Puducherry, May 6 : Chief Minister V Narayanasamy on Monday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remarks on former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in an election meeting few days ago.

Talking to news persons here, Mr Narayanasamy said Mr Modi had termed Rajiv Gandhi as “corrupt” and added that when charges were leveled against him in the Bofors issue, Rajiv Gandhi ordered for an inquiry by a Parliamentary Committee.

The Committee conducted an inquiry and termed him as innocent. Even then, a petition was filed in the Court against him and his innocence was proven in the court too.

However, Mr Modi hiding all these facts termed Rajiv Gandhi as ‘corrupt’ in the election meeting to malign his name which need to be condemned and the people of the country will not accept it .

He said as per the Indian culture we will not criticize a leader who is no more. But lowering himself and forgetting that he is the Prime Minister, Mr Modi leveled a baseless allegation against Rajiv Gandhi with which he himself paved the way for the people of the country to ask whether he is fit to continue as the Prime minster.

The Chief Minister said all political party leaders had condemned this remarks of Modi against Rajiv and added that as Mr Modi is gripped by fear of defeat he is speaking as he wish and levelling ‘false’ allegations against political party leaders in election meetings.

This is the end of the road for Mr Modi, he said, adding that the BJP and its alliance partners will face a massive defeat in the Lok Sabha Election.

Scorpene class submarine Vela, equipped with modern machinery and technology to guard the seas, was launched on Monday in Mumbai, an official said.
 
It will undergo a number of tests by the Indian Navy before it getscommissioned in the defence fleet, the official added.
 
It is the fourth submarine to be launched by the state-owned Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) after entering into a contract for the construction and transfer of technology for six Scorpene class submarines with French collaborator Ms Naval Group (formerly known as DCNS).

“Today, we are bringing the new Vela with modern machinery and technology to guard the seas,” an official from MDL said.

INS Vela was first commissioned on August 31, 1973 in the Indian Naval service and continued to serve for 37 years. It was the oldest submarine of the country when it was decommissioned on June 25, 2010, MDL said in a statement.

The fifth Scorpene class submarine will also be launched soon, he said.

MDL recently reported an annual turnover of Rs 4,500 crore, the official added.

It is the fourth submarine to be launched by the state-owned Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders

Voters display their voter identity cards while stand in a queue to cast their votes for the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections 2019 at a polling station in Hajipur on Monday.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni casts his vote at a polling booth in Jawahar Vidya Mandir in Ranchi, Jharkhand.

Total voter turnout till 2pm: 40.75%

Bihar – 32.27%

Jammu and Kashmir – 11.35%

Madhya Pradesh – 43.85%

Rajasthan – 42.77%

Uttar Pradesh – 35.15%

West Bengal – 50.78%

Jharkhand – 45.98%

Narsinghpur, Madhya Pradesh: Actor Ashutosh Rana after casting his vote at polling booth number 105 in Gadarwara.

Smriti Irani: I tweeted an alert to administration and EC(alleging booth capturing in Amethi), hope they take action. People of the country have to decide whether this kind of politics of Rahul Gandhi should be punished or not.

Polls in Uttar Pradesh

Nearly 23 per cent turnout was recorded Monday in the first four hours of polling in 14 Lok Sabha seats of UP where Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Smriti Irani, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi are in the fray.

Among early voters in the state capital included Home Minister Singh, BSP supremo Mayawati, Deputy CM Dinesh Sharma, BSP General Secretary Satish Chandra Mishra, DGP OP Singh and Principal Secretary (Home) Arvind Kumar.

Election officials here said polling was going on smoothly, barring some complaints of EVM malfunctioning, which were attended to immediately.

Union minister and the BJP’s Amethi candidate Smriti Irani alleged that Congress president Rahul Gandhi was “ensuring booth capturing” in the constituency.

Polling in Madhya Pradesh

An average 29.76 per cent polling was recorded till noon in seven Lok Sabha seats of Madhya Pradesh on Monday, an election official said.

Polling was underway since 7 am in the seven constituencies – Tikamgarh, Damoh, Khajuraho, Satna, Rewa, Hoshangabad and Betul.

Long queues of voters were seen at some polling booths, the official said.

Voting figures till noon were as follows: Tikamgarh 28.81 per cent, Damoh- 28.23 per cent, Khajuraho- 29.73 per cent, Satna- 28.25 per cent, Rewa- 28.13 per cent, Hoshangabad- 31.14 per cent and Betul- 33.14 per cent.

All these seats are currently held by the BJP.

Hyderabad, May 3 : To meet the drinking water requirements of people of Mahabubnagar District the Karnataka Government, on the request of Telangana government, has decided to release two and half TMC water from Narayanpur reservoir to Jurala project.

In view of the water levels steeply coming down in the reservoirs of Mahabubnagar District, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao requested his Karnataka counterpart H D Kumaraswamy for release of water, an official release said here on friday.
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Mr Kumaraswamy after discussing with the officials decided to release water to Mahabubnagar District.

Mr Kumaraswamy personally telephoned to the Chief Minister and informed about the release of water , the release said.

Mr Rao described the move as ‘happy’ and ‘good news’ to the people of Mahabubnagar.

On behalf of people of Mahabubnagar District, the Chief Minister thanked Mr Kumaraswamy for releasing the water.

Both the CMs have expressed their desire that the cordial and friendly relationship between the two states should continue forever.

Water supply to Jurala project will commence from this evening, the release added.

Lucknow, May 3 : Crucial caste factor will play an important role in the 41 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh which will be covered in the next three phases of polls.

BJP vs SP-BSP alliance would be intense in this phase though in certain places, Congress could play a vital role in dampening the spirits of both the BJP and the opposition alliance.

Next three phases will witness elections in VIP constituencies like Amethi, Rae Bareli, Varanasi and Azamgarh from where Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Narendra Modi and Akhilesh Yadav are in fray.

There are other VIP constituencies like Gorakhpur where prestige of Chief Minister is at stake or Kushinagar from where RPN Singh of Congress is contesting. Even the state president of BJP Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey is seeking a re-election from Chandauli and Faizabad, the epicenter of Hindutava campaign, in the last three phases. 

All eyes will also be on Menaka Gandhi who is contesting from Sultanpur after swapping seats with her son Varun, who is BJP candidate from Pilibhit.

The aura of these leaders or constituencies notwithstanding it is the caste which is likely to give a bigger challenge to the BJP in the remaining phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh.

In 2014 the BJP and its ally ? Apna Dal ? won 38 of the 41 seats that will go to polls in last three phases.

The three seats opposition won include– Rae Bareli and Amethi ? won by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi respectively, and Azamgarh- from where Mulayam Singh Yadav won hands down.

In the electoral history, 2014 elections can be termed as an aberration because the country swayed by Modi wave voted in favour of BJP obliterating the caste line which is quite prominent in central and eastern Uttar Pradesh.

“It is the caste which decides the voting pattern in Uttar Pradesh. The political parties too field candidates on caste lines despite that fact that caste system is a taboo as per our constitution,” Dr Nomita P Kumar of Giri Institute of Development Studies said here on Friday.

She has carried out a study on election pattern of 2014 polls and said that collective vote percentage of opposition parties is much more than the vote BJP polled in last three phase. In phase 5 BJP polled 40.8 per cent votes while the coalition got 52.9 per cent votes. Others got 6. 3 per cent votes.

In the fifth phase, which will be held on May 6, constituencies like Dhaurahra, Sitapur, Mohanlalganj, Lucknow, Raebareli, Amethi, Banda, Fatehpur, Kaushambi, Barabanki, Faizabad, Bahraich, Kaiserganj and Gonda will go to polls.

“The scenario was no different in phase 6 of 2014 polls when BJP polled 38.3 per cent votes, which is less than it polled in phase 5 but others poll percentage got up to 9.2 per cent. The coalition vote percentage, however, remained intact which is 52.5 per cent,” Dr Kumar said.

The sixth phase election is on May 12 and constituencies like Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Phulpur, Allahabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Shrawasti, Domariyaganj, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Lalganj, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Machhlishahr and Bhadohi will go to polls.

Dr Kumar said that last and seventh phase was most productive for the BJP in 2014 because it got 43.9 per cent votes, marginally more than opposition alliance which got 44.1 per cent votes.

The constituencies like Varanasi, Gorakhpur and Kushinagar will be among 13 constituencies that will go to polls on May 19.

“In this scenario, the BJP faces a tough challenge from opposition in the last three phases of election because the caste will play a dominant role,” she said.

Bengaluru, May 3 : Janata Dal (Secular) which has formed the government in Karnataka with the support of the its one-time foe Congress, has decided to expand its base by launching membership drive, State JD(S) President H Vishwanath said here today.

In a press release here on Friday, Vishwanath has directed all the Bock and District Presidents to take a lead in enrolling members at the grass root level and build a strong organisation.

He also insisted that the party functionaries should put up extra efforts during the membership drive, especially in Northern Karnataka region, where the party has no strong base as it has in Southern part of the state.

Parliament members, Ministers, MLAs, and those who had lost elections in the 2018 Assembly poll, should involve more in enlisting the support of the grass root level workers and new members, he stated.

Vishwanath stated that a letter has already been written to all the Office Bearers both at the Rural as well as at the Urban areas to take up membership drive seriously.

Bengaluru, May 3: Responding to reports of some former Congress legislators including Cheluvaraya Swamy and Ramesh Bandisidde Gowda participating in a dinner party with Sumalatha on April 30 and angry reaction to it by some JD(S) leaders, former chief minister and chairman of coalition government’s coordination committee, Siddaramaiah, said he would like to get to know why the meeting took place. He said there is nothing wrong or serious if it was an informal meeting.

At the same time, one of the participants in the meeting, former minister and Congress leader, Cheluvaraya Swamy, claimed that recording of the video of a few friends meeting over a dinner and releasing the footage to the media is a serious offence. He asked the city police to investigate the incident in all seriousness. He was addressing a press conference he had convened in the city after the video of him and other leaders of his party joining Sumalatha Ambareesh for dinner in a hotel having been aired by some television channels, on Thursday May 2.

“We did not commit a crime in joining together. We went to the party as we could not attend the birthday party hosted by our friend from Mandya, Sachidananda. Sumalatha also came there, and we have no right to ask her to go away. We are not saying that Kumaraswamy got it released by influence. But can CCTV footage reach the media without any influence and pressure?” he wondered.

Cheluvaraya Swamy also said that evidences to complain against him and other Congress leaders have been put together by vested interests. “Let us see how long Kumaraswamy can restrain the Congress. We are followed by intelligence officials everywhere. Are we terrorists?” he questioned.

He asked the chief minister not to worry about the said meeting, as officials and their wives have campaigned for Nikhil for the first time in Mandya’s history during the election. He said that in tune with the JD(S) leaders’ wishes, he and his friends did not work for the JD(S) candidate’s victory. He pointed out even the district in-charge minister did not have the courtesy to talk to him and seek support. He clarified that he and his group did not campaign for Sumalatha and instead, always asked people to vote for a candidate of their own choice.

He said that Kumaraswamy had not invited him and other Congress leaders to the dais when announcing the candidature of his son. “Instead, Kumaraswamy accused us of stabbing from behind. How can we campaign for such a person? Why should be maintain distance from Sumalatha even after the election is over?” he wanted to know.