1. Mamata's ‘Humble’ Home Awes Chandrababu Naidu
A senior politician trying to forge an anti-BJP alliance apparently had the same feeling as a former BJP Prime Minister when he visited Mamata Banerjee’s home on Monday evening.
Trinamool sources present during Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu’s visit said the Telugu Desam leader found it hard to believe that his Bengal counterpart lived in such humble surroundings.
In July 2000, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had called on Mamata, his railway minister, and her mother Gayatri Devi at their 30B Harish Chatterjee Street home. Vajpayee, who had touched Gayatri Devi’s feet, was struck by his cabinet colleague’s modest living conditions.
Although Naidu did not speak to the media, Trinamool sources said he had been similarly impressed.
(Source: The Times Of India)
2. Exit Poll Tonic For BJP In Bengal
Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh on Monday said the party would get 24 seats and 41 per cent of votes in the state, while some leaders said in private that two-digit tally predicted by most exit polls was “unexpected”.
Most leaders, who were unwilling to hazard a guess on the BJP’s performance in Bengal till Sunday afternoon, have started forecasting the party’s prospect of bagging the maximum number of seats.
Leading the pack was state BJP president Dilip Ghosh, who claimed that the saffron party would surpass the Trinamool tally.
(Source: The Telegraph)
3. Post Poll, Parties Trade Charges Of Assault And Vandalism
Reports of poll-related violence poured in from different parts of the city on Sunday and Monday. However, no case of major injury came to the light. Most of the complaints pertained to threat and intimidation and were reported from Jadavpur and Mukundapur, near Helen Keller School, where BJP’s Jadavpur constituency candidate Anupam Hazra was allegedly attacked on polling day.
Pradip Bhattacharya (41) accompanied his pregnant wife Puja, his brother and his 86-year-old father to the Helen Keller Institute booth around 10.30am on Sunday.
“My brother was threatened and asked to refrain from voting. He shoved the Trinamool man aside when he stood before the EVM. Trinamool supporters immediately mobbed us and made obscene gestures at my wife. They even assaulted me. I somehow managed to arrange an auto for my wife and jump on to a bike to save myself,” alleged Bhattacharya, who till two months ago, held an important position in the Ward 109 Trinamool unit before switching to BJP.
(Source: The Times Of India)
4. HC Concludes Hearing On Howrah Court Clash
The division bench of Justice Biswanath Somadder and Justice Arindam Mukherjee on Monday concluded the hearing of a suo motu complaint, initiated by the Chief Justice Thottathil B Nair Radhakrishnan against the clash on the Howrah court premises that took place on 24 April. The HC, however, did not fix the date for judgment.
Advocate Joydeep Kar, appearing for the HC administration, said it was evident the police had entered the court premises without the permission of the district judge. “The police are the protector of the court premises, but on that day, they acted in contrary. So, a strong action should be taken against the police,” Kar said.
(Source: The Times Of India)
5. Jadavpur University Domicile Policy In Govt Court
Jadavpur University has sought the higher education department’s permission to introduce in this session a 90 per cent reservation of BTech seats (general category) for students clearing their Plus II exams from Bengal.
Chiranjib Bhattacharjee, the dean of engineering faculty, met Rajendra S. Shukla, the higher education secretary, on May 16 and handed him the resolution on the matter.
“We are awaiting the government’s response,” Bhattacharjee said.
(Source: The Telegraph)
6. Youth Murders Mom, Walks Into PS With Bloodied Knife
A 24-year-old man walked into the Haridevpur police station early on Sunday — carrying a blood-stained knife — and confessed to have stabbed his mother to death.
The victim was identified as Apu Sarkar (44), a resident of Karunamoyee Ghat Road.
The accused — Chandan Sarkar, a small trader — was arrested. Police said Chandan admitted to have stabbed his mother repeatedly. According to them, the accused was undergoing treatment at a mental asylum in Jadavpur. His wife left him one and a half years ago and he recently lost his job at a Salt Lake-based media house where he worked as a photojournalist.
(Source: The Times Of India)
7. All 7k Street Lights In New Town To Be Sensor-Based; To Dim, Brighten On Own
The New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) has decided to convert all the 6,971 street lights at New Town into sensor-based intelligent lighting system under which the lights will automatically dim, brighten or switch on and off according to the requirements to save energy.
Officials said that already 2,978 out of 6,971 street lights use energy-efficient LED lights in New Town and a detailed project report, based on a pilot project that was earlier conducted, would be developed by the engineering wings of Hidco and NKDA. “Once all the street lights are included in this system, it will help reduce electricity consumption by about 25%,” said an official.
(Source: The Times Of India)
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