The strike will continue following the tragic incident at the RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata, it said.
A seven-year-old boy was killed and another child injured in a crude bomb explosion in Burdwan city in West Bengal on Monday, triggering tension in the area ahead of the elections amid a political war of words over the law and order situation in the state.
10 central trade unions have called a nationwide shutdown against 'anti-worker policies' of the central government. Apart from being successful in Bengal, Kerala and NE states, the bandh has also got support from Cong leader Rahul Gandhi and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed concern over the recent violence in Nandigram and asked Union Home minister Shivraj Patil to look into it urgently. In a letter to the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Partha Chatterjee, Dr Singh said, "I have seen your letter of October 28, 2007 regarding the recent incidents in Nandigram. I am concerned about the developments there and I have spoken to the Home Minister to look into these urgently."
During the Zero Hour of the Lok Sabha, BJP MP Anurag Thakur tried to corner the Leader of Opposition and Congress MP, Rahul Gandhi, by alleging that he has not spoken about ensuring the safety of minorities in Bangladesh.
Banerjee, also the state chief minister, said she had never seen this type of EC which is "full of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh people".
Family members of Bhadu Sheikh, the TMC panchayat leader whose killing on Monday is suspected to have sparked off the attack with petrol bombs on some 10 houses in Bogtui village on the outskirts of Rampurhat town, claimed that Sheikh's sons were among those arrested.
Unabated political violence in West Bengal on Thursday came into sharp focus ahead of assembly polls with Governor M K Narayanan asking top state government officials to take immediate steps for maintaining law and order and the Election Commission deciding to send a team of senior police officers to assess the situation.
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi called him and expressed anguish over the law and order situation in the state following reports of post-poll violence from several districts.
While addressing a rally at Alipurduar, Banerjee accused the Election Commission of removing the deputy inspector general of police of Murshidabad at the behest of the BJP.
The former deputy PM has requested that a Governor's report be asked for.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited Bijnor district where she met families of two persons killed in the violence. Internet services have been suspended in several areas till Monday, while prohibitory orders remained in force across the state.
According to a schedule of her five-day visit provided by her Trinamool Congress, Banerjee is slated to meet Modi at 4 pm on Tuesday.
Reuters Photographers Francis Mascarenhas, Almaas Masood, Sanna Irshad Mattoo, Sharafat Ali, Anushree Fadnavis capture fascinating glimpses of polling in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha election on Monday, May 13, 2024, covering 96 constituencies spread over 10 states and Union Territories.
One person was killed and nine others, including eight policemen, were injured in violence that rocked Tehatta in Nadia district of West Bengal on Wednesday, forcing police to open fire in "self-defence".
The three officers -- Bholanath Pandey (SP, Diamond Harbour), Praveen Tripathi (DIG, Presidency Range) and Rajeev Mishra (ADG, South Bengal) -- were responsible for the security of the BJP chief during his December 9-10 visit to the politically volatile state.
It said two of the key accused were Islamic State of Iraq and Syria radicals, who used fraudulently obtained "Indian SIM cards and Indian bank accounts" besides "various Indian and Bangladeshi Identity documents downloaded from the dark web (which is accessible only through specialised browsers) in carrying out their nefarious activities.
Mamata Banerjee said availability of land won't be a problem in Bengal as the state government has a land bank.
These are the first arrests made by the CBI since it took over the probe into the March 21 killings in Bogtui village following the Calcutta high court's order.
The apex court dismissed the plea stating that the matter was being looked into by the National Human Rights Commission.
Unless the Naxals put a stop to violence, Operation Green Hunt will continue, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram told mediapersons at Kolkata's Writers' Building on Tuesday.
The Centre should 'topple' the Left Front government in West Bengal for "state-sponsored terrorism" against activists of the opposition parties, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee demanded on Tuesday. "We want the Centre to topple this government which has unleashed state-sponsored terrorim against the opposition," Banerjee told a press conference at her residence in Kolkata.
Banerjee also said she may not join the dharna being staged by Trinamool Congress MPs in protest against 'attack on party workers' in Tripura, but will surely express solidarity with them.
Gorkhaland supporters torched a police outpost, a toytrain station and clashed with the police at two places.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has said there are no Maoists in West Bengal. Addressing a press conference in Kolkata on Thursday, Banerjee claimed there are about 200 camps of the Communist Party India-Marxist, which have unleashed violence across the state.
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.
Shah also rejected West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's charge that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to a temple of the Matua community -- which is in sizeable number in the state -- during his trip to Bangladesh violated the poll code.
The 'Khela Hobe' slogan will reverberate across India in the coming days, said Trinamool Congress MLA Madan Mitra on Saturday.
The BJP has invited them to take part in Modi's swearing-in on Thursday as a 'gesture of showing respect to our martyrs', a senior leader of the saffron party said.
Streets in Kolkata wore a deserted look as most private buses, mini buses and taxis remained off the roads.
The Congress in West Bengal cautioned that the hold-up of a party leader from membership drive allegedly by Trinamool Congress activists in East Midnapore district of West Bengal could cast a shadow on relations between the two parties in the poll-bound state.
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea seeking direction for investigation by an independent probe agency like the Central Bureau of Investigation into the March 10 incident where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had sustained leg injury after an alleged attack on her in Nandigram.
Six Communist Party of India leaders, including a legislator, were beaten up, five ration shops were ransacked and two houses set ablaze as the violence against corruption in the public distribution system went on unabated in Bardhaman, Birbhum and Murshidabad districts of West Bengal.
Phase III of assembly polls in 62 constituencies of West Bengal on Thursday witnessed a series of clashes between political rivals during which bombs were exploded but the violence failed to deter the electors who came out in large numbers, recording a 79.22 per cent voter turnout.
A video of Bharatiya Janata Party state president Dilip Ghosh apparently suggesting West Bengal chief minister should wear bermuda shorts to display her injured leg has triggered controversy with the ruling Trinamool Congress slamming it as a 'distasteful comment' and women expressing outrage over the remark in social media.
Healthcare services remained affected at state-run hospitals in West Bengal as junior doctors continued their cease-work protest.
BJP heavyweights Smriti Irani, Arjun Munda, Ajay Mishra Teni and Kailash Chaudhary were among the 13 Union ministers who tasted defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, as stunning losses in three Hindi heartland states forced the BJP to rely on allies to form the government.
Results of the panchayat polls indicated a paradigm shift in state politics with the baton of main opposition party passing from the Left to the BJP.
Eleven people died during a havan at Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal temple in Madhya Pradesh's Indore after they fell into a well as its cover caved-in under the weight of a huge crowd, while three others got fatally electrocuted during a Ram Navami procession in Rajasthan's Kota.
The stampede occurred when people rushed towards the dais in an attempt to get blankets.
