Saubhadro Chatterji And Rajat Roy

Stories by Saubhadro Chatterji And Rajat Roy

Ruia threatens to shelve reopening of Dunlop unit

Ruia threatens to shelve reopening of Dunlop unit

Rediff.com   16 Oct 2009

The recession-hit company had earlier temporarily shut its plants at both Sahagunj, near Kolkata, and Ambattur, near Chennai. But with the rising demand in the the automobile sector, it was decided to resume production. According to Ruia, the Ambattur plant will resume operation from October 19.

Congress starts to feel the Trinamool heat

Congress starts to feel the Trinamool heat

Rediff.com   16 Oct 2009

When Mamata Banerjee registered strong, vocal and public objections over the proposed Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, it was dismissed by the other allies in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) as another one of her eccentricities.

RSP drops support to Cong-led municipality

RSP drops support to Cong-led municipality

Rediff.com   14 Oct 2009

Cracks appeared in West Bengal's ruling Left Front as the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), one of its constituents, on Tuesday withdrew its support to the Congress-led Siliguri Corporation.

Arun Gawli shines among Mumbai MLAs

Arun Gawli shines among Mumbai MLAs

Rediff.com   10 Oct 2009

Sometimes, it pays to be single. This seems to be the message Arun Gawli's Akhil Bharatiya Sena has given through its performance during the past two years and ahead of the 13th Assembly election in Maharashtra. The gangster-turned-politician's party has not only utilised 100 per cent of the MLA's fund for local area development, but is also the only party to do so.

Congress looks to gain from MNS-Sena crossfire

Congress looks to gain from MNS-Sena crossfire

Rediff.com   10 Oct 2009

From wearing oversized glasses to the oratory style and issues--Raj Thackeray is trying to emulate whatever his uncle Balasaheb Thackery and the Shiv Sena stood for. A perturbed Uddhav Thackeray, his cousin and son of Balasaheb, already called him "a contractor working on commission for the ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combination because he fears that he might be put in a cage like a rat if NCP-Congress comes to power".

At Nashik, Raj steals the thunder

At Nashik, Raj steals the thunder

Rediff.com   9 Oct 2009

A poll update from Maharashtra's Nashik, where Raj Thackeray is on fire

Dhule chants two 'I's -- irrigation and industry

Dhule chants two 'I's -- irrigation and industry

Rediff.com   9 Oct 2009

It is a city where a few of the country's most strategic roads like National Highways 3, 6 and 211 crisscross each other. And for their political inroads, all election candidates in Dhule are chanting two "I"s -- irrigation and industry.

Buddhadeb to meet PM, Chidambaram on Oct 11

Buddhadeb to meet PM, Chidambaram on Oct 11

Rediff.com   8 Oct 2009

In the wake of the joint operation against the Naxalites in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal, the chief minister of West Bengal, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, will meet the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on October 11. On the same day, he will have a separate meeting with the Union home minister P Chidambaram on the joint operation against the extremists in the state. Both the meetings are scheduled to be held in the morning.

Maharashtra: Independents may change poll equation

Maharashtra: Independents may change poll equation

Rediff.com   7 Oct 2009

India's very own "banana republic"--Jalgaon district in northern Maharashtra that produces than 16 per cent of India's bananas and 3 per cent of the world's output--is living up to its name: in the coming assembly elections, it has the highest number of rebel independent candidates who are literally driving their parties bananas!

Maharashtra polls: Cong banks on loan-waivers

Maharashtra polls: Cong banks on loan-waivers

Rediff.com   6 Oct 2009

A poll update from Maharashtra

Mamata blasts Congress on Siliguri episode

Mamata blasts Congress on Siliguri episode

Rediff.com   5 Oct 2009

The rancour of associating with the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist while forming the board of the Siliguri Corporation has now created a major problem for the West Bengal unit of the Congress, as Debaprasad Roy, one of the vice-presidents of the state Congress, has resigned from the post, protesting the Left help sought by his party to gain power in the municipality.

Yavatmal: Poll in the time of suicides

Yavatmal: Poll in the time of suicides

Rediff.com   5 Oct 2009

A poll update from a village in Maharashtra.

Amravati's poll theme: Mere paas maa hai..

Amravati's poll theme: Mere paas maa hai..

Rediff.com   3 Oct 2009

President Pratibha Patil's son is fighting on a Congress ticket against the powerful two-term sitting Member of Legislative Assembly and Maharashtra Finance Minister Sunil Deshmukh, who has quit the party to contest as an independent. A R Rahman made it a part of his Oscar awards acceptance speech. But not many imagined that the politics of Amravati would revolve around Salim-Javed's immortal dialogue in the Hindi blockbuster Deewar: "Mere paas maa hai!"

Bengal's tea gardens: A sad tale of misery

Bengal's tea gardens: A sad tale of misery

Rediff.com   25 Sep 2009

The sorry tale of how the operating managing committees, the state-supported worker committees who were to manage tea estates in West Bengal after their exhausted owners gave up and instead ran these into the ground, while pocketing the money, has been reported in some detail. But, what of the body of workers themselves?

Kathalguri Tea labours under Marxian delusion

Kathalguri Tea labours under Marxian delusion

Rediff.com   24 Sep 2009

The Kathalguri Tea Estate in the Dooars, is now closed. Situated 40 km from Jalpaiguri, on the India-Bhutan border, it was a big garden with more than 1,200 acres of plantation and 1,479 workers. The annual output of the garden used to be 12 million kg of processed tea and sources in the Dooars Branch of the Indian Tea Association say it could have yielded up to 16 million kg of tea if it had been run properly..

Left may co-ordinate with BJP to take on UPA

Left may co-ordinate with BJP to take on UPA

Rediff.com   17 Sep 2009

After voting with sworn political enemy Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against its one-time ally the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) last year, the Left is again considering floor co-ordination with the BJP in Parliament.

Cong-TC wins Siliguri civic polls after 27 years

Cong-TC wins Siliguri civic polls after 27 years

Rediff.com   16 Sep 2009

Trouble deepened for the ruling Left Front in West Bengal as it lost the Siliguri municipality to the Trinamool Congress-Congress combine after 27 years. The Opposition alliance bagged 29 seats of the 47-member board, while one seat went to an independent candidate. The Left Front won 17 seats.

Communists look up to global meet to boost morale

Communists look up to global meet to boost morale

Rediff.com   1 Sep 2009

The meet will be held in Delhi on November 20-22.

CPM, Trinamool in soup as land scam rocks Bengal

CPM, Trinamool in soup as land scam rocks Bengal

Rediff.com   31 Aug 2009

The Vedic Village scandal is now threatening to snowball into a major land scam involving both the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Opposition TMC leaders, who were instrumental into facilitating the land mafias like Gaffar Molla and others to have free hand in forcibly acquiring farm land for a private realtor on the outskirts of the state capital.

UPA takes land Bill off the agenda

UPA takes land Bill off the agenda

Rediff.com   7 Aug 2009

The retraction was preceded by a shouting match between Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Railway Minister Mamata Banerji, who had threatened to walk out of a Cabinet meeting protesting some provisions in the Bill earlier this month.