The second phase of the Systematic Integration of Rolls (SIR) in West Bengal is causing distress among elderly, disabled, and vulnerable voters, leading to political accusations ahead of the assembly polls.
Several opposition parties on Wednesday decided to jointly oppose the delimitation provisions in the Constitution amendment bill in Parliament, even as they reiterated support for women's reservation, with Mallikarjun Kharge alleging the move is politically motivated.
The ruling NDA alliance has secured a majority in the Rajya Sabha elections, winning key seats in Bihar, Odisha, and Haryana, while other candidates were elected unopposed across multiple states. The elections were marked by cross-voting allegations and political maneuvering.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accused opposition parties of obstructing the passage of the women's reservation bill in Parliament, alleging they have crushed the dreams of women and prioritised selfish politics over national progress.
The Calcutta High Court has cancelled the membership of senior leader Mukul Roy in the West Bengal assembly under the anti-defection law, marking a significant moment in Indian jurisprudence.
Accusing the opposition for the presence of bogus voters in electoral rolls, the ruling Left Front in West Bengal Monday urged the visiting Election Commission observers to go for a thorough scrutiny and remove all fake names.
The BJP claimed that the attackers were TMC-backed goons, accusing the Mamata Banerjee government of allowing violence against opposition leaders even in times of humanitarian crisis.
Aam Aadmi Party's Gopal Italia on Monday won from Gujarat's Visavadar assembly constituency and his party also retained Punjab's Ludhiana West seat while the Congress-led United Democratic Front wrested Nilambur from the ruling Left Democratic Front in Kerala, according to results of assembly bypolls in four states.
Polling began on Saturday morning in 50 constituencies for the second of the six-phase assembly elections in West Bengal in which an electorate of 93.33 lakh will decide the fate of 293 candidates.
Donation boxes kept for the proposed Babri masjid-style mosque by suspended Trinamool Congress MLA Humayun Kabir in West Bengal's Murshidabad district are nearly full, with cash-counting machines whirring through the night as donations continue to pour in both physically and online.
The BJP appointed Sunil Bansal, one of the party's key election managers, as its national general secretary and in charge of three opposition-ruled states -- West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana -- in run-up to the Lok Sabha polls in 2024.
The Election Commission suspended four officers and a casual worker in West Bengal for alleged dereliction of duty and lapses in preparing electoral rolls. The action follows allegations of electoral roll compromise at the behest of the ruling Trinamool Congress.
Kabir cut a ceremonial ribbon alongside visiting clerics on the dais as slogans of "Nara-e-Takbeer, Allahu Akbar" were raised at the venue, where thousands had gathered since morning.
Political parties in West Bengal, including the ruling TMC and opposition BJP, have condemned the organizers of an event featuring Lionel Messi in Kolkata after it descended into chaos due to spectators' inability to properly view the football star. Demands for action and accountability have been made.
'It is going to be a negative vote against the government rather than a positive vote for the UDF.'
The state government, however, maintained it has no intimation so far from the central government or the governor's office regarding their "observations" on certain provisions in the Bill.
A consensus to rename West Bengal as Paschim Banga was on Friday reached at an all-party meeting to change the nomenclature of the state. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee suggested the new name and unanimity was reached on it, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee told reporters after the meeting in the state assembly. "It has been unanimously decided that the state's new name will be Paschim Banga from now in all languages," he said.
Turning her guns on the Election Commission, Banerjee alleged that the BJP had "stolen" the mandate in Maharashtra with the poll panel's help and was now attempting to replicate it in Bengal through the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise by deleting genuine voters' names.
Despite being in the Opposition in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee is 'setting' the agenda for the state government. In the past weeks, the government has taken three major policy decisions for which the Trinamool Congress had been agitating to make a public opinion.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday asked party activists to strengthen the party in West Bengal so that it could be a deciding factor in the forthcoming elections and said he wanted an alliance with the Trinamool Congress on honourable terms.
A Trinamool Congress councillor in West Bengal protested being listed as deceased in the draft electoral rolls by walking into a crematorium, highlighting concerns about voter list accuracy ahead of state elections.
The combined Left parties drew a blank in the polls to the assembly which they had run with an overwhelming majority for 34 long years, with their vote share dwindling to a mere 5.47 per cent in 2021.
West Bengal is poised to become the rape capital of India, but its chief minister refuses to face reality, says Debosmita Sarkar.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday dramatically turned up at the residence of Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) chief Pratik Jain amid an ongoing Enforcement Directorate raid, alleging that the central agency was attempting to seize the Trinamool Congress's internal documents, hard disks and sensitive data linked to its election strategy.
In the wake of two members of the coalition demanding advancing of the 2011 Assembly elections following its repeated electoral debacles in West Bengal, the ruling Left Front has issued a gag order on public airing of views by leaders that contradicts its policy decisions.
Developed to meet the growing transportation needs of modern India, the fully AC Vande Bharat sleeper train would offer passengers an "airline-like travel experience at economical fares," a statement issued by the PMO stated.
West Bengal Director General of Police Bhupinder Singh was on Friday summoned to the state assembly and ordered to pay Rs 1000 as 'punishment' by Speaker H A Halim for taking a photo in the House with his mobile. The Speaker asked the DGP, who was produced by the marshal in a temporary dock set up in the well of the assembly, whether he had taken a photo in the House with his mobile phone camera on Thursday.
A proposed polling booth reconfiguration in West Bengal has ignited a political battle, with the TMC, BJP, Congress, and CPI(M) raising concerns about bias, partisanship, and flawed processes.
Protests continue in Kolkata against attacks on minority Hindus in Bangladesh. BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari threatens a large-scale protest if the attacks are not stopped.
West Bengal: Congress to field candidates in all 294 constituencies
Governor C V Ananda Bose, meanwhile, urged citizens not to be swayed by "provocative statements and rumours" and asked the state to ensure there was 'no disturbance anywhere'.
81 per cent voter turnout recorded in West Bengal, 80 per cent in Assam.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announces legal action against the Election Commission's electoral roll revision, alleging disenfranchisement and procedural flaws.
Around 67 per cent of the electorate exercised their franchise right on Tuesday in the by-elections at Bankura in West Bengal while the figure was 73 per cent at Daspur, officials said.
The situation in these violence-hit places remained tense on Saturday morning, but no untoward incident was reported, officials said.
A family feud within the politically influential Matua community has erupted between Union minister Shantanu Thakur and his brother, BJP MLA Subrata Thakur, creating ripples in West Bengal's political landscape and posing a challenge for the BJP ahead of upcoming elections.
Mamata Banerjee was on Friday sworn in as the chief minister of West Bengal for the second consecutive time, heading a 42-member ministry.
The Calcutta High Court overturned a single bench order that annulled the appointments of 32,000 primary school teachers in West Bengal, stating that irregularities were not proven in all recruitments. The decision brings relief to the teachers and is seen as a boost for the TMC-led state government.
'The question for the TMC is not whether it can hold its bastions, but whether it can expand effectively into regions where the BJP already possesses a good ecosystem.'
A political slugfest broke out between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Trinamool Congress on Monday after the latter accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of insulting Bankim Chandra Chatterjee by calling him 'Bankim da', prompting a counter-attack from the saffron party, which accused West Bengal's ruling party of defiling the state's cultural legacy for a decade.
