Daily life was partially affected in West Bengal on Wednesday due to a 12-hour shutdown called by the Bharatiya Janata Party, protesting the police action against demonstrators during a march to the state secretariat.
While the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress alleged that the killings were a fallout of the TMC's infighting, the ruling party pointed fingers at the grand old party of India.
Banerjee highlighted that despite repeated reminders over the last seven months, the Congress remained inactive in sealing the seat-sharing agreement.
NDA-MEETING-RESOLUTION PM Modi unanimously elected as NDA leader as he gets ready to form govt (Eds: With pics) New Delhi, Jun 5 (PTI) Leaders of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance unanimously elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the ruling bloc's leader on Wednesday, passing a resolution to underscore the government's commitment to serving the poor, women, youths, farmers and deprived sections of society. They met at Modi's residence here a day after the NDA won a majority of seats in the Lok Sabha election, paving the way for him to take the oath for a third consecutive term, a first for any ruling alliance since 1962. TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, LJP(R) leader Chirag Paswan and NCP leader Praful Patel were among those who attended the meeting. The resolution said the NDA government will continue working to lift people's living standards for the country's all-round development while conserving its heritage. "We are all proud that the NDA fought the 2024 Lok Sabha polls unitedly under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and won. We all NDA leaders unanimously elect Narendra Modi as our leader," it added. The resolution also said that people have seen the country being developed in every sector in the last 10 years due to the pro-people policies of the NDA government under Modi. PTI KR
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.
Hitting back at Prashant Kishor, Kailash Vijayvargiya remarked that the country will lose a poll strategist after his part forms the government in the state after the upcoming elections in the state.
A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul sought response from the West Bengal government on five separate pleas filed by BJP leaders alleging foisting of criminal cases to deter them from political activities and said interim protection from coercive action will continue till the next date of hearing.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be in the state this weekend, while his colleagues Gajendra Shekhawat, Sanjeev Balyan, Prahlad Patel, Arjun Munda and Mansukh Mandaviya will be visiting in the next few days, sources in the party said on Thursday.
The West Bengal government has assured the Calcutta High Court that the law and order situation in violence-hit Murshidabad district is under control. The court was hearing a petition by the Leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, who alleged bomb blasts during communal riots and sought an NIA investigation. The state government claims adequate steps have been taken to quell the violence, while the Centre has requested an extension of CAPF deployment in the district. The violence erupted during protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act in Murshidabad, displacing several families. The state government has reported that some families have returned to their homes.
He termed the allegations as "just random statements" and demanded that people making such allegations should demonstrate how the EVMs can be "hacked"
Addressing a rally in Paschim Medinipur, the Trinamool Congress supremo claimed that BJP leaders "arrive here in choppers and planes from outside with bagful of cash to lure voters and loot votes" just ahead of elections.
It is noteworthy that, rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Suvendu Adhikari formally tendered his resignation to party chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday.
TMC claimed that the new instructions were made with a "mala fide intention to benefit the candidates of Bharatiya Janata Party".
The bypolls were held in six constituencies - Naihati, Haroa, Medinipur, Taldangra, Sitai (SC), and Madarihat (ST) - following the resignation of MLAs who had vacated their assembly seats after securing victories in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Earlier in the day, one person was killed and three were injured after a crude bomb went off in a mango orchard in Murshibabad district, police said.
The country now has six national parties - Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, Communist Party of India-Marxist, NPP and AAP.
Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee will not be part of the virtual meeting on Saturday morning as she is preoccupied with prior engagements, they said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party surprised many with its latest list of Lok Sabha candidates for West Bengal, nominating a protester from Sandeshkhali for the Basirhat constituency and changing the seats of its two incumbent MPs -- the party's former state chief Dilip Ghosh and ex-Union minister Debasree Chowdhury.
Rekha Gupta had the support of the RSS, which actively participated in the Delhi assembly poll campaign to help the BJP win.
No government official does his work. If one does not have sources, he cannot get his work done, she said.
Dismissing the allegation, BJP district general secretary Shyamal Roy claimed that the murder was a fallout of infighting within the ruling party.
The Calcutta high court on Tuesday directed that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) be handed over the case of attack on Enforcement Directorate officials at Sandeshkhali and the custody of suspended Trinamool Congress leader Shajahan Sheikh, as it slammed West Bengal Police for 'totally biased' conduct and said every attempt is being made to delay the probe to 'protect' the accused.
The party has fielded Parvati Das for the by-election to the Bageshwar assembly seat in Uttarakhand and Lijinlal G for the Puthuppally assembly seat in Kerala.
West Bengal minister Jakir Hossain was seriously injured after unidentified attackers hurled a crude bomb at him on Nimtita railway station in Murshidabad district on Wednesday night, police said.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has found the report submitted by the West Bengal government on the alleged attack on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram on March 10 as 'sketchy' and asked Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay to elaborate it, a poll official said.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday condemned the violence in West Bengal's Murshidabad district following the passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, accusing the opposition of instigating the violence. He also criticized the opposition for their alleged silence over the persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh and emphasized the BJP's commitment to protecting Hindus.
Sources said Dhankhar was scheduled to leave Kolkata Friday afternoon, but the departure has been rescheduled for Saturday.
Polling for the fifth phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections will take place on May 20, 2024, with 49 seats going to the polls across 8 states.
Police have leveled serious charges, including attempt to murder, assault with intent to outrage the modesty of a woman, and causing grievous hurt, against arrested Trinamool Congress strongman Tajemul Islam in the Chopra flogging case, a senior police officer said on Tuesday.
Sporadic incidents of unrest marred the West Bengal bypolls, with a local Trinamool Congress worker Ashok Shaw dying following a crude bomb attack in Bhatpara, an area adjoining Naihati assembly constituency where voting was underway.
The notice cited Ghosh's alleged remarks that "if someone crosses his limits then you have seen what happened in Sitalkuchi. There will be Sitalkuchi in several places."
If he cannot do it this term by using his bureaucracy and experts from different fields, it will be a tragedy, asserts Ramesh Menon.
Some BJP activists had allegedly raised the slogan a a party programme in West Bengal's Hooghly district on Wednesday, following which district police registered a suo motu case and arrested them late at night, an officer said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she has written to the Centre, seeking permission to visit the strife-torn state of Manipur.
Moderate to high turnout was recorded in 13 assembly constituencies across seven states where bypolls were held on Wednesday amid sporadic incidents of violence in Uttarakhand, Bihar and West Bengal.
Allahabad has seen some interesting battles, such as the Congress's Amitabh Bachchan defeating H N Bahuguna in 1984 or the 1988 by-poll that marked V P Singh's emergence as the contender for the PM post.
Jagdeep Dhankhar's sudden resignation as Vice President has led to speculation about underlying political tensions and disagreements with the ruling alliance.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a money laundering case against Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra and businessman Darshan Hiranandani in connection with an alleged cash-for-queries scam case, official sources said Tuesday.
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.
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