A man died after becoming trapped in a lift at a Kolkata hospital, leading to accusations of negligence and corruption against the state government.
This is the first cyclone in the Bay of Bengal this pre-monsoon season.
Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien has challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claims about India's progress, citing poverty statistics and West Bengal's economic growth.
A recent report indicates that over 5,000 government schools in India have no students enrolled, with a significant concentration in Telangana and West Bengal. The number of schools with very low enrolment has also increased.
The West Bengal government has filed FIRs against five state government employees for alleged lapses in electoral roll revisions, following an Election Commission ultimatum. The action comes after the EC directed the state to initiate criminal cases against the accused for adding fictitious names to voter lists.
Suvendu Adhikari's rise within the BJP in West Bengal has been marked by strategic victories and relentless opposition to the TMC, culminating in his leadership role within the party's legislative wing.
The TMC chief alleged that the National Investigation Agency had gone to Bhupatinagar in Purba Medinipur district without informing the local police.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw asserted that the BJP will form the government in West Bengal after the upcoming assembly elections, ending the Trinamool Congress's 15-year rule. He criticised the TMC for vote-bank politics, hindering development, and failing to protect women, while promising unprecedented development under a BJP government.
In West Bengal's electoral chessboard, governments are rarely made in the hills of North Bengal or the forested region of Jangalmahal. Power is usually decided in the crowded plains of South Bengal, where elections are won less by momentum and more by mathematics.
Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee has warned of a significant increase in cooking gas and fuel prices by the BJP-led central government following the West Bengal assembly elections. He accused the BJP of neglecting the fuel crisis and challenged them to pledge no price hikes for the next five years.
Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee alleges the BJP-led government may increase fuel prices after the West Bengal assembly elections, accusing them of neglecting the common man and withholding funds from the state.
"After going through the reports the commission decided that Vivek Sahay IPS, Director Security shall be removed from the post of the Director Security and be placed under suspension immediately. The charges must be framed against him within a week for grossly failing in discharge of his primary duty as Director Security to protect the Z+ protectee," it said.
The IMD has forecast thunderstorms and gusty winds across south Bengal on Saturday, the day the first BJP government in West Bengal is scheduled to be sworn in at the Brigade Parade Grounds in Kolkata. Rain and thundershowers are likely to occur across all districts until May 14.
A police team from Purba Medinipur district also visited neighbouring Odisha in search of the absconding factory owner.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has accused the TMC of pursuing appeasement policies in West Bengal, urging voters to support a BJP government for inclusive governance and development.
This was the second time in less than a week when the ex-MP and former state BJP chief was absent from a programme of a top BJP leader, the other being the public meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Alipurduar in northern West Bengal on May 29.
Families of two West Bengal women killed in a stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela have alleged that they were handed over the bodies without death certificates. They received only a piece of paper mentioning that the body was given to them. The victims, Basanti Poddar and Urmila Bhuniya, were killed in the pre-dawn stampede on January 29. A senior West Bengal minister alleged that "total mismanagement" prevailed in the Maha Kumbh Mela.
The Election Commission suspended four officers and a casual worker in West Bengal for alleged dereliction of duty and lapses in preparing electoral rolls. The action follows allegations of electoral roll compromise at the behest of the ruling Trinamool Congress.
The father of a 24-year-old nurse found dead at a nursing home in West Bengal alleges foul play and demands a CBI investigation, rejecting claims of suicide.
The impact of the explosion "was so massive" that the factory, which was being run from a residential building, collapsed, the police said.
The Left-Congress alliance won 19 out of 19 seats which is significant ahead of the panchayat polls.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday urged people to celebrate the Hanuman Jayanti festival peacefully, and said while religion is a personal choice, festivities were an occasion for all to join in.
A report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) reveals that a significant number of candidates contesting the first phase of the 2026 West Bengal assembly elections have declared criminal cases against themselves.
Following a significant defeat to the BJP, Trinamool Congress leaders are openly criticising the party leadership, citing mismanagement and lack of support as key factors in the election outcome.
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 Bharatiya Janata Party has surged past the halfway mark in the West Bengal assembly elections, leading in 185 seats against the Trinamool Congress's 91, signalling a potential political shift in the state. Early trends suggest a geographically split mandate, with the BJP gaining in border, tribal, and industrial regions, while the TMC holds ground in parts of Kolkata and select rural strongholds.
More than 150 express/passenger trains running through South Eastern Railway jurisdiction have been cancelled in view of the severe cyclonic storm, an SER official said.
Another explosion "linked to illegal firecrackers" took place in West Bengal on Monday, the third such blast within a span of just seven days.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of a "scam" after the poll panel admitted to the existence of duplicate voter ID numbers. The ECI has said it will address the issue in the next three months. TMC leader Saket Gokhale alleged that the ECI is trying to "protect" someone and demanded answers about the extent of the duplication and why it took 25 years to address the problem.
Odisha is bracing for heavy rainfall early next week under the impact of a possible cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, which is likely to skirt the state and move towards West Bengal and Bangladesh, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Friday.
The additional 25 per cent tariff imposed by US President Donald Trump on India is set to deliver a major blow to West Bengal's export-driven economy, with the state's labour-intensive leather, engineering and marine sectors expecting losses ahead of the festive season, stakeholders said. The increased levies on Indian products for the country's purchases of Russian oil came into effect on Wednesday, bringing the total amount of tariff imposed on New Delhi to 50 per cent.
The Calcutta High Court has ordered the revival and prosecution of ten criminal cases related to murders in Nandigram and Khejuri during an anti-land acquisition movement in 2007. The court deemed the West Bengal government's decision to withdraw prosecution in these cases, involving the deaths of at least ten individuals, as unlawful. The bench emphasized that murders had indeed occurred and that allowing the prosecution to withdraw under Section 321 of the Criminal Procedure Code would not be in the public interest. The court stated that violence in any form should be eschewed in a democracy and that a state must exhibit zero tolerance towards it. The court set aside the state government's decision to withdraw prosecution and directed the public prosecutor to take appropriate measures within a fortnight.
The death of a 24-year-old nurse at a private nursing home in West Bengal's Hooghly district has triggered political unrest and allegations of a cover-up. Opposition parties are demanding a fair investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death, alleging foul play and potential sexual assault.
The 66-year-old leader's income for the year 2019-20 was Rs 10,34,370.
High drama was witnessed at Tamluk in Purba Medinipur district on Sunday afternoon as West Bengal Leader of Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari was prevented by police from visiting violence-hit areas in Howrah.
'People don't believe that a 15-year-old girl subjected to sexual intercourse within a marriage is a victim of rape.'
Alleging that the Bharatiya Janata Party was bringing in goons from outside to stop people from exercising their franchise in Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee urged women to 'confront the hoodlums with ladle, spatula' and other cooking utensils.
The EC concluded that Banerjee sustained injuries due to lapse on part of her security in charge.
A deep depression over the Bay of Bengal intensified into a cyclonic storm, named Remal, on Saturday evening and is likely to turn severe before making landfall between the coasts of West Bengal and Bangladesh on Sunday midnight, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
As part of the protest, BJP workers burned tyres, blocked roads, and closed shops in Nandigram, alleging that Trinamool Congress-backed criminals were responsible for the killing of Rathibala Arhi, a saffron party worker in Sonachura village.
