Bengal
Confronting an existential crisis under the ruling BJP in West Bengal, Left parties are set to contest the upcoming Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections as a unified bloc, bringing non-Left Front allies like SUCI(C) and CPI(ML) Liberation on board. Driven by a delimitation exercise that expanded KMC wards from 144 to 209 and recent clashes over Left book stalls, the CPI(M) has set aside its historical ‘big brother’ approach to share seats and build a wider resistance against the saffron camp.
The West Bengal government has officially notified a policy granting Group D government jobs to the next of kin of people killed in political violence from 2001 onwards. Announced by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari at Garbeta and formally notified by Chief Secretary Manoj Agarwal on November 1, the scheme extends compassionate appointments to spouses, children (including third-gender), or siblings of unmarried victims whose family income does not exceed ₹50,000 a month, with applications to be screened by district magistrate and police committees.
A catastrophic Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) in upper Bhutan has triggered red alerts across North Bengal, prompting the emergency evacuation of over 10,000 people in Alipurduar and Cooch Behar districts. With the Sankosh and Mo Chhu rivers receiving millions of cubic meters of sudden discharge, the West Bengal administration has deployed NDRF and SDRF rescue squads, opened relief camps in school buildings, and initiated widespread public warnings to prevent loss of life across vulnerable tea garden belts.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday (July 28, 2026) launched several helpline numbers to prevent corruption in public life
Trinamool Congress MLA Kunal Ghosh was forcibly removed and suspended from the West Bengal Assembly after disrupting proceedings over allegations that Mamata Banerjee loyalists were being systematically excluded from the speakers’ list. The confrontation highlighted deepening factional divides within the party as Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari intervened to limit Ghosh’s suspension
Severe tension flared up in West Bengal’s Baruipur after the body of an 11-year-old missing girl was found in a pond. Angry locals blocked trains, clashed with police, and lynched a suspected individual, forcing authorities to ban public gatherings across the area.
Tensions flared in North Kolkata on Sunday, July 5, 2026, after miscreants vandalized the base and nameplate of a newly installed statue dedicated to Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee. The destruction occurred on Sukiya Street during the early morning hours, just ahead of the leader’s 125th birth anniversary commemorations. Local workers discovered the damage around 10:00 AM, noting that the concrete tiles and name plaques of both Mookerjee’s statue and an adjacent monument honoring Gopal Mukherjee had been systematically smashed, though the upper busts of both figures remained untouched. The timing of the incident—occurring mere hours before a high-profile visit by Union Home Minister Amit Shah—triggered an immediate political firestorm. Members of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), who had spearheaded the installation, filed a formal FIR at the Amherst Street Police Station, denouncing the act as a calculated assault on Mookerjee’s ideological legacy. Kolkata Police moved swiftly to deploy forensic teams and comb through local CCTV networks to prevent inter-party clashes. Law enforcement authorities successfully apprehended a 26-year-old suspect from Narkeldanga later in the day in connection with the crime. Despite the localized unrest, the West Bengal government proceeded with official tributes, declaring Monday, July 6, a state public holiday as municipal repair crews worked around the clock to restore the monuments before the arrival of state dignitaries.
West Bengal has formally initiated the process of implementing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), with the state government constituting a high-level committee to prepare a draft of the proposed legislation. The panel will be headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai.
A structural disaster unfolded at West Bengal’s premier referral healthcare facility on Thursday, June 25, 2026, when an intense afternoon downpour triggered catastrophic waterlogging across the lower levels of SSKM Hospital (IPGMER) in Kolkata. The immediate infrastructure failure severely compromised patient safety as highly contaminated drain water breached the Cardiology and Gynecology departments, submerging expensive, low-standing life-saving medical equipment and trapping hundreds of vulnerable individuals. Within an hour, patient wards were transformed into hazardous zones with saline bottles, disposable gloves, and medical supplies floating across the floors, forcing distressed patients to sit cramped with their legs pulled up on their beds to avoid direct contact with the septic influx. The operational crisis reached a flashpoint when rising water invaded the primary lift shafts, forcing engineers to isolate power to the elevators for safety reasons. Left with no mechanical transport, desperate family members were forced to physically lift and carry critical patients on stretchers through knee-deep sludge to access upper-floor intensive care units. While the hospital administration and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) subsequently deployed heavy-duty suction pumps to slowly drain the facility by late evening, the operational breakdown has ignited fierce criticism regarding monsoon contingency infrastructure at the state’s flagship medical hub.
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