Mamata Banerjee rules out alliance with Cong for 2026 Bengal polls, TMC to go it alone
Kolkata, Feb 10 (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that the Trinamool Congress would go it alone in the 2026 assembly elections in the state, dismissing any possibility of forging a coalition with the Congress or any other party, according to TMC sources.
Addressing her party's lawmakers at a meeting ahead of the Assembly's budget session, the TMC supremo also expressed confidence about winning the elections next year with a two-third majority.
“The Congress did not help the AAP in Delhi. In Haryana, the AAP did not help the Congress. So, the BJP has won in both states. Everyone should be together. But the Congress has nothing in Bengal. I will fight alone. We alone are enough," a source quoted Banerjee as telling her party's MLAs.
She asserted that the party would form the government in the state for the fourth time in a row after winning more than two-third of the total seats.
According to a party source, Banerjee said at the closed-door meeting that like-minded parties must have an understanding so that anti-BJP votes are not divided.
"Otherwise, it will be difficult for the India bloc to stop BJP at the national level," she said.
The TMC chief also asked party MLAs to be alert as the BJP might try to include names of foreigners in the voter list to win the election.
A source said Banerjee informed the meeting that she would reshuffle the party's units from state-level to the booth level, and various wings.
To select new office-bearers, she asked the MLAs to suggest three names for each post to senior leader Arup Biswas by February 25.
The TMC chief also described the arrest of former food minister Jyotipriyo Mallick in the ration scam as "unfair", claiming that there is no evidence against him.
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IAF to hold 2-day wargame along frontier with Pakistan: NOTAM issued
New Delhi, May 6 (PTI): The Indian Air Force will carry out a two-day mega military exercise along the border with Pakistan from Wednesday that will involve all the frontline fighter jets including Rafale, Su-30 and Jaguar aircraft, sources in the defence establishment said on Tuesday.
The exercise is taking place amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan over the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people.
India's civil aviation authorities have already issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) for the major air exercise that will largely take place along the southern and western section of the Indo-Pakistan border.
India's frontline fighter jets including the Rafale, Su-30 MKI, MiG-29, Mirage-2000, Tejas and AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft are set to feature in the exercise, the sources said.
In the course of the exercise, the IAF will simulate enemy targets on ground and in the air with deadly precision, they said.
The militaries of both India and Pakistan are on a high alert following rising tensions between the two nations.
Soon after the Pahalgam terror attack, India, citing "cross-border linkages" to the strike, promised severe punishment to those involved in it.
In a high-level meeting with the top defence brass on April 29, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the armed forces have "complete operational freedom" to decide on the mode, targets and timing of India's response to the terror attack.
Air Chief Marshal A P Singh met Prime Minister Modi on Sunday and the Chief of Air Staff briefed him about the IAF's operational readiness.
On Saturday, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi apprised the prime minister on the overall situation in the critical sea lanes in the Arabian Sea.
