Amidst Covid-19 fire, Hindu-Muslim polarisation is Bengal s biggest poll factor
Even amidst the pandemic, Hindu-Muslim polarisation is, by far, the biggest factor in the ongoing Bengal Assembly election.
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UPDATED: April 27, 2021 06:56 IST
Even amidst the pandemic, Hindu-Muslim polarisation is, by far, the biggest factor in the ongoing Bengal Assembly election. (India Today)
In Asansol, 18-year-old Rakesh Prasad will be voting for the first time this election. “Corona ke cases bohot badh gaye hai (corona cases have increased a lot),” he says. But will the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic determine his vote? Not really. “We have to unite the Hindus - and that is why I will vote for the BJP,” says the young student.
The election department of Malda dissolved midway a campaign meeting attended by actor Mithun Chakraborty on Saturday after the Trinamul Congress accused the BJP of flouting Covid-19 safety protocols.
More than 500 people the limit prescribed by the Election Commission reportedly gathered to see the actor at Baishnabnagar. Chakraborty was campaigning for BJP candidate Swadhin Sarkar.
Rajarshi Dutta, district magistrate and district election officer of Malda, said appropriate action had been taken after complaints were filed. Sources said an FIR had been lodged against the organisers.
“More than 500 people gathered at the Baishnabnagar rally. This is a breach of both election guidelines and coronavirus protocols. We have demanded action against Mithun Chakraborty and the BJP,” said Trinamul vice-president Saugata Roy.
In 1927, Oscar Hammerstein II had penned Ol’ Man River. Set to tune by Jerome Kern and sung by Paul Robeson, the song became a milestone. Later, it inspired Bhupen Hazarika to write a song on another mighty river.
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Bistirno du parer, ashonkho manusher hahakar shuneo, nishobde nirobe O Ganga tumi, Ganga boicho keno (On your sprawling banks you hear the cries of countless people, still O Ganga, why do you flow),” Hazarika wrote.
The song, which spoke about the pains, thoughts, lives and aspirations of people dwelling on the banks of the Ganga, still resonate in Malda and Murshidabad located on the left and right banks of the river.
BJP lawmakers raise Ram slogans in Assembly The Left and the Congress staged walkouts before Mamata rose to read the vote-on-account speech
Chaotic scenes dubbed “unprecedented” by some veterans in the treasury benches unfolded in the Assembly on Friday as chief minister Mamata Banerjee tried placing the vote-on-account for poll-bound Bengal.
BJP lawmakers rushed to the well of the House with “Jai Shri Ram” slogans to protest state finance minister Amit Mitra’s absence.
Mitra has been unwell, sources said.
As Mamata rose to read the vote-on-account speech, BJP members led by their legislature party leader Manoj Tigga came to the well and started sloganeering, demanding answers on why the chief minister was replacing Mitra.