad and Malda districts. On March 24, and then on April 4, shanties of the migrants were demolished in Gurgaon. Since then, hundreds of them are leaving Haryana,' Ullah told The Indian Express over the phone from Bangalore. Meanwhile, TMC MPs plan to highlight the issue of detention of Bangla-speaking migrants in the ongoing Monsoon session of Parliament.
Time of India
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Now, BJP deploys Mithun to deny Bengali-bashing charge
Kolkata: A day after BJP's Malda North MP Khagen Murmu expressed "concern" over migrant workers from Bengal "facing questions in other states", its party functionary and actor said on Thursday that the claim that Bengali-speaking migrants were being detained was "a lie". Tired of too many ads? go ad free now While BJP's Tathagata Roy, a former governor, said that "Bengali Hindus are not in danger", the party's Bengal minder, Amit Malviya, said only "illegal Bangladeshis were being questioned". It was, however, Chakraborty's comments that came in for sharp criticism by Trinamool. Chakraborty said: "It is a lie that is being spread. Which Bengali is being roughed up? It is nothing but an instigation to create trouble before the assembly polls. During my career, I never saw Bengalis being discriminated against in other states." Pointing fingers at "fake voters", he added: "If we start segregating genuine voters from illegal ones, Trinamool will not even get 70 seats in the state." TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said: "It is understood that he may have sold his spine to BJP for legal and personal reasons, but why is he blind to what is happening countrywide? If he removes his dark glasses, he will get to see that even Parliament is in turmoil over this issue, courts are stepping in, detention camps are being set up in BJP-governed states." Chakraborty is a "good abhineta (actor), but a failed neta (political leader)" Ghosh said. "He campaigned for BJP in 2021 and again in 2024, the results are there for all to see," he added, bringing up that when Chakraborty was made an MP by CM Mamata Banerjee, he had referred to her as his "sister" and felt gratitude that he would "not forget in a lifetime". Chakraborty has started marathon organisational meetings with workers from a dozen assembly segments. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Once the meetings — scheduled over the next three days — end, he will submit a report to the BJP brass on July 27. The actor is scheduled to conduct meetings at Jorasanko, Shyambazar, Rashbehari, Bhowanipore, Maniktala and Kashipur-Belgachhia, among others. "Mithun-da tried to motivate workers. TMC is afraid of BJP and talking about identities rather than economic issues and corruption," said Tamaghna Ghosh, president of BJP's north Kolkata organisational district. Former Meghalaya and Tripura governor Roy, who asserted that Bengal is not the only state to have a Bengali population, posted on X: "Bengali Hindus anywhere in India are in no danger… there are bound to be isolated exceptions that will be set right in due course." Malviya said on X: "Those being questioned are illegal Bangladeshis, who speak Bangla but are not Indian citizens."
