West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has criticised the Election Commission for allegedly failing to protect judicial officers involved in electoral roll revisions in Malda district. She accused the EC of lacking control over law and order and enabling the BJP's alleged attempts to disrupt the election process.
The Trinamool Congress government's massive defeat in West Bengal shows "deep anti-incumbency and unpopularity" as out of 35 ministers who contested the assembly elections, 22 have been defeated, including Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in her constituency.
The campaign for the current election cycle ended on Monday as canvassing for the final phase in West Bengal concluded with a bitter war of words between rival parties over cross-border infiltration, corruption, unemployment and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who won both the Nandigram and Bhabanipur seats in West Bengal, has announced he will vacate one of the constituencies within 10 days, leaving the decision to the party leadership.
The TMC has challenged the BJP to win the Falta assembly seat in West Bengal, where a re-election has been ordered due to electoral offences. The TMC has dared the BJP to deploy its full resources, including top leaders and central forces, while expressing confidence in the electorate's support.
West Bengal BJP MLA Hiran Chatterjee is facing an FIR filed by his wife, accusing him of mental and physical torture and entering into a relationship with another woman without a legal divorce. The allegations arose after photos of Chatterjee's purported second marriage circulated on social media.
The BJP has nominated the mother of a victim in the RG Kar case from Panihati constituency for the upcoming West Bengal elections, aiming to leverage public outrage over the incident. This move is part of a broader strategy to challenge the ruling TMC by highlighting issues of women's safety and governance.
A BJP government in Bengal inherits more problems than it might care to admit at its moment of triumph, points out Ramesh Menon
Exit polls predict a BJP victory in Assam and an edge in West Bengal, a DMK government in Tamil Nadu, and a Congress-led UDF comeback in Kerala.
TMC workers allege that cars bearing the BJP's flag were allowed entry to the compound where EVMs are kept, a day ahead of the counting of votes in West Bengal. The Election Commission has denied any irregularities.
The TMC has refuted Prime Minister Modi's claim that high voter turnout in the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly polls indicates a mandate for change, asserting it reflects support for Mamata Banerjee and her government's development agenda.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed poll rallies in West Bengal, attacking Mamata Banerjee's TMC and promising development if the BJP wins the state elections. He accused Banerjee of appeasement politics and vowed to prevent the construction of a Babri Masjid-like structure in Bengal.
'The nepotism, corruption, bad governance and 15 years of rampant crime that has happened across West Bengal under her rule led to her ouster.'
Tension flared outside the Chief Electoral Officer's office in Kolkata following a confrontation between Trinamool Congress supporters and police over alleged voter list manipulation, with accusations of illegal voter enrolment from other states.
Voting has commenced in 142 constituencies for the second and final phase of the West Bengal assembly elections, with significant security measures in place. The outcome will determine whether the TMC maintains its dominance or if the BJP can gain ground in the state.
Three migrant workers from West Bengal were allegedly assaulted in Maharashtra after being suspected of being 'Bangladeshis' for speaking Bengali. The workers claim they were confronted, assaulted, and had their identity questioned despite showing Aadhaar cards.
Banerjee reached the venue in the evening, ignoring torrential rains in Kolkata and was still seated inside till reports last received.
Suspended Trinamool Congress MLA Humayun Kabir asserts he will be a 'kingmaker' after the 2026 West Bengal assembly elections, claiming no government can be formed without his support. He plans to announce a new political party on December 22 and contest in 135 seats.
For over a decade, the TMC's dominance in districts such as Murshidabad, Malda and Uttar Dinajpur rested on a near-complete consolidation of Muslim votes, a bloc that accounts for 50 per cent or more of the population in large parts of this belt.
Amid claims of Amartya Sen being summoned over Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the Chief Electoral Office of West Bengal has clarified that the notice to the Nobel laureate was issued after the Electoral Roll Officers' Network (ERONET) portal flagged a 'logical discrepancy'.
The BJP's landslide victory in West Bengal has not merely redrawn the electoral map but overturned the operating logic of politics in the state, breaching the TMC's entrenched fortress despite a decade-and-a-half of dominance, minority consolidation, and a sustained "outsider" narrative.
Mamata Banerjee's defeat in West Bengal marks a significant turning point in her political career, challenging her ability to rebuild and regain influence after a long period of dominance.
'You don't win elections on the basis of borrowed players.' 'There is a great crisis of leadership for the BJP in Bengal'
The AINRC-led NDA has won the Puducherry Assembly elections and is set to form the government. Chief Minister N Rangasamy won both seats he contested.
The BJP which won only three seats in the last assembly election is looking confident to make inroads is Mamata's den.
Senior BJP leaders visited the residence of Chandranath Rath, a close aide of Suvendu Adhikari, who was shot dead in North 24 Parganas district. The family will decide on the last rites after the post-mortem examination. BJP workers demanded the arrest of those involved in the killing.
'If the BJP becomes our political identity, our political face, if we are represented by the BJP, then what happens to our identity as Bengalis?'
The Election Commission has announced the schedule for the Rajya Sabha elections 2024, setting the stage for polls to fill 37 seats across 10 states on March 16.
'If the Opposition associates itself too much with the minorities, then it becomes easy for the BJP to get Hindu consolidation votes.'
A BJP and a Trinamool Congress worker were killed in separate incidents of post-poll violence in West Bengal on Tuesday, police said.
Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee is urging voters in Murshidabad to support the TMC to thwart the BJP's influence in West Bengal. He criticised the Congress and other parties, accusing them of indirectly supporting the BJP, and highlighted the TMC's commitment to protecting minority voters and preventing the implementation of NRC in Bengal.
The Bhabanipur assembly segment is Banerjee's political bastion, where she is locked in a prestige battle against Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari in what is being seen as a symbolic rematch of Nandigram, where he had defeated her in the 2021 assembly polls.
The TMC has filed a complaint with the Election Commission, alleging unauthorised sorting of postal ballot covers at an EVM strongroom in Kolkata. TMC workers protested outside the Khudiram Anushilan Kendra, claiming that postal ballots were taken to a room without CCTV coverage. Similar protests occurred at a strongroom in North 24 Parganas, while the BJP shared a video from Purba Bardhaman district.
Bhabanipur is set to be the focal point of the 2026 West Bengal assembly elections, with Mamata Banerjee and Suvendu Adhikari preparing for a high-stakes political battle. The constituency will witness rival processions and symbolic gestures as both parties aim to assert their dominance.
Six Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, were suspended from the West Bengal assembly over staging protests in the House in view of unrest in Sandeshkhali.
By asking Vijay to produce letters of majority support before inviting him to form the government, the governor risks overstepping established Constitutional principles, notes Harishchandra.
The construction of a Babri Masjid-style mosque in West Bengal's Murshidabad district has become a focal point in the upcoming elections, reshaping voter loyalties and raising communal tensions.
The death of a booth level officer in West Bengal due to cardiac arrest has ignited a political battle between the ruling TMC and the BJP, with accusations of workload pressure and politicization of the tragedy.
A close aide of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari was shot dead in West Bengal, leading to accusations of political violence and demands for investigation.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis stated his government is confident of uncovering the module involved in the alleged sexual harassment and forcible religious conversion at a Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) unit in Nashik.
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