West Bengal

Kolkata, Jul 2 (PTI) The Bengal government on Friday urged the Election Commission (EC) to conduct pending bypolls in the state at the earliest, as it gave assurance that all COVID-19 protocols will be adhered to during the process.

Of the seven seats where elections are set to be held, Bhawanipore is the one that is expected to draw significant attention amid speculation that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who faced defeat in Nandigram, may contest bypoll from the constituency, which also happens to be her home turf.

Kolkata, Jul 2 (PTI) Kolkata Police arrested 19 people for allegedly duping citizens of foreign countries, particularly of Australia, through illegal call centres, an official said on Friday.

During a raid conducted late Thursday night, the police arrested these people who were working in different illegal call centres in the satellite township of Salt Lake, he said.

Kolkata, Jun 28 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday called Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar a "corrupt man" and questioned the purpose of his recent tour of North Bengal, alleging that a conspiracy was being hatched to divide the northern part of the state.

Banerjee also said she has written multiple letters to the Centre, seeking Dhankhar's removal.

Kolkata, Jun 21 (PTI) In yet another jolt to the BJP, the party's Alipurduar district president, Ganga Prasad Sharma, joined the TMC on Monday, as senior leader of the state's ruling party Mukul Roy, who also switched sides two weeks ago, claimed that this was the "beginning of the saffron party's end" in the state.

Seven other BJP leaders from the region, too, followed in Sharma's footsteps and joined the Mamata Banerjee camp.

Kolkata, June 17 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday slammed the BJP-led union government over its "efforts to control" Twitter and claimed that the Centre, having failed to influence the microblogging platform, is now trying to bulldoze it.

Drawing a parallel, Banerjee said her government, too, was being meted out the same treatment by the Centre.

Kolkata, Jun 9 (PTI) Farmer leaders led by Rakesh Tikait and Yudhvir Singh of the Bharatiya Kisan Union will be meeting West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday to elicit her support for the ongoing farmers' stir against the new agriculture laws and for a Minimum Support Price for farm produce.

Banerjee's support for the agitation which has drawn on the farmer community in rural north India, is being viewed as a potential booster which has been flagging in recent weeks.

Kolkata, Jun 7 (PTI) At least 20 persons were killed in lightning strikes in three districts of south Bengal on Monday, a state disaster management official said.

Nine persons died in Murshidabad, nine persons were killed in Hooghly and two others lost their lives in Purba Medinipur district, the official said.

Three more persons were also injured in lightning strikes in the Murshidabad district and were admitted to the Jangipur hospital for treatment, he said.

Kolkata, Jun 4 (PTI) Trinamool Congress leadership is yet to take a call on ghar wapsi (return home) by former TMC leaders who had joined the BJP ahead of the recently concluded assembly elections which the Mamata Banerjee-led party swept.

Top TMC sources said Banerjee, who is the party supremo, will take a final call on allowing those TMC men and women who had crossed over to the saffron party, re-entry into party.

Kolkata, May 31 (PTI) With the TMC having emerged victorious with a thumping majority in the recently concluded West Bengal assembly elections, turncoats who had quit the party to join the BJP seem to be making a beeline for re-entry into the Mamata Banerjee camp, the latest being Dipendu Biswas.

Biswas, who had switched sides after his name did not feature in the TMC's candidate list for the assembly polls, has expressed his desire to return to the ruling party in the state.

Kolkata, May 28 (PTI) West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar will attend a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to review the devastation caused by cyclone Yaas, officials said.

The meeting is scheduled to be held at Kalaikunda in Paschim Medinipur district on Friday afternoon after Modi undertakes an aerial survey of the affected areas, they said.

Dhankhar will receive the prime minister at the Kalaikunda Air Force Station, the officials said.