Shah to meet intellectuals, kin of killed activists in Bengal
Kolkata, June 24: BJP President Amit Shah would hold a string of meetings with the party's West Bengal leadership and intellectuals here and would also meet the bereaved families of the three BJP activists allegedly killed recently in Purulia, during his two day visit to the state from June 27, a senior party leader said.
Shah would also review party's ground work in Bengal in the run up to the 2019 General Elections and set strategies and targets for the state unit accordingly.
"He would conduct three meetings with party's election committee, IT cell and Bengal intellectuals on the first day to take stock of the situation here. On the second day, he would be flying in a helicopter to Purulia district where three of our activists were murdered recently," state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Dilip Ghosh told IANS.
According to Ghosh, Shah is also scheduled to visit temple town Tarapith in Birbhum district on his way to Purulia and offer his prayers to the Goddess Kali in the famous Tantric temple there.
"It would not be possible for him to visit houses of the deceased party workers in Purulia as they are scattered across three villages. Instead the bereaved family members would come to visit Shah there," he added.
Shah's visit comes on the back of the saffron party's good performance in some pockets iin Bengal rural polls where it consolidated its position as the main opposition party in the state.
The BJP President had also set a target to win in 22 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
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Lakshya stuns Li Shi to enter All England semifinals
Birmingham (PTI): Lakshya Sen continued his dream run and kept India's hopes afloat at the All England Open, stunning China's world No. 6 Li Shi Feng in straight games to storm into the semifinals here.
The world No. 12 Indian, who was a finalist here in 2022, ousted Li 21-13, 21-16 in the men’s singles quarterfinal that lasted an hour at the Utilita Arena on Friday.
The win also served as a sweet revenge for Lakshya, who had lost to the same opponent at the quarterfinal stage of the 2025 edition.
Lakshya dominated the opening game and built a comfortable lead before Li attempted a comeback midway through.
The Indian, however, stepped up his attack to close out the game convincingly.
The second game saw a closer contest with both the players trading points in the early exchanges.
Lakshya held a slender lead at the mid-game interval and then pulled away in the closing stages to seal the match.
The victory also improved Lakshya's head-to-head record against Li Shi Feng to eight wins in 15 matches.
Lakshya, the top-ranked Indian badminton player who also made the semifinals here in 2024, is now the only Indian left in the fray this year.
He had earlier stunned world No. 1 and defending champion Shi Yuqi in the opening round.
He will face Canada’s world No. 16 Victor Lai in the semifinals.
The other Indian players were knocked out earlier in the week. The men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost in the first round, while Malvika Bansod and Unnati Hooda also bowed out in the opening round of women’s singles.
Two-time Olympian PV Sindhu had withdrawn from the tournament after failing to reach Birmingham in time due to travel disruptions in the Middle East, while the mixed doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila retired from their match on Thursday.
