New Delhi: The nationwide bandh called by the NDA and the Left Front evoked a mixed response from across the country on Thursday. While the NDA states were hit by the Bharat bandh, there was a lukewarm response in the Congress-ruled states as they remained partially affected. Most of the protests have been peaceful till now, but sporadic violence has been reported from Maharashtra and Karnataka. In the BJP-ruled Karnataka,...
11:44 AM, May 31, 2012
Kolkata: The supporters of the 12-hour bandh called by the NDA to protest the petrol price hike on Thursday blocked some roads in some districts of West Bengal and squatted on railway tracks. BJP workers went on a rampage at Barasat and there was a blockade at East-West by-pass in the city. Protesters blocked the Howrah bridge, which connects the metropolis to the Howrah district. They also blocked roads at...
10:58 AM, May 31, 2012
New Delhi: JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav was detained on Thursday in Bihar while he tried to enforce the Bharat bandh. JD(U)'s women's wing also stalled traffic on rail route in Patna. BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi also courted arrest in Delhi. He tweeted, "I am arrested, While taking part in protest program against Petrol price rise, @ akshardham." (sic). In Allahabad, Samajwadi Party workers, too, jammed the Delhi-Howrah rail route...
10:30 AM, May 31, 2012
New Delhi: The Bharat bandh against petrol price hike started affecting normal life across the country on Thursday. The protests even turned violent at some places with public transport being damaged. In Karnataka, three state-run buses were burnt and 11 others were damaged early on Thursday morning. Following this, the BMTC has suspended operations for now and will review the situation after a meeting. There were similar scenes in Pune...
09:30 AM, May 31, 2012
New Delhi: The Bharat bandh call by the NDA and the Left parties started affecting normal life on Thursday with the other parties joining the the protests. Rail traffic was hit as Samajwadi Party and JD(U) workers blocked rail routes in Allahabad and Patna. The Saket Express and Ganga Gomti Express were stopped in Allahabad. The bandh turned violent in Karnataka as protestors burnt three state-run buses and damaged 11...
07:40 AM, May 31, 2012
Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala police have registered a case against CPM leader MM Mani after his controversial speech about the alleged killings of rebels within the party. The police have registered a case of murder, abetment to murder and concealing information. Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had said the CPM leader's statement would be probed. CPM leader MM Mani, who is considered close party state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, alleged that the...
10:27 AM, May 28, 2012
Thiruvananthapuram: Former Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan has hit back denying that political rivals were eliminated in the CPM during his term as the state secretary. This came after party leader MM Mani, who is considered close party state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, alleged that the CPM had killed political rivals in the past and would continue to do so. The party is scrambling to limit the damage caused by its...
08:45 AM, May 28, 2012
Thiruvananthapuram: There seems to be more trouble in Kerala's CPM at a time when the party is being torn apart by infighting. The Idukki district head of the CPM, MM Mani, has controversially claimed that the CPM has a history of 'murdering' rivals within the party. The comment comes on the back of the alleged murder of TP Chandrasekharan, a CPM rebel in May this year. Earlier this week, former...
02:09 PM, May 26, 2012
New Delhi: The sharpest petrol price hike that was announced on Wednesday evening by oil companies is not the only burden that the UPA government has given to the common man on its third anniversary. Sources say the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) will meet on Friday to discuss a possible hike in diesel and LPG prices too. Sources also say that oil companies are pushing for a Rs 5...
07:45 AM, May 24, 2012
New Delhi: The Left Front met in the national capital on Wednesday to decide on their choice of a Presidential candidate. But they have decided to wait for the UPA government to announce their candidate first before taking a decision on who to support. Presidential hopeful PA Sangma met CPM Politburo leader Prakash Karat on Tuesday to gather support but the CPI says supporting Sangma at this stage is tantamount...
03:25 PM, May 23, 2012
As part of covering one year of the Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool Government in West Bengal, we at CNN-IBN thought it a good idea to ...
04:59 PM, May 20, 2012
New Delhi: Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) welcomed Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's comments on early elections, the Left called it a case of blackmail. CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said, "These small parties blackmail the government. We have reached here passing all the challenges till now and we would fight this challenge also. It has become impossible for parties like ours to fight in the elections." Yechury's comments...
02:00 PM, May 12, 2012
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has come up with yet another bizarre advice. She is now advising people on what television channels they should watch. Addressing a gathering in North 24 Parganas, she told people to stop watching certain news channels and switch to entertainment channels instead. She told her cadres to avoid some TV channels and listen to music instead. She also criticised a section of the...
08:01 AM, Apr 20, 2012
Kolkata: A big political test awaits West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as her party, the Trinamool Congress, wants early elections to offset many controversies. More than 41,000 Gram Panchayat constituencies are up for grabs next year. But there are signs of trouble as the Trinamool ally Congress may go it alone. WBPCC General Secretary Om Prakash Misra said, "We have told our party workers to be self-sufficient and strike...
11:00 AM, Apr 09, 2012
Kolkata: After the recent controversy over banning certain English newspapers in government libraries, now a proposed restructure in history syllabus in the state-run schools has assumed political colours. The move has left the Mamata Banerjee government facing yet another controversy. Many, however, see this academic effort turning political as unfortunate. Mamata now plans to remove the red of communism from West Bengal's textbooks. A state government appointed committee has proposed...
06:39 AM, Apr 07, 2012
New Delhi: With CPM focusing on Left unity, the CPI on Sunday said it would strive to strengthen Left and democratic unity in the country as both Congress and BJP want be in power by "default". The CPI would strive for a "militant" unity to struggle on issues concerning people's livelihood with non-Congress and non-BJP parties. These political and ideological issues would come up for debate at the 21st Congress...
08:39 PM, Mar 25, 2012
New Delhi: The motion of thanks on the President's address will be taken up in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. It is a crucial test for the government amid signs of altering political equations at the Centre. Even as the Opposition parties' amendments on the National Counter Terror Centre (NCTC) failed in the Lok Sabha, the numbers, do not favour the government in the Rajya Sabha. In the Rajya Sabha...
08:18 AM, Mar 20, 2012
New Delhi: The UPA was cornered on Monday in Parliament as the Opposition targeted the government over the Rail Budget fiasco and Dinesh Trivedi's resignation as the Railway Minister. The Left Front raised questions saying that a minister resigning while Parliament was in session was not right. CPI(M) leader Basudev Acharya demanded that the government as well as Trivedi reply on his resignation. CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta also demanded the...
11:34 AM, Mar 19, 2012
Thiruvananthapuram: Ruling Congress-led UDF on Tuesday demanded the resignation of VS Achuthanandan as the Leader of the Opposition in Kerala Assembly in view of the House committee's findings that he had intervened in getting plum official posts for his son during his tenure as Chief Minister. In a statement here, UDF Convener PP Thankachan claimed Achuthanandan had "no moral or lawful right" to continue in office as it had been...
10:26 PM, Mar 13, 2012
New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh chief minister-designate and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav is expected to meet senior Left Front leaders in New Delhi on Tuesday, adding to speculation of the formation of a Third Front. Akhilesh is scheduled to go to the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI(M)) office to invite party General Secretary Prakash Karat for his swearing-in ceremony in Lucknow on March 15. Akhilesh will also meet Communist Party...
11:03 AM, Mar 13, 2012
