Indrani Roy/Rediff.com explains what strengthened the saffron party's foothold in this eastern region of the country
The Ganga has crossed the danger mark in West Bengal, Bihar and neighbouring districts of Uttar Pradesh where Yamuna river is also in spate, while heavy rainfall has created a flood-like situation in some parts of Rajasthan where six persons have died so far.
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.
Aam Aadmi Party's Gopal Italia on Monday won from Gujarat's Visavadar assembly constituency and his party also retained Punjab's Ludhiana West seat while the Congress-led United Democratic Front wrested Nilambur from the ruling Left Democratic Front in Kerala, according to results of assembly bypolls in four states.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah criticizes Kerala's ruling Left government over the Sabarimala gold loss case, demanding a neutral investigation and accusing the government of protecting the real culprits. He also signals the start of the BJP's campaign for the upcoming Assembly elections.
Former Union Minister Deepa Dasmunsi was on Friday made the Congress candidate from Bhabanipur seat in West Bengal to take on Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee in the assembly elections.
Let's look at the major winners and losers in Bengal polls
'The chief minister believes the poorest of the poor have the first right on government resources.'
Chowdhury said he has directed Congress workers to extend all cooperation to the CPI-M in fighting the July 8 polls.
Over 10.56 lakh voters have been deleted from Assam's electoral rolls following a Special Revision, ahead of upcoming assembly elections. The revision included house-to-house verification and aims to create an error-free electoral roll.
'The BJP lacks a credible mass leader who matches Mamata Banerjee's popularity.' 'Given the division of votes among Opposition parties, the West Bengal government's dole-giving strategy, and the consolidation of the poor, significant sections of scheduled caste groups and Muslim minorities behind the ruling party, it will be difficult to dislodge the Trinamool from power.'
The State Election Commission on Friday informed the Calcutta high court that it has requisitioned 822 companies of central forces for the July 8 panchayat polls in West Bengal.
The 61-year-old feisty leader, who had single-handedly wrecked the red bastion in West Bengal in 2011, was unfazed by the Left-Congress alliance ahead of the assembly polls.
The Election Commission has ordered a 'Special Revision' of electoral rolls in Assam, with the final voter list to be published on February 10, 2026. The revision aims to ensure clean and accurate electoral rolls, with house-to-house verification taking place from November 22 to December 20.
Victory wrested from regime that only listens when forced, the TMC said on GST exemption on insurance.
The West Bengal State Election Commission on Sunday postponed counting of votes in the election to Bidhannagar and Asansol municipal corporations following allegations of large-scale violence, even as opposition parties demanded fresh elections.
The BJP's MoSha leadership are past masters in encouraging defections from their allies if it helped their party capture the chief minister's chair. In Bihar, they are not sure if JD-U MPs and MLAs would be willing to cross over to the BJP if the Nitish leadership came on top -- and the NDA crossed the halfway mark together, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Bharat Electronics, Reliance Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, InterGlobe Aviation, ICICI Bank and UltraTech Cement were among the other major gainers. Axis Bank, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Trent and Titan were the laggards.
Eight ministers were on Sunday dropped from the list of contestants for the West Bengal assembly polls, with the Left Front announcing 149 new candidates, apparently to counter anti-incumbency. Assembly Speaker H A Halim will not contest the elections to the 294-member House, beginning April 18, on health grounds.As per the list, finalised at a meeting of the Left Front, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has been re-nominated from Jadavpur seat.
Adhikari asserted that 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' was unnecessary and questioned the need for the Minority Morcha within the party.
The Election Commission is ramping up preparations for a special intensive revision of voter lists across India, assessing the progress made on mapping current electors with voters as per the last SIR in different states.
The Supreme Court has directed states to consider deploying additional staff to ease the workload on booth level officers (BLOs) engaged in the special revision of electoral rolls, following concerns about extreme work pressure and related issues.
As far as West Bengal is concerned, aam aadmi is seething with discontent as loads of improvements in various sectors are what they need.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticized the BJP-led central government for allegedly harassing Bengali-speaking people across India, warning of political consequences. She also accused the Centre of influencing the Election Commission and vowed to fight any persecution of Bengalis.
Odisha and Uttar Pradesh are among the first to roll out the digital exercise.
Madhya Pradesh Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Inder Singh Parmar has sparked controversy by saying that social reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a 'British agent' who started a 'vicious cycle of religious conversion', prompting the Trinamool Congress to call the remarks an insult to Bengal.
Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the Election Commission's voters' list cleanup exercise, will commence in nine states and three Union territories from Tuesday.
Sporadic incidents of violence were reported on Tuesday in some areas where voting is underway in the third phase of the West Bengal assembly elections, even as the overall situation by and large remained peaceful with 34.71 per cent turnout recorded till 11 am, officials said.
The governor also named Justice Mukherjee as the new vice chancellor of Rabindra Bharati University, he added.
West Bengal and Assam voted in the first phase of assembly elections on Saturday. Polling was held for 30 seats in West Bengal and 47 seats in Assam amid tight security. Among the long queues of voters, there were some famous faces too who exercised their franchise.
Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and West Bengal will to polls in 2026 and they are amongst the states where the voters' list cleanup exercise will begin first.
'Nitish Kumar previously held tight control over key ministries, but this concession (giving the home portfolio to the BJP) reflects either his weakened political position or a pragmatic acknowledgment of the BJP's growing dominance.'
The Congress and Left Front on Thursday finalised sharing of 193 seats of the total 294 in West Bengal assembly with the Left parties getting the lion's share of 101 seats.
A voter turnout of over 40 per cent was recorded till 1 pm on Monday in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections in 96 constituencies spread over 10 states and Union Territories amid incidents of violence in Andhra Pradesh and reports of poll boycott in some villages of Uttar Pradesh.
Justice Gavai's comment came while the apex court bench, also comprising Justice Augustine George Masih, was considering a fresh plea seeking an inquiry into the recent violence in West Bengal during anti-Waqf law protests.
Bose is likely to meet Shah on Monday morning, he said, adding that the governor has prepared a report on his views after visiting violence-hit areas in the backdrop of the rural polls.
Chief Justice of India considers shifting Supreme Court hearings to virtual mode due to severe air pollution in Delhi after experiencing its effects firsthand.
The state declared only 4834 sensitive booths on which only CAPFs are deployed but actually, there were more sensitive polling booths, DIG Guleria said.
A voter turnout of 60.19 per cent was recorded till 5 pm in the third phase of Lok Sabha elections in 93 constituencies spread over 11 states and Union Territories on Tuesday with sporadic incidents of violence in West Bengal.
