Archives for April 2019

Both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party candidates are jostling to reach out to the multilingual and multireligious voters in the prestigious Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha constituency, which goes to poll on April 18.

While the incumbent BJP member P C Mohan is seeking to retain the seat for the record third time in a row, Congress candidate Rizwan Arshad is leaving no stone unturned to wrest the seat from the Saffron Party.

Actor Prakash Raj, an independent candidate in the race, is visiting every nook and cranny of the constituency, appealing the voters to ‘think differently’ this time.

However, Mr Mohan, a soft, suave and approachable leader, who has developed the constituency is likely to retain the seat, says Venkatesh, a retired Bank employee.

In the last ten years, the Bengaluru Central Constituency had witnessed a sea change thanks to the inflow of Central funds towards the development of the Road, Railway and other infrastructure projects, which had largely benefitted the constituency, the sitting BJP member stated.

The Modi wave, coupled with co-ordinated efforts of the Sangh pariwar workers, should help the BJP candidate sail through smoothly in the April-18 elections, Ramaprasad a resident of Mahadevapura Assembly constituency told media.

However, the Congress candidate, Rizwan Arshad, who had lost to the BJP candidate narrowly, in the 2014 Lok Sabha seat, exude confidence that ?the situation is different now?.

Rizwan, who is contesting as the Congress and the JD(S) alliance candidate, said, ?Last time I got the party ticket at the last minute, which had also contributed for the loss?.

?This time, with the assurance of the party ticket well in advance, I had managed to reach out to majority of the households in the constituency and it should help me this time? he told media.

The presence of as many as five Congress and the JD(S) MLAs, including the KPCC president Dinesh Gundurao (Gandhinagar) against the three Assembly segments held by the BJP should tilt the balance in favour of the Congress candidate, Abdul Razak, a hawker in Shivajinagar area in the constituency said.

Rizwan, who is also the member of the Karnataka Legislative Council, is, however, facing the dismay of the voters of the Christian community, who also comprise significant number in the Lok Sabha seat.

Two Christian leaders, including former super cop and Lok Sabha member H T Sangliana, had openly expressed their anguish over ignoring the Christians in the state, in giving party ticket, may come in the way to upset the BJP candidate.

The presence of the independent candidate Prakash Raj, is also another worrying factor for the Congress candidate as the latter may dent the voter base of the Congress and benefit the BJP.

If the Congress candidate overcomes the discontent brewing within the Congress and manages to assuage the ‘ feelings of let’ down by the Christian minorities, the possibilities of wresting back the seat to the Congress is bright, a voter in Cantonment area said.

The constituency which goes to poll in the first phase of elections in Karnataka, on April-18, is being contested by as many as 22 candidates, including BJP, Congress and the BSP.

Sumalatha Ambareesh is contesting as an independent candidate while the BJP has decided to not name a candidate and back her in Mandya.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday backed multi-lingual south Indian actress Sumalatha Ambareesh, an Independent in the high-profile Mandya Lok Sabha constituency whom the BJP is supporting to wrest the seat from the JD-S.

“Sumalatha supported her husband and Kannada film star Ambareesh in promoting the native language and its culture for years. I express gratitude to Ambareesh and Sumalatha for their contribution to Kannada,” said Modi in his 35-minute speech in Hindi at a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) public rally in Maharaja College grounds in Mysuru.

Campaigning for the party’s candidates in the old Mysore region, which goes to polls in the second phase on April 18, Modi fondly recalled the rebel star (Ambareesh), who died in Bengaluru on November 24, 2018 at the age of 66.

Though Ambareesh won from the Mandya three times, twice as Congress member and once as Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) member, and was a Cabinet Minister in the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government (2013-16), the ruling ally could not give Sumalatha its ticket to contest, as it has been a JD-S bastion since 2009 general elections.

The JD-S has fielded Nikhil K. — son of state Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and grandson of party supremo H.D. Deve Gowda — this time.

To support 55-year-old Sumalatha, the BJP has not fielded its candidate against her and decided to campaign for her in the high-voltage battle against 29-year-old Nikhil, an upcoming Kannada film star from Bengaluru.

A section of the Kannada film industry is also supporting Sumalatha, and its superstars Darshan and Yash are actively campaigning for her as a gratitude to their hero and guru Ambareesh.

Though the ruling Congress-JD-S alliance partners entered into a pre-poll seat-sharing tie-up to contest in all the 28 Lok Sabha seats across the southern state in the ratio of 21-7, its district leaders and cadres have refused to campaign for JD-S candidates in Mandya, as most of them are also ardent fans of Ambareesh, a native of Mandya and their demigod.

Agencies

Srinagar, Apr 11 (UNI) Normal life was crippled in the Kashmir valley due to a strike called by separatists on Thursday, when people in Baramulla Parliamentary Constituency are casting their votes.
A police official said there were no restrictions in any part of the valley though security forces have been deployed in strength, particularly in north Kashmir, to maintain law and order.

?Three-tire security has been put in place to provide safe and secure environment to voters, who are exercising their franchise to elect their representative from nine candidates contesting from Baramulla Lok Sabha seat,? he said.
Shops and business establishments were closed and traffic was off the road in downtown, civil lines and uptown Srinagar though few private vehicles, particularly two-wheelers, besides three-wheelers, could be seen plying on some routes.
Business and other activities were crippled in main business hubs of the city, including historic Lal Chowk, the nerve-centre of summer capital, Budshah Chowk, Regal Chowk, Maisuma, Hari Singh High Street (HSHS), Batmaloo, Moulana Azad Road, Residency Road and Dalgate.

Roadside vendors, selling vegetables and fruit were seen in the civil lines.
Additional security forces, wearing bullet proof jackets and holding weapons and lathis in their hands, were seen patrolling the streets in Srinagar areas to prevent any untoward incident.

However, some shops and business establishments are open in the uptown.
A total shut down was observed in this and other south Kashmir district and tehsil headquarters, a report from Anantnag said. Educational institutions, tuition and coaching centres are closed.

Business and other activities are remained paralysed. Additional security forces and state police personnel have been deployed to prevent any demonstration.
Shops and business establishments remained closed and traffic was also off the road in north Kashmir districts of Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara where polling is taking place today.
Life also remained paralysed in the central Kashmir district of Ganderbal and Badgam with all shops and business establishments shut and traffic off the roads.
The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) has called for a general strike on Thursday against polls, National Investigation Agency (NIA) action against separatists and ban on civilian traffic twice in a week on Srinagar-Jammu national highway

LS Polls: Notices served on Karnataka Chief Minister and some of his Cabinet Colleagues by the City Police for staging protest in front of IT Commissioner Office

Bengaluru, Apr 11 : Following a complaint from the Information Tax Commissioner Balakrishnan, the City Police have served notice to Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and to some of his Cabinet colleagues who had staged protest in front of IT Office in protest against Raids recently.
According to Police sources here on Thursday notices had been issued to the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwara, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah
and others by the Commercial Street Police Station.
Balakrishnan had submitted a complaint to the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer Sanjeev Kumar, seeking action against those who had staged protest in front of IT Office on Queens Road, without permission.
The Congress and JDS leaders, led by Kumaraswamy, staged protest against the IT officials alleging that the officials allegedly are targeting only their party leaders and supporters during the raids conducted at various locations in the State.
The CEO, Karnataka, after receiving the complaint had directed the Karnataka Police Chief Neelamani Raju to take necessary action, the sources added.

Vijayawada, Apr 11 : Chaos prevailed in Andhra Pradesh over the non-functioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) in various polling stations across the state during the voting to 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha Constituencies on Thursday while a party candidate staged a dharna and protested over the delay in polling.

Party Candidates expressed their anger over the way the polling was being conducted. Information received from various districts said that polling delayed for few hours due to non-functioning EVMs.

In the Mangalagiri constituency, where Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s Minister Son N Lokesh is contesting, the YSRCP candidate and sitting MLA A Rama Krishna Reddy staged a dharna in protest against the technical snags in EVMs. He squatted at a polling station in protest against the ‘indifferent’ attitude of polling officials.

Talking to media, Reddy said that he suspects a sabotage on non-functioning of EVMs in his constituency. He said that after he staged a sit-in dharna, he was told that EVMs started working. Many EVMs in various polling stations were not working causing delay the beginning pof olling, he said.

Mr.Reddy said that an official told him that there is only one technician to look after over 600 EVMs.

TDP MLC Budda Venkanna staged a dharna at a polling station in Mallikharjuna pet here protesting the technical snags in EVMs. He said that he suspects sabotage in the technical snags in EVMs.

The TDP leaders alleged that hundreds of EVMs were not working leading to inordinate delay for the polling to commence. A TDP delegation led by Varla Ramaiah met CEO Gopal Krishna Dwivedi and demanded re-polling in 157 polling stations, where the polling began delayed by few hours due to technical problem in EVMs.

The TDP leaders alleged that 30 per cent of EVMs in the state break down. Jansena President K Pawan Kalyan told media that he had got information that over 200 EVMs are not working.

Meanwhile, hundreds of voters, who waited in long queues, unmindful of scorching heat, returned without casting vote due to delay in beginning of polling due to EVM glitches.

The voters at Gollapudi, Mylavarm, Ibrahimpatnam, G Konduru and Velagaluru expressed anger over the officials for not arranging tents and at least shade for standing in queues. It is impossible for the women and elderly people to stand in queues for more than half-an-hour in the unbearable scorching heat, YSRCP leaders told media.

Mr Dwivedi in a release here on Thursday said that out of total 45,920 EVMs, technical snags developed in only 372 EVMs. The technical snags were rectified and all the EVMs functioning well and polling is going on smoothly, he added.

Kohima, Apr 11 (UNI) The polling in Nagaland for the lone seat for Lok Sabha and the bye-election for the Aonglenden Assembly Constituency going on smoothly, while the polling percentage was calculated at 11.00 AM at 41pc for the Parliamentary seat.

According to election office sources, the voters were in the queue since polling started at 07.00 AM this morning and as per report reach at the office of the Chief Electoral Officer at Kohima, an approximate 41pc votes were cast throughout the state. There was no untoward incident was reported from any part of the state so far.

For the bye-elections in Aonglenden Assembly Constituency under Mokokchung district, approximately 42pc votes were cast till 11.00 AM and polling was peaceful as per last report reaching in Kohima, sources said.

Guwahati, Apr 11 : Twenty-five per cent voter turnout has been recorded so far in Assam, where polling is being held for five constituencies in the first phase of the three-phase election in the state.

Tezpur constituency has recorded the highest turnout in the first four hours of polling at 28pc, while Kaliabor and Lakhimpur have recorded 22pc each and Jorhat and Dibrugarh 21pc each.

Reports of malfunction of EVMs at places have been received, but polling was progressing peacefully in most places.

ECI officials here said the final figures of malfunctioning or replacement of EVMs will be compiled and made available after the close of voting.

Officials have rushed to polling stations from where problems in EVMs have been received.

Long queues were seen in front of most of the polling stations even before voting started at 0700 hours, with clear weather encouraging voter turnout. Voting will end at 1600 hours in the state.

Among those who have already cast their vote is CM Sarbananda Sonowal, former CM Tarun Gogoi

of Congress, sitting Kaliabor MP Gaurav Gogoi of Congress, sitting Lakhimpur MP Pradan Baruah of BJP, former union minister and Dibrugarh Congress candidate Paban Singh Ghatowar and state minister and Jorhat BJP candidate Topon Kumar Gogoi.

Altogether 41 candidates, including two women, are in the fray for Lakhimpur, Tezpur, Kaliabor, Jorhat and Dibrugarh seats, spread in the eastern and northern parts of the state.

Polling is being conducted at 9574 polling stations, which include 201 all-women polling stations and 225 model polling stations.

Altogether 180 companies of security forces have been deployed, and minimum one constable attached to every polling station.

As many as 42126 polling personnel have been engaged for first phase poll and 614 micro observers appointed.

Total of 151 flying squads is keeping vigil, along with 137 static surveillance teams and 118 video surveillance teams.

The total elector strength is 7603458, of which 3737970 are female and 154 are of the third gender.

The BJP had won four of the seats in 2014 General Elections, while one was bagged by Congress.

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Panaji, Apr 11 : Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday assured people of the state to provide corruption-free government and follow Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s principle of ‘Na khaunga, na khane dunga’.
Addressing an election rally at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium at Taleigao, near the city, the Chief Minister said,”I am committed to provide corruption-free government in the state.”
The Chief Minister, who addressed the rally titled ‘Vijay Sankal Sabha’, remember former Chief Minister Late Manohar Parrikar and called him his ideal.
”Today’s meeting cannot start without remembering former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who is my ideal and architect of modern Goa. There was need to fulfill dreams of Bhai,” he said and sought support of the people.
He said unemployment was an important issue in the state and he was of the opinion that every Goan should get employment opportunity be it in government sector or private sector.
Government would make all efforts during the next three years to ensure that youth of the state got employment opportunities, he said.
The Chief Minister said he was also aware that majority of the people in his constituency were dependent on minister and claimed that it was only Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government which could solve mining issue in a legal way.
‘BJP government at the Centre and in the state are committed to find a solution to mining issue in a legal way,” he said.

Agra, Apr 11: As many as eight people died when their car dashed against a truck on Agra-Lucknow Expressway in Fatehabad area on Thursday.

According to the Police sources here, the car was coming from Lucknow when it hit the truck on the highway.

Six people died on the spot while two succumbed to their injuries on way to the hospital, they said.

The deceased were yet to be identified, they added.