Kolkata/Jaldapara: The forest department has put in place special measures to ensure voter safety during the first phase of the Bengal assembly elections on Thursday, with a focus on elephant-prone areas of south and north Bengal.Around 25 polling booths have been identified as sensitive in south Bengal because of their proximity to active elephant corridors….
Kolkata: Trinamool MLA Khagendra Nath Mahata from Gopiballavpur in Jhargram joined the BJP on Wednesday evening, hours before the constituency goes to polls. Mahata, a doctor, was denied a ticket by Trinamool for the 2026 elections.“The party has broken the trust of the people in Jangalmahal. No decent neta can survive in it. I had…
Kolkata: PM Narendra Modi, who is likely to hold nine rallies and three road shows across Bengal over the next five days, may also include a padayatra in his schedule. Modi is slated to address three rallies and hold a road show in Kolkata on Thursday. According to sources, he may return to the city…
KOLKATA: Supreme Court-mandated tribunals have restored voting rights to 139 people – .005% of more than 27 lakh names struck off rolls in the first phase during judicial adjudication under special intensive revision (SIR) – on the eve of round one of Bengal assembly polls Thursday. SIR has cut Bengal’s electorate from 7.6 crore to…
Kolkata: Dry cell giant Eveready plans to double the alkaline share of its portfolio in the next three years after commissioning its Jammu plant. Eveready Industries India CEO Anirban Banerjee told TOI that a higher alkaline mix would also improve margins. “Once we start making alkaline end to end, our margin would go up,” he…
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress on Wednesday sparked a fresh political row ahead of the first phase of the Bengal assembly elections, accusing an Election Commission-appointed police observer of holding a “clandestine” meeting with a BJP candidate.The party in power alleged that the observer, Parmar Smit Parshottamdas, bypassed official protocol to meet Gour Sundar Ghosh at a…
Kolkata: Congress secured permission on Wednesday for Rahul Gandhi to hold three rallies in Bengal on Saturday — a day after police denied clearance for his April 23 appearances.Gandhi will address rallies in Sreerampore, Metiaburuz and at Shahid Minar in central Kolkata, in that order, said Congress senior Amitabha Chakraborty. Congress had originally proposed Ramlila…
Kolkata: The EC ‘erred’ in issuing a blanket direction by treating citizens as ‘troublemakers,’ Calcutta High Court on Wednesday observed while granting interim stay on the order naming 800 people as ‘troublemakers’ till June 30, 2026. “The general power of superintendence and control of EC under Article 324 is subject to other law,” the Calcutta…
Kolkata: Following the EC prohibition on the sale of liquor for nine and a half days in Bengal during the election, a sizeable number of bars-cum-restaurants in Sector V, New Town and some parts of south Kolkata have decided to down their shutters on the commission-imposed dry days. The most affected area is Sector V,…
Kolkata: The EC’s no-outsider-on-premises rule has drawn flak from residents of city high-rises, some of whom vote in places like East Burdwan but stay in a gated complex in Kolkata. Some others have relatives coming over from Mumbai or other places for the summer vacation. The EC order banning everyone from outside a particular constituency…
