Mamata Banerjee

The ED raids on I-PAC premises and Mamata Banerjee's dramatic intervention have thrown the spotlight on how a political consultancy has quietly become central to the Trinamool Congress' electoral machine.

Reacting to the development, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya said an English professor had been penalised for performing her duty, calling it a standard procedure followed in examination halls.

For a leader routinely targeted by the BJP for "minority appeasement", the optics of Mamata Banerjee's recent actions are unmistakable, and appear carefully calculated.

You (Banerjee) are not just threatening Amit Shah; you are threatening India, says Patra, adding that this is not the first time that such an incident has happened in West Bengal.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, "When I visit a Gurdwara, I cover my head with a scarf. If I go (to an event) during Ramadan, why should I not (do the same)? Today, I am here, so I have covered myself with a scarf."

While the BJP has stripped the Congress of one of its most enduring UPA-era legacies, Mamata has stepped in to claim the Gandhian symbolism that once belonged almost exclusively to the grand old party.

Bhabanipur, a dense urban constituency, has a sizeable population of residents originally from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said that she herself had not filled out SIR enumeration form so far.

Owaisi’s renewed outreach coupled with anger over OBC quotas and the Waqf law signal a challenge to Mamata Banerjee’s long-held assumption that minority voters have nowhere else to go.

Banerjee said the PM was not even born when the country achieved Independence and yet chose to address one of Bengal's greatest cultural icons casually.

The appointment of the teachers, who were recruited in 2016 through the Teachers' Eligibility Test (TET) panel of 2014 by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, was challenged by a group of unsuccessful candidates who alleged recruitment fraud.

Rebel TMC MLA Humayun Kabir claimed 2,000 volunteers would be on the ground to ensure "no inconvenience to any community" and teased "a surprise" at the event.

As SIR becomes Bengal's defining political flashpoint ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls, the question is whether this strategy strengthens the Trinamool, or risks turning into a Bihar-style misfire.

State Transport minister Snehasish Chakraborty, however, blamed the helicopter service provider for the procedural lapse

"They are using Artificial Intelligence to create duplicate voters. This is BJP's new plan," Banerjee said as she intensified her attack against SIR exercise being undertaken by the Election Commission.

Addressing the crowd, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said the Election Commission's job is to remain impartial and not be a BJP commission.

In consistent with her previous demonstrations against the exercise, Banerjee alleged that the move may be aimed at serving “vested interests”, while the BJP swiftly countered her charges, accusing the Trinamool of trying to pressure the poll body.

The West Bengal CM shared her earlier letter to CEC Gyanesh Kumar on X, in which she wrote: "I am compelled to write to you as the situation surrounding the ongoing SIR has reached a deeply alarming stage."

Bandyopadhyay dismissed suggestions that the BJP’s strong performance in neighbouring Bihar could translate into gains in Bengal.

Demanding that the Centre put an end to what she called a "heartless game," Banerjee reiterated that Bengal would "never allow NRC" and would protect the dignity and rights of its people.