Mamata's morphed photo: BJP activist, released after day's delay, alleges torture

Almost a day after the Supreme Court granted her bail for sharing a meme of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, BJP Youth Wing convenor Priyanka Sharma was released by the state police on Wednesday. Priyanka alleged torture in jail and said that she would fight the case and not apologise. "My bail was granted yesterday, but still I wasn't released for another 18 hours. They didn't allow me to meet my advocate and family. They made me sign an apology... I will fight this case. I will not apologise," Priyanka told media after her release.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court had warned the West Bengal government of contempt charges for delaying Priyanka's release after her brother mentioned the matter before it and said that despite the court's order on Tuesday the activist has not been released from jail. "This is not done. First of all the arrest was prima facie arbitrary," the bench said and warned it would issue contempt against officials concerned if Sharma is not released immediately from jail.

However, the counsel appearing for the West Bengal government told a vacation bench comprising justices Indira Banerjee and Sanjiv Khanna that Sharma has been released from jail at around 9:40am on Wednesday.

The bench then asked the counsel representing Sharma's brother Rajib Sharma to take instruction on whether she has been released from jail or not. After a few minutes the counsel apprised the court that she has been released from jail.

Priyanka was arrested on May 10 by the West Bengal police under section 500 (defamation) of the IPC and under other provisions of the Information Technology Act on the complaint of a local Trinamool Congress leader Vibhas Hazra, the plea said.

Sharma allegedly shared on Facebook the photo in which Banerjee's face has been photoshopped on to actor Priyanka Chopra's picture from the MET Gala event in New York.

Her arrest was followed by protests from the BJP and other social media users. 

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Election Commission turning blind eye to violence in Bengal: Shah

BJP chief Amit Shah accused the Election Commission of turning a blind eye to violence in West Bengal and accused the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress party cadre of attacking his Tuesday's road show in Kolkata.

“Had the CRPF been not with me, it would have been difficult for me to escape the attack,” Shah said at the hurriedly called press conference at the party headquarters. The BJP chief also showed pictures of the “attack".

Shah refuted Mamata Banerjee's allegations that the attack was carried out by BJP workers. “Six phases of elections have passed off peacefully except for Bengal. Mamata Banerjee has accused BJP of violence, but I want to tell her that she may be contesting on 42 seats, (while) we are contesting all over the country and against all parties. There has been no incident of violence. The violence has taken place in Bengal, because Trinamool is there,” he said.

After violence erupted during Shah's roadshow, the Trinamool accused BJP workers of destroying the statue of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, a 19th century philosopher. Shah countered saying it was the TMC cadre who did it to pin the blame on the saffron party.

Mamata Banerjee responded by using Vidyasagar's picture as her display picture on Twitter. Shah said Banerjee is doing this to gain sympathy. “It is they who have destroyed the statue to gain votebank. But it shows their countdown have begun. The BJP had no access to the statue, it was the Trinamool goons who destroyed it,” Shah charged.

Violence erupted in West Bengal as Lok Sabha elections reached its last phase. Earlier, BJP leaders had accused the state government of not allowing their aircraft to land in the state when they went there to hold rallies.

“You may be elder than me in years, but Didi, I have more experience than you to hold and contest elections,” Shah said as he claimed the BJP will win over 23 seats in West Bengal and more than 300 seats across the country.

“I can say with confidence that by the fifth and sixth phases, the BJP had crossed the majority mark. But by the seventh phase we will cross 300 mark,” Shah added.

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TMC seeks meeting with EC in aftermath of Shah roadshow violence

The TMC on Tuesday sought a meeting with the Election Commission over the destruction of a statue of Bengali writer and philosopher Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar during clashes between workers of the ruling party and the BJP.

Supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) fought pitched battles on the streets of Kolkata during a massive road show by the former's president Amit Shah, who escaped unhurt, but was forced to cut short the jamboree and had to be escorted to safety by the police.

Parts of the city plunged into a welter of violence as his convoy was attacked with stones by alleged TMC supporters from inside the hostel of Vidyasagar College, triggering a clash between supporters of the two parties, officials said.

Trinamool parliamentary team comprising Derek O'Brien, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Manish Gupta, Nadimul Haque seeks meeting with EC in aftermath of attack on Bengal's heritage after Shah roadshow in Kolkata. BJP outsider ruffians resort to arson & break Vidyasagar's bust,” the TMC said in a tweet.

Earlier, O'Brien, also TMC spokesperson, took to Twitter and alleged that “violent mob of outsiders” were behind the attack. 

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MP: Cong poses tough challenge to BJP in four big cities, after long gap

After a long gap, the Congress party is giving BJP a tough fight in the Lok Sabha seats in all four big cities of Madhya Pradesh during the current polls. Currently, the BJP holds all the four Lok Sabha seats of Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior and Jabalpur.

Political watchers feel that the selection of candidates, and victory during the 2018 assembly polls, has given the Congress a space to play in the four big seats; the party is likely to emerge a much more formidable opponent to the BJP, compared to past elections. Bhopal and Indore Lok Sabha seats are considered true bastions of BJP, given the fact that the saffron party has been winning the seats consistently for last 30 years (since 1989). The BJP has also won Jabalpur seat since 1996 and the Gwalior seat since 1999, save for a break from 2004-07, when Congress’ Ramsevak Singh won, but was later expelled from the Parliament after a ‘money for question’ controversy

Also, except for Gwalior, where the winning margin was 29,699 during the 2014 polls, in all other three seats, BJP posted massive victories of over 2 lakh votes. However, this huge victory margin of 2014 LS polls has been reduced sharply in respective assembly segments in the 2018 elections, an analysis of the poll statistics reveals. The loss in winning margin between these two polls was about 8.54 lakhs total in the four seats.

How the fight is placed

“The Congress has won 18 out of 32 assembly segments [making up the four LS seats] in the 2018 polls. So, the party’s confidence is up. Also, factors like stalwart Digvijaya Singh contesting from Bhopal and inroads in the Gwalior and Malwa regions make the contests of big cities interesting this time,” senior journalist Shams Ur Rehman Alavi said.

In Indore, Congress’ Pankaj Sanghvi is pitted against BJP’s Shankar Lalwani, who got the ticket after a lot of bickering as sitting MP and LS speaker Sumitra Mahajan was put out of ticket fray. In Jabalpur, Supreme Court lawyer Vivek Tankha is again facing sitting MP and BJP state president Rakesh Singh, who is battling three-term anti-incumbency.

In Gwalior, after sitting MP and Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar decided to opt out, the fight is between mayor Vivek Shejwalkar and Congress’ Ashok Singh, a well-known face. As for the Congress, the party’s media cell chief Shobha Oza points out that they have made good candidate selection in all four seats. “The assembly results are a boost, but more than that the party has done a lot for the urban voters in the short time that it is in government in the state. Also, we are working very hard on these seats and are confident of good results,” she said.

BJP spokesperson Rajnish Agrawal said that assembly election results do not have any impact whatsoever on Lok Sabha polling and this is clear from past election records. “Also these four seats are our traditional seats, where we are confident of a win on the basis of handling of issues, candidate selection and of course the Narendra Modi factor,” he said.

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Monsoon slightly delayed, to hit Kerala coast on June 6, says IMD

It is going to be a late start. Soon after private weather forecaster Skymet set the date of onset of monsoon over mainland India (Kerala) as June 4, India's official forecaster, the Indian Meteorological Department, has now announced that the southwest monsoon is likely to set over Kerala on June 6, with a model error of four days either ways. The IMD has termed the date of advent as "slightly delayed", which clearly means that even with the given standard deviation, the country is expecting a delay in the onset. 

The southwest monsoon usually hits the coast of Kerala on June 1, with a standard deviation of seven days. The IMD has added that "conditions are becoming favourable for advance of sourthwest monsoon over the southern part of the Andaman Sea, Nicobar Islands and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal during May 18 to 19". As per Skymet, the monsoon will hit the far flung archipelago of India on May 22. 

The IMD uses an indigenously developed state-of-the-art statistical model with a model error of four days to predict the onset date. The six predictors it uses include minimum temperatures over north west India, pre-monsoon rainfall peak over south peninsula, outgoing long wave radiation over south China sea, lower tropospheric zonal wind over southeast India ocean, upper tropospheric zonal wind over the east equatorial Indian Ocean and outgoing long wave radiation over the south west Pacific region. 

A late advent does not necessarily mean a weak monsoon. The monsoon is a dynamic phenomenon with many aspects to it—advent, progress, distribution and strength—each of which is decided by a whole host of factors. Last year, for instance, while there was a deluge in Kerala, several other states, specially in the northeast, had rain deficits.

However, the bad news is that Skymet also announced that monsoon this season would be below normal across the country, with northeast, east and central regions of India likely to be the worst affected. However, IMD has not made any fresh updates. It had, during its annual announcement of the monsoon in April, said the monsoon this year will be "near normal" which means between 96 to 104 per cent of the Long Period Average. It had also said the monsoon would be evenly distributed across the country. 

Last year, both IMD and Skymet had initially announced normal monsoon, but Skymet downgraded the prediction midway through the season to below normal. While IMD did not revise its monsoon prediction, the overall monsoon did end up 9.4 per cent deficit, thanks to a 23 per cent deficiency in September. This was not just off the model error of the IMD, but also was clearly in the "below normal" category. 

While the forecast may not have been as accurate the regarding monsoon performance, the IMD prides itself in being correct about the onset date, ever since it began making these announcements in 2005. Only in 2015 did it go way off the mark, predicting the arrival on May 30, though the monsoon finally came on June 5. 

The pre-monsoon activity so far, too, has been rather disappointing, with an overall seasonal deficit in the country at 21 per cent. The northwest with 37 per cent deficit and the peninsula with a deficit of 39 per cent, have fared the worst, according to IMD.

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Mani Shankar Aiyar abuses reporters, calls PM ‘coward’

Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar Tuesday pushed aside a microphone, made fists and used an expletive at reporters who questioned him about his ‘neech’ jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He also called the prime minister a coward.

Aiyar lost his temper at TV reporters who met him at the Punjab government guest house in Shimla and questioned him over an article he wrote, recalling a slur he directed at Modi in 2017.

“Don't you know there is a person in India, Narendra Modi. Haven't you heard about his sharp attacks. Go and ask him questions,” Aiyar told them in Hindi.

“No, He doesn't talk to you as he is a coward. He doesn't talk to the media,” he said.

Then he raised his arms, waiving them about in an apparent imitation of Modi.

He also made a fist at the reporters and pushed away a microphone. “You won't ask me any question,” he warned one of them. He then used an expletive in English, while asking them to leave.

With another set of reporters during the day, Aiyar was calmer. He said it was just one line in his article and he will not get involved in media's “games”.

“I am a fool, but not such a big fool,” he said.

Referring to Modi in his article in Rising Kashmir and The Print, Aiyar wrote, “Remember how I described him on 7 December 2017? Was I not prophetic?”

In 2017, the former Union minister had called Modi “neech aadmi” following which he was suspended from the Congress party.

This time, too, the Congress has condemned the remarks in the article.

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Mamata, TMC leaders put Vidyasagar's photo as Twitter, FB display picture

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and several top TMC leaders have changed their Facebook and Twitter display picture (DP) with photo of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar on Wednesday to protest the desecration of the bust of the noted reformer and key figure of the Bengal Renaissance.

Trinamool Congress's official profile on Twitter and Facebook was also changed with a picture of Vidyasagar.

Banerjee is scheduled to take out a protest rally on Wednesday to protest the smashing of the bust of the social reformer by alleged BJP activists in north Kolkata on Tuesday.

Launching a scathing attack on BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday, Banerjee had said, “What does Amit Shah think of himself? Is he above everything? Is he God that no one can protest against him?”

Banerjee said this after supporters of the BJP and the TMC fought pitched battles on the streets of Kolkata during a roadshow by Shah.

A college named after Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, a key figure in the Bengal Renaissance, was ransacked and a bust of the 19th century social reformer shattered allegedly by BJP workers during the clashes.

The CPI(M) has also called for protest rallies against the incident.

The intellectuals of the city will take out a protest march from College street on Wednesday evening. 

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BJP goons damaged Vidyasagar's statue, will submit video proof: TMC

The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday released a video to claim that "BJP goons" damaged the statue of social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar during violence in Kolkata and said it submit them to the Election Commission.

The reaction from the TMC came close on the heels of BJP president Amit Shah accusing the West Bengal's ruling party of indulging in violence in the state and alleged that the Election Commission has been a "mute spectator". 

At a press conference here, TMC leader Derek O'Brien said, "The video not only clearly establishes what the BJP did, but proves that its chief Amit Shah is a liar."

"The streets of Kolkata tinged with shock and anger. What happened yesterday hurt Bengali pride," he said, adding the TMC will take the videos it has to the poll panel and is authenticating them on record.

The party also showed a video and WhatsApp message asking people to come to Amit Shah's roadshow with rods and arms to fight the TMC and police.

"We are trying to obtain and authenticate audio of slogans like 'Vidyasagar finished, where is the Josh' raised during the violence," O'Brien said.

He also alleged that Central forces in West Bengal have started a whisper campaign asking people to vote for the BJP.

BJP and TMC supporters Tuesday fought pitched battles on the streets of Kolkata during a massive road show by Amit Shah, who escaped unhurt but was forced to cut short the jamboree and had to be escorted to safety by the police.

Parts of the city plunged into a welter of violence as his convoy was attacked with stones by alleged TMC supporters from inside the hostel of Vidyasagar College, triggering a clash between supporters of the two parties.

Furious BJP supporters retaliated and were seen exchanging blows with their TMC rivals outside the college entrance.

The TMC also accused Deputy Election Commissioner Sudeep Jain of giving orders to the police not to intervene in BJP issues in state.

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Congress will benefit from AAP's decline in Punjab: Sunil Jakhar

The battle for Punjab's Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency has turned out to be one that is keenly watched with the BJP fielding Sunny Deol to win back the seat from Congress's Sunil Jakhar. He had won back Gurdaspur from the BJP in a recent byelections after the death of sitting MP Vinod Khanna. Jakhar, who is also the president of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, talks to THE WEEK about the upcoming contest:

Gurdaspur had fancied film stars in the past.

It has. But a lot of water has flown down the river Ravi since 1999 when there were no films available on mobile (phones), which is happening now. Moreover, people of Gurdaspur had their fill of stardom. Vinod Khanna did mingle here as he was a different genre of star, but Sunny Deol (the BJP candidate) has to shed the image of stars doing a disappearing act.

This election is also about the performance of the Amarinder Singh government. The Congress claims he has delivered, the opposition says he has not.

People who are questioning us are hiding the promises made by Modi. Nobody is talking about that or the Rs 15 lakh promised or the two crore jobs. The difference between (Narendra) Modi and us is that the former has run out of time, while we still have time as we have been given a five-year mandate. This is just a trailer and the real film is yet to come.

The BJP is focusing on nationalism.

Their campaign shows how immaturely they are handling the issue. Modi referred to nuclear weapons, Amit Shah spoke in Pathankot. I asked why they invited the ISI to the air base here after the terror attack? Who was responsible for Pulwama? Why 40 armed personnel died? What was the chowkidar doing? Have they instituted an inquiry to fix (the) responsibility? The terrorists used a rundown car to explode 300kg of explosives and we had to use Mirage 2000 to drop 300kg of explosives. These are very tough questions. People are concerned that the kind of chest-thumping by Modi would impede the Kartarpur corridor. Punjabis have decided that Modi has to go if Kartarpur corridor has to be built. They doubt his intent.

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Modi should have taken Manmohan's advice before demonetisation: Rahul

Congress president  Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday contrasted Manmohan Singh who led the UPA government and Narendra Modi, saying the prime minister wouldn't have destroyed the economy if he had taken advice from his predecessor.

“Modi used to make fun of Manmohan Singh. But after five years now, Modi ji does not make fun of Manmohan ji. Today, the country is making fun of him,” Gandhi said at an election rally in Bargari of Punjab.

Accusing Modi of destroying the economy with his two decisions, he said had the PM taken the advice of Manmohan Singh, he would not have rolled out demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

He claimed that the former PM had rightly predicted a fall of two percentage points in the country's GDP due to demonetisation.

The Congress leader targeted Modi for likening the country's economy under the Manmohan Singh as sleeping elephant, and asked where he was when the hard-working Punjab farmers ushered in the green revolution.

Modi has often called the Manmohan Singh government as one run by remote control, suggesting that UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi was the one who wielded real power.

During this election campaign, Manmohan Singh has hit back through media interviews.

At the rally in Faridkot district's Bargari town, Rahul Gandhi also attacked the previous Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government in Punjab over the 2015 desecration of religious texts, which still remains an emotive issue in the state.

He promised strict action against the perpetrators.

Punjab goes to the polls on Sunday, the last phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

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Mamata will face humiliating defeat on May 23: Yogi Adityanath

The West Bengal government has repeatedly denied Yogi Adityanath permission to hold rallies in the state. It happened again on May 15, when Adityanath tried his luck once more, attempting to land in Basirhat in the North 24 Parganas district, which saw massive riots in 2017.

Adityanath, however, found a loophole. He flew from Lucknow to Kolkata, and held a massive rally on land belonging to the Indian Railways, near Alipore. With senior national leaders by his side, Adityanath took stock of the situation in the state, one day after an attack on BJP president Amit Shah's road show.

“Tell me,” he asked his party men while walking in the lobby of the posh Alipore hotel he was taken to on landing, “from where are you facing resistance?”

“There are huge [obstacles], but we will overcome them all,” a senior national leader told him. Yogi chuckled and headed to his room and had a vegetarian lunch, without onions, specially prepared by the chef. “Take care of him, he is Maharaj,” a senior leader had told the chef before Adityanath had arrived.

While eating, the chief minister talked about how he addressed farmers' issues back in Uttar Pradesh. He told them how he had concentrated on the sugarcane farmers, which would help him win big and defeat his opponents in the Lok Sabha elections.

After his lunch, the controversial leader spoke to THE WEEK about the volatile political situation in West Bengal. Excerpts from an interview:

Our party president was attacked. He had a close shave. Mamataji is the chief minister of a state. I am ashamed to think about it. She knows her days are numbered and tried to harm our party president. We will not forget this.

But she alleged that the BJP vandalised the statue of Bengal's renaissance man Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.

[A] complete lie. How could our men have entered the college when the gate was locked and the locks were unbroken. It was late evening. The college is supposed to be closed. Can our party, which worships people like Vidyasagar, break his statue? It's the handiwork of her own party men. The locks of the room where the old statue was kept were unbroken.

She also alleged that people from outside attacked the college.

As she plunges into a deep crisis, she has lost her senses. Uttar Pradesh and other states are also going to the last phase of polls. So, why would workers leave their states to join the roadshow in Kolkata? The fact is, Mamataji is unnerved seeing the flood of people in Kolkata. It points to the end of her rule in Bengal. She will face a humiliating defeat on the day of the results.

She called Narendra Modi and Amit Shah goondas.

These words could come from a person who has many goondas in her party. I have already told you the level of her campaign. She cannot fight us on the issue of development. So, she uses foul language against our clean prime minister and our party president.

What is your agenda in Bengal?

I am here to expose her. Her misrule has made Bengal what it is today. It is in a complete mess. It's the land of great people. How could we forget that? It's a pity thinking about what Bengal has become.

The Bengal government did not allow you to land here, calling you a polarising figure.

Yes. Three times I could not hold a rally. Even today, I did not get permission in north Bengal. This can happen only in jungle raj. But I can say that she would not be able to stop the BJP from winning. Her journey is over. We will win Bengal in a massive way, which will surprise people.

You are a spiritual guru and a chief minister. Is the same politics of bitterness played in Uttar Pradesh as well?

Not at all. Come to Uttar Pradesh and see it with your eyes. Our political opponents have every right to attack us politically. I have never put any blockade before them. Please don't compare Uttar Pradesh with Bengal as far as the political atmosphere is concerned. In Bengal, the ruling party has crossed all limits. She (Mamata) cannot earn respect any more.

What is your prediction for Uttar Pradesh and India?

Minimum 74 seats from UP and the Modi government will get a full majority in the country. Mark my words.

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EC curtails West Bengal campaigning after Kolkata violence

In first such action in India's electoral history, the Election Commission on Wednesday ordered campaigning in nine West Bengal constituencies to end at 10 pm on Thursday, a day before its scheduled deadline, in the wake of violence between BJP and TMC workers in Kolkata.

In a hurriedly-convened press conference, Deputy Election Commissioner Chandra Bhushan Kumar said it was for the first time that such an action has been taken using constitutional powers of the poll panel.

The Election Commission (EC) also ordered the removal of Principal Secretary (Home) Atri Bhattacharya and Additional Director General, CID, Rajiv Kumar from their postings in West Bengal.

The EC's action came a day after parts of Kolkata witnessed wide-spread violence during BJP president Amit Shah's massive road show in Kolkata. A bust of 19th century Bengali icon Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was also vandalised during the violence,

"This is for the first time such a measure has been taken using the EC's constitutional powers. But this is not going to be the last," Kumar said, referring to curtailment of campaigning period.

The EC also expressed "deep anguish" over the vandalisation of the bust and hope that the culprits will be arrested soon.

The EC invoked Article 324 of the Constitution to curtail the campaigning for the last phase of the election on May 19.

The constituencies where campaigning has been curtailed are: Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jaynagar, Mathurapur, Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur, Kolkata Dakshin and Kolkata Uttar.

The order on curtailment of the campaigning was signed by Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and fellow commissioners Ashok Lavasa and Sushil Chandra. The vandalisation of Vidyasagar's bust and clashes during Shah's road show in Kolkata on Tuesday triggered a fierce blame game between BJP and the Trinamool Congress.

Shah, at a press conference in New Delhi, alleged that Mamata Banerjee's TMC was involved in vandalising the bust and unleashing violence during his roadshow in Kolkata on Tuesday as part of a "conspiracy" to blame the BJP.

On its part, the TMC released videos to claim that "BJP goons" damaged the statue of Vidyasagar and said the videos not only establish what the saffron party did, but proved that Shah is a "liar" and a "dhokebaaz" (betrayer).

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Politicos question EC decision to restrict campaigning in West Bengal

Attacking the Election Commission for curtailing the campaigning for the last phase of polls in West Bengal, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee Wednesday said it is an "unprecedented, unconstitutional and unethical gift" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the poll panel.

The BJP, meanwhile, reacted saying the EC move shows there is a classic case of breakdown of the Constitutional machinery in the state.

Banerjee, also the state chief minister, said she had never seen this type of EC which is "full of RSS people".

"There is no such law and order problem in West Bengal that Article 324 can be clamped. It is unprecedented, unconstitutional and unethical. It is actually a gift to Modi and (BJP president) Amit Shah," she claimed in a press conference.

A constitutional authority, the Election Commission of India, has effectively held West Bengal to be a "state in anarchy", said BJP leader Arun Jaitley in series of tweets.

Repeatedly escalating violence, state supported vandals, a partisan police and home department are the illustrations the ECI has given, he noted.

"A free campaign is not possible and therefore the campaign has to be cut short. This is a classical case of breakdown of the Constitutional Machinery," the minister said.

Questioning the Election Commission's decision, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury asked if the poll body had set the time to allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address two rallies in the state.

"If a ban is intended for 72 hours, why is it starting at 10 pm tomorrow? Is it to allow the two rallies of the PM before that?" Yechury tweeted shortly after the EC's announcement.

Modi is scheduled to address rallies in Laxmikantapur and Dum Dum in West Bengal on Thursday afternoon.

"The decision by the EC to stop campaigning a day in advance is not understood. The first thing being expected by EC was action against the lumpen elements of BJP and TMC for violence yesterday. Why has no action been initiated?" the CPI(M) leader asked.

"We have made several complaints and written so many letters about violations and breakdown of law and order with impunity in Bengal, on which there has been no response," Yechury alleged.

"On the fears of violation cited in the letter issued by the EC, where is the redressal mechanism if there is accumulation of arms or any other violation? So far there has been no action by the EC. This silence by them is widely considered as benefitting the ruling parties," he tweeted.

In the first such action in India's electoral history, the EC on Wednesday ordered campaigning in nine West Bengal constituencies to end at 10 pm on Thursday, a day before its scheduled deadline, in the wake of violence between BJP and Trinamool Congress workers in Kolkata on Tuesday.

The EC invoked Article 324 of the Constitution to curtail the campaigning for the last phase of the election on May 19.

The poll panel also ordered the removal of Principal Secretary (Home) Atri Bhattacharya and Additional Director General, CID, Rajiv Kumar from their postings in West Bengal.

Kolkata witnessed wide-spread violence during BJP president Amit Shah's massive road show in Kolkata. A bust of 19th century Bengali icon Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was also vandalised during the violence.

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Grenade blast in Guwahati; six injured

Six people were reportedly injured after a grenade exploded in Guwahati on Wednesday evening. The blast took place in front of a shopping mall in the city.

The location is next to the Shraddhanjali Kanan park, where a large number of people usually gather in the evening

According to media reports, the condition of two of the injured is critical. The area has been cordoned off by the police.

Two men came on a motorcycle and threw a grenade in front of the shopping mall at arterial R G Baruah Road just opposite the zoo at around 8 pm, Guwahati Police Commissioner Deepak Kumar told PTI.

United Liberation Front of Assam's (ULFA) faction led by Paresh Baruah reportedly claimed responsibility for the blast.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda took to Twitter to condemn the incident. "Strongly condemn the blast in Guwahati this evening. Have directed authorities to rush to the spot and take stock of the situation. Also directed DGP to immediately apprehend the culprits and ensure the security of common people," he tweeted.

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Committed to social unity: Gujarat govt after dalit harassment instances

A day after dalit leaders lambasted the Vijay Rupani-led BJP government in Gujarat for alleged casteist and indifferent attitude towards dalits in the state, the Gujarat government on Wednesday claimed that it was by the side of the dalits and committed to maintain social unity.

Independent MLA from Vadgam Jignesh Mevani and Martin Macwan of Navsarjan Trust had criticised the state government for remaining silent even as upper caste people opposed dalit youth riding horses during the marriage processions. There have been five instances in the last one week from different parts of the state.

Minister of state for home Pradipsinh Jadeja claimed that the government is committed to social unity and claimed that no untoward incidents had taken place when the processions were taken out as police protection was given.

As regards the Arvalli district incident, in which the deputy SP was accused of highhandedness, Jadeja said that the SP has been asked to inquire into the incident and a report would be submitted soon. He also mentioned a case in which five troublemakers were arrested. Jadeja also pointed out that Deputy Chief Minister Nitinbhai Patel and other BJP leaders had visited Kadi and tried to bridge the differences between the two castes.

Sources said that the officers have been asked to visit the villages so that such incidents do not take place.

Regardless of Jadeja's statement, the opposition Congress in Gujarat on Wednesday afternoon called on Governor O.P. Kohli and submitted a memorandum. The Congress alleged that the government had failed to protect the dalits.

Meanwhile, without naming the Congress, Jadeja alleged that “certain people” were trying to get political mileage out of the issue and that the people of Gujarat knew about it. 

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