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West Bengal Assembly Polls
West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on the EC, alleging that senior administrative and police officers were being transferred ahead of the assembly polls at the behest of the BJP. She warned that the poll body and the saffron party would be responsible if any untoward incident happens in the state. Addressing reporters while announcing the Trinamool Congress candidate list for the 2026 assembly elections, Banerjee questioned the timing of the changes in key administrative posts, particularly ahead of Eid. "Why are senior officers being transferred just before Eid? Are there plans to trigger riots before elections?" she said. The chief minister alleged that the list of officers who were transferred was prepared at the BJP's office and the decision was merely implemented by the Election Commission. She further alleged that some officials from outside West Bengal had been brought in to assist the BJP in the electoral ...
Betting on calibrated generational change and organisational loyalty rather than star power, the ruling TMC on Tuesday unveiled candidates for 291 of the 294 West Bengal assembly seats, signalling a strategy of controlled churn as it seeks a fourth straight term in office. The Mamata Banerjee-Suvendu Adhikari rivalry is set to acquire a fresh electoral theatre in Bhabanipur, where the chief minister will defend her seat even as the BJP has fielded the leader of opposition from the constituency. The stage is set for a direct face-off between the two rivals who first clashed in Nandigram in the 2021 assembly polls, when Adhikari defeated his former mentor by a narrow margin despite the TMC's sweeping victory across the state. Announcing the list from her Kalighat residence, Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee said the party would leave the three Darjeeling hills seats to ally Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) led by Anit Thapa and expressed confidence of crossing .
The Election Commission on Tuesday ordered the transfer of 19 senior police officers, including the ADGs for North and South Bengal, in another reshuffle ahead of the assembly elections in the state. IPS officer Rajesh Kumar Singh was appointed the new ADG of South Bengal, while K Jayaraman was named the ADG of North Bengal. Both belonged to the 1997 batch, according to a statement. New commissioners of police were appointed for Asansol-Durgapur, Howrah, Barrackpore and Chandannagar. Superintendents of 12 districts were also changed in the latest reshuffle. The elections to the 294-member West Bengal assembly will be held in two phases, on April 23 and 29. Votes will be counted on May 4.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday conducted searches at multiple locations in poll-bound West Bengal as part of a probe into the operations of an alleged illegal call centre, officials said. About 10 premises in Siliguri, Howrah, Bidhannagar and Durgapur were raided. The probe pertains to the activities of an "illegal" call centre, the officials of the federal probe agency said. It was not immediately clear if the probe is linked to some political funding or inducements linked to the electoral process. Persons named Surashree Kar, Samrat Ghosh and Subhajit Chakraborty, apart from some others, are those being searched. A number of people are alleged to have been duped through the call centres that are under the scanner, they said. The Election Commission on Sunday announced the schedule for the assembly polls in West Bengal, stating that the state will have polls in two phases on April 23 and 29. Votes will be counted on May 4 along with three states of Assam, Kerala and Tam
Barely hours after the announcement of the West Bengal assembly poll schedule, the Election Commission removed two of the top bureaucrats, including Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty, of the Mamata Banerjee administration. The commission appointed Dushyant Nariala, an IAS officer of the 1993 batch, as the state's chief secretary, and said Chakravorty would be kept out of poll-related assignments. The poll panel also removed West Bengal's Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena. In a letter to the state government sent on Sunday night, the poll panel also directed the appointment of Sanghamitra Ghosh, a 1997-batch IAS officer, as principal secretary, Home and Hill Affairs. "...the officers transferred out shall not be posted in any election-related posts till the completion of elections," the communication, signed by commission secretary Sujeet Kr Mishra, said. The EC said the decision to remove the two officers was taken following a review of the poll preparedness of the state. The
As the BJP prepares for the West Bengal assembly elections in its bid to challenge the ruling TMC, several leaders, such as Suvendu Adhikari, are expected to play key roles in shaping its high-stakes campaign. From securing just about 4 per cent vote share in the 2011 assembly elections to emerging as the principal opposition with over 38 per cent vote share in 2021, the BJP has significantly expanded its political footprint in West Bengal. The party at present has 12 Lok Sabha MPs and more than 65 MLAs in the state. Some of the prominent faces of the party who are likely to fight the elections are as follows, Suvendu Adhikari: Leader of the Opposition in the assembly, Suvendu Adhikari remains one of the BJP's most prominent leaders in the state and is expected to play a central role in the upcoming elections. A former TMC leader who joined the BJP ahead of the 2021 polls, Adhikari gained national attention after defeating Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram, one of the mos
Hours before the scheduled announcement of assembly polls, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday announced an increase of Rs 500 in the monthly honorarium for purohits and muezzins. With the revision, the beneficiaries will now receive Rs 2,000 per month. "I am pleased to announce an increase of Rs 500 in the monthly honorarium extended to our purohits and muezzins, whose service sustains the spiritual and social life of our communities. With this revision, they will now receive Rs 2,000 per month," she said in an X post. The chief minister said the state government has approved all fresh applications submitted by purohits and muezzins for the honorarium. "At the same time, all fresh applications that have been duly submitted by purohits and muezzins have also been approved by the state government," Banerjee said. Highlighting the government's stance on religious harmony and support for traditional institutions, she added, "We take pride in nurturing an environment
The TMC on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of building a "false narrative" about employment and the overall situation in West Bengal during his Brigade Parade Ground rally, alleging that he was acting as a BJP campaigner rather than the PM. TMC MP Saayoni Ghosh told a press conference that while Modi claimed to have sanctioned thousands of crores for the state's development, the Centre had actually withheld around Rs 2 lakh crore of dues to the state. "Modiji has claimed he has sanctioned Rs 18,000 crore to Bengal as a 'lollipop'. But in reality, he has blocked Rs 2 lakh-crore dues to the state for various projects, from the 100 days' work scheme to housing for the poor and drinking water supply," she alleged. "While Modi has failed to attend Parliament and address MPs for days, he is attending BJP meetings and coming regularly to the state before elections. He is behaving more as a BJP campaigner than the PM of the country," she claimed. Ghosh also rejected Modi's ..
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit West Bengal on Saturday to address a rally at the iconic Brigade Parade Ground here and unveil development projects worth around Rs 18,680 crore, in his first trip to the state after the publication of the post-SIR electoral rolls last month. The rally, organised by the BJP, will mark the culmination of the party's statewide 'Parivartan Yatra' ahead of the 2026 assembly elections. After the surge in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the setback in the 2021 assembly polls, the BJP's yatra is being seen as its most expansive statewide mobilisation in recent years. The yatra, which began on March 1, a day after the publication of the revised electoral rolls under the Special Intensive Revision exercise, criss-crossed nearly 5,000 km across the state, covering 237 assembly constituencies. According to official data released on February 28, following the SIR exercise, 63.66 lakh names, around 8.3 per cent of the electorate, have been deleted since
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday announced that her government would constitute new cultural and development boards for five communities. Banerjee, who made the announcement ahead of the assembly polls, said the boards will safeguard the customary rights and ensure socio-economic growth of these communities. "I am pleased to announce that our government intends to constitute soon five new Cultural and Development Boards for the Munda (ST), Kora (ST), Dom (SC), Kumbhakar (OBC) and Sadgope (OBC) communities," she said in a social media post. Stating that these communities are integral to the vibrant fabric of the state, the CM said, "The boards will protect their unique languages and traditions while ensuring better education, healthcare, and jobs." Banerjee said that since 2013, her government has established many such boards for our weaker communities, ensuring their all-around development. "We remain dedicated to ensuring no community is left behind," she said
The West Bengal assembly polls are likely to be held in two phases, a senior official of the Election Commission said on Thursday. He said the final decision will be made after another round of meetings at the EC's New Delhi office. "The assembly elections to 294 seats in West Bengal will most likely be held in two phases from next month," the official said. Most political parties in the state, barring the ruling TMC, had sought one or two-phased elections during their recent meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in Kolkata, he said, adding similar suggestions were made by other officials, including those from security forces. "Conducting assembly elections in West Bengal in two phases would help check poll-related violence as miscreants would not get the time to move from one place to another to create disturbances. This factor will also be considered before taking the final call," he said. On whether polling in West Bengal will be conducted in a single phase, he
Representatives of various political parties in West Bengal met the full bench of the Election Commission on Monday, and several of them sought a maximum of two-phase polling for the upcoming assembly elections, a senior official said. Representatives of the TMC, BJP, CPI(M), Congress, AAP, NPP and Forward Bloc, among others, met Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, who was accompanied by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, and West Bengal CEO Manoj Agarwal at a hotel in New Town near Kolkata. "A wide range of issues concerning the conduct of elections in the state were discussed. Several parties suggested that the elections be held in one or two phases and assured their cooperation in ensuring that the polls remain peaceful," the EC official said. The parties urged the EC to take stringent measures to curb the activities of anti-social elements and prevent intimidation of voters during the elections, he said. "They emphasised the need for strong ...
The Supreme Court agreed to consider on Tuesday a fresh plea filed by some persons whose names have been deleted from the electoral rolls by the Election Commission during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi took note of the submissions of senior advocate Maneka Guruswamy that the plea pertained to deletion of erstwhile voters from the rolls. "These are electors. They had voted earlier and now their documents have not been taken," the senior lawyer said. "But in the scheme of things, we cannot sit on appeal over the decisions of the judicial officers," the CJI observed. When the senior lawyer said the appeals are maintainable, the bench said it will hear on Tuesday. On February 24, the top court allowed the deployment of West Bengal civil judges, in addition to 250 district judges, and the requisitioning of judicial officers from Jharkhand and Odisha to handle 80 lakh claims and object
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday asserted that change is inevitable in West Bengal after the upcoming assembly elections, maintaining that the BJP will form the government, bringing an end to the 15-year uninterrupted rule of the Trinamool Congress. Lambasting the TMC, he said those who had won the trust of the people of West Bengal some years ago have now launched a vicious attack on the state's pride. "Change is inevitable this election," he said, maintaining that a BJP government will ensure unprecedented development in West Bengal. "We have to save West Bengal's pride, it is in peril," Vaishnaw said while addressing a Poriborton Yatra rally at Shrirampur in Hooghly district. Stating that the people of West Bengal have seen governments run by the communists, the Congress and the TMC, he urged the people of the state "to give a chance to the BJP". Alleging that the ruling Trinamool Congress indulges in vote-bank politics, the minister said, "Question is arising in t
Ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will start a sit-in here on Friday to protest against the alleged arbitrary deletions in the post-SIR electoral rolls in the state. The protest comes just two days before the proposed visit of the full bench of the Election Commission to the state. The sit-in, scheduled from 2 pm at the Esplanade Metro Channel in central Kolkata, was announced by TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday. He had accused the Election Commission of carrying out a "politically motivated" exercise that could disenfranchise lakhs of legitimate voters months ahead of the assembly elections. The protest marks a dramatic political escalation by the ruling party just days after the Election Commission published the post-SIR electoral rolls, which have significantly redrawn the contours of the state's electorate. According to official data released on February 28, 63.66 lakh names, around 8.3 per cent of the elector
Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday slammed the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal over the law and order situation, and alleged that it was sheltering infiltrators. The BJP leader also accused the TMC of preparing fake Aadhaar and voter cards for infiltrators and attempting to change the region's demography. "Mamata Banerjee should be ashamed. Though Bengal has a female CM, cases of rape and torture of women continue," Chouchan said while addressing a 'Poriborton Yatra' rally here in North 24 Parganas district. "TMC is trying to change the demography of this region by giving shelter to infiltrators," Chouhan said. On border security, he claimed that the TMC government is not providing land for fencing along the Bangladesh border, as it would stop infiltrators from entering India. Chouhan promised action against all those crimes if the BJP comes to power in the state.