Bengal government avoiding action against those spreading communal hatred: CPI-M

Kolkata, Feb 24 (IANS) Controversies have surfaced over the meeting of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with 675 senior and junior doctors in the state on Monday.

The controversy is over whether the large number of doctors participating at the said meeting, as dictated by the state health department, will have any adverse impact on patient care services at the medical outfits in different districts that they are attached to.

In the said meeting, which has been described as a “doctors’ convention” and christened as “Chiskitsar Ar Ek Nam Seba (Medical Services is Human Service)”, a total of 675 junior and senior doctors from different state-run medical colleges and hospitals are scheduled to attend.

In the state health department notification about the said convention, the chief medical officers of health (CMOH)s of different districts have been asked to nominate “faculties, students, resident doctors and medical officers” under their restrictive controls for attending the said convention.

In the notification issued by the West Bengal Health Secretary Narayan Swarup Nigam, he had advised the CMOHs to nominate representatives but only after ensuring that the patient care services for the patients coming to the health outfits concerned are not affected.

However, questions have started surfacing on how the normal patient care services in the state, especially at the districts, would continue to function as usual with as many as 675 representatives, many from the district, attending the convention scheduled at a state-run auditorium in Kolkata and stating from the 11.30 a.m.

According to Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the state Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, the state health secretary as well as the Chief Secretary Manoj Pant should clarify how patient care services would not be affected when as many as 675 doctors on active medical services have been directed to attend the said convention.

Adhikari has also questioned the justification of directing so many doctors at a purported convention, where according to him; the Chief Minister will deliver a “political speech”.

The LoP had also questioned whether the said convention is basically a show of the state government’s authority on doctors under its payroll, especially, in the backdrop of the statewide movement on the ghastly rape and murder of a woman doctor of the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata within the hospital premises last year.

Adhikari has also pointed out that during the movement the protesting doctors had also been vocal on the reported laxities in the healthcare system of the state.

–IANS

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Chennai, March 9 (IANS) In a strategic move to strengthen the party ahead of upcoming elections, AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) held a virtual meeting with party district secretaries on Sunday.

The meeting, conducted via video conference from the AIADMK headquarters in Royapettah, focused on bolstering the party’s grassroots presence and electoral strategy.

Palaniswami urged the 82 district secretaries in attendance to reinforce booth committees and submit comprehensive lists of committee members to the party headquarters without delay.

He stressed the crucial role of booth committees in AIADMK’s electoral success and emphasised the need to appoint dedicated and eligible members.

A key focus of the meeting was the intensification of AIADMK’s Thinnai Pracharam (verandah or portico campaign), aimed at exposing alleged corruption and governance failures of the ruling DMK government.

According to AIADMK sources, this initiative seeks to connect directly with voters and highlight the party’s agenda.

The meeting also covered preparations for Palaniswami’s upcoming statewide tour, a critical part of AIADMK’s strategy to regain lost ground and counter the DMK’s dominance.

After ruling Tamil Nadu for a decade (2011–2021), AIADMK has faced significant challenges, particularly following the demise of its iconic leader J. Jayalalithaa in 2016.

Despite this, party insiders maintain that AIADMK’s core voter base remains largely intact.

In the 2021 state elections, despite lacking a charismatic figure like Jayalalithaa, AIADMK secured 66 seats and garnered 33.29 per cent of the vote share, compared to DMK’s 37.70 per cent.

Recognising the evolving political landscape, the party has conducted a detailed constituency-wise analysis to tailor its strategy to Tamil Nadu’s diverse electorate.

AIADMK is reportedly exploring a renewed alliance with the BJP for the 2026 Assembly elections.

The party is also considering partnerships with the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), a current NDA constituent, and Seeman’s Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK).

As part of its election strategy, AIADMK will appoint dedicated leaders for each assembly constituency, who will report to the respective district secretaries.

A professional agency has been engaged to conduct in-depth constituency-level surveys to identify and address local issues.

A key element of AIADMK’s campaign will be in Tamil Nadu’s coastal districts, where the party plans to highlight the ongoing issue of Tamil fishermen being detained by the Sri Lankan Navy.

AIADMK aims to hold both the central and state governments accountable for their “inaction” on the repeated arrests of Tamil Nadu fishermen.

With these initiatives, AIADMK is gearing up for a fierce electoral battle, seeking to reclaim its position as a dominant political force in Tamil Nadu.

–IANS

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New Delhi, Mar 17 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Monday issued a contempt notice to the Principal Secretary, Home, of the Delhi government for not deciding the remission of a convict in connection with the 2002 Nitish Katara murder case.

Issuing notice, a bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan asked the senior official of the national capital government to explain why action should not be taken against him under the Contempt of Courts Act and ordered him to remain present before it on March 28, the next date of listing, through video conferencing.

The Justice Oka-led Bench recorded that the Delhi government had previously given an assurance to decide within two weeks the remission plea of Sukhdev Pehalwan, who is serving a 20-year jail term in the sensational case.

“We believe that unless a contempt notice is issued, our orders are not complied with,” remarked the apex court after it was apprised that the Sentence Review Board (SRB) is yet to consider the petitioner’s plea for remission.

In the sensational case, Sukhdev Pehalwan was handed a 20-year jail term. Co-convicts Vikas Yadav and his cousin Vishal Yadav, among others, were convicted and sentenced to 25 years of actual imprisonment without consideration of remission for kidnapping Katara from a marriage party in February 2002 and then killing him for his alleged affair with Vikas’ sister Bharti Yadav.

Vikas Yadav is the son of Uttar Pradesh politician D.P. Yadav.

Katara was murdered as Vishal and Vikas Yadav did not approve of his affair with Bharti because they belonged to different castes, the lower court had observed in its verdict.

Vikas Yadav has also petitioned the Supreme Court against the denial of remission of his sentence. The plea sought directions that the benefit of remission is a part of the right to personal liberty as protected under Article 21 of the Constitution. It contended that no criminal court can pass a sentence fixing the minimum sentence of 25 years in a case of life imprisonment to get eligible for a grant of remission.

On the other hand, the complainant Nilam Katara, the mother of the deceased, prayed that the convict’s writ petition ought to be dismissed.

–IANS

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