Bengal by-poll: Trinamool wins big in Maheshtala
Kolkata, May 31: West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress on Thursday retained the Maheshtala Assembly seat with an impressive margin, while the BJP took the second spot by displacing the CPI-M.
Trinamool candidate Dulal Das trounced his nearest rival Bharatiya Janata Party's Sujit Kumar Ghosh by 62,896 votes.
While Das bagged 1,04,818 votes, Ghosh received the support of 41,992 voters.
Left Front-spearhead Communist Party of India-Marxist aspirant Pravat Chowdhury, backed by the Congress, managed to obtain 30,316 votes in the triangular contest.
In the 2016 Assembly polls, CPI-M's heavyweight candidate Shamik Lahiri had gone down by 12,452 votes to Trinamool's Kasturi Das in the constituency.
The CPI-M-led Left Front had entered into an alliance with the Congress then, and the BJP received only seven percent of the valid votes.
Kasturi Das's demise caused the by-election.
Dulal, Kasturi's husband and chairman of the Maheshtala municipality, led from the outset, and went on consolidating his position after every round.
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Two children die after arch collapses during outdoor play in Karnataka
Raichur (Karnataka) (PTI): Two children died on Saturday after a portion of an arch allegedly collapsed on them while they were watching an outdoor play in this district, police said.
The incident occurred in Bail Marchad village in Manvi taluk, they said.
According to police, seven people were sitting under the arch watching the play when the structure suddenly collapsed, killing two children on the spot.
The deceased have been identified as Vishwanath Ramalinga (8) and Sanvita (2).
Vishakshi (25), Lakshmi (18), Vishalakshi (25), Yallamma (3), and Bassamma (45) were injured in the incident and were shifted to Raichur Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital for further treatment, police said.
The bodies have been moved to the mortuary of Manvi Government Hospital, they added.
A case has been registered at Manvi Police Station, and further investigation is underway, police said.
