Acting Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, in his first visit to the national capital after leading his ruling alliance to an unprecedented second straight term in the state.
The juggernaut of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, which triumphed in three of the four east and north-eastern states that went for assembly bypolls on Saturday, was halted yet again in West Bengal where Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress registered a six-on-six clean sweep.
Rijiju's meeting with Bandyopadhyay came against the backdrop of the Opposition alliance's decision to pull out its members from the panel of chairpersons that will assist Mahtab in conducting the proceedings of the Lok Sabha till the election of the Speaker on Wednesday.
The memorandum said that the responsibility of overcoming the impact of the Maoist violence is not the responsibility of the state governments alone; it is a phenomenon that spans across several states. Therefore, the Union government also has a responsibility.
The party's prime mover in West Bengal and the state Pradesh Congress president was stunned by Trinamool Congress's star candidate and cricketer-turned-politician Yusuf Pathan who comprehensively defeated Chowdhury by a margin of over 85,000 votes.
"Mr Kalyan Banerjee rose in this House and said sorry. But I will say that we all come to this House with the spirit of contribution to the nation's development...but we also come with a sense of self respect.
Trinamool Congress has won the August 18 by-elections to both the Bowbazar and Sealdah assembly constituencies, results of which were declared on Friday.
A businessman in West Bengal's Howrah district was allegedly assaulted and his house vandalised after a kangaroo court session was convened by a local panchayat pradhan and Trinamool Congress leader to resolve his marital dispute.
Congress Saturday ruled out an electoral alliance with Trinamool Congress in the coming West Bengal assembly polls unless it severed ties with the National Democratic Alliance.
The Communist Party of India - Maoist on Thursday rubbished charges leveled by the Communist Party of India Marxist, that the Trinamool Congress was patronising Maoists, saying the Left Front party was trying to keep itself afloat by making such allegations. "There is no need for us to have the CPI-M or the Trinamool Congress as allies," Maoist leader Kishenji said while reacting to the CPI-M's allegations that the outfit was protected by the TC.
Ignored by his party, estranged Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament Kabir Suman on Monday gave a free hand to his party to expel him, if it so desired.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday issued summonses to two Trinamool Congress leaders, including MP and popular Bengali actor Dev, for questioning in connection with its probes into money laundering cases, an official said.
A Raja said panel's chairman Jagdambika Pal has been conducting the panel's meetings in haste, raising doubts that it will not be able to serve justice.
In a significant move, 130 Dalit families in West Bengal were finally allowed to enter the Gidheshwar Shiv Temple after being barred for nearly three centuries due to caste discrimination. The families, who are primarily cobblers and weavers, had faced social and economic exclusion for their attempts to worship at the temple. Local authorities intervened after multiple rounds of discussions with village elders, temple servants, and political leaders, leading to a resolution of the long-standing dispute.
A Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament on Thursday got into an argument with security personnel in New Delhi, after his car was prevented from entering a road, blocked for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's convoy. Kalyan Banerjee, a first-time Trinamool Congress MP from Sreerampur, was in his car near Vijay Chowk when the police stopped him from going further, saying he could not proceed as the "route has been laid for the convoy of the prime minister".
Police said CPI-M supporters blocked roads with felled trees at Jadurbari Chowk and Bhutar More on Wednesday night apprehending trouble after the Trinamool Congress' resounding victory in the panchayat polls in Nandigram blocks I and II. District CPI-M leader Ashok Guria alleged that TC supporters beat up a CPI-M activist at Sonachura.
A gas cylinder blast in a house at Dholahat in West Bengal's Pathar Pratima has claimed eight lives, including four children. The explosion, which occurred on Monday night, triggered a massive fire, intensified by the presence of stacked firecrackers inside the house. The incident has sparked a political controversy, with the BJP demanding a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe and the TMC maintaining that the police are already investigating and that the state government has a "zero-tolerance " policy towards such incidents. The blast has also raised concerns about the safety of illegal firecracker manufacturing units, which have been linked to several recent accidents in the state.
Noting that the pace of industrial development could not be hindered by such vandalism, Bhattacharya said, "This is an indisciplined party and it has acted in an indisciplined manner."
Six Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, were suspended from the West Bengal assembly over staging protests in the House in view of unrest in Sandeshkhali.
Villagers alleged that a seven-month-old child was snatched from her mother's lap and thrown away by miscreants in Sandeshkhali.
Terming the alleged non-cooperation of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government as an example "symptomatic of a systemic malaise", the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has sought a direction to West Bengal authorities to extend full cooperation to the CISF.
'The chief minister has to remember that the people of Bengal have suffered a lot. They waited for three decades for a change in rule. Hence, they are impatient and want fast and effective action.' Legendary writer Mahasweta Devi rates the Trinamool Congress-led government in West Bengal.
"We will complain. He can meditate, but televisions cannot show it," she said, alleging that this will amount to "violation of the MCC."
"The meeting of the newly-elected MLAs of the Trinamool Congress will be held in Kolkata on Sunday to elect the leader, party general secretary Mukul Roy said on Saturday.
Firmly opposing the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said her party would not allow any move to divide West Bengal.
Bora said in his resignation letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi that infighting within the grand old party helped BJP and compelled him to leave despite having been a member since student days in 1976.
The former Meghalaya chief minister, who recently switched over to the TMC along with 11 other Congress MLAs, told PTI in an interview that the political dynamics in the entire region is going to change with him quitting the grand old party.
'...still have lost the 2014 Lok Sabha polls but could have won 140 seats.'
The expelled Lok Sabha member from Krishnanagar in West Bengal, in her plea filed in October last year, sought permanent injunction against Dubey, Dehadrai, social media platforms X, search engine Google, YouTube and 15 media houses from making, publishing, circulating per se defamatory, ex facie false and malicious statements against her. She has also sought damages.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray launched a scathing attack on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), questioning the outcome of the recent Maharashtra assembly elections and alleging hypocrisy in the BJP's stance on corruption. He also hinted at internal changes within the MNS, emphasizing the need for discipline and a renewed focus on the party's goals.
In the past five years, UP's Opposition remained passive and defensive against the BJP, a trend that does not augur well for the impending battle.
The United Progressive Alliance government and the Trinamool Congress on Wednesday got into a spat over missed calls and messages with Home Minister P Chidambaram insisting that efforts were made four days back by the Prime Minister to contact Mamata Banerjee but there was no response, evoking a sharp rebuttal from her.
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