Mamata's Delhi visit to get closer to Congress, says Left
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Kolkata: Ahead of her two-day visit to Delhi, West Bengal's Left Front on Monday accused Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee of looking at opportunities to realign with the Congress - its former coalition partner. "Her visit is an attempt at bargaining with the centre, to reinforce the alliance that had broken, thinking that it would help her party in the next Lok Sabha elections," said Leader of...  
05:29 AM, Apr 09, 2013

Never sought special package for Bengal: Mamata
by IANS
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she had never sought a special package for her state and asserted that her two-day visit to Delhi starting on Monday had no political agenda. "I am not begging, neither am I demanding a special package (for West Bengal). But I want to know why Bengal is continuously being deprived. Despite all the problems that we are facing, Bengal is number one...  
04:53 PM, Apr 08, 2013

Bengal has moved from one dictatorship to another: Jairam Matigara: Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said that with the coming of the Mamata Banerjee government, West Bengal has moved from one dictatorship to another. "It is the mistake of the people that the state has moved from one dictatorship ("tanashahi") by the Left Front to another dictatorship by the Trinamool Congress," Ramesh told Congress party workers here in Siliguri subdivision of Darjeeling district. Criticising the West...  
03:20 AM, Apr 08, 2013

Scholars lash out at SFI leader's death in police custody
by IANS
Kolkata: Academicians from across the country on Saturday expressed "horror" at the "brutal" police assault on students leading to the death of SFI leader Sudipta Gupta in police custody and demanded an "impartial" probe into the incident. In a statement, 45 educationists from leading institutes like Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Punjab University and Viswa Bharati University condemned the "unprovoked singular attack" on a "peaceful" students demonstration. The scholars said they...  
01:59 AM, Apr 07, 2013

Dead SFI leader's family 'disgusted' by Mamata's comments
by IANS
Kolkata: Family members of Students Federation of India (SFI) leader Sudipto Gupta on Friday expressed disgust over West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee dubbing his death in police custody as a "petty" and "small" matter, and alleged he was "murdered" by police. "This is murder. The bus driver has reportedly said that he (Gupta) was forced out of the vehicle and beaten up. There were so many injury marks on...  
04:30 AM, Apr 06, 2013

SFI activist death: Bus driver arrested for rash driving denies charge Kolkata: The bus driver who was accused of rash and negligent driving leading to the death of SFI activist Sudipto Gupta on Friday denied the allegations against him. He claimed that he was being framed by the Kolkata Police. The police had arrested Raja Das alleging that negligence on his part had led to Sudipto's death. Eyewitnesses, however, have a different story to tell. They have squarely blamed the police...  
05:32 PM, Apr 05, 2013

SFI activist death: Family to meet WB Governor Kolkata: The family of SFI activist Sudipto Gupta is expected to meet West Bengal Governor on Friday. Sudipto was killed after being allegedly beaten up by police during a crackdown on a SFI protest earlier this week. Citing dissatisfaction with police investigations, his family has demanded a CBI probe. The police, however, insists that Sudipto died after hitting a lamp post. To back up their claims, the Kolkata Police on...  
05:17 PM, Apr 05, 2013

India @ 9 with Rajdeep Sardesai

Catch the day's top stories with Rajdeep Sardesai on India @ 9. ...
11:58 PM, Apr 04, 2013

Mamata terms Sudipto's death as 'small and petty' incident Kolkata/Bangalore: With SFI supporters holding protests in West Bengal over the death of SFI leader Sudipto Gupta, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday stoked further controversy by terming the death as a 'small and petty' incident. "It is a small and petty matter. It was an accident, there was no police atrocity. You can see the post-mortem report," she said in Bangalore where she went to confer West Bengal's prestigious...  
10:39 PM, Apr 04, 2013

Protests over student's death cut across party lines: Priyanka Gupta Student activist Sudipto Gupta died in a police crackdown on a students' protest in Kolkata. The incident has seen thousands of people pour into the streets of Kolkata. The West Bengal government has been, till now, non-committal about a proper probe into the incident. To what extent will this incident turn the urban middle class in West Bengal against the ruling Trinamool Congress? Will a proper probe be instituted? How...  
07:06 PM, Apr 04, 2013

Kolkata: SFI calls for a bandh to protest against activist's death Kolkata: Kolkata is bracing for roadblocks and traffic jams after a bandh call by the Left-wing Students Federation of India (SFI) in protest against the death of SFI activist Sudipto Gupta. The students will be carrying out protests out at Hazra Modh, which is close to Chief Minister's house. A bandh has also been called in Garia and Tollygunge areas of Kolkata. The West Bengal Human Rights Commission report will...  
08:13 AM, Apr 04, 2013

Mamata vs left: Is West Bengal caught in a cycle of endless political violence?

There have been massive protests over the death of 23-year-old Students Federation of India activist Sudipto Gupta in Kolkata. Not just in Kolkata, protests are also being staged in Chennai by SFI activists. The Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal has also come under attack from the protesters as well as the Left Front. ...
11:59 PM, Apr 03, 2013

TMC, CPM wage political battles over SFI activist's death The death of a 23-year-old activist of the leftwing Students Federation of India (SFI) during a police crackdown on students' protest in Kolkata on April 2, 2013, has left the city and the country shell-shocked. Sudipto Gupta, an MA student at Rabindra Bharati University, was admitted to hospital with severe internal haemorrhage and later succumbed to his injuries. Gupta was part of a protest organised by the SFI against the...  
09:26 PM, Apr 03, 2013

Era of police killing students back: Congress
by IANS
After the death of a student activist allegedly due to a police baton charge, the Congress on Wednesday said the era of students getting killed by police was back to haunt West Bengal. ...  
05:31 PM, Apr 03, 2013

Kolkata live: SFI activist's body taken to crematorium for last rites One person has been arrested in connection with the death of Students Federation of India activist Sudipto Gupta in Kolkata. The person arrested is Raju Das, the driver of the bus which was used to take the demonstrators to the prison by the police. Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met other activists injured in the police crackdown. ...  
05:24 PM, Apr 03, 2013

SFI activist death: Protests break out in Chennai, Delhi Protesters took to the streets in New Delhi and Chennai after a Students Federation of India activist Sudipto Gupta was killed in Kolkata allegedly by the police during a crackdown in the city on Wednesday. The police tried to stop the demonstrators as they chanted slogans and marched with Gupta's posters. ...  
05:05 PM, Apr 03, 2013

SFI activist death: Don't politicise a tragedy, says O'Brien

Under pressure from opposition after the death of a Students federation of India activist, Sudipto Gupta, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee termed the episode as "unfortunate". "We should not politicise a tragedy. Chief Minister visited the family of the deceased and offered her condolences. It shows what she is made up of," said TMC leader Derek O'Brien. ...
04:46 PM, Apr 03, 2013

Why the IPL opening ceremony was such a miserable let down West Bengal's newly appointed brand ambassador, actor Shah Rukh Khan, dominated the night with a repertoire of dance moves done and dusted several times at earlier Bollywood award ceremonies. ...  
03:30 PM, Apr 03, 2013

Mamata calls SFI activist's death unfortunate Under pressure from opposition after the death of a Students federation of India activist, Sudipto Gupta, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday termed the episode as "unfortunate", but evaded a question on whether a judicial probe would be ordered as demanded by the CPI-M. "Any death is unfortunate. This is also unfortunate. I will not say anything more than this," Mamata told reporters outside the state-run SSKM hospital...  
03:15 PM, Apr 03, 2013

SFI activist's death in Kolkata: Left targets Mamata There have been massive protests over the death of 23-year-old Students Federation of India activist Sudipto Gupta in Kolkata. Not just in Kolkata, protests are also being staged in Chennai by SFI activists. The Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal has also come under attack from the protesters as well as the Left Front. ...  
01:17 PM, Apr 03, 2013