Scenes from the election campaign in New Delhi, Mainpuri, Bardhaman, Srinagar, Etah, Mumbai and Puri.
The 17th Lok Sabha, which was dissolved on June 5, did not have a deputy speaker for its full term, and it was the second consecutive term of the lower house without an LoP.
Noor, niece of Congress stalwart A B A Ghani Khan Choudhury, have quite often been taking stands which were not in line with that of the party's state leadership.
'These include economic prosperity, a promising future for youth, empowerment for women, a thriving society, robust healthcare, quality education, elevated living standards, agricultural prosperity, and robust social security coupled with effective governance.'
Earlier, the party's members of Parliament had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for removing Mehta over his reported meeting with West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari.
In an interview with PTI, Roy praised the Union government for implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rules, stating that it would benefit the refugee population, including the Matua community, who had fled neighbouring countries to escape religious persecution.
Trinamool Congress leadership is yet to take a call on ghar wapsi (return home) by former TMC leaders who had joined the BJP ahead of the recently concluded assembly elections which the Mamata Banerjee-led party swept.
Among the keenly watched contests are those involving former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav (Kannauj, UP) and Union ministers Giriraj Singh (Begusarai, Bihar), Nityanand Rai (Ujiarpur, Bihar) and Raosaheb Danve (Jalna, Maharashtra).
A delegation of the NCSC had visited Sandeshkhali on Thursday after a large number of women claimed that TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh and his supporters captured swathes of land by force and also sexually harassed them.
The TMC leader's assertion comes immediately after the Calcutta high court clarified that there is no stay on the arrest of Shajahan.
Most of the complainants claimed that Shajahan was actively involved in the forcible acquisition of their land and torturing of local women, the police officer said.
The Lok Sabha's Ethics Committee will hold its first meeting on Thursday on the allegations against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, with Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentarian and the complainant Nishikant Dubey and advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai scheduled to record their statements.
A number of high-profile electoral battles, starring veterans and debutants, formidable opponents and unlikely contestants, feature in Tuesday's outcome.
The comment comes two days after state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said his party won't beg for seats from the TMC.
From steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal to billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal's Airtel, Anil Agarwal's Vedanta, ITC, Mahindra and Mahindra, and a lesser-known Future Gaming and Hotel Services were among the prominent buyers of the now-scrapped electoral bonds for making political donations.
The police on Friday claimed to have arrested 'a local Bharatiya Janata Party leader' along with 10 others on charges of running a sex racket in a hotel in West Bengal's Howrah district, while the state's main opposition party denied any association with the accused individuals.
Three people were also injured in the incident and are undergoing treatment, a police officer said. The BJP denied the charges and said their members were in no way connected to the incident.
Widespread violence between supporters of the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party over alleged electoral malpractices in strife-torn Sandeshkhali marred the final phase of Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal on Saturday, resulting in injuries to a number of people.
Struggling to gain political traction on issues of corruption, the West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party is shifting its focus to emotive topics such as the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in a bid to achieve its target of securing 35 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats from the state.
After meeting party leaders in the area, Majumdar went straight to Sandeshkhali police station and later started a sit-in outside it.
Besides Baksh Molla, the CBI also arrested Jaiuddin Molla, the Panchayat Pradhan of Sarberia village, and another person Faruk Akunji.
Clashes broke out between Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party supporters in West Bengal's Cooch Behar district after a public meeting addressed by Union Minister of State for Home Nisith Paramanik got over and a rally led by state minister Udayan Guha was about to begin nearby.
Exigencies of electoral politics and individual ambitions often stoke family feuds and sibling rivalries.
'This nation depends on the Union government for its safety, security and their development, but look at the state of affairs
Stating that the court has 'no sympathy' for Trinamool Congress leader Shajahan Sheikh, the Calcutta high court on Thursday asked his lawyer to appear before it on March 4 when a suo motu motion on alleged sexual atrocities and land grabbing of tribal people at Sandeshkhali will be heard.
There is a view that heavyweight portfolios like home, finance, defence and external affairs besides education and culture, two ministries with strong ideological hues, will be kept by the BJP, while its allies can get anywhere between five to eight cabinet berths.
Counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections has begun across states and Union Territories, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar told PTI.
'The time has come for all those believe in a democratic India to stand up and be counted and to make a choice.'
Dehadrai, who was once close to Moitra, had levelled serious corruption allegations against the former MP which were strongly refuted by her, they said.
Patra, who is yet to join the BJP officially, was fielded from Basirhat Lok Sabha seat.
Cricket climate change to medical practice, dropped candidates have their non-political life sorted.
The three frenetic weeks of the Parliament's Winter session saw a security breach in the Lok Sabha, suspension of 146 MPs and the expulsion of Trinamool Congress member Mahua Moitra in the "bribe-for-query" case.
In a major setback to the opposition INDIA bloc, Banerjee announced that her party has decided to go alone in the state in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Future Gaming of lottery king Santiago Martin was the biggest purchaser of electoral bonds at Rs 1,368 crore, of which nearly 37 percent went to the DMK.
The parties which gave chief ministers and sent scores of MPs to Parliament, drew a blank this time.
A team of NIA officials earlier this morning arrested two persons in connection with the case and were on their way back to Kolkata, when the vehicle came under attack, they said.
Rajnath said the opposition parties were trying to cover up their own "mistakes and weaknesses".
'Episodes of targeted attacks on Muslims established that for a section of people and, sadly, even officials of the State, the election results conveyed no lessons.' 'Opposition parties must not be hesitant in speaking out whenever the mob with tacit State support targets Muslims,' asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said his party was discussing the seat-sharing arrangements for the Lok Sabha polls with the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, and the issue would be "resolved".
Lok Sabha constituencies that sprung a surprise in the 2024 polls.
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