Assembly Elections 2026 LIVE updates: Congress alleges TMC vandalised helipad ahead of Rahul's Raiganj rally

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DMK president and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin turned the tables on AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami by emphasising that, had she been alive, former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa would have opposed issues such as delimitation

Updated - April 14, 2026 10:22 am IST

Flags of political parties and other campaigning material being sold at a shop ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections, at Bara Bazar, in Kolkata. File. | Photo Credit: ANI

The Congress on Monday (April 13, 2026) alleged that a helipad being prepared for party leader Rahul Gandhi’s rally at Raiganj in West Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district on Tuesday (April 14, 2026) was vandalised by the ruling Trinamool Congress workers and lodged a police complaint in this regard. The TMC rejected the charge and claimed that the Congress itself had done it to malign the ruling party.

Also read | BJP manifestos: 28.73% of promises made by party in poll-bound States rely on Centre

Meanwhile, the Election Commission (EC) appointed IPS Officer M. Sarvana Vivek as police observer for the upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal.

Over in Tamil Nadu, DMK president and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin turned the tables on AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami by emphasising that, had she been alive, former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa would have opposed issues such as delimitation that sought to deprive Tamil Nadu of its rights. Mr. Palaniswami on the other hand, alleged voters in the State were receiving phone calls asking them to vote for the DMK, and this was being done using the data collected during the Oraniyil Tamil Nadu campaign.

Read live updates here:

April 14, 2026 10:22
Vijay’s hologram makes its way into campaign to impress Kumbakonam voters
“Enga vote, enga urimai” — actor and founder of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) C. Joseph Vijay was seen addressing the people of Kumbakonam, alongside his party’s candidate for the constituency, R. Vinoth. Except, it wasn’t Mr. Vijay himself.
After cardboard cut-outs and lookalikes, now, a 3D image projection or a hologram of Mr. Vijay accompanied Mr. Vinoth, aggressively campaigning through the streets of the town.
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April 14, 2026 09:55
If BJP were playing petty politics, Tamil Nadu would not have got first PM Mitra Park, says Piyush Goyal
BJP leader and Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said that if the Narendra Modi government at the Centre were playing petty politics, as had been alleged, it would have allotted the first PM Mitra Park to one of the States ruled by the NDA or the BJP, rather than Tamil Nadu.
To a query whether the BJP’s ‘double-engine sarkar’ slogan constituted a threat to voters — that unless they vote for the ruling party at the Centre, some Central schemes might not reach them — Mr. Goyal said the BJP government had sanctioned the first PM Mitra Park in Virudhunagar in Tamil Nadu when he was the Textiles Minister.
Click here to read his exclusive conversation with The Hindu
April 14, 2026 09:54
Development in West Bengal leaves much to be desired
An indicator-based analysis for the poll-bound West Bengal reveals that the State lags in several economic and social indicators. While it shows strength in select indicators such as immunisation and elementary enrolment, the State’s performance across various indicators remained relatively poorer compared to national average.
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Development in West Bengal leaves much to be desired
West Bengal's development struggles persist, with economic indicators lagging despite some improvements in health and education sectors.
April 14, 2026 09:53
T.N. Assembly election: Jayalalithaa would have opposed delimitation if she were alive, says Stalin
DMK president and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Monday (April 13, 2026) turned the tables on AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami by emphasising that, had she been alive, former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa would have opposed issues such as delimitation that sought to deprive Tamil Nadu of its rights.
“We may have differences. But she would have taken a firm decision like the DMK, because she strongly opposed GST and NEET. She even challenged Modi by raising the slogan, ‘Gujarat Modiya? Indha Ladiya?’,” he said while addressing an election campaign in Ranipet and introducing candidates of the DMK-led alliance.
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