BJP fields Suvendu Adhikari from both Nandigram and Bhabanipur as part of strategy to challenge Mamata Banerjee in upcoming West Bengal Assembly polls

In 2021, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee (left) lost to BJP's Suvendu Adhikari in the Nandigram Assembly seat

Business Standard

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday alleged that voter deletions in the post-SIR electoral rolls were aimed at dividing the state.
Addressing a gathering during her demonstration against the alleged arbitrary deletions from the electoral roll in the state, Banerjee accused the BJP of depriving Bengali-speaking people of their voting rights.
The CM continued her protest for the second consecutive day on Saturday, after she spent the night at the sit-in site at Metro Channel in central Kolkata.
"Their (Election Commission and BJP) intent is to divide Bengal. The BJP is planning to take away votes by dividing Bengal and turn parts of the state into a union territory. They (BJP leaders) are subjecting Bengali-speaking people to harassment in other states and are conspiring to deprive Bengalis of their voting rights," Banerjee alleged at the protest site.
The chief minister claimed that a day ago, she saw in a tweet that Bengal and Bihar could be divided to form a uni

Mamata Banerjee became the first sitting chief minister to  personally make submission  before the Supreme Court

The CM continued her protest for the second consecutive day on Saturday, after she spent the night at the sit-in site at Metro Channel in central Kolkata

Press Trust of India

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is scheduled to hold a series of meetings with senior officials and police officers in West Bengal on Tuesday to review preparedness for the upcoming assembly elections, officials said.
The CEC will also hold a press conference amid controversies over alleged arbitrary deletions in the post-SIR electoral rolls.
Kumar, along with election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, is scheduled to hold meetings with West Bengal Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty, Director General of Police (DGP) Piyush Pandey and other senior officials to assess election-related arrangements in the state.
The poll panel will also review coordination between the state administration and security agencies, including the deployment of central armed police forces, the officials said.
The commission is scheduled to hold a meeting with the chief electoral officer of West Bengal, the state police nodal officer and the CAPF nodal officer to review logistica

Gyanesh Kumar, CEC

The chief election commissioner also emphasised that every eligible voter would have the opportunity to cast their ballot

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 ...

ECI, West Bengal

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

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

SC, Supreme Court

A bench comprising CJI 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

Nitish Kumar, Bihar's longest-serving CM, does not feature among India's top five longest-serving chief ministers and currently ranks eighth with a cumulative tenure of 19 years and 199 days

Nitish Kumar, Nitish

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

Ashwini Vaishnaw, Ashwini, Vaishnaw

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

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday alleged that voter deletions in the post-SIR electoral rolls were aimed at dividing the state.
Addressing a gathering during her demonstration against the alleged arbitrary deletions from the electoral roll in the state, Banerjee accused the BJP of depriving Bengali-speaking people of their voting rights.
The CM continued her protest for the second consecutive day on Saturday, after she spent the night at the sit-in site here.
"Their (Election Commission and BJP) intent is to divide Bengal. The BJP is planning to take away votes by dividing Bengal. They (BJP leaders) are subjecting Bengali-speaking people to harassment in other states and are conspiring to deprive Bengalis of their voting rights," Banerjee alleged at the protest site.
The TMC supremo had begun the demonstration at Metro Channel in central Kolkata on Friday, accusing the Election Commission of conspiring with the BJP to "disenfranchise Bengal voters" ahead of th

Mamata Banerjee, Mamata

The TMC supremo had begun the demonstration at Metro Channel in central Kolkata on Friday, accusing the Election Commission of conspiring with the BJP to "disenfranchise Bengal voters"

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.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Shivraj Singh, Shivraj

The BJP leader also accused the TMC of preparing fake Aadhaar and voter cards for infiltrators and attempting to change the region's demography

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday sharpened the BJP's pitch on infiltration, declaring that while "only names of infiltrators are being deleted now" from voter rolls, they would be "pushed out of the state" once the party comes to power with a full majority in West Bengal.
Addressing the BJP's Poriborton Yatra here in South 24 Parganas district, his first visit to the state since the publication of the revised electoral rolls on Saturday, Shah said the Trinamool Congress (TMC) had turned Bengal into a "swarg (heaven) for infiltrators" and alleged that the border state's security was compromised because the ruling dispensation allowed illegal immigration.
"Bengal is a bordering state. The TMC cannot ensure security because they allow infiltration. Only the BJP can provide security to a bordering state like Bengal," he said.
His remarks come against the backdrop of the post-Special Intensive Revision (SIR) electoral rolls published on Saturday, which recorded 63.66 lakh deletion

Amit Shah, Home Minister

Shah said the TMC had turned Bengal into a "swarg (heaven) for infiltrators" and alleged that the border state's security was compromised because the ruling dispensation allowed illegal immigration

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