'The police could not save my daughter or bring her justice, but they didn't think twice about beating up women and elderly persons.'
High drama was witnessed at Tamluk in Purba Medinipur district on Sunday afternoon as West Bengal Leader of Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari was prevented by police from visiting violence-hit areas in Howrah.
Fresh incidents of stone-throwing by unidentified people on police personnel, deployed in Howrah's Kazipara area which witnessed violence over the Ram Navami procession on Thursday, triggered tension in the area on Friday afternoon, an officer said.
The bulldozer, part of the procession organised by the Adarsh Ramlila Committee, was on Monday stopped by police who termed its participation unauthorised and a new tradition.
The police on Friday claimed to have arrested 'a local Bharatiya Janata Party leader' along with 10 others on charges of running a sex racket in a hotel in West Bengal's Howrah district, while the state's main opposition party denied any association with the accused individuals.
Internet connections remained suspended even as prohibitory order under CrPC Section 144 was still in place in and around the area where several shops and residences were vandalised during the clashes, he said.
Temples across Uttar Pradesh were packed with devotees on Sunday for Ram Navami, with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath leading prayers at the Gorakhnath Temple. Heavy crowds were witnessed at temples in Lucknow, Gorakhpur, and Varanasi, where security was heightened. In Gorakhpur, Adityanath performed the traditional kanya pujan ritual, while in Varanasi, a 51-foot statue of Lord Ram has become a major attraction. The festival was celebrated with enthusiastic fervor across the state.
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.
'Rather than assuaging the feelings of the Hindus accommodated in schools and hospitals, she calls a meeting of imams and tries to assuage them.'
The ruling Trinamool Congress claimed that the strike call exposed the BJP's game plan to foment disturbances in the state exploiting people's pain over the alleged rape and murder of a woman doctor.
'Mamata needs to address the anger and resentment among various sections of the Hindu community because low-scale communal violence has always paid richer electoral dividends for the BJP.'
A day after it received a considerable drubbing in Howrah Lok Sabha bye-election, Congress today sought to attribute Trinamool Congress's win to a "nexus between Mamata Banerjee's party and the Bharatiya Janata Party", saying it was the latter's 'gift' to Banerjee for walking out of the United Progressive Alliance.
Violent clashes were witnessed in Bengal on Wednesday, September 13, 2022, during the Bharatiya Janata Party's Nabanna Abhijan (March to Secretariat) protest against the Mamata Banerjee government's alleged corruption.
A source in the know said realistically two-three of the seven bullet train corridors could be included as a practical election promise.
'This is becoming the new normal. Accountability of @AshwiniVaishnaw ji is zero. The GOI has no answers whatsoever'
Discontentment seems to be increasing by the day in sections of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal with several leaders of both camps expressing displeasure over the selection of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The state government will help all those whose properties were vandalised in the clashes, she said.
Sukanta Majumdar, the state BJP president, said, "Amit Shah has set a target of 35 seats. We will achieve that".
After joining the BJP, Ishrat said that she would work for women's right in the future.
Questioning the team's authority headed by a former Patna high court judge, Banerjee pointed out that Ram Navami processions organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party had carried arms and driven tractors and deliberately taken routes where 'Namaz' was being offered.
Police said they began lathicharging and tear gassing after the agitators managed to breach the barricades at some locations and attacked the security personnel.
Whether the age-old cry of kendrer banchana will be able to drown out pangs of Sandeshkhali, the EVM will tell.
From the function at the Esplanade metro station, the PM also inaugurated the Kavi Subhash-Hemanta Mukhopadhyay section of the New Garia-Aiport line and the Taratala-Majerhat section of the Joka-Esplanade line of the Kolkata Metro, the country's oldest metro network.
The incident had happened in Bihar when the Howrah-New Jalpaiguri semi-high-speed train was passing through that state on January 3.
An angry Banerjee slammed a minister, a former Trinamool Congress mayor and a few bureaucrats for their "below-par performance".
Babun Banerjee expressed displeasure over the party re-nominating Prasun Banerjee from Howrah Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal.
Mamata claimed that some political parties were behind the violent incidents that rocked Howrah district
The Howrah Lok Sabha by-election to be held in the shadow of Saradha chitfund scam will be a test case for the Mamata Banerjee government's popularity and for the Congress and the Communist Party of India-Marxist to gauge their standing in West Bengal prior to the 2014 general election.
The state police have called the scheduled rallies, support for which has been mainly garnered over social media platforms, as "illegal" and "unauthorised", and said they have taken necessary precautions to allay apprehensions about potential law and order situations during the march.
WC star Azad beats state BJP heavyweight Ghosh from Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency
A purported video of the incident showing the mob beating the women up mercilessly on Wednesday was shared in the social media by Amit Malviya, the head of BJP's IT cell on Saturday.
Congress minister Alamgir Alam said the party's Bermo MLA Kumar Jaimangal has lodged a police complaint against the three legislators for allegedly luring other MLAs by offering Rs 10 crore each and a ministerial berth if the BJP forms government in the state.
Clashes broke out between two groups during a Ram Navami procession in West Bengal's Hooghly district on Sunday evening, police said.
The protest will be held following all COVID protocols across all organisational mandals of the BJP.
As the final five phases of polls draw closer, rift among Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners, Congress-Left combine and the Trinamool Congress, which are fighting separately has intensified, triggering a fierce contest across half of the remaining 36 constituencies in West Bengal driven by local issues such as Sandeshkhali and the SSC scam.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that her state would sever all ties with the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) for 'unilaterally releasing water', which led to floods in south Bengal districts.
Over 60 per cent voter turnout was recorded on Monday in 49 constituencies in six states and two Union territories in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections, with Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir recording its highest-ever voting percentage.
Banerjee alleged that the BJP was maligning the name of Lord Ram by organising violence during Ram Navami processions.
'For the politics of patronage in West Bengal, it has always been important to have territorial control.'
However, a few defectors, who joined the BJP, got the better of their TMC rivals, including Suvendu Adhikari who emerged as a proverbial giant slayer, by defeating Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee albeit by a narrow margin.