A BJP government in Bengal inherits more problems than it might care to admit at its moment of triumph, points out Ramesh Menon
Banerjee, who also takes care of the home department, said Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal has offered to resign in the wake of the protests but "we need someone who knows law and order ahead of Durga puja".
Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee along with party leaders and workers sat on a dharna at the Rajghat in New Delhi on Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary on Monday demanding the release of funds for West Bengal by the Centre.
Bose is on record that the government cannot evade responsibility and remain silent on the disturbing developments in the state.
The BJP experienced a mixed bag of results in the West Bengal Assembly elections, with several heavyweight candidates securing victories while others faced defeat. Key wins included Dilip Ghosh, Suvendu Adhikari, and others, but some prominent faces failed to win.
The high-pitched campaign for the first phase of West Bengal assembly elections concluded with the BJP and TMC focusing on electoral rolls and dietary habits, while making promises to voters. Voting is scheduled in 152 constituencies across north Bengal and southern districts, with over 3.60 crore electors eligible to vote. A record number of Central paramilitary forces have been deployed, and several districts have been identified as highly sensitive.
The TMC has challenged the BJP to win the Falta assembly seat in West Bengal, where a re-election has been ordered due to electoral offences. The TMC has dared the BJP to deploy its full resources, including top leaders and central forces, while expressing confidence in the electorate's support.
'98 lakhs in Bengal, 97 lakhs in Tamil Nadu, 2.83 crores in Uttar Pradesh.'
Hopefully, the BJP will realise that it's the right time for parivartan (change) in its polarising poll strategies after achieving the impossible-looking goal of winning West Bengal, argues Sheela Bhatt.
Banerjee, referring to violence-hit Bangladesh, said she would keep the doors of West Bengal open for people in distress from the neighbouring country and offer them shelter.
"I came to meet you as your 'didi' not as the chief minister," she said.
Both the political executive in New Delhi and the newly elected political dispensation in Kolkata must be careful to ensure that their image is not tarnished by induction of undesirable elements in the name of political expediency, asserts Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta (retd).
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claims a Bengali-speaking woman and her child were threatened in Delhi after an alleged assault. She urges Bengali migrant workers in BJP-ruled states to return to Bengal if harassed and questions the absence of central commissions in BJP-ruled states when atrocities occur.
This was second time in a month that the TMC supremo had a telephonic interaction with the agitating farmers.
The victim's mother expressed hope that the discussions between the CM and the agitating doctors would yield results.
A personal assistant to BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari was shot dead in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, triggering political tensions and a police investigation.
The Mamata Banerjee government will table the anti-rape bill in the West Bengal Assembly on Tuesday.
The Trinamool Congress has launched a sharp attack on the Narendra Modi government over rising fuel prices, economic concerns, and exam irregularities, accusing the Centre of betraying citizens.
Earlier, Mamata Banerjee appealed to the agitating doctors to join the meeting, amid their demand for live-streaming of the discussions.
The renewed rush comes days after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced that West Bengal would aggressively implement a 'detect, delete and deport' policy against infiltrators.
In a significant move before the West Bengal assembly elections, the Election Commission has ordered a major reshuffle of the state's police force, transferring 19 senior officers to ensure fair and secure elections.
A five-member delegation of TMC MPs, comprising Derek O'Brien, Satabdi Roy, Prasun Banerjee, Pratima Mondal and Md Nadimul Haque, also met the farmers there to support their protest against the new farm laws.
Chief secretary Manoj Pant hoped "Good sense will prevail" as mutually agreed on Saturday that there will be no live-streaming or videography of the meeting given the matter is sub-judice before the Supreme Court.
The BJP has nominated the mother of a victim in the RG Kar case from Panihati constituency for the upcoming West Bengal elections, aiming to leverage public outrage over the incident. This move is part of a broader strategy to challenge the ruling TMC by highlighting issues of women's safety and governance.
'Mamata needs to address the anger and resentment among various sections of the Hindu community because low-scale communal violence has always paid richer electoral dividends for the BJP.'
A series of deaths and health-related incidents involving staff deployed for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in multiple states has triggered alarm, even as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday launched a sharp attack on the Election Commission, calling the ongoing exercise 'chaotic, coercive and dangerous'.
The West Bengal government has filed FIRs against five state government employees for alleged lapses in electoral roll revisions, following an Election Commission ultimatum. The action comes after the EC directed the state to initiate criminal cases against the accused for adding fictitious names to voter lists.
A section of BLOs in West Bengal protested excessive workload during the SIR process, leading to clashes with BJP supporters outside the CEO's office. The protest highlights concerns over the enumeration exercise and accusations of political interference.
Banerjee also appealed to the people of West Bengal not to get provoked over matters concerning the current situation in Bangladesh.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday urged the junior doctors protesting the rape and murder of their colleague at R G Kar Hospital to end their fast-unto-death stir, stating that most of their demands have been addressed while rejecting their insistence on removing the state health secretary.
In a video message, Bose also said he will also socially boycott the chief minister.
Addressing a massive Martyrs' Day rally in Kolkata, Banerjee gave a clarion call to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2026 assembly elections and eventually oust it from power at the Centre, declaring, "If this linguistic profiling doesn't stop, our resistance movement will reach New Delhi."
Union Home Minister Amit Shah accuses the West Bengal government of openly facilitating infiltration, defends the Special Intensive Revision of voter lists, and asserts BJP's prospects in upcoming elections.
Protests were held in different parts of Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, Hooghly, Howrah, Birbhum, South 24 Parganas, Jalpaiguri districts, and Trinamool Congress supporters briefly blocked roads in some areas.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticizes Delhi Police for referring to Bengali as 'Bangladeshi national language,' sparking political controversy.
TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee accuses the BJP of being 'Bangla-Birodhi' (anti-Bengal) and alleges they want to send Bengalis to detention camps. He vowed to electorally wipe out the BJP in the 2026 Bengal Assembly polls.
The high court also instructed both the Mamata government and the Centre to submit detailed reports on the situation. The matter is scheduled for further hearing on April 17.
'My primary point was where is the Mamata Banerjee who jumps and reaches out, starts talking directly and starts solving over the heads of the bureaucracy.'
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday asserted that she did not threaten junior doctors at state-run hospitals, who have been continuing cease-work for 21 days now to protest against the alleged rape and murder of a woman medic. Addressing a rally organised by the Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad, Banerjee had on Wednesday urged the agitating junior doctors of Bengal to urgently consider returning to duty and said she doesn't want to lodge first information reports (FIRs) against the striking doctors in consideration of their future careers.
Taking a dig at a section of Bangladeshi politicians, who said the country has legitimate claims over Bengal, Bihar and Odisha, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday wondered whether Indians 'would have lollipop' when external forces would try to occupy Indian lands.
