The Election Commission has decided to set up a panel to identify the experiences and shortcomings during the recently-held five assembly polls.
The party's prime mover in West Bengal and the state Pradesh Congress president was stunned by Trinamool Congress's star candidate and cricketer-turned-politician Yusuf Pathan who comprehensively defeated Chowdhury by a margin of over 85,000 votes.
Wednesday's expansion shows that Modi still has a keen eye on Bengal. The BJP is gearing up for the panchayat elections in Bengal next May and the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
BJP chief J P Nadda on Thursday launched 'Lokkho Sonar Bangla' (target to build golden Bengal) manifesto crowdsourcing campaign to seek suggestions from more than two crore people in West Bengal ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.
Noted economist and senior Trinamool Congress leader Amit Mitra is likely to step down as the West Bengal finance minister and even retire from active politics due to ill health, party sources said on Sunday.
Never before in the history of the Republic has an election in the state mattered so much as it does now, observes Virendra Kapoor.
BJP has announced the name of former Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Subrata Saha, credited for establishing the Army Design bureau for Make in India for the army, as its candidate from Rashbehari constituency.
Polls to 108 municipalities of West Bengal will be held on February 27, the State Election Commission said in its notification on Thursday, setting the stage for yet another contest for the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, nine months after the assembly polls.
The Election Commission on Wednesday ruled out any change in the schedule of the West Bengal assembly polls and told the Trinamool Congress that its suggestion to club the last three of the eight phases is "not feasible".
'I am happy to join the BJP and will work as a party soldier'
The Centre on Tuesday promised to take action on the report of a fact-finding team which claimed that there were 15,000 incidents of post-poll violence in West Bengal in which 25 people were killed and 7,000 women were molested.
What some of our leaders were up to on Wednesday, March 29, 2023.
Kerala, Punjab and Rajasthan are the other three states to pass a resolution opposing the contentious legislation, reports Archis Mohan.
'The first and most basic responsibility of any government is to protect its people from external threats and internal harm.' 'Budget 2025-2026 has to focus on meeting this responsibility,' asserts R Jagannathan.
The state police have called the scheduled rallies, support for which has been mainly garnered over social media platforms, as "illegal" and "unauthorised", and said they have taken necessary precautions to allay apprehensions about potential law and order situations during the march.
The EC also extended the silence period from 48 hours to 72 hours in each of the remaining three of the eight phases of the West Bengal polls to be held on April 22, 26 and 29.
Supreme Court Judge Justice Indira Banerjee on Friday recused from hearing a plea field by kin of two Bharatiya Janata Party workers, who were killed in poll related violence on May 2 in West Bengal, seeking court monitored probe and transfer of cases to the Central Bureau of Investigation or Special Investigation Team (SIT).
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.
Former education minister of West Bengal Partha Chatterjee and his aide Arpita Mukherjee were sent to 14 days in judicial custody by a special court in Kolkata on Friday in the SSC scam case.
As part of the protest, BJP workers burned tyres, blocked roads, and closed shops in Nandigram, alleging that Trinamool Congress-backed criminals were responsible for the killing of Rathibala Arhi, a saffron party worker in Sonachura village.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Party of India-Marxist dubbed it a "cheap poll gimmick" to woo minority votes.
The rules for the CAA are likely to be issued before the MCC comes into effect, sources privy to the development said.
The Trinamool Congress MP said he is unable to bear various incidents that are happening in West Bengal.
The newly-elected MLAs of the Trinamool Congress unanimously elected Banerjee as the legislative party leader at a meeting, its secretary-general Partha Chatterjee said.
The decision followed a petition by former deputy superintendent of the medical establishment, Akhtar Ali, who sought an investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into alleged financial misconduct during the tenure of the college's former principal, Sandip Ghosh.
The Election Commission is confident of holding the five assembly polls due early next year, including in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, on time as the poll panel has gained a lot of experience from the electoral exercise in Bihar, West Bengal and four other assemblies amid the coronavirus pandemic, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra has asserted.
Many ordinary citizens are drawn to by a sense of history and India's remarkable journey from bondage to freedom which culminated in this monumental building.
The commission said polling was held at 15,940 polling stations spread across 44 assembly constituencies in this phase of polls.
'For around five hours the storm, reportedly the strongest one ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal, that mother of many a deathly vortex, shook Kolkata like a toddler playing with a rattling toy,' observes Debashish Chatterjee.
As the West Bengal chief minister was busy containing the fallout of an internecine feud in her TMC following a rebellion by a redoubtable Suvendu Adhikari, the Centre shot off a fresh letter to her government to immediately relieve three IPS officers for central deputation.
The Maha Kumbh, billed as the world's largest gathering, concluded on Wednesday after 45 days, with lakhs of devotees taking a dip in the Sangam, the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and mythical Saraswati rivers. Despite a stampede that killed at least 30 people, millions continued to visit the Kumbh, seeking salvation through the ritual bath. The event saw a mix of faith, tradition, and technology, drawing pilgrims and tourists from across the globe.
Once a reviled practice in the state, both the parties seem to have endorsed a record number of turncoats this time -- triggering a wave of discontentment among their loyalists.
The party also announced the names of Milan Ghosh and Sujit Das for Samserganj and Jangipur seats respectively.
'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 Election Commission on Tuesday appointed special observers for administrative, security and expenditure monitoring purposes in several states to ensure a level playing field during the upcoming elections.
The top ten richest candidates are from the Trinamool Congress which has won a second consecutive term.
Giving a new poll slogan of 'Khel Zatlo' in Goa, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said an anti-BJP alliance has already taken shape in the coastal state under the banner of her party TMC and now it is for the Congress to decide whether it wants to join the grouping ahead of elections to take on the saffron outfit.
"No lndian Prime Minister has so brazenly indulged in an unethical and undemocratic act and violated the Model Code of Conduct by indirectly campaigning for his party from foreign soil," he said.
The Election Commission of India has announced that elections for 10 Rajya Sabha seats in Goa, Gujarat, and West Bengal will be held on July 24.
The Congress and AAP had fought the Lok Sabha polls together in Delhi, while they contested separately in Punjab.
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