The Congress 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', led by Rahul Gandhi, is scheduled to enter West Bengal from Assam on Thursday, amid political ripples within the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) in the state.
Senior West Bengal minister Siddiqullah Chowdhury on Monday criticised the ongoing 'cease work' by junior doctors, labeling it as "drama" and a "politicised event" intended to malign the Trinamool Congress government in the state.
The Trinamool Congress has romped back to power in style in West Bengal. However, Bharatiya Janata Party activists and supporters can't help being happy with their performance in the state. The party has received a 10.2 per cent vote share. Sumantra Maity, a BJP activist and Information Technology professional, speaking to Indrani Roy/Rediff.com had predicted the party putting up a respectable show. He explains to Rediff.com the factors that led to the rise in Bharatiya Janata Party's vote share in Bengal.
National Commission for Women chairperson Rekha Sharma met President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday and recommended President's rule in West Bengal over the Sandeshkhali violence.
Banerjee expressed doubt whether the Congress will secure even 40 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
The family members of Border Security Force constable Purnam Kumar Shaw, who was released by Pakistan from its custody on Wednesday, expressed immense relief and gratitude to the central government and BSF authorities for securing his return.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday asserted that she did not threaten junior doctors at state-run hospitals, who have been continuing cease-work for 21 days now to protest against the alleged rape and murder of a woman medic. Addressing a rally organised by the Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad, Banerjee had on Wednesday urged the agitating junior doctors of Bengal to urgently consider returning to duty and said she doesn't want to lodge first information reports (FIRs) against the striking doctors in consideration of their future careers.
An MP from Baharampur since 1999 and the reigning Pradesh Congress president of West Bengal, this was perhaps Chowdhury's toughest electoral challenge which came in the form Pathan, the non-resident TMC candidate.
Families in West Bengal allege that Delhi Police illegally detained and deported their relatives, living and working in Delhi, to Bangladesh. They claim the deportations were based on the fact that they spoke Bengali.
The resolution under Rule 169 was tabled in the assembly, proposing to observe Poila Baisakh, as "Bangla Diwas" and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore's Banglar Mati, Banglar Jol (Bengal's soil, Bengal's water) as the state song.
She expressed confidence that a three-way alliance is very much possible in West Bengal between her Trinamool Congress, Congress and the Left.
Earlier, Mamata Banerjee appealed to the agitating doctors to join the meeting, amid their demand for live-streaming of the discussions.
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah also congratulated the franchise on social media.
A contractual woman employee, who has alleged molestation by West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose, has moved the Supreme Court against 'blanket immunity' conferred to him under Article 361 of the Constitution.
The West Bengal chief secretary on Friday submitted a report to the Election Commission on the injuries sustained by Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee but the poll panel has sought more details by Saturday evening, sources said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said that one person died in the state in cyclone Dana, even as the administration evacuated around 2.16 lakh people from the low-lying areas.
'Why is she against refugees obtaining citizenship? I request refugees not to be afraid, please apply for citizenship'
Ruling parties held sway in most of the 13 states in the assembly byelection results declared on Saturday, with the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies wresting seats in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan and the Trinamool Congress sweeping West Bengal.
'I asked her whether she stood first. 'Yes Baba' was her reply. Her mother was crying in joy.'
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.
Kolkata Police intercepted a military truck for alleged reckless driving, a day after the army dismantled a TMC protest stage. The incident occurred near the Writers' Buildings, with police citing dangerous driving and traffic violations. Army officials deny any wrongdoing.
The impact of the explosion "was so massive" that the factory, which was being run from a residential building, collapsed, the police said.
The words 'industry', 'industrial development', 'jobs', and 'employment' have been ringing with higher frequency since Mamata Banerjee stepped into her third term with landslide victory after a high-octane election last year. "Our government's next target is industrial development," the chief minister (CM) had been heard stating at different public meetings in the past few months - perhaps setting the tone for the sixth edition of the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) slated for later this month. Investor summits by any state are about intent, big numbers, and tall claims. Yet in competitive federalism, its importance as a marketing tool is undeniable.
Banerjee expressed skepticism about the BJP's ambitious target of achieving 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
'Mamata's numbers will reduce this time compared to 2016.'
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.
'If you stay out of power for long, you become irrelevant, your party members become restless and start looking to jump ship.'
Amid demands for a separate state carved out of Bengal by some Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday asserted that she is ready to shed her own blood, if need be, to thwart attempts to divide the state.
The RSS which catapulted Jagdeep Dhankar to national prominence after 21 years of hibernation could not come to his rescue when BJP higher ups decided to seek his resignation, points out Prakash Bhandari.
The draft of the anti-rape bill, scheduled to be tabled by the Mamata Banerjee government in the West Bengal assembly on Tuesday, proposes capital punishment for persons convicted of rape if their actions result in the victim's death or cause her to become vegetative.
Villagers alleged that a seven-month-old child was snatched from her mother's lap and thrown away by miscreants in Sandeshkhali.
Villagers alleged that the minor, who was missing since Friday evening, was raped and murdered, and the police did not act on their complaint immediately.
The police on Friday claimed to have arrested 'a local Bharatiya Janata Party leader' along with 10 others on charges of running a sex racket in a hotel in West Bengal's Howrah district, while the state's main opposition party denied any association with the accused individuals.
Modifying the single bench order, the division bench presided by Justice I P Mukerji directed that Banerjee and Ghosh will be free to make any statement concerning the Governor, not crossing the contours of freedom of speech and expression and public duty.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has found the report submitted by the West Bengal government on the alleged attack on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram on March 10 as 'sketchy' and asked Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay to elaborate it, a poll official said.
Bose is planning to convert the police outpost near the North Gate of the Raj Bhavan into a 'Jan Manch' (public platform), he said.
Chowdhury termed Banerjee as an "opportunist politician" who altered her stance after realising the changing political landscape.
The agitating doctors confirmed on Monday evening that they are willing to attend a meeting at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's residence to resolve the RG Kar hospital impasse but demanded they should be allowed to record and sign the minutes of the talks.
West Bengal Congress spokesperson Kaustav Bagchi was granted bail by a court in Kolkata on Saturday evening, hours after being arrested for his alleged comments against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Several leaders of the TMC slammed the rural development minister for his comments on the chief minister attending the Kolkata International Film Festival.
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