West Bengal added 3,920 new cases, but its active caseload dropped to 34,566 on account of the recovery surge.

The meeting was announced on Sunday, a day after the Mamata Banerjee government wrote to the railways division, seeking discussions about operating a few pairs of suburban trains daily while following Covid-19 regulations.

The BJP claimed that victim Bijoy Shil was its worker and was killed by TMC workers — a claim dismissed by the ruling party. Police said they had not received any complaint

State BJP president Dilip Ghosh said the party’s doors were open to all. “We are ready to accept leaders from other parties and the doors are always open. If the TMC sends its leaders to us, then we will accept them,” he said.

In 2017, Gurung was booked under murder charge and other IPC sections, and the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act after violence broke out in Darjeeling for a separate ‘Gorkhaland’ state.

A BJP leader said Shah was also likely to review the law-and-order situation in the state. Last week, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar met Shah in Delhi and raised concerns over political killings and other crimes.

Suvendu Adhikari, who is state transport minister, has been conspicuous by his absence at party and government programmes. Also, his presence and speeches during bannerless public gatherings organised by his supporters has a different political undertone.

During his longest stay outside the Raj Bhawan in Kolkata, Dhankhar plans to meet representatives of several organisations, political parties and administration during his stay.

In the last 24 hours, 4049 persons were discharged after being cured from the Covid-19 infection.

This came after a large crowd of commuters at Howrah station tried to storm into a train meant for railways staff on Saturday evening. RPF lathi-charged to disperse them, injuring a few.

At 1.86 per cent, West Bengal has the second highest death rate (proportion of fatality to Covid-19 cases) in the country after Maharashtra’s 2.6 per cent while the national average hovers around 1.5 per cent.

“The idea behind the park is that waste can be converted into art. Nothing is waste and can be art and that is a message with which a unique Tyre Park is coming up in Kolkata,” an official with the transport corporation said.

On Friday, the total number of recoveries in West Bengal increased to 3,25,888, including 4,015 recorded in the last 24 hours, and improved the recovery rate to 88.16 per cent. The number of active cases dropped to 36,999 compared to 37,094 the previous day.

According to hospital sources, Veteran actor Soumitra Chatterjee's haemoglobin and plate counts have stabilised but are still low. There has been no bleeding and more or less no platelet transfusion will be given, they said.

The move comes after the Union Health Ministry shared guidelines with all states on the procedure to create a database on health workers who will be first in line to receive the immunisation against coronavirus.

A senior leader of BJP said, “If you want to become the ruling party of Bengal, you have to first be Bengali. Then you should have a cultured personality. We are now trying to prove both, because we are now close to coming to power in Bengal.”

Unlike any year, Kolkata recorded low footfall of pandal hoppers this time. With “no entry” boards making pandals out of bounds, the thin crowd mainly comprised youngsters.

Bimal Gurung, who had been absconding since 2017 after he was charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, also pledged support to the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) for the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections.

Along with an increase in the number of hospital beds for Covid patients in state-run treatment facilities, the government also announced an increase in the number of MBBS medical seats to 4,000, with an addition of 250 seats in two medical colleges.

“We were already distributing masks and urging people to maintain social distancing norms. With the court order, it will be easier for us to regulate the crowd now,” an on-duty police officer in Kolkata said on condition of anonymity.

As a result of the surge in cases in the past few weeks, the active caseload has registered a massive increase while the recovery rate has been steadily falling after more than two months of sustained recovery.

Siddiqullah Chowdhury, who is the minister of mass education extension and library services, said, “We already talked with many people and after that I am demanding that immediately all who were arrested by NIA should be released unconditionally.”

This massive increase in cases pushed up the active caseload to 34,584, and came on a day the Calcutta High Court banned the entry of visitors to Durga Puja Pandals across the state because of fears about an explosion in infection numbers following the festival.

Following Monday’s court order declaring the pandals no-entry zones, Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay convened a meeting attended by all police superintendents and district magistrates.