TMC announces candidate list; cricketer Yusuf Pathan, Kirti Azad among nominees
Kolkata, Mar 10: The TMC on Sunday announced the candidate list for all 42 Lok Sabha seats of West Bengal, dropping at least eight sitting MPs and bringing in several new faces such as former cricketers Yusuf Pathan and Kriti Azad.
The party renominated 16 sitting MPs and fielded 12 women.
Cricketer Yusuf Pathan will contest from the Baharampur Lok Sabha seat, whereas Kirti Aazd will fight from the Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency.
From the Basirhat Lok Sabha seat, where Sandeshkhali is situated, TMC pitted its former MP Haji Nurul Islam by dropping sitting MP Nusrat Jahan.
The TMC also renominated expelled Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra from Krishnanagar seat for the second consecutive term.
The list was announced from TMC's mega rally held at Brigade Parada Grounds in Kolkata, where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the party will contest Lok Sabha elections alone in all 42 seats in the state.
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Need to amend Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act 1976 to save trees in state: Minister Khandre
Bengaluru: Minister for Forest and Environment Eshwara B Khandre expressed worry over the illegal felling of trees on government land, forests and roadsides and opined that there was a need to amend the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act 1976 to handle the problem.
Khandre, who addressed the Karnataka Development Programme (KDP) Monthly Management Review (MMR) meeting on Thursday, said that there was a need to take strict action in the matter by imposing higher penalty on those axing trees illegally.
He also cited the Supreme Court’s objection to cutting trees in large numbers, saying protection of trees was necessary in the backdrop of increasing levels of global warming and climate change. He directed the officials to follow the Supreme Court’s view over the indiscriminate axing of trees, adding that officials should not grant permission to unnecessary felling of trees.
In addition, the minister pointed out that citizens and environmentalists had expressed outrage over the axing of 40 trees in Mysuru recently and the proposal to fell 368 trees near the Cantonment Railway Station in Bengaluru.
Khandre said there should be zero tolerance for encroachment of forest land and, in cases of encroachment post-2015, the encroachers should be evicted without leniency. He also directed officials for him information on encroachments, evictions and actions that had been taken in the last two years.
