Union Home Minister Amit Shah participated in a roadshow in Kharagpur Sadar, West Bengal, attracting large crowds and highlighting the BJP's campaign efforts in the region ahead of the assembly elections.
Suvendu Adhikari and Dilip Ghosh are the top contenders for West Bengal Chief Minister.
The BJP experienced a mixed bag of results in the West Bengal Assembly elections, with several heavyweight candidates securing victories while others faced defeat. Key wins included Dilip Ghosh, Suvendu Adhikari, and others, but some prominent faces failed to win.
In a strategic move for the upcoming West Bengal elections, the BJP has announced its first candidate list, highlighted by Suvendu Adhikari challenging Mamata Banerjee in both Nandigram and Bhabanipur.
Suvendu Adhikari was sworn in as the first BJP chief minister of West Bengal, marking the end of the Trinamool Congress' 15-year rule in the state.
The high-pitched campaign for the first phase of West Bengal assembly elections concluded with the BJP and TMC focusing on electoral rolls and dietary habits, while making promises to voters. Voting is scheduled in 152 constituencies across north Bengal and southern districts, with over 3.60 crore electors eligible to vote. A record number of Central paramilitary forces have been deployed, and several districts have been identified as highly sensitive.
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 released its first list of candidates for the West Bengal assembly polls, featuring Suvendu Adhikari against Mamata Banerjee in a high-stakes electoral battle. The Left Front has also announced its initial list of candidates, setting the stage for a crucial election.
Dedicating the party's victory to the people of West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said voters had "paid back" the BJP for its "arrogance of power".
Election will be held in 60 out of the total 294 seats in the first two phases of the eight-phased polls which is slated to stretch from March 27 to April 29. The date for the second phase of election is April 1.
'When violence spread, it looked as if Mamata was losing control, but soon, she was able to contain the situation.' 'Now, the TMC stands to gain the most.'
BJP leaders in the state are either lying low or criticising the CAA move in hushed tones. Chandra Kumar Bose, vice-president of the BJP's state unit, is most vocal with his opposition to the Act in the current form. "The country is above petty party politics. How can I keep quiet when I see that something is happening which is wrong in its current form?" Other party leaders aren't as vocal as Bose but clandestinely have been questioning the merit of the CAA and its impact on the BJP's prospects in the state. In fact, at a time when the BJP started making deep inroads in the state, the fear of the CAA and the NRC appears to be ruining its prospects.
The BJP could win only 16 out of 57 seats where Shah campaigned.
'Thanks to Mamata's shameless way of wooing Muslims, Hindus in large numbers have started aligning with us,' says Bengal's BJP boss Dilip Ghosh.
Protests broke out in some states on Friday, including Delhi's Jama Masjid and stone-petling at policemen in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj and Saharanpur, over the controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammad by two now-suspended Bharatiya Janata Party functionaries with demonstrators in Jharkhand injuring a few policemen while authorities in Jammu imposed a curfew in few areas and parts of Kashmir observed a shutdown.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee directed the director general of police to instruct all the superintendents of police to take strong action against those who carried arms in the rallies.
'Our network somehow saves 3,000 lives every year, but there's so much more to do, as every death due to shortage of blood is easily avoidable.'
Taking exception to Health Minister Harsh Vardhan not mentioning the death of healthcare workers due to Covid-19 in his statement in Parliament, the Indian Medical Association has published a list of 382 doctors who died due to the viral disease and demanded that they be treated as "martyrs".
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances