Surprise defeat in West Bengal

There has been a surprise result in a parliamentary by-election in the Indian state of West Bengal.

The opposition candidate, Bikram Sarkar, of the Trinamul Congress party, an ally of the BJP defeated the candidate of the governing Left Front, Gurudas Dasgupta, in a by-election in Panskura.

Mr Sarkar won with a margin of more than 40,000 votes over Mr Dasgupta.

A BBC correspondent in Calcutta says the outcome has surprised many people in the state, as this is the first time in 25 years that the Left Front coalition has lost the Panskura seat.

Nearly 30 people died in clashes between Left-Front and Trinamul Congress supporters during the two months preceeding the election.

Our correspondent says the result is likely to cause concern to the governing Left-Front coalition in the state.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service