The decision has been taken to check the spread of coronavirus, the sources said.
A video of Bharatiya Janata Party state president Dilip Ghosh apparently suggesting West Bengal chief minister should wear bermuda shorts to display her injured leg has triggered controversy with the ruling Trinamool Congress slamming it as a 'distasteful comment' and women expressing outrage over the remark in social media.
The Trinamool Congress welcomed the Supreme Court verdict on panchayat polls in West Bengal as a "victory of democracy" and asked opposition parties to apologise to the people of the state.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday that violence and clashes were taking place in those areas where the BJP won the elections.
TMC also mentioned about four locations where it claims Adhikari has lodged anti-social elements.
Sporadic violence was reported on Thursday in the fifth and last phase of panchayat elections in West Bengal covering four districts of north Bengal with 30 per cent voter turnout reported till noon.
The EC also extended the silence period from 48 hours to 72 hours in each of the remaining three of the eight phases of the West Bengal polls to be held on April 22, 26 and 29.
The counting of votes in all these states and the UT will take place on May 2.
'If we get 399 seats and you say we have not crossed 400, then it is your wisdom. But the '400 paar' slogan is based on calculation and considered opinion'
A five-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on Friday appointed its former chief justice Manjula Chellur to "overview" the functioning of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) that has been formed to probe allegations of post-poll violence, other than rape and murder.
Within hours of assuming office, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday initiated a major reshuffle in the police hierarchy, transferring 29 top-level police officers, mostly those who were shifted by the election commission prior to the polls.
Among the keenly watched contests are those involving former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav (Kannauj, UP) and Union ministers Giriraj Singh (Begusarai, Bihar), Nityanand Rai (Ujiarpur, Bihar) and Raosaheb Danve (Jalna, Maharashtra).
Other prominent candidates among the 904 in the fray are Union minister Anurag Thakur, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti.
Six persons, including a woman, were killed and 18 were injured in violence and CRPF firing in the fourth phase of the West Bengal panchayat elections on Monday. Polling in four districts saw a voter turnout of 25 per cent.
Trinamool Congress leader Partha Chatterjee has said that the party will raise the incident of the attack over Mamata Banerjee with the Election Commission on Thursday.
Actor-turned-politician and sitting MP Locket Chatterjee has been fielded from Chunchura and another MP Nishit Parmanik from Dinhata. Also, a number of film personalities have been nominated as candidates in the high-stakes battle for West Bengal.
"The voting percentage is likely to go upwards when reports from all polling stations are obtained as polling is scheduled till 6 pm in many constituencies. Final figures will be known on Saturday after the scrutiny of form 17A," the EC said.
The results for bypolls to seven assembly seats in six states will be declared on Friday in what is being seen as a major test for the opposition's Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance ahead of the polls in five states later this year and Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
Trinamool Congress's (TMC) Rajya Sabha MP and former Goa chief minister Luizinho Faleiro has tendered his resignation from the Upper House of Parliament, party sources said on Tuesday.
Trinamool Congress General Secretary Mukul Roy on Tuesday filed two defamation cases against West Bengal minister Gautam Deb, including a civil suit seeking damages of Rs 15 crore, for alleging that the Opposition party used black money for its election campaign.
There will be 2,364 counting halls as compared to 1,002 halls in 2016 in 822 assemble constituencies, a more than 200 percent increase, in view of the COVID guidelines, according to the Election Commission which had drawn flak from the courts over the conduct of polls during the pandemic.
Banerjee said there is no video footage or any other proof to substantiate claims of the central forces.
'This means the remedy will be worse than the disease. The thing which you want to avoid will happen.'
In the 2017 assembly election, the voter turnout in the first phase covering the same 89 constituencies stood at 66.75 per cent.
The Congress on Thursday secured a seat in the present Bengal assembly as its candidate Bayron Biswas won the Sagardighi bypoll, defeating the nearest rival of the Trinamool Congress by 22,980 votes.
Sporadic incidents of violence were reported from various places that went to polls on Saturday during the first phase of the West Bengal assembly election, even as the overall poll situation was largely peaceful with 79.79 per cent turnout recorded till the end of voting, an official said.
Long before the by-election was announced, a person with the name Prashant Kishor was included in the list of the electorate in Bhabanipur during the addition process in January-April, according to the Election Commission website.
Former Chief Election Commissioner T S Krishnamurthy has pitched for single-phase elections and substantially curtailing public campaigning time in future polls.
With the declaration of results for the Tripura Assembly polls on Thursday, the Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power in the state by winning 32 seats and its ally Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) winning one.
BJP chief J P Nadda on Thursday launched 'Lokkho Sonar Bangla' (target to build golden Bengal) manifesto crowdsourcing campaign to seek suggestions from more than two crore people in West Bengal ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.
RS member Derek O'Brien said due to the polls, MPs of his party would not be able to attend the Parliament session.
Opposition leaders believe this entire plan has been put in place to ensure that Mamata Banerjee is kept out of office in West Bengal.
The counting of votes for the assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry would be held on Thursday morning with trends expected early.
'They have a voracious appetite.' 'But there are many places where they go and they lose.'
As per the latest data available on the Election Commission's website, the BJP got 38.09 per cent votes while TMC which swept the assembly elections polled 47.97 per cent votes.
Modifying the single bench order, the division bench presided by Justice I P Mukerji directed that Banerjee and Ghosh will be free to make any statement concerning the Governor, not crossing the contours of freedom of speech and expression and public duty.
Shah also rejected West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's charge that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to a temple of the Matua community -- which is in sizeable number in the state -- during his trip to Bangladesh violated the poll code.
It said it won't respond to the averment to prove its image.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday attacked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for pursuing "appeasement and vote bank politics" which were responsible for infiltration.
Besides Defence Minister Singh (Lucknow), Minister of Women and Child Development Irani (Amethi), those in the fray are Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishor (Mohanlalganj) and Minister of State of Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur).
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