Voting is being held at 11,860 polling stations spread over 11 assembly constituencies each in Murshidabad and Birbhum, six in Malda and seven in north Kolkata.
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.
Senior TMC leader Subrata Mukherjee sought to know if it was an attempt by the BJP to divert attention from 'the historic launch' of the ruling party's report card.
Shah vowed to restore the state to its old glory when it was called "sonar Bangla" (Bengal of gold) if the BJP is voted to power.
The high court had earlier ordered a CBI investigation into the killings of the nine people at Bogtui village.
Police said the clash broke out when BJP activists travelling in a mini truck to the rally at Suri had an altercation with the local TMC workers while passing through Simurali in the district.
'I can only say that it was a revenge killing. We have seen everything from inside our houses. We ran into our dwellings on hearing a mob approaching Sonu's house and hurling bombs. After that, I don't know anything'
Abhijit said he was in touch with Mamata and her nephew Abhishek before the assembly polls.
The vandalism at the prestigious university, founded by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, has snowballed into a major political row, after some ruling TMC supporters and varsity authorities filed police complaints against each other.
A day after a Trinamool district president allegedly asked party men to attack the police with bombs and burn houses of Independent candidates, a TMC member of Parliament on Thursday asked party activists to "beat up Communist Party of India-Marxist workers with shoes".
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday took stock of the COVID-19 situation in the state, shortly after her swearing-in ceremony, and announced fresh curbs to combat the spread of COVID-19, including suspension of local train services.
The main accused in the brutal murder of a college student in North 24 Parganas district, was on Wednesday arrested from Rampurhat in Birbhum district, the police said.
The BJP has identified West Bengal as a priority state for the upcoming national elections and Shah has set a target of 22 of the state's 42 Lok Sabha seats.
A leader of the Trinamool Congress has been caught on camera threatening the staff of a private hospital at gunpoint. Eyewitnesses claim Dey was allegedly angry at the recent induction of a doctor in the hospital.
Saying she was "sorry" for the police-villagers clash at Loba village in Birbhum district, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday denied it had anything to do with land acquisition and said the police had shown patience in dealing with the situation.
Pranab Mukherjee, who seems headed towards the Rashtrapati Bhavan, on Saturday turned nostalgic at his ancestral house in Bengal's Birbhum district.
Pranab Mukherjee, who has been selected as the UPA's Presidential nominee, will resign on Sunday as the Union finance minister.
Four persons were killed on Tuesday night and eight others injured in a blast that took place when the victims were allegedly making bombs near Rampurhat town in Birbhum district, police said.
Celebrations have begun at United Progressive Alliance candidate Pranab Mukherjee native village Mirati in Birbhum district of West Bengal ahead of the formal declaration of the 2012 presidential poll results.
Security has been beefed up in Mirati village of Birbhum district in view of President Pranab Mukherjee's visit to his ancestral house during the Durga puja rituals, official sources said on Friday.
Abhijit Mukherjee, son of President Pranab Mukherjee, was on Friday chosen by the Congress as its candidate for the by-election for Jangipur Lok Sabha seat vacated by his father.
The bus carrying members of a marriage party from Kolkol village in Burdwan district to Birpara in neighbouring Birbhum district overturned when the driver lost control over the speeding vehicle at around 3.30 am, police said.
In an affront to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has refused to relieve an Indian Administrative Service officer he wanted as his private secretary in what appears to be fast soiling relations between the two since differences cropped up over Teesta river deal with Bangladesh.
Two presiding officers were removed following allegation of influencing voters and an election agent of Communist Party of India-Marxist detained for interrogation after postal ballots were recovered from him, the sources said in Kolkata.
A speeding express train rammed into the rear of another killing 60 people and injuring over 150 at the Sainthia station in Bhirbhum district of West Bengal, apparently after overshooting the signal in the early hours on Monday.
Union Minister of Railways Mamta Bannerjee, who is extremely perturbed by the disastrous train mishap in West Bengal early on Monday morning, has asked her ministry to carefully oversee the postmortem of M C Dey, the driver of the New Coochbehar-Sealdah Uttarbanga Express, which rammed into Bhagalpur-Ranchi Vananchal Express in Sainthia station of Birbhum district, killing 62 people and injuring 92 others.
Amid the rituals of Maha Ashtami (the third day of the five-day festival), Pranab Mukherjee spoke to Shine Jacob on the Moody's downgrade of State Bank of India and other issues.
Away from the political chaos in New Delhi, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is celebrating the Durga Puja at his ancestral home in Miriti village of West Bengal's Birbhum district.
Far from the rough and tumble of politics, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is in Kolkata at his ancestral home at Miriti in Birbhum district to perform Durga Puja as he has been doing every year.
"I extend puja greetings (Saradiyar Subhecchha) to all people and wish them well," a relaxed Mukherjee said while leaving for his ancestral home with his wife.
Rediff.com's Indrani Roy Mitra was in Nalhati in the Birbhum district near the Bengal-Jharkhand border on Wednesday to cover the campaign of Abhijit Mukherjee, a former corporate executive and son of Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. And here's what she saw.
Union Minister Pranab Mukherjee worshipped Goddess Durga on Thursday at his ancestral home in Mirati village on 'Mahasaptami', the first day of the four-day long puja.
The Union Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also observed silence for two minutes in the memory of Mukherjee.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Monday suggested CPI(M)'s hand in the train accident in Sainthia and the Jnaneswari Express mishap and ruled out resigning on moral grounds.
"We have some doubts in our mind. Whatever has happened is not a casual thing. We will take strong steps against those who are behind this," she said.
Business Standard brings you a three-part series on how the Trinamool is gaining political supremacy through these tried and tested methods in rural Bengal.
Two days after Monday's train disaster at Sainthia in Birbhum district, the cause of the collision that snuffed out 66 lives still remains a riddle.
Train services on the Khana-Rampurhat section of the Howrah division in Birbhum district, where a high speed express collided with another, were restored on Tuesday.
We saw the finance minister in a new avatar, donning the priest's mantle at his ancestral home on Friday and Saturday. Here are some glimpses. . .
"The puja is around 100 years old. Pranab's grandfather late Jangaleswar Mukherjee started the puja," said Goutam Roy, who has been looking after puja arrangements for the last couple of years.
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