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.
Former Chief Election Commissioner T S Krishnamurthy has pitched for single-phase elections and substantially curtailing public campaigning time in future polls.
Trinamool Congress General Secretary Mukul Roy on Tuesday filed two defamation cases against West Bengal minister Gautam Deb, including a civil suit seeking damages of Rs 15 crore, for alleging that the Opposition party used black money for its election campaign.
Opposition leaders believe this entire plan has been put in place to ensure that Mamata Banerjee is kept out of office in West Bengal.
RS member Derek O'Brien said due to the polls, MPs of his party would not be able to attend the Parliament session.
The Congress leader said he believes that democracy is derailed and "we are becoming too authoritarian". "It's all about one-man show," he said.
'They have a voracious appetite.' 'But there are many places where they go and they lose.'
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.
The elections will begin on April 19 followed by subsequent phases on April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1.
The counting of votes for the assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry would be held on Thursday morning with trends expected early.
Shah also rejected West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's charge that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to a temple of the Matua community -- which is in sizeable number in the state -- during his trip to Bangladesh violated the poll code.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday attacked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for pursuing "appeasement and vote bank politics" which were responsible for infiltration.
'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.
'These include economic prosperity, a promising future for youth, empowerment for women, a thriving society, robust healthcare, quality education, elevated living standards, agricultural prosperity, and robust social security coupled with effective governance.'
It said it won't respond to the averment to prove its image.
The three-member TMC delegation, led by state minister Partha Chatterjee met EC officials and registered a complaint into the incident and demanded a thorough probe.
Violence had rocked West Bengal's rural polls on Saturday, leaving 15 people dead while ballot boxes were vandalised, ballot papers torched, and bombs thrown at rivals in several places.
Over 1.03 crore voters will decide the political fate of 306 candidates in this phase.
Voting for the second phase of Lok Sabha polls will be held on Friday for 88 seats in 13 states with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi seeking a second-straight term from Wayanad in Kerala.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday described her party Trinamool Congress's "landslide victory" in the state assembly poll as a vindication of its fight to protect communal harmony.
Counting of votes for the high stakes assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry began on Thursday morning with trends expected to be available by 11am.
Tamil Nadu topped the tally of total seizure of cash where a latest Election Commission data said the figure went up to Rs 112.89 crore.
The members, whose terms are ending, include union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Dharmendra Pradhan, J P Nadda, Thaawarchand Gehlot and Ramdas Athawale.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is Trinamool Congress's Bhabanipur bypoll candidate, of violating the model code of conduct (MCC) by participating in a programme where the West Bengal government announced a grant of Rs 50,000 to each Durga puja organising committee ahead of the state's biggest festival.
Besides the national capital, polling will be held Saturday in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, all 10 seats of Haryana, eight seats each in Bihar and West Bengal, six seats in Odisha, four seats in Jharkhand and one seat in Jammu and Kashmir. Simultaneously, polling will be held for 42 assembly constituencies in Odisha.
In another display of the politics of threat in West Bengal, a ruling Trinamool Congress Member of Legislative Assembly openly threatened to "behead" a Congress leader in Birbhum district.
'It is advisable to stay away from the markets for now and buy only on a dip.'
Over 1.54 crore voters in the eastern states of West Bengal and Assam will exercise their franchise in the 1st phase of polling
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday urged the Election Commission to ban political parties calling shutdowns, while noting that people of Bengal have rejected the two-day strike called by Central trade unions.
Seen by political watchers as the favourite to retain power for a third straight term, the Bharatiya Janata Party has set itself an ambitious target of winning 370 Lok Sabha seats, a goal aimed as much at projecting its strength as at diminishing the opposition in popular imagination.
Suvendu Adhikari, the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate against Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram, Monday said he has sought rejection of the nomination of the West Bengal chief minister for not declaring six criminal cases against her while filing her papers.
The Model code of conduct has come into force immediately in the states.
Though the BJP failed in its effort to dislodge Banerjee from power, it's for the first time that it will be the main opposition party in the state assembly, rising from a measly three seats in 2016 to 77.
Banerjee, also the state chief minister, said she had never seen this type of EC which is "full of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh people".
The state government in its special leave petition alleged that it did not expect fair and just investigation by the central agency which is busy foisting cases against the functionaries of ruling Trinamool Congress Party.
The Election Commission had on July 16 said that bypoll to the Rajya Sabha seat from West Bengal vacated by Dinesh Trivedi earlier this year will be held on August 9.
The Madras high court on Monday came down hard on the Election Commission and called it the "the most irresponsible institution" for the alleged spread of the second wave of Covid-19 in the country.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the verdict has quashed a 'false propaganda' aimed at defaming the state government.
A six-phased Assembly elections in West Bengal, a two stage poll in Assam and a single day poll in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry were announced by the Election Commission, setting in motion the largest such exercise after 2009 Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP urged the EC to take legal action against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her allegation that Union Home Minister Amit Shah may be influencing the poll watchdog and accused her of running a 'smear campaign' against him.
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