The West Bengal chief minister did not have anything new to offer to Singur and its people, except that the site would be used for an industrial project.
Eight ministers were on Sunday dropped from the list of contestants for the West Bengal assembly polls, with the Left Front announcing 149 new candidates, apparently to counter anti-incumbency. Assembly Speaker H A Halim will not contest the elections to the 294-member House, beginning April 18, on health grounds.As per the list, finalised at a meeting of the Left Front, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has been re-nominated from Jadavpur seat.
We are asking you, our dear readers, to help the Trinamool chief in her new and challenging job. What, according to you, are the five immediate steps that Banerjee needs to take after she takes over the mantle of Bengal's chief minister?
There will be 2,364 counting halls as compared to 1,002 halls in 2016 in 822 assemble constituencies, a more than 200 percent increase, in view of the COVID guidelines, according to the Election Commission which had drawn flak from the courts over the conduct of polls during the pandemic.
Though several exit polls have painted a dismal picture about the electoral fate of the Left Front in West Bengal and Kerala -- two states ruled by the Communist Party of India - Marxist led combine -- the top brass of the party is putting up a brave front. Top Left Front leaders have claimed that the party will retain power in both states despite heavy odds. The United Democratic Front in Kerala, led by the Congress, is locked in a bitter battle with the Left parties.
'With sufficient gaps between polling dates, the BJP will have time to convert the 'fence-sitter' votes,' observes Payal Mohanka.
Shifting positions on religiosity and Covid may confuse the Hindutva citizenry, but you can rely on Bengal to turn a non-arguable issue into a raging controversy, notes Kanika Datta.
The Congress-led UPA government was a sinking ship and would not return to power while the Left would face further rejection by the people, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday.
Ironically, the BJP, which seeks to unseat the TMC from power, has taken a leaf out of Mamata Banerjee's strategy of soliciting tinsel town's support towards causes and fielding actors in elections.
Adhikari, the face of the Nandigram movement that catapulated Mamata Bannerjee to power in 2011, sent his resignation letter to the chief minister by fax, which he then forwarded to Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar by e-mail.
'Hira' means, he said, "H for highway, I for Internet way, R for roadways and A for airways".
As the West Bengal chief minister was busy containing the fallout of an internecine feud in her TMC following a rebellion by a redoubtable Suvendu Adhikari, the Centre shot off a fresh letter to her government to immediately relieve three IPS officers for central deputation.
The LDF was also leading in 10 out of the 14 district panchayats and 108 block panchayats of the total of 152, according to the State Election Commission figures.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said on Friday that she was against imposition of President's rule in West Bengal but reiterated her demand for advancing the May 2011 assembly elections.
With her trademark cotton sari and rubber slippers and her generous doles in rural Bengal, many describe Mamata Banerjee as "ultra left."
The embattled Left Front has done one more volte face by deciding to regularise hawkers in Kolkata's busiest streets.
Facing a stiff challenge to stem the decline of the Left Front in West Bengal, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Monday asserted that the alternative to the Left's rule was anarchy and asked supporters not to be demoralised by the success of the opposition."Change for what, anarchy? West Bengal is in no mood to fall behind. We want to move ahead in agriculture, industry, education, health, human development. Is there any substitute to it," Bhattacharjee said.
The spectre of Singur and now its verdict is looming large on the future of many of Bengal's projects, especially the state government's industrial parks that are vacant. As many more episodes await, the question uppermost on everyone's minds is, how long will Singur haunt Bengal?
Here's how the prominent leaders in the fray in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland performed.
'We should let the dust settle and see how the political equation unfolds in Assam'
The results of the 10 assembly by-elections in West Bengal once again proved that the people wanted the Trinamool Congress-Congress alliance and the ruling Left Front was losing popularity, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Kolkata on Wednesday.
While Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan questioned 'the haste shown' in reopening the temples, state Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran said the decision was only in line with the Centre's guidelines in allowing places of worship to permit entry of devotees.
A quick look at the 66-year-old leader's political journey in the mid-1970s shows how injuries and physical assaults have shaped her political career over the years.
A blood-soaked Nandigram made Mamata Banerjee what she is today and underpins the hopes of the combustible West Bengal leader of clinching a third straight term in office.
'They have a voracious appetite.' 'But there are many places where they go and they lose.'
In a candid conversation Indrani Mitra, educationist Sunanda Sanyal explains why many intellectuals like him are disillusioned with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Angered by Congress joining hands with the Left in Siliguri, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused its ally of 'breach of trust' in the mayoral elections there and claimed that 'money game' was involved in it.
Cracks in the ruling Left Front widened on Thursday on the issue of advancing of 2011 Assembly elections in West Bengal as demanded by a minor partner following repeated electoral reverses, with major allies saying the issue should be discussed and lead partner Communist Party of India-Marxist virtually rejecting the idea.
Trinamool, BSP consolidate their positions in the bypolls; Left routed
'Gandhi could have chosen to contest from some other constituency where the BJP was strong -- Karnataka or some other state'
Mirza was produced before a special CBI court in Kolkata, which remanded him in the central probe agency's custody till September 30.
Hours after a three-member central team began the exercise to assess law and order in West Bengal, the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led ruling Left Front on Tuesday dared the Centre to invoke Article 356 in the state and said it was ready to accept the challenge.
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.
With recovery of a huge quantity of arms and ammunition recently from houses of some CPI(M) leaders at Khejuri in East Midnapore district, Railway minister Mamata Banerjee today suggested involvement of central agencies in combing operations and accused the Left Front government of using the police for partisan ends.
Political economist Jayanta Roy Chowdhury analyses the 2016 West Bengal assembly election results.
The counting of votes for the politically senstive Nandigram assembly by-election started on Friday amidst tight security, official sources said.
Day 1 of the relaxations saw scores of people hitting the roads in their four wheeelers and two wheelers in various parts of the state, including coronavirus hotspots, and there was confusion galore over the easing of nroms.
Will appeasement, rising unemployment and her dictatorial style become major obstacles in her path? asks Payal Singh Mohanka.
Buddha countermands Forward Bloc's rejection of German wholesaler's permit.
Fourteen persons were killed in the firing on a demonstration against land acquisition on March 14, leading to a nationwide outrage and the Calcutta high court 'suo motu' ordering a CBI investigation.
