LS Polls: 31 Criminals recommended for exterminating from Mysuru-Kodagu LS constituency
As many as 31 Criminals had been recommended for extermination, as precautionary measure before polling to Mysuru-Kodagu Lok Sabha seat slated for April 18.
?These persons had been involved in various criminal cases in the district and the proposal for their extermination had been submitted to the Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G Shankar, who is also the District Election Officer and the Returning Officer,? according to a press release from the Superintendent of Police here on Thursday.
The Deputy Commissioner subsequently issued notices to these persons and summoned them to appear before him March 30.
Meanwhile Video Surveillance Teams (VSTs) had been deployed for monitoring poll-related activities and 33 of them were deployed in the Mysuru district, said Mr Shankar
The Department of Excise has also deployed its teams to crack down on illegal liquor activities.Thirteen teams conducting raids and seizing illicit liquor.
According to the election authorities, 20,185 litres of liquor had been seized during raids and the value of the seized liquor is Rs 1.07 crore so far. During excise raids, 28 vehicles, including three cars, 23 two wheelers and two three-wheelers, had been seized. The total value of the seized vehicles was Rs. 14.76 lakh. Around 68.04 litres of liquor was seized during raids conducted by police teams.
A note from the DEO said 203 FIRs had been lodged for the violation of Excise Laws and 17 FIRs had been lodged in connection with police cases. One FIR had been lodged with regard to election expenditure case.

Senior Congress leader from the Hyderabad-Karnataka region and former Karnataka Minister A B Malaka Reddy is expected to join the BJP by quitting Congress.
Opposition Leader in the Legislative Assembly B S Yeddyurappa, who is also BJP State President, told newsmen here on Thursday that Malaka Reddy, who represents Yadagir in Hyderabad-Karnataka area, met him and expressed his desire to join the party.
The decision of Malaka Reddy to cross over to BJP is significant as Yeddyurappa had faced a huge humiliation when he tried to lure the JD(S) MLA Naganagouda Kandakur, and the alleged conversation which took place between Yeddyurappa and Kandakur’s son was recorded and released to the media by the Chief minister H D Kumaraswamy
recently.
Congress leader Malaka Reddy got defeated by the JD(S) candidate Naganagouda Kandakur in the 2018 Assembly elections.
Replying to a question, Yeddyurappa denied media reports that the release of list of BJP candidates for the Lok Sabha elections was delayed due to serious differences
within the party, he said that “It is not correct. The Central leadership will release the list this afternoon and there is no discontent among the party leaders on the issue”.
According to party sources, the BJP will field its candidates for all the 28 Lok Sabha seats, including at Mandya, where the film star turned politician Sumalatha is contesting as independent candidate against JD(S) candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.

Agencies

Congress slams verdict of Samjhauta blasts case

Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Thursday slammed the verdict of the Samjhauta Express Bomb Blast case in which all the accused were acquitted.
In a post on social media, Sibal said, ”Samjhauta Express Bomb Blast- 68 killed, NIA charged 8 accused, Verdict : No one knows who killed the 68 victims. Must be a proud day for our criminal justice system !”
All four accused in the case, including Swami Aseemanand, were acquitted by the NIA court on Wednesday.

Agencies

[Nasheman news] Kasargode (Kerala) The Congress-led UDF in Kerala on Thursday denied the CPI-M’s charge of an “unholy nexus” between the Congress and the BJP and asserted that it was going to win all 20 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala told the media that CPI-M state Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan had made the statement after knowing the “stark reality” as to what would happen to the Left Front in the polls.

“They have now realised that it’s going to be pretty tough for them as it’s going to be 20 out of 20 for the UDF. Balakrishnan’s statement is nothing but taking anticipatory bail,” said Chennithala.

Kerala goes to the polls on April 23 to elect 20 Lok Sabha members. The Congress-led UDF won 12 seats in 2014 and the CPI-M-led LDF eight.

On Wednesday, Balakrishnan alleged that an “unholy alliance” between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had surfaced and that the BJP was contemplating putting up weak candidates in five Lok Sabha constituencies to favour the Congress.

“None who takes rice as the staple food in Kerala is going to buy this theory of the CPI-M. Across the country, it’s the Congress which is taking on the BJP/RSS combine and the CPI-M says we are hand in glove. It’s an absurd theory,” added Chennithala.

“The whole of India knows that the fight is between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi and the people here realise that every vote for the CPI-M in Kerala is going to help Modi.”

[Nasheman news]New Delhi Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Wednesday announced that she will not contest Lok Sabha elections so as to be able to campaign effectively across the country but also indicated that her decision did not mean she was ruling herself out of the post-poll Prime Ministerial sweepstakes.

The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, asking her party workers not to be disheartened, said that she had decided not to contest the Lok Sabha election as it will better serve the interests of the party, the movement, the people and the country.

Her BSP, Samjwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal are fighting the Lok Sabha polls together in Uttar Pradesh.

During a joint press conference with Mayawati earlier this year, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav had indicated his support to her for a role at the Centre, saying he will be “happy if another Prime Minister comes from the state.”

Analysts said that Mayawati’s decision could be guided by an assessment that the Bharatiya Janata Party will put a strong candidate against her in the seat she contests from so that she is forced to campaign hard there.

Though Mayawati explained reasons for her not contesting in a detailed press release Wednesday afternoon, there was an apprehension that the party rank and file, who want to see her as Prime Minister and play a role in the formation of next government, may get demoralised.

The BSP issued another release in the evening which asked party workers “not to feel even slight demoralisation” because of her decision not to fight the polls as “she was more concerned about the party, movement and the samaj”.

“Don’t get disheartened at all from my decision not to contest Lok Sabha elections for now,” she said.

Mayawati, who is a four-time Lok Sabha MP and four-time Chief Minister, said it is “well-known that she can fight from any seat in the state and the workers of BSP will ensure her victory”.

“But if the workers leave their constituencies out of affections despite my telling them not to, it can impact prospects of the candidates on other seats. The candidates of the alliance should not face any problem.

“It is more important to win every Lok Sabha seat in the state which will empower our mission of social change and economic liberty,” she said.

The party’s first letter hoped that that workers of the party will understand her “missonary decision” and work with full force for the victory of alliance candidates.

“I have full faith that they will as earlier respect the far-sightedness and sacrifice of their behneji (sister),” she said.

The second press release reminded workers that when she became Chief Minister in 1995 for the first time, she was not a member of legislative assembly or council.

“Similarly, there is provision at the Centre where a person has to a member of Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha within six months of holding office of a minister/prime minister,” the release emphasised.

BSP spokesperson Sudhindra Bhadoria told IANS that Mayawati was party’s main campaigner and has to campaign not only in Uttar Pradesh but outside the state also where BSP has put up candidates and where party has alliances.

“If she contests, time will go into that. Time is very limited,” he said.

He also said that party workers were “not at all” demoralised by Mayawati’s decision.

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Tuesday asked political parties and religious leaders to refrain from using places of worship for propaganda during the Lok Sabha polls and also not indulge in activities that may cause tensions between different castes and communities.

The poll body’s directions come days after the BJP requested it to appoint special observers at mosques to prevent attempts to “polarise voters on religious lines” during the elections. “As per the Model Code of Conduct, the use of caste and religion during the election campaign is strictly prohibited,” a statement issued by Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer said.

It said no political and religious leader or any other person is “allowed to indulge in any activity that aggravates existing differences or cause tension between different caste or communities, religious or linguistic”. The Election Commission had on March 11 warned parties in Kerala against using the Sabarimala temple matter in their campaigns, saying “citing or invoking” religious propaganda on the issue is a clear violation of the model code of conduct.

In January 2017, the Supreme Court had outlawed seeking votes in the name of religion, caste, race, community or language. The Lok Sabha elections will begin on April 11 and continue till May 19 across seven phases. The Model Code of Conduct is in place since March 10 when the Election Commission announced the Lok Sabha poll schedule.

PTI