‘You should be fired!': GOP Lawmakers explode at Sanctuary cities Governors
Three prominent blue state governors, Tim Walz (Minnesota), Kathy Hochul (New York), and J.B. Pritzker (Illinois), are grilled by House Republicans over their 'sanctuary city' policies over immigration policies, sanctuary designations, and refusal to cooperate with federal deportation efforts.
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Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
BJP govts targeting citizens just because they speak Bengali: Mamata
Amid reports of West Bengal residents being detained by police in Maharashtra on suspicion of being illegal Bangladesh migrants and pushed into the neighbouring country, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday accused the BJP of targeting Bengali-speaking citizens in the states ruled by them. Speaking during the Question Hour in the Assembly, the chief minister, pointing to the Opposition benches occupied by BJP MLAs, said: 'You must be ashamed that you are labelling bona fide Indian citizens as Bangladeshis just because of the language they speak. One should feel proud to speak in Bengali, as well as Gujarati, Marathi, Hindi. If you ask me, I can speak in all these languages.' 'On one hand, you are branding Indians as Bangladeshis for their spoken word, and on the other, you are depriving these people, who hold voter ID, PAN, and Aadhaar cards, of the right to earn their livelihood in your states,' she added. Her remarks triggered an uproar from BJP legislators, who stood up in protest and shouted slogans. However, the chief minister continued speaking and accused the BJP-led Centre of withholding MGNREGA funds for over two years. 'The Central government has illegally stopped Bengal's MGNREGA funds. Even states with double-engine (BJP) governments have faced corruption charges, but their funds haven't been stopped. Only Bengal's legitimate dues have been withheld. This is a corrupt government,' Mamata said. She said that despite the BJP's step-motherly treatment, the state has laid 69,000 km of roads under Pathashree and initiated Awas Yojana with Rs 11,000 crore. 'Bengal has topped road and rural housing project rankings five times in a row,' she added. She claimed that despite the financial crunch, people in the state were getting 50 days of employment on average, and that her government had created 1.5 crore mandays under various schemes. 'While on one hand you deprive the poor people of Bengal, on the other, the procession of deaths in various mishaps continues in your states,' she said. She made the remarks while Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Pradip Majumder was responding to questions. As the chief minister spoke, BJP MLAs, including Shikha Chatterjee and Shankar Ghosh, stood up in protest. Banerjee hit back, saying the protesting MLAs 'lacked the power' to win even a councillor's seat. This prompted more sloganeering from the Opposition benches. Ruckus further escalated when Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya addressed the House. Meanwhile, BJP MLAs tried to bring a motion related to the alleged state school jobs scam, referring to the Supreme Court's recent decision to cancel the entire panel of the SLST-2016. The Speaker rejected the motion, calling it sub-judice, leading to further sloganeering from BJP MLAs. Kumargram MLA Manoj Oraon continued his protest despite repeated warnings from Speaker Biman Banerjee. The Speaker eventually ordered marshals to remove Oraon from the House and later announced his suspension for one day of the monsoon session. Following Oraon's suspension, all the BJP MLAs walked out of the Assembly in protest. With PTI Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal. Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur. He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More
The Hindu
3 hours ago
- The Hindu
BJP MLAs walk out from West Bengal Assembly; one suspended, another cautioned
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators on Monday (June 16, 2025) staged a walkout from the West Bengal Assembly after Speaker Biman Banerjee disallowed an adjournment motion on the 'present state of the education sector in the State, ranging from the SSC (School Service Commission) recruitment row, protests by jobless teachers, and the indefinite hunger strike by terminated candidates'. The adjournment motion was moved by BJP Falakata MLA Dipak Barman and others, who claimed that the issue was of importance, and should be discussed on the floor of the House. 'All we wanted was a threadbare discussion on the unprecedented crisis in the education sector. So many eligible teachers have been rendered unemployed. They are sitting on the streets because of the corruption and irregularities committed by the ruling party leaders and Ministers. Some of whom are already in jail,' Mr. Barman told reporters after the walkout. During the proceedings of the House, BJP MLA Manoj Oraon was suspended for the day for improper conduct during Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's address. The Speaker also 'cautioned' BJP Chief Whip Sankar Ghosh. Under her government, employment opportunities had significantly increased when compared with the previous regime, Ms. Banerjee claimed during Question Hour. She also spoke about the alleged denial of Central funds and accused BJP-ruled State governments of discriminating against Bengali-speaking migrants. During the Chief Minister's speech, BJP MLA Sikha Chatterjee wanted to say something, to which Ms. Banerjee described her as 'a politician rejected in municipal elections having no moral right to ask questions in the House'. 'What if I would have branded her as someone defeated in Nandigram in Assembly polls and still becoming the CM after being elected in a bypoll?' the BJP MLA From Jalpaiguri later told journalists. The Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the State Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, spoke against the suspension of the BJP lawmakers. 'This suspension of the Opposition legislator is not just unfair, but a deliberate attempt by the TMC (Trinamool Congress) to silence the truth by gagging the voice of the Opposition on the floor of the Legislative Assembly,' he said. Mr. Adhikari claimed that the BJP would continue to fight for the rights of teachers, students, and doctors, and every citizen of West Bengal who deserved a corruption-free and transparent government. This is not the first time that an MLA from the Opposition party has been suspended from the House. The LoP has himself faced suspensions over varying periods of time, adding up to almost eight months in the past four years.
The Hindu
5 hours ago
- The Hindu
BJP goverments targeting Bengalis; labelling them Bangladeshi for speaking their tongue: Mamata
Accusing Bharatiya Janata Party governments in different parts of the country of targeting Bengali-speaking citizens, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday that state governments are labelling residents of Bengal with valid documents as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. Addressing the State Assembly, the Chief Minister said that BJP ruled governments are depriving migrant workers of their right to earn a livelihood despite their possessing voter IDs, PAN, and Aadhaar cards. 'Despite having all the legal documents. Bengalis are being pushed into Bangladesh. If anyone speaks Bengali, they become Bangladeshi? This is happening in every state that has double engine governments,' Ms. Banerjee said. Double engine discrimination The Chief Minister had in the past alleged that migrant workers from the State are being targeted in BJP ruled states. On this occasion Ms. Banerjee accused the double engine states of language based discrimination. Her remarks came a day after three residents of West Bengal, working in Mumbai were allegedly forced into Bangladesh by the BSF. The migrant workers, two from Murshidabad and one from Purba Bardhaman, however, were repatriated on Sunday to West Bengal after intervention by the State authorities. The Chief Minister also targeted the West Bengal State BJP president, Sukanta Majumadar, calling him a 'half minister.' Mr. Majumdar is the Minister of State for Education & Development of the North Eastern Region and has been embroiled in a controversy for hurling a poster resembling a pair of slippers towards a police officer during protests near the Chief Minister's residence. 'There is a half-central minister who is in love with slippers. Why don't they (BJP) open slipper shops?' she said without naming anyone. Denial of central funds Ms. Banerjee spoke out on the denial of central funds to the State. She said that the Union Government sent 155 teams to the State looking for corruption and found nothing. She stressed that funds for MGNREGA have been stopped by the Centre and the State Government has subsequently started its own scheme named 'Karmashree,' as part of which it has created 1.5 crore mandays under various schemes. 'Bengal has topped road and rural housing project rankings five times in a row... No one can derail us or stop us from realising our dreams,' the Chief Minister said. Ms. Banerjee also spoke about the political courtesy her party displayed over the Air India plane tragedy in Ahmedabad. 'BJP looted the country and sold it. Even on the day so many died in Gujarat, we didn't speak a word. That's called political courtesy,' Ms. Banerjee said. BJP legislators raised slogans while the Chief Minister was addressing the State Assembly. During proceedings in the House on Monday two BJP legislators were escorted out of the House. The BJP legislator Manoj Oraon was suspended for a day by the Speaker Biman Banerjee for unruly behaviour.
