Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], October 30 (ANI): West Bengal recorded a voter turnout of 45.37 per cent till 1 pm in the ongoing by-elections to the four Assembly constituencies in the state on Saturday.

Kolkata Oct 27 PTI Campaigning for by-polls in four assembly constituencies of West Bengal held amid Covid restrictions ended on Wednesday evening Voting for the four seats Shantipur in Nadia district Dinhata in Coochbehar district Khardah in North 24 Parganas and Gosaba in South 24 Praganas will take place on October 30 The EC did not allow huge rallies during electioneering given the coronavirus situation and the parties depended on door-to-door visits and small gatherings at meetings conforming to COVID-19 guidelines The TMC and the BJP are the main contenders in the assembly by-polls in all four seats Apart from Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee senior party leaders Sougata Roy Firhad Hakim campaigned for their party candidates - state agriculture minister Sovandeb Chatterjee Khardah Brajakishore Goswami Shantipur Subrata Mondal Gosaba Udayan Guha Dinhata- after Durga Puja Banerjee and other Trinamool Congress TMC leaders highlighted the rise in fuel price the alleged communal agenda of the saffron party and the misuse of central agencies against political opponents by the BJP government in their speeches and projected Mamata Banerjee as the only leader capable of dislodging Narendra Modi from power in their meetings which were few in numbers due to the COVID situation For the BJP state president of the party Sukanta Majumdar leader of opposition in the state Assembly Suvendu Adhikari national vice president Dilip Ghosh and other state-level leaders including Sayantan Basu Locket Chatterjee were among the main speakers The BJP has fielded Ashok Mandal Dinhata Joy Saha Khardah Palash Raha Gosaba and Niranjan Biswas Shantipur Leaders of the saffron party particularly Suvendu Adhikari harped on the attacks on Durga Puja pandals and religious institutions in several parts of Bangladesh and the alleged silence of Trinamool Congress on the issue which they said was an attempt to win over the Bengali Hindu electorate The BJP also expressed apprehension that the situation of West Bengal will not be favourable for the Bengali Hindus in the coming days accusing the Trinamool Congress of resorting to appeasement politics This drew a sharp response from the TMC with Abhishek Banerjee accusing the BJP of trying to drive a wedge in society for securing votes BJP leader Sukanta Majumder said the TMC tried to prevent the saffron party from undertaking door-to-door campaign in places like Khardah Dinhata and Gosaba but we still managed to reach out to a cross-section of voters who are disillusioned with the reign of terror unleashed by TMC activists If voters can cast their franchise freely the results will not be to the liking of the Trinamool Congress he said While the winning TMC candidates had died of COVID-19 after the elections in Khardah and Gosaba in Dinhata and Shantipur the winning BJP candidates had resigned to retain their seats as MPs PTI SUS MM MM

Kolkata Oct 25 PTI BJP West Bengal unit president Sukanta Majumdar on Monday alleged that the North 24 Parganas district administration at the behest of the ruling TMC was hindering the saffron partys door-to-door campaign in Khardah assembly seat where by-election will be held on October 30 The police raised objections to the campaign in view of the COVID-19 situation he claimed Objections were raised by the police twice as we were campaigning door to door in Khardah Bazar and Station Road areas of the constituency though there were only five persons in our group We cannot take the responsibility of people who assembled there to support our candidate Joy Saha he told PTI Majumdar along with the party nominee continued the campaign as the police asked others not to assemble there The Balurghat MP said he saw a groundswell of support from people who have been terrorised by the Trinamool Congress We found that many shops were closed in the area and later came to know that traders were threatened not to open their outlets by TMC activists during our visit to the locality This is the situation in West Bengal We tried to reach out to the people he said Saha is pitted against West Bengal agriculture minister and veteran TMC leader Sovandeb Chattopadhyay in Khardah a seat won by state finance minister Amit Mitra twice in 2011 and 2016 Khardah had also elected TMCs Kajal Sinha in the assembly elections earlier this year Sinha died due to COVID-19 before the results were declared necessitating the bypoll State minister and senior TMC leader Firhad Hakim denied Majumdars allegation and said the BJPs state president know that they will lose the elections No one is with the BJP Our candidate will win with a massive margin he told reporters Shortly after the assembly poll results were announced in May Chattopadhyay who won from Bhabanipur vacated the seat to facilitate Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees return to the assembly from thereBanerjee lost to BJPs Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram during the April-May assembly polls Bypolls will also be held in Gosaba Dinhata and Shantipur assembly constituencies on October 30 PTI SUS BDC BDC

Kolkata Oct 18 PTI The ruling Trinamool Congress TMC plans to start campaigning for by-polls slated for October 30 from Saturday TMC Rajya Sabha MP and Deputy Leader in the upper house Sukhendu Sekhar Roy told reporters here on Monday We are sure of a 4-0 sweep But we will not be complacent and will campaign in full swing abiding by Covid-19 restrictions of the Election Commission Roy said partys National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee will campaign in all four constituencies and start from October 23 Banerjee will start campaigning in Gosaba and Khardah assembly seats on October 23 He would visit Dinhata on October 25 and Santipur the next day West Bengal Minister Firhad Hakim will campaign in Cooch Behar from October 23 By-polls will be held in Gosaba in South 24 Parganas district Khardah in North 24 Parganas district Dinhata in Cooch Behar and Santipur in Nadia district Two winning Trinamool Congress candidates died in Gosaba and Khardah after polling was over necessitating elections Two BJP MPs resigned as MLAs after their wins from Dinhata and Santipur assembly seats in the April assembly polls throwing open those seats for a by-poll PTI SUS JRC JRC

Kolkata Oct 17 PTI As a mark of political courtesy BJP candidate for Khardah assembly bypoll Joy Saha on Sunday visited the residence of deceased TMC leader Kajal Sinha who had won the seat in the March-April elections and sought blessings from his wife Nandita Sinha died of COVID-19 in April just days after polls were held in the constituency His death necessitated the byelections in Khardah where Saha has locked horns with state minister and veteran TMC leader Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay Chattopadhyay had earlier vacated Kolkatas Bhabanipur seat to facilitate Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees election to the Assembly from the constituency The BJP candidate during the day took time off from his campaigns and visited the residence of Sinha in Shantinagar locality of Khardah where he also garlanded the deceased leaders portrait Nandita who is actively campaigning for Chattopadhyay for the October 30 bypoll told reporters that she wished Saha well when he visited her home for Bijoya occasion after Durga puja during which people seek blessings from their elders We never turn away a guest This is also the philosophy of our Didi Mamata Banerjee He sought my blessings on Bijoya for success and I gave him my blessings she said Political rivalry should be limited to battlefield Nandita who heads TMCs women cell in Khardah stated adding that her husband too helped everyone no matter what the affiliation Saha on his part said She Nandita extended her wishes to me for my successful career in politics so that I can serve people with dedication transparency and honesty Describing Kajal Sinha as Khardahs bhumiputra son of soil Saha said He lives on in the heart of the people of this constituency My conscience prompted me to pay tribute to him and I did that Echoing Nandita Chattopadhyay said exchanging greetings and wishing everyone well are part of our parampara tradition That said she did not wish for the electoral success of our political rival the TMC candidate asserted PTI SUS RMS RMS

Kolkata, September 22: A tragic incident has come to light from West Bengal’s Kolkata where three members of a family were killed of electrocution. Reports inform that the three people including a couple and their 10-year-old son died of electrocution in a waterlogged room. According to a report by TOI, the incident took place at their house […]

Kolkata Sep 21 PTI At least four people including three of a family were electrocuted to death in West Bengals North 24 Parganas district on Tuesday as large parts of the state remained inundated due to heavy rain an official said A 15-year-old boy was electrocuted to death while returning home from tuition in Titagarh he said A man his wife and son died in a government housing complex in Khardah The man was electrocuted to death after coming in contact with the inundated floor of his flat which was electrified by open wires and his wife and son also died while trying to save him the state Disaster Management Department official said Only the younger son only four-years-old survived the incident He shouted for help from neighbours who rushed the trio to the hospital where doctors declared them brought dead PTI SCH ACD ACD