Asserting that her government has zero tolerance to incidents of rape, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said an amendment to existing laws will be passed in the state assembly next week to ensure capital punishment to convicted rapists.
As the Opposition on Wednesday held its first meeting on the presidential election, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party reached out to several parties across the political spectrum to build a consensus choice for the top constitutional post with senior party leader Rajnath Singh speaking to Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav and Naveen Patnaik, sources said.
She called on all "progressive forces" to join hands to fight the "oppressive BJP regime".
In a first since last year's state elections, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday held a 'courtesy meeting' with Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari at her chamber in the state assembly, raising eyebrows in political circles.
Opposition parties in India have demanded the resignation of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw after a stampede at New Delhi railway station killed 18 people. They blamed the government for "gross mismanagement" and accused them of "covering up" the death toll. The stampede occurred on Saturday night as passengers rushed to board trains for the Maha Kumbh festival in Prayagraj. The Congress, the Left, Trinamool Congress, and the Rashtriya Janata Dal have all criticized the government's handling of the situation, while BJP leaders have defended the government. The incident has highlighted the failure of the Railways and the government to make adequate arrangements for the large number of devotees travelling to Prayagraj.
Dominic Xavier offers his take on the latest episode in the BJP's Mission Bengal.
Mamata Banerjee thanked people for casting their votes in favour of the TMC.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) is unlikely to attend a meeting of the INDIA bloc on June 1, sources said, as it coincides with the last phase of voting in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.
The original suggestion was to call it 'Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance', but the word 'democratic' was replaced with 'developmental' after Kumar and Yechury raised some objections saying it sounded too similar to the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), sources said.
Mamata Banerjee's party won 132 seats and was all set to pocket two more to post a hat-trick of wins, decimating a frail challenge from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, the Left Front and the Congress, officials said.
Veteran Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy, who has expressed his desire to work for the Bharatiya Janata Party in future, on Wednesday said he is a soldier of the saffron camp, and there is no question of resigning from the Trinamool Congress as he was never 'mentally' with the party even after rejoining it in 2021.
The TMC also said that the Congress is not the "big boss" of the opposition.
Banerjee claimed that some people will try to "engineer riots" during elections and urged everyone "not to fall prey to the plot".
Counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections has begun across states and Union Territories, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar told PTI.
BJP IT department head Amit Malviya shared on Twitter what he said were the details of accidents under these ministers and added such 'worthies' are the ones demanding the resignation of the 'most qualified' railway minister the country has had in seven and half decades.
Questioning the team's authority headed by a former Patna high court judge, Banerjee pointed out that Ram Navami processions organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party had carried arms and driven tractors and deliberately taken routes where 'Namaz' was being offered.
First-time MLA Rekha Gupta will be the new chief minister of Delhi, capping 11 days of suspense over who will get the top post after the Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power after over 26 years ending the 10-year rule of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party.
There is a strong possibility of opposition parties coming together to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Monday, stressing that he has had good talks with them and many will join hands gradually.
The BJP on Sunday congratulated Mamata Banerjee and TMC for winning the West Bengal assembly election for the third successive term and assured that the saffron party will work as a constructive opposition.
"Our team will review her condition this morning. They may cut open the temporary plaster on her left leg to see how the injury has healed. A few medical tests might also be conducted," a senior doctor told PTI.
Film producer Shibaji Panja was detained at the airport in Kolkata by the Delhi police after the team landed on Saturday night.
BSP supremo Mayawati, AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee have been at the centre of intense debate in political circles on which way they will go after May 16, the day of election results.
'Mamata is an emotional person, she follows her heart.' 'We loved that Didi, we still love her, but she is a changed person.' 'Why and how the change happened, who is responsible, I can't say.'
'The life of his political career is dependent on success in this constituency.'
The Trinamool Congress leadership on Tuesday asked its member of Parliament Tapas Pal to tender an unconditional apology to people for allegedly threatening to kill Communist Party of India-Marxist workers and have their women raped, a comment for which the party is facing widespread condemnation.
Amid signs of increasing bonhomie between her and her Telangana and Tamil Nadu counterparts Rao and Stalin, Banerjee had approached the two on Sunday to set up meetings of opposition chief ministers.
Kick-starting her party's Lok Sabha campaign, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said her party would go it alone in the 2014 polls and renewed her call for a federal front of non-Congress and non-Bharatiya Janata Party parties.
"Very shortly we will come out with a concrete plan," Rao told reporters after meeting the Trinamool Congress president.
'If unity is not going to be based on values and principles, how will we achieve it?'
"I appeal to everyone to maintain peace. I hope to be back on the field in the next few days," Banerjee said.
Suvendu Adhikari's father Sisir Kumar Adhikari and brother Dibyendu Adhikari have been provided the cover by the ministry on the basis of a threat perception report prepared by central security agencies, they said.
According to a senior Congress leader, the constituents of the opposition alliance intend to move forward with the theme "Main Nahin, Hum (We, Not Me)" at the meeting.
Ahead of the day-long Opposition meeting on Friday, Samvad Bhavan, Rajkiye Atithisala and Sadaquat Ashram have got a facelift.
Stating that many people have not yet got the card and were being harassed by government agencies, Mamata Banerjee said that the Centre should make a single identity card which would be common for all purposes.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday asserted that she would win the ongoing state polls despite injury and eventually aim for power in Delhi.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said she is saddened at the loss of lives in "sporadic" incidents of violence during the panchayat elections.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee campaigning in tribal Paschim Medinipur district on Thursday for the coming state election asked "Marxist friends" not to vote for either the CPI-M or Congress, who are "cohorts of the communal BJP".
The prime minister also launched a blistering attack on Banerjee, saying she did not care to express regret after a "leader very close to her" called Scheduled Castes "beggars".
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Hemant Soren as Jharkhand chief minister, to be held in Ranchi on December 29, Trinamool Congress sources said.
Shah said not a single person will lose citizenship as a result of the Citizenship Amendment Act.
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