Addressing a massive Martyrs' Day rally in Kolkata, Banerjee gave a clarion call to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2026 assembly elections and eventually oust it from power at the Centre, declaring, "If this linguistic profiling doesn't stop, our resistance movement will reach New Delhi."
'Age matters and the way Tejashwi has been doing an aggressive campaign, only a young leader like him can do it.'
The National Democratic Alliance was set to sweep the Bihar assembly polls, surging ahead in over 200 of 243 seats on Friday with the Bharatiya Janata Party emerging as single largest party with about 90 per cent strike rate, reaffirming the popularity and campaign clout of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the face of the ruling alliance through the poll battle in the highly sensitive political state.
Campaigning has concluded for the second and final phase of the Bihar assembly elections, marking the end of a month-long intense political battle. Key candidates and prominent leaders from various parties held rallies and roadshows to woo voters.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government is taking steps to reduce imports of crude oil and gas, focusing more on exploration of fossil fuels and green energy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Congress party of supporting terrorists groomed by Pakistan and protecting infiltrators during a rally in Assam. He also highlighted development projects undertaken by the BJP government in the state.
Democracy in India is too important to be left to a leader with a limited appeal. If Rahul Gandhi cares for India, he should step aside for a new crop of leaders, suggests Harishchandra.
The Congress on Friday posted its second worst performance in Bihar's electoral history, managing to win only six of the over 50 seats it contested and losing deposits in most seats as its 'vote chori' pitch failed to make any impact on the ground.
If he cannot do it this term by using his bureaucracy and experts from different fields, it will be a tragedy, asserts Ramesh Menon.
The Congress's performance in the Lok Sabha elections showed that it may be down but not out, and Modi is determined to ensure that in the next round in 2029, it is consigned to irrelevance, points out Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticized the Congress party for allegedly neglecting the tribal community's contributions to India's freedom struggle during its 60-year rule. He spoke at an event marking Janjatiya Gaurav Divas and inaugurated development projects for tribal communities.
The Congress has appointed Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi as the new president of its Assam unit, replacing Bupen Kumar Borah, ahead of the 2026 assembly elections. The party also appointed three new working presidents - Jakir Hussain Sikdar, Roselina Tirkey and Pradip Sarkar - to its Assam unit. Gogoi, the son of former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi, is currently the deputy leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha. The party is going all-out in its bid to wrest power from the BJP after losing two consecutive state polls.
TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee accuses the BJP of being 'Bangla-Birodhi' (anti-Bengal) and alleges they want to send Bengalis to detention camps. He vowed to electorally wipe out the BJP in the 2026 Bengal Assembly polls.
Senior Congress leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Ripun Bora was on Thursday questioned by Assam Police in connection with a case related to party colleague Gaurav Gogoi's alleged links with Pakistan, officials said.
'Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't think big.' 'He looks more like an activist, while politics is like a game of chess. You attack and then defend and have a game-plan.'
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the state government would recommend a CBI inquiry if the SIT probe into singer Zubeen Garg's death in Singapore is found to be unsatisfactory.
The BJP's MoSha leadership are past masters in encouraging defections from their allies if it helped their party capture the chief minister's chair. In Bihar, they are not sure if JD-U MPs and MLAs would be willing to cross over to the BJP if the Nitish leadership came on top -- and the NDA crossed the halfway mark together, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey emphasised the crucial role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the party's electoral success, stating that the several sections which did not vote for BJP earlier now support the party and it has broken new ground in many states.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma says most of those present with singer Zubeen Garg in Singapore during his death have yet to respond to CID summons, and addresses related political accusations.
With ethnic violence continuing in parts of Assam, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday decided to send a fact-finding team to the state to ascertain the reasons that led to the clashes.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claims a Bengali-speaking woman and her child were threatened in Delhi after an alleged assault. She urges Bengali migrant workers in BJP-ruled states to return to Bengal if harassed and questions the absence of central commissions in BJP-ruled states when atrocities occur.
Several leaders of the BJP and its allies are of the view that the NDA this time is unlikely to follow the instincts that made it pick Dhankhar and will be more conventional in its search for his successor.
'There is a saying in Assamese about inflicting pain on an adversary: He cut my hands with a sword and rubbed salt into my wounds.' 'This has never been the BJP's culture but it started happening openly and frequently under Himanta Biswa Sarma.'
'The BJP and RSS were working on the ground to define who is an illegal immigrant.'
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma believes that the BJP could win more seats in the state by aggressively campaigning in minority-dominated areas. He attributed the party's recent success in the bypolls to its beneficiary schemes, which he claims have garnered support from the minority community. Sarma emphasized that the BJP will continue with its development work for all communities and has no plans for appeasement. He also gave an update on the Guwahati-North Guwahati bridge project, which is progressing well and is scheduled to be opened to the public in July 2025. Sarma also hinted at a possible cabinet reshuffle in the coming months.
The rain and flood situation in northeastern states remained grim on Tuesday, with lakhs people affected in Assam, Mizoram and Manipur, even as the meteorological department predicted more rain in several parts of the region.
Senior Congress leader Ripun Bora has been summoned by Assam Police for questioning in connection with a case related to party colleague Gaurav Gogoi's alleged links with Pakistan. The summons comes after Bora publicly stated that Gogoi's wife received salaries from the Pakistan government, which prompted Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to claim that Bora "knows a lot" about Gogoi's alleged links. The case centers around allegations of Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, who is claimed to have links with Gogoi's British wife Elizabeth Colburn, interfering in India's internal affairs. Gogoi has vehemently denied the allegations and accused Sarma of making baseless accusations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Assam and participated in a grand Jhumoir dance performance, celebrating 200 years of the state's tea industry and the rich cultural heritage of the tea tribe community. He played a traditional drum of the tea tribe community, highlighting the government's efforts to support the tea industry and uplift the tea tribe community. The event, attended by dignitaries and ambassadors from around 60 countries, showcased Assam's vibrant traditions to a global audience.
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) has been extended for six months in parts of Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh due to the prevailing law and order situation.
Protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act turned violent in Cachar district of Assam on Sunday, with protesters throwing stones at police and the police using batons to disperse the crowd. The incident occurred in Berenga area of Silchar town where around 300-400 people protested without permission. The Cachar district administration imposed prohibitory measures across the district under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) to prevent further unrest. The order prohibits gatherings of five or more people without permission, carrying weapons, organizing protests, and traffic disruptions.
The government nominated Tharoor, who serves as chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, to lead one of the seven multi-party delegations abroad for putting across India's stand against Pakistan for supporting terrorism.
Modi warned that when demographic changes take place, especially in the border areas, they create a national security crisis.
The opposition Congress in Assam has accused the BJP government of running a "police raj" after official data revealed that 72 people were killed and 220 injured in police actions since Himanta Biswa Sarma became the chief minister in May 2021. The Congress has demanded that the Supreme Court take suo motu cognisance of the data and investigate the alleged fake encounters in the state. The data shows that a total of 256 police actions have been taken between May 2021 and February 2024, resulting in the deaths of 38 people in police remand and 34 more while in custody but before remand. The Congress has alleged that the ruling party is using the police for political gains, while the government has defended its actions, stating that police cases have been registered in each incident and that the NHRC guidelines have been followed.
Like his father Karunanidhi and AIADMK rivals MGR and Jayalalithaa, Stalin would like to confine his real political work to Tamil Nadu, and not want to take after the late Congress leader K Kamaraj and take up a national role, even if to create greater political space for son Udhayanidhi, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
In the last 11 years, India and the world witnessed what he stood for, what he promised and did not deliver, and what he actually stood for and practised without fearing how history would judge him. Modi's tenure has been punctuated with headline-grabbing decisions, symbolic gestures, and stage-managed moments that continue to define his leadership and India's politics, points out Ramesh Menon.
The Assam Assembly has discontinued the decades-old practice of a two-hour break on Fridays to allow Muslim legislators to offer 'namaz'. The decision, which was made in August but implemented this session, has been met with criticism from opposition MLAs who argue that it was imposed by the ruling BJP. The decision was taken by the House's Rules Committee, which was headed by the Speaker, and was justified as a move to promote secularism and productivity.
Addressing a press conference, BJP Assam president Ranjeet Kumar Dass said that the government will bring in a legislation to safeguard the Indian citizens if the Foreigners Tribunals deliver adverse judgements against the appeals.
'The Indian Army and paramilitary have to land more in Assam as the situation is very bad, especially in upper Assam,' says BJP MLA Binod Hazarika whose home was burnt down by mobs.
Unidentified militants shot dead a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in Assam and a dealer of LP Gas, Munindra Singh Lahkar (62) at his residence at Rangiya on Thursday night.
Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk called off his hunger strike as protests for Ladakh statehood and Sixth Schedule extension turned violent. The BJP office was set on fire, vehicles were torched, and clashes erupted, leading to the imposition of prohibitory orders.
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