Buildings were decorated with colourful lights and earthen lamps dotted houses as people across the country thronged temples and celebrated Diwali with pomp on Monday.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Tuesday stirred a controversy by saying that she has every right as an individual to imagine Goddess Kali as a meat-eating and alcohol-accepting goddess, as every person has the right to worship god and goddess in his or her own way.
Hours after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took a tough stance and ordered the hunting down of all suspects of the Birbhum carnage including her party colleagues, the police on Thursday arrested a local Trinamool Congress boss Anarul Hossain from near a hotel in the pilgrimage town of Tarapith.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday filed cases in connection with the killing of eight people in West Bengal's Birbhum district, shortly after the Calcutta high court directed the central probe agency to take over investigation into the case, a senior official said.
His rise has been phenomenal after the party came to power in 2011. He runs the local syndicate which is involved in extortion from local businesses and also involved in illegal mining of sand
The main accused in the brutal murder of a college student in North 24 Parganas district, was on Wednesday arrested from Rampurhat in Birbhum district, the police said.
An apex court bench headed by Justice S K Kaul also asked the BJP state unit to submit a revised plan for its "Save Democracy Rally" for consideration by the state government.
In the letter to the BJP, the West Bengal government said, "The areas proposed to be covered by the yatra are, because of publicity and propaganda, gradually turning into communally sensitive pockets. Intelligence reports indicate that public perception is that the religious overtones of the yatra will be turned into communal propaganda."
Decorated lights decked up buildings and earthen lamps dotted houses as people across the country celebrated Diwali.
A division bench of justices Biswanath Somadder and A Mukherjee said the government's silence on the permission is 'astonishing and astounding'.
The apex court, however, allowed the West Bengal unit of the BJP to continue with its proposed public rallies and meetings under its "Ganatantra Bachao Yatra".
The party approached the Supreme Court seeking permission to hold the campaign 'Save Democracy Rally', which would cover 42 parliamentary constituencies in the state ahead of the 2019 general elections.
BJP chief Amit Shah had set a target of winning 22 Lok Sabha seats out of 42 seats in West Bengal.
Diwali, the festival of lights, was celebrated with traditional fervour across the country with people exchanging sweets and gifts with friends and relatives, decking up their houses with earthen diyas and tiny lights and illuminating the evening sky with fireworks.
The Bharatiya Janata Party decided to put on hold Shah's proposed rally and the Rath Yatra, saying it will wait for the final order from the high court, which will now hear an appeal by the saffron party on Friday morning.
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