Ex-West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharya hospitalised

According to sources, the meeting involved extensive discussions on around 160 Assembly constituencies across the state. During the deliberations, the party is learnt to have finalised candidates for nearly 145 seats, out of 294 assembly seats in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, marking significant progress in the selection process.

Former IPS officer RN Ravi takes oath as the Governor of West Bengal at a ceremony in Lok Bhawan on Thursday in Kolkata. He was administered the oath by Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court, Sujoy Paul, in the presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee, Senior Minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim and Left Front chairman Biman Bose. RN Ravi also greets West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after taking the oath as the West Bengal Governor.

According to the sources, the leaders discussed more than a hundred seats for the candidate list. They also discussed election strategy, campaigning, roadmap, slogans, and other aspects of the upcoming polls.

West Bengal police strongly refuted allegations made by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari that police personnel's postal ballots were being collected through a so-called welfare organisation, asserting that the process of voting for police personnel on election duty follows strict Election Commission procedures and leaves no scope for manipulation.

According to party sources, the meeting is likely to be attended by BJP president Nitin Nabin and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Senior leaders, including West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya, Union Minister and MP from West Bengal Sukanta Majumdar, MP Biplab Kumar Deb, and BJP national general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal, Bengal election incharge Bhupender Yadav, among others, are expected to participate in the discussions.