Bengal: TMC takes early lead in Kaliganj bypoll as counting underway
Kolkata (PTI): The Trinamool Congress took an early lead over its rivals as counting for the by-election to Kaliganj assembly seat in West Bengal's Nadia district was underway on Monday.
After the first round of counting, TMC candidate Alifa Ahamed secured 4,545 votes, while her nearest rival, Congress candidate Kabil Uddin Shaikh, backed by the CPI(M), bagged 1,830 votes. BJP nominee Ashis Ghosh was trailing in third position, securing 1,112 votes, election officials said.
Counting began at 8:00 am with the postal ballots. The process is underway peacefully, they added.
The bypoll was necessitated following the sudden demise of sitting TMC MLA Nasiruddin Ahamed in February this year. His daughter, Alifa Ahamed, has been fielded by the party to retain the seat.
Polling for the by-election was held on Thursday, with a voter turnout of 69.85 per cent recorded till 5:00 pm. Barring a few isolated incidents, voting remained largely peaceful.
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Karnataka to witness heavy rain for next 10 days
Bengaluru: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast that the southwest monsoon will cause heavy rainfall likely this weekend and will drench Karnataka over the next 10 days.
The monsoon has begun retreating from northwestern India. Conditions remain active over the south, with an upper air trough extending up to 1.5 km over North Interior Karnataka and northern Tamil Nadu, combined with weakening monsoon winds across the peninsula, is driving the current spell. N. Puviarasan, head of the IMD’s meteorological centre in Bengaluru, said in a conversation with Deccan Herald, “As a result, the whole of Karnataka will see rain over the next week to 10 days."
With a cyclone in the Pacific Ocean along with a low-pressure system over the north Bay of Bengal, the monsoon is expected to intensify during the next four days. IMD has predicted heavy rains across South Interior Karnataka, including Bengaluru, throughout the weekend.
Bengaluru, recorded widespread moderate to heavy rainfall on Thursday. Between 8.30 am and 8.30 pm, Bengaluru city logged 45.9 mm of rain accompanied by thunderstorms. HAL airport registered 6 mm and the Bengaluru Urban automatic station recorded 47.5 mm. Doddathoguru, near Electronics City, reported 55 mm.
According to IMD forecast heavy rainfall will occur at isolated places in Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Yadgir, Koppal, Raichur, Ramanagara and Mandya districts in the next few days.
The southwest monsoon is now expected to extend until mid-October and with little or no break in between, the northeast monsoon is likely to follow immediately. These are expected to last until December. “There may be no break in between,” Puviarasan said.
