Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the TMC government in West Bengal of patronizing infiltration, leading to demographic changes and riots. He reassured refugees and promised action against illegal migration if the BJP comes to power.
Union Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi has said that there could be an early election in view of the mandate that Samjwadi Party got in Uttar Pradesh.
Victory wrested from regime that only listens when forced, the TMC said on GST exemption on insurance.
In a freewheeling interview with a daily, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has admitted that corruption has influenced the CPI-M's rank and file and some of its leaders are behaving like 'local kings'. "We are living in a society which is basically corrupt" and it had influenced "our leaders and our boys" too, he said. But the Bengal CM was quick to add that the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress was not the change the state needed.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, currently facing recommendations for expulsion from the Lok Sabha in a cash-for-query row, was tasked with strengthening the party's organisation in West Bengal's Nadia district ahead of the 2024 general elections, in a clear message of support from the TMC.
Trinamool Congress leadership is yet to take a call on ghar wapsi (return home) by former TMC leaders who had joined the BJP ahead of the recently concluded assembly elections which the Mamata Banerjee-led party swept.
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.
In their resignation letter to All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) chief Mamata Banerjee, the departing leaders said, 'We had thought that the AITC is a secular party but with deep regret, we would like to bring to your notice that AITC has tried to divide Goans on the basis of religion by aligning with Sudan Dhavalikar.'
The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC), which contested the Goa Assembly elections for the first time this year, failed to make a mark in the coastal state.
Mamata's 'there is no United Progressive Alliance (UPA)' remark after a meeting in Mumbai with Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, an ally of Congress in Maharashtra, evoked a strong response from the party, currently being led by interim president Sonia Gandhi.
Senior Congress leader Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi's wife Deepa had on Sunday said that though the Trinamool was part of the United Progressive Alliance government, yet it issued statements against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and government policies. Also, she charged that Mamata put no photos of either Dr Singh or Congress chief Sonia Gandhi when she inaugurated projects in West Bengal.
Fissures appear to have emerged in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) as its two key allies, the Congress and the Trinamool Congress, on Thursday clashed over seat sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal.
Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra expressed confidence in GST.
The Congress in West Bengal on Friday said it accepted the challenge thrown by ally Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee that it would go it alone in the state henceforth but said it would remain in the Mamata Banerjee-led government.
Addressing a press conference, Pawar said the trends of the assembly polls (in five states set to be held in November) suggest the situation is favourable for the opposition, but added he had no authentic information to comment on whether there would be a change (in government) at the national level.
'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.'
In yet another jolt the Congress ahead of the Goa Assembly polls, the party's state working president, Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, resigned as member of the legislative assembly on Monday, reducing the party's strength to two in the 40-member House.
Margaret Alva claims she is unable to make phone calls after dialing 'friends in the BJP'
The TMC and the Congress are at daggers drawn over the recent instances of 'poaching' by the Mamata Banerjee-led camp.
While the BJP went back to the drawing board to recraft its political and governance outreach and regained momentum by notching up surprisingly big wins in a string of assembly polls, the burst of fresh optimism in the main opposition Congress and other INDIA bloc parties fizzled out.
The resignation of Kandolkar and two other leaders, who had contested on the TMC symbol, came as another setback for the Mamata Banerjee-led party which is struggling to retain its flock in Goa since the poll debacle.
The BJP projected the decision of TMC's Muslim MLA to join the party as a vindication of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's slogan of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas'
The MGP, which had won three seats in the 2017 polls, is currently left with only one MLA after two of its legislators joined the ruling BJP.
"I am really disappointed with the way the party is functioning. I am fed up with so many allegations of corruption levelled against the party and the government. I also do not support the way the issue of Sandeshkhali was handled," he said while maintaining that the dual issues of corruption and Sandeshkhali were the primary triggers for his decision to quit.
Banerjee and Kejriwal have shared a cordial relationship over the years, with the Delhi CM coming out in support of his West Bengal counterpart during the general elections in 2019 and also during her face-off with the Centre over Kolkata police chief Rajeev Kumar.
Terming the rise of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi at the helm would be a disaster for communal harmony, Communist Party of India (Marxist) politburo member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee alleged that Trinamool Congress was also trying to hitch an alliance once again with the BJP.
He said his supporters were apprehensive that joining TMC would invite the "outside party" to Goa which will split votes.
Dev, who was one of the national spokespersons of the grand-old party and its women's wing chief, switched over to the Mamata Banerjee-led camp last month.
The CBI has carried out searches at 15 locations in connection with the case related to attempt to murder of Dharma Mandal who suffered serious injuries after his family was attacked on May 14 night at their home in Nadia district's Chapra.
Pawar will not restrict himself to the Rashtrapati Bhavan," the minister from the NCP said.
In an apparent reference to political differences between Bharatiya Janata Party and Trinamool Congress, Jaitley said there are national causes to stand together, notwithstanding political differences.
The former union minister has also been made a member of the TMC national working committee as per the order issued on Monday by TMC general secretary Subrata Bakshi.
The highest polling percentage of 86.32 was recorded in the Purba Medinipur district, followed by Jhargram (84.74 per cent), Paschim Medinipur (84.71 per cent), Bankura (84.27 per cent) and Purulia (81.77 per cent).
The Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party on Wednesday decided to forge a pre-poll alliance for the next month's assembly elections in Goa, saying that the Congress didn't respond to their proposal for a joint contest.
With the date for the Goa assembly poll results nearing, the Congress has said it is open to a post-poll alliance with parties other than the Bharatiya Janata Party to form the next government, if it does not get a majority on its own.
"We are ready to work with any anti-BJP party. This has been our stance whenever the need arose for a big movement against divisive forces from Kashmir to Kanyakumari," CPI-M politburo member Biman Bose told reporters to a question on whether the CPI-M will be with the TMC to prevent the BJP from coming to power in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
The BJP may be in the Opposition in many states, but nowhere is it as divided as it is in Karnataka, points out Aditi Phadnis.
Six Trinamool Congress ministers on Friday submitted their resignations to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who expressed sadness over the ally's decision in protest against allowing foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail.
As the Queen star found herself in the middle of a row, with the BJP distancing itself and the Congress attacking it, here's a look at some of the controversies, political and otherwise.
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