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Chennai, Apr 16 (UNI) The campaigning for the byelections to 18 Assembly seats, which also goes to the polls along with 39 Lok Sabha seats on April 18, ended on Tuesday evening.

This would be the first time, a sort of ‘mini’ election was being held along with the Parliamentary seats, when polling would be simultaneously to fill 18 of the 22 Assembly seats.

This is the first time, bypolls are being held to fill such a large number of vacancies in the electoral history of the State, proving an acid test for the leadership qualities of the ruling AIADMK and the principal Opposition DMK, who were without the presence of two personalities late Chief Ministers
J Jayalalitha and DMK Chief M Karunanidhi.

More than the Lok sabha polls, the bypoll to 18 Assembly seats is more crucial for the stability of
the government, and the party has to win a good number of seats to ensure a simple majority in
the 234-member House.

The AIADMK has also got the support of all its allies for the bypolls to all 22 seats to be contested
by it. though by-poll is being held only for 18. For the remaining four seats it will be held on May 19.

The strength of AIADMK in the Assembly has come down to 114 from 136 (when it won in 2016)–three short of a simple majority–after the disqualification of 18 rebel MLAs owing allegiance to TTV Dhinakaran, who later founded the AMMK.

Three Independents, who won on AIADMK ‘Two Leaves’ symbol in 2016 Assemblky polls, have also turned against the Government and were supporting Dhinakaran, who was elected as Independent from RK Nagar Assembly seat in the by-election, which was held by Ms Jayalalithaa.

Three other MLAs too were said to be moving closer to AMMK.

While 18 fell vacant following the disqualification of rebel MLAs, two fell vacant following the death of sitting members (Tiruvarur held by Mr M Karunanidhi and Tiruparankundram held by AIADMK MLA
A K Bose) and Hosur fell vacant following the conviction of former Minister P Balakrishna Reddy by
a court.

Recently, the Sulur seat also fell vacant due to the death of AIADMK MLA Kanagaraj on March 21, taking the number of vacancies to 22.

Byelections would be held for Perambur, Tiruporur, Poonamallee, Ambur, Gudiyatham, Sholinghur, Tiruvaur, Thanjavur, Hosur, Harur, Pappireddipatti, Andipatti, Manamadurai, Nilakottai, Paramakudi,
Periyakulam, Sattur, Vilathikulam.

For the ruling AIADMK it will be a test of the popularity of the post-Jayalaitha regime headed by Edappadi K Palanisami and Deputy Chief Minister O Pannerselvam.

The party split after the revolt by Panneerselvam against Jaya’s close aide V K Sasikala and her nephew Dhinakaran, who were since been expelled after the warring EPS-OPS factions merged
and disqualified rebel legislators, a decision by the Assembly Speaker upheld by the Madras High Court.

The reunited factions have recognition as official AIADMK, plus the hugely popular ‘Two Leaves’ symbol and the flag from the Election Commission.

The Opposition DMK, which has a combined strength of 97 members in the House (DMK-88, Congress-8 and IUML-1), has been targetting the government, charging it with sacrificing
Tamil Nadu’s interests and was being ‘remote-controlled’ by the BJP government at the Centre.

Lucknow, Apr 16 : Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday filed his nomination from the Lucknow parliamentary seat.
Before reaching the Collectorate, Mr Rajnath’s road show crossed the BJP party office, Hazratganj chauraha and the District Magistrate’s residence.
UP Deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya, Dr Dinesh Sharma, former Union Minister and senior leader Kalraj Mishra, national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi and other senior leaders, ministers and MLAs were present during the road show.
Before that, Mr Rajnath Singh addressed party workers and said he had visited 10 states of the country and the kind of enthusiasm he witnessed in UP and Lucknow was present in the whole country, adding that there was a ‘Modi wave’ in the country.
He also said that Mr Modi will again become the Prime Minister.
Janata Dal (United) chief General Secretary KC Tyagi was also present on this occasion and the leader said that the people of Ghaziabad wish that Mr Singh should contest from Ghaziabad the next time.

He also said that Mr Singh was the farmers’ leader.
Mr Rajnath reached Lucknow on Monday evening itself and the preparations to make the road show grand were inspected till late night.
BJP candidate from Mohanlalganj seat Kaushal Kishore was also present on the day.
However, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath could not attend the road show as the Election Commission had on Monday barred him from any kind of campaigning.

Mysuru, Apr 16 : The arch foes turned coalition partners in Karnataka ? Congress and Janata Dal (S), who have forged a pre-poll alliance for the first time in the State’s electoral history face a stern test in the five Lok Sabha seats of Old Mysore region for which the polling will be held in the first phase on April 18.
Despite hiccups when some Congress party workers and leaders refused to campaign in support of Janata Dal (S) candidates until Congress State and central leadership intervened. But the mistrust is refusing to die causing anxiety among the candidates as well as the State and central leaders.
Prominent among those who are contesting in this election from coalition parties if former Prime Minister H D Devegowda (Tumakuru) and his grandsons Prajwal Revanna (Hassan) and Nikhil K (Mandya). While Prajwal is the son of PWD Minister H D Revanna, Nikhil is the son of chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, the two sons of Devegowda.
The other two seats are Mysuru and Chamarajanagara segments.
Which the ruling coalition giving final touches to seeking voters in the region retain the four seats, countdown began the end of public campaigning today.
Both third generation Devegowda family candidates are facing tough task against A Manju the BJP candidate in Hassan and actor Sumalatha, an independent candidate supported by the BJP in Mandya.
In the other two seats in the region, Congress has fielded C H Vijyashankar in Mysuru while R Dhruvanarayana is contesting from Chamarajanagara. Both are fighting against BJP sitting member Pratap Simha and former union minister V Sreenivasa Prasad.
The high voltage election campaign in this region with BJP bringing in prime minister Narendra Modi, who addressed the a hugely successful rally in Mysuru, and state leaders former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and others are on the campaign in these parts.
Congress party has roped in the AICC President Rahul Gandhi who addressed the joint rally at K R Nagara, Devegowda along with Congress leaders including former chief minister Siddaramiah campaigned jointly in all the five constituencies .
Meanwhile, chief minister H D Kumraswamy, who has taken the elections seriously as the fate of his son is involved and any loss in Mandya may ultimately destabilise the State government itself made several rounds of the campaign in Mandya alone.
JDS even brought Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandra Babu Nadu who campaigned for the Nikhil yesterday.
JD-S sources told UNI that despite reluctance on part of some Congress leaders and workers in Mandya and Hassan, the party had made all efforts to ensure victory of its candidates using its cadre.
”As we are sharing power in the state, a pre-poll alliance to jointly contest the Lok Sabha polls will prevent division of votes in a straight fight with the BJP, unlike in a triangular contest that benefits our rival party (BJP),” a JD(S) leader said.
Deve Gowda himself is contesting from Tumkur, and not his old constituency Hassan, from where he won for record six times since 1991.
While Prajwal is expected to sail through from the Gowda family turf of Hassan, his cousin Nikhil is facing a tough fight from multilingual actress Sumalatha Ambareesh, wife of later actor-turned politician M H Ambareesh.
The saffron party has stayed away from a direct fight in these elections, owning to its weak presence in Mandya.
Though 29-year-old Nikhil is betting on the support of his politically-dominant Vokkaliga community and the party’s legislators who won from all the eight Assembly segments in the constituency in the May 2018 elections, 55-year-old Sumalatha is no pushover. She is betting on the popularity of her late husband, a native of Mandya, who won the seat thrice, twice on Congress and once on JD-S ticket.
Ambareesh, a legislator from the Mandya Assembly seat and a minister in the Congress government (2013-2016), died on November 24, 2018 in Bengaluru at the age of 66, generating a massive sympathy wave for Sumalatha from his legion of fans.
Though the alliance partners have agreed to campaign together for joint candidates in all 28 seats, the district Congress leaders and cadres in Mandya, however, refused to join their JD-S counterparts to seek votes for Nikhil due to simmering discontent.
The rivalry between the two parties is so intense that even in Hassan, Congress members are not campaigning for Prajwal who faces A. Manju, a former Congress Minister who joined the BJP recently.
In retaliation, the JD-S workers have refused to campaign for Congress candidate Vijayashankar in Mysore. However, with the intervention of the former chief minister Siddaramiah and district incharge minister G T Deve Gowda, they begun their joint campaign which has eased the tension to some extend.
In Chamarajanagara, the campaign by both the parties are based on road shows and rallies, besides they are reaching out the voters directly in door-to door visits.
During the last 2014 elections JD-S has won Hassan and Mandya, BJP in Mysuru and Congress had won in Chamarajanagara and Tumakuru.

Bengaluru, Apr 16 : The Income Tax authorities have conducted simultaneous raids in the JD(S) dominated two Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka.
According to official sources, the raids are being conducted on the premises and business establishments of those who were identified as the supporters of the JD(S) candidates.
While in Hassan, the IT sleuths are holding search operations on the supporters of the JD(S) candidate Prajwal Revanna, besides that of Patel Shivaram, a former MLC, Papanni, a former Zilla Panchayat Member and Karle Indresh, a close supporters of the PWD minister H D Revanna.
Prajval, son of Revanna is the JD(S) candidate in the prestigious Hassan Lok Sabha seat, which had been represented by the former prime minister H D Deve Gowda and allowed his grand-son to contest in the segment this time and has shifted to Tumakuru.
According to sources, the raids were also going on in Mandya Lok Sabha seat, where son of the Karnataka Chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, Nikhil K, is fighting an independent candidate and senior actor Sumalatha, the widow of the former Union minister and cine actor-turned politician, Ambharish.
The houses of the Zilla Panchayat president Nagarathna Swamy and Thimme Gowda, also a Zilla Panchayath member, are being raided by the IT officials over suspicion of tax evasions, the sources added.

Shimla, Apr 15 (UNI) State Unit of Congress party on Monday threatened to call statewide protest against abusive remark on AICC president Rahul Gandhi by the state BJP president Satpal Singh Satti on Sunday.
Party general secretary Rajneesh Kimta said in a press statement issued here on Monday, said that party would organise state wide protest on Tuesday at 1100 hrs on the alleged abusive remarks by the BJP state president Satpal Singh Satti against Rahul Gandhi.
Mr Kimta said that use of such vulgar language even in the presence of women shows the manners of the BJP state president and BJP should seek public apology on the matter, the statement added.
Irrespective of man or woman Congress leader alleged that it is not worth to expect respect from BJP leaders on how they treat and behave in public.
The election tone and tenure of prime Minister Narendra Modi and Party president Amit Shah indicates that their words are highly frustrated who are trying to divert the public attention from the burning issues by giving irrelevant and unfounded statement on the Opposition parties and getting indulged in character assassination of senior leaders.
After making abusive and derogatory remark on the Nehru-Gandhi family, Mr Sati should seek public apology and if he fail to do so, party would not bother to cordon him in the protest, the release added.

By: Shaheen Raaj

In this political season there seems to have arisen a serious nay a comic comedy of error. And the 2 men both reputed persona in their own sphere, namely the print media arena & the political arena, are Rizwan Asad & Rizwan Arshad

Incidentally speaking Rizwan Asad happens to be the Editor-in-Chief of The Naheman Urdu Weekly, who also spearheads an English web portal named  Nasheman.in & a YouTube Channel named Nasheman News.  

While Rizwan Arshad happens to be The Bangalore Central candidate who is contesting the ongoing Loksabha elections.

And this where the Comedy of error has popped up as since many days Rizwan Asad has been getting scores of What’s App messages & even innumerable likes & congratulatory messages & support on the social media for his winning the ongoing Loksabha Elections with flying colours, thinking that he is donning the political hat. That’s speaks volumes about his unprecedented popularity in the journalistic sphere as well as on the social media platforms & even in the political arena. By the way a point to be remembered is that Mr. Rizwan Asad the extremely popular media persona had indeed jumped into the political fray by contesting for the assembly elections & that too in the year of 2013.

But now the recent goof ups & the comedy of error has seen him since the past few weeks on a constant clarification mode, especially since The New Indian Express carried the news of this mix-up, that he is not all contesting the currently ongoing parliamentary polls. But no doubt he is also enjoying the current mix-up & also grinning from ear – to – ear all the way to you know where?

Does this mean that all this comedy of error this time is paving way for Rizwan Asad to indeed contest for the next elections?????