'Will any coach think of keeping out Rohit and Kohli from the ODI team? That means there is something going on within the team against the two players.' Manoj Tiwary, who played 12 ODIs and three T20Is for India, said iconic players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli deserve greater respect.
Reaching out to arch rival Communist Party of India - Marxist, the Trinamool Congress on Thursday invited outgoing West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the new government, to be headed by Mamata Banerjee.Deputy leader of the Trinamool Congress legislature party Partha Chatterjee met Bhattacharjee at his Palm Avenue residence in Kolkata and invited him for the ceremony.Chatterjee invited both Bhattacharjee and his wife Meera.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra's reference to the death of judge B H Loya 'long before his time' created uproar in Lok Sabha on Friday as Union minister Kiren Rijiju accused her of raising a matter settled by the Supreme Court, and warned of 'appropriate parliamentary action'.
Just eight months after its good showing in the Lok Sabha polls, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) seems to be running out of steam with internal bickering and conflicting ambitions resulting in diminishing electoral returns that have once again put the Bharatiya Janata Party in the driver's seat in national politics.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has asserted that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) will return to power with a two-thirds majority in the 2026 Assembly elections in the state and ruled out the possibility of stitching any alliance with the Congress. Banerjee's statement comes amidst speculation over a possible Congress-TMC understanding in West Bengal, following the removal of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury as state Congress president and the appointment of Subhankar Sarkar. However, Banerjee has categorically stated that the TMC will fight alone and secure a historic victory. The Congress, on the other hand, has responded by saying that regional parties are bothered about the Congress because they have realised their mistake in ignoring the party during the Delhi polls. The BJP has downplayed Banerjee's remarks, stating that the TMC's defeat in the upcoming elections is inevitable. The West Bengal Assembly elections are likely to be held in April-May next year.
JD-U MP Sanjay Kumar Jha heads a diplomatic mission to Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan and Singapore, to seek international cooperation after the Pahalgam attack while highlighting Pakistan's role in cross-border terrorism.
In another setback to the Left in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress on Sunday won the by-election to the prestigious Kolkata South Lok Sabha seat by a record margin of 2,30,099 votes over Communist Party of India-Marxist, emerging victorious from the constituency for the seventh consecutive time.
The Election Commission of India has invited all national and state political parties to provide suggestions by April 30 on any unresolved issues related to the electoral process. This call for feedback comes amid allegations of electoral roll manipulation, with opposition parties demanding a discussion in Parliament on the issue. The EC has also proposed an interaction with party presidents and senior members to further strengthen electoral processes.
While naming him as the NDA candidate for the Vice President's post, the BJP had described him as 'Kisan putra', a move seen in the political circles aimed at reaching out to the politically significant Jat community which had participated in huge numbers in the year-long farmers' protests against agriculture reform measures unveiled in June 2020.
Several opposition MPs, who had previously criticized former Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, are now praising him following his sudden resignation, with some even requesting him to reconsider.
The government will send seven all-party delegations to key partner countries, including members of the United Nations Security Council, later this month to convey India's message of zero tolerance against terrorism following the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.
Videos of the moments of turbulence shared on social media showed panic-stricken passengers could be heard making religious supplications as the plane swayed.
Amid the ongoing impasse over the swearing-in of two newly elected Trinamool Congress MLAs, Speaker Biman Banerjee on Thursday summoned a special session of the West Bengal Assembly and asserted that the functioning of the House is not solely dependent on the Governor.
Banerjee said she will protect the minority people and their property.
The feisty TMC boss also accused the CPI-M of ruining her party's relationship with the Congress, its ally in the Opposition bloc INDIA at the national level.
'The BJP lacks a credible mass leader who matches Mamata Banerjee's popularity.' 'Given the division of votes among Opposition parties, the West Bengal government's dole-giving strategy, and the consolidation of the poor, significant sections of scheduled caste groups and Muslim minorities behind the ruling party, it will be difficult to dislodge the Trinamool from power.'
The Communist Party of India - Maoist on Thursday rubbished charges leveled by the Communist Party of India Marxist, that the Trinamool Congress was patronising Maoists, saying the Left Front party was trying to keep itself afloat by making such allegations. "There is no need for us to have the CPI-M or the Trinamool Congress as allies," Maoist leader Kishenji said while reacting to the CPI-M's allegations that the outfit was protected by the TC.
The Trinamool Congress' rally in Maoist-affected Lalgarh had its echo in Parliament on Monday with members of the Left seeking to know the Centre's stand on the alleged hobnobbing of the United Progressive Alliance ally with the extremists, dubbing the meeting as an "anti-national activity".
A clash between the activists of Communist Party of India - Marxist and Trinamool Congress in West Bengal claimed one life and left six others injured, including two policemen, said a police official.The police further said that the deceased was a Trinamool Congress supporter, while the four injured victims were CPI-M supporters.The collision began today morning in three villages under Khanakul, Arambagh and Purshura police stations.
The accused has been arrested on the basis of an FIR lodged by the woman at Haridevpur Police Station, they said.
Some constituents of the alliance have raised concern that the panels, particularly the 14-member coordination committee, are at risk of becoming ineffective, as their decisions have so far not been acted upon.
The Trinamool Congress will launch a Nandigram type of movement with its rally at Lalgarh on Monday in 'Jungle Mahal' prior to the assembly elections in West Bengal next year.
Irfan Pathan took time off from commenting on IPL 2024 to campaign for hos brother Yusuf Pathan, who is contesting the Lok Sabha election as the Trinamool Congress candidate from Baharampur in Bengal, which is thousands of miles from Vadodara where the retired cricketers were born and raised.
The memorandum said that the responsibility of overcoming the impact of the Maoist violence is not the responsibility of the state governments alone; it is a phenomenon that spans across several states. Therefore, the Union government also has a responsibility.
Referring to the mimicry issue, President Droupadi Murmu also said she was dismayed at the manner in which Vice President Dhankhar was "humiliated" in Parliament complex.
The government and opposition parties on Monday reached an agreement to break the impasse in Parliament with dates announced for discussions on the Constitution in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
Trinamool Congress has won the August 18 by-elections to both the Bowbazar and Sealdah assembly constituencies, results of which were declared on Friday.
While the BJP went back to the drawing board to recraft its political and governance outreach and regained momentum by notching up surprisingly big wins in a string of assembly polls, the burst of fresh optimism in the main opposition Congress and other INDIA bloc parties fizzled out.
'The TMC can't go on forever taking advantage of the people's fright of the BJP.'
Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien Thursday held West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury responsible for an alliance not working out between the two parties in West Bengal.
Key individual parties have cornered a larger share, with some favouring regional and others national players.
Police said CPI-M supporters blocked roads with felled trees at Jadurbari Chowk and Bhutar More on Wednesday night apprehending trouble after the Trinamool Congress' resounding victory in the panchayat polls in Nandigram blocks I and II. District CPI-M leader Ashok Guria alleged that TC supporters beat up a CPI-M activist at Sonachura.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused the Border Security Force (BSF) of allowing infiltrators from Bangladesh into India and claimed it's a deliberate attempt to destabilize the state. Banerjee, who alleges a larger conspiracy by the central government, has also accused some district magistrates and SPs of aiding the BSF in their alleged illegal activities. She plans to send a strongly worded letter to the Centre expressing her concerns and has directed the state police to investigate the matter further.
West Bengal's industry minister Partha Chatterjee, arrested in the SSC scam, should be removed immediately from his post and expelled from the Trinamool Congress, the party's state general secretary Kunal Ghosh demanded on Thursday.
An MP from Baharampur since 1999 and the reigning Pradesh Congress president of West Bengal, this was perhaps Chowdhury's toughest electoral challenge which came in the form Pathan, the non-resident TMC candidate.
Opposition parties in India have demanded the resignation of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw after a stampede at New Delhi railway station killed 18 people. They blamed the government for "gross mismanagement" and accused them of "covering up" the death toll. The stampede occurred on Saturday night as passengers rushed to board trains for the Maha Kumbh festival in Prayagraj. The Congress, the Left, Trinamool Congress, and the Rashtriya Janata Dal have all criticized the government's handling of the situation, while BJP leaders have defended the government. The incident has highlighted the failure of the Railways and the government to make adequate arrangements for the large number of devotees travelling to Prayagraj.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is expected to name the committee's chairperson soon.
A strong demand was made in the Lok Sabha to eliminate online betting and gambling applications. YSRCP member Maddila Gurumoorthy urged the government to set up a dedicated task force to take action against betting and gambling apps. He also asked the government to draft regulations for such applications and launch awareness campaigns about the dangers of online betting. Other issues raised included deposit insurance coverage for bank depositors, representation of Scheduled Castes in the Kerala government, challenges faced by nurses, and the need for paramilitary forces in Jharkhand during upcoming Hindu festivals.
'The EC should not have let the initiative go into the hands of the political leadership. By allowing this to happen, they have opened a Pandora's box.'
In what could be a history of sorts, a survery conducted by Star Ananda-Star News-AC Nielsen predicts a two-third majority for the Mamta Banerjee-led All India Trinamool Congress-Congress alliance.
