Bengal

WB govt suspends 3 IPS officers over negligence in handling of RG Kar case

CM announced strict action against three IPS officers over serious administrative lapses, negligence in FIR registration and investigation, and allegations of offering bribes to the victim's family

West Bengal election results: Who will be Bengal CM? Key names | BJP | Suvendu Adhikari

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to form the government in West Bengal, winning 206 of 294 seats. Trinamool Congress (TMC) reduced to 81 seats.

Assembly election results highlights: BJP sweeps Bengal, Assam, Vijay-led TMK wins Tamil Nadu | TMC

Vote counting across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, and Puducherry has concluded, bringing major political shifts. The Bharatiya Janata Party sweeps West Bengal

Subrata Gupta, EC's special observer for SIR, appointed Bengal CM's advisor

Subrata Gupta, EC's special observer for SIR, appointed West Bengal CM's advisor

Jobs for Bengal, end to migration pain: PM Modi’s big promise at West Bengal poll rally

Bengal endured pain of migration for decades due to lack of jobs, BJP govt's priority will be employment for youth: PM Modi at poll rally.

RG Kar victim's mother to contest Bengal Assembly polls on BJP ticket

Debnath described her candidature from the Panihati as a victory for the people, criticising the state government for failing to protect basic rights

40% of 3.2 million adjudicated names deleted from Bengal rolls: EC official

A top EC official in Kolkata said on Wednesday that nearly 40 per cent of the 32 lakh names adjudicated so far have been deleted from the electoral rolls of West Bengal. Converting into real figures, the number of removed electors under adjudication currently stands at 13 lakh. With some 63 lakh names struck off the rolls earlier during the SIR exercise in the state, the total number of deleted voters rose to nearly 76 lakh, the official confirmed. The poll panel had released the first supplementary list of 'Under Adjudication' voters on Monday, but remained tight-lipped on the number of deletions or the precise figure of cases disposed of in that list, drawing criticism from various quarters. A total of 58 lakh names were deleted following the enumeration phase of the SIR exercise, slashing the state's eligible electors from the initial 7.66 crore to 7.08 crore on grounds of death, migration, duplication and untraceability. The post-SIR rolls published on February 28 further brou

SC directs West Bengal govt to pay DA to its employees from 2008-2019

Observing that dearness allowance is a legally enforceable right, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed the West Bengal government to pay it to its employees for the 2008 to 2019 period. A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Prashant Kumar Mishra directed the West Bengal government to pay 25 per cent of the outstanding DA to its employees by March 6. "To receive dearness allowance is a legally enforceable right that has accrued in favour of the respondents-employees of the State of West Bengal...The employees of the appellant-State shall be entitled to release of arrears in accordance with this judgment for the time 2008-2019," the bench said. The top court said dearness allowance emerges as a practical instrument of protection in the hands of the welfare state, which safeguards its employees from the adverse effects of rising prices. Dearness Allowance is not an additional benefit but a means to maintain a minimum standard of living, it said. Considering the financial implication

Bengal govt failed to implement fisheries scheme for two years: Centre

The West Bengal government did not implement the PMMSY central scheme for fisheries for two years and has spent only Rs 58.51 crore of the sanctioned amount, Union Minister for Fisheries Rajiv Ranjan Singh informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. The Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) was launched by the Union Ministry of Fisheries to bring about ecologically healthy, economically viable and socially inclusive development of the fisheries sector of India. For two years after the scheme was launched in 2020-21, the West Bengal government did not cooperate with the Central government in implementing it, the minister said. In 2022-23, the West Bengal government accepted it and sent proposals of Rs 221 crore. Of this, Rs 114 crore proposals were approved by the Central government. "Out of the sanctioned amount, just Rs 58.51 crore has been spent by the West Bengal government so far," Singh said. The minister said it is very difficult to implement any programme if a state government

Nearly 1.4 mn SIR forms identified as 'uncollectable' so far in West Bengal

Nearly 14 lakh SIR enumeration forms have so far been identified as "uncollectable" in West Bengal, the Election Commission said on Tuesday. These forms are "uncollectable" since the voters were either absentee, duplicate, dead or permanently shifted, an official said. The figure was 10.33 lakh on Monday. "As of Tuesday noon, the number stood at 13.92 lakh... We expect this figure to continue rising daily as more updates roll in," he said. Booth Level Officers (BLOs), tasked with collecting data from households across the state, have been actively engaged in distributing the forms and gathering necessary details. More than 80,600 BLOs, along with around 8,000 supervisors, 3,000 Assistant Electoral Registration Officers and 294 Electoral Registration Officers, have been engaged for the revision exercise in West Bengal, officials said. So far, three BLOs have died in the state amid the ongoing SIR.

Bengal govt to allocate 1.6 mn houses under state scheme by 2026 mid-Jan

The West Bengal government announced that 16,36,522 more houses would be allocated to beneficiaries under the 'Banglar Bari' housing scheme by the middle of January next year. Announcing this after a cabinet meeting on Monday, senior minister Chandrima Bhattacharya accused the central government of depriving the state of funding for the scheme. "To date, 12 lakh houses have already been handed over under the 'Banglar Bari' scheme despite the Centre depriving the state government. We will hand over 16,36,522 houses to those who deserve to get them by mid-January," she said. Meanwhile, the Cabinet gave its nod to a significant expansion of industrial infrastructure under the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation Limited (WBIDC) to boost employment opportunities, Bhattacharya said. "New plots will be allocated for seven new industrial parks across the state. They will be set up in Coochbehar (2 plots), Kalyani (1), Uluberia (1), Bishnupur (1) and Falta (2)," the minister ...

Bengal Guv to lead search ops at Raj Bhavan for arms after TMC's blame

West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose will lead a team of security personnel, who would carry out a search operation at the Raj Bhavan on Monday in the wake of allegations by a TMC MP that arms and ammunition were stacked within its premises, an official said. Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee had on Saturday accused Bose of "sheltering BJP criminals" inside the Raj Bhavan and "arming them with bombs and guns". "The entire Raj Bhavan will be searched by a joint team of the Kolkata Police and central forces deputed here on Monday to find out whether there are arms and ammunition stacked inside. The Governor will be leading the search operation," the official told PTI. Members of the civil society and journalists will be allowed to accompany Bose during the exercise, he said. The TMC MP had made the allegations on Saturday, hours after Bose said that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was essential to "clean up the election process". Bose on Sunday said he so

IHCL, Ambuja Neotia plan joint hospitality investments beyond Bengal

Leading hotel chain Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) and Kolkata's Ambuja Neotia Group are exploring the possibility of expanding their strategic partnership beyond management contracts into joint investments in hospitality projects, senior executives from both companies said on Friday. The development marks a deepening of their existing relationship, with IHCL currently managing six of Ambuja Neotia's properties and another 7-8 in the pipeline across various locations. In July, IHCL had announced the signing of an additional 15 hotels with the group, slated for development over the next three years. IHCL Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Puneet Chhatwal said the company is looking at joint investment opportunities with Ambuja Neotia Group. He noted that while the group's preference has traditionally been West Bengal, it is now showing readiness to explore projects in neighbouring regions. He added that IHCL has several projects available for collaboration if the grou

Mamata shifts stay to monitor Nepal situation amid network issues

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is on a three-day administrative tour of north Bengal, shifted her place of stay from the Kanyashree bungalow to Uttarkanya due to mobile connectivity issues, a senior official said on Wednesday. "It is reported that there were network issues at the Kanyashree bungalow, which made it difficult for her to stay updated on the developments in Nepal. As a result, the CM shifted to Uttarkanya on Tuesday night to monitor the situation more closely," the official told PTI. Later, the Trinamool Congress posted a photo of the party supremo sitting in 'Uttarkanya' and monitoring the situation in the riot-hit neighbouring nation. Uttarkanya is a building in Siliguri which houses the temporary state secretariat for the North Bengal Development Department of West Bengal "The unfolding situation in our neighbouring country, Nepal, is a matter of deep concern. Placing the interests of the state above all else, our compassionate Chief Minister, remai

Hilsa prices to pinch pockets this Puja despite Bangladesh exports: Traders

The Md Yunus government in Bangladesh may have chosen to honour the commitment of culinary tradition and issue a notification to export hilsa to India ahead of the festive season, but fish importers in West Bengal aren't sure whether the move will broaden smiles of the average middle class waiting to savour the delight of Padmar Ilish' this Durga Puja. Fish traders on this side of the international border attribute dual factors of lower quantity of export from Bangladesh compared to previous years, as well as higher cost of imports, as reasons behind the high prices of 'rupali shosyo', which means 'silver crop'. Putting apprehensions of an export freeze on hilsa to rest, the Bangladesh government's notice on Monday stated that it has approved in-principle the conditional export of 1200 metric tonnes of hilsa to India this year, in keeping with its traditional Durga Puja gift to Bengalis in India. For this, the Md Yunus government has invited applications from interested exporters i

EC actions challenge TMC's grassroots reach, BJP's strength in West Bengal

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

Mamata launches 'Shramshree' scheme: ₹5K aid for returning migrants

Under the Shramshree scheme, each returning worker will receive ₹5,000 per month for a year or until they secure new employment in Bengal

Mamata to be held accountable for inciting linguistic conflict: BJP

He argued that her reaction to the entire issue was 'misplaced and dangerously inflammatory', while adding that Delhi Police's letter does not describe Bangla as a 'Bangladeshi' language

Mamata slams Delhi police for calling Bengali a Bangladeshi language

Mamata Banerjee called the act 'scandalous' and urged everyone to strongly protest against the government for disrespecting Bengali-speaking people

EC will decide SIR of electoral rolls in Bengal: WB chief electoral officer

Stating that the decision to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls lies solely with the Election Commission, West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal on Friday said training of booth-level officers (BLOs) and supervisors will ensure preparedness if the process is initiated. He said training of the BLOs was an ongoing process, and a similar session would be held in Kolkata on Saturday and in the other districts in the following days. "The EC has decided to train the officers. Earlier, there was no such training. The poll panel has an institute, IIIDEM, where people have been trained to make them understand the work, their statutory functions," Agarwal said. According to sources, the CEO held a virtual conference with the BLOs on Friday. The IAS officer said the training would help if the SIR of electoral rolls was initiated in Bengal. "If SIR takes place, the training will equip BLOs to carry out their responsibilities effectively. However