West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday, expressed grief on the death of Trinamool Congress candidate Kajal Sinha due to COVID-19.
"Very, very sad. Shocked. Kajal Sinha, our candidate from Khardaha, succumbed to Covid. He dedicated his life to serving people & just fought a tireless campaign. He was a long-serving committed member of @AITCofficial. We will miss him. My condolences to his family & his admirers," she tweeted.
Sinha was the TMC candidate for the Khardaha constituency in North 24 Parganas, which underwent polling in the sixth phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections.
The TMC candidate tested positive last week and was undergoing treatment at Beleghata ID and BG Hospital.
The rapid upsurge of COVID-19 has forced the Election Commission to prohibit roadshows, 'padyatras' and big public meetings in poll-bound West Bengal from Thursday evening.
"The Commission has noted with anguish that many political parties/candidates are still not adhering to the prescribed safety norms during the public gatherings and this is making it difficult for the state/district election machineries to enforce the directions fully," the poll panel said in its order.
The EC also restricted the number of people's participation in public meetings to 500 in wake of surge in COVID-19 cases.
The Commission had earlier decided to curtail the timings of campaigns for the remaining phases and extended the silence period to 72 hours for each of the phases.
The seventh and the penultimate phase of the high-stakes Assembly elections will commence tomorrow - with 284 candidates contesting for 36 constituencies across five districts - Dakshin Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad, Kolkata and Paschim Bardhaman.
Polling for the eighth and final phase will be held on April 29. The counting of votes will be done on May 2.
( With inputs from ANI )
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