[Nasheman news] New Delhi Opposition parties, including the Congress, on Sunday welcomed announcement of Lok Sabha election schedule and said the poll outcome will see the Narendra Modi government out of power.

However, the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal expressed its dissatisfaction over the Election Commission announcing a seven-phase poll for the state, saying the staggered elections would put pressure on the people.

Congress leader K.C. Venugopal said the Congress and the Opposition were united and confident and would defeat the Narendra Modi-led NDA. 

“This government hasn’t delivered on any of its poll promises, including Rs 15 lakh in each bank account, jobs to two crore youths every year, security to women, increasing income of farmers,” he said. 

The government is desperately trying to cover up its failures “through fake propaganda, event management and diversionary tactics”, the Congress leader said.

“Time for change is here. This government has divided the people of the country through the divisive policies and communal strategies. The Congress will expose its failures and put forward ideas for a new India,” he said. 

“We are confident that this democratic process will dethrone this anti-democratic and dictatorial Modi government from the power”.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said people of Delhi will vote for giving full statehood to Delhi and not for choosing a Prime Minister and will elect the Aam Aadmi Party candidates on all the seven seats. 

He also said time had come to throw out “the most dictatorial government.” 
“Ultimately back to we the people — the real power of our democracy. Time to throw out the most dictatorial and anti-federal govt in the history of India. Time to seek answers on demonetisation, jobs, destruction of traders and brotherhood among different communities,” he said in a tweet. 

BSP leader Mayawati welcomed the poll schedule and said people will vote to throw the Modi governent out. 

“Crores of poor, labourers, farmers, women, youth, etc, participate in great strength in polling. Respecting them, free, fair and peaceful polling is utmost necessary. 

“The anti-poor and pro-capitalist Modi government’s functioning disturbed peace and tranquillity, causing unrest and anger among the masses. India’s 130 crore peace-loving people certainly deserve a better government. The new government must honour the Constitution, respect democratic values and care for sarvasamaj,” she said in tweets. 

Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav said it was not merely a poll announcement but a declaration of the big change that is going to come about in the country soon. 

CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the model code of conduct had come into force with announcement of general elections and it would end the “unfair use of government resources by the Modi government”. 

Yechury said secular, democratic India is confident that the Election Commission (EC) will conduct free, fair and safe elections to ensure a smooth transition to the next government. 

In a series of tweets, he also said there were serious concerns over funding enabled by “opaque electoral bonds” brought in by this government and excessive spending by the ruling party and it is important that this is closely monitored and the integrity of the electoral process is maintained. 

“In Bengal, large-scale violence and intimidation in past few elections has been disturbing. The EC must pay special attention to ensure that the destruction of democracy, as it happened in local elections, is not repeated. Sanctity of each voter’s franchise is what preserves our Republic,” he said. 

On Jammu and Kashmir, Yechury said it is perplexing how the security situation in the state was good enough to conduct Lok Sabha elections, but not for assembly elections, which are also due. “Is there a diabolical motive?” he wondered.

In Kolkata, senior Trinamool leader and state minister Firhad Hakim also questioned the holding of polls during Ramadan, when Muslims fast during the day. Ramadan will fall in May-June this year. 

“Whether the elections are held for five phases, or seven, or 14, that doesn’t matter, because our leader Mamata Banerjee has a place in the people’s hearts,”: he said.

[Nasheman news] Lucknow  Elections for the high-profile Amethi and Rae Bareli parliamentary constituencies in UP, represented by Congress President Rahul Gandhi and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, respectively, will be held in the fifth phase of polling on May 6, the Election Commission said on Sunday.

Varanasi, represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in The Lok Sabha, will vote last on May 19.

Voting in UP will be held in the seven phases on April 11, 18, 23, 29 and May 6, 12 and 19. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.

Along with Amethi and Rae Bareli, voting in Dhaurahra, Sitapur, Mohanlalganj, Lucknow, Banda, Fatehpur, Kaushambi, Barabanki, Faizabad, Bahraich, Kaiserganj and Gonda will take place on May 6. In the 16th Lok Sabha, Lucknow was represented by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. 

In the first phase on April 11, voting will be held in Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar – all located in western Uttar Pradesh.

In the second phase on April 18, polling will take place in Nageena, Amroha, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Hathras, Mathura, Agra and Fatehpur Sikri. 

It is rumoured that Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati may contest from Nageena. Mathura at present is represented by veteran Bollywood actress-turned-politician Hema Malini.

In the third phase on April 23, voting will take place in Moradabad, Rampur, Sambhal, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etah, Budaun, Aonla, Bareilly and Pilibhit. In this belt the Samajwadi Party (SP) has been traditionally strong, but was routed in the last general elections in 2014. 

Mulayam Singh Yadav is set to contest from Mainpuri this time. Union minister Maneka Gandhi won from Pilibhit in 2014.

In the fourth phase on April 29, polling will be held at Shahjahanpur, Kheri, Hardoi, Mishrikh, Unnao, Farrukhabad, Etawah, Kannauj, Kanpur, Akbarpur, Jalaun, Jhansi and Hamirpur. 

Union minister Uma Bharati, who has announced that she will not contest this time, represented Jhansi in the 16th Lok Sabha.

Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Phoolpur, Allahabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Shrawasti, Dumariyaganj, Basti, Sant Kabeernagar, Lalganj, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Bhadohi and Machlishahr will go to the polls in the sixth phase on May 12. 

The seventh and final phase of polling on May 19 will see voting in Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Baangaon, Ghosi, Salempur, Ballia, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Mirzapur, Robertsganj and Varanasi.

[Nasheman news]New Delhi A Sunday joyride became fatal for a family when three of its members, including two minor girls, were charred to death after their car caught fire in east Delhi.

The tragedy occurred at 6.30 p.m. when Upender, who works as a driver, wife Anjana and three minor daughters — one-and-half-year-old Nikki, Riddhi, 5, and Siddhi, 3, — were returning home in Ghaziabad’s Loni after a visit to the Kalkaji temple.

“Their Datsun Go car, which was fitted with a CNG kit, burst into flames near the Akshardham flyover. Upender, who was driving the car, saved Siddhi by jumping out, but could not pull out Anjana, Nikki and Riddhi,” DCP Jasmeet Singh told IANS.

A fire tender reached the spot and doused the fire, but by then all three had been burnt to death, he added.

“Upender and Siddhi did not suffer any burns. Prima facie CNG leakage appears to have caused the fire,” he said.

[Nasheman news] New Delhi  The Election Commission (EC) has formed a committee comprising three “eminent” members to assess the situation on the ground in Jammu and Kashmir before it takes a decision about holding the Assembly elections in the troubled state, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora said on Sunday.

The three members of the committee who will function as the Special Observers are retired IAS officers Noor Mohammed (1977 batch) and Vinod Zutshi (1982 batch) besides A.S. Gill, a retired IPS officer of 1972 batch.

Noor Mohammad has been working in the area of election management for more than a decade and has been international expert and consultant to Afghanistan for many years. He is currently working as senior consultant in the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM). 

Zutshi, who has served as Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Rajasthan and Deputy Election Commissioner for many years, has long experience in the field of election management and has been contributing to the Commission as national and international trainer.

Gill, a decorated officer, has served as the Inspector General and later as Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Jammu and Kashmir. He is working in the field of security management. 

There were speculations that Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, which is under the President’s Rule, could be held along with the Lok Sabha polls. But the EC has decided against it as of now.

The state Assembly was suddenly dissolved in November last year by Governor Satya Pal Malik after keeping it in suspended animation for over five months.

About holding simultaneous elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Arora said: “The Commission has been continuously assessing the prevailing situation in the state, requirement of central forces and other logistics for elections, requirement of the security for the candidates and preparedness of the state for the election on key factors.” 

He said the poll panel had conducted several rounds of review meetings with Union Home Ministry and the state administration. The Union Home Secretary had sent detailed and specific inputs to the Commission regarding holding elections in the state. 

“Based on the specific inputs and recommendation from the state government and Union Home Secretary, inputs from the political parties and other stakeholders, constraints of availability of central forces and other logistics, requirement of security forces for security of candidates in wake of incidents of violence in recent past and keeping other challenges in mind, the Commission has decided to announce only schedule of the parliament elections in the Jammu and Kashmir,” Arora said.

He said the Commission will be “regularly and on real time basis” monitoring the situation in the state and the decision of holding Assembly elections “will be taken soon”.

[Nasheman news] Amaravati With the Election Commission announcing the Lok Sabha poll schedule on Sunday, election authorities in Andhra Pradesh said they were ready to conduct simultaneous elections to the state Assembly and the Lok Sabha on April 11.

All 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state will witness single-phase polling.

With enmasse applications for deletion of voters triggering a huge row, the poll officials have asked people to check their names in the voter list.

Chief Electoral Officer Gopal Krishna Dwivedi told a news conference that new voters and those whose names were missing can apply for enrollment by March 15 and that the final electoral rolls will be published on March 25.

As on February 26, the state had 3.71 crore voters including 87 lakh women. Over 2.64 lakh applications for enrollment were pending.

Dwivedi said 9,27,542 applications in Form-7 (for deletion of voters) were received and out of them 5,25,957 applications were rejected. Another 1,58,124 applications were under consideration.

He said 446 cases were registered against those who submitted false applications for deletion of voters.

The CEO said 20 lakh voter cards were currently being printed while there were plans to print another 13 lakh cards.

As per the poll schedule, the notification will be issued on March 18. The last date for filing nominatiosn is March 25 while nominations can be withdrawn till March 28.

[Nasheman news] Srinagar Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, who was summoned by the NIA to appear before it on Monday, has decided not to and submit a written statement instead.

“The Hurriyat Conference has decided that the Mirwaiz will not appear in person at New Delhi before the NIA. Instead, a written statement would be submitted to the agency,” a spokesman said.

The National Investigation Agency had summoned Umer Farooq to appear before it at their New Delhi office at 10.30 a.m. on Monday in connection with the 2017 terror funding case.

The agency has also summoned Naseem Geelani, son of senior separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani.

[Nasheman news] New Delhi Voting for Madhya Pradesh’s 29 parliamentary constituencies will take place in four phases between April 29 to May 19, the Election Commission announced on Sunday.

The first phase of voting will take place in Sidhi, Shahdol, Jabalpur, Mandla, Balaghat and Chhindwara on April 29 – the fourth of the seven-phase polls – while voting would be held in Tikamgarh, Damoh, Khajuraho, Satana, Rewa, Hoshangabad and Betul on May 6 – the fifth phase.

Morena, Bhind, Gwalior, Guna, Sagar, Vidisha, Bhopal and Rajgarh will vote on May 12 in the penultimate phase of the polls and the last phase of voting in the state – and the 2019 polls – would take place on May 19 in Dewas, Ujjain, Mandsour, Ratlam, Dhar, Indore, Khargone and Khandwa.

Counting will be held on May 23.

The BJP, which was in power in Madhya Pradesh since 2003 till the 2018 Assembly polls, had won 27 of the 29 seats in the state in 2014.

In the 2018 Assembly polls, the Congress won 114 seats while the BJP finished at 109 seats, seven short of a majority. The two parties were locked in a nail-biting contest.

Voting in the by-poll to Chhindwara Assembly constituency would also be held on April 29.

[Nasheman news] New Delhi Over 1.5 crore electors in 18-19 year age group will be eligible to vote for the first time in the seven-phased Lok Sabha election beginning April 11 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling upon them to vote in record numbers.

These voters in the age group of 18-19 years constitute 1.66 per cent of the of the total electorate. All citizens who turned 18 on January 1 this year and registered as electors will get opportunity to cast their vote in upcoming Lok Sabha and assembly elections.

“The total electorate in the country as per finally published e-rolls in January 2019 is approximately 900 million compared to 814.5 million in 2014. This marks an increase of more than 84 million electors. Over 15 million electors are in 18-19 years age group. Electors in the age group of 18 to 19 years constitute 1.66 per cent of total electors,” the Election Commission said on Sunday. 

The Election Commission has allowed enrollment of transgender persons with gender written as “Others” in the electoral rolls since 2012. The number of electors enrolled as “others” gender is 38,325.

The poll panel said that parliament has amended the Representation of the People Act, 1950, allowing enrollment of Indian citizens living overseas as electors. 

The number of overseas electors enrolled in the current electoral rolls is 71,735. “There are 1,677,386 service electors in the electoral rolls,” it said. 

The Lok Sabha elections will be held in 1,035,918 polling stations across the country compared to 928,000 set up during the last Lok Sabha election in 2014. 

Modi, in a tweet after the declaration of poll schedule, hoped for a record turnout. 

“The festival of democracy, Elections are here. I urge my fellow Indians to enrich the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with their active participation. I hope this election witnesses a historic turnout. I particularly call upon first time voters to vote in record numbers,” he said. 

[Nasheman news] New Delhi  Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale on Monday began his three-day visit to the US to carry out bilateral consultation and strategic security dialogues with American President Donald Trump’s administration.

The Foreign Secretary will meet US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other US Congress leaders in Washington D.C..

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said: “Gokhale will be consulting with his US counterparts Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale and Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Andrea Thompson, respectively, during the bilateral Foreign Office Consultation and Strategic Security Dialogue.”

Kumar said that these were regular high-level dialogue mechanisms to review bilateral relations, exchange views on major foreign policy and security-related developments and coordinates respective positions on issues of common interest.