Ravik Bhattacharya is assistant editor of Hindustan Times. He has spent over 16 years in journalism covering political, trafficking, crime and human rights issues in various parts of India.
Articles by Ravik Bhattacharya
'A second independence'
Mamata Banerjee says development, end to atrocities will be her government’s priority; welcomes allies to be part of her government. Ravik Bhattacharya reports.Inheritance of loss | Pics: Trinamool blooms in Bengal | How the numbers stack up
Updated on May 14, 2011 03:26 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Green revolution in Bengal air
The scent of victory was in the air early today at Mamata Banerjee's modest house in south Kolkata's Kalighat neighbourhood, where hundreds of Trinamool Congress workers huddled in front of TV sets, and media persons got ready to capture history in the making. Ravik Bhattacharya writes.
Updated on May 13, 2011 01:51 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Didi puts her men on tight leash
There are few diktats which the Trinamool chief wants her supporters and candidates to strictly obey on May 13. Ravik Bhattacharya reports.
Updated on May 12, 2011 03:26 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
‘No victory rallies, no alcohol, no sound bytes...’
Trinamool Congress chief and railways minister Mamata Banerjee has outlined a list of dos and don’ts for party workers to rein in unbridled jubilation across West Bengal should the party achieve a landslide victory, as predicted by exit polls, when results are announced on Friday. Ravik Bhattacharya reports.
Updated on May 12, 2011 01:40 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
A celebration of democracy
Half bent, his body supported with a walking stick, Brikhaban Das, 80, could hardly walk under the scorching sun. His shaking hands tried in vain to hold his voter card as the photographer asked him to pose. Ravik Bhattacharya reports.
Updated on May 11, 2011 01:04 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Lalgarh
Voting over, but forces still on alert
Although the last phase of the assembly polls passed off peacefully in the violence-hit Maoist districts in Jangalmahal area, security forces are still on high alert to thwart any attempt by Maoists to unleash violence. Ravik Bhattacharya reports.
Updated on May 10, 2011 11:42 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Lalgarh
Forces don't buy rebel peace claim
Maoist squads in Jangalmahal, especially in and around Lalgarh in West Midnapore district, have no intention to disrupt the polls, though the security forces manning the sensitive polling booths in the Red zone are not buying the claim and are instead wary of it being a charade. Ravik Bhattacharya reports.
Updated on May 10, 2011 02:48 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Lalgarh
Button vs bullet
Two-and-a-half-year old Soumyajit is waiting for his father for 121 days. He believes his father who has broken his leg is in Midnapore hospital and will come home soon. Ravik Bhattacharya reports.
Updated on May 09, 2011 04:29 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Netai
Disruptions, attacks and forces can shoot
The personnel of the Central forces have been authorised to shoot, even without orders, in the case of an armed attack meant to disrupt the May 10 polls in the ultra-red belt of West Bengal.
Updated on May 09, 2011 12:38 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Lalgarh
Maoist shadow over Didi campaign
'Use the ballot to answer the CPM bullets' is the Trinamool chief's rallying cry as she takes on Chhatradhar Mahato. Ravik Bhattacharya and Koushik Dutta report.
Updated on May 07, 2011 04:40 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya and Koushik Dutta, Jhargram
Treading carefully on alliance line
With a towel on his head, walking through village after village is Manas Ranjan Bhuniya, president of West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee and candidate for Sabong as defending MLA. Along him as a show of alliance brotherhood, Trinamool workers were seen matching steps.
Updated on May 06, 2011 03:31 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Trinamool gears up to deliver change
With days to go for parivartan in Bengal or so as Trinamool Congress hopes, the party has already initiated preparations for changing the state administration and the police. Ravik Bhattacharya reports.
Updated on May 06, 2011 03:22 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Arunachal CM crash worries Didi’s crew
It is a rising concern about Mamata Banerjee helicopter rides following the crash that killed Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorji Khandu. Ravik Bhattacharya reports.
Updated on May 05, 2011 05:57 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Vote of revenge for Tapasi’s father
Monoranjan Malik and his wife Molina stand patiently in the queue at Bajemelia Primary School, armed with their voter identity cards. The wait for Tapasi Malik’s parents, in fact, began almost five years ago. Ravik Bhattacharya reports.
Updated on May 04, 2011 03:36 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Singur
Left battles to reclaim a lost stronghold
At a recent political rally in Nandigram, Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee spoke about the development of not only Nandigram but also Khejuri, promising people friendly industrial hubs in the area. Ravik Bhattacharya reports.
Updated on May 03, 2011 05:39 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya
Focus on the road ahead, lead society
If Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar contested polls, he would have barely managed five votes, said industry minister Nirupam Sen barely 48 hours before the poll in his constituency. “Leaders should be social reformers, and if necessary, pay the price,” he argued with Avijit Ghosal and Ravik Bhattacharya on May Day.
Updated on May 03, 2011 04:32 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Avijit Ghosal and Ravik Bhattacharya
Singur will haunt me till my last breath
Singur will haunt Nirupam Sen till his last breath. Avijit Ghosal and Ravik Bhattacharya report.
Updated on May 03, 2011 05:31 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Avijit Ghosal/Ravik Bhattacharya, Burdwan
Faces of Nandigram on the run from cops
Speaking at a rally in Nandigram, Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee promised to drop all charges against those jailed for land resistance-related charges after the new government assumes power. Ravik Bhattacharya reports.
Updated on Apr 29, 2011 01:47 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Nandigram
Rusting pipes haunt farmers
From a distance, they look like milestones jutting out of paddy fields at random. A closer look reveals pieces of rusted metal pipes standing a feet above the ground at Korotia village in Ausgram block of Burdwan. Ravik Bhattacharya reports.
Updated on Apr 29, 2011 12:48 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Burdwan
Deafening silence in battlefield Nandigram
An eerie calm greets you on arrival. The earthen roads meandering through swathes of farmland are mostly deserted. There are no street corner meetings, no loudspeakers, not much of canvassing. Rajesh Mahapatra and Ravik Bhattacharya report.
Updated on Apr 28, 2011 12:28 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra and Ravik Bhattacharya, Nandigram
CPM MLA takes on Trinamool heavyweight
Around 20 men and women sat under a plastic shade inside a park on Sunday. The venue is a low-income government housing estate in Kankurgachi. Ravik Bhattacharya reports.
Updated on May 07, 2011 03:21 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Nandigram waits for a gift from their Didi
It doesn't take much to figure out that Firoza Bibi is not what it takes to be the MLA from a place that has come to be known as the epicentre of the change waiting to happen in Bengal. Rajesh Mahapatra and Ravik Bhattacharya report.
Updated on Apr 22, 2011 02:17 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra and Ravik Bhattacharya, Nandigram
Nandigram wants Didi as candidate
When Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee chose Firoza Bibi, 55, to contest from Nandigram, quite a few eyebrows were raised. Firoza had won a 2009 by-election riding on a Trinamool wave and sympathy for her son who died in police firing that set off the Nandigram agitation. Rajesh Mahapatra and Ravik Bhattacharya report.
Updated on Apr 22, 2011 12:21 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rajesh Mahapatra, Ravik Bhattacharya, Nandigram
The making of Mamata Banerjee
From a rabble rouser to a game changer on whom 90 million people pin their hopes for a new tomorrow, Mamata Banerjee has come a long way. Rajesh Mahapatra and Ravik Bhattacharya decode the making of Bengal’s new leader. The Mamata machine
Updated on Apr 18, 2011 08:19 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya , Rajesh Mahapatra
Somnath melts, may campaign for CPM
With some goodwill still left for the CPM, former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee is considering whether he should campaign for the party in West Bengal, though there is no change in his ‘expelled’ status. Ravik Bhattacharya reports.
Updated on Apr 14, 2011 01:21 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Santiniketan
Somnath mulls ending political sanyas
Former Lok Sabha Speaker and expelled CPI(M) central committee member Somnath Chatterjee is seriously rethinking whether to return to active politics and begin campaigning for CPI(M) candidates for the Bengal assembly elections.
Updated on Apr 13, 2011 04:02 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Santiniketan
The Congress has no spine: Somnath
CPI(M) leader and former Speaker Somnath Chatterjee is planning a comeback. He took some time out of his busy schedule to speak to Hindustan Times.
Updated on Apr 13, 2011 03:49 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Bolpur
Pranab kicks off campaign for son
Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday began a new chapter in his political life by starting the election campaign for his son Abhijit, the Congress candidate from Nalhati in Birbhum district.
Updated on Apr 12, 2011 01:55 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Nalhati
Deb leaves behind a trail of flowers & smile on faces
The outspoken state housing minister Gautam Deb, used red roses for a human touch, which seems to be the focal point during his campaign as he connects with the people of Dum Dum. Ravik Bhattacharya reports.
Updated on Apr 06, 2011 01:11 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Congress rebels to contest polls
Congress dissidents, who are poised to contest as independent candidates in the assembly elections, are as obdurate as ever. They are not even unnerved by Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee's caveat of strong disciplinary actions, including the threat of expulsion for six years.
Updated on Apr 06, 2011 01:01 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata