A 40-year-old man was killed and a child injured on Monday in "unprovoked" firing in a case of ceasefire violation by suspected Bangladeshi border guarding force personnel in north Bengal, officials said.
Results of the panchayat polls indicated a paradigm shift in state politics with the baton of main opposition party passing from the Left to the BJP.
One person was on Thursday killed in a clash between Trinamool Congress and Communist Party of India-Marxist supporters in North Dinajpur district during the fifth and final phase of West Bengal panchayat elections, taking the toll in poll-related violence to 21 since the exercise began.
'They are our go-to men, our trouble-shooters.' 'They draw their strength from remaining low-key and accessible only to our workers.'
Aggrieved by the violence that marked the panchayat poll in West Bengal which claimed at least 12 lives and left 43 injured, several candidates who were in the fray had met the SEC officials and demanded the repolling.
A brief overview of North Bengal districts' constituencies
From children to soldiers, everyone in India marked the 72nd Independence Day with much vigour and zeal. Here are glimpses of the celebrations from across the nation.
Businesses and banks in Guwahati were open and vehicles plied the roads but schools and colleges were closed. Stray incidents of clashes were reported in West Bengal.
Though the BJP is running too close for comfort, populist schemes and support among Muslims may help Mamata Banerjee overcome the challenge, observes Aditi Phadnis.
Three more infants have died at the state-run Malda Medical College and Hospital taking the toll to 18 in the last four days, hospital sources said on Saturday.
Once a reviled practice in the state, both the parties seem to have endorsed a record number of turncoats this time -- triggering a wave of discontentment among their loyalists.
'With sufficient gaps between polling dates, the BJP will have time to convert the 'fence-sitter' votes,' observes Payal Mohanka.
The districts have provided 64 days of jobs under the 100-day job scheme as against the state average of 45 days.
The Congress's share has almost halved, down from 12 in 2014 to six now.
Swirling floodwaters have paralysed normal life and marooned over 1.20 crore people.
Mamata Banerjee fended off a spirited challenge by a resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal with a landslide victory for her Trinamool Congress on Sunday for a third consecutive term and the saffron party and the Left Democratic Front were poised to form government again in Assam and Kerala respectively while the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam stormed back to power in Tamil Nadu after a gap of 10 years.
"Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, its implementation got delayed. But as the situation is slowly improving, the work has started. The rules are now being framed and CAA will be implemented very soon. Under this act all the eligible people will definitely get Indian citizenship," Nadda told the social groups, who included Dalits, Gorkhas, Rajbanshis and other tribes.
Home Secretary L C Goyal said 72 deaths were reported from the four states of Bihar -- 56, Uttar Pradesh -- 12, West Bengal -- 3 and Rajasthan --1.
Even as the threat of swine flu continues, a fresh outbreak of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (bird flu) has been reported from West Bengal.About 20 backyard poultry birds were reported to have died on May 20 in the rural areas of Uttar Dinajpur in West Bengal, not far from the Assam and Bangladesh border.These birds were confirmed on May 25 to have died of the most virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu.
At least 8,500 chicken will be culled on Thursday at Balurghat town in Dinajpur district of West Bengal.
Some birds were found dead in southern and eastern parts of Kolkata on Friday, triggering panic among residents even as culling operations in bird flu-hit areas of Birbhum and South Dinajpur districts continued at a slow pace.
Deepa Dasmunsi was campaigning for the by-polls in Islampur's North Dinajpur.
The 12-hour bandh was called by the Trinamool Congress against farmland acquisition for a Tata Motors project.
West Bengal Minister Biswanath Choudhury, accompanied by District Magistrate of South Dinajpur Sarfaraz Ahmed visited the spot and said the BDR fired every now and then and this had "terrorised" villagers.
BSF jawans, posted at the Bhaigarh border outpost, one km from Bhimpur rushed to the village after hearing the gunshots but BDR and the villagers had left by then.
Trained in a militant camp in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Ahmed had first entered India in 2001 from Pakistan through the border with Punjab and returned to the PoK after being involved in militant activities.
Decorated lights decked up buildings and earthen lamps dotted houses as people across the country celebrated Diwali.
Her whose testimony of a miraculous cure from an abdominal tumour through Mother Teresa's intercession had paved the way for the nun's beatification.
'Look at the number of billionaires, the number of new billionaires in India.' 'Adani and Ambani are not the only ones.' 'What's wrong with people making money as long as it benefits us?'
The incident occurred at the Sonarpur border in South Dinajpur district in West Bengal.
The ruling Trinamool Congress held the Bharatiya Janata Party responsible for the blast and alleged that the saffron party was aiming to kill South Dum Dum Municipality chairman and TMC leader Panchu Roy. But the BJP rubbished the charges.
It's time for colours, lights and celebrations - Diwali is here! In these photos, see celebrations from Gujarat to London to Colombo.
Superintendent of Police Birendra said they had crossed over into the country in batches over the last one year.
'It did not start as a Hindutva slogan.' 'It started to tease the TMC and slowly it got internalised and the BJP started countering with Jai Shri Ram slogans because Mamata was getting provoked.'
Congress president Sonia Gandhi launched a fresh attack on Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Tuesday, saying 'the BJP leader is crossing all limits to mislead people'.
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