Page 497 - Politics
Average 75.81 percent polling recorded in assembly by-polls in
An average of 75.81 percent polling was recorded in the by-elections to two Karnataka assembly constituencies, Chincholi and Kundgol, on Sunday. While Chincholi registered a voter turnout of 70.3 percent, Kundgol 81.33 percent. The outcome of the by-polls is likely to have a bearing on the stability of the JDS-Congress coalition government in the state. Barring a clash between the Congress and BJP workers over alleged distribution of money by some leaders of the former to the voters, the polls were by and large peaceful, officials said. Former MLA Umesh Jadhav, who is BJP's candidate for Chincholi accused the Congress of distributing money at gun point and staged 'dharna'. Calling it a "murder" of democracy, Jadhav alleged that the state government "abused" its power and distributed money at gun point with the help of police. The Chincholi bypoll was necessitated by the resignation of Umesh Jadhav, who quit Congress and joined BJP to contest the recent Lok Sabha polls ...
Rahul calls PM Modi's Kedarnath visit drama, accuses EC of capitulating before him
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling his visit to Kedarnath a planned "drama" and accusing the Election Commission of India (ECI) "capitulating before him" and not taking any action against wide-scale media coverage of his visit, even as the last phase of seven-phased Lok Sabha election was underway."From Electoral Bonds & EVMs to manipulating the election schedule, NaMo TV, "Modi's Army" and now the drama in Kedarnath; the Election Commission's capitulation before Mr Modi and his gang is obvious to all Indians. The EC used to be feared & respected. Not anymore," Rahul wrote on his Twitter handle.Not only Rahul, even Trinamool Congress and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) have also accused the ECI of being 'soft' on Prime Minister Modi and called media coverage of his Kedarnath visit a gross violation of poll conduct."The election campaign for the last phase of polling for Lok Sabha polls is over, surprisingly Narendra Modi's ...
Nepali Congress warns of stalling Parliament proceedings over 'anti-press' bill
The main opposition party in Nepal on Sunday warned of stalling the Parliament proceedings if the government tried to pass a controversial bill that aims to curtail press freedom by imposing strict penalty on media outlets. "The government wants to curtail press freedom through the bill which is unacceptable. We will not allow the government to pass the bill," Nepali Congress (NC) president Sher Bahadur Deuba told reporters at Biratnagar Airport here. He said his party would stall the Parliament proceedings if the ruling Communist Party of Nepal tried to pass the Media Council Bill. "The bill that curtails press freedom and human rights has to be withdrawn. We will not let the bill pass at any cost," he said, adding that the party, however, would not resort to violence and vandalism to press the government to withdraw the bill. The bill, proposed by K P Sharma Oli-led government, has provisions to impose a fine up to Rs 1 million on media outlets, editors, publishers and journalists ..
NDA to win 306 seats, UPA may get 132: Times Now exit poll
The BJP-led NDA may get a clear majority with 306 Lok Sabha seats while their rival UPA could lag behind with only 132 seats, according to an exit poll conducted by TV channel Times Now.
NDA to get 22 out of 25 seats in Rajasthan: IANS-CVOTER Exit Poll
The BJP seems to have held its ground in Rajasthan in the Lok Sabha elections 2019 with the CVOTER-IANS exit poll showing an NDA victory in 22 out of the 25 seats in the state.
Polling down by 8 points at Chandni Chowk booth where repoll was ordered
The polling station in Chandni Chowk where a repoll was conducted on Sunday recorded a voter turnout of 42.14 per cent, eight points down from May 12. On May 12, polling station number 32 in Chandni Chowk assembly constituency had recorded a voter turnout of 50.69 per cent. The polling station recorded a turnout of 14.81 per cent in the first four hours between 7 am to 11 am. The need for a repoll was necessitated since the presiding officer forgot to delete the test votes from EVM cast during mock poll before actual polling on May 12. Mock poll is carried out before actual polling to test whether the EVM is working properly and at least 50 test votes are cast, one for each candidate. There were doubts raised about two polling stations in the constituency but the report had found repelling was needed only in one booth. On Thursday, the Election Commission directed the Chief Electoral Officer, Delhi, to carry out a repoll in the constituency on May 19. The Chandni Chowk parliamentary ..
NDA projected to win 22 seats in Gujarat: IANS-CVOTER exit poll
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is expected to retain 22 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a slight dip from its 2014 tally when it had swept the state, the IANS-CVOTER exit poll showed on Sunday.
Over 72% turnout in Bengal amid scattered violence (4th Lead)
A BJP candidate was attacked while the vehicles of another nominee and a senior party leader vandalised allegedly by Trinamool Congress workers as West Bengal recorded a 72.91 per cent turnout till 5 p.m. in the final phase of polling on Sunday amid allegations of sporadic violence, rigging and EVM breakdowns.
LS Polls: MP records over 69 pc voter turnout in last phase till 6 pm
A voter turnout of 69.36 per cent was recorded till 6 pm, 2.5 per cent higher than 2014, in eight Lok Sabha seats of Madhya Pradesh on Sunday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has said.According to the EC's voter turnout app, Dewas recorded highest 73.88 per cent voting, Mandsour 73.01 per cent, Ratlam 69.18 per cent, Ujjain 67.53 per cent, Dhar 67.18 per cent, Indore 64.35 per cent, Khargone 70.69 per cent, and Khandwa stood at 70.57 per cent till the end of the voting."Total eight number of parliamentary constituencies went to poll absolutely incident free. A total of 1.49 crores voters including 484 third gender was to vote in the elections," Deputy Election Commission Sudeep Jain told the media in New Delhi.A total of 82 candidates including six female candidates were in the fray in this phase, the EC said.A total of 1057 out of total 18411 polling stations managed by women only, Jain informed.From Dewas, BJP has fielded Mahendra Singh Solanki, while Congress has put up ...
Civil war in Congress in face of impending defeat: SAD
A war of attrition has started between Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and his Cabinet colleague Navjot Singh Sidhu to pass on the buck to each other, on the final day of polling, said a Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader on Sunday.Commenting on the in-fighting in Congress, former minister and SAD leader Bikram Majithia said in a statement: "There is a complete trust deficit between the two leaders and they are hurling accusation at each other with unprecedented velocity as if they were from different parties.""But everything is possible in the Congress party. Not to talk of Amarinder but even party president Rahul Gandhi's directions are not adhered to. Rahul had repeatedly said that Sam Pitroda should apologise for his utterances on 1984 riots but he didn't pay heed to Rahul and has not offered an unqualified apology till date," Majithia said.Majithia said that Amarinder has sensed that the party has already lost the plot and the blame game has already started for the defeat in
56.84% polling in UP till 6 pm
Over 56 per cent polling was recorded till 6 pm in 13 Lok Sabha seats of Uttar Pradesh on Sunday, officials said. In Varanasi, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a second term, the voter turnout was 58.05 per cent. "Till 6 pm, the turnout (across 13 seats) was 56.84 per cent. Those who are in queue till 6 pm are being allowed to cast their votes," a state election office spokesperson said. According to the data given by the state election office till 6 pm, the highest turnout was 62.40 per cent in Maharajganj, while Ballia reported the lowest turnout of 52.50 per cent. In Gorakhpur, the turnout was 57.38 per cent. Violence erupted in Chandauli Lok Sabha constituency, where state Bharatiya Janata Party chief Mahendra Nath Pandey is seeking re-election, when supporters of the saffron party and the Samajwadi Party clashed. "The incident was reported from Parahupur Sikatiya village in Chandauli. A police team rushed to the spot and the situation was brought under control," ...
INS-CVoter exit poll predicts 14 seats for TDP, gives 11 to YSR
It's a close fight between Chandrababu Naidu and YSR Congress's Jaganmohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh in the general election.
Media coverage of PM Modi's Kedarnath visit was a drama, says Sandeep Dikshit
Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit on Sunday said that the media coverage of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Kedarnath in Uttarakhand was a 'drama' staged to influence the voters in the last phase of Lok Sabha polls.Talking to ANI, Dikshit said, "Anybody can worship any deity and that's his personal choice but the way a drama was created in the form of media coverage of Modi's Kedarnath visit was not at all right."Taking a dig at Prime Minister Modi, the Congress leader said: "The cave in which he was meditating was a manmade cave, built a year ago. I have never seen a window in a cave in my whole life.""TMC was absolutely right that PM Modi projected his Kedarnath visit to influence the voters by showing his religious interest," said the Congress leader when asked about a complaint being filed by TMC against Modi for violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) during his visit to Kedarnath.On being asked about violence in West Bengal during the Lok Sabha polls, the former ...
Modi likely to form government again: Republic TV exit poll
Prime Minister Narendra Modi looks set to form the government again, according to the exit polls conducted by Republic TV.
Bengal's Bhatpara by-polls marred by violence, bombings
Amid violent clashes between workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Trinamool Congress, with hurling of bombs and ransacking of police vehicles, the Bhatpara Assembly constituency turned into a battleground during the by-polls on Sunday.
BJP will win all four LS seats in Himachal: Jai Ram Thakur
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur Sunday claimed the BJP would will all four Lok Sabha seats in the state. He thanked the voters for peaceful and enthusiastic polling in "record" numbers. Thakur, in a statement issued here, said the BJP would win Shimla (SC), Mandi, Hamirpur and Kangra LS seats with a record margin, repeating its performance from last time. He said the voters in the state are supportive of the policies and works of the BJP governments at the centre and state.
Most exit polls project majority for BJP-led NDA
Most exit polls forecast a majority for the ruling BJP-led NDA in Lok Sabha polls with varying numbers as the seven-phase polling in the general elections ended Sunday. Two exit polls telecast by Times Now gave the NDA 296 and 306 seats, while they projected 126 and 132 for the Congress-led UPA. The CVoter-Republic exit poll has forecast 287 and 128 seats for the NDA and UPA respectively. However, Neta-News X predicted that the National Democratic Alliance could fall short of the majority and win 242 seats. It gave the UPA 164 seats. Elections to 542 seats of the Lok Sabha ended Sunday. The majority mark is 272. An exit poll on News 18 forecast that the NDA will win 292-312 seats while it gave 62-72 seats for the UPA. Many exit polls predicted that SP-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh is likely to trump the BJP in the country's politically most crucial state. The BJP had won 71 and its ally Apna Dal two of its 80 seats in 2014. However, many news channels are yet to give a final ...
Sidhu wants to be CM, harming Congress with irresponsible actions: Amarinder
The simmering tension between Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and his cabinet colleague Navjot Singh Sidhu was out in the open again on Sunday with the former accusing the cricketer-turned-politician of damaging the Congress with his "irresponsible actions" just before polls. Though Singh stressed that he had no personal differences with the Punjab tourism and cultural affairs minister, yet he said Sidhu was perhaps "ambitious" and "wants to be the chief minister". State Health Minister Brahm Mohindra also slammed Sidhu and said he, along with other cabinet colleagues, would write to the Congress high-command to "restrain Sidhu from damaging the party further". Hitting out at Sidhu, the chief minister said, "If he was a real Congressman, he should have chosen a better time to air his grievances, instead of just ahead of voting in Punjab." "He is harming the party with such irresponsible actions. It is not his election but that of the entire Congress's," he added. "Perhaps he is .
LS Polls: 37 visually impaired women exercise their franchise in Indore
Beating all the odds, 37 visually impaired women on Sunday turned up to exercise their franchise at a polling booth in Green Field school here."Most of us aren't first-time voters so we were able to easily cast our votes as per the instructions were given to us. We have never faced any difficulty while voting because if necessary, we'll get assistance from the volunteers and the agents present in the booths," one of the impaired women told ANI.Urging physically challenged people to come out and vote despite the challenges posed to them, she said, "Everyone should vote as it is their duty towards the country. More training classes during the time of election would encourage people like us to vote."Talking on behalf of the visually impaired, the caretaker told ANI, "A proper training was given to them to cast their votes properly. We have even organised classes in which they received all the required instructions regarding the voting process."They were taught to link numerical numbers ..
Saudi calls for urgent Arab talks over Iran tensions
Saudi Arabia has called for emergency regional talks to discuss mounting Gulf tensions, saying Sunday that it does not want war with Iran but is ready to defend itself. It comes days after mysterious sabotage attacks on several tankers in highly sensitive Gulf waters and drone strikes on a Saudi crude pipeline by Yemen rebels who Riyadh claimed were acting on Iranian orders. The United States has also deployed an aircraft carrier and bombers to the Gulf over alleged threats from Iran. King Salman invited Gulf leaders and Arab League member states to two emergency summits in Mecca on May 30 to discuss recent "aggressions and their consequences", the kingdom's official SPA news agency reported late Saturday. Saudi Arabia's minister of state for foreign affairs, Adel al-Jubeir, said Sunday his country does not want to go to war with Iran but would defend itself. Saudi Arabia "does not want a war, is not looking for it and will do everything to prevent it," he said. "But at the same time,