Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress party on Thursday announced senior leader VD Satheesan as the next Chief Minister of Kerala after days of discussions and speculation.

The decision was announced by Congress leaders Deepa Dasmunshi, Ajay Maken and Mukul Wasnik during a press conference in New Delhi.

The main contenders for the top post included KC Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala along with Satheesan.

Venugopal accepted the party’s decision and congratulated Satheesan. He also said that he would fully support the new Chief Minister and the UDF government in Kerala.

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The Congress-led UDF won a strong majority in the Kerala Assembly elections. However, the party took time to finalize its chief ministerial candidate due to internal discussions and pressure from different groups.

The announcement came a day after senior Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge held an important meeting in New Delhi.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked the people of West Bengal after the BJP formed the government in the state for the first time. During the oath-taking ceremony of Suvendu Adhikari in Kolkata, PM Modi greeted the crowd with folded hands.

A video from the event has gone viral on social media. In the video, PM Modi is seen bowing before the people as a gesture of gratitude. The crowd cheered loudly during the moment.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah also attended the ceremony. West Bengal Governor R. N. Ravi administered the oath to Suvendu Adhikari and other ministers at Brigade Parade Grounds in Kolkata.

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The BJP won 207 seats in the 294-member assembly election. The victory ended the 15-year rule of the Trinamool Congress in the state.

The BJP included leaders from different communities in the first cabinet. Party leaders said the new government represents many sections of society in West Bengal.

Gujarat: A canal built at a cost of Rs 2 crore in Gujarat’s Kheda district was demolished after poor-quality construction was exposed. The canal was built to help farmers in Vanthvali village.

Farmers had raised complaints about the weak construction work. During an inspection, the local MLA hit the canal wall with a hammer, and the wall broke easily. The shocking video soon went viral on social media.

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After the MLA informed senior officials, the state government ordered the canal to be demolished and rebuilt. JCB machines were later used to remove the 4-kilometre-long canal stretch.

Officials said the canal will now be rebuilt using proper quality standards. The incident has sparked debate over corruption and poor monitoring in government projects.