Union Home minister P Chidambaram on Thursday criticised Trinamool Congress ruled West Bengal, a major ally of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance at the Centre. He said 82 people had been killed in 455 cases of inter-party clashes in the last six months, which was "a matter of concern''.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not present at the all-party meeting convened by the government.
The Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party on Wednesday decided to forge a pre-poll alliance for the next month's assembly elections in Goa, saying that the Congress didn't respond to their proposal for a joint contest.
"Commission maintains the position that they would not like to keep on being put in the dock for alleged proximity to any political entity," Deputy Election Commissioner in charge of West Bengal Sudeep Jain wrote to Banerjee.
With the Biju Janata Dal backing the National Democratic Alliance's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, the vote share of the ruling dispensation has now crossed 50 percent, virtually paving the way for her election as the first tribal President and the youngest too.
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea from the BJP seeking a direction to the West Bengal government, state election panel and other functionaries to prepare a comprehensive action plan and deploy sufficient central police forces to ensure free and fair municipal polls in Kolkata.
Campaigning came to an end on Saturday for the single-day election in Uttarakhand and Goa, two states known for political volatility where the Bharatiya Janata Party is attempting to retain power, and for the second phase of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh on February 14.
The government has readied a big legislative agenda for the Monsoon Session of Parliament beginning Monday even as the Opposition is raring to corner the ruling dispensation over a host of issues, including handling of the second wave of COVID-19, rise in fuel prices and farmers' stir.
Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day on Tuesday after repeated stoppages as opposition members continued to protest demanding the revocation of suspension of 12 members.
Shah said not a single person will lose citizenship as a result of the Citizenship Amendment Act.
They said this was preliminary voter turnout and the final figure may cross 80 per cent as electoral fate of 301 candidates were locked in EVMs which will be opened on March 10 for counting.
'I could have joined the BJP in 2014, the doors were open.' 'I stayed on with the TMC, a party I was involved with since its very inception.' 'But today enough is enough.'
West Bengal, which is governed by the Trinamool Congress, became the second state after Congress-ruled Punjab, where such a resolution has been tabled and passed.
The TMC team went there at the instruction of party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Speaking to rediff.com after their remarkable win of the party in West Bengal, Trinamool leader Dinesh Trivedi said that at the moment it is not clear what the leadership pattern in Bengal would be, but added that all that would become clear in the days to come.
The future challenger to Narendra Modi would be somebody who can bring the Hindus and Muslims together again. The Hindus as Hindus, not broken caste groups, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
The Opposition hit out at the government over the absence of Rajya Sabha Chairman, Lok Sabha Speaker and ministers from the traditional event marking the birth anniversary of those whose portraits adorn Parliament's Central Hall.
As their parties are locked in a fierce battle for Bengal, Tathagata and Saugata Roy, siblings who belong to the BJP and the TMC respectively, answer the same questions put to them about the assembly election.
Beset by troubles on multiple fronts within, the Congress faces the danger of imploding with party veterans Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kapil Sibal on Wednesday sharply questioning the decision-making process, saying there are 'no monopolies', and demanded convening an urgent meeting of the Congress Working Committee for a 'dialogue'.
Parts of the city plunged into a welter of violence as his convoy was attacked with stones by alleged TMC supporters from inside the hostel of Vidyasagar College, triggering a clash between supporters of the two parties, officials said.
Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that the final decision on her party's stand on Presidential election would be taken three days before the polling date on July 19.
While, the BJP accused the ruling TMC of orchestrating his killing, the charge was rubbished by the party.
Held at Ved Niketan Dham in Haridwar from December 17-20, the Dharma Sansad was organised by Yati Narasimhanand Giri of the Juna Akhada, who is already under police scanner for making hate speeches and inciting violence against Muslims.
Reading out a reply to the government's talks offer during a press conference, farmers leaders said that they are ready for dialogue with an open mind if they get a concrete proposal, but made it clear they will not accept anything less than a complete repeal of the three agriculture laws and legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP).
At least five Assam Police personnel were killed while defending the "constitutional boundary" of the state with Mizoram and more than 60 people injured, including an SP, as the festering border dispute between the two northeastern states erupted into a bloody conflict on Monday.
The tumultuous Winter session of Parliament ended on Wednesday a day before schedule with proceedings in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha marred by repeated disruptions by the opposition over which the government and the Congress traded charges and the presiding officers expressed their anguish at the conduct of some MPs.
Locket Chatterjee, BJP MP from Hooghly, has threatened that the last rites will be done on the roads if the police don't allow them to move forward.
The government has decided to observe January 23 as 'Parakram Diwas' to commemorate the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Union minister Prahlad Singh Patel said on Tuesday.
Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi held a virtual meeting on Friday evening with leaders of 19 Opposition parties, including the chief ministers of some Opposition-ruled states, amid efforts to boost Opposition unity and evolve a common strategy against the National Democratic Alliance government.
Stating that at least 16 people of different political parties have lost their lives in the post-poll violence in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying unable to digest defeat in the state elections they were sending central ministers to incite unrest in Kolkata.
Criticising the saffron party for "undermining democratic values" in the country, the chief minister said, "Democracy exists in Bengal but it is under threat in several other parts of the country."
As the Opposition held its first meeting on the Presidential polls and names of Farooq Abdullah and Gopalkrishna Gandhi also cropped up, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party reached out to several parties across the political spectrum to build a consensus choice with senior party leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh speaking to Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress), Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) and Naveen Patnaik (Biju Janata Dal).
The EC has deployed 580 companies of central forces to man over 98 per cent of the polling booths in these constituencies to ensure free and fair polling.
BJP Meghalaya in-charge Chuba Ao said the party's 'Congress mukt campaign' is valid for the state and hence the party will seek clarification from the chief minister.
Opposition members in the Lok Sabha on Monday blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government's policies for the price rise and accused it of ignoring the plight of common people, saying kitchens will soon "see a lockdown" if the Centre does not take corrective measures.
Addressing the party's national executive, Nadda also reached out to Sikhs, who are in majority in poll-bound Punjab, by listing a number of measures the Modi government has taken for the community, including expediting action against 1984 riots accused, facilitating foreign grants to gurudwaras and keeping langars outside the review of the Goods and Services Tax.
The Central government has also sent a communication to Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, seeking a detailed report on law and order situation and the steps being taken by the state government in maintaining peace and tranquility after Thursday's attack on Nadda's convoy, government officials said in New Delhi.
A home ministry official said the notice was served on Bandyopadhyay hours before his retirement on Monday for refusing to comply with the Central government direction, which he said constituted a violation of section 51-B of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi held consultations with party leaders as the 72-hour deadline set by Trinamool Congress for rollback of diesel price hike, LPG subsidy cap and FDI in retail ended on Monday amid indications a worst case situation could be a pull out of union ministers by the key ally.
In an interview with PTI, Chidambaram also stressed that no Congress MLA elected in the upcoming assembly polls can be poached by the Bharatiya Janata Party in Goa this time, saying 'our house is well-guarded' and though the 'thief' is still out there, the people 'will teach him a lesson'.
