The Narcotic Cell of West Bengal Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Wednesday arrested a drug peddler from Balurghat and seized Yaba drugs worth Rs 20 lakh from his possession.

Kolkata Apr 24 PTI Days after BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh said that Sukanta Majumdar who succeeded him as the partys West Bengal unit president is relatively new for his post the incumbent state chief on Sunday asserted that none becomes seasoned overnightMajumdar the MP of Balurghat in north Bengal said that every person is new when appointed to a post and Ghosh was no exception when he became the state party president for the first time in 2015Ghosh however struck a conciliatory note during the day saying he had meant that being new for the post Majumdar will be able to impart a fresh approach and give a dynamic leadership to the state BJPMajumdar who had declined to comment initially said Dilipda is a senior leader but let me point out that when someone first takes over he is new to the post None becomes experienced overnight When Dilip-da had been appointed as the state BJP head he was relatively new It happens to every occupant of every post he told reporters to a questionGhosh had said on Thursday that Majumdar should take everyone along and the party should work as a united force to be able to fight against the alleged misrule of the Trinamool CongressSukanta Majumdar is comparatively new it is quite obvious that he is taking time to adjust he had saidHis comments were preceded by the partys recent debacle in by-polls in the state following which several senior BJP members hit out at the state unit leadership for allegedly failing to identify the lacunae plaguing the partyHowever Ghosh said on Sunday what I meant was Sukanta Majumdar being a fresh face helming the BJP in West Bengal will be able to give a new thrust to the fight against the Trinamool Congress Everyone has his own style of functioning I am ready to extend all cooperation to Sukanta We have been working in unison he told reportersMajumdar replaced Ghosh as the state party unit chief in September 2021 months after the BJP faced an electoral drubbing in the assembly election However Ghosh became the national vice-president then The party also did not fare well in later elections and its internal bickering came to the foreTMC candidate Bollywood actor Shatrughan Sinha defeated the BJPs Agnimitra Paul by over 300000 votes in the Asansol Lok Sabha by-election Former Union minister Babul Supriyo who quit the BJP to join the TMC last year clinched the Ballygunge assembly seat in Kolkata in a by-poll beating his nearest CPIM rival by 20228 votes The BJP came third there PTI SUS NN NN

Siliguri (West Bengal) [India], February 28 (ANI): West Bengal police has arrested the BJP MLAs Sankar Ghosh and Anandamoy Barman along with others after the party gave a call for a 12-hour bandh in the state to protest against alleged rigging and attacks during civic body elections.

Kolkata Jan 26 PTI In a deepening of the spat between Governor Jagdeep Dhankar and the TMC-led state government West Bengal assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee said on Wednesday he has requested for footage of the governors press meet held in the assembly premises a day before where he had attacked the state government and accused the speaker of transgressing constitutional norms before deciding on his future course of action Banerjee told reporters on the sidelines of a Republic Day function that after scrutinising the footage his office may in future enquire the purpose of any future visits by Dhankar other than constitutionally mandatory appearances such as the governors address of the inaugural session of the house Banerjee a well known lawyer also alleged that no governor in the past had addressed the media in the fashion Dhankhar did on January 25 The Governor while speaking to the press after paying floral tributes at the statue of B R Ambedkar on the Assembly premises on the National Voters Day not only castigated the speaker and the chief minister but also described the political condition in West Bengal as horrible and frightening He said the governor had told the speaker before his visit that he would pay floral tributes to the founder of Constitution but used the occasion instead to criticise the government inside the hallowed premises of the assembly which had never been done by any of his predecessors in past He did not even go to the press corner situated in the premises the Speaker said Banerjee also claimed Dhankhar did not inform his office about the status of bills such as those related to separating Howrah and Bally Municipal areas which had been passed by the house BJP state President Sukanta Majumdar described the Speakers retort as a deliberate attempt to run down the office of governor and against the spirit of constitution The Speaker cannot consider assembly as his domain He should act as Speaker not as the representative of Trinamool In past the governors speech in house had been blacked out but the Speaker never acted on the issue the Balurghat MP said The governor had said on Tuesday We have seen post-poll violence of unprecedented level Those who dared to vote according to their own volition had to pay the price with their life Democracy is in deep peril here Noting that a fact-finding committee appointed by the chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission had observed that rule of the ruler and not the law prevails in the state he had said this is an understatement West Bengals situation is so horrible and frightening that there is horror about the ruler here He had also come down heavily on Speaker Biman Banerjee accusing him of violating constitutional norms and not providing information sought by him including details of the assembly resolution on the extension of BSFs area of operation Dhankhar also alleged his address to the assembly was blacked out twice The Governor has had several run-ins with the West Bengal government including over appointment of vice chancellors of state universities and over asking the chief secretary and Police chiefs to appear before him Speaker Banerjee too has in the past protested and written letters to President Ram Nath Kovind on Dhankars alleged interference in legislative matters PTI SUS ReplyReply to allForward JRC JRC

Kolkata Nov 24 PTI Eminent economist and West Bengal BJP MLA Ashok Lahiri on Wednesday requested Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to publish details of her governments social welfare schemes including the possible beneficiaries to keep the projects free from corruptionHe also urged Banerjee to disclose the amount of money the state has received from the Union government to run centrally sponsored schemesMy request to the chief minister is to publish the names of state government schemes the list of possible beneficiaries area-wise and the eligibility to avail the benefits This is required to make the schemes free from irregularities or corruption Lahiri told a news conference in KolkataLahiri a former chief economic advisor to the Government of India said the fiscal deficit and revenue deficit of the state have increased from what was proposed in the budget of 2020-21 but capital outlay was decreasedThis will affect the future of the young generation in getting jobs within the state the MLA of Balurghat in north Bengal claimedLahiri also said the state government should also publish performance audit report by the CAG in the assembly PTI dc NN NN

Kolkata Oct 25 PTI BJP West Bengal unit president Sukanta Majumdar on Monday alleged that the North 24 Parganas district administration at the behest of the ruling TMC was hindering the saffron partys door-to-door campaign in Khardah assembly seat where by-election will be held on October 30 The police raised objections to the campaign in view of the COVID-19 situation he claimed Objections were raised by the police twice as we were campaigning door to door in Khardah Bazar and Station Road areas of the constituency though there were only five persons in our group We cannot take the responsibility of people who assembled there to support our candidate Joy Saha he told PTI Majumdar along with the party nominee continued the campaign as the police asked others not to assemble there The Balurghat MP said he saw a groundswell of support from people who have been terrorised by the Trinamool Congress We found that many shops were closed in the area and later came to know that traders were threatened not to open their outlets by TMC activists during our visit to the locality This is the situation in West Bengal We tried to reach out to the people he said Saha is pitted against West Bengal agriculture minister and veteran TMC leader Sovandeb Chattopadhyay in Khardah a seat won by state finance minister Amit Mitra twice in 2011 and 2016 Khardah had also elected TMCs Kajal Sinha in the assembly elections earlier this year Sinha died due to COVID-19 before the results were declared necessitating the bypoll State minister and senior TMC leader Firhad Hakim denied Majumdars allegation and said the BJPs state president know that they will lose the elections No one is with the BJP Our candidate will win with a massive margin he told reporters Shortly after the assembly poll results were announced in May Chattopadhyay who won from Bhabanipur vacated the seat to facilitate Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees return to the assembly from thereBanerjee lost to BJPs Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram during the April-May assembly polls Bypolls will also be held in Gosaba Dinhata and Shantipur assembly constituencies on October 30 PTI SUS BDC BDC

Kolkata Sep 28 PTI Eminent economist and BJP MLA Ashok Lahiri on Tuesday scotched speculation about his joining the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal but said he is ready to give constructive advice on financial matters to the state government if askedRumours were doing the rounds that one or two BJP legislators including Lahiri who is a former chief economic adviser to the government of India are set to defect to the TMC after former Union minister Babul Supriyo joined the Mamata Banerjee-led party on September 18The MLA from Balurghat in north Bengal told reporters here that the speculation about his switching sides has no basis and he will continue to work as a BJP MLAThere had not been any communication from the Trinamool Congress supremo other top leaders of the party from fellow economist and state finance minister Amit Mitra requesting me to join the Trinamool Congress Lahiri saidAs an opposition legislator my job will be to highlight peoples issues their problems As an economist having helped different states on financial matters I am ready to give suggestions on technical matters to the state if asked and confidentiality maintained he saidTo a question on former BJP vice-president Mukul Roy who returned to the TMC shortly after winning the assembly election on a BJP ticket Lahiri said I am not sure whether he belongs to the Trinamool Congress or the BJP currently Roy officially the BJP MLA of Krishnanagar Uttar did not resign from the assemblyOn the controversial appointment of Roy as the Public Accounts Committee chairman Lahiri said Since the honourable high court has delivered an order on the issue and since the honourable Speaker is deliberating on the matter I wont comment Lahiri was believed to have been considered for the post of chairman of the PACSo far as I am concerned after all these years of service as an economist I am certainly not enamoured by perks and other facilities associated with the post of PAC chairman I am a man of simple living he said PTI SUS NN NN

New Delhi [India], September 25 (ANI): Centre accorded Z category security to newly appointed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) West Bengal President Sukanta Majumdar.

New Delhi [India], September 22 (ANI): Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday slammed newly appointed West Bengal BJP Chief Sukanta Majumdar for his "Taliban government in West Bengal" remark, and said usage such of language in democracy degrades the level of political discourse.

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], September 22 (ANI): Trinamool Congress (TMC) spokesperson Om Prakash Mishra on Tuesday said that the Taliban has become a shorthand expression being repeatedly used by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to create discord.