As BJP leaders went all out to project the event as a moment of national pride, some leaders were directly critical of the ceremony with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, belonging to the Communist Party of India-Marxist, slamming the state's role in the Ram Temple consecration, saying the line that demarcates religion and state seems to be 'getting thinner and thinner'.
'Although there is a visible dent in TMC's urban votes, especially among women, the CPI-M and the BJP are unlikely to benefit from this'
The formal invitation was sent after the protesting doctors on Monday morning said they did not receive any communication regarding the meeting.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) alleged in the Supreme Court on Thursday that there was an attempt to cover up the rape and killing of a post-graduate medic at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital by the local police as the crime scene was altered by the time the federal agency took over the probe.
The ongoing agitation has also led the Federation of All India Medical Association to warn that it would declare a nationwide "complete shutdown of medical services" if any "any harm befalls brave junior doctors".
Mamata Banerjee accused Modi of trying to mislead the people with half-truth and distorted facts.
Didi will skip the meeting in protest against the violence unleashed in Bengal allegedly by Left Front and Congress workers during a trade union strike. She slammed the 'double standards' of the Congress and the Left.
'The BJP lacks a credible mass leader who matches Mamata Banerjee's popularity.' 'Given the division of votes among Opposition parties, the West Bengal government's dole-giving strategy, and the consolidation of the poor, significant sections of scheduled caste groups and Muslim minorities behind the ruling party, it will be difficult to dislodge the Trinamool from power.'
Kolkata Police on Friday said it has so far arrested 19 people in connection with the vandalism and violence at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in the metropolis.
Azizul Haque, a prominent figure in India's Naxalite movement, has died at the age of 83. His passing marks the end of an era in Bengal's radical Left history.
"For us, combating the COVID-19 situation will be the topmost priority... This is victory of Bengal and only Bengal can do it ," she said in her brief message to party workers.
Senior Indian Police Service officer Manoj Kumar Verma was appointed the new Kolkata Police commissioner, replacing Vineet Goyal, on Tuesday, a day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a meeting with agitating junior doctors and agreed to their demands in a bid to resolve the more than a month-long impasse over the RG Kar hospital incident.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced that she would lead a party demonstration at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on October 1 to urge the Centre to withdraw "anti-people" decisions on Foreign Direct Investment in retail, cap on subsidised LPG and diesel price hike.
I'm still in a lot of pain, but I feel the pain of my people even more,Banerjee tweeted minutes before arriving at the venue.
Mamata claimed that some political parties were behind the violent incidents that rocked Howrah district
The controversy over a Trinamool Congress member of Parliament mimicking Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar took political centrestage on Wednesday with the issue playing out both inside and outside Parliament and President Droupadi Murmu joining Prime Minister Narendra Modi in expressing dismay.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi told party's Lok Sabha MPs to ignore comments of "middle- and low-rung" leaders of INDIA bloc parties and asserted that the Congress as the largest party in the opposition grouping is capable of addressing issues, sources said. The advice by Gandhi comes amid various leaders of the INDIA bloc weighing in on the leadership issue and TMC leaders aggressively pitching for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to head the opposition alliance.
Senior West Bengal minister Siddiqullah Chowdhury on Monday criticised the ongoing 'cease work' by junior doctors, labeling it as "drama" and a "politicised event" intended to malign the Trinamool Congress government in the state.
The unrest in the Sandeshkhali region of West Bengal ballooned into a major political row on Thursday as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee blamed the saffron camp of fomenting trouble in the area, while the Bharatiya Janata Party and the National Commission for Women (NCW) accused her party Trinamool Congress and the state government of being complicit in crimes against women in the area.
On Wednesday, Thakur asked the protesting wrestlers not to take any step that could undermine sports or hurt players, and said appropriate action will be taken once the probe into their allegations is completed. He also urged the wrestlers to be patient and have faith in the apex court.
Violence has erupted in Bengal on Tuesday after Students' Federation of India activists heckled West Bengal Chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra.
Stepping up the party's moves to reach out to Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee, Bharatiya Janata Party President Rajnath Singh on Wednesday talked to her over phone and condemned her heckling by Communist Party of India-Marxist protesters here while demanding a thorough probe into the incident.
The top court on Monday directed the protesting resident doctors to resume work by 5 pm on Tuesday, observing that if "there is continued abstention from work, there may be a likelihood of adverse action".
The second round of talks between junior doctors and officials of the West Bengal government failed to break the medics' strike over the RG Kar issue, following the state's refusal to give written minutes of the meeting, the doctors alleged.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has asked state ministers to begin a sit-in outside Nobel laureate Amartya Sen's residence in Santiniketan in Birbhum district to protest against the Visva-Bharati's eviction notice, an official said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday faced protests over death of an SFI member from Left activists who also heckled her Finance Minister Amit Mitra outside the Planning Commission office in New Delhi.
A delegation of the National Commission for Women (NCW), led by its chairman Vijaya Rahatkar, met with riot-affected women in Murshidabad district of West Bengal, assuring them of safety and demanding an NIA probe into the recent communal clashes. The women narrated their harrowing experiences and demanded permanent BSF camps in select areas of the district. The NCW team also visited relief camps in Malda district and assessed the condition of women affected by the violence.
The BJP will win the next Bengal assembly election, Thakur said.
Banerjee is scheduled to take out a protest rally on Wednesday to protest the smashing of the bust of the social reformer by alleged Bharatiya Janata Party activists in north Kolkata on Tuesday.
Healthcare services remained affected at state-run hospitals in West Bengal as junior doctors continued their cease-work protest.
The gheraoing of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and manhandling of her colleague Amit Mitra in New Delhi came in for all-round criticism, even from the Left whose supporters were involved in the unruly incident.
Amid criticism over his absence from violence-hit Murshidabad in West Bengal, TMC leaders defended Baharampur MP Yusuf Pathan, saying he is "busy with the IPL." TMC sources expressed unhappiness with Pathan for not visiting the district during last week's communal clashes. Three people were killed in the clashes, which erupted during protests against recent amendments to the Waqf Act. The BJP seized the opportunity to criticize the ruling party, with Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar saying, "Bengal is burning under the indulgence of TMC leaders. But TMC MP Yusuf Pathan is busy sipping tea as Hindus get slaughtered. This is the true face of the TMC."
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday attacked Union Home Minister Amit Shah over violent protests against the new citizenship law, saying his job is not to set the country on fire but to put it out. Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas' slogan, she said the BJP government has brought "satyanaash" (disaster) for everyone in the country.
A year after protesting against the Nano plant, invites companies to partner with the railways for its proposed 'auto hubs' .
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that a 'politically bankrupt' Communist Party of India-Marxist was mounting attacks on her party candidates and workers.
Sircar, a retired IAS officer, claimed that corruption by a section of leaders of his party and lack of action against them was one of the reasons for his decision.
'When we get justice we will stop the protest.'
Around 200 people belonging to the Sikh community staged a demonstration in front of the Bharatiya Janata Party office in Kolkata on Wednesday, expressing solidarity with an Indian Police Service officer who had alleged that West Bengal party leader Suvendu Adhikari labeled him as a 'Khalistani'.
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee today ordered a departmental inquiry into the cancellation of stoppage of some trains at a station in Bihar, which sparked violent protests, and said halting of trains there will continue like in the past.
'Sanjay Roy is not alone.' 'If he's kept alive, maybe we will know what happened.' 'Why was he in the chest medicine department that night when he never went there earlier?' 'Nobody will parade in front of a CCTV camera and then go and murder someone.' 'There are several people who are involved in this heinous crime. They have to be identified and punished.'
