The cabinet on Monday approved recommendations of the West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes (WBCBC) to include 76 new castes on the list for OBC, an official said.
These 76 new castes would be added to the existing 64 ethnic groups on the Other Backward Class (OBC) list in the state, he said.
West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose on Monday (June 2, 2025) dismissed speculations over his removal from the gubernatorial post, asserting that he will move forward with renewed vigour in his quest to restore the State’s “lost reputation” and make it free from violence.
Mr. Bose, who resumed duties at the Raj Bhavan on May 29 after spending nearly a month in hospital due to a cardiac condition, said he would soon start visiting rural regions of the State, including the violence-hit areas of Murshidabad and Malda, to bring back the feeling of bonhomie among various communities.
Asserting that the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) would form a government in West Bengal after the 2026 Assembly election, Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday (June 1, 2025) said that the time of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s rule was coming to an end.
“Didi (Mamata Banerjee), your rule has come to an end. In 2026, Bharatiya Janata Party will form the government. Didi, I dare you to hold elections without violence and rigging, and the people of Bengal will ensure that you lose your deposit,” he said.
Even as it continues its more than a decade long tenure as West Bengal’s ruling dispensation, Trinamool Congress cannot be called a structured political outfit where decisions taken by consensus are made into public policies. But of late, some organisational changes are being carried out like formation of core committee which indicate a small step towards collective decision making though in reality party supremo, Mamata Banerjee the principal vote catcher continues to call the shots.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced that a notification for fresh teacher recruitment will be issued by the 31st of May following the Supreme Court’s directive to address the fallout from the West Bengal School Service Commission or the WBSSC recruitment scam. The recruitment, announced during a press conference at the state secretariat will potentially aim to fill 24,203 vacant teaching positions while offering relief measures to educators affected by the court’s previous ruling that invalidated over 25 thousand irregular appointments.
The absence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the 10th Governing Council meeting of the NITI Aayog in New Delhi on Saturday (May 24, 2025) drew sharp criticism from Opposition parties, particularly in light of pending central funds to the State under key schemes.
The meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was attended by several Chief Ministers, including M.K. Stalin (Tamil Nadu), Bhagwant Mann (Punjab), Revanth Reddy (Telangana), and Hemant Soren (Jharkhand). The theme of the session was Viksit Rajya for Viksit Bharat @2047, and marked the first such interaction since Operation Sindoor and the subsequent conflict with Pakistan.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) lawmaker and former Indian cricketer Yusuf Pathan on Monday withdrew his name from the all-party delegation that will visit international capitals disseminating India’s stance on Operation Sindoor across the globe. Trinamool is the only party so far to withdraw its MP from the delegation.
West Bengal unit of BJP is a divided house. Another yawning crack in it is discernible post former state chief Dilip Ghosh’s visit to the inauguration ceremony of Jagannath temple in Digha at chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s invitation.
