Overview
- A Murshidabad court on December 23 sentenced 13 people to life for the April riots, following Calcutta High Court observations that the state failed to act promptly, including on deploying central forces.
- The Supreme Court’s cancellation of 25,753 school appointments remains in force, and the state’s fresh recruitment effort is still entangled in litigation.
- The West Bengal government missed the Supreme Court’s June 30 deadline to clear 25% dearness allowance arrears, has filed a review petition, and faces the risk of contempt proceedings.
- Communal rhetoric has intensified around the Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls, with the BJP and TMC clashing over alleged infiltrators and voter deletions.
- Suspended TMC MLA Humayun Kabir’s new Janata Unnayan Party is courting AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi and ISF’s Abbas Siddiqui, raising the prospect of a split in a Muslim electorate influential in about 100 Assembly seats.