Drawing parallels between the victory of Trinamool Congress in West Bengal elections and the "freedom struggle", its chief Mamata Banerjee on Friday promised good governance and vowed to end "autocracy and atrocities".
The feisty TMC boss also accused the CPI-M of ruining her party's relationship with the Congress, its ally in the Opposition bloc INDIA at the national level.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee cited a statement by former Union Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha on December 7, 2011, alleging that the Centre had deviated from its own statement.
"TMC doesn't have the numbers and will depend on other parties' support. Despite that, if the TMC leadership decides to go ahead, they should be prepared for whatever the consequences may be," BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi cautioned.
A veritable political `storm in a tea cup' has arisen over Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee's assertions on Wednesday that all in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh were "not bad" and there are many who "do not support the BJP".
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Monday claimed the bullets used by suspected Communist Party of India-Marxist cadre in the January 7 Lalgarh firing incident, which left seven villagers dead, were same as those used by police.
'Neither will I congratulate Mamata Banerjee... nor do I wish to say I 'respect' the people's verdict'
A day before the crucial meeting of the Trinamool Congress parliamentary party on Tuesday which is scheduled to take a call on the hiked diesel price, cap on subsidized LPG and FDI in multi-brand retail, party chief Mamata Banerjee on Monday hit out at a section of the media for disseminating "distorted and concocted information".
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Thursday described as 'immoral and unethical' the decision by the 'minority' government at the Centre to hike FDI in insurance and pension sectors, and called on all United Progressive Alliance partners to quit the government in protest.
The welfare schemes of the government, particularly Lakshmir Bhandar, have had a major impact on the electoral outcome.
Senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee called up Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee on Monday night and they are likely to hold final round of talks on Tuesday to resolve differences over seat sharing between the two parties for the Assembly polls in West Bengal.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was injured when the helicopter in which she was flying made an emergency landing at the Sevoke air base near Siliguri in the northern part of the state due to bad weather on Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
After having bonhomie with BJP for quite sometime, the Trinamool's relations with the party have also soured on the issue of seat sharing.
'The success of the bandh showed that the people had little confidence in the government. We hope that the government has been able to understand the message of the people,' Banerjee said.
Discounting popular notion, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said she was not the only leader in the party as being projected in the media.
'Why should they say that their doors are open? Are we beggars? My doors are open for them,' a defiant Mamata said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday dubbed the Trinamool Congress as a 'silent partner' of United Progressive Alliance and that party chief Mamata Banerjee was going 'soft' on it on corruption and price rise despite being a major ally.
Top sources in the government told Business Standard that Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's opposition to divestment plans of profit-making public sector entities prompted the cabinet not to take it up for discussion today.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is arriving in New Delhi on Thursday for a four-day visit during which she is likely to meet senior leaders and attend a Niti Aayog meeting on August 7, sources said.
Mamata Banerjee, set to become West Bengal Chief Minister, on Monday invited ally Congress to be part of her government as she met Congress President Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi.
'The BJP lacks a credible mass leader who matches Mamata Banerjee's popularity.' 'Given the division of votes among Opposition parties, the West Bengal government's dole-giving strategy, and the consolidation of the poor, significant sections of scheduled caste groups and Muslim minorities behind the ruling party, it will be difficult to dislodge the Trinamool from power.'
Stating that there will be a 'big khela' in West Bengal, Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Agnimitra Paul on Tuesday claimed that the Trinamool Congress-led state government would not survive after December this year.
The former Meghalaya chief minister, who recently switched over to the TMC along with 11 other Congress MLAs, told PTI in an interview that the political dynamics in the entire region is going to change with him quitting the grand old party.
She claimed that the Centre has not released funds for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) project for the state and other initiatives of its housing and road departments.
Trinamool Congress had not supported NDA's presidential candidate and abstained from voting. The party also did not disclose for whom it voted in the vice-presidential election.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew and Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee and his wife for questioning in a money laundering case linked to an alleged coal scam in the state, officials said on Saturday.
The widening rift between Congress and Trinamool Congress came out in the open on Saturday with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lashing out at her ally at the Centre and said it was free to quit the alliance.
Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury rubbished Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's charge that Maoists and Marxists were two sides of the same coin and said she had no knowledge of communist movements in the country.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday demanded immediate withdrawal of joint security forces from trouble-hit Lalgarh, alleging that the CPI-M had used the security operation to unleash terror in a bid to regain control of the area. "We demand that the Centre take steps to ensure withdrawal of the joint forces at Lalgarh where the CPI-M is capturing village after village with the help of joint forces," she said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has filed an election petition against Suvendu Adhikari before the Calcutta high court and the matter is listed for hearing before a single bench.
At last, rays of hope have started shining on Singur factory land, which has been lying unutilised since the Tatas decided to shift their Nano factory from there on October 3, 2008, following relentless opposition by Trinamool Congress and its allies against the company's alleged 'illegal' acquisition of farm lands.
Attacking the government on FDI in retail and prise rise, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Monday indicated that her party may bring a 'no-confidence motion' against it in the next Parliament Session and appealed to various political parties to support it.
What about Uttar Pradesh Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Gujarat and Bihar? Mamata asked.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi will not be attending the swearing-in of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee as West Bengal Chief Minister in Kolkata on Friday.
The TMC also announced it would hold talks with other regional parties in their bid to take on the BJP in the crucial 2024 elections but at the same time denied that it was planning a third front, separate from the Congress-led front.
Heavy rains in Kolkata have disrupted Durga Puja preparations, causing damage to pandals and delaying inaugurations. Organizers are working to restore decorations and ensure the festivities can proceed.
Bypoll to the Bhabanipur assembly seat in West Bengal, from where chief minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee plans to contest, would be held on September 30, the Election Commission announced on Saturday.
Without land, big projects will not take off.
Mamata's 'there is no United Progressive Alliance (UPA)' remark after a meeting in Mumbai with Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, an ally of Congress in Maharashtra, evoked a strong response from the party, currently being led by interim president Sonia Gandhi.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Sunday night formally announced suspension of the 15-day indefinite dharna, saying a final agreement has been arrived at by the West Bengal government on the Singur issue."Since the government has found a formula for the solution of the Singur issue officially, I am suspending the dharna," she said from the dharna manch, addressing a big gathering of cheering party supporters.She thanked Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi.