The Enforcement Directorate conducted searches at the office of political consultancy firm I-PAC and the home of its director Pratik Jain in Kolkata as part of a money laundering probe into an alleged multi-crore rupee coal pilferage scam.
A total of 2,208 booths in West Bengal are under the scanner after all the distributed enumeration forms were returned filled up, indicating that there is not a single dead, duplicate or untraceable voter in these booths, EC sources said.
Election Commission data reveals Bhabanipur constituency in West Bengal recorded significantly higher voter deletions compared to Nandigram, sparking political debate ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls.
The West Bengal assembly elections are due by March-April next year.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has approached the Calcutta High Court, seeking a CBI investigation into the role of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, senior police officials and others for allegedly obstructing its raids in Kolkata against political consultancy firm I-PAC and its director in connection with an alleged coal scam.
The Supreme Court has expressed serious concern over the Enforcement Directorate's allegations of obstruction by the West Bengal government and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during raids related to a coal-pilferage scam. The court intends to examine the matter and has also taken note of the commotion at the Calcutta High Court during hearings related to the case.
The movement has taken the shape of an unusual reverse migration, which officials and they themselves link directly to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls underway in West Bengal.
A major controversy has erupted in West Bengal after a TMC MLA announced plans to lay the foundation stone of a mosque modeled on the Babri Masjid, leading to political backlash and concerns over communal polarization.
Thousands of TMC supporters thronged the rally route, waving the party flags, raising slogans and holding aloft colourful posters.
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announces the debate and vote on the no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will occur on March 9. The Budget Session's second part will also address important legislation and critical bills.
A new study alleges that Muslim voters are disproportionately represented in Logical Discrepancy (LD) lists during Kolkata's voter roll revision, raising concerns about potential bias in the electoral process.
The BJP which won only three seats in the last assembly election is looking confident to make inroads is Mamata's den.
According to official records, Kishor is enrolled as a voter in West Bengal at 121, Kalighat Road, the address of the Trinamool Congress headquarters in Kolkata's Bhabanipur assembly constituency, which is Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee's seat, he said.
Mohammed Shami on Tuesday appeared before poll officials in Kolkata for his scheduled hearing under the ongoing SIR exercise in West Bengal.
Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress overcame the might of the BJP and is all set to be CM for a third term.
West Bengal's Chief Electoral Officer reports over 10 lakh SIR enumeration forms identified as 'uncollectable' due to absentee voters, duplicates, deaths, or permanent relocation. The special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is underway with significant BLO involvement.
Maintaining that the letter of resignation was not written in accordance with the rules of conduct of business in the assembly, Banerjee said it did not have any mention of the date from which the legislator wanted to vacate his seat.
The Election Commission is set to publish the draft electoral rolls for West Bengal on Tuesday following the completion of the statewide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) ahead of the 2026 assembly polls. The publication of the draft rolls will mark the end of the enumeration phase and the beginning of a far more contentious stage - claims, objections and hearings that will stretch into February 2026.
Six policemen were injured and a police vehicle vandalised in a mob attack during an attempt to arrest a TMC worker in Sandeshkhali, once again pushing the coastal block into political focus ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.
Despite his influence, Pratik Jain avoids the spotlight. Credit is routinely passed on to colleagues. He maintains no visible faction within the TMC, no personal coterie.
Estranged TMC MLA Humayun Kabir's plan to build a mosque modeled on the Babri Masjid in Murshidabad has sparked a political firestorm in West Bengal, with accusations and warnings escalating tensions ahead of state elections.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly insulting novelist Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay by calling him "Bankim da."
Political consultancy firm I-PAC has reacted to the Enforcement Directorate's raids at its Kolkata premises, calling it an "unsettling precedent." The raids have triggered political upheaval in West Bengal, where elections are due in months. The firm, engaged by the TMC, said it would continue to work in an "unfazed and unperturbed" manner.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee led a protest march in Kolkata against Enforcement Directorate searches linked to I-PAC, signaling a show of strength ahead of the 2026 assembly polls. The march featured cultural elements and participation from party members and celebrities.
Since 2004, 12 states have added 160 million people to their rolls.
Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters' list commenced in nine states and three Union territories on Tuesday, amid objections from several parties with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee leading the anti-SIR offensive in West Bengal with a rally in Kolkata and alleging 'silent, invisible rigging' through the exercise.
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.
A Customs officer was injured after being allegedly attacked by a mob following an altercation with an autorickshaw driver in Rajpur, near Kolkata. Four people have been apprehended in connection with the incident. The officer claims police were slow to respond.
The Election Commission is set to begin training poll officers in West Bengal for the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, ahead of the upcoming assembly polls. The training aims to equip officers to guide booth-level officers (BLOs) in ensuring a smooth and accurate voter list revision process.
The TMC, in total, bagged 75.02 per cent of the votes cast, whereas the BJP got some 14.48 per cent votes, in the four assembly segments.
TC chief Mmata Banerjee was stopped from going to Singur for a party programme against hand over of land to the Tatas.
According to Election Commission data, Bhabanipur had 2,06,295 voters as of January 2025. The draft rolls now carry 1,61,509 names, indicating that 44,787 voters, nearly 21.7 per cent of the electorate, have been deleted.
I particularly call upon my young friends to vote, Modi tweeted.
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.
The Calcutta high court on Friday refused to intervene in the construction of a mosque -- modelled on Ayodhya's Babri Masjid -- at Beldanga in West Bengal's Murshidabad, proposed by suspended Trinamool Congress MLA Humayun Kabir.
According to sources, the rallies are planned in such a way that all the 23 districts of West Bengal and 33 districts of Assam will be covered in these rallies.
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.
The social media handles of the Bharatiya Janata Party were abuzz with memes and jibes targeted at Congress and Rahul Gandhi on Friday, soon after the bumper performance of the saffron party in the Bihar assembly polls, with the party's Assam unit apologising for upsetting the 'national child' on Children's Day.
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.
The bill will be discussed in the state Assembly on June 18.
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