India's political landscape is ablaze with activity! From the ongoing debates surrounding the new farm bills and their impact on rural India, to the upcoming state elections shaping the national narrative, the stakes couldn't be higher. Key political figures are maneuvering strategically, with alliances shifting and power dynamics constantly in flux. The opposition's challenge to the ruling party is intensifying, sparking vigorous debates on crucial policy matters including economic reforms and social justice initiatives. Parliamentary proceedings are filled with heated exchanges, reflecting the deep divisions within the nation. This evolving political climate directly impacts the lives of every Indian citizen, influencing everything from economic opportunities to social welfare programs. Stay informed about the latest developments in Indian politics, from crucial legislative decisions to grassroots movements, by exploring Abtak.com for in-depth analysis and breaking news updates. Understanding the intricacies of our political system is crucial; stay engaged, stay informed, and stay ahead.
New Delhi/Kolkata, Apr 4 (PTI) The BJP on Saturday announced its fifth list of five candidates for the West Bengal Assembly elections. According to the list, Saurav Sikdar will contest from Dum Dum Uttar, Taraknath Chatterjee (Krishnanagar Uttar), Anupam Biswas (Kalyani), Anindya Raju Banerjee (Madhyamgram), and Rudraprasad Banerjee from Uluberia Purba. Saurav Sikdar is the nephew of senior BJP leader and former Union minister Tapan Sikdar, while Anindya Raju Banerjee, a former state vice-president, had unsuccessfully contested from Kamarhati in the 2021 Assembly polls. He had remained on the sidelines for the past three years but became active after Samik Bhattacharya took over as party state president. Meanwhile, amid sustained protests by party workers and supporters, the BJP has been compelled to change its candidates in three constituencies -- Basirhat Uttar, Behala Purba and Bishnupur (SC). In Behala Purba, the party has replaced Sunil Maharaj with Shankar Sikdar. In Basirhat Uttar, Kaushik Sidharth has been fielded in place of Narayan Chandra Mondal. In Bishnupur (SC), the party has nominated Abhijit Sardar. With this, the BJP has released the names of 292 candidates for the 294 seats in West Bengal. The state will vote in two phases -- April 23 and April 29 -- while counting will take place on May 4. PTI PK ARI SUS MNB
Kolkata, July 2 (SocialNews.XYZ) With the time for submission, scrutiny, and withdrawal of nominations being over at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, BJP's Rajya Sabha member Samik Bhattacharya is all set to become the new West Bengal party chief as he is the only one to file the nomination. Bhattacharya will replace his predecessor, Sukanta Majumdar, who is a Union Minister of State. As his name has not been officially announced yet, he will be elected unopposed for the chair, and his name is likely to be announced on Thursday. BJP's central election observer for West Bengal, Ravi Shankar Prasad, will ...Read More >
Kolkata, Jul 17 (PTI) In a fresh sign of deepening rifts within the West Bengal BJP, former state president Dilip Ghosh on Thursday said he will not attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mega rally in Durgapur, asserting bluntly that he was "not invited." Modi will visit the state on Friday, where he will address a BJP rally in Durgapur, besides unveiling multiple development projects worth over Rs 5,000 crore. The conspicuous exclusion of Ghosh, once the face of the BJP's aggressive Bengal campaign, from a key political event has again put the spotlight on the party's alleged simmering facti ...Read More >
Kolkata, Jul 18 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit West Bengal on Friday afternoon to address a BJP rally in Durgapur and unveil infrastructure projects worth Rs 5,000 crore. The visit comes in a politically charged backdrop marked by TMC's outcry over alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking migrants in several BJP-ruled states. This will be Modi's first visit to the state after Samik Bhattacharya was appointed the new Bengal BJP president earlier this month. "West Bengal is suffering due to TMC misrule. People are seeing the BJP with hope and are convinced that only the BJP can d ...Read More >
KOLKATA: With chants of "Jai Shri Ram" and "BJP Zindabad" echoing through the lanes of Bhabanipur, the BJP on Thursday turned Suvendu Adhikari's nomination filing into a saffron display of strength in a constituency long considered chief minister Mamata Banerjee's political stronghold.Adhikari was accompanied by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, state party president Samik Bhattacharya, and other leaders.Standing atop an open-hood, flower-decked truck adorned with giant BJP cut-outs and lotus symbols, Shah waved to cheering supporters as the convoy moved out from Hazra Crossing, amid tight securi ...Read More >
Chandigarh: Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini on Tuesday said the state govt was consistently working to provide better resources to the doctors and quality healthcare services to the citizens.He mentioned that medical colleges were being established in every district.While there were only six medical colleges in 2014, the number has now increased to 15, and nine new colleges are under construction. As a result, MBBS seats in the state increased from 700 in 2014 to 2,185, at present. The state govt aims to increase the MBBS seats to over 3,400 by 2029, said Saini.The CM was addressing a ...Read More >
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], July 2 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya, on Wednesday, filed nomination for the post of West Bengal BJP President. The Leader of Opposition in West Bengal, Suvendu Adhikari and the present West Bengal BJP Chief and Union Minister, Sukanta Majumdar were present, accompanying Bhattacharya. Also Read | Karnataka Shocker: Infosys Senior Employee Arrested for Filming Woman Colleague While She Was Using Ladies' Washroom at Office in Bengaluru. Speaking to ANI, Bhattacharya said that the party leadership asked him to file a nomination, ...Read More >
Kolkata: As the mega Durga Puja carnival was unveiled in Kolkata on Sunday evening, with around 116 puja pandals participating in the cultural extravaganza on Red Road in Kolkata with pulsating performances by dance troupes, before immersion, Opposition parties are slamming the chief minister for holding the carnival at a time when over 18 people have lost their lives following the incessant rains in North Bengal. The mega carnival is being attended by people from all walks of lives, including t ...Read More >
Kolkata: Union Home Minister Amit Shah participated in a mega colourful roadshow, starting from South Kolkata's Hazra more and ending near Survey Building near Gopalnagar, with mega mega fanfare, music, colour and orange balloons and saffron flags flowing, "parivartan" song and music, and people dancing to the beats of drums everywhere, to submit nominations for Bhabanipur candidate Suvendu Adhiakri and three others candidates in Kolkata. Amid huge participation of the BJP workers in the rally, the roadshow was also participated by many monks, wearing saffron, in today's roadshow and rally at ...Read More >
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], April 2 (ANI): As the West Bengal Assembly polls near, the political temperature in the state has significantly risen, as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) accuse each other of manipulating the election process. As Union Home Minister Amit Shah reached West Bengal for election campaigning today, he called on people to vote fearlessly and remove the Trinamool Congress from power and "throw TMC in Bay of Bengal". Meanwhile, TMC has accused the BJP of trying to incite violence in the state in order to impose President's rule ahead of ...Read More >
Kolkata, July 5 (SocialNews.XYZ) The West Bengal unit of BJP, under the leadership of its new State party President Samik Bhattacharya is making all efforts to ensure a political rally in the state, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing it, before Trinamool Congress's annual Martyrs' day rally in Kolkata on July 21. An insider from the state committee of BJP said that the week before July 21, the Prime Minister is scheduled to go for an election campaign in Bihar where the Assembly polls are scheduled later this year. "We are trying hard so that the Prime Minister can spare some time ...Read More >
Former railway minister Mukul Roy died in Kolkata in the early hours of Monday, his son confirmed to news agency ANI. He was 71. Roy suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away around 1:30 am at Apollo Hospital in Salt Lake, his son Shuvrangshu Roy said. Once regarded as one of the most influential strategists in the All India Trinamool Congress, Roy's political journey spanned decades of shifting allegiances, high office and legal battles. In 2012, he briefly served as the Union railway minister ...Read More >
West Bengal Elections 2026: Key Leaders Who Could Shape Bengal Assembly Polls Outcome Completely West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026 Key Candidates: 2026 West Bengal Assembly polls will feature key battles featuring Mamata Banerjee, Suvendu Adhikari and others. As West Bengal heads into a high-voltage Assembly election, the contest is once again being shaped not just by party symbols but by a handful of powerful political faces whose battles could define the state's future. The 2026 election will decide all 294 Assembly seats, with polling scheduled in two phases on April 23 and April 29, an ...Read More >
New Delhi: As West Bengal gears up for the 2026 assembly elections, 'Mache Bhate Bangali', a common slogan that dominates every Bengali household, has now entered the political sphere.In doing so, it has become a symbol of identity, culture and pride, shaping the narrative of this high-stakes electoral battle. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee amplified the sentiment at a rally in Purulia, targeting bjp. "They won't let you eat fish. You can't eat meat, you can't eat eggs, you can't speak Bengali. If you do, they will call you Bangladeshi," she said. Fish, long considered the lifeline of West Be ...Read More >
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], April 4 (ANI): The Election Commission of India on Saturday suspended and initiated disciplinary action against four Kolkata Police personnel in connection with a law and order issue infront of the Survey Building in Alipore on April 2, when BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari filed his nomination in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The suspended officers are Siddhartha Dutta, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DC-II), South Division, Kolkata Police; Priyankar Chakraborty, Officer in Charge (OC), Alipore Police Station; Chandi Charan Banerjee, Additional Offic ...Read More >
Kolkata: Rajya Sabha member Samik Bhattacharya was the only candidate to submit a nomination for elections to the post of Bengal BJP president, almost sealing the outcome. Accompanied by Bengal leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari and incumbent party president Sukanta Majumdar, Bhattacharya submitted his nomination at the party's Salt Lake office on Wednesday.Bhattacharya flew down to Kolkata from New Delhi on Wednesday morning to submit his nomination. On Monday, he had met BJP national president JP Nadda at his residence in New Delhi.On Thursday, party workers and functionaries will gather ...Read More >
Kolkata: Former BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh, who met key party functionaries in New Delhi a few days ago, received an invitation to attend PM Narendra Modi's rally in Durgapur on July 18. Ghosh's presence will help bridge the divide between veterans and newcomers in the state BJP, party insiders feel."I have been invited to attend the PM's rally in Durgapur. I will be present," Ghosh said on Monday. According to sources, he is likely to reach Durgapur on July 17.Ghosh, who had been in ...Read More >
KOLKATA: The Calcutta high court on Friday quashed 15 police cases filed against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari and ordered a joint probe by West Bengal police and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in four similar cases, senior advocate Billwadal Bhattacharyya said. In these cases, Adhikari faces charges ranging from violating prohibitory orders to making insulting remarks, Bhattacharyya, who appeared for Adhikari, told reporters. The order was passed by a bench of justice Jay Sengupta after the state government told the high court that it had not been able to start ...Read More >
KOLKATA, July 1: A remark by West Bengal Irrigation Minister Manas Bhunia referring to "minor incidents" sparked a political storm on Tuesday amid an uproar over the alleged gang rape of a student inside her college in Kolkata. Following Bhunia's comment, the opposition accused the ruling TMC of being insensitive and trivialising the crime. Bhunia, who was addressing a doctors' conference in Kolkata recently, said in his speech, "In Bengal, even a minor incident leads to a huge outcry." The minister, however, later clarified that his remarks were "misconstrued" and "misquoted". A video clip ...Read More >
Kolkata, July 3: The BJP's fight in West Bengal will not be against Muslims but rather to improve their living conditions, the newly elected state unit party chief Samik Bhattacharya said on Thursday, soon after his name was officially announced for the chair. It was clear on Wednesday that Bhattacharya, also a party Rajya Sabha member, would be the next state party president in West Bengal since he was the only one to file his nomination for the chair. On Thursday, his name was officially announced as the new party state president BJP's central election observer for West Bengal, Ravi Shankar ...Read More >
Kolkata: Amid speculation of defecting to Trinamool Congress (TMC), former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Dilip Ghosh visited BJP office to meet new state president Samik Bhattacharya on Tuesday. Talking to the media, Ghosh said that every old party worker is with new party president Samik Bhattacharya. "Samik Bhattacharya is older than me in the party. I had joined BJP after Bhattacharya. The party has grown in the state and with the leadership of Samik Bhattacharya it will grow further," said Ghosh. Asked whether he will be seen on TMC's annual Marty's day on July 21 to whic ...Read More >
After the announcement of SIR in Bengal on Monday by ECI, an all-party meeting has been called by the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer's (WB- CEO) office on Tuesday at 4PM, where all national and state-level political parties will be participating. Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress leadership said that they will abide by the Constitution and there is no place for violence. However, they will not allow a single legal voter's name to be deleted from the electoral list and take the movement to Delhi ...Read More >
"Mamata has always played the politics of the victim card. Sometimes she breaks her leg, ties a bandage on her head, falls ill, and abuses the Election Commission. But the people of Bengal have understood her politics of playing the victim card," Shah said in Kolkata as he released a 40-page "charge sheet" attacking the TMC over infiltration, appeasement politics, women's security, corruption, and deterioration of law and order ahead of April 23 and April 29 assembly polls. Shah said SIR is bein ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], June 8 (ANI): BJP MP Gulam Ali Khatana, who was part of the all-party parliamentary delegation to Europe, said that during their recently conclued visit they successfully communicated India's development story and its resolute stand against terrorism, particularly emanating from Pakistan. Highlighting the delegation's key discussions during the tour, Khatana told ANI, 'We discussed how we dismantled the terrorism factory in Pakistan by responding... We also talked about tourism infrastructure, G20 Summit, and projects like the six-lane roads, bridges, solar initiatives, our ...Read More >
Kolkata, Jul 2 (PTI) Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya was on Wednesday officially named the new president of the West Bengal BJP, with the party tasking him to lead its charge in the 2026 assembly elections -- a battle he described as a fight to save the state's culture and pluralism from what he termed the "corrupt misrule" of the TMC. Bhattacharya was elected unopposed, with no other candidate filing a nomination for the post by the stipulated deadline on Wednesday afternoon. The formal announcement came during a felicitation ceremony at the Science City auditorium here, in the presence o ...Read More >
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 3 (ANI): India stock benchmarks extended declines on Thursday, weighed down by continued profit booking, following last week's sharp rally. At the end of the trading session, Nifty was down 48.10 points or 0.19 per cent at 25,405.30 and the BSE's Sensex was down by 170.22 points or 0.20 per cent, reaching 83,239.47. Also Read | The Nutritional Impact of Refined Cooking Oil Is Significant. "The domestic equity market continued to consolidate as profit booking followed last week's sharp rally," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited. ...Read More >
Kolkata: With the aim of creating a united face of BJP Bengal within next 15 days and save Bengal from the hands of Trinamool Congress, BJP new State President Samik Bhattacharya on Tuesday, ahead of 2026 assembly polls, held meeting with former BJP President and senior party leader Dilip Ghosh, with whom fissures with BJP leadership was becoming open in the past several months. In a significant message to the party workers, Bhattacharya told the party workers that all will be embraced to oust the Trinamool Congress government from Bengal and the former CPI-M or Trinamool workers will not be ...Read More >
Durgapur, July 18 (UNI) Hours ahead of his visit to this industrial hub of West Bengal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government, saying the state is suffering due to the alleged misrule of the ruling party. The PM said the people of the state are looking at the BJP with hope and are convinced that the saffron party can deliver on development. "West Bengal is suffering due to TMC's misrule. People believe that only the BJP can deliver on development," Modi said on his X handle before arriving at the industrial city of East Bardhaman. He also ...Read More >
Kolkata: The BJP leadership has asked its Bengal unit to engage in a mass contact programme during Durga Puja to counter claims by Trinamool that Bengalis from Bengal are being harassed in states governed by the saffron party, sources said.The direction to organise the campaign, which will see distribution of saris at pandals, came on a day Prime Minister Narendra Modi and defence minister Rajnath Singh were in the city.Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya, Union minister Sukanta Majumdar and the leader of opposition in the Bengal assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, met Modi at the airport on Sunda ...Read More >
Kolkata: The Assembly elections have been announced; however, the process of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list remains incomplete. The status of hundreds of thousands of voters is still under review. Amidst this situation, all eyes are now fixed on the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). On Tuesday, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) staged a protest there. Tension also flared during the demonstration following the presence of BJP workers and supporters. Security outside the CEO's office was heightened on Wednesday, and CCTV cameras were installed. The Kolkata Police h ...Read More >
A Kolkata-based Indologist said fish occupies a civilisational space in West Bengal. ShowQuick Read Summary is AI-generated, newsroom-reviewed * Fish has become a key political symbol in West Bengal's assembly elections, linking food to identity * TMC accuses BJP of threatening Bengali culture by promoting vegetarianism and Hindi dominance * BJP candidates campaign with fish to counter allegations of being anti-fish and anti-Bengali culture Did our AI summary help? Let us know. Switch To ...Read More >