A month after losing power in West Bengal and facing a rebellion by 58 MLAs, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) confronts an unprecedented challenge to Mamata Banerjee's absolute authority, raising questions about the party's survival and future.
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.
The opposition's hue and cry over Singur and Nandigram would not adversely affect investment prospects in West Bengal, state Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said on Saturday.
Mamata, for her part, said, "I am happy that he listened to all the details from me about Nandigram and Singur. I will meet him again if he calls me after discussing the matter with the concerned people."
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.
Talking about the much-debated issue of land acquisition, Sen said industry bodies were in favour of direct purchase of land from the owners and state governments to be mere facilitators.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist should apologise to the people of West Bengal for its "policy mistake" in Singur and Nandigram that was reflected in the Left Front's debacle in the Lok Sabha polls in the state, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said in Ranchi on Monday.
The Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal, which catapulted to power because of the Singur and Nandigram agitations, on Friday decided to withdraw cases filed by previous Left Front regime against activists, including two ministers and a prominent Trinamool Congress MP.
A K Bhattacharya says that the Indian Railways has a lot to worry about these days.
On Wednesday, a police party, including DIB's Sadhu Chatterjee, went to the area for routine enquiry. But soon they were surrounded by a large mob, which assaulted them.
In the unlikely event of the BJP-NDA losing all five states going to the polls in February-March, the Presidential electoral college numbers could be significantly altered, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
