Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Sunday welcomed expelled CPM leader Somnath Chatterjee for campaigning for the Left Front in the Assembly polls, but remained non-committal about his immediate re-induction into the party. "It is good that Somnath Chatterjee is campaigning. It is a big help to the Left Front," Bhattacharjee said at a 'Meet-the-Press' programme here. Asked about the possibility of the former Lok Sabha Speaker's re-induction...
05:02 PM, Apr 24, 2011
Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress which is a UPA partner was equally responsible for scams, corruption, price rise and infiltration from Bangladesh through West Bengal and Assam borders, former BJP President Venkaiah Naidu said in Kolkata on Sunday. "Why is the Trinamool Congress silent on all these contentious issues? Instead of acting as checkmate, it is working with the Congress to deceive the people," Naidu said during campaigning. The senior BJP...
11:26 AM, Apr 24, 2011
On Battle for the States, Sagarika Ghose covers the Mamata Banerjee phenomenon raging over Bengal. ...
08:45 PM, Apr 23, 2011
Katwa: Criticising law and order situation in West Bengal, senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday alleged that highest number of political killings occurred in the state under the Left Front government. "Terror prevails and there have been the highest number of political killings and torture on women. Criminalisation has set into state politics during the 34 years of the Left Front regime," Mukherjee, the Union Finance Minister told an...
05:08 PM, Apr 23, 2011
A few Trinamool supporters have vowed to walk barefoot until mamta banerjee unseats the Left Front. ...
05:04 PM, Apr 23, 2011
Canning: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Friday accused the CPI-M, which leads the state's Left Front government, of forging an underhand deal with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to divide opposition votes. Addressing an election rally at Canning in North 24 Parganas, Banerjee said "The CPI-M has made a deal with the BJP to divide the votes. They summon the BJP in every election so that it may cut...
05:02 PM, Apr 22, 2011
New Delhi: All India Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee would better serve American interests as Chief Minister of West Bengal if she wins the 2011 Assembly election in the state, according to an Embassy cable leaked by online whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks. The October, 2009 Kolkata Consulate cable, headlined 'Trinamool's Mamata Banerjee: from oppositional street fighter to West Bengal Chief Minister-in-waiting,' advises United States officials to cultivate Banerjee as the likely...
04:15 PM, Apr 21, 2011
Nadia: After the first phase of polling, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattachrjee is aggressively reaching out to the rural voters as the Left this time is facing the stiffest challenge ever in the past 30 years. At 10 am sharp, Bhattacharjee started for Nadia to reach out to the voters. The CM has barely begun campaigning outside Kolkata and is desperate to touch base with people in rural Bengal. ...
09:38 AM, Apr 21, 2011
West Midnapore: The Congress has roped in Mohammad Azharuddin as its star attraction as both the Congress and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) eye the crucial minority vote bank in West Bengal. As the battle for Bengal intensifies, the fight for minority vote too gets intense. The TMC and the Congress may be together to bring in a regime change in West Bengal, but they are also competing with each other...
08:18 AM, Apr 20, 2011
Darjeeling: First phase of the most politically exciting Assembly elections in West Bengal begins on Monday. An estimated 97.4 lakh people are expected to vote in 54 constituencies across 6 districts - Coochbehar, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling and Malda. All polling booths will be manned by central forces. It is going to be a make-or-break battle for the Left as the TMC-Congress alliance is making an historic bid...
07:37 AM, Apr 18, 2011
Kolkata: Left Front chairman Biman Bose on Sunday said that former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who was expelled from CPM, was free to campaign for LF candidates, while defending the charges made by CPM leader Gautam Deb against opposition TMC and its supreme Mamata Banerjee. "If anybody takes a suo motu decision to campaign for Left Front, the Front will not create a barrier," Bose told newspersons after the...
03:49 PM, Apr 17, 2011
Ranaghat: Ridiculing the call for change by the TMC-Congress alliance in West Bengal, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Saturday said the Opposition was courting Maoists and separatists to bring ruin to the state. "We are often hearing the words 'paribartan' (change) from these people. What change are they talking about? To lead the state to extinction by hobnobbing with Maoists and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM)?" Bhattacharjee told an election rally...
01:02 PM, Apr 17, 2011
Watch the election special 'Battle for States' as the Left Front and the Trinamool Congress gear up for West Bengal polls. ...
10:23 PM, Apr 16, 2011
Birpara: Senior BJP leader and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday alleged that the Left Front had not done any development work or set up any industry in West Bengal in its 34 year-rule. "So many people from West Bengal are working in different industries in Gujarat. They have come to Gujarat because there are no jobs for them in West Bengal as there is no industry," Modi said...
03:01 PM, Apr 16, 2011
Kolkata: Heaping scorn on the opinion polls which indicated that the Left Front could lose power in West Bengal, front major CPM on Friday said that the surveys will be proved wrong as the combine would come through with flying colours. "These opinion polls and exit polls will be proved wrong once again. They have been proved wrong earlier also. In the past also, there have been these opinion polls...
12:44 PM, Apr 16, 2011
Siliguri: Senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh on Friday claimed that the states under BJP rule had witnessed all round development and could be easily identified as developed states. It was only BJP which could bring a total change in West Bengal and put an end to the 'misrule' of Left Front, Singh said at an election rally here in Darjeeling district while campaigning for party candidate for Siliguri, Arun Prasad...
11:40 AM, Apr 16, 2011
Siliguri: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday asked the people of West Bengal to end the 34-year-old "misrule" of CPM and elect a government of "aam admi" that would bring development and prosperity to the state. "We, the Congress and Trinamool Congress are fighting together and will give a government that will bring development to West Bengal," Gandhi said at a public rally at Naxalbari near here in support of...
10:52 AM, Apr 14, 2011
Darjeeling: Amidst the shrill demands for a separate state of Gorkhaland, the three constituencies in the Darjeeling Hills go to polls in the first phase of West Bengal Assembly elections on April 18 with three hill parties vying for space. Even though the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha has the dominant presence in the three seats of Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong, the presence of central forces and strict vigil by election observers...
10:58 AM, Apr 13, 2011
Jalpaiguri: Firmly opposing the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said her party would not allow any move to divide West Bengal. "Trinamool Congress will not allow any move to divide West Bengal. I understand the problems of the people living in Darjeeling hills. All problems can be solved through dialogues," Mamata told an election rally at Kalchini in Jalpaiguri district. "An...
06:42 PM, Apr 12, 2011
It is a 'make-or-break' election for the ruling Left Front in West Bengal. Facing its toughest electoral battle in 34 years and knowing very well that the youth vote is crucial and potential game changer, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee himself is taking the lead to engage them, something he has rarely done before. ...
08:03 AM, Apr 02, 2011
