Chopra: Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday said the upcoming Lok Sabha elections will drive the BJP out of power and ensure that Narendra Modi will never again be the prime minister of the country again.

The Trinamool Congress will help form the next government at the Centre, she claimed and urged the people to vote for it.

"This time it is a very important election. This election is to defeat the BJP. It is to drive out the BJP from power ... This election is to make sure that Narendra Modi can never be the prime minister of the country again. We must ensure that they (BJP) never come back," Banerjee said at an election rally at Chopra in Uttar Dinajpur.

"The TMC will form the next government. We will drive out the BJP from the country," she said urging people to vote for Trinamool Congress.

Taking a jibe at Modi, Banerjee said that for the past four-and-half years the prime minister was busy touring foreign countries. "Suddenly he became so conscious about the welfare of countrymen".

"Five years back he was the chaiwala and now he is suddenly the chowkidar. And after the elections people will not find him anywhere. For four and half years he was busy touring the globe and now there is no employment here, farmers have died failing to pay their debts... He was mum when people were lynched. I call him (Modi) dangabaaz (rioteer) and a lutera (looter)," she said.

Banerjee said no one from BJP, the Congress nor CPI-M had visited Darjeeling in the past five years, while she had made it a point to visit the Hills almost every month.

The Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency is set to witness a keenly-fought contest between the two warring factions of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) -- one led by its supremo Bimal Gurung and his one-time protege Binay Tamang.

The ruling TMC in West Bengal is yet to win the Darjeeling seat even once since its inception in 1998, while the BJP has emerged victorious twice.

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Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government has issued directions to municipal corporations across the state to regulate and prohibit feeding pigeons in public places, citing serious public health concerns.

Deputy Secretary to Government V Lakshmikanth has written to the Urban Development Department requesting it to issue directions to the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) and all municipal corporations to take immediate steps to implement the measures.

In an official note dated December 16 issued by the Health and Family Welfare Department and released to the media on Wednesday, the department said uncontrolled feeding of pigeons in public places has resulted in large congregations of birds, excessive droppings and serious health concerns, particularly respiratory illnesses linked to prolonged exposure to pigeon droppings and feathers such as hypersensitivity pneumonitis and other lung diseases.

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"The commissioner, the Greater Bengaluru Authority and the Commissioners and chief officers of other municipal corporations shall take necessary action to mitigate the causes of dangerous disease spread by pigeon and enforce specified guidelines in their respective jurisdiction," the note said.

According to the department, these include a prohibition on feeding pigeons or causing pigeons to be fed in areas where it may cause nuisance or pose a health hazard to the public. Pigeon feeding shall be permitted only in designated areas in a controlled manner, subject to certain conditions.

"The designated areas may be selected in consultation with stakeholders. The responsibility for upkeep of the designated areas and compliance to the directions shall be taken up by some charitable organisation or an NGO. The feeding in designated areas shall be permitted only for some limited hours in the day," it said.

The note further stated that authorised officers of local authorities shall issue on-the-spot warnings and may impose fines for violation of the order, or lodge complaints to prosecute offenders under Sections 271 (Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and 272 (Malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

It also directed local authorities to conduct public awareness campaigns, including the display of signboards, banners and digital messages, explaining the health hazards associated with pigeon droppings and feathers, the content of the regulatory directions and penalties for violations, and alternative humane methods of bird conservation that do not endanger public health.