While the Trinamool may be wary of a pre-poll alliance with the saffron party, it could support the NDA from the outside if the alliance can muster the numbers in the next general elections, says Sunita Moga
Opposition leaders on Monday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his comments made at an elections rally in Rajasthan, with some leaders also appealing to people to reach out to the Election Commission of India.
The Opposition on Tuesday termed the Union Budget as a 'kursi bachao budget' driven by political compulsions and claimed that it ignored opposition-ruled states in a bid to 'appease' Bharatiya Janata Party's allies.
The TMC leader's assertion comes immediately after the Calcutta high court clarified that there is no stay on the arrest of Shajahan.
The recent controversy unfolded after West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee had in November advocated the need to give due respect to senior members and rejected the notion that elderly leaders should retire from active politics.
Opposition leaders nominated to the panel of chairpersons to assist the pro tem Speaker are considering not accepting the positions, a source said on Saturday.
Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) MPs, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, staged a protest in Parliament premises on Wednesday over the alleged discrimination against opposition-ruled states in the Union Budget.
Communist Party of India - Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat on Friday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to explain how Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee continued to be a minister in his government when her party is 'openly' supporting Maoists."I want to ask the prime minister, 'you say that Maoists are a threat to the country's internal security and those supporting these Maoists and intensifying the threat are in your Cabinet, he said.
He was reviled by critics in his party as a neo-liberal in disguise but till the end, he retained his belief in secularism and the humanity of Communism.
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.
That he hasn't done so yet, has continued to be active on the political street, in public debate and on social media, signals an important change. It will give his party hope. Maybe the achievement of reducing Mr Modi well below the majority mark will now motivate him to stay committed, observes Shekhar Gupta
Trinamool Congress on Saturday removed Mukul Roy, a former confidante of Mamata Banerjee, from the key post of party general secretary.
The Trinamool Congress will no longer be eligible for exclusive use of the "flower and grass" symbol in Tripura.
"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.
'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.
A team of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday held on-spot inquiries in Sandeshkhali to ascertain facts about alleged sexual abuse by some Trinamool Congress leaders even as fresh agitation rocked the trouble-torn village, where locals torched the property of accused Trinamool leaders and held demonstrations against the delay in arresting the main accused, Shahjahan Sheikh.
'I'm just about getting out of the cocoon now,' the former investment banker-turned-politician tells Kavita Roychowdhury.
The internal party exchange unfolded amid an ongoing purported discord among party veterans, recognised as loyalists of Mamata Banerjee, and the younger generation, perceived as close to her nephew Abhishek.
Ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal on Thursday met the full bench of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and alleged that the Border Security Force (BSF) is threatening people in the border areas of the state to cast their votes in favour of a particular political party.
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.
The matter was mentioned before a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the West Bengal government, seeking an urgent hearing.
However, the national party count has gone down to six from 14 in over seven decades.
The leaders will also raise the issue of alleged "use of religious symbols" by the Bharatiya Janata Party in their campaign, they said.
The West Bengal government approached the Supreme Court for a second time on Wednesday seeking urgent listing of its petition challenging a Calcutta high court order for transferring to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) the probe into the January 5 attack on an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team in Sandeshkhali but failed to elicit prompt relief.
The accident occurred at 3.45 AM near Barabamboo, around 80 km from Jamshedpur, under the Chakradharpur Division of the South Eastern Railway (SER), they said.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Sunday alleged that Dinesh Trivedi, who resigned from the Rajya Sabha on Friday, took the 'House for a ride' and was 'allowed' to use the floor of the House for his 'devious political ends'.
Alleging there was a "conspiracy by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to kill Mamata Banerjee after her Lalgarh rally, Trinamool Congress on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram seeking their intervention in the matter.
'It's dull because this time the election is spread over such a long period.'
In a statement, the Lok Sabha Secretariat said Thursday that due to their location at different places in the Parliament premises, visitors were not able to see these statues conveniently.
Banerjee, who was seated in front beside the driver, was injured after her head hit the windscreen, he said.
The welfare schemes of the government, particularly Lakshmir Bhandar, have had a major impact on the electoral outcome.
They then vandalised the premises, breaking CCTV cameras and locking the main gate before leaving, he said.
Ghosh had appeared before the ED sleuths at the agency's office in the city during the day.
The Calcutta high court on Tuesday directed that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) be handed over the case of attack on Enforcement Directorate officials at Sandeshkhali and the custody of suspended Trinamool Congress leader Shajahan Sheikh, as it slammed West Bengal Police for 'totally biased' conduct and said every attempt is being made to delay the probe to 'protect' the accused.
Acting on the directions of anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal, the CBI on Thursday registered an FIR against former Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra in the cash-for-query case, officials said.
The Delhi high court on Monday directed Trinamool Congress leader Saket Gokhale on Monday to apologise and pay Rs 50 lakh damages to former diplomat Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri, wife of Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri, for his defamatory tweets against her over the purchase of a property in Switzerland.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Wednesday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla flagging alerts received by several opposition leaders about 'state-sponsored' attacks on their iPhones, and urged him to provide them protection to continue doing their duties.
The Calcutta high court on Tuesday set aside the promulgation of prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC at Sandeshkhali, which has been witnessing protests over the last one week.
Congress MLA Rabindranath Chattopadhyay filed a written complaint at the Katwa police station on Saturday demanding immediate action as per law against Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal for threatening his party workers.
A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and S V N Bhatti said it won't issue any clarification on the July 22 order as "We have said what needed to be said in our July 22 order. Can't force anyone to disclose names."
