Two days after a mob attacked an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team which was on way to Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Shahjahan Sheikh’s residence in North 24 Parganas’ Sandeshkhali, a TMC leader was shot dead on Sunday.

Satyen Chowdhury, Chowdhury, TMC’s general secretary for Murshidabad district, was gunned down by unidentified assailants in Baharampur.

Chowdhury was rushed to a hospital but declared dead on arrival.

According to officials and eyewitnesses, a group of individuals arrived on bikes and opened fire on Chowdhury from close range.

Police have launched an investigation into the murder, the motive of which is yet to be ascertained

Chowdhury was once close to Murshidabad’s heavyweight Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, but later joining ruling TMC.

Purandar, a well-known social worker, had contested as BJP candidate from Raipur North Assembly constituency in Chhattisgarh election.

As per the results and trends announced till 6 pm, he had already polled 52,845 votes by the end of 14th round of counting out of total 15 rounds. He was leading by 22,272 from his nearest rival of Congress Kuldip Singh Juneja.

While Juneja could muster 30,573 votes, Independent candidate Ajit Kukreja bagged 21,571 votes in the prestigious constituency. Total 14 candidates were in the fray this time.

Out of the total 90 Assembly seats in the state, the BJP was leading in 55 and the Congress in 35, as per the evening bulletin.

Purandar, who is the founder chairman of Lord Jagannath Temple at Raipur, is the only Odia candidate from any national party to contest in Chhattisgarh Assembly poll. Gayatri Nagar, where Mishra has founded the largest Jagannath Temple of Chhattisgarh, comes under his constituency.

Recently, Mishra was unanimously elected as president of Greater Odia Samaj in Chhattisgarh. The Samaj has been formed with representatives of 24 associations representing 35 lakh Odias living in the state. At present, Mishra also holds the post of chief patron of Chhattisgarh branch of World Odisha Society.

An office order, signed by BJD’s general secretary Manas Mangaraj, said Jayant Naik of Bhawanipatna Assembly constituency; Manindra Mohanty, Balangir zone president of Biju Yuva Janata Dal and Siba Sahu, councillor of Ward No 7 of Bhawanaipatna Municipality have been suspended from the party.

The three leaders were suspended on the order of BJD president Naveen Patnaik. Their suspension comes into effect immediately.

Earlier in the day, the ruling party in the state had expelled Raghuram Macha of Koraput Assembly constituency from the party with immediate effect.

The election to Speaker post will be held on September 21 and the monsoon session of Odisha Assembly commence the following day on September 22. The date for filing of nomination papers for the election to the Speaker post is September 18.

However, western Odisha’s most popular festival ‘Nuakhai’ is going to be celebrated on September 20. Similarly, ‘Nuakhai Bhetghat’ will be held on September 21, said state Congress media cell chairman Ganeswar Behera in a statement.

He said the people across western Odisha celebrate the festival with enthusiasm and fervour and partake the offering after ‘Nabanna’ is offered to Maa Samaleswari.

In view of the importance of this popular festival, the state government generally declares holiday for two days every year. However, only one holiday has been declared this year, he said.

As a result, the Congress legislators will be present in their respective to celebrate Nuakhai festival and will not be able to take part in Speaker election, he added.

Notably, Nuakhai is the most important agrarian festival in western Odisha and is celebrated with pomp and gaiety in several districts including Sambalpur, Balangir, Bargarh, Sundargarh, Kalahandi, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Boudh and Sonepur.

Calling it a ‘dangerous’ name, Rajnath said the Opposition will definitely lose next year’s polls just like the saffron party did two decades ago.

“They have named themselves INDIA. I would like to tell them that this name is dangerous. We too once gave the slogan of ‘Shining India’ and we lost. Now you have named yourself INDIA, and your defeat is certain,” Rajnath said while addressing a rally at Runicha Dham in poll-bound Rajasthan.

Taking a jibe at Rahul Gandhi, Rajnath said the Opposition had raised questions after Chandrayaan-2 failed.

“Mangalyaan, Chandrayaan and Suryayaan have been successfully launched and also successfully landed, but ‘Rahulyaan’ has neither been launched nor landed for the past 20 years,” Rajnath said.

The list also includes Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Adhir Ranjan Choudhary, A K Antony, and Anand Sharma, among others.

Notably, Tharoor, who contested Congress President poll last year against Kharge, and Sharma were signatory to the letter written by the G-23 group demanding reforms in the party in 2020. Pilot, on the other hand, has been locked in a leadership tussle with Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot since 2018.

Pilot is likely to be made in-charge of a big state, NDTV reported quoting sources.

It is for the first time that the Congress constituted its top-decision since Kharge took charge as its president in October 2022. This has come months ahead of crucial assembly elections in states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and eight months ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.