Snigdhendu Bhattacharya
Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, principal correspondent, Hindustan Times, Kolkata, has been covering politics, socio-economic and cultural affairs for over 10 years. He takes special interest in monitoring developments related to Maoist insurgency and religious extremism.
Articles by Snigdhendu Bhattacharya
Amit Shah targets Mamata Banerjee on CAA, Covid-19
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya | Hindustan Times, Mumbai
UPDATED ON JUN 10, 2020 06:21 AM IST
The TMC hit back and accused the BJP of focusing on politics instead of battling Covid-19.
‘Hungry only for votes’: TMC attacks BJP after Amit Shah’s virtual rally
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya | Hindustan Times, Kolkata
UPDATED ON JUN 09, 2020 08:17 PM IST
The TMC accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of presenting false data on funds spent by the Centre on various schemes and targeted him for reviving the issue of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Amit Shah takes on Mamata Banerjee on virtual turf, seeks change in West Bengal
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya | Edited by: Amit Chaturvedi | Hindustan Times, Kolkata
UPDATED ON JUN 09, 2020 03:35 PM IST
Shah accused the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government of indulging in violence, corruption, extortion, infiltration, terror and politics of appeasement.
‘Take a minute’: Mamata Banerjee’s nephew jabs Shah ahead of Bengal address
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya | Edited by: Shankhyaneel Sarkar | Hindustan Times, Kolkata
UPDATED ON JUN 09, 2020 01:57 PM IST
This is the first time that the Trinamool Congress brought forth the issue of the recent tensions along the international borders with China.
West Bengal’s Covid-19 deaths cross 400-mark but fatality rate improves
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya | Edited by Anubha Rohatgi | Hindustan Times, Kolkata
UPDATED ON JUN 09, 2020 12:04 PM IST
Bengal’s death rate due to Covid-19 is still higher than the national average. India’s death rate stood at 2.8% as of Monday morning, with 7,200 deaths reported against 256,611 persons testing positive for the disease.
Bibliophiles help sellers at Kolkata’s iconic book market by buying damaged books
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya | Edited by Sohini Sarkar | Hindustan Times, Kolkata
UPDATED ON JUN 09, 2020 12:21 AM IST
The College Street area in north Kolkata, popularly known as Boi-para or the book locality, is home to some of the most prestigious educational institutes and happens to be a storehouse of books, with nearly 1,000 small to large publishers and booksellers operating in the locality.
Unspent funds, incomplete work mark gram panchayats in rural Bengal: Mahua Moitra
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya | Edited by Sohini Sarkar | Hindustan Times, Kolkata
UPDATED ON JUN 07, 2020 11:38 PM IST
Moitra has said that the local self governing bodies in rural Bengal were not taking up necessary infrastructure work that needed funds over Rs 3.5 lakh in an attempt to avoid mandatory administrative scrutiny.
Ahead of state polls, Mamata warns TMC against corruption in relief work
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya| Edited by: Meenakshi Ray | Hindustan Times, Kolkata
UPDATED ON JUN 06, 2020 02:11 PM IST
Mamata Banerjee also instructed TMC leaders to intensify political campaign on social media highlighting her government’s successes in the past nine years.
Bengal tally doubles in 12 days, crosses 7k-mark
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya | Hindustan Times, Kolkata
UPDATED ON JUN 05, 2020 11:58 PM IST
As on Friday, the state reported 7,303 cases, with 366 persons dead and 2,912 persons discharged from hospitals after recovery.
Mamata sharpens attack on BJP, asks party to prepare for the 2021 elections
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya | Edited by Abhinav Sahay | Hindustan Times, Kolkata
UPDATED ON JUN 05, 2020 10:21 PM IST
Mamata was upset with the BJP’s launch of 2021 election campaign titled ‘No more Mamata’
Bengal rolls out red carpet for central team for cyclone damage assessment
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya| Edited by Sabir Hussain | Hindustan Times, Koklkata
PUBLISHED ON JUN 04, 2020 02:50 PM IST
The Bengal government’s attitude towards the inter-ministerial central team (IMCT) to assess the cyclone damage is in contrast to its stand when two such teams landed in April to take stock of the state’s Covid-19 management.
Mamata seeks Rs 10,000 cash transfer from Centre to each migrant worker
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya | Edited by Sparshita Saxena | Hindustan Times, Kolkata
UPDATED ON JUN 03, 2020 12:44 PM IST
Banerjee’s demand came a day after her government claimed to have transferred Rs 20,000 to the bank account of each of those whose homes got destroyed by the cyclone Amphan.
Bengal BJP enters poll mode, Amit Shah to kick-start virtual meetings on June 8
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya | Edited by Sohini Sarkar | Hindustan Times, Kolkata
UPDATED ON JUN 01, 2020 10:22 PM IST
Monday’s announcements came barely four days after the party released a 9-point charge-sheet against Mamata Banerjee’s nine-year rule and called for toppling the state government in 2021.
Amid spike in Covid-19 cases, Bengal’s testing matches up to national level
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya | Edited by Sohini Sarkar | Hindustan Times, Kolkata
UPDATED ON MAY 31, 2020 11:50 PM IST
Bengal on May 31, reported 371 new Covid-19 cases, mostly from the different districts where migrant workers recently returned.
In Amphan’s trail of destruction, Sunderbans turn red, yellow
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya | Hindustan Times, Kolkata
PUBLISHED ON MAY 30, 2020 10:13 PM IST
The lawmakers have never witnessed this unnatural phenomenon before, even after the cyclone Aila that devastated large parts in and around the Sunderbans in 2009.
Amid lockdown, this Kolkata hospital is conducting dialysis at Rs 50 only
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya | Edited by Sohini Sarkar | Hindustan Times, Kolkata
UPDATED ON MAY 30, 2020 09:05 AM IST
The hospital in central Kolkata, named Kolkata Swasthya Sankalp, has been a low-cost dialysis centre essentially for the poor and used to charge Rs 350 per dialysis. This is nearly one third of the cost of dialysis at government-hospitals.
Lockdown 5: Mamata allows pvt offices to work with 100% staff from June 8; says nothing on local train
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya | Edited by Abhinav Sahay | Hindustan Times, Kolkata
UPDATED ON MAY 29, 2020 10:28 PM IST
Mamata has allowed reopening of religious places from June 1 with some restrictions.
Cyclone Amphan: A trail of death, misery and destruction
By Joydeep Thakur, Dhrubo Jyoti and Snigdhendu Bhattacharya | Sunderbans/Kolkata/New Delhi
UPDATED ON MAY 28, 2020 09:33 PM IST
The government had, two days before, sounded an alarm about an approaching super cyclone and evacuated roughly 360,000 people from the delta.
BJP launches 2021 assembly poll campaign in Bengal, calls it ‘Aar Noi Mamata’
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya | Hindustan Times, Kolkata
UPDATED ON MAY 27, 2020 05:02 PM IST
The Mamata Banerjee government is facing a three-fold challenge – combating the outbreak of Covid-19, dealing with the huge influx of migrant workers returning to the state and restoring normal life and infrastructure in the cyclone-hit areas.
Returning migrants cause surge of Covid-19 cases in rural Bengal
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya | Hindustan Times, Kolkata
UPDATED ON MAY 27, 2020 02:51 AM IST
According to a senior official of the West Bengal health department, 76 people tested positive for Covid-19 in rural areas of Howrah district; 67 in the rural areas of Malda; 46 in Hooghly district and 30 in Uttar Dinajpur over the past three days.
Bengal Guv tells Mamata not to inflate figures on losses due to cyclone Amphan
UPDATED ON MAY 25, 2020 08:11 AM IST
Dhankhar’s tweets came after CM Banerjee said that the estimated loss due to the cyclone was Rs 1 lakh crore. She has said that 1 crore people have been rendered homeless due to the cyclone.
Biggest 1-day spike in Bengal with 200 cases
PUBLISHED ON MAY 25, 2020 12:07 AM IST
Bengal records biggest single-day spike of 208 new Covid-19 cases, state tally at 3,667
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya | Edited by Sohini Sarkar | Hindustan Times, Kolkata
UPDATED ON MAY 24, 2020 11:08 PM IST
The spike comes as a major concern for the state, as the cyclone-hit districts are also the ones most-affected by Covid-19.
Decade after Cyclone Aila, saline water will continue to haunt farms in Sunderbans
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya and Joydeep Thakur | Hindustan Times, Sunderbans
UPDATED ON MAY 24, 2020 12:27 AM IST
Of the 102 islands in Sunderbans, 52 are inhabited by 4.5 million people and the rest are tiger territories.
Bengal parties spar over cyclone relief
UPDATED ON MAY 24, 2020 02:58 AM IST
Sunderbans left unfit for farming
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya and Joydeep Thakur
PUBLISHED ON MAY 23, 2020 11:44 PM IST
Cyclone-ravaged Bengal records highest Covid-19 tests at 9,009 on Saturday
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya | Hindustan Times, Kolkata
PUBLISHED ON MAY 23, 2020 10:18 PM IST
After testing about 8,500 tests for a few days, Bengal’s testing took a hit due to the cyclone Amphan. On March 19 and 20, it tested 8,712 and 8,722 samples, respectively
Ravaged areas dread more damage with turn of tide
By Joydeep Thakur and Snigdhendu Bhattacharya
PUBLISHED ON MAY 22, 2020 11:23 PM IST
For Bengal’s migrant workers back from other states, Cyclone Amphan is a nightmare
By Snigdhendu Bhattacharya and Joydeep Thakur | Edited by Sohini Sarkar | Hindustan Times, Kolkata
UPDATED ON MAY 23, 2020 01:44 PM IST
At Karanjali area in South 24-Parganas, dozens of migrant workers returned from Maharashtra on Friday morning, only to know that their home and their ponds had been devastated.
Cyclone Amphan: Ravaged Bengal districts await further damage
By Joydeep Thakur and Snigdhendu Bhattacharya | Edited by Abhinav Sahay | Hindustan Times, North and South 24-Parganas
UPDATED ON MAY 22, 2020 10:40 PM IST
After the cyclone, the coastal villages in the two Bengal districts are bracing for the impact of spring tide as river embankments lay breached.