President Pranab Mukherjee -- rewarded as president yet not trusted enough to be prime minister.
Banerjee, who was flanked by newly-elected MP Nusrat Jahan and her husband Nikhil Jain, said, "Togetherness and tolerance for all faiths is the real religion."
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.
Rahul Gandhi replied on Twitter, saying, 'Thank you for your greetings @narendramodi ji. I appreciate them.'
'If the chief minister says there are areas in her home state where she cannot enter, where has she driven the state to!'
Later on while speaking to the reporters, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said the BJP legislators were forced to stage protest as there was no mention of post-poll violence in the speech copy circulated among the MLAs.
At a time when China is trying to make its foray into South Asia, India should use its shared history to strengthen its ties in the region, says Dr Rup Narayan Das.
Amit Shah, who missed campaigning in Bihar, made a two-day trip to Bengal starting November 5 to oversee BJPs preparedness for the state polls.
Over 95 lakh voters will decide the fate of 539 candidates, including 43 females, in 65 constituencies spread across the state.
'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'
Alleging that there had been politicisation and criminalisation of government officers in the state, the BJP leader, who was on a two-day visit, said the TMC government had stopped sending crime statistics to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) after 2018.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday slammed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for seeking en bloc voting by Muslims for the Trinamool Congress and said had his party made a similar appeal to Hindus, it would have been criticised and censured.
Will appeasement, rising unemployment and her dictatorial style become major obstacles in her path? asks Payal Singh Mohanka.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MP from Hyderabad, chanted "Jai Bheem, Jai Meem, Takbeer Allahu Akbar, Jai Hind", after members from the ruling side shouted slogans of 'Jai Shri Ram', 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Vande Mataram'.
Shah, who held a closed door meeting to take stock of the party organisation, said he could 'sense massive public anger' against the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government in the state and gave a call to 'uproot' it in the state polls.
'They have a voracious appetite.' 'But there are many places where they go and they lose.'
The constituencies spread across lower and central Assam will have 12,699 polling stations where 1,04,35,271 voters will be able exercise their franchise.
The BJP doesn't want to focus entirely on an anti-Mamata campaign.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Janata Dal-United's Sharad Yadav, Samajwadi Party's Ramgopal Yadav and Aam Aadmi Party's Arvind Kejriwal will meet at Sharad Pawar's residence on Wednesday.
Shah also said that no 'illegal migrant' will be allowed to stay in the country and that the National Register of Citizens exercise in Assam was completed in 'time-bound manner'.
Former Bengal pace spearhead Ashoke Dinda, who is fighting from the Moyna constituency in Purba Medinipur district, said the BJP desperately wants BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly to join the party.
Trinmool Congress MP Srinjoy Bose quit his party as well as his Rajya Sabha seat on Thursday.
Since much of the voting was on religious lines, Mamata's rural focus became irrelevant.
President Pranab Mukherjee's daughter Sharmishtha Mukherjee taking up campaigning for Delhi election has triggered speculations about her contesting the upcoming general elections.
When Modi's name was called out by the Secretary General for taking oath, Members from the ruling National Democratic Alliance thumped the desk greeting the Prime Minister with slogans such as 'Modi Modi' and 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'.
'The Shaheen Bagh model of bullets and biryani won't work. The RSS looked at a template that would play to Bengali pride and harp on the state's development. Mamata's slogan to defeat the Left Front was 'Bengal awake and arise'. She promised to check the flight of capital from Bengal to far-flung states and usher in a renaissance. The RSS wants the BJP to pitch this line because it feels Mamata hasn't delivered on her promises.'
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday called on Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and discussed key bilateral issues.
The BJP could win only 16 out of 57 seats where Shah campaigned.
The BJP chief began his speech with the slogan of uprooting the TMC government from Bengal and said in order to do that, he would visit all the districts of the state.
Striking a rare show of bonhomie, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday shared the stage with veteran Communist Party of India-Marxist leader and former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee
India's COVID-19 curve has been steadily rising throughout the lockdown period with a massive spike in cases in the fourth phase of the lockdown that ended on May 31 and afterwards.
'1984 is important as it is the beginning of the State making war against its citizens in India.' 'Since then, we had the government of the day organising riots or genocide by attacking certain people.'
Roy said he would give an explanation on why he was leaving the party and why he was 'forced to do so' after Durga Puja.
Sushma Swaraj arrived in Bangladesh capital Dhaka on Wednesday night on her first official visit abroad after becoming External Affairs Minister during which she will hold talks with the top leadership on key bilateral issues including land boundary agreement, proposed Teesta river pact and illegal immigration.
In this excerpt from a conversation with Samik Bandopadhyay, Mrinalda discusses three legendary actors he has worked with.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said the government has no other option but to extend President's Rule in Jammu and Kashmir as the Election Commission wants to hold assembly elections in the state by the end of 2019.
'No right thinking student of politics can name one state where the BJP gains in double digits.'
A day after slamming Narendra Modi as "Butcher of Gujarat", the Trinamool Congress on Monday demanded that the Gujarat Chief Minister should apologise publicly or face a defamation case for questioning the sale of Mamata Banerjee's painting.
"Sushma Swaraj is a great asset to the nation. There is a no allegation at all. Still they want her to resign," he said.
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