Kolkata, May 25 (PTI) In the wake of the BJP's stellar performance in the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal, TMC supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Saturday cracked the whip against internal strife and revamped the party organisation.

The Trinamool Congress also clipped the wings of her nephew Abhishek Banerjee, considered number two in the party.

All the districts under him where the BJP has won have been taken away and given to other leaders.

Mumbai, May 24 (PTI) Maharashtra NCP chief Jayant Patil Friday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the BJP's Lok Sabha victory, but also called for a permanent solution to EVM-related issues to ensure poll transparency.

Former Maharashtra minister Patil said people would lose faith in the election process in the absence of such transparency.

Patil's comments come a day after NCP president Sharad Pawar Thursday said he accepted the mandate gracefully and that he would not blame the EVMs following the result.

Kolkata, May 25 (PTI) Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee Saturday offered to quit as chief minister of West Bengal following her party's drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls, but the TMC rejected it.

Addressing her first press conference after the election results were declared, she accused the BJP of polarising people on religious lines to garner votes in West Bengal and wondered if some "sort of setting or foreign power" played a role in such a huge victory of the saffron party.

New Delhi, May 25 (PTI) Top Congress leaders from across the country Saturday got together to review the party's drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls, as the Congress Working Committee meeting got underway here.

The CWC meeting, chaired by Congress president Rahul Gandhi, is being attended by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Uttar Pradesh (East) in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and chief ministers of four party-ruled states -- Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh -- and of the Union Territory Puducherry.

Srinagar, May 24 :  Curfew was imposed in parts of Kashmir on Friday, a day after Zakir Musa, the so-called chief of a group affiliated to the Al-Qaeda, was believed to have been killed in an encounter with security forces in Tral.

Educational institutions have been closed and curfew was imposed in places in Kashmir as a precautionary measure, following the Thursday incident, officials said.

Internet was also shutdown, they said.

Musa, who is believed to have been killed in the gunfight with security forces, was the so-called head of the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind.

New Delhi, May 24 (PTI) The Congress can never die and the country needs it, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot asserted on Friday and said the party will again reach out to people to ascertain the reasons for its drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls.

The senior Congress leader said the BJP played on emotions and sentiments of the people and never fought on real issues.

During the election campaign, the people never got to know the BJP's vision for the country and stand on issues such as unemployment, farm distress and economy, he said.

Chennai, May 24 (PTI) The Madras High Court has quashed a criminal case pending against senior IPS officer Jaffer Sait for alleged loss caused to the Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) in connection with allotment of a residential plot in his wife's name under the government discretionary quota (GDQ).

Justice P Rajamanickam on Thursday quashed the proceedings of the criminal case as the Union Home Ministry declined sanction for prosecution against the officer through an order dated November 29, 2013.

Despite such an order, the case had been kept pending for over five years.

Caracas, May 25 (AFP) At least 29 prisoners were killed and 19 police wounded in clashes at a jail in western Venezuela Friday, authorities said.

The incident at the police station jail in the town of Acarigua, in Portuguesa state, occurred when police special forces (FAES) tried to stop a "massive prison break" which resulted in the deaths of 29 inmates, according to Portuguesa public security secretary Oscar Valero.

25 May 2019; DW: The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Malta and Latvia are casting their ballots in day three of EU parliamentary elections.

Voters in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Malta and Latvia headed for the polls on Saturday as part of continent-wide parliamentary elections.

The United Kingdom and the Netherlands cast their ballots on Thursday, with Ireland heading to the ballot box on Friday. The Czech Republic is voting over both Friday and Saturday. 

Raipur, May 24 (PTI) Naxal-hit Bastar Lok Sabha seat saw the maximum number of voters opting for NOTA (none of the above) in the just-concluded general elections.

Of the 1,36,22,725 people who cast their votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Chhattisgarh, 1.44 per cent, or 1,96,265 electors, opted for NOTA, an EC official said Friday.

NOTA stood third behind the BJP and Congress in Bastar, Surguja, Kanker, Mahasamund and Rajnandgaon, he said.

Rewa (MP), May 25 (PTI) A 45-year-old man allegedly gave poison-laced soft drink to his family leading to his, his wife's and their son's death, Rewa district police said Saturday.

The incident took place at Ghuma Katra village.

Ashok Prajapati allegedly mixed some poisonous substance in a bottle of soft drink and offered it to other members of the family last night, said Ram Singh Kanjar, in- charge of Garh police station.

Patna, May 24 (PTI) Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan on Friday mocked the Congress for eyeing the prime minister's post, but ending up with a tally which falls short to even help it get the chair of leader of the opposition.

Paswan further said he had predicted victory of his ministerial colleague Smriti Irani from Amethi against Rahul Gandhi.