Once a reviled practice in the state, both the parties seem to have endorsed a record number of turncoats this time -- triggering a wave of discontentment among their loyalists.
Post offices in Darjeeling, Kurseong, Kalimpong, Siliguri, Gangtok and Jalpaiguri have been earmarked for the purpose.
TMC on a roll, wins 13 out of 17 zilla parishads in WB
An MA/MSc/MBA in Disaster Management helps you become expert who have a critical role to play in rescue and rehabilitation operation.
Normal life was partially affected in West Bengal on Thursday following a state-wide 12-hour general strike called by Left Parties and trade unions, with the Bharatiya Janata Party also calling a 10-hour bandh to protest against alleged violence by ruling Trinamool Congress in the recent civic polls.
But there was no report on the fate of the pilot Flying Officer Sinha who was piloting the fighter jet from Hashimara air base.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday asserted that Darjeeling Hills would remain part of West Bengal, even as a section of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha supporters raised slogans demanding a separate state, during the inauguration of the North Bengal Festival. "Let us remain together. Darjeeling is part of Bengal and we will remain together," Banerjee said.
Its intensity surpassed that of other quakes in recent times and it was felt in the north Bengal region too.
In the Northeast, while three people died in Assam, two each lost their lives in Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram in rain-related incidents.
He also accused her of nepotism by choosing to play the limited role of "bua" (aunt) to her "bhatija" (nephew) instead of becoming "Didi" (elder sister) to the people.
Bornav Raychaudhury goes on a journey to this beautiful Himalayan town in West Bengal.
In a blunt message to the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha demand, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday ruled any division of West Bengal.
Will the glamour quotient help boost the state's image?
A 40-year-old man was killed and a child injured on Monday in "unprovoked" firing in a case of ceasefire violation by suspected Bangladeshi border guarding force personnel in north Bengal, officials said.
The UNICEF said an estimated 2.4 million children have been affected by the recent floods in the country.
Death of four persons in an Assam-bound special train coming from Bangalore in Jalpaiguri area of North Bengal in West Bengal has raised the alarm and Assam government has sounded the alert apprehending fresh violence once the Eid celebration is over in the state.
The body of Debendra Nath Ray, in his 60s, was found hanging from the ceiling of a verandah outside a shuttered shop near his home in Bindal village in Hemtabad area of the district, police said. Ray had won the Hemtabad (reserved) seat on a Communist Party of India-Marxist ticket in 2016 but later joined the BJP. He had, however, not quit his assembly seat.
BJP chief Amit Shah had set a target of winning 22 Lok Sabha seats out of 42 seats in West Bengal.
Will appeasement, rising unemployment and her dictatorial style become major obstacles in her path? asks Payal Singh Mohanka.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday called up Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee after which the key United Progressive Alliance ally decided to attend a meeting of the ruling coalition in Delhi on July 14.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Akash Banerjee was on Wednesday arrested along with two others on the charge of assaulting a police sergeant at Kidderpore in Kolkata in the city, causing embarrassment to her.
'Despite many advising me otherwise saying "nothing will come of it", I refused to be cynical and dialled the number that had been staring at me from billboards aross the state,' reports Keya Sarkar.
A brief overview of North Bengal districts' constituencies
Soumyajit Ghosh's qualification for the London Olympics has taken everyone by surprise. But the Siliguri paddler knows that it will not be a stroll in the park when it comes down to facing European and Chinese giants in London.
Kolkata and parts of West Bengal were on Wednesday rocked by successive mild tremors in a span of less than two hours, following the massive temblors in Sumatra. The first tremor was felt at 2.42 pm and the second at 4.13 pm, said Regional Meteorological Centre Director G C Debnath. Tremors were also felt in North and South 24 Parganas districts adjoining Kolkata and in Darjeeling and Siliguri in north Bengal, official reports said.
Sending a tough message to the rebels, Finance Minister and senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said it was not possible to satisfy all aspirants for party tickets and warned that contesting against official nominees would invite stern action.
With militants belonging to anti-talks faction of National Democratic Front of Bodoland and Kamatapur Liberation Organisation trying to strike fresh routes along the thickly forested and rugged terrain on the India-Bhutan border in North East and North Bengal (West Bengal), both the countries have decided to mount vigil along the border.
The search operation was on to recover more missing persons by the army, the NDRF, the Sashastra Seema Bal and other rescue teams.
'The situation is especially serious in major hotspot districts or emerging hotspots like Ahmedabad and Surat (Gujarat), Thane (Maharashtra), Hyderabad (Telangana), and Chennai (Tamil Nadu),' the MHA statement said.
Indian Army Chief Gen VK Singh will undertake a five-day trip to Bangladesh starting June 19, exactly 40 years after he started imparting training to Mukti Bahini fighters in North Bengal in the run-up to the 1971 war with Pakistan. Now as chief of the world's second largest standing Army, Gen Singh will meet many of his old friends who are now influential politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen under the Awami League regime in Bangladesh
Power lines were snapped in Darjeeling and Kalimpong where Sunday evening's tremor was mainly felt and administration has been instructed to take necessary steps, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said.
'You have been surrounded from all directions, if you want the safety of your troops and your personal safety, we will give you eight hours to make up your mind to surrender.'
The state government had adequate land for these projects, the CM said.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appealed to people to maintain peace and calm and urged the protesters to refrain from taking law into own hands.
The TMC, which is yet to fully recover from the 2019 Lok Sabha poll setback, when the BJP's tally soared from two to 18, is apprehensive that the AIMIM may act as "spoiler" in several assembly segments.
As the first phase of assembly elections was underway, rediff.com's Indrani Mitra Roy toured north Bengal only to find that the Trinamool-Congress alliance has a few takers here. Most voters swore by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, a few referred to them as extortionists.
Ahead of the launch, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was keen on restarting the air service, said it has been decided to subsidise the operation.
In a stern two-page letter to West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said stricter enforcement of lockdown norms was necessary to contain the spread of coronavirus in the state.
We invited readers to send in their interesting summer snapshots. Here are some more responses -- and you can share yours too!
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