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
Kolkata: With her government facing flak on farmer's suicides, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday slammed a law framed by the previous Left Front government under which a farmer would lose his land if he failed to pay his debts. "In 2006 the West Bengal government had formed a law - West Bengal Cooperatives Societies Act, 2005 - which stated that if a farmer fails to repay loans...
04:14 AM, Mar 13, 2012
New Delhi: The Budget session of Parliament begins on Monday. It is likely to be a tough one for the Congress as it comes on the heels of a poor electoral performance in the Assembly Polls. The government is hoping to pass some important bills in this session including the Lokpal Bill and the Right to Education Bill. Meanwhile, the Opposition is getting ready to take on the government on...
07:32 AM, Mar 12, 2012
Kolkata: Less than a fortnight after drawing flak for her disparaging comments on the Park Street rape victim, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday squarely blamed the Left for the deteriorating law and order condition in West Bengal. She claimed that the 30-year-old woman allegedly raped by a gang of armed robbers on Sunday too was a set-up. Mamata also hit out at the Left over the recent spate of...
08:33 PM, Feb 28, 2012
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seems to have done it again. Less than a fortnight after drawing flak for her disparaging comments on the Park Street rape victim, she has now blamed the Left Front for fabricating rape attacks, deaths of infants in government-run hospitals, and of discouraging her government. At a press conference in Kolkata on Tuesday, Mamata hit out at the Communist Party of India (Marxist),...
01:17 PM, Feb 28, 2012
Kolkata: As trade unions across India go on a strike on Tuesday, in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has instructed her ministers to ensure that no government employees take part in the bandh, which she said was Left sponsored. She has warned of consequences if her orders are violated. A 12-hour general strike called by the Left unions on Tuesday has the Bengal government seeing red. As rallies were...
07:54 AM, Feb 28, 2012
Tamluk: Claiming that anarchy prevailed in West Bengal in the seven-month rule of the Mamata Banerjee government, former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Friday said that industrialists have turned away their faces from new investment and farmers are not getting right price for their produce. "Anarchy prevails in every field, be it industry, agriculture, electricity or education. Not a single new investment has come during the seventh-month tenure as industrialists...
06:14 PM, Jan 06, 2012
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accused the previous Left Front government in the state of indulging in "extreme corruption" and claimed it had hidden several important files. "As each day passes, we are discovering that more files are missing. To hide these files is big crime. In many cases, money had been spent on projects without floating tenders. We are having to conduct audits into it....
06:28 PM, Jan 03, 2012
New Delhi: The stage is set for a showdown between the UPA government and Team Anna starting Tuesday. The first battle will be fought in Parliament which takes up the Lokpal Bill for a debate on Tuesday. While the government has the numbers for now in the Lok Sabha, passing the Bill in the Rajya Sabha won't be easy. As the big fight gets set to begin, the government is...
07:25 AM, Dec 27, 2011
Kolkata: West Bengal's Left Front on Thursday dubbed as "irresponsible" and "defamatory" Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's allegation that the Marxists had hatched a "conspiracy" to poison drinking water. In a strong response, Leader of Opposition and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) leader Surya Kanta Mishra told media persons that Mamata had the habit of making such "baseless" allegations when she was in the opposition. "It seems she has not changed...
01:30 AM, Dec 23, 2011
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused the Opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) of hatching a conspiracy to mix poison in a water plant in South 24-Parganas district, provoking the Left to term the remarks "irresponsible" and "defamatory". Speaking in the state assembly, Public Health Engineering Minister Subrata Mukherjee said a "rumour" was circulating at Nodakhali in South 24-Parganas that a water plant had been poisoned....
01:01 AM, Dec 23, 2011
Kolkata: West Bengal's Opposition Left Front on Friday accused the Trinamool Congress government of violating constitutional and legislative norms and requested Governor MK Narayanan to withhold his consent on the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Bill. "Several amendments to various clauses of the The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Bill 2011 were submitted by the opposition for consideration of the house. During debate on her deliberation in the house, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee agreed...
03:49 AM, Dec 17, 2011
New Delhi: The UPA Cabinet decision allowing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail is proving to be a major headache for the Congress-led Government as the Opposition and even some of its own constituents like the Trinamool Congress and the DMK have come out openly against the move and demanded an immediate rollback of the decision. The opponents of FDI in retail claim that the move will lead to large-scale...
01:35 PM, Nov 28, 2011
New Delhi: The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have once again been a witness to slogan shouting and ruckus over Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail, price rise and black money issues. The ruckus forced the adjournment of both the Houses till Monday resulting in little business being transacted and the nation losing almost Rs 12 crore. On Day 4 of Parliament's winter session several MPs belonging to the Bharatiya...
11:55 AM, Nov 25, 2011
New Delhi: As the Cabinet meets to decide on allowing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the multi-brand retail, it remains to be seen whether the Prime Minister will bite the bullet. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Left, UPA ally Trinamool Congress along with some Cabinet ministers Veerappa Moily and Mukul Wasnik have opposed it. While the BJP feels that FDI will lead to unemployment, the Left has said that...
01:20 PM, Nov 24, 2011
New Delhi: Price rise, black money and Telangana statehood issue continued to rock both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on the second day of the winter session on Thursday forcing the adjournment of both the Houses for the day. In the Lok Sabha the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left parties joined hands once again seeking adjournment motion on black money and inflation. While the Left insisted...
11:50 AM, Nov 23, 2011
Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court is likely to take up Tata Motors Limited's (TML) appeal against upholding of the Singur Act by a single bench of the court on Thursday. TML moved a division bench comprising Justices PC Ghosh and MK Choudhury on Wednesday seeking continuation of a stay on application of the trial court's order which would expire during the day, and also the appeal against the order upholding...
04:10 PM, Nov 02, 2011
Serampore: Former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Sunday said a 'dangerous' political atmosphere was prevailing in the state with the ruling Trinamool Congress attacking activists and supporters of not only the Left parties, but also those of its own ally, Congress. "The Trinamool Congress is such a party that it is not only attacking Left workers, but even its own ally, Congress. The Congress is suffering the attacks...
08:25 PM, Sep 11, 2011
Kolkata: West Bengal's Left Front on Monday assailed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's decision to cancel her trip to Dhaka in protest against the final draft of the Teesta water sharing agreement, calling it a 'gimmick' and expressed apprehension that it would affect the sensitive India-Bangladesh bilateral ties. However, Banerjee's Trinamool Congress attacked the Left Front, saying the treaty was 'acceptable' to it during their rule, while the Congress was guarded...
05:49 PM, Sep 05, 2011
New Delhi: The UPA Government is finding itself isolated on the issue of arresting Anna Hazare and his supporters with all the opposition parties deciding to form a common strategy to take on the Government. All the opposition parties met at 2 PM in Parliament and decided on a joint strategy to corner the government. The Left Front proposed that all the opposition parties should boycott Parliament proceedings for the...
01:44 PM, Aug 16, 2011
