TMC MP Derek O'Brien on Thursday listed a slew of issues that the opposition parties want to discuss in Parliament and claimed that the government only wants to discuss global warming. On Wednesday, opposition parties met and strategised on issues they would raise in Parliament. "Opposition parties including TMC want #Parliament to discuss now: 1. Federal structure. Economic blockade destabilizing state govts 2. NE issues, focus Meghalaya 3. Unemployment 4. Price rise 5. Misuse of central agencies 6. China GOVT STUNT. To avoid these, discuss Global Warming," tweeted O'Brien.
It is learnt that West Bengal minister, Manas Ranjan Bhunia, will be accompanying the two
A five-member TMC parliamentary delegation will visit the Election Commission of India on Monday to raise the alleged violation of the Representation of the People Act in connection with party spokesperson Saket Gokhale's arrest. The party said the delegation will comprise Lok Sabha lawmakers Saugata Roy and Kalyan Banerjee, and Rajya Sabha members Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Mausam Noor and Derek O'Brien. Earlier, the TMC had sent a memorandum to the Election Commission, urging it to order an immediate probe into the action initiated by the Gujarat Police against Gokhale and to put an end to all the alleged physical and mental harassment being inflicted upon him. The TMC has alleged that Gokhale was charged under section 125 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 which relates to promoting enmity between classes in connection with an election. Gokhale was arrested over a tweet on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Morbi after a bridge collapse there, following which the Press
Ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal on Thursday asserted that the BJP's landslide victory in Gujarat assembly elections will not have any impact on the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in the eastern state. The Mamata Banerjee-led party, however, said it will analyse the results of the assembly polls that went in favour of the saffron party. The party, on the other hand, claimed that Congress victory in Himachal Pradesh assembly elections showed people's desire for change in government every five years. Opposition BJP in West Bengal, however, said that Gujarat poll result showed anti-incumbency did not work in the western state as people reaffirmed their faith in the "Gujarat model of development", while saying that the setback in Himachal Pradesh will be introspected. Tapas Roy, TMC deputy chief whip in West Bengal Assembly, told PTI, "The people of Gujarat have again voted in favour of the BJP. We will have to analyse the factors and reasons behind the verdict. However, this result will
The Congress and Trinamool Congress on Wednesday raised the issue of the two parties being denied parliamentary standing committee chairmanship as has been the convention in the past. Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha on the first day of the winter session of Parliament, Leader of Congress Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and TMC leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay flagged changes made in the composition of the committees in October. "The convention of appointing chairman of parliamentary committees from opposition parties is being done away with," Chowdhury said. Bandyopadhyay said that despite the TMC being one of the largest party in the Lok Sabha, it was informed by the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry that it will not be given chairmanship of any committee. In a reconstitution of parliamentary panels, notified by secretariats of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, chairpersons of several committees were changed in the Congress. The Congress and TMC had lost chairmanship of four key parliamentary pan
The Trinamool Congress on Tuesday claimed that the Gujarat Police has arrested its spokesperson Saket Gokhale, terming it a "political vendetta". In a tweet, TMC national spokesperson and Rajya Dabha MP Derek O'Brien detailed the circumstances under which the arrest was made. Gokhale took a flight at 9 pm from New Delhi to Jaipur on Monday. When he landed, the Gujarat Police was at the airport in Rajasthan waiting for him and picked him up. At 2 am on Tuesday, Gokhale called his mother and told her that the police were taking him to Ahmedabad and he would reach that city by noon, O'Brien claimed. "The police let him make that two-minute phone call and then confiscated his phone and all his belongings," the TMC leader said on Twitter. "The cooked up case is filed with the Ahmedabad cyber cell about Saket's tweet on the Morbi bridge collapse. All this cannot silence the All India Trinamool Congress and the Opposition. BJP taking political vendetta to another level," he alleged. When
TMC MP Satabdi Roy faced the ire of a section of locals in Bengal's Birbhum district, who alleged that "unfair means" have been adopted for doling out government scheme benefits, and sought immediate redressal of their grievances. Roy, who was in Sainthia area on Saturday for a public outreach programme, urged the aggrieved villagers to approach the nearest Duare Sarkar (government at doorstep) camp, run by the state government for registering names under its welfare schemes, and their grievances would be looked into. A group of women approached Roy as soon as she reached Hatora village and complained that benefits of a rural housing scheme were being doled out only to a handful of people. "Those in need of houses are not getting the money; we are living under inhuman conditions. Some people, who has already received money, are getting it for the second time. This is unfair. Local panchayat and BDO do not listen to us, despite having raised the matter several times," one of the wome
Relying on Suvendu Adhikari for long during his earlier stint with Trinamool Congress was a mistake, Trinamool Congress' national General Secretary and Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee admitted
The ED has summoned Sukanya Mondal, daughter of Trinamool Congress strongman Anubrata Mondal to New Delhi for questioning in connection with the multi- crore cattle smuggling scam in West Bengal
The chief minister might use the opportunity of her visit to New Delhi to have a separate meeting with the Prime Minister on the occasion
Newly appointed West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose feels that the role of the governor is to act as the "rainbow bridge" between the state and the Centre for "resolution of all conflicts" between the Raj Bhavan and the TMC government through "right solutions". Bose, who was appointed as the Bengal governor on Thursday, said the differences between the Raj Bhawan and the state government should not be seen as a conflict but as a "difference of opinion" as both are complementary institutions. "I prefer a resolution of conflicts as for any problem there is a solution, and we should arrive at the right solution. We should be able to keep all actors in the game together. Therefore I would say what the Constitution expects - that the governor has to know the way, show the way and go the way," he told PTI in a telephonic interview. Bose's predecessor and the current Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar was at loggerheads with the Mamata Banerjee government on a variety of issues, including th
The BJP leadership in Bengal on Friday urged the union home ministry and Election Commission to take cognizance of comments by a TMC MLA who allegedly asked party workers to ensure that only those 'Bangladeshi' immigrants in the state who support the ruling party, find a place in the voters' list. The BJP said such comments from an elected representative are detrimental to national security. A video of a West Bengal MLA allegedly asking TMC workers to ensure that only those Bangladeshi immigrants who support the ruling party in the state find a place in the voters' list, which is being circulated on social media has created a controversy in the state. The draft electoral roll revision is underway in the state and the rest of the country. In the purported video, Bardhaman Dakshin MLA Khokan Das is heard saying, "Many new people are coming...they are from Bangladesh. Many of these people vote for BJP based on Hindu sentiments. Please ensure that only those who support our party get
Opposition parties have hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claims at the G20 Summit that India was making digital access public, alleging that the country shut Internet connectivity more often than any other. On Wednesday, Modi said India was making digital access public, but there was still a "huge digital divide" at the international level. Digital use can bring scale, speed and transparency into governance, he added. "Despite promoting a more digitally connected India, the @BJP4India Govt. shuts down internet more often than any country. The digital divide still persists, making remote learning an operational nightmare. And digital authoritarianism continues to thwart freedom of expression," the TMC said in a tweet from its official handle on Thursday. It further said the saffron party's abuse of technology would not be highlighted by the prime minister. CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, in a tweet on Wednesday, highlighted how India was the leader in Internet ..
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) might initiate the process of taking Trinamool Congress strongman
After hearing the matter, the division bench of Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj ordered that a fresh copy of the petition be sent to Giri
She made the remarks at a function here to distribute tabs to class 12 students, which was also attended by the state Education Minister Bratya Basu
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said a conspiracy is being hatched against the state, and the ruling TMC is being defamed as a part of the exercise. Amid the arrests of senior party leaders in graft cases, the TMC supremo said those who have committed mistakes should be given a chance to rectify these. "A conspiracy is being hatched against the state. A malicious campaign has been unleashed against the government and the TMC as a part of it," she said at a programme here. "If a person has committed any mistake, one should be given a chance to rectify those mistakes. If someone got involved in any wrongdoing, the law will take its own course. But a media trial is going on," Banerjee said.
West Bengal Minister Akhil Giri on Saturday drew widespread criticism for making controversial remarks on President Droupadi Murmu. After the video clip of his comments went viral, Giri apologised for making such a remark. In a 17-second video clip, the authenticity of which PTI could not verify independently, Giri was heard commenting on the "looks of the President". "They (BJP) said that I am not good-looking. We don't judge anyone by their appearance. We respect the office of the President (of India). But how does our President look?" Giri, the minister of state for Correctional Homes, was heard saying at a rally in a village in Nandigram late on Friday evening. Later while talking to reporters this morning, Giri apologised for making such a remark. "I didn't mean to disrespect the Honourable President. I was replying to what BJP leaders said while verbally attacking me. Every day I am verbally attacked for my looks. If someone thinks I have disrespected the President, then it
A crude bomb exploded at an under-construction building of Trinamool Congress (TMC) Panchayat leader in Deganga area of North 24 Parganas district on Sunday.The incident took place in North Chandpur village in Deganga. In the incident, two masons were injured. They were shifted to the hospital. Police arrived at the spot after the incident and recovered three more crude bombs from the site. The bombs were recovered under the staircase.Police started an investigation into the matter.Abdul Hakim Mollah, a panchayat member said, "Panchayat elections are ahead. Some people might have planted bombs to defame us. Such a conspiracy has been made so that our candidate do not contest the polls."Further details awaited.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has proved his leadership abilities through the Bharat Jodo Yatra, TMC MP Shatrughan Sinha said. In an interview to PTI, Sinha said Gandhi's 3,570-km-long march that began in Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu will help the Congress double its tally in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Congress won 52 seats in 2019 elections. "Bharat Jodo Yatra is getting a very good response. Rahul Gandhi's charisma has started working, and he is getting an excellent response from the people. I feel that Gandhi's yatra will help double the tally of the Congress in Parliament in the next Lok Sabha polls," he said. "This is a 'yatra' in a true sense as Gandhi is walking unlike 'Rath yatras' by BJP leaders. Lakhs of people are coming out in his support. He has proved his leadership qualities. People have accepted him as a leader. And, those who made fun of him as 'Pappu' and didn't take him seriously have been proved wrong," Sinha added. The actor-turned-politician won the Asansol