Politics

Veteran CPIM leader and former MLA and mayor of Siliguri, Ashok Bhattacharya’s wife Ratna Bhattacharya passed away in a nursing home in Kolkata this wednesday. Her age was 69. Her body was brought in Siliguri today.

Since Durga Puja her health started to collapse and eventually she was admitted in a private hospital in Kolkata and there her health kept on getting worse that led to her passing away.
Ashok Bhattacharya on social media shared the news, writing: “I have lost my life partner who was with me for the past 41 years.” He also added, She had excellent relations with several people, including politicians and sports personalities, many of whom called her kakima.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her condolences.

Many Political Parties along with Gautam Deb, Sankar Malakar and Gangotri Dutta visited Ashok Bhattacharya expressing their grief over Ashok Bhattacharya wife’s death.

Jibesh Sarkar, the CPM district secretary of Darjeeling said, “We will pay homage to her at the district party office and then arrangements would be made for her last rites.”

Bihar Chief Minister was greeted today with the loudest protests by youths over unemployment at a rally in the run up to the October 30 bypoll at Tarapur Assembly segment.
While the Chief Minister accused Opposition parties of engineering the protests, his rival, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), accused him of “losing his mind” when asked about the job issue.
Videos from the poll meeting at Tarapur constituency in Jamui district show youths waving placards with messages asking what happened to the NDA’s promise of 19 lakh jobs made ahead of the state polls last year.
As soon as Jitan Ram Manjhi, Hindustani Awam Morcha chief and former Chief Minister, stepped away from the podium and as Minister Nitish Kumar came up to speak, the group of youths started shouting “Down with Nitish Kumar”.
Speaking to the media, some protesters demanded that the 19 lakh job promise be fulfilled.
The protester slammed the government for not holding exams for recruitment to state police and Group D jobs. The crowd demanded him to quit the Chief Minister post if he fails to provide employment.
Chief Minister Nitin Kumar asked the police officers not to stop the protesters from raising slogans. “Let them shout, don’t bother. These 15-20 people are jumping and shouting, let them do it”.
The Chief Minister further said that the protesters must list their demands and submit to him and he would try his best to address them. Chief Minister Nitin Kumar, “I don’t care who sends whom. I believe in working”, accusing rival parties of sending protesters to the rally venue.

Leader of the Opposition in Assembly and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav hit out at the Chief Minister. He tweeted, “When unemployed youths demanded 19 lakh jobs, Nitish Kumar lost his mind.
Chief Minister Nitin Yadav claimed that the Chief Minister does not leave his official residence, he does not travel by road and also that he has no direct interaction with the public.
“When he has to speak at poll rallies and the youths question him, why does the weak Chief Minister get agitated?”

Indo-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his new cabinet on Tuesday wherein Anita Anand became Canada’s second female Minister of National Defence.
Governor-general Mary May Simon made the ministers swore in during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.
After being praised by Trudeau for her accomplishment in procuring Covid-19 vaccinations for the country, Anand was promoted to the critical defence portfolio. She was the first Hindu to become a cabinet minister when she was appointed minister of Public Services and procurement in 2019.

Since Kim Campbell in the 1990s, she is the first woman to serve as Defence Minister.
Anand, a Tamilian-Punjabi, was appointed Minister of International development and Minister responsible for Pacific economic development Canada, replacing incumbent Harjit Sajjan, who appears to have been demoted. Sajjan’s departure from the Department of Defence that he had held since 2015 was widely expected, given the systemic sexual misconduct crisis that erupted in the Canadian Armed Forces while he was in charge.
In the meantime, outgoing Foreign Minister Marc Garneau has been replaced in the cabinet by Melanie J.
Anand holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Studies from Queen’s University, a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Jurisprudence from the University of Oxford, a Bachelor of Laws from Dalhousie University, and a Master of Laws from the University of Toronto. She was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1994.