Political commentators say the final outcome of the West Bengal assembly elections would depend on how some crucial factors play out this time. Mayank Mishra explains.
Roopa Ganguly was on Sunday heckled and her convoy attacked allegedly by Trinamool Congress supporters near Diamond Harbour in South 24 Parganas district.
According to BJP leader Muzaffar Khan, 'armed' CPI (M) workers allegedly attacked Sikdar who was severely injured.
Sudhir Kumar Gautam rode a cycle with the Indian tricolour and the Bangladesh national flag on the handle-bar.
A majority of its Trinamool Congress coucillors switched over to the BJP.
Charges under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Section 307 (attempt to murder) and Section 25/27A of Arms Act were filed against Mamata Banerjee.
Violence rocked parts of West Bengal over the filing of nominations for the July 8 panchayat poll as activists of the ruling Trinamool Congress and opposition parties clashed prompting the police to use force to disperse the mob.
The incident, initially reported as a stampede, occurred when there was a huge rush of pilgrims to board vessels to reach Kolkata.
A Trinamool Congress legislator on Sunday threatened to not support any bill tabled by the government in the West Bengal Assembly in the future and abstain from voting in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls in the state if 'atrocities' on his loyalists allegedly by a rival faction continued, even as the Bharatiya Janata Party said the collapse of the Mamata Banerjee government was just a matter of time.
It has also been decided to suspend the interstate bus services till March 31, the officials said. The decisions have been taken at a high-level meeting attended by chief secretaries of all states and the cabinet secretary and the principal secretary to the prime minister.
"Hemant Soren repeatedly ignored my advice and eventually landed in jail... he has always been surrounded by wrong advisors," Hembrom, a lawmaker from Borio seat in Sahibganj district, told reporters.
One of the girls was missing for the past four years and the others for about six months, the police said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has honoured Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain refugees by giving them citizenship through Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), Union home minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday and maintained there is no provision of stripping of anyone's citizenship in the new law.
Riding a scooter, Union minister Smriti Irani led a rally of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday as she campaigned for the upcoming West Bengal elections in the South 24 Parganas district.
West Bengal Congress spokesperson Kaustav Bagchi was granted bail by a court in Kolkata on Saturday evening, hours after being arrested for his alleged comments against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The active cases now comprise 2.35 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 96.36 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed
Shah accused the ruling TMC in Bengal of "spreading canards" about the Citizenship (Amendment) Act
The commission said polling was held at 15,940 polling stations spread across 44 assembly constituencies in this phase of polls.
Sandeshkhali Block 2, the epicentre of the violent protests triggered by allegations of land encroachment and sexual misconduct involving local TMC leaders, has contributed the largest share of close to 1,000 complaints.
The TMC claimed that the victims were supporters of the party and were targeted by miscreants hired by the Bharatiya Janata Party, a charge denied by the saffron party.
The saffron party took out rallies in several parts of the state, with BJP workers sporting black badges.
The main accused in the brutal murder of a college student in North 24 Parganas district, was on Wednesday arrested from Rampurhat in Birbhum district, the police said.
BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh was allegedly manhandled while party MP Arjun Singh faced 'go back' slogans by ruling TMC workers while campaigning for party candidate Priyanka Tibrewal, who is pitted against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur assembly constituency in the city on the last day of campaigning on Monday.
An angry Nadda called the attack 'unprecedented' and alleged the state has slipped into 'complete lawlessness and goonda raj'. He also said the violence reflected the 'frustration' of the Mamata Banerjee government. West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee insinuated the attack was staged.
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.
Didi is frightened by the rise of BJP in West Bengal," the PM said.
Home tutor Puja Singh, who was caught on camera brutally beating up a three-year-old child at Lake Town in Barasat city of West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, was on Saturday remanded in police custody by a court in Salt Lake.
Migrant labourers in South 24 Parganas who lost their jobs due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown are left with nothing due to the monstrous cyclone now.
Kumar failed to appear before the CBI on Tuesday morning, increasing the possibility of his arrest.
The TMC, in total, bagged 75.02 per cent of the votes cast, whereas the BJP got some 14.48 per cent votes, in the four assembly segments.
Normal life was partially affected in West Bengal on Thursday following a state-wide 12-hour general strike called by Left Parties and trade unions, with the Bharatiya Janata Party also calling a 10-hour bandh to protest against alleged violence by ruling Trinamool Congress in the recent civic polls.
The repolling started at 7 am amid tight security with four central forces personnel deployed in each booth, besides state police. Till 11 am, 10.9 per cent voter turnout was recorded.
In order to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, the West Bengal government on Thursday announced that it has suspended all the flights coming to Kolkata airport from the United Kingdom from January 3 onwards till further notice.
The court directed the CBI to investigate allegations of crimes against women and forcible land grabbing in Sandeshkhali and submit a comprehensive report to it on the next date of hearing.
A 24-year-old mother of two was allegedly gang-raped and thrown out of a moving auto rickshaw in an unconscious state at Akra in South 24 Parganas district, a Kolkata suburb.
Security measures have been heightened in view of the violence in the previous phases, particularly the death of five people in Cooch Behar in the fourth phase of polling on April 10, an Election Commission official said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday accused NIA officials of attacking villagers in Purba Medinipur district, the BJP hit back at her saying that the attack on the NIA officials is Sandeshkhalli 2.0 orchestrated by the state.
The location of the landfall is north of Dhamra and south of Bahanaga, close to Bahanaga block, on the coast, around 50 km of Balasore, he said.
Tension was palpable in the area, and a large police contingent was deployed to prevent any further flare-up.
