West Bengal gears up for first phase of a high-stakes, tightly-policed Assembly election

April 22, 2026 7:31 PM

West Bengal gears up for first phase of a high-stakes, tightly-policed Assembly election

West Bengal goes to the polls on Thursday, in the first of the two-phase high-stakes, tightly-policed Assembly election, where about 3.6 crore voters are expected to exercise their franchise in roughly 44,000 polling booths across 152 constituencies in 16 districts. Though there has been a significant reduction in phases compared to earlier elections, the state is witnessing an unprecedented deployment of central security agencies with new and unique Election Commission measures aimed at the st...

From Jalpaiguri to Bangladesh’s Dhaka: Begum Khaleda Zia’s noteworthy journey

December 30, 2025 12:39 PM

From Jalpaiguri to Bangladesh’s Dhaka: Begum Khaleda Zia’s noteworthy journey

Begum Khaleda Zia’s journey - from being born in undivided India to becoming Bangladesh’s first woman Prime Minister - established her as one of the most influential figures in the country’s politics for more than four decades. Zia, a three-time Prime Minister and chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), died early on Tuesday morning after a prolonged illness. She was 80. Rising from a largely private life, Khaleda Zia went on to become the country’s first female head of ...