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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Karnataka: Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre unveils plan for scientific disposal of plastic bottles
Bengaluru: In a bid to address the mounting plastic waste problem, Eshwar B. Khandre, Minister for Forests, Ecology, and Environment, has directed the additional chief secretary of the department to formulate regulations that will require packaged water bottle manufacturers to take responsibility for the scientific disposal of plastic bottles.
As part of the proposed plan, Khandre has suggested introducing a minimum price for each water bottle, which would be refunded when the bottle is returned to any establishment selling packaged water, as reported by Deccan Herald on Monday.
Under this initiative, when a person buys a new water bottle, the minimum price for each returned bottle would be discounted from the bill for the new one.
The goal is to ensure that empty bottles are returned to the shops where they were purchased, preventing them from being discarded in public spaces or ending up in the environment. Under the plan, these establishments would then return the empty bottles to manufacturers, who would be responsible for the scientific disposal of the plastic.
Khandre emphasised that the proposed regulations are aimed at tackling plastic pollution more effectively. Although the central government has already banned the manufacture, storage, sale, and use of certain single-use plastics, and the state government has enacted similar regulations, plastic waste continues to be a significant environmental challenge.
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