Buoyed by the formation of governments in Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, the BJP is making a bid to expand its footprints in the region.
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who has so far maintained silence about his expulsion from the Communist Party of India Marxist, is planning to write a letter to party General Secretary Prakash Karat, according to sources.
Hitting back at Lal Kishenchand Advani for levelling charges of incompetence against him, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday asked the Bharatiya Janata Party leader to do some "introspection" over his role when Gujarat was burning and during the Kandahar hijack crisis.
'Mamata did not stand up for those who suffered owing to the chit fund scam, but only stood up for Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar because he has all the knowledge about the chit fund case.'
'Neither the Centre nor the state is helping us, rather they are coming up with new ways to create stumbling blocks for the return of money.'
Asked about US Ambassador India David Mulford's comments that the deal could be finalised under Bush, who is in his final year in office, State Department's deputy spokesman Tom Casey said, "There are internal political considerations in India which have not been resolved yet and it is for the Indian government to do so". The questioner had asked what sort of message Mulford intended to send when the deal is largely though to be on a backburner in the face of opposition.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday criticised the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee led-government in West Bengal for its handling of the situation in Nandigram, and said that she was concerned over the law and order situation in the area. She said that the Congress officer-bearers in the state had complained of repeated torture and atrocities against the people, adding that in a democracy, there was no place for political violence.
The Left Front government in West Bengal will close down two public sector enterprises (PSEs), offload shares in nine PSE to hive them off as joint ventures, retain 13 enterprises and decide on three more using a line of credit from UK's Department for International Development (DFID) worth 23 million pounds.
China's First Automobile Works and Ural India might get the Singur land to set up an automobile manufacturing plant.
The three leaders had at a public meeting on November 17 allegedly derided the court order of the previous day that had also directed the West Bengal government to pay Rs five lakh as compensation to each of the families of the 14 who died in the police action on March 14.
In spite of increasing opposition from the Left Front to the India-United States nuclear agreement, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said that his government is committed to developing nuclear energy as a clean source of electricity."Our government is committed to developing nuclear energy as a clean source of electricity," Singh said after laying the foundation stone of the 1500 MW Pragati Phase three-gas power project at Bawana.
Mamata Banerjee flayed the ruling Left Front government in West Bengal for failing to bring those 'guilty' in last year's violence in Nandigram to justice. She called on the people of West Bengal to observe March 14 as 'martyrs' day'. She also said that her party would hold a rally in Kolkata to pay tribute to the 'martyrs of Nandigram'.
In a determined voice, she told rediff.com, "I beckon the people of the state and voluntary organisations to launch a well-concerted protest to counter the injustice meted out to the people of Nandigram. We cannot just sit idle and let a government destroy a state."
An image of Pratibha Patil in Hyderabad as part of her campaign.
The nuclear pact is not an issue any longer, it can still serve as an excuse for calling a general election before it is due.
The apex court said banning entry of women to Kerala's Sabrimala temple is gender discrimination and the practice violates rights of Hindu women.
Signaling its keenness to create a third alternative along with the United National Progressive Alliance, the Left Front on Thursday announced that they will coordinate with the alliance against the government over the India-United States nuclear agreement and other issues. The Left, which provides crucial outside support to the ruling United Progressive Alliance, dropped hints of its intention to stitch a non-Congress and non-BJP alliance.
Khardah is no ordinary constituency. It is the electoral battleground of two economists-turned-finance ministers.
The West Bengal government will not appeal against the Calcutta High Court directive for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the mysterious death of computer graphics teacher Rizwanur Rehman. The state government will also take apppropriate action against those senior police officials who are found guilty in the probe, Left Front chairman Biman Bose said on Wednesday.
The ruling Left Front constituents and opposition parties in West Bengal on Tuesday hailed the Calcutta High Court order directing the Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate the death of Rizwanur Rehman, who married the daughter of a Hindu industrialist.
The fourth meeting of the United Progressive Alliance and Left Front's joint committee to resolve concerns about the Indo-US nuclear deal ended on a lukewarm note on Tuesday. The committee is scheduled to meet again on October 22. "The fourth meeting of the UPA-Left Committee on the India-United States civil nuclear cooperation was held today. All members of the committee took part in the meeting, which was held in a cordial atmosphere," Pranab Mukherjee said.
Four Forward Bloc supporters were killed and 12 policemen injured in Dinhata in Coochbehar district on Tuesday, when a district agitation programme organised by the party turned violent. The activists clashed with the police, which opened fire to quell the mob, after tear gas and baton charging proved ineffective.
Four people, three belonging to RSP and one to CPI-M, died in poll-related violence at Basanti in South 24 Parganas district and another was killed at Domjur in Howrah district, IG (Law & Order) Raj Kanojia told media persons in Kolkata.
Nandigram today is a conglomeration of model villages fenced by its greenery.
India will have to request the NSG to relax its restrictions on the transfer of nuclear technology and fuel.
A meeting of the United Progressive Alliance leaders with the Left Front leaders is expected after April 23, in which a number of matters including the Supreme Court verdict on the Other Backward Classes quota issue, are likely to come up. This would be the first UPA-Left meeting after the apex court judgment, which has seen division in the ruling alliance on the creamy layer issue.The meeting could also be an occasion for consultations over the Women's Reservation Bill.
For the 2019 polls, the BJP chief deployed over 7,000 leaders to oversee the work of polling committees on the over 400 seats the BJP contested. These committees were asked to focus on 120 seats the party had lost in 2014, but believed it could win in 2019.
All shops and markets remained closed in both east and west Midnapur district.
Communist Party of India-Marxist patriarch Jyoti Basu turned 95 on Tuesday, with a wish to see the Left Front government in West Bengal on its eight consecutive term.
When Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee became chief minister after Jyoti Basu stepped down in 2000, the younger generation could not have been happier. 'Change is about to set in' they thought. But the euphoria was short-lived.
According to the statement, "For the past few months, the administration and the police have been out of the area which has been utilised by the armed elements led by the Maoists to entrench themselves. Bunkers have been built and landmines laid."
Elections to the 60-member assembly in Tripura began on Saturday morning with the Left Front, which has been in power since 1978 save for a short spell in 1988, contesting for the first time without ally Forward Bloc, which has quit the coalition.
"It is necessary to put up a show of solidarity and contest the elections jointly in Gujarat and bring down the Narendra Modi government. Hence, the Left parties will give the Centre time till Diwali to announce its decision about the Indo-US nuclear deal, whether it wants to terminate the agreement or face the elections," said a senior Left leader.
The Communist Party of India Marxist Politburo has decided to meet in New Delhi soon to take an 'appropriate decision' if the talks between the Left Front and the United Progressive Alliance fail to end the logjam over the India-United States nuclear agreement.The party central committee, in its meeting in Kolkata last week, had authorised the politburo to take a final decision if the UPA government went ahead with the operationalisation of the nuclear deal.
The Left Front on Sunday took strong exception to United Progressive Chairperson Sonia Gandhi's comments against those opposing the India-United States civilian nuclear agreement and alleged that the Congress was forcing elections on the country. "The Congress is going to an election mode. It is the Congress which will be responsible if the governments falls and an election is imposed on the country," Communist Party of India leader A B Bardhan said.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Wednesday accused the UPA government of accepting the "diktats" of the Bush administration of which the nuclear agreement "was a part."
Banerjee said she was doing so after consulting leaders of major opposition parties and following 'a favourable court order'.
Putting forward its point of view in the key matter, the Congress has also denied that the 123 agreement will in any way hamper India's right to conduct nuclear tests.
The Congress-led government was caught napping over the Left Front's opposition to the India-United States nuclear agreement, feels B J Panda, a member of the Rajya Sabha.
"The protest by the Left is a reflection of their ideology. It is inappropriate," Nath said in Chhindwara, his Lok Sabha constituency.
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