The West Bengal Congress leadership on Sunday accused the BJP and Trinamool Congress of politicising the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam and misguiding people about the issue.

“The BJP is trying to make people understand that the NRC is for protecting the Hindus who came from foreign countries as they will be considered as refugees. Similarly, (TMC supremo) Mamata Banerjee is trying to misguide the people that the NRC is a danger for the Bengalis and she will be their saviour.

“Both are doing narrowminded politics to gain benefit in the coming Lok Sabha elections,” West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee President Adhir Chowdhury said here.

The NRC is meant for the state of Assam and not for any other state, he said.

He also referred to an incident of 2005, when Trinamool Congress supremo Banerjee expressed dissatisfaction in the Lok Sabha, after she was not allowed to speak on illegal influx of Bangladeshis into West Bengal.

“Even she (Banerjee) is now a different person. She now wants to give shelter to the 40 lakh people, who are not on the NRC list, in West Bengal. Why such dual character?” Chowdhury questioned.

The Congress leader said his party would hold a rally in the city on October 4, highlighting issues “through which people were misguided for the sake of vote-bank politics”.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday mourned the death of former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee.

“Sorry to hear of the passing of Somnath Chatterjee, former Speaker of the Lok Sabha and a veteran parliamentarian who had a forceful presence in the House.

“A loss for public life in Bengal and India. My condolences to his family and innumerable well-wishers,” the President said in a tweet.

The Prime Minister described Chatterjee as a stalwart of Indian politics who made the parliamentary democracy richer.

Modi tweeted that Chatterjee “was a strong voice for the well-being of the poor and vulnerable. Anguished by his demise. My thoughts are with his family and supporters”.

The 10-time parliamentarian died at 8.15 a.m., at the Bellevue Clinic in Kolkata following a cardiac arrest and prolonged age-related ailments.

He suffered the heart attack on Sunday. Following kidney-related ailment his condition was critical and he was admitted to the clinic on August 7.

After the nursing home announced Chatterjee’s death, condolences started pouring in.

Earlier Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also mourned the former Left leader in their tweets.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday condoled the death of former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee by calling it a great loss.

“Saddened at the passing away of Somnath-Da. My condolences to his family and admirers. This is a great loss for us,” the Trinamool Congress supremo tweeted.

Chatterjee, 89, breathed his last at a private clinic here following a cardiac arrest and prolonged illness.

The former Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader, who was expelled from the party in 2008, after representing it since 1968, was critical following the heart attack he suffered on Sunday.

The 10-time MP was also suffering from a kidney-related ailment and was admitted to the Bellevue Clinic in a critical condition on August 7.

Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee died here on Monday at a private clinic following a cardiac arrest and prolonged illness, nursing home sources said. He was 89.

“He died at 8.15 a.m.,” Bellevue Clinic CEO Pradip Tondon told IANS.

Chatterjee was critical following the heart attack he suffered on Sunday. He was also suffering from a kidney-related ailment and was admitted to the clinic in a critical condition on August 7.

The Karnataka government would waive additional crop loans to the tune of Rs 9,448 crore borrowed from the state cooperative banks by farmers till July 10, said an official on Friday.

“The state cabinet has cleared the finance department’s proposal to waive crop loans worth Rs 9,448 crore raised by about 20 lakh farmers from cooperatives across the state,” an official in the Chief Minister’s Office told IANS here.

The latest waiver is in addition to the Rs 34,000-crore farm loans Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had waived on July 5 as part of the state budget he presented in the state Legislative Assembly for this fiscal (FY 2019).

The loans, being waived along with interest pertain to the amounts raised by about 50 lakh farmers from the state cooperative and rural banks since 2015-16 till December 31, 2017.

Kumaraswamy, who also holds the finance portfolio, decided that loans up to Rs 1 lakh raised by an individual farmer from district and state cooperative banks would be waived in the new scheme.

“In the earlier (Rs 34,000-crore) scheme, each farmer family which borrowed up to Rs 2 lakh from cooperative or rural banks and defaulted were eligible for waiver,” the official clarified.

The state government is waiting for the clearance of the Central government to waive crop loans farmers raised from the nationalised banks.

“The state cabinet will decide on the repayment of loans raised by farmers from the nationalised banks in two instalments after the approval of the Union Finance Ministry to the state’s proposal,” added the official.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the 56th convocation of the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) here on Saturday.

Modi arrived at the airport here this morning and was accorded a warm welcome by Maharashtra Governor C.V. Rao, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar, state BJP chief Raosaheb Patil-Danve, Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar and other officials.

As part of the ongoing IIT-B’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, the Prime Minister will also inaugurate the new building of the Department of Energy Science and Engineering and the Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering.

Union Minister for Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar will also be present at the event.

A major portion of an under-construction flyover in Basti district of Uttar Pradesh collapsed on Saturday, police said. One person was injured.

A slab portion of the flyover being constructed by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) collapsed at the Phutaiyya Chauraha, an official said.

“The incident took place in the morning in which a labourer on night-shift duty was injured. He was immediately admitted to the district hospital,” Basti District Magistrate Raj Shekhar told IANS.

The traffic in the area, which was suspended following the crash, has been allowed with precautions like barrier and barricades.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed the district authorities to ensure that the injured get prompt and adequate treatment, a government spokesman said.

Project Director of the NHAI for northern division has been asked to initiate a probe into the incident.

The crash comes two months after a similar portion of another under-construction flyover in Varanasi collapsed leaving 18 dead and many injured.

That flyover in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency was being built by the Uttar Pradesh Rajkiya Nirmaan Nigam (UPRNN), a state government agency.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday expressed grief over the loss of life in the Kerala floods and landslides, and urged his party workers to provide all the help needed.

“Unprecedented rainfall has created havoc in Kerala, destroying property and forcing thousands to abandon their homes.

“I urge each and every Congress worker in Kerala to step up and help those in need. My prayers and thoughts are with the people of Kerala in this difficult time,” he tweeted.

At least 27 people have died in the state since Wednesday due to incessant rain and landslides.