The Congress expressed its 'whole-hearted' support to the 'Bharat bandh' called by farmer unions against the new agri-marketing laws and announced that it will hold protests that day at all district and state headquarters in solidarity with the demands of the farmers. TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said the party rank and file would actively participate in the bandh to ensure it was a success.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged on Friday that some local news channels had ganged up with the opposition to make a hue and cry over rape and violence in the state and reiterated that there was a conspiracy to kill her.
"I am also quitting as member of Legislative Council," Thackeray said in a webcast.
Fresh violence erupted in simmering Nandigram on Thursday when one person was killed in an exchange of fire between clashing groups, allegedly supporters of the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Bhoomi Uchched Protirodh Committee, as the number of deaths rose to two since Wednesday.
Rejecting the contention of political parties like Bharatiya Janata Party, AIADMK and CPI(M) that electronic voting machines (EVMs) were tampered with during the Lok Sabha polls, Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla today said no one was able to prove it.
'The continuous and mysterious praise of the BJP and the chief minister by AIUDF leadership and senior members have affected the public perception of the Congress party'
The deceased has been identified as Manas Das, an active local committee member of CPI-M, East Midnapore district Superintendent of Police G Srinivas told reporters in Nandigram.
A senior police officer told PTI that they were taken into custody after they had offered prayers.
CPI-M says it is ready to forge a front with Congress in Parliament on issues like land bill and secularism but ruled out being part of a national front.
The suspended Rajya Sabha parliamentarians, who spent the night on the lawns near Mahatma Gandhi's statue in what several old-timers said was the first such overnight protest in the complex, got a surprise visitor in the morning -- Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh who came with tea and snacks.
Upholding principles was a luxury when there were charismatic leaders capable of winning elections without stooping low to indulge in identity politics, observes Virendra Kapoor.
The video, which has been compiled using clips from RSTV, comprises statements made by the opposition MPs in the Upper House, with the words "farmer" and "Pegasus" in the opening lines.
The MP from East Burdwan, who defected to the BJP last December, has been put on 'probation' by the TMC, which he wants to rejoin.
Organised by Left-wing farmers' and workers' outfits, the 'Mazdoor Kishan Sangharsh Rally', began from the Ramlila Maidan and culminated at the Parliament Street.
Opposition parties on Tuesday asked the government to call an all-party meeting to resolve the current impasse in Parliament, while sticking to their demands for a discussion on Pegasus snooping issue and a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the matter.
Opposition members were up on their feet, holding up placards and banners seeking the resignation of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and other ministers over corruption allegations.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has warned the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government at the Centre that it will face countrywide protests if it hikes petrol and diesel prices.
The day-long hartal called by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in Kerala on Tuesday to protest murder of an activist in Kannur district disrupted normal life across the state.
The bodies of six victims, wrapped in red flags, were kept on a platform near the district collectorate complex, with wailing relatives sitting by their side.
'In this election -- her first major one since wresting power from the Left -- Mamata has proved that she has simply maintained the Left's systemic status quo by ensuring that she implements the CPI-M method of election and result 'management', says Dr Anirban Ganguly.
The KCBC, in a statement, said that even the United Nations reports have made it clear that money earned from drug trafficking is being used for terrorist activities.
Even as it comes to terms with the land acquisition controversy in Nandigram and Singur, the CPI(M)-led West Bengal government has handed over the order for possession of 4,300 acres
About 30 CPI-M men at Riapara stopped Gouranga Deb Hazra, PTI's East Midnapore district correspondent, who was riding pillion on a motorcycle, on his way to Chandipur from Nandigram around noon.
It's a political gambit aimed at the BJP's Suvendu Adhikari who won the seat in 2016 as a TMC candidate, while also retroceding to the land movement that catapulted her to power.
Peace could at last return to troubled Nandigram block in East Midnapore district, the scene of protests against a proposed special economic zone, with an all-party peace meeting today calling for an end to violence.
The government on Tuesday decided to cancel the examination for appointment of postmen held on July 14 to hold it in all local languages including Tamil.
The All India Kisan Sabha, backed by the Communist Party of India-Marxist, announced suspension of the 180-km march from Nashik to Mumbai after a three-and-a-half hour meeting of its representatives with state ministers Girish Mahajan and Jaykumar Rawal.
CM Pinarayi Vijayan rejected BJP's criticism against the resolution demanding scrapping of the CAA. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had hit out at Kerala government, saying Vijayan should seek 'better legal advise'.
The government on Tuesday told the Rajya Sabha that it has not received any formal proposal for merger of Sahara Airlines with Jet Airways, leading to protests by Left members who asked the minister to clarify on the matter.
The Kerala government dubbed Desai's attempt to visit Sabarimala as a 'conspiracy'.
'The AIADMK has no Number Two, frankly it does not even have a Number Hundred and Two. There is the Numero Uno, and there is everybody else -- a point that was made very clear when Jayalalithaa made her ministers take the oath of office in unison on May 23. What, after all, was the point of having them do so individually when they lack individuality?'
The opposition parties were demanding a division of votes as they had moved a motion to send the Bill to a select committee, which was rejected by voice vote.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said it had not been a correct decision to align with Congress in the 2011 assembly elections and accused the Congress of holding out the threat of the Central Bureau of Investigation "whenever there is a protest against the UPA government".
An inquiry was on Saturday ordered by the Border Security Force after its personnel were caught in a row with locals in Tripura over killing of three civilians who had protested alleged molestation bid by some paramilitary personnel.
The BJP, which leads the ruling coalition at the Centre, hit right back, dismissing her allegation as 'baseless' and asserting she will be ousted from power 'democratically' after the assembly elections due next year.
Swami Sandeepananda Giri had welcomed the apex court order permitting women in the 10-50 age group to offer prayers at the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala.
He rejected TMC's allegation that BJP workers vandalised a bust of educationist and social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.
As of now, there is nothing to suggest that the 'Michaelpatti episode' has the potential to polarise Dravidian Tamil Nadu on religious lines, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Cultural nationalism or the victim card that you play is okay when people are well fed.' 'But if you are not well fed, then it puts a question mark (on your leadership).'
The bitter political rivals -- the ruling LDF and the UDF -- close ranks in the state assembly to oppose the ban.
