Mamata Banerjee

Banerjee made the allegation while inaugurating Rs 60-crore-skywalk at the famed Dakshineswar Temple here after Rani Rasmoni, its founder.

Banerjee also said that special assistance was also being given to the people of once Maoist-hit Jangalmahal, hill areas, cyclone 'Aila' affected region and Singur.

Suspended BJP MP Kirti Azad also came to meet her at the TMC office in Parliament, followed by Congress leaders Gulam Nabi Azad and Ahmed Patel, and Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav also met her.

CM Banerjee asserted that all the regional anti-BJP parties were together and they should sacrifice for the country's benefit.

When asked whether the federal front will include the Congress, the TMC supremo said, "The answer lies in the future. The Congress has to decide whether it will join the federal front."

A Third Front, a coalition of non-Congress and non-BJP parties is on the rise again ahead of the 2019 general elections. Read on for a brief history on the rise of a strong alliance.

Last week Mamata Banerjee was in Singur to give the land acquired for the Tata Nano factory back to the farmers. A section of farmers are despondent about their future. They have their land back, but cultivation on the land is not possible.

CNBC-TV18's Archana Shukla travelled to this village located in the Hoogly district of the state to find out the mood among farmers who are now receiving their land papers after a decade.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today handed over land 'parchas' and cheques to the farmers in Singur even as she sent messages to firms saying any company willing to set up auto firm in the state is "welcome".

"The strike is on. We are getting good response. More information will pour in after sometime. Around 90 percent workers at BHEL's plant in Tiruchirapalli have not reported at work in the morning shift," Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU) General Secretary Tapan Kumar Sen told PTI.

Thanking the people for the "unprecedented victory", Banerjee said politics in the state had hit a "historic low" during the electioneering and there should be a "Laxman Rekha" to maintain decency in public discourse.

In West Bengal, where Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress is making a determined bid for a second successive term, heavy voter turnout was recorded with an estimated 70 percent of 40.09 lakh electors casting their ballots in 18 of the state's 294 constituencies where polling is in progress till 3:30 pm.

Mamata Banerjee was seen hard-selling West Bengal to investors here, promising a business friendly environment and availability of land.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Jaitley praised West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for openly supporting GST and appealed to those opposing it that a message should not go to the world that Parliament in India is being an "obstruction".

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday greeted the "great nation" of Britain as she landed here on a five-day visit seeking to woo foreign investment for her state.

Addressing a press conference in the national capital following the Niti Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley claimed that several Chief Ministers had earlier agreed the land bill amendments.

While all Congress chief ministers remained absent from the meeting, it was attended by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Jammu and Kashmir CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, among others.

Speaking at the event today, finance minister Arun Jaitley said that the Centre will back investment in the state. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee meanwhile reiterated that differences with the Centre will not stall development in the state.

Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-Chief, CNN-IBN believes there will always be bickering over seats and also that the alliances trouble perhaps is being overdone.

TMC chief, Mamata Banerjee in an exclusive interview to Network18 said her party wants to play a role at the centre.