West Bengal

Kolkata, Feb 2 (PTI) BJP president J P Nadda will launch the party's month-long rath yatra on Saturday in West Bengal ahead of the assembly polls, sources said on Tuesday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to take out rath yatras across the state in February & March to drum up support for the party in the elections. The yatras will be conducted in five segments and will cover all the 294 assembly constituencies of the state.

Kolkata, Feb 1 (PTI) The West Bengal BJP has sought permission from the state government for its month-long 'rath yatra' across the state ahead of the assembly polls.

BJP state vice-president Pratap Banerjee, in a letter to Chief Secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay, said the saffron camp, beginning February, intends to take out five rallies, as part of the 'rath yatra', crisscrossing the entire state.

Kolkata, Feb 1 (PTI) Alleging that the NDA government is not open to criticism, CPI(M) leader Mohammed Salim on Monday said his Twitter account was suspended during the day, after he compared the Union Budget with a trading platform, and slammed the Centre over its handling of the farmers stir.

Salim told reporters that his account as well those of others were blocked temporarily, "at the behest of the IT department of the Centre".

New Delhi, Feb 1 (PTI) The TMC lashed out at the Centre over the Union Budget on Monday, saying it was 100 per cent "visionless" and its theme was "sell India."

The remarks came after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman read out the Union Budget speech in the Lok Sabha.

"India's first paperless budget is also a 100% visionless budget. Theme of the fake budget is Sell India!" TMC spokesperson Derek O'Brien said. "Railways: sold, Airports: sold, Ports: sold, Insurance: sold PSUs: 23 sold!"

Kolkata, Jan 31 (PTI) The Citizens Commission on Elections (CCE), a civil society group of retired judges, former civil servants and activists, has called upon the Election Commission of India (ECI) to ensure foolproof counting of votes.

The CCE released its first report on making proper and effective tamper-proof use of EVMs at the Kolkata Press Club on Saturday.

"With elections in the offing, voters confidence in the electoral process needs to be secured and EVM voting should abide by principles of democracy.

New Delhi, Jan 31 (PTI) The BJP's major problem in West Bengal will be its chief ministerial face for the 2021 assembly elections, according to a new book which also claims the party does not have a leader who can match the mass appeal of Mamata Banerjee.

In states like Uttar Pradesh, the BJP achieved success without projecting any chief ministerial candidate but will this be possible in West Bengal, journalist Sambit Pal asks in his book "The Bengal Conundrum: The Rise of the BJP and the Future of the TMC".

Chandannagar (WB), Jan 29 (PTI) Chandannagar Police Commissioner Humayun Kabir resigned on Friday citing personal reasons, a senior official of the state government said.

In December, Kabir was promoted to the rank of inspector-general of police (IGP).

Gaurav Sharma, who is currently the Kolkata Police's Joint Commissioner (Establishment), has been named as the new commissioner of Chandannagar, a city in the Hooghly district.

Sharma will take over the new post on February 1.

Kolkata, Jan 26 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday that the Centre's "insensitive attitude" and indifference towards farmers are to be blamed for the violent protests in Delhi, maintaining that she was deeply disturbed by the situation.

Banerjee urged the Centre to engage with the farmers and repeal the new farm laws, which she termed draconian.

Kolkata, Jan 26 (PTI) In a goof-up, West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh unfurled the Tricolour upside down at a party office in Birbhum district during a Republic Day programme on Tuesday.

Immediately after unfurling the national flag at the party's Rampurhat office, Ghosh realised that the Tricolour was upside down with green on top and rectified the mistake by bringing it down and hoisting it properly.

Purulia (WB), Jan 19 (PTI) Terming the BJP as more dangerous than the Maoists, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accused the saffron party of making false promises to the people before elections.

The TMC supremo, whose party is witnessing an exodus ahead of the assembly elections due in April-May, asserted that politics is a solemn ideology and philosophy and one cannot daily change ideologies like clothes.