Lucknow: A Vishwa Hindu Parishad affiliated activist group on Tuesday warned schools in Aligarh of dire consequences if they celebrated Christmas.

The Hindu Jagran Manch, in a letter to all city schools, has said that if the festival is celebrated by them they would be doing it “at their own risk”.

The warning has sent the jitters down the spines of missionary schools across the city who have been celebrating Christmas, the birthday of Lord Jesus Christ, with gaiety every year.

Soon after the news spread, school managements expressed concern over the warning and called for security.

“We have been celebrating Christmas for so many years and every child takes part in it so happily, how can some fringe elements decide on what is to be done and what not,” said a school principal on the condition of anonymity.

Senior Superintendent of Police Rajesh Pandey when contacted told IANS that there was no question of allowing anyone or any group to disrupt any festivities at the city schools. “Anything that is illegal will not be allowed and such designs will be foiled,” he added.

(IANS)

Ahmedabad: Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani on Monday won from Vadgam seat in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district, defeating BJP’s nominee Vijay Chakravarti by 19,696 votes.

Mevani, who contested as an independent candidate with support of the Congress, polled 95,497 votes on the seat reserved for a Schedule Caste nominee. Chakravarti got 75,801 votes.

Click here for constituency-wise map for Gujarat election results

After emerging as the winner, Mevani thanked all non- governmental organisations and political parties which had helped him in campaigning.

The face of the Dalit agitation in Gujarat, in a message posted earlier on social media, had claimed that he decided to jump into the poll battle after being “persuaded” by youths and numerous agitators.

Mevani, who has been critical of the ruling BJP in the state, shot to fame after seven Dalit youths were flogged allegedly by self-styled cow vigilantes at Una last year.

(PTI)

Ahmedabad: The BJP retained its grip over Gujarat but lost Unjha constituency to the Congress that includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hometown of Vadnagar.

Congress’ Asha Patel defeated outgoing BJP MLA Patel Narayanbhai Lalludas by a margin of over 19,500 votes in the traditional stronghold of the Patidar community. While Patel polled 81,797 votes, her BJP rival got 62,268.

In 2012, Lalludas defeated Patel by nearly 25,000 votes.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi, the party’s star campaigner, had extensively campaigned in Unjha during his Navsarjan Yatra. On his visit to the region, Gandhi also prayed at the Umiya Mata temple, close to Vadnagar – where Modi was brought up.

Weeks before the election process began in Gujarat where the BJP has been in power for the last 22 years, Modi inaugurated Umiya Dham Ashram in Haridwar for the pilgrims from the region visiting the Hindu holy city on the bank of the Ganges.

(IANS)

Shimla: The BJP was set on Monday to wrest power in Himachal Pradesh from the Congress, winning 19 seats and leading in 25 in hard-fought Assembly elections, although its two top leaders were worsted in the contest.

Needing 35 seats to control the 68-member House, the Bharatiya Janata Party was on course to win 44 the Congress had bagged 11 seats and led in 10 others. An Independent and the CPI-M got one seat each.

The Congress accepted defeat in Himachal Pradesh, which went to the polls on November 9. Among its prominent winners were outgoing Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh (Arki) and his son Vikramaditya Singh (Shimla Rural), who entered the Assembly for the first time.

State BJP chief Satpal Satti was humiliated in Una by Satpal Singh Razda of Congress while the BJP`s Chief Ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal lost in Sujanpur.

Dhumal`s confidants Ravinder Ravi, Gulab Singh and Randhir Sharma, all outgoing legislators, also lost.

Congress cabinet ministers Sudhir Sharma, Thakur Singh and Prakash Chaudhary faced defeat.

Chaudhary lost in Balh in Mandi district to BJP`s Inder Singh Gandhi. BJP`s Ravindra Dhiman defeated Congress` outgoing legislator Yadvinder Goma in Jaisinghpur and Kishori Lal of the BJP overcame Bansi Lal of the Congress from Anni.

BJP`s Suresh Bhardwaj retained his Shimla seat, defeating Harbhajan Bhajji of the Congress.

Anil Sharma, who resigned from the government and the ruling Congress and joined the BJP just before the polls along with his father and former Telecom Minister Sukh Ram, retained his Mandi seat.

Independent Hoshiar Singh dealt a humiliating defeat to heavyweights Ravinder Ravi (BJP) and Viplove Thakur (Congress) in Dehra.

Outgoing legislator Anirudh Singh of the Congress retained his Kasumpti seat by defeating BJP`s Vijay Jyoti Sain. Both belong to the royal families.

CPI-M`s Rakesh Singha defeated both the BJP and Congress in Theog.

BJP spokesperson Ganesh Dutt told IANS: “We have crossed the half-way mark. This clearly shows we are going to form the government in the state.”

A total of 337 candidates contested the election. A total of 37,83,580 people voted in the hill state — a record 75.28 per cent polling.

The Congress and the BJP contested in all the 68 constituencies. Most exit polls had predicted the BJP`s return to power with an easy majority.

The state has alternately elected Congress and BJP since 1985. In 2012, the Congress won 36 seats and the BJP 26. Independents bagged six seats.

(IANS)

The ruling BJP was on Monday set to retain power in Gujarat, just edging past the half-way mark in one of the most bitterly contested elections that saw the Congress improve its tally compared to five years ago.

Election Commission officials said the Bharatiya Janata Party, on course for its sixth consecutive win, had bagged 58 seats and was leading in 41 while the Congress had won 50 and was forging ahead in 27 more.

Smaller parties and independents had won three seats and were leading in three.

While the BJP celebrated all across Gujarat and in Delhi, the 99-seat tally was far less than the 150 BJP President Amit Shah had set for the party to win and 16 less than what it got in 2012 despite intense campaigning by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Congress, its campaign led by its now President Rahul Gandhi, was poised to finish with a tally of 77, 16 more than what it bagged five years ago.

Outside Parliament, a beaming Modi flashed a V sign to celebrate the victory in his home state. Senior BJP leaders taunted Rahul Gandhi and said the result proved that the people had embraced the Gujarat model of development.

But the BJP’s overall vote share in the state plunged from 60.11 per cent notched in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls to 49 per cent, indicating a sharp erosion in support base in a state which the party considers its fortress.

The vote share of the Congress, which joined hands with Patidar leader Hardik Patel, Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani and OBC leader Alpesh Thakore, soared from 33.45 per cent of 2014 to 41.5 per cent.

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani brushed aside reports of BJP’s waning support, saying the winner was always the king. “Jo jeeta wo hi Sikander.”

As the vote count began across Gujarat at 8 a.m., at one point the Congress leads went past the BJP’s, giving a scare to the ruling party and sending the stock markets plunging down.

The BJP, however, managed to recover lost ground and eventually went past the half-way mark of 92 seats needed to control the 182-member House.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani (Rajkot West) and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel (Mehsana) trailed to the Congress early in the day before bouncing back and winning. While Rupani won by 50,412 votes, Patel’s victory margin was 7,951 votes.

The BJP also held on in most seats affected by the Patidar agitation demanding job quotas, provoking community leader Hardik Patel to complain about faulty Electronic Voting Machines.

While the BJP dominated over the Congress in South, Central and North Gujarat, the Congress held the upper hand in the sprawling Saurashtra/Kutch region.

The BJP also proved its sway over urban centres while the Congress seats came mostly from rural regions.

All Congress Chief Ministerial contenders lost — Shaktisinh Gohil (Mandvi), Arjun Modhwadia (Bokhiria) and Siddharth Patel (Dabhoi).

But the BJP suffered a setback in Unjha constituency which includes Modi’s hometown Vardana where he grew up.

The Gujarat election was held on December 9 and 14 and was marked by a viciousness that pitted Prime Minister Modi against the Congress, including his predecessor Manmohan Singh.

Modi had been the Gujarat Chief Minister from 2001 until he became the Prime Minister in 2014. It was the first Assembly election in Gujarat after Modi shifted to New Delhi.

(IANS)

by KV News Mysore

Even as the state govt has announced setting up of 11 Indira canteens in the city, some KPCC members and Congress workers have allegedly opposed the ongoing work of Indira canteen at Ward #51 in Mysore.

Report by – Mudassir Ahmed
Photos by – Mehak Afshan

Bengaluru: Raising apprehensions that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) could be tampered with, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today demanded that ballot papers be used during the upcoming assembly polls in the state.

The chief minister also ruled out any impact of Gujarat poll results on Karnataka, saying the issues in the state were different. Siddaramaiah said he had spoken to some experts and there were chances that the EVMs could be tampered with.

“They (BJP) have the power. The Election Commission is under them. Though it is an independent constitutional body, they (central government) appoint the chief election commissioner,” he said to a query about allegations of EVM tampering.

Speaking to reporters at Raichur in north Karnataka, he said, “What we are saying is go to the old (ballot paper) system, what is the difficulty?”

Apprehension about possible EVM tampering through Bluetooth technology was raised by the opposition Congress during the recent assembly elections in Gujarat, which the Election Commission had termed “baseless”.

Similar doubts about the credibility of EVMs were raised during recently concluded civic polls in Uttar Pradesh and assembly elections earlier this year.

Pointing out that the demand for the old system was raised during the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls by political leaders there, Siddaramaiah said, “Go to the ballot paper. What is the problem with it?”

Several countries have gone back from EVM to ballot papers, he said and demanded that ballot papers be used during the assembly polls in the state, due early next year.

“We will both meet and write to the Election Commission on this. We demand that elections in Karnataka be conducted using ballot papers,” he added.

On possible impact of Gujarat poll results on Karnataka, he said, “Results of any state will not have any impact on the results of another state….issues there are different from our state. So there is no relation to one another. So it cannot be said.”

Asked about the exit polls predicting a win for the BJP in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, Siddaramaiah said the counting is yet to happen, adding, “this are just exit polls.”

“There are various instances where exit polls have gone wrong. Let’s see what happens on December 18,” he said.

(Agencies)