West Bengal Assembly Elections

A first-time voter, Anand Burman, was dragged outside the polling booth and killed in Cooch Behar district's Sitalkuchi area, on April 10, while the fourth phase of polling underway. Burman's family said the killing was instigated by TMC while BJP claims he was their polling agent. The culprit remains unidentified. The election official said, "we have sought a report". Police and Rapid Action Force was deployed to ease tension.

The second phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections recorded around 80% of voter turnout. Bengal on April 1 voted for 30 seats including the much-highlighted seat, 'Nandigram', where incumbent CM Mamata Banerjee is facing TMC-defected BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari. While CM Mamata claimed about malpractices like booth rigging at various places, the Election Commission discarded all her claims stating no disruption was noted by the observers… read-more

West Bengal's ex-Railway Minister and former Rajya Sabha member from Trinamool Congress (TMC) Dinesh Trivedi joined BJP in the presence of party president JP Nadda on March 6. Citing escalating violence in the state as a reason, Trivedi had on February 12 announced his resignation from the Rajya Sabha. After defecting, Dinesh said, "Golden moment I had been waiting for." Bengal will go for polls from March 27 in eight phases.

Ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections commencing from March 27, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) looks to possibly axe several sitting MLAs from its candidate list. CM Mamata Banerjee met the party's 12-member selection committee to pick fresh candidates for almost 30% of the 294 constituencies. Reportedly, the party is also preparing to induct youths, over one-third women and leaders with a neat image and acceptability, while… read-more