Kolkata, June 16 (IANS) The BJP will review its Lok Sabha poll performance in West Bengal at the grassroots level to ascertain the reasons for the loss in seats.

The decision was taken at a core committee meeting of the party that started on Saturday afternoon and continued till late evening.

The meeting was attended by party’s central observers Amit Malviya, Mangal Pandey and Asha Lakra.

Party insiders aware of the developments said that it was decided that the review should be done at the grassroots level of all five organisational zones in the state.

It was also decided that for reviewing the outcomes, there will be individual meetings at all the five party organisational zones, which will be attended by MPs, Lok Sabha candidates, MLAs and Lok Sabha and Assembly in-charges of the party, sources added.

At the core committee meeting, sources said, discussions were also held on the list of probable candidates for the bypolls in four assembly constituencies, slated for July 10. The final list of candidates would be announced within a day or two, they added.

The BJP won 12 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal while the Trinamool Congress got 29 and the Congress 1.

–IANS

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Bhopal, June 16 (IANS) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, accompanied by Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, inaugurated a newly-built cricket stadium in Gwalior on Saturday.

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah, and former cricketer Kapil Dev were also present during the inauguration event.

On the occasion, Chief Minister Yadav also launched the inaugural session of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket League (MPPL) at the new stadium.

Backed by the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA), the MPPL is being organised by the Gwalior Division Cricket Association (GDCA).

Union Minister Scindia is the Chairperson of the MPPL.

A total of five teams — Gwalior Cheetahs, Malwa Panthers, Bhopal Leopard, Jabalpur Lions and Rewa Jaguars are contesting in the tournament.

–IANS

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Kolkata, June 16 (IANS) The West Bengal Congress announced on Saturday that it will contest two out of the four bypolls scheduled in West Bengal on July 10, and support the CPI(M) candidates in the remaining two seats.

A senior state Congress leader said that the party has decided to field candidates in Raiganj in North Dinajpur district, and Bagda in North 24 Parganas district, while the CPI-M will contest the bypolls at Ranaghat Dakshin in Nadia district and Maniktala in Kolkata.

Incidentally, on Friday night, the Left Front issued a statement announcing the names of the CPI-M candidates for Ranaghat Dakshin and Maniktala, and a nominee from the front ally All India Forward Bloc for Bagda.

Now, the Congress’ decision to field its candidate from Bagda will mean that the Congress-Left Front alliance will not be taking shape in Bagda.

“While the other allies in the Left Front have always been open about seat-sharing talks with us, Forward Bloc is the only ally that has gone against it. In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, Forward Bloc fielded its candidate against the Congress in Cooch Behar. So this time we have decided to field our candidate from Bagda as well,” the state Congress leader said.

–IANS

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Bengaluru, June 16 (IANS) Demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in connection with Rs 187 crore tribal welfare board scam and the suicide of a board employee, the Karnataka unit of the BJP has announced that the party would stage a large-scale state-wide protest on June 28.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday at BJP headquarters in Bengaluru, former minister B. Sriramulu stated the party has decided to take up a large-scale protest in this regard in the coming days.

He said in a meeting headed by state unit BJP president B.Y. Vijayendra, it was decided to stage protests in all districts and taluk headquarters on June 28.

Sriramulu questioned: “How is it possible to transfer such a huge amount without the knowledge of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah?”

“There is suspicion about the role of Siddaramaiah in the scam. An innocent official of the board had committed suicide. He left behind a note on the misuse of Rs 187 crore,” he said.

The BJP leader claimed that the Congress government has misused Rs 25,000 crore reserved for Dalits in the last two years by diverting the funds meant to be spent on Dalits.

Bangaru Hanumanthu, president of state unit BJP S-T Morcha, said: “The Morcha will convene preliminary meetings on June 18. On June 28, we will lay siege to district commissioner’s offices all across the state. B.Y. Vijayendra has directed to carry out large scale protests. The agitation will continue until the resignation of the Chief Minister.”

The scam in the corporation came to light following the suicide of Chandrashekaran (50), who was working as an Account Superintendent in the Tribal Welfare Board.

He was allegedly pressurised to move large sums of money to various illegal accounts.

It was alleged that the funds were diverted to Hyderabad to be used by Congress for the Lok Sabha election in Telangana and other states.

The Congress, however, has denied all the allegations.

–IANS

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Rudraprayag, June 16 (IANS) At least 14 people were killed and several others sustained injuries after a tourist vehicle lost control and fell into the Alaknanda river in Uttarakhand on Saturday, officials said.

The accident took place on the Rishikesh-Badrinath highway near Raitoli in the Rudraprayag district.

Injured persons were immediately rushed to the district hospital. Later, at least seven of them were airlifted to AIIMS Rishikesh after their condition deteriorated.

A team of the State Disaster Response Force along with police and senior officials reached the spot following the accident for relief and rescue operations.

Calling the incident “very sad news”, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the district magistrate has been ordered to investigate the accident.

“I pray to God to grant the souls of the departed a place in his feet and provide strength to the bereaved family to bear this immense pain. I pray to Baba Kedar for the speedy recovery of the injured,” he posted on X.

President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Uttarakhand Governor Gurmeet Singh and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi have expressed deep condolences.

Prime Minister Modi has announced ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given 50 thousand rupees.

Rahul Gandhi, expressing condolences to all the bereaved families, appealed to Congress workers to help the administration in every possible way in the rescue work.

–IANS

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