Two bomb blasts rocked close to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's residence in Ballygunge area in Kolkata following a clash between two groups of a political party.
As the March 31 deadline arrives, a wave of Maoist surrenders suggests insurgency's end, but political and social concerns remain.
Mamata Banerjee created history on Friday when she was sworn in as the first woman chief minister of West Bengal, after her party Trinamool Congress ended the Left Front government's 34-year-old rule in the state.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has announced a significant increase in Lok Sabha seats for the five southern states following delimitation, countering misinformation and clarifying the timeline for women's reservation implementation.
According to Election Commission data, Bhabanipur had 2,06,295 voters as of January 2025. The draft rolls now carry 1,61,509 names, indicating that 44,787 voters, nearly 21.7 per cent of the electorate, have been deleted.
The Centre has asked him to join North Block on Tuesday but it cannot force an officer to join it without the permission of the state administration, Banerjee told a press conference.
Over 130 Lok Sabha and 63 Rajya Sabha MPs have signed notices seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging partisan conduct and obstruction of electoral fraud investigations.
The move came after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee directed Kolkata Police commissioner Anuj Sharma to deploy a nodal police officer in every hospital.
Estranged TMC MLA Humayun Kabir's plan to build a mosque modeled on the Babri Masjid in Murshidabad has sparked a political firestorm in West Bengal, with accusations and warnings escalating tensions ahead of state elections.
Dedicating the party's victory to the people of West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said voters had "paid back" the BJP for its "arrogance of power".
The TMC, in total, bagged 75.02 per cent of the votes cast, whereas the BJP got some 14.48 per cent votes, in the four assembly segments.
Despite his influence, Pratik Jain avoids the spotlight. Credit is routinely passed on to colleagues. He maintains no visible faction within the TMC, no personal coterie.
The drama unfolded after Majumdar, a Union minister of state, defied police restrictions and rode a motorbike to Bhabanipur to observe 'Paschimbanga Dibas' (West Bengal Day).
A boiler explosion at a power plant in Chhattisgarh's Sakti district resulted in nine fatalities and fifteen injuries, prompting rescue operations and a government investigation.
It was an evening soaked with pride, nostalgia and emotion at Eden Gardens on Saturday as Bengal's first-ever World Cup-winning cricketer Richa Ghosh was felicitated in a grand ceremony that brought together Sourav Ganguly, Jhulan Goswami and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on one stage.
Sources at the private hospital where Mitra was admitted to said he died due to heart and age-related ailments.
The death toll from the April 14 blast at Vedanta's power plant in Chhattisgarh's Sakti district has risen to 21, with several others hospitalised. Investigations are underway to determine the cause of the explosion, with preliminary findings pointing to excessive fuel accumulation in the boiler furnace.
What should have been a landmark footballing moment in Kolkata turned into a cautionary tale on Saturday morning, as Lionel Messi's brief appearance at the Salt Lake Stadium was cut short amid crowd mismanagement
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee assured the organisers to provide foolproof safety and security arrangements for the final match on April 3.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said that the state received investment proposals worth Rs 3.42 lakh crore during this year's business summit. Addressing the valedictory session of the Bengal Global Business Summit, she said that a total of 137 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) and Letters of Intent (LoI) were signed for the investments. Banerjee also said that the summit would create 40 lakh new jobs across sectors.
Political consultancy firm I-PAC has reacted to the Enforcement Directorate's raids at its Kolkata premises, calling it an "unsettling precedent." The raids have triggered political upheaval in West Bengal, where elections are due in months. The firm, engaged by the TMC, said it would continue to work in an "unfazed and unperturbed" manner.
The BJP claimed that the attackers were TMC-backed goons, accusing the Mamata Banerjee government of allowing violence against opposition leaders even in times of humanitarian crisis.
Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Sitaram Yechury on Sunday said that Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will remain West Bengal's Chief Minister, laying to rest speculation that he would be replaced.
'The RSS-BJP fight against TMC excesses seem to have been limited to fighting the assembly poll, not coming to the defence of ordinary Bengalis who are being crushed daily by Trinamool goons,' points out Virendra Kapoor.
The CPI-M leader was the chief minister of the state from 2000 to 2011.
Banerjee said she will protect the minority people and their property.
'The question for the TMC is not whether it can hold its bastions, but whether it can expand effectively into regions where the BJP already possesses a good ecosystem.'
Taking strong exception to former West Bengal chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay skipping a meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, government sources on Wednesday said his conduct has made a severe dent to Indian Administrative Service and it could lead to anarchy.
The Election Commission is set to publish the draft electoral rolls for West Bengal on Tuesday following the completion of the statewide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) ahead of the 2026 assembly polls. The publication of the draft rolls will mark the end of the enumeration phase and the beginning of a far more contentious stage - claims, objections and hearings that will stretch into February 2026.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) issued a statement clarifying that Lionel Messi's event in Kolkata was a private event organised by a PR agency and the federation was not involved in the "planning or execution" of the event at Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday.
TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee challenges Amit Shah to resign, questioning his commitment to clean politics, citing Shah's past arrest and criticising the BJP's actions against allegedly corrupt leaders.
'This is the Bengal story, where businesses are nurtured, dreams are realised, and legacies are built.'
Israel will discuss the issue of homeland security with West Bengal which is reeling under the brunt of Maoist extremism.
Political parties in West Bengal, including the ruling TMC and opposition BJP, have condemned the organizers of an event featuring Lionel Messi in Kolkata after it descended into chaos due to spectators' inability to properly view the football star. Demands for action and accountability have been made.
A look at the careers of Indian sportspersons who have transitioned into politics, highlighting their successes, failures, and party affiliations.
One of the underground lines will head towards Bagdogra, a location of strategic importance due to its role in India's air defence infrastructure.
Communist Party of India-Marxist stalwart and Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, the star campaigner for the Left Democratic Front in the April 13 Assembly polls, on Wednesday said he would not campaign for Left Front candidates in West Bengal.
The Election Commission suspended four officers and a casual worker in West Bengal for alleged dereliction of duty and lapses in preparing electoral rolls. The action follows allegations of electoral roll compromise at the behest of the ruling Trinamool Congress.
Opposition MPs in India have moved notices in Parliament seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of bias, misconduct, and acting under the influence of the executive.
The decision came after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju called Trinamool supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, a source said.
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