Amid the growing strain between the Congress Party and its ally the Trinamool Congress over the choice of Pranab Mukherjee as the United Progressive Alliance's presidential candidate, the latter has said it would quit the ruling alliance only if asked to do so.
With A P J Abdul Kalam opting out of the Presidential race on Monday, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, who proposed his name, would take a decision on it.
Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday registered a record number of 46 cases in a day in connection with its probe in the Rs 10,000-crore Saradha chit fund scam naming Trinamool Congress' sitting Rajya Sabha MP Kunal Ghosh as one of the accused.
"I am very excited about joining the TMC. I will work for the development of Bengal," he said.
Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Saturday elevated her nephew and MP Abhishek Banerjee as the party's all-India general secretary, the second-most important post in the organisation, a senior leader in Kolkata said.
Trinamool Congress supporters held demonstrations defying lockdown norms in various places, while Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee offered to court arrest on Monday against the arrest of two West Bengal ministers in the Narada case by the CBI.
The Opposition unity to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party seems to have run into rough weather as the Trinamool Congress and the Congress are at daggers drawn over the recent instances of 'poaching' by the Mamata Banerjee-led camp, with the grand old party finding itself in a tight spot.
Till the statue, made of granite, is completed, a hologram statue of his would be present at the same place.
Bose, who also owns the popular Bengali daily Pratidin, once employed the suspended Trinamool Rajya Sabha member Kunal Ghosh, now behind bars for his alleged role in Saradha affairs, as editor of the newspaper.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Friday held Jharkhand and DVC responsible for the current "man made" flood in the southern part of the state and contended that it was caused due to the unplanned and enhanced discharge of water from dams and barrages in the neighbouring state without information.
The arrest and an alleged attack on TMC workers by unknown persons whom the Trinamool Congress believes to be Bharatiya Janata Party supporters happened barely 24 hours before the Mamata Banerjee-led party's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee is slated to reach Agartala to 'stand beside attacked party workers'.
Hasty, ill-conceived steps show how isolated Mamata Banerjee had been from the national political trend. A fascinating excerpt from Sugato Hazra's Losing The Plot: Political Isolation Of West Bengal.
Shukla in his resignation letter to Banerjee expressed his willingness to "retire" from politics
The division bench said it deemed it appropriate to stay the special court's order and direct that the "accused person shall be treated to be in judicial custody till further orders".
The disrobed body of a 75-year-old woman inmate of an ashram was found on Wednesday at Katwa, in West Bengal, fuelling allegations of a second rape of a senior citizen in West Bengal in a week.
State transport and sports minister Madan Mitra -- whose name has reportedly propped up in CBI investigation in Saradha -- and textile minister Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, who was earlier quizzed by ED in this case, are now at the receiving end of a public snub of the party leadership.
Bengal ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee were taken to the Central Bureau of Investigation office on Monday in connection with the Narada sting operation, officials said.
Imran, a Rajya Sabha MP, reached the agency's office in Salt Lake here and will be questioned about his connections with the defunct group owned by jailed Saradha Chairman Sudipta Sen.
The agency has also called former Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Kunal Ghosh to Shillong on February 10.
The chargesheet had been filed under sections 120b, 409 and 420 of IPC (criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and cheating) and also under sections four and six of Prize, Chit and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act 1978.
Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Srinjoy Bose was on Friday arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation after a marathon interrogation for five hours for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam.
Breaking her silence over the Saradha scam, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she would quit if allegations of her closeness to the ponzi company was proved.
Saradha kingpin Sudipta Sen had alleged in his purported letter to the Central Bureau of Investigation that Kunal Ghosh and TMC Rajya Sabha member Srinjay Bose had blackmailed him, and he was forced to pay hefty amounts to them.
The central agency had prayed for 10 days custody of the accused, but the court granted a week.
'If the chief minister says there are areas in her home state where she cannot enter, where has she driven the state to!'
Barbs were on Saturday traded between Rahul Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee over the Saradha scam in West Bengal which defrauded lakhs, with the Congress vice-president accusing her government of inaction and the chief minister targeting P Chidamabaram.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday slammed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her "political vendetta" charge over action in Saradha scam, saying she is pressing the "panic button" and "rattled" by the possibility that her "own involvement" could come to light.
Dissident Trinamool Congress MP Somen Mitra on Friday said he has decided to leave the party and go back to the Congress, while stating he would resign from his Lok Sabha membership first.
The West Bengal CM's media equation wasn't always this bad. In the run-up to the assembly elections of 2011, she was a clear favourite.
Rajeev Kumar, the Kolkata police commissioner, is known for his impeccable investigating and electronic surveillance skills.
About 17 lakh investors, mostly in West Bengal, who have lost crores of rupees in the Saradha chit fund scam are fast losing hope. The scandal continues to roil West Bengal political circles with several ruling Trinamool Congress leaders being implicated and some arrested. Even West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's name has been dragged into the sordid mess. Indrani Roy presents a FAQ on what the scam is about and the main players behind it.
Former Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh also appeared before the probe agency in Meghalaya.
With the Supreme Court ordering Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar to appear before the Central Bureau of Investigation, the agency will finally be able to question the top cop in cases arising out of the Saradha chit fund scam probe.
The first to arrive at the Salt Lake office of the central probe agency here was the award wining actor and director Sen whose statement was recorded by ED which is probing her role as the Editor of a magazine brought out by the now defunct group.
As Rose Valley resurfaces, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Tapas Pal's arrests marks the end of the bonhomie between the TMC and BJP.
Somen Mitra, the one time pillar of the Trinamool Congress and now Congress candidate from Kolkata North constituency, can't help smiling. The SC's order directing the CBI to probe the Saradha scam is the fruit of his hard and lonely battle. On the day when 17 constituencies in the state go to polls, Mitra speaks to Rediff.com's Indrani Roy about the impact of the Saradha scam on the elections and his relationship with his former party chief.
I am not ruling out possibility of joining Cong again, says Trinamool Congress MP Somen Mitra.
Trinamool Congress's slogan of 'Satatar Pratik' (symbol of honesty) has been challenged by BJP's slogan, 'Gali, gali mein shor hai, Mamata Banerjee chor hai'.
Gopalkrishna Gandhi could only manage 244 votes.
The chief minister skipped meals and remained awake the entire night on a makeshift dais along with some senior ministers and party members.