Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced the BJP's commitment to implementing the Uniform Civil Code in West Bengal within six months of assuming power, while also promising a Bengali chief minister.
Humayun Kabir, recently suspended from the TMC, has launched a new political party, Janata Unnayan Party, and announced candidates for the 2026 assembly elections.
TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee has accused the Congress party of indirectly supporting the BJP in West Bengal, urging voters to reject them in the upcoming elections. He alleged a nexus between the Congress, BJP, and Left parties, claiming that votes for Congress would split the opposition and benefit the BJP.
The BJP is showing strong leads in West Bengal and Assam, while actor Vijay's party is making a significant debut in Tamil Nadu. The Congress is ahead in Kerala, offering some consolation amid the changing political landscape in the state elections.
The construction of a Babri Masjid-style mosque in West Bengal's Murshidabad district has become a focal point in the upcoming elections, reshaping voter loyalties and raising communal tensions.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed poll rallies in West Bengal, attacking Mamata Banerjee's TMC and promising development if the BJP wins the state elections. He accused Banerjee of appeasement politics and vowed to prevent the construction of a Babri Masjid-like structure in Bengal.
TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee has accused the BJP of misusing democratic institutions and stoking communal discord in Bengal, criticising their 'double engine' governance model.
Opposition leaders have criticised the alliance between AIMIM and a suspended TMC MLA for the West Bengal Assembly elections, fearing it will divide votes and weaken secular parties.
'The question for the TMC is not whether it can hold its bastions, but whether it can expand effectively into regions where the BJP already possesses a good ecosystem.'
A family feud within the politically influential Matua community has erupted between Union minister Shantanu Thakur and his brother, BJP MLA Subrata Thakur, creating ripples in West Bengal's political landscape and posing a challenge for the BJP ahead of upcoming elections.
The resignation of Kandolkar and two other leaders, who had contested on the TMC symbol, came as another setback for the Mamata Banerjee-led party which is struggling to retain its flock in Goa since the poll debacle.
The juggernaut of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, which triumphed in three of the four east and north-eastern states that went for assembly bypolls on Saturday, was halted yet again in West Bengal where Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress registered a six-on-six clean sweep.
He said his supporters were apprehensive that joining TMC would invite the "outside party" to Goa which will split votes.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari attributed the party's poor performance in Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal to lack of support from the minority community, asserting that 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' was unnecessary and proposing instead 'Hum unke saath jo humare saath' (we are with those who are with us).
The next meeting of opposition parties will be held in Bengaluru on July 17 and 18, the Congress announced on Monday, and asserted their resolve to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party has been strengthened by the 'Mumbai operations' of the 'BJP washing machine'.
Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee has recently written to all opposition parties including the Congress, calling on everyone to come together and put up a united fight against saffron forces.
'If you stay out of power for long, you become irrelevant, your party members become restless and start looking to jump ship.'
She called on all "progressive forces" to join hands to fight the "oppressive BJP regime".
Banerjee expressed doubt whether the Congress will secure even 40 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said Narendra Modi should be referred to as a Bharatiya Janata Party leader and not as the prime minister in the saffron party's campaign as he is a 'caretaker PM'.
Sukanta Majumdar, the state BJP president, said, "Amit Shah has set a target of 35 seats. We will achieve that".
If the party's members aren't sure what it stands for, see no path to wealth or power, and endure control by a dynasty, which, almighty as it is within the party, cannot get them the votes, they are likely to explore options, notes Shekhar Gupta.
'After joining, I realised the TMC in no way could bring a 'new dawn' in Goa.'
The All India Matua Mahasangha has asked its members to apply for Indian citizenship only after the formation of a new government at the Centre.
In Phase 6, indications are that the BJP, which is defending 40 seats, will lose in double digits and gain in single digits. Not good, if you are the ruling party scrambling to earn a working majority, with just one phase left to go, argues Prem Panicker.
Top leaders of 26 opposition parties were arriving in Bengaluru on Monday for a two-day brainstorming session with a call for unity and are expected to chalk out their joint programme aimed at defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Tuesday poised to form the government for a third consecutive term with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance getting a majority in the Lok Sabha, notwithstanding crushing losses in three Hindi heartland states after a bitterly fought election that was projected as a referendum on his popularity.
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.
A new entrant, whether a popular actor or not, has not been able to sweep the polls, as their fans had hoped for. Given a proven pattern, it should hold true for Vijay as well. Or, something drastically has to happen between now and 2026, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Shiv Sena leader and Kalyan MP Shrikant Shinde on Sunday launched a scathing attack on former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and his MLA son Aaditya Thackeray, accusing them of looting Mumbai and pushing the 'Marathi manoos' out of the city in the last 15 years.
However, the national party count has gone down to six from 14 in over seven decades.
'Till today, we don't know how many people died of Covid in India.' 'How many migrated from cities to villages during the Covid pandemic?' 'How many corporates contributed to PM Cares?'
On the eve of the meeting hosted by it, the Congress clarified that it will oppose the ordinance on Delhi services in Parliament, a key condition put by the AAP to attend the talks.
The MGP, which had won three seats in the 2017 polls, is currently left with only one MLA after two of its legislators joined the ruling BJP.
The pirzada said that the newly launched outfit might contest state elections from all 294 assembly seats.
If only the Congress could rebuild on its strengths and develop a modern enough ideology, we could again be moving towards a clearer two-party political landscape, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
'Most senior Congress leaders in Assam have a secret understanding with the BJP.' 'They are hobnobbing with the chief minister for their self-interest.'
'Switching loyalty from one party to another is completely unfair as it devalues my vote.'
Leaders from 26 opposition parties, in power individually or in alliance in Delhi and 10 states, are meeting in Bengaluru to discuss strategy to take on the Narendra Modi-led NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
A graduate by education, Santanu, the eldest son of former Trinamool Congress minister Manjul Krishna Thakur, was more into the development of the Matuas through various social services run by the Thakurbari in Thakurnagar and was never into politics.
