Shah, who held a closed door meeting to take stock of the party organisation, said he could 'sense massive public anger' against the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government in the state and gave a call to 'uproot' it in the state polls.
'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.'
To combat the rising menace of Naxalism, Home Minister P Chidambaram has decided to hold a meeting of the chief ministers of the four states worst hit by Maoist violence, in Kolkata on February 9.The Centre, along with the governments of West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand, is planning a massive offensive against Maoists, the modalities of which will be finalised during the meeting. The home minister will discuss and fine-tune the action plan to tackle the Maoists.
Protesting against the attack on a Congress Legislature Party team in West Bengal, party activists clashed with the police in Kolkata and other towns across the state, leaving one person dead and several injured. Five Congress workers were injured in fresh violence in Mangolkot where a CLP team, led by Manas Bhunia, was attacked on Wednesday allegedly by supporters of the ruling Left Front. During the clash, Zia-Ur-Rahman Mullick, 40, died of a heart attack.
With her various overtures and right noises at the right time, Mamata is once again trying to reshape her image from being a regional leader to one with national appeal and acceptability. After all, the charge of building a Federal Front may also bring to the fore Mamata's chances to become prime minister in 2019.
Modi accused the TMC of killing the aspirations of the middle-class people in the state and said the ruling party in West Bengal is known for 'triple T -- Trinamool Tolabaji Tax'.
Firing a salvo at the UPA government of which her party is a major ally, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Saturday alleged that the Centre had "surrendered" to the CPI(M) and failed to do enough to check Marxist violence in West Bengal.
Though it's been just five years at the helm, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress is fighting severe internal dissidence and would crumble like a pack of cards if it loses, says Devanik Saha.
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.
A fascinating glimpse from Somak Ghoshal's 10 Indian Heroes Who Help People Live With Dignity.
'From chaiwala he has now become Rafalewala. He speaks a bunch of lies,' the West Bengal CM said.
The entire history of 2008 is marred with acts of violence and bloodshed. A country where terrorism is rampant needs better, tighter laws to curb it. Whether we have an election this year or not, the problem of terrorism is here to stay, says Idris Ali
As splendid it is to behold, A Suitable Boy cannot match in soul and falls short of being memorable, feels Sukanya Verma.
"There were some incidents, but it was controlled. The Central forces sought by the state administration are yet to arrive. We had written to the Centre yesterday seeking forces," Home Secretary P R Roy told reporters in Kolkata.
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.
Instead of a tit-for-tat with terrorists, there was need to communicate with them in making them shun violence, Martin Luther King III, son of American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, said in Kolkata on Sunday.
Controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen was not driven out of West Bengal as published in a section of the press and was free to return when she liked, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya said in Siliguri on Sunday.
"I own up responsibility for the lapses in Nandigram on behalf of the state government. I don't want any more deaths."
"The Opposition's mahagathbandhan is an alliance of corruption, negativity and instability. The Opposition has 'dhanshakti' (money power), we have 'janshakti' (people's power)," the prime minister said.
'The virus has been ahead of us till now, and we have been chasing the virus.' 'It is time we have to be a step ahead of the virus, and this is possible only by checking the oxygen level.'
The 100-strong intelligentsia sang We shall Overcome and a Bengali version of Bob Dylan's Blowing in the wind, when they were arrested. Incidentally, the Communist government in West Bengal has always promoted mass songs and revolutionary songs.
Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the CBI to immediately visit the troubled areas and collect all evidence of firing by the police.
The defence minister made it clear that without active support from across the border, the present act of 'senseless violence and terror' was not possible.
Mamata alleged that the BJP and the CPI-M were provoking doctors and giving communal colour to the issue.
Tamang said, "All schools in Darjeeling will be given relaxation for 12 hours on June 23 to evacuate students from the city."
Nandigram has been witnessing sporadic clashes between supporters of the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee, which is spearheading the agitation against land acquisition for a SEZ there.
Earlier on July 29, a CPI-M activist was killed during the clashes between the activists of the Trinamool Congress-led Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee and CPI (M) workers along the Nandigram-Khejuri border.
The party believes that Mamata's poor handling of the pandemic and the devastation brought on by Cyclone Amphan will provide it the political fillip it needs.
The National Democratic Alliance will discuss the issue of land acquisition in Nandigram, which sparked off violence claiming several lives, Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh said in Kolkata on Tuesday.
Streets in Kolkata wore a deserted look as most private buses, mini buses and taxis remained off the roads.
The proposed chemical hub in West Bengal, which won't come up in Nandigram because of violence there, has to be set up near a port, state Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said on Wednesday.
'Whatever the legal position, it is my understanding that in practice, the Indian authorities have always treated Hindu refugees from Pakistan and Bangladesh far more sympathetically than Muslims,' notes Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
She, however, preferred not to use the word 'Rohingya' and said 'we have urged that the situation be handled with restraint, keeping in mind the welfare of the population'.
BJP leaders in the state are either lying low or criticising the CAA move in hushed tones. Chandra Kumar Bose, vice-president of the BJP's state unit, is most vocal with his opposition to the Act in the current form. "The country is above petty party politics. How can I keep quiet when I see that something is happening which is wrong in its current form?" Other party leaders aren't as vocal as Bose but clandestinely have been questioning the merit of the CAA and its impact on the BJP's prospects in the state. In fact, at a time when the BJP started making deep inroads in the state, the fear of the CAA and the NRC appears to be ruining its prospects.
Two Election Commission personnel were on Thursday beaten up while they were videographing a bike rally by Trinamool workers at Manikchak in Malda district, inviting the ire of the poll body which has directed authorities to initiate stern action against the accused and file a report on the incident.
After a marathon meet (lasting over two and half hours) with Bhattacharya and state Commerce and Industry Minister Nirupam Sen, Tata and the chief minister fielded questions from the media.
The Assam government announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh and a job for the next of the kin of the deceased.
Alishba's name surfaced in the controversy after the Indian pacer's wife Hasin Jahan alleged that he could have a relationship with the Pakistani woman.
'If the virulence of COVID-19 has muted the toxicity of the BJP's communalism, it will be an example of good coming out of the pandemic,' notes Amulya Ganguli.
Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday termed the large-scale terrorist violence in Bangladesh as 'worrisome'.
