BJP picks giant killer Suvendu Adhikari to lead the party in Bengal Assembly
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The decision was taken in a meeting of the 77 newly elected party MLAs after discussions with national observers, law and IT minister Ravishankar Prasad and party general secretary Bhupender Yadav. State BJP president Dilip Ghosh and other party leaders also attended the meeting.
ANI
Suvendu Adhikari
BJP on Monday picked Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram constituency, as the leader of the opposition in the state assembly.
The decision was taken in a meeting of the 77 newly elected party MLAs after discussions with national observers, law and IT minister Ravishankar Prasad and party general secretary Bhupender Yadav. State BJP president Dilip Ghosh and other party leaders also attended the meeting.
In Cooch Behar, Rajbongshis’ demand of ‘sena’ and ‘bhasha’ takes centre stage
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TMC is wooing Rajbongshis back to its fold, claiming that the BJP s promise of honouring the ‘Narayani Sena’ is false. It is citing a reply to Cooch Behar district TMC chief Partha Pratim Roy, also a candidate from Sitalkuchi, alleging that the central government had no plans of introducing a “Narayani Regiment” in the army.
The TMC is also targeting the Nasya shek community, which it believes are Hindus from the Rajbongshis who converted to Islam generations ago and form around 9% of the population in the State.
Four MPs, actors, defectors, and an economist, BJP raises stakes in Bengal game
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Last Updated: Mar 15, 2021, 12:00 AM IST
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In the ST-dominated Alipurduar constituency which has many tea estates, Lahiri is pitted against TMC’s sitting MLA Sourav Chakraborty who polled over 44% of votes in 2016, and was recently in a controversy for taking Covid-19 vaccine despite not being a frontline worker.
Agencies
A senior BJP leader, on condition of anonymity, told ET that Lahiri and many other MPs are being nominated to assure the people of a strong government if the party wins.
The BJP on Sunday announced that it will field former chief economic adviser to the central government and member of the 15th Finance Commission, Ashok Lahiri, from the Alipurduar seat, and minister of state for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Babul Supriyo from Tollygunge against TMC minister Arup Biswas, and former journalist Swapan Dasgupta from Tarakeshwar assembly constituency.