The organisation established its electoral presence post-Independence in states such as Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Assam, with West Bengal being its main stronghold, but eight decades down the line, the party, now limited to just some pockets of the country, has no MP or MLA in its kitty.
Former West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar's subsequent elevation set a new benchmark for the actions of those who occupy Raj Bhavans, observes Aditi Phadnis.
'Mamata has used minorities only as her vote bank.' 'In her entire election campaign Mamata did not utter a single sentence against the RSS.'
Nine MLAs, including Babul Supriyo, took oath as ministers in West Bengal on Wednesday, in a major reshuffle of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's cabinet.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has ruled Gujarat for 27 years, is trying to retain power in the state for the seventh term in a row.
On Wednesday, Bengal's own daughter she firmly pitched herself as, was sworn in as the chief minister of the turbulent state for the third successive term amid raging fires of political violence and a rampaging pandemic.
Family members of Bhadu Sheikh, the TMC panchayat leader whose killing on Monday is suspected to have sparked off the attack with petrol bombs on some 10 houses in Bogtui village on the outskirts of Rampurhat town, claimed that Sheikh's sons were among those arrested.
He also rejected queries on whether a "cleansing act" was going on in the universities.
Didi will skip the meeting in protest against the violence unleashed in Bengal allegedly by Left Front and Congress workers during a trade union strike. She slammed the 'double standards' of the Congress and the Left.
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".
It was a high-stakes three-cornered fight between the BJP, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party.
The ruling BJP won three assembly seats and the Congress bagged one in the high-stakes by-elections in Tripura on Sunday, officials said.
'Earlier, a lot of fear was in the minds of people that the BJP is anti-Christian and anti-minority, but over the years people have learnt to accept that the BJP is just another national party.'
Banerjee, who is pitted against former lieutenant and Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram seat, said that farmers are the pride of West Bengal and the state government is working tirelessly for their development.
Amid demands for a separate state carved out of Bengal by some Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday asserted that she is ready to shed her own blood, if need be, to thwart attempts to divide the state.
Additional district and sessions judge Rajitha TH had on May 12 held the 25 accused guilty of the murder of Nooruddin and Hamsa, who were members of the AP Sunni party, a supporter of the Left front.
The Congress on Thursday secured a seat in the present Bengal assembly as its candidate Bayron Biswas won the Sagardighi bypoll, defeating the nearest rival of the Trinamool Congress by 22,980 votes.
West Bengal, which is governed by the Trinamool Congress, became the second state after Congress-ruled Punjab, where such a resolution has been tabled and passed.
Banerjee slammed the opposition for a "malicious campaign" launched against her, asserting that she does not support corruption.
Mamata Banerjee thanked people for casting their votes in favour of the TMC.
'What did we get out of this agitation? Nothing... Now we feel it was all a mistake. We have no work, and our land has turned infertile. We are living in abject poverty'
Thirteen years after their small car project was forced out of West Bengal following the anti-land acquisition movement in Singur, Industry and IT Minister Partha Chatterjee has said talks are on with the Tatas for big-ticket investments in the state. Underscoring job creation as the TMC government's top priority, Chatterjee also said incentives to companies will depend on ability to generate employment. He said the Mamata Banerjee dispensation wants two large manufacturing units to be set up by any prominent industrial house at the earliest. "We never had any enmity with the Tatas, neither we fought against them. "They are one of the most respected and biggest business houses of this country and also abroad. "You can't blame the Tatas (for the Singur fiasco).
Polls to 108 municipalities of West Bengal will be held on February 27, the State Election Commission said in its notification on Thursday, setting the stage for yet another contest for the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, nine months after the assembly polls.
While the TMC was able to maintain its hold on the southern and coastal parts of the state, the BJP is doing well in the northern and western parts of the state, all predominantly tribal areas.
The BJP on Sunday congratulated Mamata Banerjee and TMC for winning the West Bengal assembly election for the third successive term and assured that the saffron party will work as a constructive opposition.
A special cabinet which met in the afternoon decided to recommend Governor Arif Mohammed Khan to issue an ordinance to repeal Section 118-A which got his assent on Saturday.
Tribals constitute 7-8 per cent of the state's population, and are a deciding factor in 47 assembly seats and seven Lok Sabha constituencies spread across the Junglemahal districts of Purulia, Paschim Medinipur, Bankura and Jhargram in southern Bengal and Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar in the north.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday said the violence during the Popular Front of India (PFI)-sponsored hartal in his state was 'pre-meditated' and assured strict action against the culprits while his Assam counterpart Hemanta Biswas Sarma batted for banning the Islamist outfit, whom the National Investigation Agency (NIA) accused of encouraging youth to join terrorist groups including the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
Addressing a rally in Bankura district, she described the BJP as a "party of outsiders", and alleged that it is bringing "goondas to create terror" in the state.
With a substantially weakened Left Front and the Congress, political observers say the anti-Trinamool vote will go to the BJP.
The Bharatiya Janata Party was on Thursday poised for a landslide victory in Gujarat to retain power for a record seventh straight term but was behind the Congress in Himachal Pradesh which could go with the trend of alternative governments in the hill state.
Mamata Banerjee had founded the party in 1998 after breaking away from the Congress, and has headed it ever since.
Aditi Phadnis predicts frequent stand-offs between the Centre and states in the future.
Hailing Banerjee as the "real Bengal tigress", the party, which had earlier said that it would join the electoral battle in the state, vowed to "stand in solidarity" with the TMC camp.
Dhankhar in his strongly worded two-page letter dated January 18 said that this was the 'last opportunity' given to him to provide his response in the matter.
Though the mandate is seen largely an outcome of Banerjee's welfare schemes, she has promised to industrialise at a faster pace, or so read the manifesto.
It's a political gambit aimed at the BJP's Suvendu Adhikari who won the seat in 2016 as a TMC candidate, while also retroceding to the land movement that catapulted her to power.
Though the BJP is running too close for comfort, populist schemes and support among Muslims may help Mamata Banerjee overcome the challenge, observes Aditi Phadnis.
TMC's campaign in the seat in south Kolkata is already underway with the Election Commission announcing the by-poll on Saturday, following a request from the state government to avoid a constitutional crisis.
Counting of votes for the bypolls in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand will be taken up on Sunday.
