Page 88 - West Bengal

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West Bengal Governer aggrieved by 'deterioration of democracy' in state

The Governor went to Canning in South 24 Parganas district on Saturday evening and interacted with the locals over the violence witnessed for the past few days

Rural polls: Governor summons Bengal poll panel chief; SEC seeks fresh date

Hours after West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose summoned State Election Commissioner (SEC) Rajiva Sinha to Raj Bhawan, the senior officer said he will not be able to meet him due to his preoccupations with panchayat polls, an official said. Sinha requested Bose to exempt him from appearing during the day and give him an appointment any other day, he said. "Sinha is not skipping. He sought exemption for today. He has requested the Governor to give him time any other day," the official told PTI. Bose had summoned Sinha to Raj Bhavan at 2pm on Saturday to update him about the violence that claimed four lives in the state and steps taken by the state government to contain the situation. After visiting Bhangore on Friday, the Governor said measures must be taken end political violence and assured that "perpetrators would be permanently silenced" and brought to book. After talking to local residents and senior police officers there, Bose said violence would not be tolerated. More than

I have very good working relationship with govt: Bengal Governor Bose

West Bengal Governor Dr CV Ananda Bose on Saturday said he has an "excellent working relationship" with the Mamata Banerjee government despite "agreements and disagreements." Bose said there have been discussions between him and the state government on sensitive issues, but every time they were held "respecting each other's turf". In an interview with PTI at the Raj Bhavan, Bose said his primary goal is the welfare of West Bengal's people and he never faced any hurdles from the state government. "I have a very good working relationship with the state government. There can be agreements and disagreements. There can also be divergence of interests and priorities. That's what keeps the government going. We discuss sensitive issues but always maintain the Lakshman Rekha' and never try to redraw it," Bose said. The 'Lakshman Rekha', as depicted in the Ramayana, is a line drawn by Lakshman around their dwelling where he was staying with his elder brother Rama and sister-in-law Sita in th

Political slugfest erupts as WB govt moves SC against deployment of forces

Approaching the apex court in this matter is a U-turn from the SEC's earlier stand of abiding by the order of the Calcutta High Court

Bengal panchayat polls: Despite no-contest declaration, 13 AAP nominations

Although the number is negligible compared to the total number of seats in the panchayat system, the development has embarrassed the AAP leadership in West Bengal

WB panchayat polls: Govt, SEC to approach SC on central forces deployment

The decision of the state government and the SEC was taken after CM Banerjee at a public rally on Friday afternoon questioned the justification of the deployment of armed forces in the state

236,000 nominations filed for 74k seats for West Bengal panchayat polls

A total of 2,36,464 nominations have been filed for nearly 74,000 seats in the three-tier panchayat election scheduled in West Bengal on July 8, a senior official of the State Election Commission (SEC) said. The ruling Trinamool Congress has filed 85,817 nominations while the BJP is in the second position with 56,321 candidates, according to a report prepared on Friday afternoon. CPI(M) nominees filed nominations in 48,646 seats followed by the Congress (17,750), Independent (16,293), Forward Bloc (1,595) and others (10,042), the official said. Thursday was the last day for filing nominations. Out of the total nominations, 4,932 were filed for Zilla Parishads, and 35,445 for Panchayat Samitis. A total of 1,96,087 nominations were filed for the Gram Panchayats, it stated. Approximately 5.67 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to choose their representatives in zilla parishads, panchayat samitis and gram panchayats. The Calcutta High Court has ordered deployment o

Bengal panchayat poll nomination peaceful: Mamata on Oppn's violence claims

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday asserted that the panchayat poll nomination process in Bengal is peaceful, while slamming opposition parties for trying to make an issue out of one or two stray incidents. Banerjee's comments come shortly after Governor C V Ananda Bose said that political violence in the state must come to an end, after visiting Bhangore, where supporters of two parties clashed a day before, leaving three dead. The Governor had said he has already discussed the situation with Banerjee. "There is no other state other than Bengal where the panchayat poll nomination process is so peaceful. The opposition parties - CPI(M), Congress, BJP and the ISF are trying to blame us over one or two incidents during the nomination exercise," the chief minister said. She was addressing the concluding session of the two-month-long Trinamool eh Nabojowar' (New Wave in Trinamool). Hitting out at the Congress for "allying with the BJP and CPI(M)", Banerjee also said

BJP welcomes Calcutta HC's order on deployment of central forces in Bengal

A division bench of Calcutta High Court, led by Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam, on Thursday, directed the election commission in West Bengal to request the deployment of central paramilitary forces

WB panchayat polls: HC asks SEC to deploy forces in all districts in 48 hrs

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the State Election Commission (SEC) to requisition and deploy central forces across West Bengal for the July 8 panchayat elections in the state. The court noted that no appreciable steps have been taken ever since an order was passed by it on June 13 to deploy central forces in sensitive areas for the poll process. Petitioners had prayed for the deployment of central forces for ensuring peaceful elections, claiming that the state had witnessed large-scale violence during municipal elections in 2022 and Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections in 2021. Opposition parties have been alleging that the ruling Trinamool Congress supporters resorted to violence to prevent their candidates from filing nomination papers. The state claimed before the court that till Wednesday, more opposition candidates filed nominations than those of the ruling party. Thursday was the last day for filing nomination.

WB panchayat polls: 1 killed, 2 critical after being shot in North Dinajpur

One person was killed and two others were critical after being allegedly shot in West Bengal's North Dinajpur district on Thursday when they were on their way to file nominations for the panchayat polls, officials said. CPI(M) state secretary Md Salim said they were supporters of the Left Front and the Congress, and the incident happened when they were going to the Chopra block office for filing nominations. After being shot, the three persons were taken to the district hospital where one of them died during treatment, officials said. The conditions of the other two persons were critical, they said. State Election Commissioner Rajiva Sinha declined to comment on the incident, saying that he was yet to receive a report regarding it. Salim alleged that the TMC was behind the attack. "Activists and candidates have been fired upon by TMC goons just now in North Dinajpur's Chopra block. Left-INC supporters were going to Block office for filing nomination #PanchayatElection2023," he ..

Violence over panchayat election nomination continues in West Bengal

Violence continued to rock parts of West Bengal over the filing of nominations for the July 8 panchayat poll for the fifth consecutive day on Wednesday, as activists of the ruling TMC and opposition parties. Clashes were reported in parts of South 24 Parganas and Bankura districts prompting the police to use force to disperse the mobs. Supporters of Indian Secular Front (ISF) and TMC clashed in Bhangore area of South 24 Parganas, nearly 30 km from Kolkata. A huge police contingent was rushed to the spot, which resorted to baton charge to control the situation. Bombs were hurled and several cars were ransacked as supporters of the two parties tried to stop each other from filing nominations. Several activists belonging to the two parties were injured, the police said. ISF MLA from Bhangore, Naushad Siddique, went to meet Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the afternoon to brief her about the situation in his constituency. The legislator, however, could not meet Banerjee due to her .

Narada sting operation: HC gives CBI 4 months to complete TMC MP probe

Calcutta High Court's single judge-bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha on Wednesday gave a deadline to the CBI to complete its probe against Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member Aparupa Poddar

Bengal panchayat polls: Plea in Calcutta HC over violence during nomination

NHRC had taken suo motu cognisance of the reports of violence during the nomination phase with a Congress worker being shot dead at Khargram in Murshidabad district on Friday

Rs 27,000 cr invested in WB power sector in 11 yrs: State Power Minister

The West Bengal government has pumped in Rs 27,000 crore into the power sector since 2011 for developing generation, transmission, and distribution capacity, state Power Minister Arup Biswas said on Tuesday. He said that further investments would be made in the next few years to increase the total power capacity from the current 9,521 MW to 13,689 MW, including thermal, solar, and hydel capacities. Biswas told reporters that West Bengal has sufficient power to meet the demand. The recent power cuts were due to the breakdown of distribution networks caused by storms and unpermitted draw of electricity by a section of retail consumers, he claimed. The highest demand was recorded on June 8 of this year and was successfully met. The minister's statement came following Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari's allegation that the recent power cuts in the state have caused the sector to collapse. Biswas said the state has phased out one thermal power unit each at Kolaghat plant and .

Violence continues over nomination filing for Bengal panchayat polls

Bombs were hurled injuring several people at Bhangar in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district as violence continued on day 4 of nomination filing for the panchayat election in the state. The incident occurred near Bijaygunj Bazaar, within one kilometre of the Block Development Office (BDO) where the nomination papers will be filed. The local Indian Secular Front (ISF) MLA had announced that its panchayat poll candidates will file their nomination papers on Tuesday. Local television channels showed police personnel and journalists fleeing as bombs were hurled by unidentified miscreants. The ruling TMC and the opposition ISF accused each other of indulging in violence at Bhangar. Incidents of violence have been reported since June 9, the first day of nomination filing for the July 8 panchayat election, in several districts of the state.

Mitali Express between India, Bangladesh temporarily cancelled due to Eid

The Indian Railways has decided to temporarily suspend the Mitali Express, which runs between West Bengal's New Jalpaiguri and Bangladesh's Dhaka Cantonment

Bengal education dept orders to stop paying salaries to Guv appointed V-Cs

The tension between the state govt and the Governor House started mounting soon after the Governor, by virtue of being the chancellor of all state universities, appointed vice-chancellors

All-party meeting over West Bengal panchayat polls scheduled for today

West Bengal's State Election Commission (SEC) will hold a meeting on Tuesday to hear demands and grievances of all political parties on the July 8 panchayat elections and discuss the law and order situation, a senior official of the poll body said. The meeting will be chaired by SEC Rajiva Sinha. "All parties have been invited to the meeting. There will be discussions on the law and order situation. We will also listen to their grievances and suggestions," the official said. The BJP asserted that the all-party meeting would bear no fruit, while the CPI(M) questioned the "purpose" of calling it when there are only two days left for filing nominations. West Bengal has been witnessing a series of clashes and ransacking of party offices. Opposition parties alleged that the ruling Trinamool Congress workers were not allowing their candidates to file nominations. "The all-party meeting is called before the dates of the election are decided. The SEC will have to face tough questions as