National News
Organisational rejig, bureaucratic reshuffle before SIR, poll process viewed as part of Trinamool’s 2026 gameplan
New Delhi, Oct 28: With Assembly elections expected in West Bengal by May-June next year, every move made by Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress Chairperson Mamata Banerjee will be under public scrutiny. Thus, the large-scale bureaucratic reshuffle carried out by her government hours before the Election Commission announced the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the country, is suspected to be linked with the upcoming polls.
As is the ongoing organisational rejig seen as a move to strengthen a party facing incumbency, with alleged corruption, indiscipline, and infighting – sometimes leading to physical altercations – charges after about 14-and-a-half years in power.
The administrative order involves hundreds of officers being relocated or reassigned across several districts which the government described as routine, claiming that many of them had completed three years at their postings, requiring a move.
Technically, it is a norm at preventing any single officer from becoming a long-term local power broker. But in this case, the decision is being considered in certain sections as redeployment of key officials to place administrators with proven loyalty, competence, or responsiveness in critical districts before the SIR process begins.
Trinamool leaders have publicly criticised the Election Commission’s decision to conduct SIR in West Bengal, arguing the exercise risks wrongful deletion of legitimate voters and could be used to target specific communities for political advantage.
They framed the process as “politically-motivated” and warned of protests if valid electors were removed. They questioned the impartiality of the process and linked the timing of the exercise to heightened political stakes ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls.
However, the poll body clarified that as per law, electoral rolls have to be revised before every election or as per requirement, where SIR has been done eight times from 1951 till 2004, with the last taking place over two decades ago in 2002-2004.
Some changes, like frequent migration resulting in voters getting registered at more than one place, names of those deceased, including fraudulent entry of foreign nationals, among other, cannot be made in electoral rolls in the usual revision process. Such an exercise requires door-to-door visits at the booth level.
Reports – both administrative and media – have shown a demographic change in West Bengal, especially in districts bordering Bangladesh, due to decades of influx through porous borders and alleged political complicity.
Economic dominance and population growth among Muslims are allegedly altering local life, triggering tensions, as was reflected in this year’s violence in Murshidabad over the Waqf Amendment Bill.
Ruling party leaders publicly claim their absolute dominance in such areas, with poll results indicating the trend. There have been reports of certain immigrants holding voters’ identity card and participating in the poll process, without citizen status. Such voters can be identified through the process of SIR; though oversight or deliberate interference on ground level cannot be totally ruled out.
Meanwhile, in recent months, the Trinamool has undertaken widespread organisational changes at the district level to balance veteran leaders and emerging younger leaders.
The reshuffle aims to reduce factionalism, impose stricter controls, and future-proof the party machinery for securing a fourth term in power.
There also appears an attempt at a strategic recalibration from the “old vs. new” debate to a mix of prominent longstanding figures with younger faces in organisational committees and lists of future poll candidates.
The efforts involved restructuring, sometimes even abolishing, district presidents in favour of small, handpicked core committees. In Birbhum, Kolkata North, for example, district-level leadership has been moved from a single strongman to collective committees.
The party’s organisational moves may be viewed as a strategy to recentre control, reduce factionalism, and improve candidate quality – changes expected to influence party decision at considering tickets for the 2026 Assembly polls.
Crime
Delhi Police arrest three in illicit liquor supply case

New Delhi, Aug 22: In a major crackdown on the illegal transportation and supply of liquor, the Anti-Auto Theft Squad (AATS) team of the North-East District of Delhi Police arrested three persons and recovered 778 quarters of Haryana-marked illicit liquor along with two taxis allegedly used to transport the consignment.
The action was carried out on August 21, 2026, after Head Constable Deepak, along with Head Constable Anuj and Constable Mukesh, was conducting area patrolling duty near Maujpur Chowk.
At around 6:30 a.m., the police team received information from a secret informer that two taxis carrying illicit liquor from Haryana would arrive near Seelampur Metro Station. The taxis’ numbers were also shared by the informer.
Acting on the information, the police team reached the location. At around 7:30 a.m., both taxis arrived and were intercepted. Three persons were apprehended, while another individual reportedly managed to flee from the spot.
A search of the vehicles led to the recovery of 399 quarters of illicit liquor from taxi HR55AX3345 and 379 quarters from taxi DL1ZD5015, taking the total recovery to 778 quarters.
The arrested accused have been identified as Vinit Chauhan (35), owner of taxi bearing number — HR55AX3345; Akash Sharma (25), driver of taxi bearing number — DL1ZD5015; and Vishal (23), who was allegedly accompanying the other accused.
During interrogation, the accused reportedly disclosed information about the source of the illicit liquor. Police are verifying the information and conducting further investigation to identify other individuals allegedly involved in the supply chain.
A case has been registered as FIR No. 288/26 under Section 33 of the Delhi Excise Act at Seelampur Police Station. Police said none of the three arrested accused has any previous criminal involvement on record. Further investigation is underway, according to police.
Business
Banks raise $72.8 billion in forex inflows till Aug 21, FCNR(B) deposits reach $65.4 billion: RBI

New Delhi, Aug 22: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Saturday said that authorised dealer banks have raised a massive $72.848 billion in forex inflows till August 21, and a major chuck came from FCNR (B) deposits at $65.397 billion.
External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) and Overseas Foreign Currency Borrowings (OFCBs) under Reserve Bank’s Swap facility helped raised another $7.451 billion till August 21.
RBI had introduced a special USD-INR forex swap facility covering FCNR(B) deposits, ECB and OFCB inflows on June 8, 2026.
“As already announced vide Press Release dated August 14, 2026, the Scheme is open till August 31, 2026 for FCNR(B) deposits, and up to December 31, 2026 for ECBs and OFCBs,” The Research Bank said in a statement.
The massive foreign inflows arrive as Indian banks have stepped up their efforts to attract FCNR(B) deposits by offering higher interest rates after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) suddenly cut short the deadline for its dollar-rupee swap window to August 31, from September 30.
The swap facility, announced in June to boost the inflow of dollars amid a weakening rupee, was originally available until the end of September, but the RBI abruptly shortened this by a month due to the “encouraging response” to the facility, which resulted in the required amount of foreign exchange flowing into the country.
While there may be valid reasons to justify an early closure of the RBI’s FCNR(B) deposit scheme, the most likely reason could be that the target for dollar mobilisation has already been achieved with inflows at $57 billion, and another $25-30 billion could easily flow in the remaining days of August, taking the total collections to around $85 billion, an SBI Research report said earlier this week.
According to the SBI report, “we don’t believe that the cost of swap could have been a constraining factor”.
“Our estimates show that the cumulative cost would amount to around 15 per cent of the corpus, or $10.5 billion. While this appears sizeable in absolute terms, it needs to be viewed against the scale of India’s foreign-exchange reserves rather than the FCNR(B) corpus alone,” the report argued.
Meanwhile, foreign exchange reserves jumped $9.905 billion to $716.90 billion during the week ended August 14, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday. The latest increase comes a week after the country’s forex reserves had surged by $14.1 billion to $707 billion, marking their highest level in the current financial year.
The rise in reserves was supported by inflows under the RBI’s FCNR(B) deposit scheme, which began to reflect in the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
National News
CJP vs villagers: Rajasthan school shifted within 24 hours in Jaipur

Jaipur, Aug 22: A day after a dispute between the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) and villagers of Rampura over an inspection of a government school in Jaipur escalated into allegations of assault, intimidation and a law-and-order breakdown, the government school was shifted to a building about 50 metres away, within 24 hours of Friday’s clash.
After the confrontation, CJP founder and convenor Abhijeet Dipke had warned of an escalation stating that he would sit on a dharna in Jaipur if steps weren’t taken within 48 hours to improve the condition of the school.
The Rampura government school was shifted to a house in the village on Saturday morning. More than 16 children were present at the new location along with two teachers.
The room being used for classes had previously operated as a grocery shop. At the time of inspection, some children were also seen studying outside in the Sun.
A blackboard had been placed outside one of the rooms, while the room itself contained a storage chest and other belongings.
Children also reported that the ceiling fan inside the room was not working, leaving them uncomfortable in the heat.
On Saturday morning, both sides filed complaints against each other at Shivdaspura police station, accusing one another of assault and creating a ruckus.
Both parties have also alleged that police personnel are putting pressure on them.
CJP national spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka alleged that party workers were assaulted in the village on Friday and that their clothes were torn. He demanded the immediate arrest of those responsible.
Ranka further alleged that people from outside the village were brought in for the attack and claimed that some of those involved were later seen with local BJP MLA Kailash Verma. He described the incident as a “pre-planned attack” and alleged that stones were used with the intention of causing serious harm.
According to Ranka, police personnel were not present at the spot despite repeated attempts to contact them. He said the CJP has made videos of the incident public and demanded an impartial investigation by the Rajasthan Police.
Ranka also alleged that Pratap Nagar police were intimidating him and putting pressure on him. He claimed police personnel were questioning CJP workers about him and his family.
In their complaint to the police, villagers alleged that the CJP had disturbed the atmosphere in Rampura.
They claimed that the arrival of a large number of people, allegedly carrying weapons, created fear in the village and that children were now frightened to attend school.
The villagers have denied the allegations made by CJP workers and sought action over what they described as intimidation and disorder.
Villagers said they want the government to reconstruct the school building at the earliest so that classes can resume properly within the village.
Reacting to the developments, Ranka said the CJP would not be intimidated and would continue its ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign over the condition of government schools.
He alleged that Education Minister Madan Dilawar would face embarrassment over the condition of Rajasthan’s schools and said he would personally visit schools again.
Ranka also said the CJP’s demand could now extend beyond school-related issues to seeking Dilawar’s resignation.
Meanwhile, Dilawar posted on social media that continuous efforts were being made to strengthen government schools in Rajasthan, including infrastructure development, construction and repairs, smart classrooms, laboratories and other essential facilities.
The allegations made by both sides have yet to be independently established.
The police investigation and the FIRs filed by the two parties are expected to determine the sequence of events and responsibility for Friday’s clash.
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