West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP of sabotaging her helicopter ride to Bongaon, alleging political conspiracy. She claims the cancellation forced her to travel by road, allowing her to connect with more people. Banerjee also addressed concerns over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
A family feud within the politically influential Matua community has erupted between Union minister Shantanu Thakur and his brother, BJP MLA Subrata Thakur, creating ripples in West Bengal's political landscape and posing a challenge for the BJP ahead of upcoming elections.
Amateur Ham Radio operators have picked up suspicious late-night radio signals in coded Bengali, Urdu and Arabic along the Indo-Bangladesh border in South Bengal over the last two months, raising concerns about possible extremist activities. The signals, which have been detected between 1 AM and 3 AM, are unusual in their pattern and language usage, according to Ham radio operators, who have reported the matter to authorities. The development comes amidst ongoing unrest in Bangladesh and growing anti-India rhetoric in the neighbouring country. Security agencies are investigating the matter, and the Border Security Force (BSF) has acknowledged the seriousness of the situation.
Ankit Chatterjee, a 15-year-old left-handed batsman, made his Ranji Trophy debut for Bengal, becoming the youngest cricketer from the state to do so.
Trade between India and Bangladesh via land ports came to a standstill on Sunday as there was no movement of cargo trucks to and fro due to the ongoing student protests in the neighbouring country, officials said. The Bangladeshi side of the Petrapole landport remained non-functional, they said. Nearly one-third of land-based trade between India and Bangladesh takes place through Petrapole.
Former Bongaon Municipality chairman Shankar Adhya was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on Saturday midnight in connection with an alleged ration scam case.
In a setback to the West Bengal government, the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed its plea challenging a Calcutta high court order transferring to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) the probe into the January 5 attack on an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team in Sandeshkhali, allegedly by supporters of the now suspended TMC local strongman Shahjahan Sheikh.
Daily life was partially affected in West Bengal on Wednesday due to a 12-hour shutdown called by the Bharatiya Janata Party, protesting the police action against demonstrators during a march to the state secretariat.
When I asked Krishna Gopal Sengupta, who had travelled through Bangladesh from Chittagong to Petrapole if the interim government had made any impact at ground level, he said, "it's been only a couple of days. They will need some time." Shyam G Menon reports from Petrapole, India's entry point with Bangladesh.
Over 60 per cent voter turnout was recorded on Monday in 49 constituencies in six states and two Union territories in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections, with Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir recording its highest-ever voting percentage.
The home ministry also asked the state government to send details of the action taken following the attacks on the central probe agency teams, the sources said.
Counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections has begun across states and Union Territories, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar told PTI.
'We are pleased to announce the candidature of @sagarikaghose, @SushmitaDevAITC, @MdNadimulHaque6 and Mamata Bala Thakur for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections,' the party said in a tweet.
BJP heavyweights Smriti Irani, Arjun Munda, Ajay Mishra Teni and Kailash Chaudhary were among the 13 Union ministers who tasted defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, as stunning losses in three Hindi heartland states forced the BJP to rely on allies to form the government.
Meanwhile, ED officers faced resistance again during the arrest of TMC leader and former Bongaon Municipality chairman Shankar Adhya on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.
Cricketer Yusuf Pathan will contest from the Baharampur Lok Sabha seat, whereas Kirti Aazd will fight from the Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency.
Trinamool Congress on Monday carried out a major organisational reshuffle in the party and inducted several new faces, including some ministers with thrust on toning up the party ahead of next year's crucial panchayat polls.
The CAA, enacted by the BJP-led government at the Centre in 2019, aims at granting Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians, from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014.
A graduate by education, Santanu, the eldest son of former Trinamool Congress minister Manjul Krishna Thakur, was more into the development of the Matuas through various social services run by the Thakurbari in Thakurnagar and was never into politics.
A Trinamool Congress legislator on Sunday threatened to not support any bill tabled by the government in the West Bengal Assembly in the future and abstain from voting in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls in the state if 'atrocities' on his loyalists allegedly by a rival faction continued, even as the Bharatiya Janata Party said the collapse of the Mamata Banerjee government was just a matter of time.
CV Ananda Bose on Wednesday took oath as the new governor of West Bengal.
Violence had rocked West Bengal's rural polls on Saturday, leaving 15 people dead while ballot boxes were vandalised, ballot papers torched, and bombs thrown at rivals in several places.
While the Bongaon municipality accommodates 1,200 trucks, the rest are at the mercy of private parking lots, where contractors charge an upfront fee of about Rs 4,000 per day.
BJP national president, J P Nadda during his recent visit to the state had said that rules for implementation of the Act are being framed. CAA will be implemented in letter and spirit after it.
Wednesday's expansion shows that Modi still has a keen eye on Bengal. The BJP is gearing up for the panchayat elections in Bengal next May and the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
The bypolls are considered to be important ahead of the assembly elections in 2016.
L Murugan, 44, is the only newly-sworn minister who is not a member of Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha.
Picketeers blocked rail traffic at several places in the Sealdah-Ranaghat, Sealdah-Bongaon and Sealdah-Barasat section for several hours.
A 28-year-old Bangladeshi, one of the main accused in the sexual assault of a septuagenarian nun at a Ranaghat convent school, has been arrested from Sealdah railway station in Kolkata.
The bypolls for four seats were conducted on September 16.
Over 1.03 crore voters will decide the political fate of 306 candidates in this phase.
Five of the slain rebels were in uniform and had torches in their hands, police said.
Paul, who was in Mumbai to visit his daughter, complained of chest pain at the Mumbai airport during his return to Kolkata and was rushed to a hospital in Juhu but died around 4 am, they said.
At least four militants belonging to two rebel groups were killed in Assam in two separate encounters with security forces on Wednesday morning.
Schools, shops, markets and business establishments remained shut in and around Baduria, including Keosha market, Banshtala, Ramchandrapur and Tentulia, where prohibitory orders are in force.
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Blasting the Communist Party of India-Marxist for allegedly joining hands with Maoists to kill her in their bid to return to power, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday also charged the Marxists for being hand-in-glove with Congress and BJP in plotting against her.
The ISI network of spies has been operating in India for over a decade.
Many anticipate that by the 2021 assembly elections in West Bengal, the BJP may come to power, says Mohammad Sajjad.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Saturday carried out a major reshuffle in the party set-up
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