West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday assured her counterpart from Delhi Arvind Kejriwal, that her party would support him in his fight against the central ordinance to control appointments and transfer of bureaucrats.
TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee had addressed a public meeting in Kolkata on March 29.
Refusing to attach much importance to the series of defections plaguing the saffron camp in the last few months, Majumdar said those committed to the ideology and cause can never leave the party.
Polling began at 7 am on Saturday for 44 seats in the fourth phase of the West Bengal assembly elections amid tight security, officials said.
He hinted the decision was partly due to losing the ministerial berth and also differences with the state BJP leadership.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee are among the star campaigners of the party for the October 30 bypolls to four Assembly seats in the state, but interestingly, the names of actor-turned-MP Nusrat Jahan and former BJP leader Babul Supriyo, who recently joined the TMC camp do not feature in the list.
Addressing a gathering in Basirhat, Khan said: "The intellectual persons who are being paid by the state government and are not supporting this (the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens) are the dogs of Trinamool."
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday arrested senior Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal from his residence in Bolpur for allegedly not cooperating in its probe into a cattle smuggling case, an official said.
"We respect the President of India. She is a highly respected lady. We condemn the statement made by minister of state Akhil Giri; what he said is wrong. The party has already condemned the statement and has also cautioned Akhil Giri," the CM said at a press conference at the state secretariat.
According to a schedule of her five-day visit provided by her Trinamool Congress, Banerjee is slated to meet Modi at 4 pm on Tuesday.
The Election Commission has barred Banerjee from campaigning for 24 hours from Monday 8 pm for her remarks against central forces and a statement which had alleged religious overtones.
Amid the ongoing debate over the Trinamool Congress seeking removal of Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta over his alleged meeting with West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari, TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh on Tuesday dropped unannounced at Mehta's residence, but was denied entry.
Roy said he would wait to see the municipal poll results in Bengal. According to sources close to him, the term 'farewell' doesn't mean that he is leaving the party.
4 EVMs and a similar number of VVPATs were found at the house of a TMC leader in West Bengal's Howrah district, following which a poll official was suspended.
The Trinamool Congress on Monday lost five more sitting MLAs and the control of the Malda Zilla Parishad to the Bharatiya Janata Party as defections continued to rock West Bengal's ruling party ahead of the assembly polls.
A veritable political `storm in a tea cup' has arisen over Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee's assertions on Wednesday that all in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh were "not bad" and there are many who "do not support the BJP".
He also accused the TMC government of politicising the administration and criminalising the police.
'We don't know when the BJP tried to induct Sourav Ganguly into the party. Sourav Ganguly is a cricketing legend. Some people are now shedding crocodile tears about the changes in BCCI. Did they have any role when he took over as BCCI president? The TMC should stop politicising every issue.'
As soon as the Zero Hour began, several BJP MPs showed placards and raised slogans against the West Bengal government, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Bharatiya Janata Party's West Bengal unit president Dilip Ghosh said on Sunday that his party would "restore democracy" in the state if voted to power, warning Trinamool Congress cadres to mend their ways or they will have to either visit hospital or crematorium.
Eleven people died during a havan at Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal temple in Madhya Pradesh's Indore after they fell into a well as its cover caved-in under the weight of a huge crowd, while three others got fatally electrocuted during a Ram Navami procession in Rajasthan's Kota.
The union minister went to the residence of Sanatan Singh at Balijhuri and had lunch there, sitting on the floor of the thatched house.
"If municipal elections can take place in Hyderabad and Assam, why not here. The situation is worse than Kashmir and is similar to that of Iran and Iraq. Didi (Mamata Banerjee) has proved that West Bengal's law and order is not conducive to go for polls," he said while addressing a party meeting in Kolkata.
West Bengal BJP chief claimed that there are two crore "Muslim infiltrators" in the country.
The state government, however, has not sent any report as sought by the Union home ministry on "serious security lapses" during Nadda's two-day visit to West Bengal.
The party also announced the names of Milan Ghosh and Sujit Das for Samserganj and Jangipur seats respectively.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday took a dig at Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar's New Delhi visit as she said a 'child can be cajoled into silence' but not an elderly man, noting that she has thrice written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withdraw him from the state.
Speculations were rife that the former batting great will join the BJP ahead of the state assembly elections.
'Being a woman chief minister we certainly expect from her some decency that goes well with the culture and tradition of Bengal, and with the values of a Bengali woman'
A Kolkata lawyer has filed separate complaints with the city police and the state Women's Commission seeking investigation into senior BJP leader Tathagata Roy's claim of use of "women and money" by some leaders of his own party in the West Bengal assembly elections.
Sources said the reshuffle will also aim at an image makeover for the party hit by school jobs scam probe.
The 69-year-old leader, who is in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate, was taken to ESI hospital at Joka on the southern outskirts of Kolkata for a medical-check up during the day.
One of the high-profile contests in the high-stakes Bengal polls is likely to be a direct fight between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her former confidant and now BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram seat.
The central election committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party will meet on Thursday to finalise its first list of candidates for five assembly polls, with top party leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expected to attend the meeting.
A delegation of Trinamool Congress leaders on Wednesday met Election Commission officials here and alleged that the use of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photo on advertisements of various central schemes and the COVID vaccination certificates, distributed by the Union health ministry, violated the model code of conduct.
After the police rescinded its permission to hold the rally in front of Rabindra Shatabarshiki Bhawan (Tagore Centenary Hall) in Agartala on Sunday and asked for the meeting venue to be shifted, the TMC filed an urgent case before the high court.
Roads around the 19th century iconic Howrah Station resembled a battleground on Tuesday, with brickbats aimed at police personnel flying thick and fast, and drenched protesters hit by water cannons limping to the safety of nearby alleyways and shops.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday came down heavily on the Centre for alleged "politically motivated" questions asked at the CAPF (central armed police force) recruitment examination and said it proved that BJP has politicised the central forces to serve its political interests.
Among the names being mentioned for inclusion as ministers are Tejasvi Surya, the 29-year-old MP from Bangalore South, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, the 35-year-old MP from Ladakh, Locket Chatterjee, the 45-year old MP from Hooghly, and Dilip Ghosh, MP from West Medinipur and president of the BJP's West Bengal unit.
Chatterjee, who was the state education minister when the scam took place, was arrested after around 26 hours of grilling in connection with the probe.
