Claiming that Shah is getting "frustrated" by "poor turnout" at his rallies, Banerjee also alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party is plotting conspiracies to kill her as her security director Vivek Sahay was removed by the Election Commission after she sustained injuries last week in Purba Medinipur's Nandigram.
Counting of votes began on Sunday for lakhs of panchayat seats in Uttar Pradesh, a process expected to take two days across 829 centres. There were scuffles involving the supporters of candidates in three districts and social distancing to fight the spread of coronavirus went for a toss at several places, reports said.
However, a few defectors, who joined the BJP, got the better of their TMC rivals, including Suvendu Adhikari who emerged as a proverbial giant slayer, by defeating Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee albeit by a narrow margin.
Mamata Banerjee fended off a spirited challenge by a resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal with a landslide victory for her Trinamool Congress on Sunday for a third consecutive term and the saffron party and the Left Democratic Front were poised to form government again in Assam and Kerala respectively while the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam stormed back to power in Tamil Nadu after a gap of 10 years.
Banerjee scored a personal point with a massive victory in the bypoll with a record margin of 58,835 votes.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday asserted that her administration will stand by Alapan Bandyopadhyay in the tussle with the central government which has seen the former chief secretary of the state being recalled to Delhi and later served a notice by the Union Home Ministry for allegedly violating the Disaster Management Act, by not attending a meeting called by the prime minister.
Making a strong Hindutva pitch at the hustings in West Bengal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday attacked Trinamool Congress leaders for calling those wearing saffron, sporting tilak and choti as "rakshas", and declared that he does not believe in "seasonal faith".
A look at the star arrivals.
'The TMC forgets that if people don't stand by you, your party will never win.'
Naturally, the West Bengal chief minister is not leaving anything to chance, reports Ishita Ayan Dutt.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday reviewed the post-cyclone situation and damages caused by Cyclone Yaas in the state at a meeting in Bhubaneswar where Odisha government demanded long term solutions to mitigate problems of repeated cyclones and provision of disaster resilient power systems.
But she added that her government will be open to erecting memorials to honour leaders from 'other communities' and keep their religious sentiments in mind.
She said the prime minister neither asked how West Bengal is handling the COVID situation and nor did he enquire about the stock of vaccines or oxygen.
Adhikari Brothers -- the creators of SAB TV, which was subsequently bought by Sony - have launched a new channel, Mastiii.
The BJP could win only 16 out of 57 seats where Shah campaigned.
The list, which is a mix of seasoned political players and greenhorns, has 17 women candidates, five more than the last elections, constituting roughly 41 per cent of the candidates.
'Mamata is campaigning hard and not giving the BJP a walkover.'
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Mukul Roy's return to the Trinamool Congress evoked mixed reactions in the saffron camp on Friday, with its state unit president Dilip Ghosh asserting that the move will have no impact on his organisation, and former MP Anupam Hazra claiming that 'lobby politics at play is adversely affecting the party'.
'The way opposition parties such as the Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena, the Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Jharkhand Mukti Morch have supported her, if she wins, she will be the biggest opposition face for 2024'
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to withdraw the Centre's order recalling Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, and said her government 'is not releasing' the top bureaucrat.
If the sanction is accorded, the four leaders might be named in the charge sheet.
Sporadic incidents of violence were reported on Tuesday in some areas where voting is underway in the third phase of the West Bengal assembly elections, even as the overall situation by and large remained peaceful with 34.71 per cent turnout recorded till 11 am, officials said.
Shah also rejected West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's charge that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to a temple of the Matua community -- which is in sizeable number in the state -- during his trip to Bangladesh violated the poll code.
The other board members will be Sunil Mehta, former non-executive chairman of Punjab National Bank, as the non executive chairman of Yes Bank, Mahesh Krishnamurthy and Atul Bheda as non-executive directors.
'For the first time one single party is getting 49% which is a record of its own.'
Cox & Kings is currently going through the corporate insolvency resolution process. Around 2,500 operational creditors have submitted claims of over Rs 631 crore, 2,440 employees and workman have claimed dues of over Rs 94 crore and other creditors have submitted claims of over Rs 3 crore.
I'm still in a lot of pain, but I feel the pain of my people even more,Banerjee tweeted minutes before arriving at the venue.
A home ministry official said the notice was served on Bandyopadhyay hours before his retirement on Monday for refusing to comply with the Central government direction, which he said constituted a violation of section 51-B of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
"I was standing outside my car with the door open. I was going to a temple there to offer my prayers. Few people came around my car and pushed the door. The door hit my leg," she said.
'Mamata is synonymous with Bengal, its culture, language, traditions.'
'The TMC did not bother telling me, a sitting MLA for 20 years, why I was not being given a ticket.'
"I appeal to everyone to maintain peace. I hope to be back on the field in the next few days," Banerjee said.
Left high and dry, the BJP has had no option but to go for the overkill with 800 rallies, including 20 by the prime minister. In the process, it may be overplaying its card, observes Amulya Ganguli.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
'What the government should do is to use the vaccine judiciously, not just to prevent a third wave alone, but to stop the number of deaths happening in the interim.'
While there is a shortage of testing kits, manpower and capacities, India does not have other scalable testing options.
Belying all expectations, the Trinamool Congress registreted a landslide victory in West Bengal assembly elections, overcoming the might of the Bharatiya Janata Party after a bitter campaign that had turned into a virtual duel between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Sunday alleged that Dinesh Trivedi, who resigned from the Rajya Sabha on Friday, took the 'House for a ride' and was 'allowed' to use the floor of the House for his 'devious political ends'.
If there's one thing about the decade our glamorous lot is in NO RUSH to replicate, it is the '80s' kitschy, over-the-top sartorial style.
Hours after quitting as the MLA of the West Bengal Assembly, Rajib Banerjee on Friday resigned from the primary membership of the Trinamool Congress, intensifying speculation that he might soon switch over to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
