One shot dead, another beaten to death at BJP MLA’s birthday bash

News Network

March 6, 2021

Damoh (MP), Mar 6: Two persons attending the birthday bash of a BJP MLA in Madhya Pradesh Damoh's district have been killed over some dispute, police said on Saturday.

The incident occurred around 10 pm on Friday at Banwar village under Nohata police station area after a dispute among the attendees of the function, Damoh Superintendent of Police Hemant Chouhan said.

As per initial investigation, one of the deceased Jogendra Singh (30) died of a gunshot while another deceased Arvind Jain was beaten to death by some persons with stones and sticks, the SP said.

He said attackers have not been identified so far and further investigation was underway. According to sources in police, Jabera MLA Dharmendra Singh Lodhi was not present at the bash when the incident occurred.

Sources said Jain was a representative of the MLA at the function while Singh was a guest teacher. On the other hand, Damoh district Congress president Ajay Tandon accused the police of failure in maintaining the law and order.

"The incident occurred in the birthday party of BJP MLA Dharmendra Singh Lodhi at a time when the district is under high security due to the arrival of President Ram Nath Kovind," Tandon said.

President Kovind is on a two-day visit to Madhya Pradesh beginning Saturday. He is scheduled to arrive in Jalhari village in Damoh district at 9.30 am on Sunday, from where he will go to Sangrampur village to attend 'Janjatiya Sammelan' organised by MP Tribal Welfare Department.

While the BJP MLA could not be reached for reaction, state BJP secretary Rajneesh Agrawal said he was unaware of the incident. "The incident has nothing to do with the BJP. The law will take its own course," he said.

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CPI-M ready to ally with Congress in 2026 West Bengal polls to 'defeat' TMC, BJP

News Network

January 19,2026

New Delhi: Setting speculation to the rest, the CPI(M) has made it clear that it is open to have an electoral understanding with the Congress “to defeat” the Trinamool Congress and the BJP in West Bengal Assembly election even as it is all set to take on the grand old party in Kerala accusing it of “found wanting” in fighting the Hindutva forces.

The CPI(M) also said that it will contest the Tamil Nadu election “with DMK and its allies to defeat the BJP and its allies”, amid a section in the Congress triggering confusion about its participation in the M K Stalin-led coalition over demand over power-sharing and more seats. It is also willing to join hands with Congress and others in Assam and Puducherry to defeat the BJP.

The decisions came at a three-day meeting of the CPI(M) Central Committee in Thiruvananthapuram, which ended on Sunday after reviewing the poll preparations in the poll-bound states.

The CPI(M)'s decision came even as a section led by West Bengal Congress president Subhankar Sarkar is averse to tying up with the Left Front, claiming that their party is not benefitted by the electoral understanding. Both Congress and CPI(M)-led Left Front had electoral understanding in 2016 and 2021 Assembly elections and 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Congress and the Left Front fought together for the first time in 2016 when Congress won 44 seats and the CPI(M) got 26. In 2021, the Left Front and the Congress drew a blank. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Congress managed to win one seat while the Left did not win any. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, both fought against each other with Congress winning two and the Left none.

“In Bengal, the party will work for the defeat of both the TMC and the BJP, which are trying to polarise the society. We will try to rally all the forces that are ready to work against them,” the CPI(M) said in a statement without naming Congress by name. Senior leaders said there is no change in its strategy of pooling all non-BJP, non-TMC votes.

However, the party was critical of the Congress in Kerala where both will fight against each other.

The CPI(M) said it would "expose the BJP-led Union government’s denial of rightful dues to Kerala, the fiscal constraints imposed and the overall attack on federalism" as also "expose the failure of the Congress to effectively counter this attack on federalism, as the largest opposition party in the Parliament".

"The Congress, especially in Kerala, was found wanting in the fight against communal RSS-BJP, ideologically and this will also be exposed before the people," it added.

In Assam, it said, the CPI(M) will work for the mobilisation of all the anti-BJP parties and forces and defeat the rabidly communal and divisive BJP government. The Left parties are cooperating with Congress in the north-eastern state. In Puducherry, it said it will work for the defeat of the BJP alliance government.

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