Allies and opposition parties tonight attacked the government over the hike in diesel prices saying it will further hit the common man and demanded an immediate rollback.
Trinamool Congress on Monday ruled out any action against Dinesh Trivedi, who resigned as railway minister, saying that he has been asked to attend the parliamentary party meeting which party chief Mamata Banerjee is expected to attend.
Attacking the prime minister over the removal of Dinesh Trivedi, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said if the former railways minister was sacked due to the increase in fares, the role of the prime minister and finance minister should also be questioned in the whole episode. Trivedi, who had presented the Rail Budget on Wednesday, was replaced by Trinamool Congress with Mukul Roy after party chief Mamata Banerjee opposed the increase in rail fares.
A day after proposing fare hike in the rail budget which has threatened his job, a defiant Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi on Thursday said he would repeat the same if asked to present the budget again.
Political repercussions are not the only reason why the Trinamool Congress chief would leave the sensitive issue of fares untouched before the West Bengal assembly elections in April.
The incident had happened in Bihar when the Howrah-New Jalpaiguri semi-high-speed train was passing through that state on January 3.
Trivedi's resignation came amidst the exodus from Mamata Banerjee's party ahead of the West Bengal assembly poll.
'The BJP's modus operandi is not just to be intolerant of dissent, it is to create mistrust and doubt between communities and the electoral process itself.'
A devastating fire at a multi-storeyed building in Kolkata that claimed nine lives turned into the epicentre of a political slugfest on Tuesday, with the Trinamool Congress government and the Bharatiya Janata Party pointing accusatory fingers at the Railways and the state administration respectively, even as the bereaved families grieved at the loss of their near ones.
She said the prime minister neither asked how West Bengal is handling the COVID situation and nor did he enquire about the stock of vaccines or oxygen.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention on Wednesday in the alleged "whimsical" functioning of the railways in sending Shramik Special trains to West Bengal and urged the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre not to pursue politics when the state is battling a dual crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic and trail of destruction left behind by Cyclone Amphan.
Speculation is rife that beleaguered Mukul Roy, a close aide of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and under the CBI scanner in the Saradha chit fund scam, may switch over to the BJP. Neither Roy or the BJP have commented on the rumours. But Roy's recent remarks seems to expose him. Sheela Bhatt and Indrani Roy report.
Banerjee said on Thursday that her government made arrangements for 105 more trains to bring back people stuck in different parts of the country amid claims by opposition parties that the state was not eager to ferry home stranded labourers and pilgrims.
Ahead of the party's meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the fuel price hike, Trinamool Congress on Tuesday sought to down play the threat of pullout, saying the situation should not be seen as "us versus them".
When Mamata Banerjee registered strong, vocal and public objections over the proposed Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, it was dismissed by the other allies in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) as another one of her eccentricities.
The Rail Budget to be presented tomorrow may continue with the practice of not raising the fares and freight rates but the possibility of imposition of a safety cess may not be ruled out, at least on the higher class fares.
Railway Minister and key United Progressive Alliance partner Mamata Banerjee ruled out any difference with the Union government over a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the 2G spectrum allocation, even as she advocated a discussion on the scam in Parliament.
He also accused her of nepotism by choosing to play the limited role of "bua" (aunt) to her "bhatija" (nephew) instead of becoming "Didi" (elder sister) to the people.
What some of our leaders were up to over the weekend.
The list, which is a mix of seasoned political players and greenhorns, has 17 women candidates, five more than the last elections, constituting roughly 41 per cent of the candidates.
BJP won 18 of the seats while the TMC won 22 of the seats.
Balasore district hospital looked like a war zone with the injured lying on stretchers in the corridor and rooms bursting at its seams with extra beds propped up.
"Since some of them are in a critical condition, the death toll may go up," Jalpaiguri DM Moumita Godara Basu said, adding rescuers thoroughly searched each coach for survivors and bodies through darkness and thick fog.
'He has always loved to help people. He has donated his blood three times'
Prabhu proposed an unprecedented 50% hike in investment.
The train crash happened near the Bahanaga Baazar station in Balasore district, about 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar, around 7 pm on Friday, prompting the Railway Ministry to order a probe.
Banerjee has fulfilled two key electoral promises: Ridding Lalgarh of Naxals and bringing peace to Darjeeling
She asserted that all the regional anti-BJP parties were together and they should sacrifice for the country's benefit.
Elections to the 40-member Goa Assembly are due in two months. Recent visits by Banerjee, Kejriwal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi heated up things in the otherwise "susegad" atmosphere in the small state.
In a major initiative marking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's maiden visit to Bangladesh, two bus services connecting key cities in the two countries were flagged off on Saturday to boost connectivity and enhance people-to-people contact.
On Wednesday, Bengal's own daughter she firmly pitched herself as, was sworn in as the chief minister of the turbulent state for the third successive term amid raging fires of political violence and a rampaging pandemic.
Two political parties having two members in the Jharkhand assembly merged with the Trinamool Congress in Ranchi on Monday.
Union minister Raosaheb Danve has caused a flutter by saying if the Bharatiya Janata Party needs victory in the Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra in 2024, then it must ensure that All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen leader and sitting MP Imtiaz Jaleel contests the election next year.
Pulling no punches in her attack against the Bharatiya Janata Party for allegedly pursuing 'political vendetta' against the Trinamool Congress, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday charged that the Central Bureau of Investigation was being used as a 'political tool' by the National Democratic Alliance government and was functioning as 'a department of the Prime Minister's Office'.
Roy, a founder member of the TMC, was inducted into the party at BJP headquarters.
Banerjee said the state is targeting to shift at least 10 lakh people to safer places in a bid to avoid any loss of life.
Amid the rhythmic chug of the train, a chorus of voices rises, each bearing its tale of hope and despair.
Earlier during the day, the agency carried out searches at two premises of Mishra in Kolkata in connection with the case but could not find him there
Former Trinamool Congress MP Dinesh Trivedi joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday, weeks after he announced quitting his Rajya Sabha membership on the floor of the House deploring 'violence' in poll-bound West Bengal.
The implementation of the NRC as nothing but a political vendetta of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government, she told the assembly.
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