TMC candidate Kajal Sinha dies of COVID-19, Mamata Banerjee condoles demise

TMC candidate from Khardah assembly constituency Kajal Sinha, who had tested positive for COVID-19, died at a hospital in Kolkata. Sinha (59) was found to have contracted the viral disease two days ago, following which he was admitted to Beliaghata ID hospital, the official said. TMC supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed shock and grief over his demise. "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," Banerjee tweeted.

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

— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) April 25, 2021

West Bengal on Saturday registered the highest single-day spike of 14,281 COVID-19 cases pushing the tally to 7,28,061, the bulletin released by the state health department said. In the last 24 hours, 7,584 recoveries were recorded in the state. The number of actives cases currently is 81,375. Altogether 55,060 samples were tested for coronavirus in West Bengal since Friday. Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar reviewed COVID-safety preparedness for the remaining two phases of the state assembly polls at a meeting with senior West Bengal officers on Saturday. Polling for the six phases of the eight-phased West Bengal assembly elections has already been concluded. Polling for the sixth and the seventh phase will be held on April 26 and April 29 respectively. The counting of votes will be done on May 2.