Mamata says it is not acceptable to deprive voter rights in the name of SIR, warns BJP against playing with fire
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said it is not acceptable if the poll panel in the name of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) strike off the voters’ right and alleged that the ECI officials were “threatening” her government officials under political pressure. She also accused the BJP of playing with fire and said in the guise of SIR, the NRC (National Register of Citizens) were being done. She said two persons in Nadia received such an NRC notice from the Assam government and questioned how other states could interfere with the affairs of West Bengal. Banerjee told a media conference at the state secretariat Nabanna that some ECI officers were holding meetings without any representative from the state government and accused the state chief electoral officer of “overdoing”. “The CEO must not overdo as I know his record,” the chief minister warned. “He (CEO) is accused of corruption and there is a conspiracy to cut votes under the pretext of SIR. I have the evidence,” Banerjee told the reporters and said he must not overreact. “I hope he will not betray the country and democracy,” the CM said. She also questioned the timing of SIR when the state was having a natural calamity, and thousands of people had been displaced and their belongings lost in the floods and landslides. Besides, many people were out of station due to the festive months. Banerjee also questioned how it could be possible to complete SIR within two months and accused the BJP of influencing the revision. She also asked how a central minister belonging to the BJP declared that some 1.5 crore voter names were to be deleted from the electoral rolls and warned the saffron party not to play with fire or else they will be engulfed in the blaze. Banerjee reiterated that it is not acceptable if any voters’ rights were snatched away in the name of SIR as Bengal has many communities across the state. Questioning the ECI activity, Banerjee asked how the poll panel summoned state government officers before the poll schedule was declared. She said the election dates have not been announced for Bengal. “Then how can the ECI officials visit the state and direct the state government officers for SIR preparedness?” A team of the Election Commission of India led by Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti, yesterday held a video conference with the District Election Officer-District Magistrates of the districts of South Bengal. The Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal, Manoj Agrawal, was also present in the meeting. Electoral Registration Officers of the districts concerned also attended the video conference. The team also visited some assembly constituencies in North 24 Parganas district to meet electoral officials and Booth Level Officers (BLOs). They also went to Kolaghat of Purba Medinipur district today and met BLOs of Purba Medinipur, Jhargram and Bankura districts.
BJP Deploys Massive Force in West Bengal, With Shah at the Helm
With Durga Puja festivities over, West Bengal is shifting into election mode, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has begun mobilizing an unprecedented force to challenge the ruling Trinamool Congress. According to party sources, more than 1,200 BJP leaders, including members of Parliament from across India, will be stationed in the state in the coming months to oversee campaign operations. The move signals a clear strategy by the central leadership to take direct control of Bengal’s election battle, sidelining much of the state unit. Union Minister Bhupender Yadav has been appointed chief election observer for Bengal, with former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb as his deputy. At the top of the chain of command will be Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is expected to spend seven to 10 days in Bengal every month starting in December. Party insiders said accommodations for Shah are being finalized in the Bidhannagar-New Town area. The deployed leaders will conduct on-the-ground surveys, identify weak spots in BJP’s campaign, and coordinate messaging based on intelligence and survey reports. Each MP will be assigned responsibility for two assembly constituencies, supported by three to four senior leaders and 10–12 local workers. Special automated phone numbers will be generated for each constituency to coordinate outreach and monitor rival propaganda. Once elections are announced, the party plans to appoint “page in-charges” for every page of the voter list. Each will oversee a small team tasked with maintaining direct, personal contact with voters until polling day, even without distributing party materials. Despite the large-scale effort, political observers remain skeptical about the plan’s effectiveness. Some warn that too many leaders in the field could create confusion rather than unity. In the 2021 assembly election, the BJP campaigned aggressively but managed only 77 seats, far short of its goal of toppling Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Still, BJP leaders insist this time will be different. “The central leadership has set its sights firmly on Bengal,” a senior state leader said. “There is no question of compromise. Whatever needs to be done to win power will be done.”
Congress Welcomes Supreme Court Stay on Key Waqf Act Provisions
The Congress on Monday hailed the Supreme Court’s interim order staying several contentious provisions of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, calling it a victory for constitutional values and a blow to what it described as the “mischievous intentions” behind the legislation. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the ruling validated the objections raised by opposition parties in Parliament as well as dissent notes submitted in the Joint Parliamentary Committee. “The order is an important one because it goes a long way towards undoing the mischievous intentions underlying the original statute,” Ramesh said in a post on X. The Supreme Court, while declining to halt the entire law, stayed the provision that restricted dedication of property as Waqf only to those who had been practising Muslims for at least five years. A bench led by Chief Justice B.R. Gavai said such a requirement, without rules to examine adherence, risked arbitrary application. The court also suspended powers granted to collectors to adjudicate the status of Waqf properties, which critics argued would have left properties vulnerable to dubious challenges. Additionally, the bench ruled that the Central Waqf Council should have no more than four non-Muslim members out of 20, and State Waqf Boards no more than three of 11. “We welcome this order as a win for the constitutional values of justice, equality, and fraternity,” Ramesh said, alleging that the Act was designed to inflame voter sentiment and create an administrative structure to stoke religious disputes. The apex court emphasized that its order was interim and prima facie, leaving both the government and petitioners free to argue the law’s constitutional validity at a final hearing. “Presumption is always in favor of constitutionality of a statute and intervention can be done only in the rarest of rare cases,” the bench said. The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, was passed by Parliament earlier this year and notified on April 8, following presidential assent on April 5. The law quickly became a flashpoint between the ruling BJP and opposition parties, with critics accusing the government of attempting to politicize religious endowments.
Burglars Strike Former Swimmer Bula Chowdhury’s Ancestral Home in West Bengal
Burglars have broken into the ancestral home of Padma Shri award-winning former swimmer Bula Chowdhury in Hindmotor’s Debaipukur Road, West Bengal, police said on Friday. The house, which Chowdhury and her family no longer occupy, is mostly vacant and is looked after by her brother, Milan Chowdhury. Milan told local media he discovered a broken rear gate when he visited the property to clean ahead of upcoming festivities. Medals, mementos, bathroom fixtures, and religious items were reported stolen. Chowdhury’s Padma Shri award was not taken, as she keeps it in her Kolkata apartment. “It is painful that medals are being stolen. They have no market value, but they are my life’s achievements,” Chowdhury told the Press. Police from Uttarpara station, led by Inspector-in-Charge Amitava Sanyal, visited the scene. Chowdhury said the same house was burgled about five to six years ago, but no significant recovery was made at that time. No arrests have been made.
Bangladesh politics abuzz after BNP chief’s aide alleges graft by eight advisers
Allegations by a top aide to Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Khaleda Zia that eight advisers in the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus have engaged in “rampant corruption” have stirred political debate in Dhaka. ABM Abdus Sattar, Zia’s personal secretary, claimed on Friday that he possesses evidence of the alleged wrongdoing – the first time since the Yunus-led administration took office on Aug. 8 last year that such charges have been levelled against so many advisers at once. The government has dismissed the accusations. In a statement on Saturday, Cabinet Secretary urged Sattar to hand over all evidence to the “appropriate authorities” for investigation. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir distanced the party from the remarks, saying the statement was “entirely Sattar’s own” and not linked to the BNP. Sattar has not withdrawn his comments. It is unclear whether the government or the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) will act on the allegations, or whether Sattar himself will comply with the request to submit documentation. Transparency International Bangladesh Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said Sattar, a former government official, should supply the documentary proof he claims to hold. CPD honorary fellow Debapriya Bhattacharya warned that failure to respond to the government’s call could undermine the credibility of future corruption claims. Sattar’s phone has been switched off since Saturday, and Press was unable to reach him or the ACC for comment.
Karnataka Unveils Rs 1,000 Crore Quantum Mission to Build $20 Billion Economy by 2035, Bengaluru to be more Hitch city in India
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced the launch of the Karnataka Quantum Mission (KQM), backed by a Rs 1,000 crore ($120 million) fund, aimed at developing a $20 billion quantum technology economy in the southern Indian state by 2035. Speaking at the inaugural edition of the ‘Quantum India Bengaluru’ summit, Siddaramaiah said the initiative forms a core part of Karnataka’s Quantum Vision 2035 and seeks to position the state as the “Quantum Capital of Asia.” “As the world marks 2025 as the International Year of Quantum, Karnataka is taking a decisive step forward with the launch of the Quantum Mission,” Siddaramaiah said at the event organised by the Karnataka Science and Technology Promotion Society (KSTePS) and the Department of Science & Technology, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc)’s Quantum Technology Initiative (IQTI). The mission aims to generate 10,000 high-skilled jobs, support cutting-edge research and development, and attract global partnerships, he added. A Quantum Technology Task Force will be set up to shape policy, while the state will also develop dedicated infrastructure including quantum parks, a Q-City innovation hub, and specialised manufacturing zones to support startups and component makers. “Q-City will do for quantum technology what Bengaluru did for the IT revolution in India,” Siddaramaiah said. Karnataka’s strategy rests on five key pillars: talent development, R&D, infrastructure creation, industry support, and international collaboration. The government plans to introduce quantum skilling programmes in over 20 colleges and support 150 PhD fellowships annually to create a strong talent pipeline. The mission also includes plans to build India’s first Quantum Hardware Park, four innovation zones, and a dedicated fabrication line to enable domestic production of quantum components. The state aims to develop 1,000-qubit processors and test real-world applications in healthcare, defence and cybersecurity, Siddaramaiah said.
CPIM alleges, YouTube & facebook blocking Videos criticising economic policies, labels move as ‘digital censorship’
The West Bengal unit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has accused social media giant Facebook of blocking the upload of a party-produced video highlighting the plight of migrant workers from the state, calling it a case of “digital censorship” and “ideological bias” against left-wing content. The 2-minute-32-second video, titled “Ora Kaj Kore” (“They Work”), was created by the CPIM state committee’s IT cell. The video seeks to question why lakhs of people from West Bengal are forced to migrate to other states for work and blames both central and state governments’ economic policies for the unemployment crisis in the state. Despite multiple attempts, party leaders say they were unable to upload the video on Facebook, which reportedly flagged several phrases as problematic. According to Sayandeep Mitra, a senior CPIM state committee member, the video was also denied promotion on YouTube due to the use of words like “class struggle”, “revolution”, “imperialism”, and “capitalism must be destroyed”. “Facebook is now afraid of the ghost of Marxism,” Mitra told The Statesman. “While the platform allows violent rhetoric from ruling parties and communal hate speeches to circulate, any content that highlights the struggles of workers or criticises capitalism is treated as dangerous.” He alleged that social media platforms have been complicit in shaping a narrative aligned with the political status quo—particularly what he called the “binary politics” of the BJP and Trinamul Congress. According to CPIM leaders, the video was designed to bring public attention to questions such as: Why is there no work in West Bengal? Why are workers forced to migrate? Who is responsible for this economic stagnation? Sources within the party said Facebook suggested “softer” alternatives for words like “class struggle” (to be replaced with “worker mobilisation”) and advised against using phrases such as “overthrow capitalism” or “take to the streets”. “It’s like being told to say ‘pleasant greetings’ instead of ‘revolution’,” Mitra quipped, adding, “Had Salil Chowdhury been alive today, even his timeless protest songs would’ve been flagged as unsafe.” CPIM argues that this selective filtering reflects the deepening alliance between authoritarian states and global tech platforms, which increasingly act to suppress working-class resistance and anti-imperialist narratives. The video in question portrays the lives of migrant workers from West Bengal, their harsh realities, and the socio-economic reasons that compel them to leave their homes. The party insists the content was factual, non-violent, and within the bounds of public discourse. This isn’t the first time the Left has accused digital platforms of bias. CPIM says their growing support among working classes—visible in both street-level movements and digital engagement—is being deliberately suppressed. The party sees the episode as part of a broader trend: a shrinking digital space for dissenting voices, particularly those that challenge neoliberal economic models and call for systemic change. Facebook, owned by Meta Platforms Inc., has not responded publicly to the allegations at the time of publishing.
Trump Says He’s “Disappointed But Not Done” with Putin, Reaffirms Support for NATO
WASHINGTON, July 16: U.S. President Donald Trump said he remains “disappointed but not done” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a wide-ranging phone interview with an international news service marking one year since the attempt on Trump’s life at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Speaking from the Oval Office on Monday, Trump addressed rising tensions with Russia, reiterating his demand for a ceasefire in Ukraine within 50 days and announcing plans to send additional U.S. weapons to Kyiv. The president also warned of “severe tariffs” on Moscow if no peace agreement is reached. Asked whether he trusted the Russian leader, Trump responded bluntly: “I trust almost no one.” Trump said he had believed on four separate occasions that a peace deal with Russia was within reach, only for the efforts to collapse. “I’ll say: ‘That’s good, I think we’re close to getting it done,’ and then he’ll knock down a building in Kyiv,” he said, referring to Putin. “I’m disappointed in him, but I’m not done with him.” The 20-minute call came after discussions about a formal interview to commemorate the anniversary of Trump surviving an assassination attempt during a campaign event. Asked whether the incident had changed him, Trump said he prefers not to dwell on it. “I don’t like to think about if it did change me… Dwelling on it could be life-changing.” In contrast to his previous criticism of NATO as “obsolete,” Trump expressed full support for the alliance after meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte earlier in the day. “I think NATO is now becoming the opposite of that,” he said, noting that member nations are “paying their own bills.” Trump also reaffirmed his belief in NATO’s principle of collective defense, saying it ensures that smaller countries can defend themselves from larger adversaries. On the United Kingdom, Trump called it a “great place” and confirmed he would make an unprecedented second state visit in September. “Have a good time and respect King Charles, because he’s a great gentleman,” Trump said of his goals for the trip. The interview highlighted Trump’s evolving stance on global alliances and foreign adversaries as he looks ahead to the 2026 general election cycle.
Odisha Student Dies After Setting Herself on Fire Over Harassment Complaint; CM Announces Compensation
BHUBANESWAR, July 16: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday announced a compensation of ₹2 million ($24,000) for the family of a college student who died after setting herself on fire in protest against alleged inaction on her sexual harassment complaint. The 22-year-old second-year B.Ed student from Fakir Mohan Autonomous College in Balasore died at AIIMS-Bhubaneswar on Monday night after battling for her life for three days. She had suffered 95% burns following the self-immolation on campus last Saturday. The student had reportedly accused a professor of sexual harassment and resorted to the extreme step after authorities allegedly failed to take action on her complaint. “The Chief Minister has directed officials to ensure a thorough investigation and strict punishment for all those found guilty,” the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said in a statement. Odisha Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati also expressed deep sorrow over the incident. “Shattered to learn of the untimely loss of a young student from Fakir Mohan Autonomous College,” he posted on social media platform X. “Her passing is not just a tragedy—it is a stark reminder of the urgent need to safeguard our campuses. The law will take its toughest course.” Police have arrested the principal and the head of the Education Department of the college in connection with the case. The incident has triggered outrage across the state, with students and activists demanding accountability and stronger mechanisms to address harassment complaints in educational institutions.
Trump Says He’s “Disappointed But Not Done” with Putin, Reaffirms Support for NATO
WASHINGTON, July 15: U.S. President Donald Trump said he remains “disappointed but not done” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a wide-ranging phone interview with an international news service marking one year since the attempt on Trump’s life at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Speaking from the Oval Office on Monday, Trump addressed rising tensions with Russia, reiterating his demand for a ceasefire in Ukraine within 50 days and announcing plans to send additional U.S. weapons to Kyiv. The president also warned of “severe tariffs” on Moscow if no peace agreement is reached. Asked whether he trusted the Russian leader, Trump responded bluntly: “I trust almost no one.” Trump said he had believed on four separate occasions that a peace deal with Russia was within reach, only for the efforts to collapse. “I’ll say: ‘That’s good, I think we’re close to getting it done,’ and then he’ll knock down a building in Kyiv,” he said, referring to Putin. “I’m disappointed in him, but I’m not done with him.” The 20-minute call came after discussions about a formal interview to commemorate the anniversary of Trump surviving an assassination attempt during a campaign event. Asked whether the incident had changed him, Trump said he prefers not to dwell on it. “I don’t like to think about if it did change me… Dwelling on it could be life-changing.” In contrast to his previous criticism of NATO as “obsolete,” Trump expressed full support for the alliance after meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte earlier in the day. “I think NATO is now becoming the opposite of that,” he said, noting that member nations are “paying their own bills.” Trump also reaffirmed his belief in NATO’s principle of collective defense, saying it ensures that smaller countries can defend themselves from larger adversaries. On the United Kingdom, Trump called it a “great place” and confirmed he would make an unprecedented second state visit in September. “Have a good time and respect King Charles, because he’s a great gentleman,” Trump said of his goals for the trip. The interview highlighted Trump’s evolving stance on global alliances and foreign adversaries as he looks ahead to the 2026 general election cycle.
