Kolkata Dec 22 PTI A Congress candidate who had contested the just-concluded KMC elections moved the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday seeking leave to file a petition over alleged assault on him after the conclusion of polling and grant of police protectionRabi Saha the Congress nominee from ward number 16 for the December 19 Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections claimed that supporters of the ruling Trinamool Congress roughed him up and made a video of the incident which went viral on social media Justice Rajasekhar Mantha before whom his lawyer mentioned the matter granted leave to him to file a petition in this regard Sahas lawyer said the matter following filing of the petition may be taken up for hearing by the court on Thursday His counsel claiming that the police did not take necessary action following the episode said they will seek from the court a direction to the police to take action against the perpetrators and grant protection to SahaCounting for the polls was held on Tuesday with the ruling TMC gaining control of the 144-member KMC bagging 134 seats to post a hat-trick of wins PTI AMR RBT RBT

Kanpur Nov 28 PTI Wriddhiman Saha is an ideal team man who can always be relied to do the tough job but unfortunately he will have to play the second fiddle when Indias number one keeper-batter Rishabh Pant gets back from break batting coach Vikra Rathour said on Sunday Saha the oldest member of the current Indian set-up at 37 is playing his 39th Test in 11 years since his debut His first five years after debut went as legendary Mahendra Singh Dhonis understudy and even if it sounds crude he is now a back-up for 24-year-old Pant On Sunday with his Test career on line Saha battled hard with a stiff-neck for his gutsy 61 not out after Shreyas Iyer laid the platform with an attractive 65 He had a really really stiff neck and knowing Saha who is an ideal team man he is going to do whatever is required batting coach Rathour waxed eloquent about the veteran keeper who shared two fifty-plus stands with Iyer and Axar Patel He would do the tough things for the team and he played an extremely important knock at the stage the team was at that point Saha is a quiet person someone who is not known to be too expressive but the teams knows that the plod and grind effort will come from the gritty man who hails from North Bengal city of Siliguri That is what we always expect from Wriddhi He has always been that kind of a person whom we can count on and today he showed why Rathour said However he made it clear that even at this juncture of his career the Bengal stumper is nothing more than a stop-gap option for Team India as Pant has pushed him far back during away series in Australia where the senior man was given a first go As far as Wriddhi is concerned unfortunately for him we have an extremely special player Rishabh who is number one keeper for us and has done extremely well in past few years Thats the role No 2 Wriddhi has at the moment that we need him when Pant is not available Rathour spelt it loud and clear something he didnt do when asked about Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahanes future Iyers second innings was better effort than his first The batting coach said they had only one advice for Iyer -- to back his natural game and not do anything different just because he is playing a Test match Its always exciting when a debutant comes in and scores a hundred and thats very special I thought he looked even better in the second innings all credit to him Its exciting as a support staff to see somebody walking in and doing it for the team He showed he is a confident young guy uses his feet very very well against spin Tail-enders doing well consistently The coaching staff over the past two years during Ravi Shastris regime has been devoting lot more time towards nurturing the batting prowess of number nine 10 and 11 and that has been yielding results now This is a deliberate effort from our side that we have been trying to give them lot more batting whenever we are having nets Thats what we have done for couple of years and that strategy is paying off We have seen in the past and what other teams have done against us and other teams have put up totals after we have taken 4-5 wickets So good to see we are doing that now and doing it repeatedly he signed off PTI KHS KHS AT AT

Kolkata Sep 23 PTI A high-voltage drama unfolded in the citys Kalighat area on Thursday as BJP activists led by the partys state president Sukanta Majumder engaged in a scuffle with the police after being stopped from holding a peaceful demonstration near West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees residence with the body of a deceased leader Dhurjati Saha who unsuccessfully contested the March-April Assembly polls from Magrahat Paschim constituency had allegedly come under attack on May 2 when the vote counting was in progress He died at a private nursing home here on Wednesday BJP leaders have claimed that supporters of the ruling party had assaulted Saha His family members have sought a CBI probe into the case The central agency is currently probing post-poll violence cases involving murder and rape on the direction of the Calcutta High Court According to police sources activists of the BJP were on their way to a crematorium from their party office for Sahas last rites when the flower-bedecked hearse suddenly took a detour through Harish Chatterjee Street a part of the bypoll-bound Bhabanipur assembly constituency which also houses the chief ministers residence As policemen threw a cordon and put guard rails to stop the hearse forcing its driver to change direction Majumder was seen running behind the carrier He then sat in the middle of road in front of the TMC supremos residence with supporters raising slogans against the ruling party as the hearse moved forward The newly appointed state BJP chief was forced to leave the spot along with workers of his party following a brief scuffle with the police Later while talking to reporters he said Look at the way they police manhandled the president of the principal opposition party This police of the Mamata Banerjee government cannot arrest the murderers of BJP leaders but they can stop us from carrying out a peaceful demonstration outside the residence of the CM who has not taken any action to stem attacks on our members BJP MP Arjun Singh and the partys candidate for Bhabanipur by-elections Priyanka Tibrewal were also seen protesting against the police action The chief minister is the TMC candidate from the constituency Saha also known as Manas was defeated by TMCs Giasuddin Molla who bagged 97006 more votes than him The saffron party claimed that Mollas supporters attacked him on May 2 Molla however denied the charge and said he had no inkling of what happened to the BJP leader Reacting to the demonstration by the BJP in Kalighat TMC deputy chief whip in Assembly Tapas Roy alleged that Majumdar was trying to foment trouble in a high-security zone The new state BJP chief knows well that the road next to the CMs residence is a high-security zone but he still tried to create trouble in that area Such acts lower the esteem of the position he holds Roy stated The BJP is yet to come terms with its defeat in the assembly polls he said We had repeatedly said that the BJP is finding it difficult to digest its drubbing in the assembly elections The party knows that it stands no chance in Bhabanipur bypoll Its members are now politicising a death Roy added PTI SUS RMS RMS

Kolkata Sep 22 PTI A BJP leader of West Bengal who lost the assembly election from a seat in South 24 Parganas district and was allegedly assaulted by Trinamool Congress workers in May died at a hospital on Wednesday his family members saidAlleging that Dhurjati Saha suffered head injuries in an attack on May 2 the day of counting of votes in the Magrahat Paschim constituency his wife and son demanded a CBI investigation into the incidentLocal TMC MLA Giasuddin Mollah said he does not know who assaulted Saha as he was inside the counting centre at that timeHe was beaten up by the henchmen of local TMC MLA after counting trends showed he Saha was trailing He had to be admitted to the hospital the next day said BJP MP Arjun Singh who visited the hospital at Thakurpukur in South 24 Parganas district after Sahas deathClaiming that it was another instance of post-poll atrocities by the TMC against its political opponents Singh said they would take up the matter with the National Human Rights Commission NHRC soonAccepting the recommendations of an NHRC panel the Calcutta High Court on August 19 ordered a CBI investigation into all alleged cases of heinous crimes like rape and murderSahas wife alleged that her husband was beaten up outside the counting centre in Magrahat by three-four TMC activists who were close to Mollah and the police even after being informed did not come to his rescue when he had sought their helpHe could be taken back home much later at the intervention of local BJP leaders and some residents of the area As his condition deteriorated he was taken to a hospital she saidWe demand CBI probe into the incident and arrest of those behind the attack Sahas son and wife said PTI SUS NN NN