scorecardresearch
Add as a preferred source on Google
Wednesday, April 22, 2026
HomePolitics

Politics

How tea gardens in North Bengal, key to poll fortunes of BJP & TMC, have kept both guessing

There are 408 tea gardens in North Bengal — 84 on Darjeeling hills & 324 in Terai & Dooars. The labour force is key to elections in 16 assembly seats in region, 13 of which vote today.

Mamata Banerjee’s purported audio clip with TMC leader on Cooch Behar firing stirs row

BJP's IT Cell chief Amit Malviya claimed that the 'chief minister is trying to instigate riots by asking her party leaders to take out rallies with bodies'.

Will ask EC to stop inflow of outsiders from Gujarat behind Covid surge in Bengal: Mamata

Banerjee, during a public meeting, said the BJP brought people from 'worst-hit' states like Gujarat for erecting marquees for PM Modi's poll rallies.

Uddhav govt, battling Covid & minister resignations, faces another test: Its first bypoll

Voting for the Pandharpur-Mangalwedha bypoll is Saturday, and is the first assembly seat election after the 2019 state polls, which propelled the Maha Vikas Aghadi government to power.

How Gorkha factions, new Mamata ally & BJP have kept cry for Gorkhaland out of the hills

Elections to 3 assembly seats in the Darjeeling hills — Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong — are to be held on 17 April.

FIR against Mamata Banerjee in Cooch Behar for ‘instigating’ voters to attack central forces

Siddique Ali Mia, BJP's Cooch Behar minority cell zilla chief, claimed Mamata’s speech provoked voters to attack CISF men, leading to forces opening fire and the deaths of four people.

Covid-positive Congress candidate Rezaul Haque dies in Kolkata days before Murshidabad poll

Haque, the party's nominee from Samsherganj constituency in Murshidabad district, was initially admitted to a private hospital in Jangipur and later transferred.

BJP cancels UP panchayat poll plan amid Covid surge, won’t hold ward-level public meetings

Four-phase panchayat polls in UP begin Thursday. India is currently experiencing a Covid wave that has seen mounting case tallies, and situation is grim in UP as well. 

TMC MPs list EC’s ‘inaction, understand, overaction’ during Bengal polls

TMC MPs listed speeches of PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah alleging that they have made statements that are in 'violation' of the Model Code of Conduct.

BJP won’t be able to win even 70 seats in ongoing state polls, says Mamata Banerjee

Speaking at a rally in Jalpaiguri district, the TMC chief ridiculed PM Modi’s recent claim that BJP had already won a 100 seats in the four phases of the election to the 294-seat assembly.

On Camera

The Bengal voter is silent. Is it fear or quiet determination?

The silence may have to do with the state’s history of political violence. During the 2021 post-poll violence, BJP leaders 'ran away leaving their voters at the mercy of the mob'.

FTA partners drive India’s trade surge as reliance on non-FTA countries dips, says NITI Aayog report

Share of trade with FTA partners rose from 4.6% in 2006 to 28.8% in 2024. India is currently negotiating or advancing agreements with US, Israel, GCC, Canada & Mexico.

Japan overhauls post-World War II pacifist military approach, lifts restrictions on defence exports

Since October last year, Japan PM Sanae Takaichi has planned to increase defence spending target to 2 percent of GDP.

Trump, Netanyahu’s Iran gamble: The regime change rebound

American objectives are unmet. They neither have muscle nor motivation to resume the war. As for Iran, the regime didn’t just survive, it’s now led by more radical individuals.