Claiming that PM Modi is “afraid” of having a debate with him on corruption, defence matters, GST, the country’s economy and demonetisation, Rahul Gandhi alleged the country’s GDP fell by two per cent within one year of note ban.

CHANDIGARH:  Rahul Gandhi accused the PM of “failing” to keep his 2014 pre-poll promises.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi today claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “flummoxed as the BJP is heading for defeat” and dared him for a debate on corruption, saying after that he will “not be able to face the public.”

He also accused the prime minister of “failing” to keep his 2014 pre-poll promises, including providing jobs to 2 crore youth, remunerative prices for farmers’ produce and Rs. 15 lakh into the bank accounts of every citizen.

“Modi is flummoxed as he can gauge that BJP is heading for a defeat in the polls. He is tense and is speaking improperly,” Mr Gandhi said at a poll rally, his first in Chandigarh after the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections.

As a dust storm hit the area where Mr Gandhi was holding the rally in favour of party nominee Pawan Kumar Bansal, the Congress president told the gathering, “This is the dress rehearsal for May 23 (the day poll results will be declared) as another storm will come that day wiping out the BJP.”

Mr Bansal has been pitted against sitting BJP MP Kirron Kher in the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat where polling will be held on May 19.

“He (Modi) says a lot of things about me, my father and my family in general. But I don’t mind. In fact, I would say Narendra Modiji, the more you hate me, the more I will love you, because I belong to Mother India and it’s only love that is in my heart,” he said.

He said PM Modi had told people ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls that he would fight corruption and dared him for a debate on the issue as he launched a counter-offensive on the prime minister who has been raking up alleged graft during the previous Congress regime.

“I am prepared for a debate. Call me anywhere… let me speak for 15 minutes. I guarantee that after the debate, Modi will not be able to face the public,” Gandhi said.

Claiming that PM Modi is “afraid” of having a debate with him on corruption, defence matters, GST, the country’s economy and demonetisation, he alleged the country’s GDP fell by two per cent within one year of note ban.

“Lots of youth became unemployed after demonetisation… 87,000 youth lost their jobs,” Mr Gandhi said.

The party president claimed that the “Nyay” scheme, which aims to provide Rs. 72,000 to the poor annually, will “jump start the derailed economy” of the country, bring back the purchasing power among the poor leading to functioning of defunct factories and subsequently job creation.

“The most hit section of society during Modi’s rule is the youth. Chinese government provides 50,000 jobs every 24 hours while in India, 27,000 youth lose their jobs every day,” he claimed.

Nilanjan Roy has been charged under the POCSO Act. The state BJP Vice-President Jayprakash Majumdar blamed the Trinamool Congress for a “false case.”

KOLKATA:  The incident took place on the 26th of April and a complaint was filed against Nilanjan Roy the next day

The BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate for Diamond Harbour has been charged for allegedly sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl last month when she and her father had gone to lodge a complaint with him.

Nilanjan Roy has been charged under the POCSO Act.

The incident took place on the 26th of April and a complaint was filed the next day.

According to the state child rights body, “A complaint was lodged at the Falta police station. Medical examination of the girl was done and her statement recorded, but the police did not arrest Roy,” says Ananya Chatterjee Chakrobarti, the chairperson of West Bengal State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

They came to know of the incident on Friday and wrote to the Election Commission to immediately arrest Mr Roy. Ms Chakrobarti and her colleagues also visited the girl at her house.

The state BJP Vice-President Jayprakash Majumdar blamed the Trinamool Congress for a “false case.” He told NDTV, “It is a conspiracy to defame the candidate ahead of the elections. It was a false case filed in a police station where he was not present during the time of the incident. On primary investigation, police did not find a prima-facie case so they did not proceed. Now the TMC is using the Child Rights Commission, who has sent a letter to the EC to arrest him, which is beyond their jurisdiction.”

Though the Election Commission is yet to take a decision in this case, the Superintendent of Police of Diamond Harbour Srihari Pandey told NDTV, “The matter is part of ongoing investigation. We have heard from WBPCR, we shall comply with the investigating steps they have asked us to.

Nilanjan Roy has been fielded against Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee from the seat. Diamond Harbour goes to polls on May 19.

Chennai/Madurai, Apr 18 : Technical glitches in Electronic Voting
Machines (EVMs) in some of the polling booths in Tamil Nadu delayed
the voting process, as polling for 38 Lok Sabha seats and 18 Assembly
seats began on Thursday morning.

Polling with began at 0700 hrs has been progressing peacefully, police
said.

People were forced to stand in queue for additional time in several
booths as minor glitches were reported in EVMs leading to a delay
in polling process.

Reports of glitches in EVMs were received from Tiruchirapalli, Dindigul,
Kanyakumari, Nagapattina, Mayiladuthurai, Theni and Tirunelveli Lok Sabha
constituencies, besides in some booths in Chennai and other districts.

Reports said malfunctioning of EVMs were reported in Kamanaickenpalayam
and Kaduvetti in Tiruchirapalli, Padmanabhapuram in Kanyakumari,
Ottanchathram in Dindigul and Avaraikulam in Tirunelveli.

PMK candidate for Dindigul Lok Sabha, K.Jothimuthu returned from a booth
at KR Government Higher Secondary School in Ottanchathiram, while DMK
party’s Tirunelveli Lok Sabha candidate S.Gnanathiraviyam also returned
without casting his vote owing to glitches in EVMs in the polling booth
at Avaraikulam.

Election officials said engineers were sorting out the technical problem
and voting will commence very soon.

Meanwhile, polling has been stopped in seven booths in Madurai North
Assembly segment after the voters complained that stickers were found
on the EVMs with suspicious signature mentioning the letters AIADMK.

Election officials rushed to the booths and are verifying the complaints.

New Delhi, Apr 18 : Voting began at 0700 hrs on Thursday as polling kicked off for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections in 95 constituencies spread over 11 states and one Union Territory.

Polling is being held in 38 constituencies in Tamil Nadu, 14 in Karnataka, 10 in Maharashtra, 8 in Uttar Pradesh, five each in Assam, Bihar and Odisha, three each in Chhattisgarh and Bengal, two in Jammu and Kashmir and one each in Manipur and Puducherry. Elaborate security is in place to ensure peaceful and smooth conduct of Lok Sabha polls.

As per the original schedule, 97 seats were to go to polls in the second phase but the election to Vellore in Tamil Nadu was cancelled over allegations of excessive use of money power while polling in Tripura (East) has been deferred for the third phase over law and order situation there.

Out of 95 Lok Sabha seats going to polls in this phase, AIADMK had won 36 and BJP 26 seats in the 2014 general elections.

High voltage and hectic canvassing witnessed the star campaigners, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah and Congress President Rahul Gandhi, addressing rallies in poll-bound states and taking potshots at each other.

About 1,600 candidates are in the fray and nearly 15 crore electors are expected to decide their fate.

Prominent candidates in the second phase include former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and Union Ministers Sadanand Gowda and Jitendra Singh. Film star-turned politician Hema Malini, erstwhile Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran, DMK leader Kanimozhi, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, ex-Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, former Law Minister Veerappa Moily, UP Congress chief Raj Babbar, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah, BSP leader Danish Ali and CPI(M) stalwart Mohammed Salim are also in the fray.

In Tamil Nadu, key seats in the second phase include Kanniyakumari, Sivaganga, Chennai Central and Thoothukkudi along with simultaneous byelections to 18 Assembly constituencies. In Odisha, the focus will be on Kandhamal seat and in Chhattisgarh all eyes will be riveted on Rajnandgaon constituency. The hot seats in Bihar include Katihar and Bhagalpur.