Politics
The Election Commission of India has frozen the Trinamool Congress name and ‘Flowers & Grass’ symbol for the October 6 bypolls, assigning separate interim designations to factions led by Mamata Banerjee and Arup Roy. Amid an urgent Supreme Court challenge by the party supremo, an emerging Congress-Mamata alignment has prompted the resignation of Trinamool’s Nandigram nominee.
The upcoming October 6 by-elections in Nandigram and Rejinagar have turned into a crucial referendum on Bengal’s political ground reality. While the BJP seeks to consolidate its hold, the contest between Mamata Banerjee’s loyalists and Ritabrata Banerjee’s dissident bloc will decide who commands actual public support as the state’s true opposition voice.
The fight for control of the Trinamool Congress reached the Election Commission of India on Thursday as rival camps led by Mamata Banerjee and Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee staked claim to the party name and symbol. With high-profile by-elections in Nandigram and Rejinagar scheduled for October 6, the ECI’s imminent verdict will determine which faction enters the fray as the authentic TMC.
Internal rebellion hit the Bengal BJP as workers from five districts stormed the party’s Salt Lake headquarters, demanding changes to the 2026 candidate list. With protesters threatening a poll boycott over the nomination of “outsiders,” senior leaders Suvendu Adhikari and Samik Bhattacharya have headed to the capital to address the growing grassroots anger before the campaign hits full throttle.
Kolkata | March 2026As election season intensifies in Kolkata, one question dominates political conversations across…
The BJP has sounded the poll bugle in Assam by releasing a candidate list that balances tradition with tactical acquisitions. While CM Himanta Biswa Sarma seeks to retain Jalukbari, recent Congress heavyweight Pradyut Bordoloi will lead the charge in Dispur, highlighting the BJP’s strategy of absorbing opposition leaders to weaken the Congress ahead of the April 9 vote.
Assam’s political landscape has been upended just weeks before the 2026 elections as senior Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi jumped ship to the BJP. While Priyanka Gandhi Vadra expressed regret over the “unfortunate” move, Bordoloi claimed he was forced out by a culture of isolation, marking the second major high-profile defection from the Assam Congress in a month.
With global oil supplies under threat and the Strait of Hormuz effectively a battleground, the Indian Navy has deployed over six warships to escort its fuel tankers to safety. Following direct talks between PM Modi and the Iranian leadership, Indian ships are among the few granted passage, providing a vital boost to India’s domestic energy security as fuel prices surge worldwide.
The Union government’s decision to release from jail climate activist in Ladakh Sonam Wangchuk six months after he was arrested under the draconian National Security Act to “facilitate dialogue” is a welcome move, and moreover, a welcome realisation on the part of the government about the folly of taking a confrontationist attitude towards legitimate demands of the people.
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