Ex-Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat taken to Delhi AIIMS after testing COVID-19 positive

ANI photo

New Delhi: West Bengal is witnessing intense political fight between BJP, TMC and other parties ahead of the first phase of assembly elections, in which 30 constituencies will go for polling. March 25, Thursday, marks the last day of campaigning for the first phase of voting and all the political parties are gearing up for putting in the final effort ahead of the voting.

The star campaigners for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) include Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty and UP CM Yogi Adityanath. Whereas, on the other hand, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is holding her ground tight for TMC, along with her nephew Abhishek Banerjee.

Meanwhile, India on Thursday (25 March) reported 53,476 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally in the country to 1,17,87,534. The death toll increased by 251 to 1,60,692, according to the Health Ministry data. This is the biggest one-day rise in cases since 23 October and the highest in 2021.

Many state governments and Union Territories have declared a band on the public celebration of the Holi festival. The Centre has issued a circular under section 22 of the Disaster Management Act that advises all the states and union territories to impose restrictions prior to the festival season. 

In other developments, Parliament session on Thursday will be embracing for impact form the decision on GNCTD bill, which was passed a day before amid the ruckus by the opposition.

26 March 2021

00:10 IST

In a notification, Haryana Health Department asks all deputy commissioners & all district heads of police to ensure that celebrations don't take place at public places on Holi. (ANI)

21:44 IST

In a nationwide special drive, CBI today conducted searches at over 100 places in 11 states/UTs in connection with more than 30 cases of bank fraud amounting to over Rs 3,700 crores. (ANI)