Polling for 16 Rajya Sabha seats in four states will be held on Friday amid allegations of attempts at horse-trading by rival parties which have corralled their MLAs in hotels and scenic resorts, prompting the Election Commission to appoint special observers and order videography of the entire exercise.
The incident happened around 4.30 pm in Uttar Pabiacherra in Kumarghat during the 'Ulta Rath Yatra' or return car festival organised by ISKCON, they said. During this festival, the sibling deities -- Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhdara and Lord Jagannath -- return to their abode in a chariot, a week after Rath Yatra.
A team of CBI officers reached his residence in south Kolkata's Chetla area along with a large contingent of central forces in the morning, officials said.
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was hurt mildly on his forehead in stone throwing by Left Democratic Front workers protesting against the solar panel scam in Kannur on Sunday.
The Communist Party of India - Marxist on Saturday sought a comprehensive and independent inquiry into all aspects of the Bhopal gas tragedy, saying a Group of Ministers will not be able to probe the 'failure' of state agencies, the judiciary and other authorities in the matter. "There has been connivance between the then governments, both at the central and the state levels. The 26 years of history of Bhopal case shows the failure of the state agencies," said Prakash Karat.
Bowing to public pressure, the Communist Party of India Marxist in Kerala on Friday reversed its decision to drop Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan from the candidates' list for the state assembly, bringing the party's most popular face to the poll arena to lead the Left Democratic Front for the polls on April 13. The dramatic U-turn came after the central leadership directed the state unit to revoke its decision, factoring in widespread protests from the party rank and file
Any adverse electoral fallout in Thrikkakara by-poll may have an impact on Rahul Gandhi because this falls in the state he represents as a member of Parliament and KC Venugopal because it is his home state, reports Shine Jacob.
The Communist Party of India Marxist on Saturday said the classified American cables released by Wikileaks showed the 'complicity' of the Manmohan Singh government in furthering United States's 'imperialist' interests. "As the Wikileaks cables from around the world have shown, the United States pursues single-mindedly its imperialist interests. The unfortunate part is the complicity of the Manmohan Singh government in furthering some of these interests, CPI-M said.
According to a senior Congress leader, the constituents of the opposition alliance intend to move forward with the theme "Main Nahin, Hum (We, Not Me)" at the meeting.
For Pinarayi, a victory in Thrikkakara would have come as public endorsement of his development initiatives, including controversial K-Rail project, which has witnessed widespread protest
The Left party leader said the lesson from Gujarat was that 'deep-rooted communalism cannot be fought just by momentary electoral tactics, however well-designed' but by taking up the immediate problems of the people 'affected by the unabashed rightwing economic policies.'
A day before her scheduled appearance before the Enforcement Directorate in the Delhi excise policy case, Bharat Rashtra Samiti leader K Kavitha led a hunger strike here on Friday seeking the passage of the long-pending Women's Reservation Bill in this Budget session of Parliament.
The BJP declared a total income of Rs 1917.12 crore during 2021-22 and spent Rs 854.467 crore or 44.57 per cent of it.
Trinamool Congress on Friday fired a fresh salvo at the Congress, accusing it of trying to create lawlessness in the state in order to 'help' Communist Party of India-Marxist and warned that both government and the party would not tolerate it.
The recently held presidential election and the historic victory of Droupadi Murmu are likely to create political ripples in Kerala as the NDA candidate received an unexpected vote from the southern state.
"Why are our jails overcrowded? Why is the the policy of remission being applied selectively?"
Mamata Banerjee thanked people for casting their votes in favour of the TMC.
Sporadic violence marked the third phase of panchayat elections in West Bengal on Friday covering three districts of Howrah, North 24-Parganas and South 24-Parganas where an average 25 per cent polling was recorded in the first four hours of voting.
'Hygiene is very bad, there is no medicine and there is no electricity.' 'I fear that there will be a breakout of some disease.'
The combined vote share of the Left Front was also reduced to nearly 24 per cent from 41 per cent in 2011.
The rivalry between party veteran V S Achuthanandan and Communist Party of India-Marxist Kerala state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan appears to be heading to a flashpoint, pushing the party to its worst crisis in recent times.
In a complaint to the Election Commission, the Communist Party of India Marxist on Wednesday alleged that Home Minister P Chidambaram and his ministry were trying to "portray" the Left Front as an "aggressor" in West Bengal, thereby violating the model code of conduct in place in the state.The party petitioned to the commission that statements being made by Chidambaram during the course of his campaign for the ongoing assembly elections.
The verbal duel between the Congress and BJP over the controversial 'love and narcotic jihad' remark by Pala Bishop Joseph Kallarangatt, intensified on Sunday with the former saying it does not want the Sangh parivar to gain foothold here while the latter claimed that both CPI (M) and Congress were cornering the Bishop over the issue.
The upcoming Opposition meet in Patna scheduled for next week will not discuss a possible prime ministerial candidate and will focus on deciding the common agenda for the parties to work on in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist state secretariat meeting held at the party headquarters AKG Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, has finalized the name of party candidates fighting the ensuing Lok Sabha polls.
"We will observe January 24 as anti-imperialism day and the campaign will culminate in a big protest meeting at New Delhi and other parts of the country during Mr Bush's visit," he told a press conference in Hyderabad.
According to the Election Commission's website at 5.45 pm on Tuesday, the NOTA votes ranged as high as 2.1 per cent in Chhattisgarh to 0.5 per cent in Mizoram.
The development came just days after West Bengal Left Front chairman and CPI-M Politburo member Biman Bose in a change of stance had said the party is ready to join hands with Trinamool Congress to fight the BJP at the national level.
Security was stepped up in politically-volatile areas of north Kerala. Two companies of Central Rapid Action Force had been requisitioned by the state government for deployment in Kannur to meet any eventuality, police said.
Singh defeated Bharatiya Janata Party's Dara Singh Chauhan in the bypoll to the Ghosi Assembly constituency in Mau district with a margin of 42,759 votes on Friday.
Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member and state secretary Biman Bose emerged from the hospital at 12.12 pm on Sunday weeping to formally announce the passing away of 95-year-old Basu.
Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has alleged that the Jamat Islami is a religious fundamentalist outfit and said that the Communist Party of India - Marxist has never had an alliance with the organisation. Responding to a question on whether the state government has initiated an inquiry in the activities of the organisation, he said that as it was a national outfit, it was the Centre's responsibility to probe its activities.
Ahead of the crucial third phase of assembly polls, Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said that West Bengal was the 'worst-governed' state in the country and blamed the CPI-M and its cadres for spreading violence and turning the state into a 'killing field'.
Police said 34-year-old Rajesh's left hand was chopped off in the attack which took place around 9 pm on Saturday night.
Given the politics behind it all, one possibility is for binding the governor to act according to the decisions of the state government and clarifying his position vis a vis bills and resolutions passed by the state assembly -- or, re-enacted if returned, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Communist Party of India-Marxist on Thursday urged President Pranab Mukherjee to decide whether West Bengal Governor M K Narayanan's "political interventions" in seeking an apology from the party politburo for the Delhi incident, involving Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was justified.
Urging the government not to enact a law against the interest of states, Communist Party of India - Marxist lawmaker Sitaram Yechury on Thursday accused the corporates of funding elections, and said that the graft cannot be tackled without including India Inc under the review of Lokpal.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, however, was conspicuous by her absence at the event, which was attended by tens of thousands of people as the Congress sought to promote opposition unity.
"Law is supposed to be a noble profession," the Supreme Court observed on Thursday, and voiced surprise over how can one of the convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case and murder of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots practise law after his conviction, the remission of his sentence notwithstanding.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances