West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP of 'linguistic terror' and plotting to delete Bengali voters from electoral rolls, vowing to protect voting rights.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the TMC, accusing them of prioritizing vote-bank politics over national security and Bengali identity by promoting infiltration. He also highlighted the BJP's vision for a developed and prosperous Bengal, promising a clean break from the past.
'Women are likely to have voted because of the numerous welfare schemes. The CAA consolidated minority votes and the BJP's booth-level organisation in Bengal is weak.'
Opposition-ruled states warn of steep annual losses; Centre assures higher consumption will offset revenue hit.
Aam Aadmi Party's Gopal Italia on Monday won from Gujarat's Visavadar assembly constituency and his party also retained Punjab's Ludhiana West seat while the Congress-led United Democratic Front wrested Nilambur from the ruling Left Democratic Front in Kerala, according to results of assembly bypolls in four states.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticizes Delhi Police for referring to Bengali as 'Bangladeshi national language,' sparking political controversy.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said the victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in the Bihar polls was a mandate against infiltrators in the country because citizens will never favour those parties that support such illegal immigrants.
The incident comes two days after the Bharatiya Janata Party claimed that its worker Trilochon Mahato, 20, who was found hanging from a tree at Balarampur in the district on May 30, was killed by the Trinamool Congress. However, the Trinamool Congress has denied the allegations and termed it as baseless.
Rattled by a series of demonstrations outside the state party headquarters in Kolkata, West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party president Sukanta Majumdar Friday issued a stern warning saying that disciplinary actions will be taken against dissenting party members.
According to Modi, the TMC's 'political syndicate' rules in the land of 'Vande Mataram' and 'Jana-Gana-Mana' and pursues appeasement and vote bank politics.
The violence fanned out to Asansol areas, prompting police to suspend Internet services and clamp prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC in the trouble-torn areas of the district.
Her statement came after a controversy broke out that TMC MP Yusuf Pathan was forced to opt out of the multi-party diplomatic delegation.
The EC also ordered the removal of Principal Secretary (Home) Atri Bhattacharya and Additional Director General, CID, Rajiv Kumar from their postings in West Bengal.
Chowdhury said the schedule of the yatra was submitted to the state administration long ago.
Adhikari asserted that 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' was unnecessary and questioned the need for the Minority Morcha within the party.
The situation in these violence-hit places remained tense on Saturday morning, but no untoward incident was reported, officials said.
A retired school headmaster from Jhalda, West Bengal, mourned the loss of his 33-year-old son, an Intelligence Bureau officer, who was killed in a terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir. The incident sparked outrage and calls for justice as families and political leaders expressed grief and condemned the attack. The victims' families recounted the horrifying details of the attack and praised the courage of a local taxi driver who rescued survivors and provided support.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's offer of central assistance in arresting the downward slide in West Bengal and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval's ongoing trip to the state and his asking for Mamata's cooperation in handling the situation and in dissolving the anti-national and inter-country network of jihad that has now chosen her state as one of its base, is perhaps Mamata's last best chance to salvage the situation, says Dr Anirban Ganguly.
'He's a hypocrite because he's the one who said that India, when he was not the coach of Team India, said that India and Pakistan should never play a match between them.'
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.
The resolution said the state will be called Bangla in three languages -- Bengali, English and Hindi.
It was stated that Mishra was very influential in the conduct of the day-to-day affairs of South Calcutta Law College, of which he is an alumnus.
The Rajasthan unit of the BJP expelled state spokesperson Krishna Kumar Janu for six years for publicly criticizing the party's treatment of former governor Satya Pal Malik and ex-vice president Jagdeep Dhankhar.
The state will be referred to as Bangla in Hindi and Bengal in English.
The combined Left parties drew a blank in the polls to the assembly which they had run with an overwhelming majority for 34 long years, with their vote share dwindling to a mere 5.47 per cent in 2021.
Addressing an Eid prayers programme on Red Road in Kolkata, the Trinamool Congress supremo claimed, "Provocations are being made to fuel riots, but please don't fall into these traps. The West Bengal government stands with the minorities. No one can provoke tensions in the state."
Moderate turnout was recorded in the first four hours of polling across five assembly constituencies across Punjab, West Bengal, Gujarat and Kerala where bypolls are underway on Thursday.
The rally was not allowed to proceed towards the South Calcutta Law College, where the 24-year-old student was allegedly gang-raped by three men, including an alumnus of the institute, on June 25.
The CM also accused the Modi government and the BJP of trying to disturb peace.
'Are elections still fair in India, or are we all witness to a macabre style of 'selection' of lawmakers? The jury will be out on this for a long time because there is no definitive evidence on either contention, at least as yet,' notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author, Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
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.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is set to elect its next general secretary, with speculation rife over who will lead the party. Leading contenders include M A Baby, backed by the party's Kerala unit, and Ashok Dhawale, who enjoys support from the West Bengal lobby. Other potential candidates include Mohammed Salim, B V Raghavulu, and Brinda Karat. The election will take place at the 24th CPI(M) congress in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
Sukanta Majumdar, the state BJP president, said, "Amit Shah has set a target of 35 seats. We will achieve that".
The Trinamool Congress on Friday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of spreading lies and criminalising poverty over the detention of Bengali-speaking migrant workers in Odisha, while the saffron party charged the Mamata Banerjee dispensation with providing shelters to illegal immigrants.
Bharatiya Janata Party dismissed the allegation and said it was only a paper cutting used in a protest.
In a federal democracy, the people must have a say (indirect or direct) in an office as important as that of governor. Especially in a governor who can now effectively veto a bill by simply refusing to sign it, argues Harishchandra.
Unidentified assailants hurled bombs and opened fire outside the residence of BJP leader and former MP Arjun Singh in Bhatpara, West Bengal, injuring a youth. Singh alleged that Trinamool Congress (TMC) councillor Sunita Singh's son, Namit Singh, was behind the attack. Police are investigating the incident and have deployed security forces in the area.
West Bengal and Assam voted in the first phase of assembly elections on Saturday. Polling was held for 30 seats in West Bengal and 47 seats in Assam amid tight security. Among the long queues of voters, there were some famous faces too who exercised their franchise.
Bose is planning to convert the police outpost near the North Gate of the Raj Bhavan into a 'Jan Manch' (public platform), he said.
The CPI-M leader was the chief minister of the state from 2000 to 2011.
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