န Congress, Trinamool to jointly fight Left Front in Tripura

Agartala, 11 May : After West Bengal, the Congress and Trinamool Congress Monday formed an alliance in Tripura to fight against the ruling Left Front in a key by-election. The by-poll to the Bordowali assembly seat in western Tripura would be held 28 May.
"The deal with the Congress was finalised with the instruction of the Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee," Arun Chandra Bhowmik, chairman of the Trinamool Congress' Tripura unit, told reporters. "We do not want to divide the non-Left vote and are averse to offer an opportunity to the Left parties to wrest the politically important assembly seat," he said.
The main opposition Congress has chosen former chairman of the Agartala municipal council and party's youth leader Ashish Saha for the seat. န Photo : Bengal Newz
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Eight additional Election Observers for West Bengal
New Delhi, 11 May : The Election Commission has decided to send eight additional observers to West Bengal for Wednesday’s polls. Two observers will go to Barrackpore, two to Joynagar, two to Mathurapur, one to Diamond Harbour and one to Jadavpur, deputy election commissioner R. Balakrishnan said in Delhi.
WB Chief electoral officer Debashis Sen said in Kolkata the observers were being sent because the areas were perceived to be sensitive and not because of demands made by parties.

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။ 11 May : A bumper production of Lychee is expected in Bengal this year. Photo was taken from Gazipur, Monday. And on Left, some Jackfruits on the tree. Photo was also taken at Gazipur.

။ Photo : Mustafiz Mamun

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Meghna river ferry sinking death toll 8, 20 Missing
Chandpur, 11 May : Three more bodies were recovered on Monday, taking the death toll to eight after a ferry with some 150 people on board sank on Sunday in the Meghna river in Uttar Matlab Upazila in the district, police said.
Only one of the three bodies was identified, that of Barek Bepari. The other two unidentified bodies of the boat passengers were rescued from Lognimara under the Sadar Upazila. The Upazila's Mohonpur river police camp chief, Mizanur Rahman, told reporters on Monday.
The ferry had started from Jahirabad carrying passengers who were returning to their homes at Char Umed after collecting rice for the government's Vulnerable Group Feeding programme.
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Left parties don't consider Cong as untouchable : CM
"We are trying to form a Third Front government at the Centre with like-minded secular and democratic parties and the Left will play a meaningful role in it." : Bhattacharjee
Kolkata, 11 May : The Left parties don't consider Congress as "untouchable" but are trying to form a Third Front government at the Centre and may join it if they can play a meaningful role in it, West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said on Monday.
He parried a question on the issue of supporting a Congress-led government, saying, "It is too early to comment who is going to support whom. At the moment we are trying to form a government without Congress and BJP". Asked whether the CPI(M) considers the Congress to be untouchable, he said, "We don't believe in untouchability." "The Left will join a Third Front government if it can play a meaningful role in policy making and implementation," the chief minister told the 'meet the press' programme here at Kolkata Press Club.
"Let the elections be over and results be announced. Right now, we are trying to defeat the Congress and the BJP," he said. He said that the CPI(M) politburo would meet on 18 May after the counting on 16 May to discuss the matter.
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Court summons "War Criminals" Golam Azam, Nizami
Dhaka 11 May : A Dhaka court on Monday summoned former Jamaat-e-Islami chief Golam Azam, incumbent chief Matiur Rahman Nizami, secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammed Mojaheed, BNP leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury and 32 others to appear in court on 20 July.
Dhaka ninth additional district judge Iftekhar Ahmed issued the summons at 11:30am(BDST) over a petition filed last year seeking court orders declaring them 'war criminals' and barring them from running elections. The 36 are to explain why they should not be declared "war criminals".
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CPI(M) demands action after MLA attacked by TMC
Kolkata, 11 May : The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has slammed the Trinamool Congress of for allegedly attacking a woman legislator during an election meeting.
Chandana Ghosh Dastidar, a CPI(M) legislator was seriously injured when alleged supporters of the Trinamool Congress, attacked her at Falta, 30 km from Kolkata during an election meeting. Party workers said that some party activists were also injured. Brinda Karat, senior CPI(M) leader who came to visit Ghosh Dastidar in the hospital, condemned the attack.
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Lok Sabha poll's final phase
Campaigning ends today
Kolkata, 11 May : Campaigning for the final phase of Lok Sabha elections ends on Monday across nine states along with West Bengal and Union territories, even as political groupings strove to make friends out of foes ahead of the 13 May polls.
Congress' P Chidambaram and Mohd Azharuddin, BJP's Maneka Gandhi, Varun Gandhi, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Vinod Khanna, DMK's T R Baalu, A Raja, Dayanidhi Maran and M K Azhagiri, MDMK's Vaiko, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and SP's Jayaprada are among the prominent candidates in this phase of election.
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Bengali daily reporter shot at by unidentified men
Barasat, 11 May : A reporter with a Bengali daily was fired at by unidentified miscreants around 11 pm on Sunday in Barasat. The reporter, who was on a motorcycle, was about to enter through the gates of his Colony More home when three youths, also on motorcycles, shot at him. The bullets, however, missed him. The reporter was rushed to hospital and released after primary treatment. No arrest has been yet.