The Islamists are unhappy with Taslima, there is no confusion about that. But what baffles me what has that got to do with an issue as grave as Nandigram? I fail to see any connection between the two. Nandigram, Taslima; Taslima, Nandigram -- I give up. Which is exactly when realisation dawns.
Sources said authorities surveyed the land at Kiyamgei Loukol area amid protests by hundreds of farmers and local residents in April 2006.
In the villages of Chatingabari, Kamalpur, Dakapara and others in the troubled Nandigram block I intermittent gun shots rang out as panicked people were seen leaving their homes for safe places, eyewitnesses said.
The police also said 14 improvised firearms and 500 rounds of assorted ammunition were seized by the CBI team from a brick kiln.
The body of district police intelligence officer Sadhu Chatterjee was found on Saturday from the Haldi riverbed at Narghat, near Nandigram, four days after he was killed in a mob attack.
As results pour in for the four states -- West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam -- and one Union Territory -- Puducherry - here's a glimpse at the leaders who are trailing and those who are leading.
According to the sources, he wrote to TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee apprising her of his decision to resign from the party's primary membership.
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.
The Election Commission has barred Banerjee from campaigning for 24 hours from Monday 8 pm for her remarks against central forces and a statement which had alleged religious overtones.
The BJP, which has emerged as the main opposition party in West Bengal after winning 77 seats in the assembly polls last year, failed to win even a single civic body.
'Mamata is synonymous with Bengal, its culture, language, traditions.'
The BJP which won only three seats in the last assembly election is looking confident to make inroads is Mamata's den.
The Election Commission has decided to set up a panel to identify the experiences and shortcomings during the recently-held five assembly polls.
Analysts have their doubts how much independence she has as finance minister. As Amit Mitra advises the chief minister, day-to-day work is done by the finance secretary and the chief secretary.
Though the BJP failed in its effort to dislodge Banerjee from power, it's for the first time that it will be the main opposition party in the state assembly, rising from a measly three seats in 2016 to 77.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday came down heavily on the Centre for alleged "politically motivated" questions asked at the CAPF (central armed police force) recruitment examination and said it proved that BJP has politicised the central forces to serve its political interests.
Rubbishing charges that black money was used to fund the Trinamool Congress' poll campaign in West Bengal, party chief Mamata Banerjee on Friday claimed the "wild accusations" would not cut much ice with the electorate.
'Being a woman chief minister we certainly expect from her some decency that goes well with the culture and tradition of Bengal, and with the values of a Bengali woman'
Mamata Banerjee fended off a spirited challenge by a resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal with a landslide victory for her Trinamool Congress on Sunday for a third consecutive term and the saffron party and the Left Democratic Front were poised to form government again in Assam and Kerala respectively while the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam stormed back to power in Tamil Nadu after a gap of 10 years.
Father Sarto, who visited the affected areas along with a team comprising clergy and lay volunteers, said that most of the families, especially children, were still traumatised after the March 14 firing and the violent incidents that followed.
By presenting the battle in Bengal as one between Mamata on one side and Modi-Shah on the other, the saffron camp has projected the former as a larger-than-life figure, a portrayal which has the potential of turning her into Modi's main competitor in 2024, predicts Amulya Ganguli.
"Commission maintains the position that they would not like to keep on being put in the dock for alleged proximity to any political entity," Deputy Election Commissioner in charge of West Bengal Sudeep Jain wrote to Banerjee.
One of the high-profile contests in the high-stakes Bengal polls is likely to be a direct fight between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her former confidant and now BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram seat.
'I did get a ticket, but getting nominated isn't enough.' 'The people in Habibpur, my own party workers, are my opponents.' 'Is it possible to win?'
One person was killed and six others were injured in a clash between the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal's Birbhum district, police said.
'The EC's role in this is questionable. What is the reason for this delay? Are they waiting for instructions?'
Belying all expectations, the Trinamool Congress registreted a landslide victory in West Bengal assembly elections, overcoming the might of the Bharatiya Janata Party after a bitter campaign that had turned into a virtual duel between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Two days after being admitted to state-run SSKM Hospital in Kolkata with severe bone injuries, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was discharged from the medical establishment on Friday evening after doctors found her recovery to be 'satisfactory'.
'The last three phases, the Trinamool gained more than expected due to Covid mismanagement by the Centre.'
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee campaigning in tribal Paschim Medinipur district on Thursday for the coming state election asked "Marxist friends" not to vote for either the CPI-M or Congress, who are "cohorts of the communal BJP".
'It's a classic conflict between the old and the new BJP. The new BJP is made up of turncoats and the old of veterans who slogged for decades when the BJP barely existed in West Bengal'
Though the BJP is running too close for comfort, populist schemes and support among Muslims may help Mamata Banerjee overcome the challenge, observes Aditi Phadnis.
Adhikari, the face of the Nandigram movement that catapulated Mamata Bannerjee to power in 2011, sent his resignation letter to the chief minister by fax, which he then forwarded to Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar by e-mail.
Former Bengal pace spearhead Ashoke Dinda, who is fighting from the Moyna constituency in Purba Medinipur district, said the BJP desperately wants BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly to join the party.
'With sufficient gaps between polling dates, the BJP will have time to convert the 'fence-sitter' votes,' observes Payal Mohanka.
The brewing discontentment in the party may adversely impact the TMC's prospects in the next assembly polls due in April-May next year.
'If the chief minister says there are areas in her home state where she cannot enter, where has she driven the state to!'
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the government will roll back a steep interest rate cut on small saving schemes such as PPF and NSC -- saying it was an oversight, a move being seen as an attempt by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to contain the fallout of a decision hitting the common man in the ongoing elections in West Bengal, Assam and three other states.
The BJP on Sunday congratulated Mamata Banerjee and TMC for winning the West Bengal assembly election for the third successive term and assured that the saffron party will work as a constructive opposition.
Four days after Trinamool Congress heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari resigned from the state cabinet, Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee and election strategist Prashant Kishor on Tuesday met him, following which the party claimed that 'all the issues have been resolved'.
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