India elections: Mamata Banerjee stops the Modi juggernaut
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PTI file photos
Banerjee, however, lost her seat in Nandigram, to a former confidant who defected to Modi’s party.
India s Prime Minister Narendra Modi s Bharatiya Janata Party suffered a setback on Sunday when it lost a tightly contested and violence-hit state poll.
The most important election was in West Bengal, where Modi and his right-hand man, Home Minister Amit Shah, campaigned heavily as they sought to end a decade of rule by firebrand leader Mamata Banerjee.
But Banerjee s Trinamool Congress (TMC) swept the elections by winning 213 seats in the 292 house. In a victory speech later on Sunday, the 66-year-old Banerjee, a fierce critic of Modi, said: This victory has saved the humanity, the people of India. It s the victory of India.
India: Modi s party loses in West Bengal
Prime Minister Narendra Modi s party has lost in West Bengal, with ballots also being counted in four other Indian states. Elections were held along with mass political rallies, despite the surge in COVID cases.
Women wait in line during elections in West Bengal
The Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) defeated Prime Minister Narendra Modi s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the key state of West Bengal on Sunday. Election officials in India also counted votes with coronavirus safety protocols from four other states after elections were held in March and April.
TMC founder Mamata Banerjee, 66, has won a third term as chief minister of West Bengal. She is one of the toughest critics of Modi s leadership and is India s only female chief minister.
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By Jerri-Lynn Scofield, who has worked as a securities lawyer and a derivatives trader. She is currently writing a book about textile artisans.
India currently faces numerous grim challenges, but the prospect of voting in the first-ever state government in West Bengal to be led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is no longer one of them.
Today, sitting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’ Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) is as of the time of posting projected by the Times of India to cruise to a repeat victory, despite the personal appearance by Modi and several other BJP luminaries at numerous massive election rallies. In spite of the raging coronavirus crisis, India’s Election Commission only last week called a halt to the rallies – one of two crowd-convening measures the BJP promoted to shore up Hindu support. As economist Jayati Ghosh wrote in Why Covid-19 is Running Amok in India in Consortium News:
India expands faltering COVID-19 vaccine drive as new cases soar Toggle share menu
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India expands faltering COVID-19 vaccine drive as new cases soar
India is set to open its COVID-19 vaccine programme to all adults, but many states don t have the stocks. (Photo: AFP/Punit Paranjpe)
01 May 2021 01:40PM Share this content
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NEW DELHI: India was due Saturday (May 1) to open up its jumbo vaccination drive to all adults, but many states do not have the stocks as hospitals reel from a vicious COVID-19 surge.
Less then two months ago, the health minister said India was in the end game of the pandemic as New Delhi sent millions of vaccines to dozens of countries.