Internet services remained suspended for the fifth consecutive day while banking services and businesses have been badly hit.

ALIGARH: A red alert was sounded and the city put under a heavy security cover in view of the first Friday prayers since the police crackdown on the students of Aligarh Muslim University protesting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act earlier this week.

A senior official said that District Magistrate Chandra Bhushan Singh has issued a red alert, and 10 companies of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and four companies of Rapid Action Force (RAF) have been deployed as a precautionary measure.

The heavy security measures are in view of the Friday prayers, officials said.

Internet services remained suspended for the fifth consecutive day while banking services and businesses have been badly hit.

The city has been witnessing continued demonstrations for the past few days, with the situation turning violent on Sunday when hundreds of AMU students protesting the amended Citizenship Act clashed with the police at a campus gate, leaving 60 injured.

Teachers from AMU took out a protest march on Thursday while shopkeepers in some areas of the city briefly downed shutters in support.

Over 62.4 per cent voter turnout was recorded at 15 Assembly constituencies covering four districts that went to polls in the fourth phase of elections in Jharkhand on December 16.

RANCHI: An estimated 12.01 per cent of over 40 lakh voters exercised their franchise till 9 am on Friday in the fifth and final phase of Jharkhand Assembly elections, Election Commission (EC) officials said.

The voting process, which began at 7 am, is underway in 16 assembly constituencies spread across six districts in the Santhal Pargana region of the state.

Women and men were seen waiting in queues outside the polling booths to exercise their franchise, braving the December cold.

Polling will end at 3 pm in five constituencies of Borio (ST), Barhait (ST), Litipara (ST), Maheshpur (ST) and Shikaripara (ST).

The other seats where polling is being held in this final phase are Rajmahal, Pakur, Nalla, Jamtara, Dumka (ST), Jama (ST), Jarmundi, Sarath, Poreyahat, Godda and Mahagama.

Voters in these 11 assembly segments can exercise their franchise till 5 pm.

In all, 40,05,287 electorate, including 19,55,336 women and 30 third gender voters, are eligible to cast their vote, Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer Vinay Kumar Choubey said.

Adequate security forces have been deployed, he said.

Of 5,389 polling stations, 396 in Naxal-affected areas have been marked as “critical” while 208 have been declared “sensitive”.

In all, 1,321 polling stations in non-left wing extremism affected areas have been marked as “critical” while 1,765 declared “sensitive”.

The Election Commission has set up 8,987 ballot units, 6,738 control units and 7,006 VVPAT machines.

Altogether, 249 polling stations have been marked as model booths.

As many as 133 polling stations have women staff while 1,347 have webcasting facilities, Choubey said.

BJP candidate and Jharkhand Agriculture Minister Randhir Singh is seeking re-election from Sarath.

State Women and Child Development Minister Louis Marandi is contesting against JMM’s working president and former chief minister Hemant Soren from Dumka.

Louis Marandi had defeated Soren in the 2014 assembly elections.

Like the previous assembly polls when he contested from two seats, Soren is in the fray from Barhait as well.

Soren’s sister-in-law Sita Soren is seeking re-election from Jama.

The BJP, which is contesting on all 16 seats in this final phase, has fielded sitting MLAs Ashok Kumar Bhagat, Anant Ojha and Amit Mandal from Mahagama, Rajmahal and Godda assembly constituencies, respectively.

Former deputy chief minister and sitting JMM MLA Stephen Marandi is seeking re-election from Maheshpur.

The state president of the Janata Dal (United) and former MP, Salkhan Murmu, is contesting from Sikaripara.

The JMM-Congress-RJD alliance has fielded candidates from all 16 constituencies.

While the JMM has fielded nominees in 11 constituencies, the Congress and the RJD are contesting from four and one segments, respectively.

The Babulal Marandi-headed Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) has also fielded candidates in this round.

Candidates of the Bahujan Samaj Party, Lok Jan Shakti Party, AJSU Party and the Left are also in the fray.

Of the 81 assembly seats, elections had concluded in 65 constituencies in the previous four phases between November 30 and December 16.

Votes will be counted on December 23.

Condemning the raids on its offices in Guwahati and the arrest of its State President Aminul Haque, Popular Front of India (PFI) has slammed the central government, accusing them of trying to silence organizations like them.

PFI Assam President Aminul Haque was arrested Tuesday in connection with the arson and the violence that took place outside the Janata Bhawan in Guwahati. There are allegations on Haque for instigating the mob to set public property on fire. This incident took place on December 12, the day when the Parliament passed the Citizenship (Amendment), Bill.

Earlier in the day, the Finance Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma accused PFI, Campus Front of India (CFI) and Assam Pradesh Youth Congress (APYC) of being involved in the attack.

In an official statement released by the organisation, PFI’s National Secretary Abdul Wahid Sait termed the allegation against them as baseless and ill-motivated.

“These repressive actions of the police are totally biased as the fact is that no Popular Front leader or member had indulged in any violent activity. The police actions started after the statement of a state minister that alleged Popular Front among those who are behind a particular incident without showing any evidence. The Central Secretariat of Popular Front has termed the allegation baseless and ill-motivated,” the statement read.

Demanding the immediate release of Haque, PFI accused the BJP-led government of turning the agitation against the Citizenship Act as anti-Muslim, by targeting the organisation.

“The BJP agenda behind isolating and targetting Popular Front is to turn the ongoing ethnic agitation of Assamese people as anti-Muslim, in an attempt to ultimately break and defeat the present agitation,” it said.

According to the Citizenship Act, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, and facing religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship. The Act intentionally leaves out Muslims.

The BJP-led government has said the new law will be followed by a National Register of Citizens (NRC) that means Muslims must prove they were original residents of India and not refugees from these three countries. Non-Muslims listed in the law, by contrast, have a clear path to citizenship.

The BJD president and Odisha CM also appealed to the people of his state to maintain peace and not fall for rumours.

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday said the ruling BJD does not support NRC but backed the amended citizenship law, noting that it applies only to foreigners.

He also appealed to the people of Odisha to maintain peace and not fall for rumours.

“The amended Citizenship Act has nothing to do with Indians. It deals only with foreigners. The BJD MPs both in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha have made it clear that we do not support the NRC,” Patnaik told reporters before leaving for the national capital.

The chief minister’s statement came a day after people protesting the Act took out a peaceful rally in the state capital and urged Patnaik to make the BJD government’s stance clear on the amended citizenship law and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday hit the streets for the third consecutive day against the amended citizenship law and NRC.

TMC supremo Banerjee, along with her party colleagues, began a protest march from Howrah Maidan which will culminate at Dorina Crossing at Esplanade in the heart of Kolkata.

“We will never allow NRC and the amended Citizenship Act in Bengal. No one will be asked to leave the state. We believe in the coexistence of all religions, castes and creed. All of us are citizens of this country, no one can take that away from us,” she said before commencing the march.

Responding to the allegation that the TDP leaders resorted to illegal means in purchase of lands in Amaravati, he sought to know why don’t the government take action if the claims were true.

VIJAYAWADA: On a day when Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy hinted at three capitals  for the State citing decentralisation of development, Opposition leader and TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu said decentralisation was nothing but promoting industries by giving incentives and developing all parts of the State and generating employment.  Naidu, who held an emergency meeting soon after Jagan’s announcement on Tuesday, said, “There is no second capital for the country. In fact, our government had taken a decision to set up a High Court bench in Kurnool.’’

“Let us see what he (Jagan) is going to do tomorrow. Some say that they are preparing sketches and purchased lands in Visakhapatnam,’’ he said.“Such unilateral decisions and wrong steps will lead to several problems and cause damage to the State besides stalling development and decreasing revenue. I can’t understand whether their anger is against the region or Amaravati or against me. Even today the discussion in Hyderabad is that the acts of Jagan is benefiting Hyderabad and Bangalore so as to increase the value of his assets located in those cities by damaging the interests of AP,’’ Naidu alleged.  Responding to the allegation that the TDP leaders resorted to illegal means in purchase of lands in Amaravati, he sought to know why don’t the government take action if the claims were true.

“What is the use of taking away the employees from here to Visakhapatnam after cancelling the Adani Data Centre, Lulu Convention Centre and without taking forward the Airport works? The employees should be brought here for attending Assembly session, which needs expenditure. Where are we heading?

 “After bifurcation, we all came from Hyderabad to Amaravati and now will have to go from Amaravati to Vizag. For announcing the decision, they have suspended us from the House. How can the CM make an announcement in the House after saying that decision will be taken only after getting the report from the expert committee. He called us buffoons and now he proved himself a big buffoon,” Naidu alleged.