The Trinamool Congress (TMC) is facing a severe leadership crisis as former minister Jyoti Priya Mallick resigned from all party organisational posts citing health, and senior North Bengal leader Goutam Deb stepped down as mayor of Siliguri Municipal Corporation, amidst widespread internal rifts and electoral setbacks.
Mamata Banerjee thanked people for casting their votes in favour of the TMC.
'My parents have the biggest role in what I have become. They always told me that if you dream, dream big.'
Visiting Siliguri for the first time after Congress and Left teamed up to form the Siliguri Municipal Corporation board, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee apologised to the electorate on Sunday and termed as "treachery" the recent act of her alliance partner.
The Congress on Thursday won the mayor's post in Siliguri Municipal Corporation in north Bengal with the support of Left Front councillors, defeating ally Trinamool Congress, which had refused to concede it.
'What lesson will the other UPA allies draw? Mamata has been strident -- even defiant -- when it comes to protecting her turf, even risking outright rupture with the Congress. She has been repaid by the voters. Will other parties too draw the same lesson?'
In a major boost to the party ahead of next year's Assembly polls, the Trinamool Congress on Tuesday scored a landslide victory in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation bagging 114 of the 144 wards, and also won 69 of the 91 civic bodies in districts across West Bengal.
The Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Tripura's capital Agartala on Tuesday announced the suspension of all visa and consular services with immediate effect until further notice because of 'security reasons', a day after the mission's premises was breached by a group of people protesting against the arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das in Dhaka.
The West Bengal State Election Commission on Sunday postponed counting of votes in the election to Bidhannagar and Asansol municipal corporations following allegations of large-scale violence, even as opposition parties demanded fresh elections.
The Calcutta high court has asked the State Election Commission to explore the possibility of postponing the civic polls to four municipal corporations by four to six weeks in view of a surge in COVID-19 cases in West Bengal.
The rancour of associating with the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist while forming the board of the Siliguri Corporation has now created a major problem for the West Bengal unit of the Congress, as Debaprasad Roy, one of the vice-presidents of the state Congress, has resigned from the post, protesting the Left help sought by his party to gain power in the municipality.
Ganguly said the details will be worked out in the upcoming Annual General Meeting
The EC postponed polls to 4 municipal corporations by three weeks to February 12.
Torrential rains pounded the tiny Himalayan state of Sikkim and the tea growing region of North Bengal, causing landslides that cut off National Highway-10, the main road linking Gangtok with the rest of the country.
Polls to 108 municipalities of West Bengal will be held on February 27, the State Election Commission said in its notification on Thursday, setting the stage for yet another contest for the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, nine months after the assembly polls.
Cracks appeared in West Bengal's ruling Left Front as the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), one of its constituents, on Tuesday withdrew its support to the Congress-led Siliguri Corporation.
"We are for alliance (with Congress). But we are not for the Siliguri model alliance (in which Congress formed the board in the municipal corporation with CPI-M support). If there is alliance, we will welcome it. If not, we are prepared for election if it is held tomorrow," Trinamool secretary general Partha Chatterjee told reporters after the party's core committee meeting.
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The party brought back Yashwant Sinha as its national vice-president.
'The general elections in May 2024 may not have any impact on the Census.'
In a brief interaction with Indrani Roy/ Rediff.com, Ashok Bhattacharya discusses the tragedy and criticizes the TMC government for the tragedy.