Noting that COVID safety norms were being flouted in West Bengal during campaigning, the Election Commission banned roadshows and vehicle rallies in the state with immediate effect and said no public meeting having more than 500 people would be allowed.
The Congress, which is not very keen on having an alliance with the TMC, called it 'an untrustworthy ally', which is trying to grow at its expense.
A five-member delegation of TMC MPs, comprising Derek O'Brien, Satabdi Roy, Prasun Banerjee, Pratima Mondal and Md Nadimul Haque, also met the farmers there to support their protest against the new farm laws.
Trinamool Congress supporters celebrate their party candidates' victory in the West Bengal panchayat elections 2023, at counting centres in North 24 Parganas, Howrah and Birbhum on Tuesday, July 11, 2023.
Soumendu was recently removed from the administrator's post at the civic body by the Mamata Banerjee government.
However, speculation remained rife that the meeting was part of Banerjee's plan to form an opposition front with regional players minus the Congress.
In Nandigram, which was the cynosure of all eyes due to its high octane election, Bharatiya Janata Party star candidate Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday outsmarted Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee by a margin of 1,956 votes to emerge the winner in the constituency, the Election Commission said.
Banerjee also alleged that the BJP is manipulating electronic voting machines to increase its vote share.
Speaking to reporters at Kanthi in Purba Medinipur district, Giri said he will resign but won't apologise.
He also accused the Trinamool Congress supremo of doing appeasement politics even in case of deaths.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday asserted that ousting the Bharatiya Janata Party from power at the Centre in 2024 will be her 'last fight'.
The Shiromani Akali Dal skipped the meeting, besides the Aam Aadmi Party, the TRS and the BJD.
"I say I am a 'big donkey' (Ami ekta boro gadha) for having failed to recognise them. I dont know (about it), but people say their 'empire' is worth Rs 5,000 crore and they will use money to buy votes. But don't vote for them," Banerjee told the rally.
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.
"I am really disappointed with the way the party is functioning. I am fed up with so many allegations of corruption levelled against the party and the government. I also do not support the way the issue of Sandeshkhali was handled," he said while maintaining that the dual issues of corruption and Sandeshkhali were the primary triggers for his decision to quit.
The TMC released a video, in which a man, claimed to be a BJP mandal president in Sandeshkhali, was heard saying that leader of the opposition in the West Bengal assembly "Suvendu Adhikari is behind the whole conspiracy".
The central agency asked Banerjee to appear at its Kolkata office on Friday morning, he said.
A senior TMC MLA said Banerjee told her party leaders during the closed-door meeting that they should shun "VIP culture".
'We must do all it takes to protect the rights and freedoms that our Constitution guarantees'
The home minister called up the chief minister to express serious concern over the reports of large-scale violence.
"Since the elections started in West Bengal, central government hatched conspiracies to remove us (from power). I was hurt in my feet so that I don't contest the polls," she said.
Acting Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, in his first visit to the national capital after leading his ruling alliance to an unprecedented second straight term in the state.
Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee voiced support for MP Mahua Moitra on Monday, asserting that the party stands behind her in the face of a recommendation for expulsion from Lok Sabha over a 'cash-for-query' controversy.
Septuagenarian cinestar Biswajeet will make his political and electoral debut by contesting from South Delhi constituency on a Trinamool Congress ticket.
"Not a single woman (from Sandeshkhali) has lodged any FIR. It was me who directed the police to lodge a suo motu case. Our block president has been arrested," she said.
A day after stating that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had a fall at her Kalighat residence 'due to some push from behind' leading to injuries on forehead and nose, state-run SSKM Hospital director Manimoy Bandyopadhyay on Friday clarified that all he meant was that the CM may have felt 'a sensation of push'.
What about Uttar Pradesh Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Gujarat and Bihar? Mamata asked.
If they wish to have any chance next year, the Congress and the alliance must quickly settle all issues, draw up an alternative agenda, and create a cohesive campaign.
Earlier, the manifesto was scheduled to be released on March 11. However, the release of the manifesto was cancelled following an alleged attack on TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
While addressing a rally at Alipurduar, Banerjee accused the Election Commission of removing the deputy inspector general of police of Murshidabad at the behest of the BJP.
Leaders of the West Bengal Congress unit, which has an alliance with the CPI-M-led Left Front in the state, were seen welcoming the Left leaders.
Mamata asserted that she has not spoken to anyone in the Congress on seat-sharing in the state for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
More than 20 national leaders will attend the meeting, TMC sources said. Most of them have already arrived in Kolkata.
Kumar, who hosted the first such meeting, said they were working in the national interest and accused the BJP of acting against the national interest as it was trying to change the country's history.
'We are pleased to announce the candidature of @sagarikaghose, @SushmitaDevAITC, @MdNadimulHaque6 and Mamata Bala Thakur for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections,' the party said in a tweet.
The TMC supremo, who started her poll campaign for the Bhabanipur by-election, also alleged that the saffron party is targeting party general secretary and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee for political reasons, claiming there is no valid case against him.
The Election Commission has issued a notice to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her prima facie 'completely false, provocative and intemperate statements' against central armed police forces deputed on election duty in the state, saying her remarks are demoralising the personnel.
Famous clay modeller Mintu Pal is sculpting the fibreglass idol at his Kumartuli studio draping the 'deity' in the Trinamool Congress supremo's favourite white coloured tant saree and her trademark flip-flop slippers to boot.
Referring to infiltrators as "termites", who are eating into the resources of this country, the BJP boss said his party will throw them out from Bengal after coming to power at the Centre for a second term
Dev had been serving as the national spokesperson of the Congress and its women's wing chief.
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