Congress president Rahul Gandhi has filed a counter affidavit in the Supreme Court reiterating his stand and again expressing regret on his remarks on the Rafale verdict. Gandhi said that unfortunate references to the court order and juxtaposition of the political slogan in the same breath ought not to be construed as suggesting that the court had given any finding or conclusion on that issue.

“It is unfortunate that this slogan got intermingled with my comments on and references to the apex court’s order dated 15.04.2019. My statement was made in the heat of political campaigning,” he said in his affidavit.

The court had on April 23 issued a criminal contempt notice to Gandhi for his remarks on its verdict in the Rafale case. Gandhi had called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a thief attributing his remark to the court’s judgement.

The Congress president had claimed that the apex court has made it “clear” that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “committed a theft”. He had made the statement while interacting with reporters in Amethi after filing his nomination papers.

BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi had moved court against Rahul Gandhi’s remark. “The words used and attributed by him to Supreme Court in the Rafale case has been made to appear something else. He is replacing his personal statement as Supreme Court’s order and trying to create prejudice,” Lekhi said in her petition.

The Supreme Court will hear contempt case against Gandhi along with Rafale review petitions on April 30.

Agencies

“We all have been infected by the virus of progress and growth. Even if a coalition govt comes, it should work towards progress and growth of the country,” says the chairman of Mahindra Group, Anand Mahindra after casting his vote in Malabar Hill.  

According to the ECI, 23.62% polling is recorded till 12pm.

17.07 per cent voter turnout recorded in five parliamentary constituencies of Darbhanga, Ujiarpur, Samastipur, Begusarai and Munger, in Bihar, till 11 am.

Jharkhand: Estimated polling percentage of 29.21 per cent recorded till 11 am. 

An Independent candidate in Madhya Pradesh’s Balaghat Lok Sabha seat alleged that his vehicle was set afire by Naxals on Monday, officials said.

A case was registered by police in this connection and the state election office was also probing the incident, they said.

Kishore Samrite, who is contesting as an Independent candidate, claimed while talking to reporters in Balaghat that the incident took place when he stopped his jeep at Posra village in Lanjhi area of the district in the wee hours of Monday to offer prayers at a temple.

While he was at the temple, around 20 to 25 “armed Naxals” attacked his four-wheeler and set it ablaze before fleeing, he alleged.

Voter turn out till 9 am 

Woman poll staffer dies of heart attack in MP

A 50-year-old woman poll staffer died after suffering a heart attack ahead of voting in Chhindwara Lok Sabha seat of Madhya Pradesh, an official said on Monday.

Sunanda Kotekar, who was deployed at Lodhikheda polling booth in Saunsar area of Chhindwara, felt uneasy on Sunday night, Chief Electoral Officer V L Kantha Rao said.

She died of the heart attack even before she could be provided any medical assistance, he added.

Over 13% voting recorded in first 2 hours in Rajasthan

Over 13 per cent voting was registered in the first two hours of polling in 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in Rajasthan which began at 7 am on Monday.

Banswara recorded the maximum voter turn out of 14.44 per cent, while the overall voting percentage at 9 am was 13.10 per cent, according to the office of the chief electoral officer. 

Banswara is a tribal dominated Lok Sabha seat in south Rajasthan.

The polling began amid tight security arrangements in 13 constituencies of Tonk-Sawaimadhopur, Ajmer, Pali, Jodhpur, Barmer, Jalore, Udaipur, Banswara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Bhilwara, Kota and Jhalawar-Baran.

Polling begins on slow pace in UP

An estimated 9.59 per cent voters exercised their franchise in the first two hours of polling in 13 constituencies of Uttar Pradesh in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections Monday.

Seats, where polling is underway, are Shahjahanpur (SC), Kheri, Hardoi (SC), Misrikh (SC), Unnao, Farrukhabad, Etawah (SC), Kannauj, Kanpur, Akbarpur, Jalaun (SC), Jhansi and Hamirpur.

Polling in this phase is especially important for the ruling BJP as it is aiming for a clean sweep by winning all 13 seats, including Kannauj which was the only seat the Samajwadi Party had managed to win in 2014.

Kannauj was won by Samajwadi Party’s Dimple Yadav.

On four of these seats – Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, Mishrikh and Etawah- the BJP opted for new faces while former Union ministers Murli Manohar Joshi (Kanpur) and Uma Bharti (Jhansi) are also not in the fray this time.

7.92 per cent voting recorded till 9 am in 5 LS seats of Bihar

An estimated 7.92 per cent voting was recorded Monday in the first two hours of polling in five Lok Sabha constituencies of Bihar in the fourth phase of general elections, officials said.

A total of 87.74 lakh voters would decide the fate of 66 candidates, including three women nominees, in this phase of polling in 8,834 booths.
Polling is underway in the five Lok Sabha constituencies of Darbhanga, Ujiarpur, Samastipur, Begusarai and Munger.

“Voting has been peaceful with no untoward incident reported from any of these constituencies so far,” election officials said.

Polling was, however, briefly hampered at three booths in Munger, two in Darbhanga and three in Begusarai due to glitches in EVMs, which were rectified, they said.

Polling percentage in Maharashtra in the 17 constituencies is recorded at 6.82% till 9:00 a.m.. Following are the Mumbai district voting percentage:

Mumbai South Central 6.44%

Mumbai South 6.02%

Mumbai North – 7.85%

North West – 6.9%

North East – 7.00%

North Central – 5.98%

South Central – 6.45%

Mumbai South – 5.91%
 

Polling percentage recorded till 9 am: 6.82 per cent polling recorded in Maharashtra (17 seats) while 11.11 per cent in Madhya Pradesh (6 seats) and 9 per cent in Odisha (6) and 16.90 per cent in West Bengal (8 seats)

Clashes erupted between TMC workers and (quick reaction force) QRF, security personnel outside polling booth number 125-129 in Asansol, following a disagreement between BJP & CPI(M) workers after TMC workers insisted on polling despite the absence of central forces. 

Union Minister and BJP candidate from Asansol Babul Supriyo’s car vandalised 

”I will myself take the central forces to that polling station. It is good people in West Bengal are aware that they want central forces so that they can cast their vote. That’s why Mamata Banerjee is scared,” he said.

Earlier, villagers boycotted polls at Jemua’s polling booth in Asansol due to the absence of central forces at the polling station. 

Polling was suspended at the polling station as voters protested.  

West Bengal: BJP MP candidate from Asansol, Babul Supriyo’s car vandalised in Asansol. A TMC polling agent says, there is no BJP polling agent here.5

Congress candidate from Mumbai North, Urmila Matondkar cast her vote at a polling booth in Bandra while veteran actress Shubha Khote exercised her franchise at a polling booth in Juhu, Mumbai. 

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath after casting his vote at a polling booth in Shikarpur, Chhindwara.

Villagers boycott polls at Jemua’s polling booth in Asansol, West Bengal due to the absence of central forces at the polling station. 

Polling has been suspended at the polling station as voters are protesting. 

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das cast his vote at a polling booth at Peddar Road in Mumbai and BJP candidate from Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur, Ravi Kishan exercised his franchise at a polling booth in Goregaon.

BJP MP Candidate from Mumbai North Central, Poonam Mahajan cast her vote at a polling booth in Worli while former Rajasthan chief minister and BJP leader Vasundhara Raje Scindia exercised her franchise at a polling booth in Jhalawar.

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Industrialst Anil Ambani cast his vote at voting centre number 216 at GD Somani School in Cuffe Parade.

Kanhaiya Kumar (CPI), Baijayant Panda (BJP), Urmila Matondkar (Congress), Dimple Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Milind Deora (Congress), Priya Dutt (Congressi, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath’s son Nakul Nath and Salman Khurshid( Congress) are among the key contestants as phase 4 of Lok Sabha election gets underway. 

Union Minister and sitting MP from Nawada, Giriraj Singh, cast his vote at a polling booth in Barahiya of Lakhisarai district in Bihar. Earlier, Giriraj, who is pitted against former JNU student’s union president and CPI candidate Kanhaiya Kumar, offered prayers at Barahiya’s Shaktidham before exercising his franchise.  

Voting is taking place in 17 seats in Maharashtra, 13 each in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, eight in West Bengal, six each in Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, five in Bihar, three in Jharkhand and a part of Anantnag constituency in Jammu and Kashmir.

Polling booths in 71 constituencies for the fourth phase of Lok Sabha polls opened today spread across Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir.

Apart from these, 42 Assembly constituencies in Odisha will also go to polls on Monday.

CPI’s Kanhaiya Kumar pitched against Union Minister Giriraj Singh and RJD’s Tanveer Hassan is the big draw in Bihar’s Begusarai. 

The fate of several high profile candidates including Mumbai Congress chief Milind Deora, Congress leader Priya Dutt from Mumbai, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath’s son Nakul Nath, BJP vice-president Baijayanta Panda, will be decided today.

All eyes will be in Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj where Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s wife Dimple Yadav will be contesting today. Union Minister Babul Supriyo is contesting from Asansol seat against Trinamool Congress’ Moon Moon Sen which will be keenly followed.

There are as many as 945 candidates who are vying to win over voters in 71 constituencies. The counting of votes will take place on May 23rd.

Agencies

Bhopal, Apr 29 : Exercise of franchise commenced on Monday amid tight security in Madhya Pradesh’s Sidhi, Shahdol, Mandla, Balaghat, Jabalpur and Chhindwara parliamentary constituencies and the Chhindwara Assembly segment, official sources said.
The timings are 0700-1800 hrs. In Balaghat’s Naxalism-affected Baihar, Lanji and Paraswada voting shall conclude at 1600 hrs. The electorate exceeds 1,05,55,000 ? including 9,864 service voters ? and the number of polling centres stands at 13,491 of which 2,515 are sensitive. Webcasting or closed-circuit television monitoring is being undertaken at more than 2,700 centres. Global positioning systems are present in every sector officer and polling team’s vehicle.

Chhindwara Vidhan Sabha constituency has 2,63,185 electors including 1,29,671 women. The polling centres number 300.
The fates of 108 candidates are being sealed in electronic voting machines in the state’s maiden phase of Lok Sabha polls. The area-wise break-up is Sidhi 26, Shahdol 13, Jabalpur 22, Mandla 10, Balaghat 23 and Chhindwara 14. In the Chhindwara Assembly segment nine nominees are in the fray.
Approximately 60,000 polling officials are on duty. Security personnel ? comprising 85 companies of Central Armed Police Force, 38 of State Armed Force and others ? have been deployed. A total 224 quick response teams were created; 79 inter-state check posts and 161 inter-district ones sealed; 8,700 vehicles are being used for transportation. Two helicopters are operating in insurgency-prone areas. Prohibitory action was initiated against 36,475 people; 19,836 licensed firearms deposited and 787 weapons confiscated.
The hurly-burly of campaigning died down at 1800 hrs on Saturday and aspirants later canvassed door to door.
Congress citadel Chhindwara is the cynosure of all eyes as Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s son Nakul (Congress) is making his entry into the political arena by challenging the saffron side’s Mr Nathan Shah.
The Chhindwara Vidhan Sabha by-election is indeed a high-profile one as Mr K Nath (Cong) is trying his fortune ? his first Assembly poll battle ? against Mr Vivek Sahu (Bharatiya Janata Party).
In Sidhi, the Assembly’s erstwhile leader of the opposition Ajay Singh (Cong) ? son of former Human Resource Development minister and ex-chief minister Arjun Singh ? is on collision course with saffron camp MP Riti Pathak; in Shahdol (Scheduled Tribes), Mrs Pramila Singh (Cong) is in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation with Mrs Himadri Singh (BJP); Jabalpur’s principal contenders are advocate Vivek K Tankha (Cong) ? a Rajya Sabha member ? versus BJP state President Rakesh Singh; in Balaghat, Mr Madhu Bhagat (Cong) is up against Mr Dhal Singh Bisen (BJP) and in Mandla (ST), Mr Kamal Maravi (Cong) is fighting erstwhile central minister and five-time MP Faggan Singh Kulaste (BJP). The situation in Balaghat is rendered complex by the fact that present MP Bodhsingh Bhagat rebelled from the BJP and is contesting independently.
The state has 29 parliamentary constituencies that are to witness voting in four stages.

Hyderabad, Apr 29 : A group of about 50 turmeric farmers from Nizamabad district on Monday will file their nominations from Varanasi against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections to highlight their long pending demand of setting up a separate welfare board that would look into their issues and resolve them.

The farmers claimed that their problems were not addressed under either of the ruling government. “This was not solved during UPA’s tenure too. Prime Minister Narendra Modi did the same. We are not against him or campaigning against anyone,” he said.

Turmeric farmers across the country are facing hardships due to lack of minimum support price for the last three to four years. This year, turmeric prices have fallen to Rs 3,200 per quintal from Rs 5,200 per quintal.

Farmers have alleged that the local administration and Bharatiya Janta Party cadre have expressed disapproval of their decision. The group of 50, despite the objection, have decided to campaign for themselves along with conducting a meeting with other local farmers to discuss their issues.

A similar group of farmers from Tamil Nadu have decided to stand in solidarity with Telangana turmeric farmers.

Sinha, who was till recently a member and sitting MP of the BJP from Patna Sahib, had joined the Congress earlier this month and is pitted against Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad of the BJP.

Shatrughan Sinha, Congress’s candidate from Patna Sahib, Bihar, has landed in trouble with a statement he made about Pakistan’s founding father Mohammed Ali Jinnah, when he said that Jinnah was part of the Congress family, further praising him for his role in India’s independence movement and development.

Sinha was addressing a public rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Sausar on Friday when he said that the Congress belonged to great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Jinnah, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Rajiv Gandhi.

“These leaders had played the most important role in the development and freedom of the country. This is the reason why I have come here,” he said.

Sinha, who was till recently a member and sitting MP of the BJP from Patna Sahib, had joined the Congress earlier this month and is pitted against Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad of the BJP.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, on Saturday, declined to comment on the development, saying that he has not heard Sinha’s speech.

However, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain, while addressing the media on Saturday, strongly criticized Sinha for his remark.

Senior Congress leader and former union minister P Chidambaram was more vocal. He said, “Whatever his (Shatrughan Sinha’s) views are, he must explain. But a few days ago, he was part of the BJP, so let BJP explain why he was a part of BJP for so many years. I don’t have to explain statement of every member of the Congress. I can only speak for the party’s official position.”

Meanwhile, Sinha issued a clarification.

“Whatever I said yesterday (on Friday) was a slip of tongue. I wanted to say Maulana Azad but uttered Muhammad Ali Jinnah and a few media houses just grabbed on the slip-up and made a big issue out of it. Congress has given the most dynamic leaders and world class prime ministers like Indira Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh who are held in high esteem across the world,” said Sinha.

Karnataka’s Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) minister Krishna Byre Gowda has accused the Election Commission of not allowing him to discharge his duty even as the state is reeling under drought and faces drinking water problem.

“Several taluks are reeling under severe drought. The EC, though, will not allow me to discharge my duty as the RDPR minister and conduct meetings with the Zilla Parishad CEOs to review critical drinking water and employment programmes. Why?” Gowda asked in a tweet.

Karnataka went to polls on April 18 and April 23 in two phases of the Lok Sabha election. “Elections are over in Karnataka. Aren’t laws and rules meant to aid better governance and not stymie legitimate efforts to safeguard citizens?” Gowda added. 

Consecutive drought years and rapid depletion of groundwater levels have resulted in a severe shortage of drinking water in many parts of the state. Data shows that a total of 1,112 villages are being supplied tanker water as nearby water sources have dried up.

The Election Commission relaxed the model code of conduct for Karnataka to the extent of allowing the government to inviting, finalizing tender and issue work orders for infrastructure, development works, procurement of goods and services after April 23, the last day of Lok Sabha polls in the state, instead of May 23, the day election results will be out. 

The BJP has objected to relaxation of the code of conduct in Karnataka. “Even if it is assumed that elections in Karnataka are over, the decisions of the state government on various projects will have their ramifications in other states where elections are under progress,” BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa wrote in his letter to the Election Commission.

Agencies

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The Aam Aadmi Party had on Friday filed a criminal complaint against Gautam Gambhir saying his name figured twice in the electoral rolls.

The Delhi Police on Saturday filed a case against cricketer-turned-politician and BJP candidate Gautam Gambhir in compliance with the directives of the Election Commission (EC).

Gambhir landed himself in trouble after the EC on Saturday directed East Delhi Returning Officer to file an FIR against him for “holding a rally without permission.”

Gambhir had not taken permission for his rally on April 25 in East Delhi’s Jangpura, violating the model code of conduct, the poll body said.

Taking serious note of the matter, the poll body said Gautam Gambhir must face action for rally in East Delhi without permission.

The BJP, on Monday, fielded former cricketer Gautam Gambhir from the East Delhi constituency.

Gambhir has replaced Maheish Girri as the party’s candidate and will take on Arvinder Singh Lovely of the Congress and Atishi of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

The former Indian opener is the richest among all the candidates in fray for the Lok Sabha election in Delhi with total assets worth Rs 147 core.

Taking a dig at the new entrant in BJP, AAP’s East Delhi candidate Atishi tweeted, “First, Discrepancies in nomination papers. Then, Criminal offence of having 2 voter IDs. Now, FIR for illegal rally. My question to @GautamGambhir: When you don’t know the rules, why play the game? (sic)”

The Aam Aadmi Party had on Friday filed a criminal complaint against Gautam Gambhir saying his name figured twice in the electoral rolls.

Atishi said it was a criminal matter and called for his “immediate disqualification”.

Delhi, which has seven Lok Sabha constituencies, will go to polls on May 12. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.

After EC order, case filed against Gautam Gambhir for holding rally without permission in East Delhi

Agencies