The CBI had interrogated Rujira in February last year ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections.
The central government on Monday issued a Gazette notification to extend the tenure of defence secretary, home secretary, director of Intelligence Bureau, and secretary of Research and Analysis Wing for a period of two years.
State party leaders admit that Hindu consolidation by itself was not good enough to unseat Didi.
While EC Secretary General Umesh Sinha would be visiting Tamil Nadu next week, Deputy Election Commissioner Sudip Jain would be in West Bengal in the coming days, sources said.
It seems the grand old party is trying to stage a comeback in the state which it ruled at one time, but also to its progeny the Trinamool Congress which has vowed to come to power in Tripura in the 2023 state assembly elections.
Several prominent opposition leaders including Nationalist Congress Party's Sharad Pawar, Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah will share the dais at a rally being organised by Indian National Lok Dal in Haryana's Fatehabad on Sunday.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday issued summons to Trinamool Congress secretary general and senior West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee in connection with the I-core ponzi scam, sources in the agency said.
Gandhi came along with Mukherjee and while the former president left after sometime, the Congress chief offered to drop him back but Mukherjee politely refused.
The opposition Trinamool Congress and Communist Party of India-Marxist failed to open their account in the AMC.
'No, that is not an abbreviation for the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha,' says T V R Shenoy, 'but for J Jayalalithaa-Mamata Banerjee-Mayawati-Mulayam Singh Yadav... If the AIADMK, the Trinamool Congress, and other regional forces do extremely well, we could be heading for a repetion of the 9th Lok Sabha (1989 to 1991) and the 11th Lok Sabha (1996 to 1998), each of which saw multiple prime ministers and neither of which lasted even half of its five-year term.'
'Like it or not, the Congress is still the only party with the potential to challenge the BJP at a pan-Indian level,' says T V R Shenoy.
Security forces were maintaining a strict vigil across West Bengal in view of Hanuman Jayanti celebrations on Thursday, officials said.
Proceedings in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were disrupted as Opposition members raised slogans demanding a discussion and a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the fraud-allegation-triggered rout.
'We must do all it takes to protect the rights and freedoms that our Constitution guarantees'
Both the BJP and the Congress said they will seek support of the MGP in case they fall short of the majority mark of 21.
The remarks by the BJP leaders came as 17 opposition parties resolved to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections unitedly to defeat the saffron party and work with flexibility by setting aside their differences. They dubbed the planned alliance as "unholy and opportunistic".
Vijayvargiya, who is also the BJP's Bengal minder, also said that he has received a call from Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who enquired about the party's poor show.
As per the latest data available on the Election Commission's website, the BJP got 38.09 per cent votes while TMC which swept the assembly elections polled 47.97 per cent votes.
The Howrah Lok Sabha by-election to be held in the shadow of Saradha chitfund scam will be a test case for the Mamata Banerjee government's popularity and for the Congress and the Communist Party of India-Marxist to gauge their standing in West Bengal prior to the 2014 general election.
Announcing the name of candidates for the West Bengal assembly polls, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said she will be contesting from the Nandigram constituency as announced earlier.
Banerjee, nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the national general secretary of the TMC, and his wife Rujira Banerjee have been asked to depose before the investigation officer here next week, they said.
The Congress is planning to call a meeting of Opposition parties in May. It is possible to keep all possibilities open in case Karnataka yields a hung House, leading to a recalibrated Opposition.
The T-shirt bearing a cartoon picture of the BJP stalwart's face along with the caption 'India's Biggest Pappu' comes in several colours -- white, black and yellow.
The Bahujan Samaj Party declared that it did not receive any donation above Rs 20,000 during 2021-22 as it has been declaring for the past 16 years, the ADR claimed.
A fresh political row has erupted in West Bengal over Bharatiya Janata Party national vice-president Dilip Ghosh's alleged unsavoury remarks about West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, with the Trinamool Congress seeking his arrest and unconditional apology.
Talking to reporters, AICC General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi said that Congress-ruled states have been told to increase supply of subsidised cylinders from 6 to 9 per household annually.
Questioning the eight-phase assembly elections in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Friday that she suspects that the dates were announced as per the suggestions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for better management of the BJP's poll campaign.
Several opposition MPs on Wednesday demanded an explanation from Home Minister Amit Shah after two visitors jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors' gallery and opened canisters that emitted coloured smoke, triggering panic among the members.
"There should be an impartial investigation into the incident as there was a complete lapse on the part of the administration to ensure proper security arrangements. "Around 7,000 people were reportedly present at the venue of the programme where the seating capacity was around 3,000 people. He was mobbed there, which means security arrangements were not in place for a VIP," BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said.
The Opposition on Sunday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party over the killing of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf Ahmad in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj district, alleging that 'jungle raj' and 'mafia raj' were prevalent under its rule.
The seven have been booked on the charge of murder and other sections of the Indian Penal Code, a CID official said.
The Congress raised Rs 918.03 crore, of which 383.26 crore came through the debt instrument, which can be purchased from select branches of State Bank of India and donated to any political party.
e of them requires MPs to follow the norms including the Code of Ethics, which mandates them not to take gifts that may interfere with honest and impartial discharge of their official duties.
'Who knows, they might now want to rename the Eden Gardens and call it Modi Gardens!'
One political resolution is expected to be passed at the meeting where Modi will deliver the valedictory address, which is expected to shape the party's views on a variety of issues.
Congress rebel Jaganmohan Reddy's mother Vijayamma on Thursday met leaders of political parties seeking their support in her campaign against the alleged harassment of her jailed son and complained to Chief Vigilance Commissioner about the "ulterior motive" of CBI in the case.
'The more you challenge her, the more powerful she gets'
In a clear snub to All India Congress Committee General Secretary Digvijaya Singh for his remarks against Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, the Congress on Monday said that he was "not officially authorised" to speak to the media.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday termed the cancellation of over 25,000 school jobs as 'gross injustice' and alleged that it was a ploy by the Bharatiya Janata Party to stop these job losers from being deployed in poll duty.
He had a contingent of about 22-24 armed CRPF commandos who used to move with him every time he travelled in West Bengal.
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