Addressing her first press conference after the election results were declared, she accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of polarising the people on religious lines to garner votes in West Bengal.
'At this moment, the Trinamool has an edge.'
With transfer of 23 police and administrative officials by the EC ahead of Thursday's Lok Sabha elections, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee suspected Congress and CPM hand behind their removal by the poll panel.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday urged the Election Commission to declare Trinamool Congress as a 'terrorist party', upping the ante against the ruling party after political clashes in Birbhum violence left three people dead.
rivals Congress, JMM and TMC and Samajwadi Party.
Mahua asserted that despite all efforts by the Bharatiya Janata Party to "sound the death knell" for constitutional democracy, India is too great a country to be destroyed by the fascists.
The Election Commission on Monday barred West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee from campaigning for 24 hours for her remarks against central forces and a statement which had alleged religious overtones.
West Bengal's industry minister Partha Chatterjee, arrested in the SSC scam, should be removed immediately from his post and expelled from the Trinamool Congress, the party's state general secretary Kunal Ghosh demanded on Thursday.
The Chief Election Commissioner pointed out that the exercise involved nearly 7.3 crore voters and over 1.06 lakh polling stations.
Accusing Trinamool Congress of creating widespread fear psychosis through "terror and intimidation" in West Bengal, the Left parties on Tuesday sought Election Commission's intervention to ensure free and fair polls.
'Just because there is some misunderstanding, you cannot recall the chief secretary.' 'This is not a good development. This is an assault on federalism.'
Politically, women have been making their presence felt in voter turnouts. According to the Election Commission, the female voter turnout was higher than male turnout in 16 states and Union territories.
A Trinamool Congress delegation met the Election Commission (EC) on Friday and demanded a high-level probe into an alleged attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram and claimed it was not an 'unfortunate incident', but a conspiracy.
'The present generation, either due to historical amnesia or political propaganda, has been fed a narrative that paints India as an adversary rather than an ally.'
Former West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was on Thursday sworn in as the 14th Vice President of India.
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.
Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party are contesting in all the 30 seats, while the Communist Party of India-Marxist is in the fray in 15 and its alliance partners of Sanjukta Morcha the Congress and ISF are competing in 13 and two seats respectively.
The EC is perhaps the only body in the country still untarnished and commanding universal respect round the world. It has often been savaged by the ruling political dispensations in the past also, but the EC has come out with flying colours in every case including the latest one against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, says B S Raghavan.
Banerjee also said she may not join the dharna being staged by Trinamool Congress MPs in protest against 'attack on party workers' in Tripura, but will surely express solidarity with them.
Sporadic incidents of violence were reported on Tuesday in some areas where voting is underway in the third phase of the West Bengal assembly elections, even as the overall situation by and large remained peaceful with 34.71 per cent turnout recorded till 11 am, officials said.
The BJP and Congress are the top two beneficiaries of the electoral bonds, followed by the Trinamool Congress.
All eyes are on battleground Nandigram that is goin to the polls on Thursday with the chief minister engaged in a fierce contest with her protege-turned-rival Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP.
State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar claimed that they were prevented from campaigning on Harish Chatterjee Street that leads to the residence of Banerjee, who is also a candidate in the bypoll.
Bharatiya Janata Party president's Amit Shah's road show in Kolkata culminated with violence, arson and a police lathicharge. Parts of the city plunged into a welter of violence as his convoy was attacked with stones by alleged TMC supporters from inside the hostel of Vidyasagar College, triggering a clash between supporters of the two parties, officials said.
The high octane campaign marked by vitriolic attacks and counter-attacks by political leaders and use of derogatory language and objectionable remarks that forced the Election Commission to step in ended at 6 pm.
In a far-reaching verdict, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and the election commissioners will be done by the President on the recommendation of a committee, comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the CJI, to maintain the "purity" of the electoral process.
The petition has referred to the Centre's PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme and other programmes announced by some state governments such as Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Telangana, Odisha and Jharkhand which, it claimed, helped the parties in power at the Centre and states get political advantage in the recently concluded general elections.
The chief minister, who was re-elected as the JD-U president in 2019 for three years, relinquished the post in favour of Singh, its leader in Rajya Sabha.
What some of our leaders were up to on Monday and Tuesday.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday alleged the Congress was always "badmouthing" the party and claimed that they would become "beggars" after the next year's Lok Sabha elections.
Referring to the violence in Malda, he refuted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's statement that it was a result of tussle between Border Security Force officials and locals.
'If the BJP thinks it is going to overnight transform Bengal into Madhya Pradesh, sorry, that's not going to happen because I have faith in our ethos and culture.'
Future Gaming of lottery king Santiago Martin was the biggest purchaser of electoral bonds at Rs 1,368 crore, of which nearly 37 percent went to the DMK.
On poll eve, both the BJP and the Congress claimed they were headed towards a majority and would form the government.
Who else do we know who meditated so with such impeccable timing (much of the Lok Sabha elections over and with only the last phase to go) and hordes for unsolicited defence of the grand meditation at public expense? asks Shyam G Menon.
The Delhi high court on Thursday sought response of the Centre and the Election Commission on a plea seeking to ensure that masks are worn mandatorily by everyone involved in poll campaigns during the ongoing elections in various states and union territories.
The crowd allegedly beat up a homeguard jawan and an ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) worker and also tried to snatch the weapon of the on-duty CISF personnel when they intervened, they said.
There were conflicting reports about some CBI officers being arrested.
He also accused TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee of nepotism, insisting she wants to politically establish her nephew in West Bengal.
Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Assam and the Union Territory of neighbouring Puducherry are likely to go to polls in April or May.
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