Voting for Assembly polls in the second part of the first phase in West Bengal and for the second and final phase in Assam is underway. Voter turnout in West Bengal was 59.78%, while Assam registered a 55% turnout till 1 pm.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called on voters from both the states to cast their votes in large numbers.

"Requesting all those voting in Assam & West Bengal today to cast their vote in large numbers," the Prime Minister tweeted today. Meanwhile, voters were seen queuing up in long lines since the wee hours, showing their eagerness to cast their votes.

The Janata Dal (United) national executive unanimously elected Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as the party president on Sunday. He replaced Sharad Yadav, who had been at the helm since 2006. The new responsibility will enable Nitish to lead the JD(U) from the front and expand it by negotiating mergers with other parties on the one hand and reaching out to different sections of people all over the country on the other. He will engage Prime Minister Narendra Modi on ideological and public issues on a regular basis. If all goes well, he may well be in a position to challenge Modi by the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The compound wall of a private building in Hyderabad collapsed on Sunday when an Air India plane being transported by a crane from the airport to Air India's training centre, crashed against it. No injuries were reported. According to an Air India official, the 70-ton A-320 aircraft, which was to be used for training, crashed when the 200-ton crane transporting it suddenly collapsed. The incident occurred at 7 am on Sunday on Hyderabad's Old Airport Road. The plane was not damaged, says NDTV.

Using their own money, residents of Latur have decided to desilt and widen two barrages in the area, hoping that they will be filled when the monsoon breaks with enough water to last a year. The initiative is led by five Latur men who have decided not to wait for government help any longer. The men make an unlikely team – they are former RSS pracharak Ashokrao Kukude, Congress politician Trimbakdas Zawar, rising sugar industry baron BB Thombre, advocate Manoharrao Gomare, and social activist Makrand Jadhav, according to The Economic Times. "We don't want a favour from western Maharashtra, nor can we wait endlessly for the government to do something," said Jadhav.

Six people died and 56 injured when a bus fell into a gorge in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday. "A bus carrying 62 passengers, on its way to Rehand village in the district, suddenly fell of the cliff into a deep gorge, around 20 kilometers away from Doda town," said Bhupinder Kumar, deputy commissioner of Doda. Three people died on the spot. The other three died on the way to the hospital. Seven of the injured are in a critical condition, says The Indian Express.

Senior officials of the Puttingal temple in Kollam, Kerala, have reportedly absconded after an illegal fireworks show killed about 100 people and injured more than 350 early on Sunday morning. The police have filed a case of culpable homicide against these temple officials, as well as one against father-son duo Surendran and Umesh who had organised the fireworks display. According to NDTV, Surendran and Umesh were both injured when a lighted cracker landed on a cache of other fireworks. Both are being treated at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital.

The Sunday tragedy at Kollam, Kerala, where more than 100 people died when a fireworks display during a temple festival went bad, can perhaps be blamed on the upcoming assembly elections in the state. According to sources in the Kerala Secretariat and the Kollam District Collectorate, additional district magistrate A Shanavas and district collector A Shainamol, both of whom had denied permission for the fireworks, were threatened by local politicians and Hindu groups. The sources added that even on Saturday afternoon, it was not certain that the fireworks display would be allowed, says The Indian Express. "But the temple authorities managed to get the support of political parties," said a source.