Names of 139 voters, deleted during adjudication, were added to the electoral rolls for the first phase of elections on Thursday after the appellate tribunals cleared their names following a Supreme Court order.The EC uploaded the list of voters ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphChief minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on the BJP, accusing it of coercing migrant labourers into pledging votes in its favour by invoking religion.Addressing public meetings at Amdanga in North 24-Parganas ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphAward-winning poet Srijato Bandyopadhyay said on Wednesday that an arrest warrant had been issued against him.The warrant, issued by the “Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate” of “Krishnagar, Nadia (In-Charge)”, is against “Srijata Bandhopadhyay” and is to be executed by the ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphCampaigning may have stopped in the Darjeeling hills for the Bengal Assembly polls, but the debate brewed stronger across the region on Wednesday, the eve of the polling day.The Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong Assembly seats have never been so ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphArmoured vehicles roll through the streets. An unprecedented 2,407 companies of central forces have been deployed. Heads of all Central Armed Police Forces held a meeting — never before convened in Calcutta — in a hall packed with uniformed ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphCPM general secretary MA Baby on Wednesday saw imprints of Germany under Adolf Hitler in the way Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah were using the Citizenship Amendment Act, National Register of Citizens, census evaluation ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphTwenty-eight women polling staff, who travelled 12 hours by bus on Wednesday with EVMs to reach polling stations in East Midnapore's Kolaghat from the collection centre in Tamluk, fell ill from the intense heat.All 28 women, assigned duties in ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphLoreto College can go ahead with its plan to seek autonomy, Calcutta University has said. CU has informed Loreto College that the affiliating university has no objections to the minority college’s decision to apply to the UGC for autonomy.The ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphThree members of a family in Tangra were injured following a clash over parking cars on Tuesday night, police said.Trouble began after Bickram Khatik went to park his car outside his house on Pulin Khatik Road around 9.15pm on ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphTrains arrived one after another. Droves got off the unreserved and general compartments. Platforms hummed with a restless energy. Dust kicked up from thousands of scuffing chappals. Most of them had one bag slung across their shoulder and another ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphPolling teams, accompanied by central forces, have begun visiting homes to collect votes from the elderly (above 85 years) and persons with disabilities.The Election Commission of India has decided that voters over 85 years of age and persons with ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphA division bench of the high court on Wednesday said that a citizen’s freedom can be curtailed only in accordance with law and held that the police observer in Bengal had “erred” in recommending action against around 800 people, ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphThe Election Commission, in a fresh order late on Tuesday, partially rolled back its blanket ban on two-wheelers two days before polling, allowing app-based bike services, food delivery riders and office-goers travelling with pillion passengers.With this, commercial bike services ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphActor and former Trinamool MP from Basirhat, Nusrat Jahan, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday in connection with a probe into an alleged housing fraud in Rajarhat.ED officials had earlier questioned Nusrat for nearly six hours in 2023 ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphNearly 36 hours after liquor sales and services were halted across Calcutta and its neighbouring districts in the name of ensuring “free and fair elections”, the poll panel said it had not ordered any such ban.Late on Tuesday evening, ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphThe Election Commission is using the distribution of voter slips at home to recheck the electoral rolls for missing, shifted or deceased voters.The names of people who have died between the start of the SIR exercise in October last ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphIn Malda’s English Bazar, remove the party flags and this election is easy to miss.On a sweltering afternoon, party offices sit half-empty, their shutters pulled halfway down. A few plastic chairs, a cluster of flags, and a poster curling ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphThe Calcutta High Court on Wednesday stayed an order of the Election Commission's police observer, engaged in the West Bengal assembly elections, who termed several citizens as "troublemakers" and directed action against them.Acting on a PIL that claimed people's ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphCongress workers in Murshidabad believe that Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is “the Shah Rukh Khan” of Berhampore. A candidate who needs no star campaigner because, they insist, he is the star.Back in the electoral fray of the Assembly after three ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphWhile Bengal observes a 96-hour liquor ban ahead of the first phase of the Assembly elections, police and the excise department late Tuesday night seized a luxury car carrying a large consignment of liquor during a raid in Murshidabad’s ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphWest Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday expressed surprise over the deployment of CRPF armoured vehicles for maintaining law and order during the Assembly polls, alleging that the BJP-led Centre has engaged all wings of the government to ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphFifty-nine seats across four districts — accounting for nearly 39 per cent of the 152 constituencies that will vote in the first phase of the Assembly elections on Thursday — could prove decisive in determining which party gains early ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphCongress leader Rahul Gandhi’s rallies in Kolkata and Serampore, earlier cancelled over lack of police clearance, have been rescheduled for April 25 after authorities granted permission, a party official said on Wednesday."The first rally of Rahul Gandhi will be ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphPolling across West Bengal for the Assembly Election 2026 would be held in two phases: the 1st phase on April 23 across 152 constituencies in 16 districts of the state. While the 2nd phase is scheduled for April 29 ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphThe Election Commission on Wednesday released booth-wise lists of voters cleared by tribunals to vote in the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections, allowing eligible citizens whose names were removed during the Special Intensive Revision to cast ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphPrakash, who lives in a nondescript village near Kolkata that is part of the Magrahat West Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district, is confident of his party, the BJP, winning the Bengal election, but he makes no bones ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphThe death of 22-year-old Nur Azam at Gunjaria within the Islampur police station limits in North Dinajpur district on Monday night triggered a political controversy.The deceased youth’s family has alleged that he was assaulted, which led to his death.The ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphJitnita Toppo, a visually impaired girl from the Debijhora tea estate of Darjeeling district, has scored an impressive 75.6 per cent in her Class X CBSE examinations by writing her exams using a computer.Born into a humble family, Jitnita ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphThe demand for separate municipalities has emerged as a rare point of convergence between the Trinamool Congress and the BJP in the Matigara–Naxalbari Assembly constituency in the Siliguri subdivision ahead of the Assembly elections.Anandamay Barman, the outgoing BJP MLA ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphHundreds of river erosion victims across four Assembly constituencies in Malda district are struggling after their names were allegedly removed from the electoral rolls, stripping them of their voting rights.The plight of Malda’s erosion victims highlights a critical gap ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphA bitter blame game between the BJP and Trinamool Congress candidates marked the final day of campaigning in the Siliguri Assembly constituency on Tuesday, just hours before the campaign period officially ended.Outgoing BJP MLA and current candidate Shankar Ghosh ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphUnion home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday sought to stoke the sentiments of the Gorkhas to galvanise support in the three Assembly constituencies of the Darjeeling hills and in the foothills by assuring that if the BJP grabbed power ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphThe Supreme Court on Wednesday sharply criticised West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for allegedly obstructing a raid conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Kolkata. "This is not a dispute between the Centre and the state. A ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphWest Bengal on Wednesday breached the 42-degree Celsius mark, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting heatwave conditions over major parts of northwest, central and eastern India in the next four to five days.The IMD on Wednesday warned of ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphThe Trinamool on Wednesday accused the BJP nominee from Shyampukur constituency in north Calcutta of collecting data on voters on the pretext of distributing forms for Yuvashakti Bharosa card, the BJP’s promise for monthly dole to Bengal’s youth if ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphActor and former TMC MP Nusrat Jahan appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Kolkata on Wednesday in connection with its ongoing probe into an alleged housing project fraud linked to Rajarhat, officials said. The actor, who had earlier ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphAs concerns grow over alleged large-scale deletions from electoral rolls in Bengal, a cross-faith gathering in the city on Tuesday turned to prayer, calling for the restoration of voting rights and peaceful elections.The response should not be violence, but ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphA seemingly harmless gift card on a parent’s phone may not be as innocent as it appears — it could be a trap set by cybercriminals, warns a schoolgirl in a video message.“Cyber criminals look for just one mistake ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphMany aspiring schoolteachers are struggling to secure jobs despite being recommended, following complaints of “discrepancies” in the vacancy list prepared by the education department.A state secondary education board official said they have received complaints that when candidates selected for ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphThe Election Commission has laid down specific requirements for setting up polling stations inside housing complexes, including a room large enough to function as a polling booth, space to accommodate security personnel and polling officials for at least a ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphCalcutta University has asked affiliated colleges to hold all undergraduate classes online from April 22 to May 5 due to the elections. The university’s inspector of colleges, Diptendu Chatterjee, on Tuesday sent a circular to all the colleges, asking ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphA fire at Anandalok Hospital in Salt Lake on Tuesday morning forced authorities to evacuate all patients and suspend operations for the day. The fire started inside the Cath Lab.An employee of the hospital said some people noticed smoke ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphA division bench of the high court on Tuesday ruled that government college teachers must serve as presiding officers in the Assembly elections, because “every citizen has to work in the national interest and no one can overlook that”.The ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphSchools have decided to call off classes next week or shift to online lessons in view of the elections.Buses have been requisitioned for election duty, and a large number of students depend on school buses for their daily commute.The ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphA 68-year-old security guard at a residential building in New Town is running from one government office to another, travelling for hours in an effort to reclaim his family’s voting rights.The names of Biswanath Dhali, from Srirampur village under ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphRakesh Singh, the BJP candidate from Kolkata Port constituency, allegedly instigated an attack on police during a political clash in Ekbalpore on Monday evening.A video purportedly shows Singh threatening to kill the officer-in-charge of the local Ekbalpore police station, ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphA closed bar does not merely mean a halt in alcohol sales.It signals a sharp fall in the number of people eating out. It means an uncertain future for bartenders, mixologists and servers. It means fewer rides for cab ...
23 April 2026 TelegraphIt’s a hot April afternoon. A battered Bolero is speeding towards Binpur.The 64-year-old widow in the front passenger seat of the non-AC car gazes at a passing, poorly attended Trinamool Congress procession. She looks upset.“Did you see the number ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphSuresh Chandra Mahato, 31, braves a tormenting sun and walks hurriedly towards the market through his small patch of land after plucking sponge gourd before it starts to rot.A portion of his harvest has already gone to waste as ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphAfter liquor and bikes, the Election Commission has turned its attention to Bengal’s tourist places. The Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal has issued a directive calling tourists and non-residents to exit the state’s popular coastal destinations in Purba ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphFor a section of Bengal’s first-time voters, this Assembly election is not just about choosing a government but about deciding whether to stay or leave.Across constituencies, young voters aged 18 to 21 speak with a sense of doubt that ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphIn the quiet hamlets of Sitalkuchi, in West Bengal's Cooch Behar district, the air usually carries the scent of damp earth and ripening paddy. But as the 2026 Assembly elections in West Bengal draw near, a different atmosphere has ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphUnion Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday promised that the BJP would resolve the decades-old Gorkha issue within six months if the BJP comes to power in West Bengal.He said no party other than the BJP could find a ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphAt least six people were killed and some were injured in two road accidents on NH12 in North Dinajpur district on Monday morning.A source said the first accident took place in the Mahadebpur area of Raiganj. A stone-laden dumper ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphCongress national president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday accused the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of misleading the country over the women’s reservation bill, claiming that it attempted to use the legislation as a pretext to enforce delimitation.Kharge was ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphThe Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a PIL which sought declarations of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose as a “National Son” and the Indian National Army founded by him as one that had secured the country’s independence.A bench of Chief ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphA fresh political development involving the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) has drawn attention in the region’s electoral landscape, barely days before north Bengal votes on April 23.Krishna Das, Trinamool’s Jalpaiguri candidate, on Saturday sought support from self-styled KLO chief ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphParivartan (change) is most likely to take place across the Darjeeling hills on May 4, when the results of the Bengal Assembly elections will be declared.This is because three political parties that are drawing the largest crowds in their ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphThe state forest department has initiated extensive measures to ensure peaceful polling at booths in forest and forest-fringe areas of north Bengal ahead of the Assembly elections, with special focus on preventing human-animal conflict.Sources in the department said nearly ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphGolam Sarwar, an Independent candidate of the Goalpokhar Assembly constituency in North Dinajpur, has been campaigning using flex boards and banners that display not only his own image and election symbol but also the photograph of a Congress candidate ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphChief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday expressed fear that many Trinamool Congress workers could face arrests ahead of the two-phase Bengal Assembly elections scheduled for April 23 and 29.Her party on Monday moved Calcutta High Court seeking immediate judicial ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphThe Election Commission has asked district authorities to keep a strong vigil on areas with a high number of deletions of names in the last 72 hours before the first-phase polling on April 23.The poll panel apprehends that politically ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphRestaurateur Nitin Kothari could not recall another instance of an election-related liquor ban lasting more than eight days in his 52 years in the business.“I can’t think of such a prolonged ban on alcohol sales,” said Kothari, 79, owner ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphAsked how she spends her Lakshmir Bhandar money, Purnima Mahato doesn’t need to think.“I haven’t got a notebook like you to jot down the details of my expenses, but I can give you a rough account,” the 35-year-old says ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphSixty per cent of voters in this Assembly segment on Calcutta’s southwestern fringe are Muslim. In Metiabruz, the special intensive revision of electoral rolls is not merely a political controversy — it is an existential crisis.The numbers tell a ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphFire broke out at Anandalok Hospital in Salt Lake on Tuesday morning, triggering panic as thick smoke filled the building and patients were rushed out to safety.According to reports, the blaze started on the second floor of the hospital. ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphCalcutta University told principals of affiliated colleges on Monday that for an undergraduate student to pursue honours with research during their fourth year, the relevant department must have at least two teachers with PhD degrees.The UGC (University Grants Commission) ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphLaws exist to support women in their fight for justice, but the decision to step forward and use them must come from within, speakers said at a panel on upholding women’s rights in the city.While legal frameworks create opportunity, ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphThe Election Commission on Monday suspended three officials on election duty at the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency for “dereliction of duty” and ordered departmental proceedings against them. Suranjan Das, Souvik Nandy and Satyaranjan Paul were suspended through separate circulars issued ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphThe Election Commission has moved a division bench of the high court, challenging a single-bench order that set aside its decision to engage government college teachers as presiding officers for the Assembly polls. The petition is likely to be ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphThe state excise department stands to lose around ₹600 crore if prohibition in Calcutta and adjoining districts is enforced across Bengal during the election period.Calcutta went dry on April 20. Barring a brief window on April 24 and till ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphMotorcycles will not be allowed on roads between 6pm and 6am starting two days before polling in Bengal, the Election Commission said on Monday.Pillion riders will not be allowed even during the relaxation window of 6am to 6pm, except ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphMamata Banerjee campaigned in Bhabanipur on Monday evening with a series of visits to housing complexes along Shakespeare Sarani, interacting with residents ahead of the April 29 poll.The chief minister and Trinamool Congress supremo struck a personal note, recalling ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphThe Trinamool Congress on Monday approached Calcutta High Court, seeking protection for leaders whose names appear on an Election Commission list of “troublemakers” that has been informally shared with police for action.Senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee mentioned the matter before ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphThe hospitality sector was stunned by the sudden extension of liquor restrictions for the elections, with industry stakeholders questioning the rationale behind the move and fearing steep financial losses.“The industry stands to lose around ₹1,000 crore in nine-and-a-half days. ...
22 April 2026 TelegraphWest Bengal is heading into the first phase of assembly elections on April 23, with a fresh legal dispute in the Calcutta High Court over allegations linked to possible arrests of Trinamool Congress workers.Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MP and ...
21 April 2026 TelegraphWest Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday evening claimed "non-cooperation from central agencies" was hampering her travel plans during the poll season and alleged that her flight was held up for half an hour.Addressing a rally in Beleghata ...
21 April 2026 TelegraphVoters stepping out on April 23 for the first phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections 2026 phase 1 are likely to face a mix of heat and scattered rain, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).The IMD has ...
21 April 2026 TelegraphThe Trinamool Congress on Monday claimed Union home minister Amit Shah has called a meeting with the heads of three central agencies, the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Enforcement Directorate and the National Investigation Agency and something “devious” was ...
21 April 2026 TelegraphMayor Firhad Hakim is the third-highest earning candidate contesting in the second phase of the Bengal polls, scheduled for April 29 across 144 seats in the state.The 11 Assembly seats in Kolkata, including Kolkata Port represented by Hakim, are ...
21 April 2026 TelegraphThe Election Commission (EC) has deployed 2,407 companies of Central Armed Police Forces, over 2.4 lakh personnel, for Phase 1 of the Bengal Assembly elections on April 23 in which 152 constituencies, more than half of the state’s 294 ...
21 April 2026 TelegraphRuksana Khatun, 12, sits cross-legged on the mud floor of her house in Suti in Bengal’s Murshidabad, around 280 km from Kolkata, rolling tobacco into tendu leaves before leaving for school.Her mother, Rahima Bibi, works at a frantic speed ...
21 April 2026 TelegraphYou don’t need to necessarily cross a river under the cover of darkness or cut through a wire fence to become a “Bangladeshi infiltrator” in the borderlands of north Bengal. The recipe is far simpler, a three-step sequence that ...
21 April 2026 TelegraphThe fear of political violence “is a lingering feeling” in Cooch Behar’s Dinhata, as one local resident said. Located near the India-Bangladesh border around 728 km north of Kolkata, Dinhata’s political character has been shaped by geography, migration and ...
21 April 2026 TelegraphThe Supreme Court will seek a report from the Calcutta High Court on the functioning of the 19 appellate tribunals set up to hear appeals of voters deleted from the electoral rolls.On Monday, senior advocate Devadatt Kamat mentioned the ...
21 April 2026 TelegraphReports that I-PAC had paused its Bengal operations for at least the next three weeks prompted Trinamool to issue an official denial on Sunday and allege a BJP conspiracy to distract people amid what the ruling party said was ...
21 April 2026 TelegraphPrime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Bankura’s Bishnupur on Sunday for his first rally in Bengal since the women’s reservation Bill failed to muster the necessary numbers in Parliament, and tore into Trinamool Congress, accusing the party of betraying ...
20 April 2026 TelegraphFormer Union minister Dinesh Trivedi is learnt to have been chosen as the next High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh.Although BJP leaders began congratulating him from Sunday afternoon, there was no confirmation on his appointment from the ministry of ...
20 April 2026 TelegraphChief minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday mounted a scathing offensive on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his Saturday address to the nation regarding the failure of the women’s reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha, calling out his “hypocrisy” and ...
20 April 2026 TelegraphSaddam Hossain fears his mother might lose the Indian citizenship she obtained a decade ago and feels nervous every time a BJP leader says “infiltrators” would be pushed back into Bangladesh.Saddam, a man in his early 30s, is a ...
20 April 2026 TelegraphProminent leaders of the BJP who campaigned in north Bengal on Sunday accused the Trinamool Congress of halting the passage of the women’s reservation bill in Parliament.Anti-BJP parties had alleged that the BJP wanted to pass the delimitation bill ...
20 April 2026 TelegraphAmong the many epoch-making events of 2011, an elephantine problem that has lingered since then appears to have ebbed in Bengal’s election season.A herd of 38 elephants that entered Jhargram from neighbouring Jharkhand and remained entrenched in Bengal’s jungles ...
20 April 2026 TelegraphAs Narendra Modi and Amit Shah grab the headlines with their high-decibel election speeches, the RSS has been quietly engaged in a grassroots campaign towards a Hindu consolidation ahead of the Bengal Assembly polls.The BJP’s ideological fountainhead, which has ...
20 April 2026 TelegraphOnce turned away by mainstream schools for being hard of hearing and for struggling with her speech, a girl who often found herself excluded from social circles has carved a quiet, determined path to success, scoring 72.4% in the ...
20 April 2026 TelegraphA student of a private university was allegedly assaulted with cigarette burns and threatened with death by a group of fellow students demanding ₹1 lakh, according to a police complaint filed on Friday.Till Sunday evening, the police had detained ...
20 April 2026 TelegraphKKR’s first victory in seven matches rejuvenated the team’s fans who flocked to Eden Gardens on Sunday.Arnab Ganguly, a resident of Behala, arrived with his 12-year-old son, tickets in hand for Sunday’s match. The purple brigade’s dismal run had ...
20 April 2026 TelegraphA section of students at IIT Kharagpur has sought an open-house interaction with the institute’s director to discuss measures needed to prevent a recurrence of student deaths on campus.Students associated with The Scholars Avenue, which describes itself as an ...
20 April 2026 TelegraphAddressing voters in Bhabanipur on Sunday, Mamata Banerjee said her government had ushered in an era of stability and uninterrupted business, while cautioning that a BJP victory could jeopardise this peace.At her first campaign event in Bhabanipur on Sunday ...
20 April 2026 TelegraphThe Trinamool Congress on Sunday rejected reports that political consultancy firm I-PAC had stopped its work in West Bengal, calling the claim “completely baseless” and an attempt to disrupt its campaign.The reaction came hours after a report said the ...
19 April 2026 TelegraphThe Enforcement Directorate on Sunday arrested a Kolkata-based businessman after it conducted searches against him and Kolkata Police Deputy Commissioner Shantanu Sinha Biswas as part of a money laundering probe against an alleged criminal-linked syndicate in the poll-bound state, ...
19 April 2026 Telegraph