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All India Trinamool Congress
The Trinamool Congress on Saturday launched its campaign song for the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections, asserting that the party would return to power for a fourth consecutive term. The song's launch comes two days after a stand-off between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over raids at the TMC's IT cell chief Pratik Jain's residence and office here. "Bengal will win again despite all attacks against it," the main refrain of the campaign song says, asserting, "We march on a new path with a new direction, your darkness will lose against the new dawn." The lyrics also make references to political issues. "We will not be afraid of the SIR or NRC, there is still time for you to recognise Mother Bengal's strength," goes the song's lyrics, which is accompanied by a video showcasing Mamata Banerjee and the party second-in-command Abhisekh Banerjee. The TMC has been vehemently criticising the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral .
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Friday described West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as a "tigress", saying the TMC chief is "very brave" and will not surrender. Mufti was reacting to the Thursday's ED searches at the office of the political consultancy firm I-PAC and the residence of its director Pratik Jain in Kolkata. The action ignited high drama with the West Bengal chief minister storming at the raid site, alleging that the central agency was trying to seize the TMC's sensitive data ahead of the state polls. Mufti said that while such raids by ED or other investigative agencies has become a normal thing in Jammu and Kashmir, "the whole country is tasting it now". "When Article 370 was revoked, when raids took place and when three CMs were put behind bars, majority of political parties maintained silence. Now, that is being witnessed across the country," she added, referring to the detention of herself, Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah in the wake of the abrogation of .
TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday sought to reclaim political ground in north Bengal by promising a sharp hike in daily wages of tea garden workers, placing labour welfare at the centre of the party's pitch for the 2026 Assembly elections in a tea belt that has largely tilted towards the BJP since 2019. Addressing a rally-cum-interaction with tea garden workers in Alipurduar, Banerjee said that if the TMC returns to power for a fourth consecutive term, the daily wage of tea workers would be raised to Rs 300 after a tripartite meeting involving the state government, garden owners and workers' representatives. "Daily wages of Rs 250 are not enough to run a household given the rise in prices. I give you my word -- within 30 days of the next government being formed, a tripartite meeting will be held, and within seven days of that, the process to ensure Rs 300 daily wages will begin," Banerjee said, responding to questions from workers. The assurance followed .
The Trinamool Congress on Tuesday hit back at Union Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing him of peddling falsehoods and making baseless claims about securing a two-thirds majority in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections. Senior TMC leader and state education minister Bratya Basu told reporters that Shah's remarks were based on hollow assertions and claimed that the BJP would not even cross the 50-seat mark in the polls. "Shah will keep coming and going like a tourist. Such visits will serve no purpose," Basu said on the sidelines of a programme. "The BJP will not even cross the 50-mark in the assembly polls and suffer a humiliating defeat," Basu claimed. Addressing a press conference here, Shah claimed that the BJP would form the next government in the state with a "two-thirds majority in 2026". "We will not only identify infiltrators, but we'll also drive them out. Bengal will have a new BJP government after April 15, 2026, as people have made up their minds," he said. TMC ...
A 10-member Trinamool Congress delegation will meet Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on December 31 on the issue of Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal, a source said on Saturday. According to the source, the delegation, which will include Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O'Brien, Trinamool leaders in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, respectively, will raise the issue of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in the state. The ruling party of Bengal has been raising concerns over the SIR exercise for some time now. On Saturday, Banerjee, the national general secretary of the party, demanded that the Election Commission (EC) must come out with the number of illegal Bangladeshis and Rohingyas out of the 58.20 lakh names deleted in the draft electoral rolls published for West Bengal under the SIR. On November 28, a Trinamool delegation had met the full bench of the EC, alleging deaths of booth-level officers (BLOs) due to the "work pressure" o
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) accused the Union government on Saturday of "misleading" Parliament and claimed that the Centre owes West Bengal approximately Rs 52,000 crore under the flagship rural employment scheme, MGNREGA. At a press conference here, TMC's deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, Sagarika Ghose, and deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Satabdi Roy, emphasised that West Bengal was one of the top-performing MGNREGA states before funds were halted in March 2022. They highlighted that around 1.37 crore households are enrolled in the scheme, with about 70 lakh households receiving work each year. In written responses provided in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha this week, the Rural Development Ministry informed that the total pending liability for West Bengal under MGNREGA as of March 8, 2022, when the scheme was suspended, stands at Rs 3,082.52 crore. This includes Rs 1,457.22 crore for wages, Rs 1,607.68 crore for materials, and Rs 17.62 crore for administration. The TMC ...
Members of a BLO rights platform with Trinamool Congress leanings on Saturday staged a protest outside the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) here, demanding compensation for colleagues who allegedly fell ill or died during electoral roll-related duties and seeking planned scheduling of future assignments. During a demonstration that coincided with the arrival of a special team of the Election Commission (EC) in the city, protesters alleged they were denied a meeting with the visiting officials despite waiting for hours. The agitation, organised under the banner of the BLO Adhikar Raksha Committee, brought along family members of a Murshidabad-based block-level officer who was admitted to a hospital after suffering a stroke, allegedly due to severe work pressure. The group accused the poll panel of "ignoring genuine grievances". The BLOs' platform raised two key demands compensation for families of workers who allegedly suffered severe health complications or died while ..
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday said it would hear on November 21, a plea by Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra challenging a Lokpal granting sanction to the Central Bureau of Investigation to file a chargesheet against her in the alleged cash for query scam. A bench of Justices Anil Khetarpal and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar listed the matter for Friday to enable it to go through the Lokpal's order, which has been placed before it in a sealed cover. Moitra, in her plea, has sought the setting aside of the November 12 order of the Lokpal of India by which sanction was granted to the CBI, claiming that it was erroneous, de hors the provisions of the Lokpal Act and a gross violation of principles of natural justice. The plea alleged that arguments and submissions were invited from her and then completely ignored before issuing the sanction order under the Lokpal Act, on the ground that they were premature and would be considered at a subsequent stage. It said the sanction order reduce
The TMC on Wednesday hit out at the BJP over the vandalism at its Tripura unit office, alleging that "state-sponsored political terrorism" had been unleashed in the northeastern state under the saffron party's rule. Addressing a press conference at the Trinamool Bhavan here, West Bengal minister Shashi Panja said a five-member TMC delegation had left for Tripura to meet party workers and assess the situation on the ground following Monday's attack at Banamalipur in Agartala, the home constituency of former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb. "There is an intolerant and violent BJP government in Tripura. The incident that occurred on Monday demonstrates how those who claim to protect democracy are behaving otherwise. The video evidence is clear," Panja said. She alleged that the vandalism took place "in the presence of police," which stood as "mute spectators." "This is state-sponsored political terrorism. There is no democracy left in Tripura. The police were standing there, watchin
With the Election Commission planning to add nearly 14,000 new polling booths amid prospective Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of rolls in West Bengal, the BJP faces a shortage of Booth Level Agents (BLAs), exposing a critical organisational gap that could weaken its 2026 poll challenge, while the TMC, with no such issues, exudes confidence. For the Trinamool Congress, the expansion of polling stations from the existing 80,000 to an estimated 94,000, spread across 294 assembly seats, is less a burden than an opportunity to tighten its grip at the grassroots. In contrast, the BJP functionaries acknowledge they are planning to cover only about 70 per cent of booths with BLAs during the SIR exercise, well short of what is needed to ensure an effective presence statewide. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP could deploy polling agents in around 50,000-55,000 of West Bengal's existing 80,681 booths. The target now stands at 65,000-70,000, but insiders admit the party may struggle to ge
The Enforcement Directorate on Monday conducted searches against West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress MLA Jiban Krishna Saha and some of his relatives as part of a probe into alleged irregularities in the hiring of teachers and staffers in schools, official sources said. The raids are being undertaken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against the legislator from the Burwan Assembly segment in Murshidabad district. Some of the relatives and associates of the MLA are also being searched, the sources said. Saha was arrested by the CBI in 2023 for his alleged links to the "scam" and later released. The ED's money laundering case stems from an FIR registered by the CBI, which was directed by the Calcutta High Court to carry out investigations into alleged irregularities in the hiring of group 'C' and 'D' staff, assistant teachers of Classes 9 to 12 and primary teachers. The ED had earlier arrested former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee, his alleged
Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet should resign and the Lok Sabha be dissolved if the Election Commission says there are discrepancies in the electoral rolls. Banerjee, who is the national general secretary of TMC and considered the number two in the Mamata Banerjee-led party, said that the "EC cannot selectively say" that the voter list is fine in some states such as Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, but not in West Bengal, Bihar or Tamil Nadu. "If SIR (special intensive revision) of electoral rolls is conducted, it should be held across the country and the first step should be the resignation of the prime minister and his cabinet and the Lok Sabha has to be dissolved," he said. The TMC leader claimed that if the present government has been elected on the basis of the same voter list, then the legitimacy of the central government is null and void. Lok Sabha polls in the country were held in mid-2024. "If
TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday tore into the BJP, branding it a 'Bangla-Birodhi' party, alleging that it wants to send Bengalis to detention camps. He also claimed that after the 2026 Bengal Assembly polls, it is the BJP that will be electorally "sent to detention camps and wiped out" from the state. The BJP wants to take Bengalis to detention camps. I want to tell them clearly after the 2026 elections, it is you whom we will send to the detention camps, the TMC national general secretary said, addressing TMC's Martyrs' Day rally. Claiming that the BJP is a Bangla-Birodhi party (anti-Bengal party), Banerjee alleged that it has consistently targeted Bengalis for speaking their mother tongue. Just because we speak Bengali, we are being targeted. Why doesn't the BJP take action against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for his continuous attacks on the Bengali language? It shows their true colours, he asked. Banerjee said that if required, TMC MPs would speak in Benga
Leader of Opposition in West Bengal assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday claimed the devastating fire that gutted several shops at Khidderpore market here was an act of sabotage. Adhikari also said he and other BJP MLAs will raise the issue in the assembly during the ongoing monsoon session. "People have lost their trust in the chief minister, and that is why a large posse of police personnel had to be deployed during her visit here," he said, addressing the affected shop owners at Khidderpore market. The early morning fire on Monday ripped through parts of the congested Khidderpore market in southwest Kolkata, gutting hundreds of shops and triggering panic among local traders. No casualties were reported. The senior BJP leader also wondered what the state government's monetary compensation of Rs 1 lakh would do for shop owners who lost everything in the blaze. Adhikari said he supported the demand of those affected to not be shifted to any other place as a temporary ...
Kolkata Police have dismissed criticisms that they have "unlawfully" arrested a 22-year-old female Instagram influencer for allegedly uploading a video with communal comments, and claimed that all legal procedures were followed. They defended the arrest of influencer Sharmistha Panoli saying that the case was "duly investigated and adhering to legal procedures". "Kolkata Police acted lawfully according to the procedure established by law. The accused was not arrested for expressing patriotism or for personal belief; legal actions were taken for sharing offensive content which promotes hatred among the communities," Kolkata Police posted on Facebook on Sunday. "The case was duly investigated and adhering to legal procedures, several attempts were made to serve notice u/s 35 of BNSS to the accused but every time she was found absconding," the Kolkata Police stated. "Consequently a warrant of arrest was issued by the competent court, following which she was apprehended lawfully from .