Accusing Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi of being an "opportunist", prominent cleric Maulana Barkati on Tuesday asked Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee to be more critical of Modi in order to prove her secular credentials.
Claiming that their activists were under attack from 'Trinamool Congress-led anti-socials', the Left parties on Wednesday asked the Election Commission to take immediate steps to ensure free and fair polls in West Bengal, including ordering the execution of non-bailable warrants against criminals who were 'terrorising' people ahead of the vote.The four parties also alleged that a prominent media group, which they said was 'acting as an official mouthpiece' of Mamata Banerjee'
Bypoll to the Bhabanipur assembly seat in West Bengal, from where chief minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee plans to contest, would be held on September 30, the Election Commission announced on Saturday.
A member of the 1983 cricket World Cup-winning squad, Azad was suspended from the Bharatiya Janata Party for openly targeting the then Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over alleged irregularities and corruption in the Delhi and District Cricket Association in December 2015. He joined the Congress in 2018.
The country now has six national parties - Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, Communist Party of India-Marxist, NPP and AAP.
"Even without her, we have over 60 per cent votes that may go up with others' support and hence we are just not counting on Trinamool," a Congress functionary said on Monday.
BJP protest outside Mamata Banerjee's residence over attack on BJP leader Roopa Ganguly's convoy
Disgruntled West Bengal minister Rabindranath Bhattacharya, who has refused to take up his new ministerial assignment, on Tuesday stoked the 'cut money' debate, urging Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to tackle corruption in party ranks.
He said though the Bharatiya Janata Party wants to expand its influence in the Trinamool Congress-ruled state, its goal is to rid West Bengal of the 'environment of terror'. "Bengal is the only state in the entire country where the culture of political violence is flourishing," he told the BJP's virtual 'Jan Samvad' rally.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was injured when the helicopter in which she was flying made an emergency landing at the Sevoke air base near Siliguri in the northern part of the state due to bad weather on Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
Jaya said she is in Bengal to campaign for the Trinamool Congress as per instructions of her party president Akhilesh Yadav, who has extended support to Mamata Banerjee in the polls.
It is for the second time in succession that Banerjee powered her party to two thirds majority in the state assembly.
Banerjee is undergoing treatment at the SSKM Hospital for injuries on her left leg after she was allegedly pushed by unknown miscreants during campaign in Nandigram.
Former United Progressive Alliance ally Trinanmool Congress on Sunday said West Bengal was "thoroughly deprived" in the reshuffle of the Union council of ministers as none was made a Cabinet minister and the three Congress leaders made ministers of state were there only to "needle" TC.
In a show of support for Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav's electoral alliance, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee flexed her political muscle in Lucknow.
Seeking intensification of the joint operations against Maoists, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) launched a scathing attack on the Trinamool Congress on Thursday for "playing footsie" with the extremists for electoral gains.
'Mamata's numbers will reduce this time compared to 2016.'
Describing the meeting as 'positive', Banerjee said she discussed the political situation in the country as well as opposition unity with the Gandhis.
The welfare schemes of the government, particularly Lakshmir Bhandar, have had a major impact on the electoral outcome.
She claimed that the Centre has not released funds for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) project for the state and other initiatives of its housing and road departments.
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.
The banned Communist Party of India-Maoist on Wednesday dismissed allegations levelled by the Marxists on the nexus between the Trinamool Congress and the rebels, saying the proscribed outfit did not have any relations with the Mamata Banerjee-led party.
The Shiromani Akali Dal skipped the meeting, besides the Aam Aadmi Party, the TRS and the BJD.
West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said the central government's claim that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tried to contact her following Tuesday night's political developments is absolutely wrong and charged the leaders of the ruling Congress Party of distorting facts.
A day after stating that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had a fall at her Kalighat residence 'due to some push from behind' leading to injuries on forehead and nose, state-run SSKM Hospital director Manimoy Bandyopadhyay on Friday clarified that all he meant was that the CM may have felt 'a sensation of push'.
Leaders of the West Bengal Congress unit, which has an alliance with the CPI-M-led Left Front in the state, were seen welcoming the Left leaders.
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