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.
Suvendu Adhikari's rise within the BJP in West Bengal has been marked by strategic victories and relentless opposition to the TMC, culminating in his leadership role within the party's legislative wing.
"The Election Commission, in my opinion, is theoretically correct. But, it is also true that the Election Commission had directed the administration to transfer officials with administrative duties and post them according to its direction at the time when it was in charge of the election. "If offences had occurred as a consequence of the polls, it was also the duty of the Election Commission at least to direct or advise the administration to register the complaints which it did not," Justice IP Mukerji observed.
The driver of the car targeted in the attack that killed a BJP leader's aide is in critical condition in a Kolkata hospital, having sustained bullet injuries and undergone multiple surgeries.
Post-poll violence that erupted in at least three assembly constituencies in Meghalaya left several people injured, while one person was found dead in a mysterious circumstance, officials said on Friday.
The state government in its special leave petition alleged that it did not expect fair and just investigation by the central agency which is busy foisting cases against the functionaries of ruling Trinamool Congress Party.
The BJP will focus on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's development agenda in the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections, rather than projecting a chief ministerial candidate, according to state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya.
Observing that the Bengal governments progress in matters related to post-poll violence did not inspire confidence, the Calcutta high court on Monday dismissed the dispensation's prayer for recall of an order that directed the NHRC chairperson to form a committee to examine cases of alleged human rights violations.
Observing that there are "definite and proved" allegations that complaints of the victims of violence in the aftermath of the West Bengal assembly polls were not even registered, the Calcutta high court on Thursday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into all alleged cases of heinous crimes like rape and murder, while accepting the recommendations of a National Human Rights Commission panel.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal said the agency cannot cast aspersions on the entire judiciary in West Bengal.
West Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya refutes Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's claims of the BJP bringing in outsiders to cause trouble, accusing her of desperation ahead of the assembly elections and highlighting alleged failures of the TMC government.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state government, pointed to the members of the committee that has been formed to investigate the incidents and said, "Can you imagine these people have been appointed to collect the data? Is this a BJP investigating committee my Lords?"
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has set up four teams, each headed by joint directors Ramnish, Anurag, Vineet Vinayak and Sampat Meena, to probe the political violence which ensued after the victory of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on May 2 in a bitterly fought eight-phase assembly poll in West Bengal.
Voting has commenced in 142 constituencies for the second and final phase of the West Bengal assembly elections, with significant security measures in place. The outcome will determine whether the TMC maintains its dominance or if the BJP can gain ground in the state.
The Election Commission is considering holding the West Bengal assembly elections in two phases to mitigate potential poll-related violence, according to a senior official.
Taking cognisance of post-poll violence in Andhra Pradesh, the Election Commission of India has summoned the state's chief secretary and the Director General of Police (DGP) on Thursday to 'personally explain' the administration's failure to contain the incidents, sources said.
Ghosh's elder son, Biswajit, claimed that this was a planned attempt to murder his father, and alleged that Shahjahan pulled strings sitting in jail to carry out the crime.
Bose is planning to convert the police outpost near the North Gate of the Raj Bhavan into a 'Jan Manch' (public platform), he said.
On Wednesday, the ministry had sent a terse reminder to the West Bengal government to submit a detailed report on the post-poll violence and to take necessary measures to stop such incidents "without any loss of time".
A five-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on Friday appointed its former chief justice Manjula Chellur to "overview" the functioning of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) that has been formed to probe allegations of post-poll violence, other than rape and murder.
The officers have been deployed for north, west and south zones of the state as well as for the Kolkata Police areas.
Joint Director Ramnish Geer, who led the probe in cases like housing scam allegedly involving the then Union minister Sheila Kaul, Naval war room leak case, kidnapping of an NRI businessman and his release besides other high profile anti-corruption cases, received the coveted President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service.
A four-member team of the Union home ministry, tasked with looking into reasons for the post-poll violence in West Bengal, met Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar at the Raj Bhavan.
The Centre on Tuesday promised to take action on the report of a fact-finding team which claimed that there were 15,000 incidents of post-poll violence in West Bengal in which 25 people were killed and 7,000 women were molested.
In a letter, the EC said the state government must ensure that adequate steps are taken so that no post-poll violence happens.
A proposed polling booth reconfiguration in West Bengal has ignited a political battle, with the TMC, BJP, Congress, and CPI(M) raising concerns about bias, partisanship, and flawed processes.
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was on Thursday shown black flags at Sitalkuchi, where four villagers died after firing by central forces during the elections, while 'go back' slogans were raised at Dinhata during his visit to Cooch Behar district to meet people allegedly affected in post poll violence.
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday said he would visit places in Nandigram, where post-poll violence was allegedly reported.
BJP president J P Nadda drew a parallel between the post-poll result violence in West Bengal with the bloodshed during India's Partition, while his colleagues compared the Trinamool Congress with Nazis, as the saffron party's leaders protested in different cities on Tuesday against attacks targeting its workers in the state.
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a PIL seeking a court-monitored CBI or SIT probe into the violence in West Bengal's Sandeshkhali village, saying the incidents cannot be compared to the savagery in Manipur.
'Karur could still impact Jana Nayagan's box-office success if Vijay and the TVK do not get their act together,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
A bench of Justices Vineet Saran and Dinesh Maheshwari issued notice to the Centre, West Bengal and Election Commission of India on the plea, which also sought to central and state governments to award compensation to the victims and their family members after ascertaining the nature of loss sustained by them in post-poll violence in the state.
The Supreme Court Tuesday asked the Centre and West Bengal government to respond to a plea seeking directions to prevent the alleged exodus due to 'state-sponsored' violence after the assembly polls, constituting a Special Investigating Team to probe the issue and take action against culprits.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, speaking at the University of Oxford, stressed the importance of inclusive development and stated that division in society is counterproductive. She emphasized that her governance model prioritizes the welfare of all sections of society and does not allow discrimination, highlighting the state's diverse population and the need for a human-centric approach.
Moments after administering the oath to the ministers of the Mamata Banerjee government, Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday expressed concern over the situation arising out of post-poll violence in the state and said he would soon be visiting the affected areas.
One person was killed and three others injured in post-poll violence in Bihar's Saran district on Tuesday morning, police said.
One person was killed and six others were injured in a clash between the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal's Birbhum district, police said.
The Calcutta High Court has ordered the revival and prosecution of ten criminal cases related to murders in Nandigram and Khejuri during an anti-land acquisition movement in 2007. The court deemed the West Bengal government's decision to withdraw prosecution in these cases, involving the deaths of at least ten individuals, as unlawful. The bench emphasized that murders had indeed occurred and that allowing the prosecution to withdraw under Section 321 of the Criminal Procedure Code would not be in the public interest. The court stated that violence in any form should be eschewed in a democracy and that a state must exhibit zero tolerance towards it. The court set aside the state government's decision to withdraw prosecution and directed the public prosecutor to take appropriate measures within a fortnight.
The SEC, which held a meeting on Sunday evening, went through reports of vote-tampering and violence which affected polling in many places, and passed the order, an official said.
A Janata Dal-United leader was allegedly murdered in Bihar's Nalanda district in the early hours of Monday, the police said.
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