The Supreme Court on Wednesday turned down a plea raised on behalf of the State of West Bengal for the adjournment of the hearing of the petition filed by the Enforcement Directorate in relation to the I-PAC office raid.
Wednesday, March 18, 2026
Tuesday, March 17, 2026
"What if Gaurav Gogoi resigns from Congress tomorrow?" :::::: Veteran Assam MP Bordoloi quits Congress ::: Priyanka Gandhi says he was "upset over one ticket allocation"
Nagaon MP in Assam Pradyut Bordoloi has quit Congress ahead of BJP’s Parliamentary Board meeting.
The resignation came just hours after Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed optimism about 'accommodating' the MP in the Assembly polls.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said: "The resignation was very unfortunate. I think he was upset over one ticket allocation... but we wish we had a chance to have a conversation about it."
Meanwhile, a number of BJP and NDA leaders including from Bihar and Maharashtra have taken a potshot at the Congress over the development.
BJP MP from Jharkhand, Nishikant Dubey mocked saying: "Is anything left in the Congress party?...
Congress is on the way to its end. It won't be a big thing if Gaurav Gogoi resigns from the party tomorrow?"
Bordoloi said: "For me, getting a ticket was not a question of life and death.
There were multiple issues. What was important for me was to hold my head high. Congress party has given me a lot...I want to make it very clear that I am in my second term in Lok Sabha, and there are another three years to go. I could have accepted the humiliation if I wanted to remain as an MP.
But I decided to leave and work...".
MP Pradyut Bordoloi has resigned from the Congress party ahead of the Assam legislative assembly elections to be held on 9th April.
In a letter addressed to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Bordoloi severed all ties with the party, saying the decision comes with an “overwhelming sense of sadness”.
“… I hereby tender my resignation from all posts, privileges and the primary membership of the Indian National Congress,” the letter read.
Shortly before the news broke, Bordoloi, in an interview with a TV news broadcaster, had said that he felt “stifled” within the party.
“Right from the beginning, as I became an MLA, a minister or an MP, the interest of the state has always been foremost in my mind. I have always been a proud Assamese and have tried to contribute to the state’s progress.
If I feel stifled, I will remove the barrier and seek an atmosphere where I can work,” he added.
The BJP central election committee headed by Prime Minister Marendra Modi is expected to release the party's candidate list on March 18 late evening.
Earlier, in another letter to AICC leader Jitendra Singh, Bordoloi had expressed dissatisfaction over the Congress decision to field MLA Dr Asif Nazar from the Lahorighat Assembly constituency.
He has alleged that Nazar was behind a “life-threatening” attack on him in April 2025.
Meanwhile, the former Congressman’s son, Prateek Bordoloi is set to content from Margherita on a Congress ticket.
After Bhupen Borah quit and now Bordoloi following suit, the Congress in Assam is under immense pressure and practically left disorgansied and disheartened.
RLM Chief Upendra Kushwaha from Bihar said: "... It has been said that the Congress party’s attitude is not right, and indeed their approach appears problematic, even towards their own members.
In Bihar, nearly two months have passed since the Assembly elections, yet no leader of the party has been appointed, nor has a whip been named. This reflects the state of affairs within the party. In such circumstances, who will remain with Congress...".
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| Himanta with AGP chief Atul Bora |
In Bengali-dominated (both Hindus and Muslims) Cachar valley now officially has as many as 95 polling stations ‘critical’.
Security is being beefed up nearly 400 polling stations will be operated entirely by women personnel.
NDA finalises Assam seat deal: BJP to contest 89 seats, AGP 26 and Bodoland People's Front (BPF) - 11
The saffron party had earlier said that on its own it could contest 100 seats for 126-member assembly.
In 2021, BJP had won 60 seats making it 33.21 per cent of votes.
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| Rahul Gandhi's trusted man in Assam : Gaurav Gogoi |
Chief Minister Sarma has said that the BJP would field a mix of fresh faces, women and representatives from diverse communities.
“There will be several fresh faces, women candidates, representatives of various communities and tribes. Youth will get more representation this time,” he said.
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Pakistan is now engaged in a mini-war with Afghanistan ::: About 1971 War -- it banked a lot on Censorship and perceived "uncomfortable silence"
In Pakistan, a shroud of uncomfortable silence has long surrounded the 1971 war of liberation or birth of Bangladesh.
It did not help them much but yet they believed in propaganda and mostly absurd falsehood. Thus, literature non-fiction and fiction based on the happenings during and around the war is almost existent from Pakistan.
"... it’s no surprise that, on December 16, 1971, with the news of their army’s surrender, many ordinary citizens (of Pakistan) were stunned, unable to reconcile it with months of bombastic rhetoric," writes a researcher Madhurima Sen in Dhaka-based 'The Daily Star'.
snap source - 'The Daily Star'
"Much like other South Asian nations, Pakistan has developed a solid reputation for censorship and ideological repression of writers. One need only think of Saadat Hasan Manto, Habib Jalib, Ahmed Faraz or Faiz Ahmed Faiz for well-known confrontations between writers and the Pakistani state. 1971 marked one of the most dramatically severe periods of state control over information," she points out.
Of course in general sense, essential books on the 1971 Pakistan-Bangladesh war covering military operations, genocide, and personal accounts, include 'The Blood Telegram' by Gary J. Bass.
There were a few others -- Dead Reckoning by Sarmila Bose
1971: A People's History by Anam Zakaria.
These works offer diverse perspectives from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India, examining the conflict's trauma and strategic impact.
'Memories of a Lacerated Heart (1971): A War Memoir (From East Pakistan to Bangladesh)' is a 2017 publication written by Major Iftikhar-Ud-Din Ahmad (Retired).
The night of March 25, 1971 marked a point of no return. Almost nine months after this night, Pakistan officially conceded defeat and signed the Instrument of Surrender.
Understandably, Bangladeshi fiction has made it central to its narrative imagination, notes Sen.
From Mahmudul Haque’s novella Jiban Amar Bon written in the immediate aftermath of the war to Numair Atif Choudhury’s magical-realist novel Babu Bangladesh! (2019), Operation Searchlight has been imagined and reimagined in Bangladesh across decades.
In Pakistan, the story has been much more difficult to tell, she notes.
The 1971 war was relatively swift and decisive in its outcome. At a single stroke, Pakistan was cut down from five provinces to four; it lost its entire eastern wing and more than half of its population. "With the creation of the populous nation of Bangladesh, the balance of power was fundamentally reconfigured in South Asia...".
Sen also notes:" Silence in the official sphere and media deception had much to do with this.
Selective amnesia in state narratives was echoed in Pakistani cultural productions, where references to the war are, at best, sporadic, and often peripheral."
"The creation of Bangladesh and the resignation of Yahya Khan, who, until a day earlier, had been professing certain victory, unfolded at a dizzying speed for citizens carefully kept in the dark for months," runs the article.
Some of these happenings could be reflected even in 2026. Look at the manner Donald Trump is claiming 'certain victory'.
War - they say - serves no purpose. Yet we have it around. On the backdrop of 1971 war, Madhurima Sen has this to say --
"The brave, politically awakened Bengalis of Bangladeshi textbooks often appear in Pakistan as misled separatists, mere pawns lured into larger geopolitical conspiracies.
"In Bangladesh, 1971 is a people’s war, in which ordinary citizens band together in a bid for self-determination. However, in much of Pakistani state-engineered narratives, 1971 is a war primarily between India and Pakistan, with Bangladesh treated as little more than a subsidiary actor in its own story. "
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Games of Money and Drones :::: The 'invisible and visible' foreign hands :::: Shadow Governments --- A Taxation Tyranny
The NIA arrests of seven foreign nationals including one American and six Ukranians show the deeper conspiracies and the saboteur-forces at play in north east of India.
In the misty hills of the region, anti-India forces are active for quite sometime now. Maybe it all kicked off around 2023 or prior to that.
These arrests are part of an ongoing investigation by NIA and other agencies into foreign involvement in the ethnic conflicts and insurgent activities in North East India.
Some of the patters of evil designs suggest the forces inimical to India are well aware that violence and instability in Manipur and other troubles in states such as Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram would certainly harm India's long-term as well as short term strategic interests.
It could even derail the much ambitious “Act East Policy".
Ukraine has lodged a protest with India over the arrest of six Ukrainian nationals on charges of entering Mizoram without authorisation and for plotting terror activities in India.
Ukraine's ambassador Oleksandr Polishchuk met Secretary (West) in the External Affairs Ministry, Sibi George, and sought consular access to the Ukrainian nationals and their immediate release, according to a readout by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.
Multiple security agencies say there are other challenges too. For example in Nagaland and parts of Manipur, India’s constitutional writ meets the unyielding grip of insurgent parallel administrations, a suffocating web of Extortion and over-taxation persists virtually unchallenged.
The fact that one American was held from Kolkata suggests these elements are quite active in the eastern and north eastern parts of India. Moreover, the Mizoram-Myanmar angles also look too obvious. Nevertheless they are matter of concern.
The situation in Manipur has not only embarrassed PM Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and the BJP but these have derailed the progress achieved by the state since 2014 and especially after 2017 when the BJP government took charge of the state.
Since 2014 when Modi became Prime Minister, the centre has been focusing on developing economic cooperation and strategic relationships with countries in the wider Indo-Pacific region and the so-called South East Asia.
The Modi dispensation is keen on moving forward at bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels to enhance political, economic, cultural and people-to-people relations in the north east. Prior to 2023, in more ways than one, Manipur's growth graph was being shown outside the region. But the 2023 Kuki-Meitei clashes have given handle to Modi’s critics to point out at the official and political-level lapses.
Worse, a deliberate twist was given even by parties such as the Congress and Trinamool Congress and Christian commentators even from Kerala that the clashes were based on religious divisions - that is between Hindu Meiteis and Christian Kukis.
Things have not improved in Manipur yet and now there are growing incidents of violent clashes between Kukis and Nagas in Manipur.
One source in the know of things point out that more than 28 Naga groups are active including the dominant NSCN-IM and other NSCN factions both operating within Nagaland and also in parts of Myanmar.
"Often they operate as de facto governments and think tanks extracting “taxes” that strangle businesses, erode livelihoods, and mock the authority of law enforcing agencies and the politico-civil governments," the source maintained.
Sadly, they admit as of March 2026, the nexus of wrongdoers and the racket show "no signs of abating" and the peace talks stalled.
"We need not be clueless... but we are happy about public perception and the growing trends of changes in that.... the fact is the public outrage is simmering and everyone wants an early Solution," the source maintained.
Another analyst says the economic toll is devastating both for Nagaland and Manipur and even parts of Arunachal Pradesh.
Annual collections -- estimated at Rs 170 crore for one particular Naga faction is worrisome. These may fund cadres but easily cripple commerce, the source said adding the Prime Minister's "demonetization in 2016" and note bans had actually exposed the cash-dependent racket.
In 2023 itself, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had told the Parliament on Aug. 9th that, “people crossing over from Myanmar” were responsible for the distressing situation in Manipur.
The problems have mounted over the last three-years because the Kuki-Zo population now want a homeland (anUT or preferably a state) carved out for them within Manipur.
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During the financial year 2025–2026, strong enforcement action was undertaken by the Mizoram Excise & Narcotics Department against drug trafficking, resulting in the arrest and prosecution of 611 offenders and the seizure of nearly 474 kilograms of contraband drugs, along with the destruction of ganja plants.
In the area of liquor prohibition, the Mizoram Liquor (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2025 and the Mizoram Liquor (Prohibition) Rules, 2025 were formally notified in October 2025, providing a strengthened legal framework for enforcement. Following the notification, rigorous implementation of the Act led to the arrest of over 4,000 persons and the registration of a large number of cases for violations.
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“Crossing the Lakshman Rekha" --- Ethical Boundary is something Rahul Gandhi never bothered ::: Speaker Meira Kumar gave him unnecessary indulgence
The then Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar gave him unnecessary indulgence .... hence 'Ethical Boundary' or Lakshman Rekha is something Rahul Gandhi never bothered.
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| Meira Kumar |
The suspension of eight opposition members was revoked in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday (March 17) after a war of words between the opposition and treasury benches on maintaining decorum in the House.
“The crossing of the Lakshman Rekha" or the Ethical Boundary too figured and rightly so.
Opposition members said that they would maintain the decorum, and the members of the opposition should be given equal time as the Treasury benches.
Eight opposition MPs including Congress’s Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Hibi Eden, Dean Kuriakose, Prashant Padole, C. Kiran Kumar Reddy, Manickam Tagore and CPI(M) MP S. Venkatesan were suspended on February 3 for the entire session, following an uproar after leader of opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi was allegedly 'stopped' from speaking during the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address.
During the debate, Rahul Gandhi even told the Speaker -- "I am the leader of the Opposition, I don't need your permission".
Such remarks only show how ill-informed Rahul has remained over the years on parliamentary system. A former Speaker in one of the states in north east -- did not want to drag himself into these rows but simply said -
"I wish Rahul was more educated about this because he spoke like a college boy and not an elected member of the House -- who has been in Parliament since 2004".
In 2011, no less than the then Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj had criticised the manner Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was allowed to make a public speech to the nation during zero hour on the Lokpal bill during the height of the anti-corruption agitation led by Anna Hazare.
"Was Rahul Gandhi's speech a Zero Hour intervention or an address to the nation," Late Sushma Swaraj had asked in the House on August 27, 2011.
"Zero Hour mein Rashtra ke naam sandesh nahi dia jata", she had complained.
"Zero hour is meant to raise an issue.
Why were norms relaxed for Rahul? Zero hour allows three minutes to raise an issue, Rahul took 15 minutes," Sushma pointed out evoking protest from the Congress members but the then Speaker Meira Kumar chose not to react.
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| The 'punctured' : Hero of Zero Hour in 2011 |
On March 17, 2026 (Tuesday) Samajwadi Party MP Dharmendra Yadav said:
“I support the resolution to revoke the suspension of eight MPs moved by K. Suresh. The ruling side people are dictating terms here. All members are responsible for maintaining the dignity of the House. But on behalf of the party and my leader, Akhilesh Yadav, we will never cross the dignity of the House".
In fact there was once a scuffle between Samajwadi Party MPs and Sonia Gandhi. The coincidence was Meira Kumar was the Speaker in the same House; and nothing much happened after that.
Under Rule 377of the Lok Sabha, matters of public importance are allowed to be taken up during the Zero Hour. Notably, in 2008, the then Speaker Somnath Chatterjee once described Zero Hour as the 'torture hour for the Chair'.
"You cannot threaten the Chair," he once told a Samajwadi Party member.
##
'Zero-hour' is considered a significant parliamentary time especially in the Lok Sabha which came into existence when Janata Dal leader from Odisha Rabi Ray was the Speaker in 1989. The idea is to enable elected member raise "urgent issues" that require the attention of the House and the government.
-- While dictionary defines ‘Zero Hour’ as the “the critical moment”, in parliamentary parlance, it is referred as the time gap between the end of Question Hour and the beginning of the regular business.
But in Lok Sabha, the chair allows laying of papers at around 12 noon after the stipulated Question Hour and then gives time to members for raising issues of public importance.
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| Rabi Ray |
First Lok Sabha Speaker under Narendra Modi; Sumitra Mahajan on November 30, 2016 had actually made an unprecedented offer to the members urging them to end the deadlock and commence the debate on the high-voltage demonetisation scheme.
"Shunya se hum brahmand tak ja saktey haen (We can start from zero and reach up to the entire universe)," she had said referring to the Zero Hour proceedings - a time which is under her discretionary disposal.
Biju Janata Dal member B Mahtab (incidentally now a BJP lawmaker) had said the offer for debate on demonetisation "during zero hour" by the Speaker only reflected the "anguish" of the Chair that both sides were not agreeing for a rule under which the discussion could be held.
All members of the House should take the matter seriously, he said.
"Every Member is aware of the anguish that you have expressed from the Chair. It is a caution to every Member who is present in this House," Mahtab had said.
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"There are members of BRICS who are involved in War. It has been difficult to bridge gap between countries ... we remain engaged" - MEA spokesman
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal says, "From the very beginning, we have been saying that it has been our position that a dialogue path should be established.
A diplomatic channel should be established to bring this conflict to an end as soon as possible. We have also stated that we call on all countries to exercise restraint and prevent the conflict from escalating."
"For the past several decades, it has been our position that the United Nations should be reformed as soon as possible...The sooner we do it, the better for the United Nations and for the world."
Jaiswal also said : "We are in talks with Iran and other countries. As our Special Secretary mentioned, many ships are still there in the Strait of Hormuz area. It is our intention to work with Iran and other countries to bring those ships back home safely. This is our objective. Discussions are ongoing on this issue. Regarding humanitarian aid, we are in talks with Iran on a number of issues."
"In BRICS, we hold the presidency. BRICS works on the basis of consensus. As you know, in this particular ongoing conflict, there are several members of BRICS who are involved in it. And for that reason, it has been difficult to bridge the gap between the positions that countries have taken. But we remain, continue to be engaged with all the stakeholders."
"External Affairs Minister discussed pressing global challenges, including the ongoing conflict in West Asia, with his counterparts from Europe, whom he met on the sidelines of the Foreign Affairs Council meeting..."
Breaking news - Mamata Banerjee to contest from Bhawanipore :::: "Bengal will win. 'Dilli ka laddu' will not win..." : Mamata :::: An admission of frustration -- "They could not take away one power. That is the power of the people"
Utter nervousness reflected in her voice - appeals to "non-BJP parties ... please vote for Bangla... Vote for Ma, Mati, Manush"
TMC fields Firhad Hakim in Kolkata Port, Kunal Ghosh in Beleghata,
Jyotipriyo Mallick in Habra seat.
Mamata from Bhawanipore
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee says, "Before I announce the candidate list, I thank the people of Bengal... I dedicate Maa Maati Manush Banglar Sanskriti to all, and release the candidate list of 294 seats.
I want to say something to the BJP- why are you afraid? Don't create a gas crisis if you want to fight; come to the ground in a proper way. ECI, you did a brilliant game...
BJP has no chance. This time your seats will decrease as compared to the last time. This is the fight of Astitva of West Bengal.
Bengal will win. 'Dilli ka laddu' will not win..."
Resorting to rhetoric drama she says - after polls BJP supporters and workers will put on posters "I am not doing BJP".
--- This may be mild threat of post-poll violence too as was the case in 2021
"Instead of using agencies, contest polls in a peaceful manner to strengthen the foundations of democracy."
"This is a fight for the existence of Bengal. Delhi will not win. They have taken all the power from us. They could not take away one power. That is the power of the people."
Among TMC's 291 candidates for West Bengal polls, 52 women, 95 SCs-STs, 47 minorities
The Election Commission on Tuesday made sweeping changes in Bengal’s police administration through two separate sets of transfer orders affecting 19 IPS officers.
Soon after the announcement of the election schedule for Bengal, the Election Commission has gone on overdrive to “cleanse” the administration; it has ruffled the Trinamool’s feathers.
Ajay Kumar Nand, newly appointed Kolkata Police Commissioner, says,
"It is indeed a matter of great honour and pride for any police officer who is entrusted with this responsibility of leading a police force like Kolkata Police, which has a glorious history of hundreds of years.
"But with this also comes a great sense of responsibility towards the city of Kolkata, the people of Kolkata, and importantly, towards the officers and men of Kolkata Police... During elections, our main focus will be to conduct a free, fair and peaceful election, incident-free elections.
"We are working on it. Meetings are going on, and whatnot logistics are required, we are working on it...".
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Jayaraman, a 1991-batch IPS officer, was abruptly transferred by Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s government in November 2013, a day after he had ordered the arrest of an IAS officer.
On Tuesday, the commission appointed K. Jayaraman as additional director general and inspector general of police for north Bengal, which will go to polls in the first phase of elections on April 23.
Jayaraman, as Siliguri’s commissioner of police, had ordered the arrest of then Malda district magistrate G. Kiran Kumar on charges of misappropriation of funds during Kumar’s stint at the Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority (SJDA).
In a symbolic protest against Jayaraman’s shunting, five policemen from the commissionerate had tied a rope to the back of his SUV, asked the driver to put the vehicle on neutral mode and pulled it back for a minute.
Six months later, Jayaraman was appointed as deputy inspector general (modernisation).
Before the Election Commission stepped in, he was posted as administrator at the Forensic Science Laboratory.
Chandrima Bhattacharya fielded from the Dum Dum Uttar seat,
Madan Mitra from Kamarhati seat,
Shashi Panja from the Shyampukur seat
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