Candidates

 

COOCH BEHAR, April 23: In 1,668 Gram Panchayat seats in Cooch Behar district 5,246 nominations were found valid after scrutiny. In the 353 Panchayat Samiti seats of 12 blocks there are 1,158 valid candidates. At the Zilla Parishad tier there are 29 seats and the number of valid contesting candidates is 179, according to official sources. []

 

CPM-Trinamul clash

 

COOCH BEHAR, April 23: In a clash between the CPI-M and the Trinamul Congress supporters seven persons were wounded at Purba Falimari village under Baxirhat police station on Tuesday night. The violence occurred when the supporters of the two parties were campaigning for the panchayat elections. Police said four persons were arrested in connection with the incident on the same night. []

 

Storm

 

COOCH BEHAR, April 23: A cyclonic storm devastated about 400 dwellings at Kalpani village of Madhupur Gram Panchayat in Cooch Behar-I block at the wee hours of today. The storm also lashed several villages under Premerdanga, Ghoksadanga and Latapata Gram Panchayat areas and ravaged about 600 houses. Relief materials including tarpaulin sheets are being distributed among the affected villagers, a senior official said. []