As TMC merger speculation grows amid internal turmoil, Congress is unlikely to replace Mallikarjun Kharge with Mamata Banerjee as Rajya Sabha Opposition leader New Delhi: After suffering a crushing setback in the West Bengal Assembly elections, Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee is reportedly facing mounting political challenges. With defections among legislators and parliamentarians, resignations by Rajya Sabha members, and growing speculation about the future of

AI generated image New Delhi: Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief and former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, along with her nephew and MP Abhishek Banerjee, is facing a series of political setbacks, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continues to consolidate its position both in West Bengal and at the national level. The BJP is working to strengthen the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in both Houses of Parliament before the 2027 Budget Session, enabling it to pa

Writing this piece, I find myself thinking of Shakespeare’s Margaret. Those who have read the Henry plays or Richard III will understand why. Margaret rose from nothing to the heart of English royal power. She fought, she governed, and she eventually became an irrelevant shadow haunting the court of her enemies, clutching at past glories, refusing to accept defeat. On the political stage of West Bengal, that scene has just been performed again. Let me go back a little to some

The 2026 Assembly poll results have shown that India’s voters are shifting from familiarity to aspiration by rewarding those leaders and parties who promise a credible path to the future. Something significant has shifted in Indian politics, and we are still trying to explain it using the comfort of old ideas. For decades, we believed elections in India were won on the strength of grassroots connection. The party that knew the people best, that walked their streets, spoke the

BJP candidate for Bhabanipur and Nandigram constituencies Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the prestigious Bhabanipur seat, shows a certificate of election on Monday. Pic: PTI Mumbai: The Bengali word “Poriborton” translates to profound change. While it was initially fiercely utilized as the central battle cry for the assembly elections in West Bengal, the final tally from all five state elections reveals that the spirit of the word

The keenly-contested state elections in four states and a union territory witnessed mandates that have taken a tectonic turn in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The voters here have delivered verdicts that have completely upended entrenched narratives and redrawn the Indian political map with unusual force. The most dramatic upheaval unfolded in West Bengal, where the Bharatiya Janata Party pulled off what once seemed improbable: dislodging Mamata Banerjee and her All Indi

While exit polls sketch a dramatic map of India’s electoral mood, the line between projection and verdict remains perilously thin. With the ballots across five politically pivotal arenas of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry falling silent until the results are announced on May 4, poll surveyors have filled the vacuum with exit poll numbers that excite, alarm and often mislead. These projections have already begun shaping narratives well before D-Day on May

Political circle wonders whether the historic 92.88 per cent turnout reflects anti-incumbency or stronger support for the ruling regime Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves during a roadshow amid the ongoing West Bengal Assembly elections in Dum Dum, North 24 Parganas district. New Delhi: West Bengal's political landscape appears to be scripting a new narrative this time, one written through numbers, but rich in deeper meaning. In the first phase of the assembly elections, 92.8

For a state as fractious and combustible as West Bengal, the first phase of the 2026 assembly election delivered a record 92.89 percent turnout, which was roughly ten percentage points higher than in 2021. The credit for this disciplined exercise, in no small measure, belongs to the Election Commission which managed to conduct a largely peaceful poll in a state where elections have historically been anything but tranquil. Following a controversial Special Intensive Revision (

The shocking events in Malda, West Bengal, where seven judicial officers were held hostage for hours during a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise while being denied basic amenities, are the logical outcome of a political ecosystem nurtured under the state’s mercurial Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The officers, acting under court orders were gheraoed, deprived of food and water, and released only after a late-night rescue involving central forces. The Supreme Court of

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee holds a child on the occassion of Eid al-Fitr in Kolkata on Saturday. New Delhi: In the West Bengal assembly elections, issues of illegal infiltration and freebies are set to dominate the discourse. The BJP is weaving its strategy around infiltration, while the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has countered by branding the 'Special Intensive Revision' (SIR) as the first phase of the National Register of Citizens (NRC). In this race, the TMC