The alleged gang rape of a second-year medical student in West Bengal's Durgapur has sparked massive outrage, snowballing into a major political storm, with the survivor's father likening Bengal to 'Aurangzeb's rule' and Governor C V Ananda Bose calling for a 'second renaissance' to make the state safer for women.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray demands cancellation of civic elections where candidates won unopposed, alleging corruption and manipulation by ruling parties. He also criticizes the Maharashtra legislative assembly speaker and the misuse of BMC funds.
Humayun Kabir, recently suspended from the TMC, has launched a new political party, Janata Unnayan Party, and announced candidates for the 2026 assembly elections.
Sukumaran Nair said he had noted Natesan's remarks and that a decision would be taken after a meeting scheduled for January 21.
Election Commission data reveals Bhabanipur constituency in West Bengal recorded significantly higher voter deletions compared to Nandigram, sparking political debate ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) which is probing the alleged 'vote chori' (theft)' in the Aland Assembly segment in 2023 Assembly elections in Karnataka, has filed a charge sheet naming seven persons, including a former Bharatiya Janata Party MLA, his son and his close aide.
Both Mr Modi and Amit Shah like Nabin because they know he will never answer back, points out Aditi Phadnis.
In the report, Bose has given a detailed account of his findings in the case and also about his interactions with the survivor and her parents who hail from Odisha, he said.
Newly appointed Bharatiya Janata Party national working president Nitin Nabin on Monday termed his elevation as a blessing of the party and claimed that it is the only political outfit that allows its grassroots workers to thrive.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticized the BJP following an assault on food vendors at a Bhagavad Gita recital event in Kolkata, asserting that the state would not tolerate intimidation, communal division, or attempts to dictate dietary choices. She vowed stringent action against those responsible and accused the BJP of trying to import a culture of communal division and weaponize religious texts for political mobilization.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly insulting novelist Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay by calling him "Bankim da."
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.
'Removing Nitish Kumar prematurely risks unsettling both the alliance balance and parts of the social coalition that delivered this victory.'
The body of a Bharatiya Janata Party leader was found inside the party office at Usthi in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district, a police officer said on Saturday.
Kabir cut a ceremonial ribbon alongside visiting clerics on the dais as slogans of "Nara-e-Takbeer, Allahu Akbar" were raised at the venue, where thousands had gathered since morning.
Left to its machinations, the BJP would have loved to cut Nitish down to size, but it can't afford to do so as the JD-U is in alliance with the BJP at the Centre, and cannot form a government on its own in Bihar. For now, both need each other: Nitish for legitimacy, the BJP for numbers, points out Ramesh Menon.
'...the electoral playing field is tilted significantly in its favour.'
The West Bengal Police on Tuesday afternoon reconstructed the crime scene with the five accused and the friend of the Durgapur gangrape victim, as part of the investigation, a senior officer said.
Political parties in West Bengal, including the ruling TMC and opposition BJP, have condemned the organizers of an event featuring Lionel Messi in Kolkata after it descended into chaos due to spectators' inability to properly view the football star. Demands for action and accountability have been made.
Former Lok Sabha MP and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arjun Singh alleged that a group of people threw stones, hurled bombs and fired multiple gunshots at his office-cum-residence Meghna More in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas around 8.30 am on Friday.
Popular Bengali singer Lagnajita Chakraborty alleges harassment during a musical program at a private school in West Bengal's Purba Medinipur district. One of the event organizers has been arrested following her complaint.
The social media handles of the Bharatiya Janata Party were abuzz with memes and jibes targeted at Congress and Rahul Gandhi on Friday, soon after the bumper performance of the saffron party in the Bihar assembly polls, with the party's Assam unit apologising for upsetting the 'national child' on Children's Day.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh advocates for an unbiased evaluation of 'Vande Mataram', asserting it and 'Anand Math' were against British imperialism, not Islam.
Donation boxes kept for the proposed Babri masjid-style mosque by suspended Trinamool Congress MLA Humayun Kabir in West Bengal's Murshidabad district are nearly full, with cash-counting machines whirring through the night as donations continue to pour in both physically and online.
Madhya Pradesh Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Inder Singh Parmar has sparked controversy by saying that social reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a 'British agent' who started a 'vicious cycle of religious conversion', prompting the Trinamool Congress to call the remarks an insult to Bengal.
Ghosh's elder son, Biswajit, claimed that this was a planned attempt to murder his father, and alleged that Shahjahan pulled strings sitting in jail to carry out the crime.
Protests continue in Kolkata against attacks on minority Hindus in Bangladesh. BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari threatens a large-scale protest if the attacks are not stopped.
A major controversy has erupted in West Bengal after a TMC MLA announced plans to lay the foundation stone of a mosque modeled on the Babri Masjid, leading to political backlash and concerns over communal polarization.
West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress on Thursday suspended its Bharatpur MLA Humayun Kabir, who had triggered a storm with the proposal to build 'Babri Masjid' in Murshidabad district.
Kolkata Police stopped the trailer launch of 'The Bengal Files', a film based on the 1946 Calcutta Riots, its director Vivek Agnihotri claimed, sparking controversy and allegations of censorship.
The drama unfolded after Majumdar, a Union minister of state, defied police restrictions and rode a motorbike to Bhabanipur to observe 'Paschimbanga Dibas' (West Bengal Day).
A Trinamool Congress delegation on Friday alleged before the Election Commission top brass that around 40 SIR-related deaths had occurred in West Bengal so far, a charge junked by the poll authority.
The police on Friday claimed to have arrested 'a local Bharatiya Janata Party leader' along with 10 others on charges of running a sex racket in a hotel in West Bengal's Howrah district, while the state's main opposition party denied any association with the accused individuals.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi initiated a discussion on 150 years of Vande Mataram in the Lok Sabha, recalling the Emergency period when the national song completed 100 years.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's advice to female boarders on Sunday about not venturing out late at night, in the aftermath of the alleged gangrape of a medical student in Durgapur, drew criticism from the Opposition, which asserted that her remarks were emblematic of the state's law and order situation.
'Without our support Nitish Kumar wouldn't have become chief minister.' 'After the government was formed we became ministers, but our agenda remained the same: Amit Shah had promised reservation for Nishads.' 'He wouldn't listen, so we went to UP and contested 52 seats in the 2022 elections. He didn't like the idea of rebellion.' 'He saw that this man, coming from Bombay, is very sharp. He's made four MLAs now, tomorrow he'll make 40. A time will come when they will make it 125.' 'They bought our MLAs and ousted us from the government.'
This is the fourth such death reported in the state since the exercise began on November 4, sparking a political blame game.
Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters' list commenced in nine states and three Union territories on Tuesday, amid objections from several parties with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee leading the anti-SIR offensive in West Bengal with a rally in Kolkata and alleging 'silent, invisible rigging' through the exercise.
Parliament is set to debate the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram and election reforms, with key discussions led by Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Shah.
'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.'
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