Sporadic incidents of violence were reported from various places that went to polls on Saturday during the first phase of the West Bengal assembly election, even as the overall poll situation was largely peaceful with 79.79 per cent turnout recorded till the end of voting, an official said.
A Trinamool Congress legislator on Sunday threatened to not support any bill tabled by the government in the West Bengal Assembly in the future and abstain from voting in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls in the state if 'atrocities' on his loyalists allegedly by a rival faction continued, even as the Bharatiya Janata Party said the collapse of the Mamata Banerjee government was just a matter of time.
Upset at being dropped from the Union Council of Ministers by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the two-term MP had announced that he will resign as MP and quit politics.
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.
Most of the leaders who attended the meeting agreed that Kishor joining the Congress would be beneficial for the party, they added.
The former journalist unsuccessfully contested the recent West Bengal assembly elections on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket.
West Bengal and Assam voted in the first phase of assembly elections on Saturday. Polling was held for 30 seats in West Bengal and 47 seats in Assam amid tight security. Among the long queues of voters, there were some famous faces too who exercised their franchise.
The Calcutta high court Wednesday directed the West Bengal government to requisition central forces for assisting the state police in maintaining peace during Hanuman Jayanti celebrations.
"We are ready to work with any anti-BJP party. This has been our stance whenever the need arose for a big movement against divisive forces from Kashmir to Kanyakumari," CPI-M politburo member Biman Bose told reporters to a question on whether the CPI-M will be with the TMC to prevent the BJP from coming to power in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
Her campaign in the high-stakes constituency will begin at 11 am on Monday with an 8-kilometre roadshow from Khudiram More to Thakurchowk in Nandigram Block 2, followed by a public meeting in Jansabha Boyal II.
The change was made as the Congress's leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury would be busy in West Bengal assembly elections which is starting on March 27. Chowdhury is also the Congress' West Bengal unit president.
The SBSP can impact around 10 Lok Sabha seats and 40 assembly seats in 7-8 districts in Uttar Pradesh, according to poll analysts.
This is a complete betrayal of the mandate of the people of the Sagardighi Assembly constituency, Ramesh said on Twitter.
Counting of votes in all elections will be held on May 2.
The EC has removed returning officers of eight constituencies in Kolkata that will go to the polls in the last two phases of the West Bengal assembly elections on April 26 and 29, an official said.
The commission said polling was held at 15,940 polling stations spread across 44 assembly constituencies in this phase of polls.
Amid rising coronavirus cases, the Election Commission on Friday flagged instances of star campaigners and political leaders not wearing masks while campaigning, and asked them to follow in all seriousness the guidelines on COVID-appropriate behaviour issued by it last year.
At least 22 more people succumbed to the infection, raising the toll in the state to 10,480.
Addressing a rally in West Midnapore district, Banerjee asserted that she would rather stay in jail than "remain silent or put up with BJP's misrule".
Rakhal Bera was arrested from outside his residence in Kolkata on Saturday based on a complaint lodged at the Manicktala police station by a resident of Kalyangarh.
The impact of the explosion "was so massive" that the factory, which was being run from a residential building, collapsed, the police said.
Mamata's 'there is no United Progressive Alliance (UPA)' remark after a meeting in Mumbai with Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, an ally of Congress in Maharashtra, evoked a strong response from the party, currently being led by interim president Sonia Gandhi.
After the Trinamool's overwhelming majority in the West Bengal assembly elections last year, the SSC scam has given fresh ammunition to the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Party of India-Marxist. Ishita Ayan Dutt reports.
Suvendu Adhikari's father Sisir Kumar Adhikari and brother Dibyendu Adhikari have been provided the cover by the ministry on the basis of a threat perception report prepared by central security agencies, they said.
BJP MLA from Kaliagnaj Soumen Roy Saturday joined the ruling TMC, becoming the fourth saffron party legislator to do so since the West Bengal assembly poll results were declared in May.
The counting of votes in all these states and the UT will take place on May 2.
High drama was witnessed on the first day of the budget session of the West Bengal assembly on Monday as Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was forced to table his inaugural address with Bharatiya Janata Party legislators staging a protest in the House over alleged violence in the recently concluded civic elections in the state.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has filed an election petition against Suvendu Adhikari before the Calcutta high court and the matter is listed for hearing before a single bench.
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday met Ganguly to discuss various issues and agreed to visit Eden Gardens on his invitation.
With the Election Commission (EC) facing flak from some quarters for announcing eight-phase Assembly polls in West Bengal, officials on Friday said the polling had to be spread out due to festivals, the movement of security forces and an increased number of polling stations keeping in mind the Covid protocols.
Till now, a total of 1,000 companies were earmarked for the conduct of elections in the state that has 294 assembly seats.
Banerjee, who was speaking to reporters at West Bengal's state secretariat, said that her party's name will remain the All India Trinamool Congress.
The meeting was held for over an hour, he said.
"Chakraborty has been given a 'Y+' cover and armed CISF commandos will accompany him during poll campaign in West Bengal," a senior officer said.
In an interview to NDTV, as results continue to come in for the assembly elections, Kishor, who has been helping Mamata in West Bengal, said it was a tough fight.
Vijayvargiya, who is also the BJP's Bengal minder, also said that he has received a call from Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who enquired about the party's poor show.
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.
Polling began at 7 am on Saturday for 44 seats in the fourth phase of the West Bengal assembly elections amid tight security, officials said.
'Why don't you contest the election for PM's post. You are media, you can also contest'
The apex court said the high court will be at liberty to take a fresh view on whether the investigation by the state police has been fair and proper, and if not, whether a case has been made out for the transfer of the investigation to the CBI.
