Over one crore voters in West Bengal will decide the political fate of 342 candidates on Saturday, when 45 assembly constituencies go to polls in the fifth phase, amid a raging second wave of COVID-19.
Banerjee while briefing the media on the meeting said, "We will play an aggressive role in Parliament. We are ready to go to jail but will not bow our heads."
Rough estimates from plantation companies have pegged production loss in excess of 100 million kg (mkg) across India which is valued at around Rs 2000 crore. Usually, plantation companies in Assam and West Bengal produce around 15 per cent of the total tea during March-April.
Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung on Wednesday threatened to launch a militant agitation in the Darjeeling hills to press for the original demand for a Gorkhaland state, a day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee firmly ruled out any division of the state.
"Enough is enough. I have tolerated for eight days. I am very rough and tough. I am giving 72 hours to withdraw the bandh. Do not force me to take strong action," Banerjee told a press conference at the state secretariat.
With the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha renewing the demand for Gorkhaland in Darjeeling following United Progressive Alliance unanimously endorsing creation of a separate Telangana state, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday ruled out division of West Bengal and blamed the Congress for the agitation in the hills.
Addressing a press conference in Siliguri as part of the BJP's 'Shahid Samman Yatra', Union minister John Barla said he would discuss the issue at the appropriate level to bring to fruition for creating a separate state.
For the last eight months, the toy train service between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling is partially suspended, following a landslide and the authorities are unsure of when the narrow gauge route would be revived.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took stock of the damage caused by the earthquake in eastern India and has spoken to the chief ministers of Bihar, Assam and Sikkim, government sources said.
The accident happened near Sonada when the third vehicle in the Presidential convoy slipped off the road and fell down.
Nicol Tamang, main accused in the murder of All India Gorkha League president Madan Tamang, escaped from CID custody in West Bengal's Darjeeling district, police said. Tamang was arrested on August 16 and kept in CID custody at Pintal village near Siliguri after he was produced in Darjeeling district court the next day.
'Manmohan Singh's fond hope of avoiding conflict over territory by 'making borders irrelevant' is increasingly difficult to realise in a world where institutional restraints on aggression are weakening and the new game in town is unalloyed power play,' notes T N Ninan.
Rediff readers shared their best photographs of India.
Central Bureau of Investigation is investigating the Saradha ponzi scam.
In a blunt message to the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha demand, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday ruled any division of West Bengal.
'When I look at the faces of people around me, they have a certain energy, as if unemployment, food scarcity and infrastructural breakdown are small sacrifices for our agitation for Gorkhaland,' a Gorkha based in Delhi tells Geetanjali Krishna.
A fearless competitor who used brain and brawn in equal measure, Subhas Bhowmick was one of the most fascinating characters in Indian football through the 1970s with his muscular built and equally expressive carefree opinions.
The state government has its own security forces like the Eastern Frontier Rifles and was not deploying them, the MHA said.
The protesters marched from Rajghat to Jantar Mantar carrying the flag, depicting 110 years of their struggle for separate state.
One priority for Delhi (for the new foreign secretary in particular) is to have an in-depth discussion with Dharamsala as soon as possible, suggests Claude Arpi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will sharpen Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign for the high-octane assembly elections in West Bengal with a mega rally at the Brigade Parade Grounds in Kolkata on Sunday.
'There will be other innovations coming, but, at the moment, this combination of the mobile phone and the Internet is such a disruptive way to deliver content.'
Hours ahead of the second-phase strike, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) president Bimal Gurung on Monday sought intervention of the Centre for resolving the crisis in the Darjeeling Hills of West Bengal.
Over 75 per cent of the bank's Rs 175 crore NPA arises from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said in Darjeeling on Friday night that he would visit Pune, which was rocked by serial blasts on August 1, on Saturday.
Rediff readers share their special moments with their mother.
Meghalaya does not have a rail link at present but around 125 years ago people from this quaint hill-station made memorable journeys on one of the most romantic mountain railways of the world the Cherra Companyganj State Railways (CCSR).
The footballer, who contested elections twice as a Trinamool Congress candidate and lost both times, took to social media to announce his decision.
Around 2,000 Gorkha Muslims staged a protest march supporting the Gorkha Jamukti Morcha cause.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she will never agree to a division of the state even as the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha insisted that it has not given up its demand for separate Gorkhaland.
Most of the coded signals and communications were in Nepali and Tibetan languages.
'Expect very heavy rainfall at some places in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar along with sub-Himalayan West Bengal comprising of Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Siliguri, Jalpaiguri, including Sikkim, parts of Arunachal Pradesh, and parts of lower Assam, Rangia downward like Barpeta, Goalpara, Dhubri along with parts of Meghalaya.'
A day after the signing of the tripartite agreement on Darjeeling, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung on Tuesday said its original demand for Gorkhaland still stands.
A 48-hour bandh is being observed in North Bengal to oppose the tripartite agreement to be signed on Monday to pave the way for setting up of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, the new hill council in Darjeeling. The shutdown has been called by plains-based organisations Amra Bangali, Jana Jagaran and Jana Chetana to protest the move.Private cars and buses remained off the roads and shops and markets were closed in Siliguri.
The railways heritage lines that are part of the UNESCO-accorded sites list include Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, Nilgiri Mountain Railway, and Kalka Shimla Railway.
Mother Teresa, who cared for the world's most unwanted and became an icon of the Catholic Church, was canonised at a ceremony in St Peter's Square in Vatican City.
Satyajit Ray would have been a hundred years old on May 2. To mark the legendary film-maker's birth centenary, Rediff.com bring you a treasure trove of features from our archives.
'I always feel that to shake up human beings, you have to go a little extreme.'
The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha on Tuesday put aside its demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland and agreed to a new hill council with more autonomy in a bipartite agreement signed with the West Bengal government, signalling an end of the 15-year-old movement in Darjeeling.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances