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National, Politics

Modi gets majority; with partners as props :Oppn INDIA bloc gets 232 as Cong bounces back

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PTI, New Delhi, Jun 4, 2024 :  The BJP was poised to be the single largest party on Tuesday but could be well short of an absolute majority, leaving it dependent on its NDA partners to form government, while the opposition INDIA bloc appeared set to be a formidable force.

As votes were counted for the Lok Sabha elections and the hours passed by, the trends did not show up the clear-cut picture the ruling alliance had hoped for and what was projected by the exit polls.

Signifying a shift in the dominance of single-party rule and back to coalition politics, the BJP was ahead or had won in 246 seats, well below the magic number of 272 in the house of 543. The NDA number was 300. At the other end of the spectrum, the INDIA bloc was ahead in 227 seats with the Congress leading or winning in 96 seats, almost double its 2019 score.

In the last elections, the BJP had 303 seats on its own, while NDA had over 350.

Narendra Modi was on track to equal Jawaharlal Nehru’s record as prime minister for a third consecutive term but this time with far reduced numbers as his BJP took a knocking in Uttar Pradesh, where the Samajwadi Party could trump it, Rajasthan and Haryana and did not make the gains it expected in the south.

With plenty of greys in a scenario that was expected to be black and white, few leaders spoke up immediately.

BJP national general secretary Arun Singh said, “It is not a close contest. The BJP-led NDA is going to form its government with a massive majority. Let the counting finish, it will be clear. People of the country are with Modi.”

Congress’ Jairam Ramesh took the opportunity to hit out at Modi saying, “He used to pretend that he was extraordinary.”

“Now it has been proved that the outgoing prime minister is going to become former. Take moral responsibility and resign. This is the message of this election,” he said in a post on X.

Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most politically significant state with 80 seats, threw up a stunning verdict.

The alliance of SP and Congress turned the tables on the BJP in its strongest bastion by ensuring a consolidation of anti-BJP votes, limiting the party to leads in only 36 seats as against 62 it had won last time. The Akhilesh Yadav-led SP was close behind with leads in 34 seats, a massive jump from the five in 2019. The Congress could win six seats.

Modi was ahead by 1.52 lakh votes in Varanasi. However, his party colleague Smriti Irani was trailing behind Congress candidate and the relatively unknown Gandhi family aide Kishori Lal Sharma in Amethi by more than 1.31 lakh votes.

Among those leading from the state, where Yogi Adityanath had steered the Hindutva ship for his party, were Rahul Gandhi from Rae Bareli, Rajnath Singh from Lucknow and Akhilesh Yadav from Kannauj.

As SP chief Akhilesh Yadav kept the INDIA bloc morale high in Uttar Pradesh, the Trinamool Congress, another key ally of the opposition alliance, was leading in 29 seats in West Bengal, a tad higher than its 22 in 2019. The BJP, which had 18 seats in the last Lok Sabha election, was ahead in 12 seats.

Madhya Pradesh went fully saffron with the BJP winning or leading in all 29 seats. In Gujarat, too, BJP was winning or leading in 25 of 26 seats.

The situation was not as decisive in other states.

In Bihar, the BJP was ahead in 12 and its partner JD-U in 13, a vote of confidence for its leader Nitish Kumar who swung from INDIA back to the NDA ahead of the elections. The RJD was poised to win four seats.

In Rajasthan, BJP was ahead only in 14 seats, against all 25 its alliance won last time. The Congress was ahead in eight.

Haryana also threw up a shock result for the BJP, where the party was leading only in five and the Congress in five. In 2019, the saffron party had bagged all 10.

It appeared that the election marked a return to regular politics, where voters were more concerned about bread and butter issues, especially in some Hindi heartland states where the opposition INDIA alliance managed to rally supporters around the issues of unemployment and price rise.

Maharashtra, with 48 Lok Sabha seats, saw the Shiv Sena split down the middle since the last election. The BJP, which won 23 seats five years ago, was down with leads in 11 seats, while its ally Shiv Sena could get seven.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Congress was ahead in 12 seats, up from one, and the Shiv Sena (UBT) in 19. The NCP Sharad Pawar faction could get seven seats, giving the INDIA alliance, forged together by the common dislike of the BJP, a possible 38 seats.

However, a silver lining was provided by Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Piyush Goyal who appeared on course to easy victories in Nagpur and Mumbai North respectively.

In Odisha, the BJP was doing spectacularly well, with leads in 19 out of 21 seats, while the ruling Biju Janata Dal was down to just one. It was also ahead in the Odisha assembly elections, leading in 76 out of 146 seats, a success show in the state it had never succeeded in capturing.

In Andhra Pradesh, the Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP was ahead in 16 seats of 25, the BJP in three and the YSRCP in four.

Trends for Karnataka showed potential gains for the Congress, with leads in nine seats, up from one last time. The BJP, which got 25 seats in 2019, was ahead in 17.

Deeper south in Kerala, the BJP could make its much debated electoral entry with trends showing actor Suresh Gopi way ahead in Thrissur. The Congress, which got 15 seats last time, was ahead in 14, including in Wayanad from where Rahul Gandhi was contesting. The CPI-M had gains in one.

Tamil Nadu seemed to be scripting another story, not ceding any space to the saffron party. The ruling DMK was ahead in 22 and ally Congress in nine, a notch higher than their 2019 positions.

Assembly elections also wrote their own narrative.

In Odisha, Naveen Patnaik-led BJD was headed for an unexpected defeat, stymieing Patnaik’s bid for a record sixth term as chief minister. The BJP established early leads in at least 79 assembly seats in Odisha. The BJD nominees, on the other hand, were leading in 48 constituencies 147 assembly seats in the state.

In Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party raced towards power with leads in 135 seats in the house of 175, poised to dislodge Y S Jagan Reddy’s YSRCP, which was ahead only in 11 seats. The BJP had leads in eight seats.

National

Important to critique, record and lift veil from journalism: Ravish Kumar

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The documentary records Ravish’s last months in NDTV India where he constantly battled staff exodus, doxing, abuse and death threats during the course of his anchoring and reporting.
PTI, New Delhi, Jun 3, 2024 : If a housing society starts to collapse, people start looking for better options and move out, says journalist aThe documentary records Ravish’s last months in NDTV India where he constantly battled staff exodus, doxing, abuse and death threats during the course of his anchoring and reporting.nd YouTube star Ravish Kumar about the debate over the decline of mainstream media and the rise of alternatives.
     
The schisms between different kinds of journalism and alternative platforms that have come up in the last few years are no longer a matter of discussion just for media insiders. From village squares to big city drawing rooms, the issue has been dissected thoroughly, more so in these elections. And, according to Ravish, this is being recorded whether through documentaries or song.
     
The journalist, who has over 10 million followers on his YouTube channel and is considered a trailblazer, is also the central protagonist of Vinay Shukla’s riveting 2022 documentary “While We Watched”.
     
“If a housing society starts to collapse, people start moving to a better one. It is not like it is no longer needed. Which is why you will find the reflection of the times in many films, songs and in other ways,” Ravish told PTI in an interview.
     
“I don’t see this documentary as the story of one journalist. I can’t even see myself in it. I see different things, sometimes I remove myself and imagine a female protagonist or a journalist like Siddique Kappan (who spent two years in jail) and the story starts to appear more horrific,” he said.
     
Vinay’s documentary, which has fans such satirist-host John Oliver, won a Peabody award last month. It records Ravish’s last months in NDTV India where he constantly battled staff exodus, doxing, abuse and death threats during the course of his anchoring and reporting.
     
The 49-year-old, one of the most recognised faces in Hindi journalism, said he sees the documentary as a sort of “intervention” as it focuses on recording the near beginning of the crisis in his profession.
     
He said people in journalism know the decline it has suffered and how the larger picture is disturbing.
     
“Many have stopped watching news on television and they are searching for alternative mediums. I am not going into the merits or disadvantages of the alternative medium but the work that’s being done… for example, people who worked on the story of electoral bonds, were from alternative media,” he said, adding that he worries about new journalists joining mainstream journalism.
     
“Vinay keeps saying that more than one film is needed to record this process in depth,” he said, giving the example of senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta’s songs on ‘Godi media’, a term that has come to be associated with those supporting the government.
     
“… most senior journalists, what are they doing? Their work is mostly the critique of the profession… At least, it is being recorded which is a good thing. It was time to lift the veil from this profession and I am sure something good will come out of it,” he added.
     
Vinay, whose documentary is streaming on MUBI India, likened it to “Titanic”. Instead of this being the story of Jack and Rose (Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet), his protagonists are the musicians who went down with the ship playing their violins.
     
“Making this film was heartbreaking for me. This film is a love letter to journalists and the profession, but not to the legacy media. Some people keep obsessing that this has happened in the last 10 years but I would say that this process began much earlier, it just became fast in the last decade,” Vinay said.
     
In November 2022, Ravish left NDTV India after the company changed hands and went on to start his own YouTube channel.
    
Vinay, who with Khushboo Ranka has previously documented the rise of Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party in his 2016 documentary “An Insignificant Man”, shadowed Ravish for more than a year, capturing him at his job, saying goodbye to his colleagues one by one, writing, anchoring and worrying about his relevance.
     
“Those cake cutting scenes (when journalists were leaving the organisation) are humorous but also heartbreaking… I wanted people to know that tragedy happens in today’s time while a chocolate cake is being served,” Vinay said.
     
The filmmaker said he was curious about the world of journalism and wanted to show the nuts and bolts of the profession today. “The people who are still in it and trying to do their work honestly, how it is becoming increasingly hard for them,” he said.
     
Ravish added that he has learnt a lot from legacy media but it is not for journalists to “generate false hope” and people should be made aware about the kind of journalism that they should not accept, an issue he kept highlighting while on television.
     
The Magsaysay Award winner said he was familiar with filmmakers as he had seen them during his coverage of AAP and its beginning but found it strange that they wanted to record his life.
     
“I thought they would leave after 10 days or a month because I live a boring and lonely life so there is not much variation in it… It was a time when my family constantly worried about my safety. After a while, their presence became a comfort of sorts. Looking back, I am surprised they managed to record so much.”
     
Ravish said he didn’t worry that they were capturing him warts and all. Some days, his family would remind him to at least wear better shoes or clothes.
     
“But I kept doing what I was doing and also I didn’t have much time to think about their cameras… Anyone could guess my frustration at that time just by looking at my face. People in the office knew how I was barely managing.”
     
He loved watching Hindi movies but left that after 2014.
     
“I won’t say I was watching great movies. I actually came to know about Satyajit Ray later. Before that, there was no one better than K C Bokadia (‘Teri Meharbaniyan’, ‘Laal Badshaah’ and ‘Pyaar Jhukta Nahi’ fame) for me,” he said, tongue firmly in cheek.
     
“I caught up with some of Ray’s films only during the pandemic. I was just buried in work and I think Vinay’s film somehow has captured that intensity and anger.”
     
He is still writing and working as an independent journalist on YouTube and jokingly refers to it as “Dublin devi ki kripa” as some of his cheques come from the Irish city. He has written books, including “Ishq Me Shahar Hona” and about things beyond politics and the state of the country, but it’s now in the past.
     
“Vo sab chhoot gaya hai. What I do is boring but I take interest in it, sometimes beyond the scope of exhaustion with whatever my ability and resources are… I don’t remember the past much but worry more about the future,” he said.
National, Politics

Modi eyes record-equalling feat, Opposition hopes for rebound : People’s Verdict Today

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PTI, New Delhi, Jun 3, 2024 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi eyes a record-equalling third straight term in power amid the INDIA opposition bloc’s hope of springing a surprise as the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha election is set for Tuesday, bringing an end to a marathon polling exercise stretching over 80 days.


While most experts have long seen the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as the favourite in the polls, a lot is at stake for the ruling combine in terms of the scale of victory it can pull off and new territories it can conquer. The opposition’s stakes are higher still amid its reducing national footprint.

Exit polls have been, however, unanimous in their prediction that the NDA is closer to realising Modi’s ambitious target of “400 paar” for his alliance than the INDIA bloc is to crossing even the 180 mark, one-third of the total number of seats.

Though electoral verdicts have historically been accepted, even though grudgingly, by all parties, there has been a sharper edge to the questions being raised by opposition parties this time over the polling process, including the Election Commission (EC).

In the run-up to the counting, the campaign acrimony between the two battling camps has spilled over into the post-poll trading of accusations after the exit polls predicted a massive win for the incumbent alliance, a forecast summarily dismissed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as “Modi media poll”.

INDIA bloc leaders, who have been raising doubts over the electronic voting machines (EVMs), have accused the prime minister of sending a signal to the bureaucracy through these “fantasy” exit polls and marched to the EC, urging the poll watchdog to follow the counting guidelines.

In its counter-attack, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused its rivals of trying to undermine the integrity of India’s electoral process and asked the EC to prevent any attempt of “violence and unrest” during the counting of votes.

Modi framed the BJP’s campaign around the opposition’s “appeasement politics”, accusing the Congress and its allies of handing over a chunk of the reservation meant for the Other Backward Classes (OBC) to Muslims and allegedly eying people’s family assets to further its “redistribution of wealth” agenda.

The issues of national and cultural pride, the government’s welfare schemes and the overall political stability and economic growth also figured prominently in the speeches of BJP leaders, even though they were accused by the opposition of running a divisive and communal campaign to polarise votes.

The EC has dismissed the opposition’s attack on its conduct of polls, with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar daring it on Monday to share evidence of attempts to influence the polling process.   

The results will show if the Congress has it in its organisation and leadership to challenge the BJP amid its reducing footprint across the country since 2014. It has failed to get even the main opposition party status in two consecutive Lok Sabha polls and has been reduced to a pale shadow of itself in a number of states, especially in the Hindi heartland.
    
Its leaders, including president Mallikarjun Kharge and principal campaigner Rahul Gandhi, have claimed that their alliance will get 295 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha, marking an end of the Modi era.
    
INDIA bloc leaders believe that their alliance has been able to shape the poll narrative around its planks of welfarism and an alleged threat to the Constitution from an all-powerful saffron onslaught, and will get popular support.
    
Modi will equal the country’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s record of leading his party to three straight electoral victories if the BJP retains power.
    
An uncertain future also hangs over the fate of the Left, besides many regional parties including the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and YSR Congress, which are in power in West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh respectively.
    
Modi has spearheaded a concerted BJP push to gain further in strength in the two eastern states, where the party surprised everyone by emerging as the powerful second force in 2019, and the exit polls have suggested that it may topple the two regional parties from the top position in these polls.
    
Assembly polls were held in Odisha alongside the national election and the BJP and the BJD, which has been in power in the state since 2000 under Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s leadership, are locked in a fierce battle for power. Assembly polls were also held simultaneously in the YSRCP-ruled Andhra Pradesh.
    
Another issue that has drawn the limelight is whether the BJP will be able to emerge as a strong force in Tamil Nadu and the Left-ruled Kerala, two states where it has currently no seats but is predicted to win a few this time.
    
A poor show by the Left will further darken its prospects nationwide as Kerala is the only state where it remains a strong force after being knocked of reckoning in its former strongholds of Bengal and Tripura.
    
Always confident of his return to power, Modi has already penned an article about his vision for the country, posted on X about people’s support to the NDA and rejection of the opposition, and held a meeting with top officials on the “new government’s agenda” for the first 100 days.
    
The results are also expected to spell out the people’s verdict on the fate of regional stalwarts like Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray, whose parties have joined hands with the BJP and who have run an intense campaign to win over people’s support for their factions.
    
The verdict will also be out on a number of Union ministers, including Piyush Goyal, Bhupender Yadav, Sarbananda Sonowal and Dharmendra Pradhan, all Rajya Sabha members asked by the BJP to contest the polls, and former chief ministers, such as the BJP’s Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Basavaraj Bommai, Trivendra Singh Rawat and the Congress’s Digvijay Singh and Bhupesh Baghel.
    
Besides Modi, who contested the election from Varanasi for a third straight term, senior members of his cabinet, such as Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, are in the fray, and the margins of their win will be watched out for as well.
Health, National

Heatwave singes 90 per cent of country; 19,000 heat stroke cases, 46 deaths recorded

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Scientists have attributed the long heatwave to a persisting anti-cyclone — a large mass of wind with a flow reverse to that in a cyclone — over central India and strong dry northwesterly winds that, one scientist said, made the temperatures rise “higher and higher”

G.S. Mudur, TT, New Delhi, 03.06.24 : Over 90 per cent of India’s land area experienced heatwave conditions that lasted six to 16 days during May, a month that weather scientists say was marked by one of the most widespread heatwaves ever documented.

A new map released by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has shown that heatwaves gripped 27 of the country’s 36 meteorological subdivisions during May, sparing only the northeastern states and western coastal regions.
A nationwide disease and illness surveillance network maintained by the Union health ministry’s National Centre for Disease Control has recorded over 19,000 suspected heat stroke cases, including 46 confirmed heat stroke deaths, between May 1 and May 30.

Western Rajasthan, an arid region dominated by the Thar desert, had 16 days marked by heatwaves, defined by the IMD as days on which the maximum temperature exceeds 4.5°C from the long-term average for that region. The maximum temperature in Churu, a town known as a gateway to the Thar, had touched 50.5°C on Saturday, marking the highest maximum for this summer season.

“We’ve had slightly higher maximum temperatures in western Rajasthan in the past, but the geographic extent and the duration of the heatwave across the country this year distinguishes it from earlier years,” a weather scientist who requested anonymity said. “What we’re seeing is quite unprecedented.”

Eastern Rajasthan had 14 days of heatwaves, the second worst hit state measured in terms of the heatwave duration, followed by Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi with 12 days. Uttar Pradesh had 10 days of heatwave conditions, while Bengal had five days.

Scientists have attributed the long heatwave to a persisting anti-cyclone — a large mass of wind with a flow reverse to that in a cyclone — over central India and strong dry northwesterly winds that, one scientist said, made the temperatures rise “higher and higher”.

Earlier studies have suggested that the frequency and duration of heatwaves in India’s central and northwestern regions will rise significantly by four to seven extra heatwave days per decade.

“The heatwave we’ve seen over the past month is a taste of things to come in future years too,” said Suman Mor, professor of environmental sciences at Panjab University, Chandigarh, and co-author of a research review of heat wave trends in the country.

The review by Mor and her colleagues, published in the journal Heliyon earlier this year, had predicted that the likelihood of heatwaves “would increase dramatically in the near future for all districts” under intensified global warming.

The nationwide surveillance data from the NCDC has also recorded 605 confirmed cardiovascular deaths between May 1 and May 30. Experts say it is unclear yet what proportion of those deaths might have been triggered by exposure to extreme heat.

A multi-city study of heatwave mortality conducted by scientists at the Centre for Chronic Disease Control, New Delhi, had found that longer and more intense heat waves are linked to an increased mortality risk from all causes.
Crime, National, Politics

Delhi court sends Arvind Kejriwal to judicial custody till Jun 5

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PTI, New Delhi, Jun 2, 2024 :  A court here on Sunday sent Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to judicial custody till June 5 in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam.


Duty judge Sanjeev Aggarwal passed the order after the chief minister was produced before the court through video conference after surrendering at Tihar jail upon the expiry of his interim bail granted by the Supreme Court for campaigning in the Lok Sabha polls.

The judge passed the order on an application filed by the Enforcement Directorate, seeking extension of judicial custody by 14 days.

The application was moved by the ED on May 20 while Kejriwal was out on interim bail.

The court sent Kejriwal to judicial custody till June 5, noting that the judge concerned was scheduled to pass an order on his interim bail plea on health grounds on that day.
National, Politics

Cong, INDIA bloc trying to undermine electoral process, alleges BJP; urges EC to take action

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PTI, New Delhi, Jun 2, 2024 :  The Congress and its INDIA bloc allies are trying to undermine the integrity of India’s electoral process, the BJP alleged on Sunday and urged the Election Commission to prevent any attempts of “violence and unrest” during the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha polls on June 4.

    A BJP delegation comprising Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal also urged the poll panel to take cognisance of the “systematic attempts” being made to undermine the electoral process and initiate stringent action against those responsible.
    The delegation submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission (EC) in this regard.
    “We had to call upon the Election Commission today in light of the repeated attempts by a section of political parties, like the Congress and their INDI alliance partners, and also by certain motivated civil society groups and NGOs who are trying their level best to undermine the integrity of India’s electoral process,” Goyal told reporters after meeting EC officials.
    Their efforts against India’s “very robust” electoral process are a direct attack on the country’s democratic institutions and pose a risk to public order and trust in the electoral system, he said.
    The BJP delegation urged the EC to ensure enhanced monitoring and security measures are put in place during the counting of votes to prevent “any attempts at violence or unrest”.
    Earlier in the day, a delegation of opposition INDIA bloc leaders, including Congress’ Abhishek Singhvi, met the EC and urged it to ensure that all the guidelines, including declaring the postal-ballot results before the outcome of the EVMs is announced, are followed on June 4.
    Union minister Goyal said, “I think the mandate given by the people of India both in 2014 and 2019 and the likely mandate of the 2024 general elections expected on June 4 has unnerved the opposition parties and certain non-governmental organisations, so-called civil society groups, who cannot accept a popular leader of the masses who has delivered for the well-being of 1.4 billion Indians.”
    Exit polls on Saturday predicted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will retain power for a third straight term, with the BJP-led NDA expected to win a big majority in the Lok Sabha polls.
    Terming the exit polls “bogus”, the Congress on Sunday said they were a “deliberate attempt to justify rigging” of the elections and part of “psychological games” being played by Prime Minister Modi to lower the morale of the INDIA bloc workers. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi dubbed the exit polls as “Modi media poll”.
    Goyal said the BJP delegation urged the EC to ensure that every official engaged in the counting process is fully conversant with the “minutest details” of the exercise and engages diligently with all protocols of counting so that there can be no deviation whatsoever.
    The delegation also urged the poll panel “to ensure safety and security of the electoral process during the counting and announcement of results, including enhanced monitoring and security measures to prevent any attempts at violence or unrest”, he said.
    Goyal said the BJP delegation asked the EC to take cognisance of the “systematic attempts” being made to undermine the electoral process and take stringent action against those responsible.
    “We also urged the EC to issue a public statement affirming the integrity of the electoral process and warning against any attempts to disrupt the democratic process,” he added.
    Goyal lashed out at Gandhi for terming the exit polls “Modi media poll” and said the Congress leader has passed “very uncharitable comments about the media”.
    “I strongly condemn the effort to put pressure on the media, the effort to try and paint the media black and to undermine the work that the media is doing,” he told reporters.
    Those who are not able to accept Prime Minister Modi’s leadership and his government’s work in the last 10 years are continuously coming out with a toolkit to undermine India’s institutions, be it the Supreme Court, various regulatory bodies or the EC, he said.
    “The toolkit has now come out with a Delhi resolution of May 28, we don’t know who are the parties and the people behind this Delhi resolution, there are no signatories, no names but certain political parties tend to now support such an effort to undermine India’s democracy,” he charged.
    “This is a regular sinister attempt carried out by certain bodies in the guise of civil societies who are very often fronting for the opposition,” Goyal said adding, “The BJP and the NDA strongly condemn such efforts by the opposition parties and certain civil society groups.”
    The senior BJP leader said Indians are “extremely proud” that for 30 years now the country has had an unblemished track record in which elections are held in a free and fair manner.
    The world today looks up to India’s electoral system as one of the most robust, transparent and high-integrity election systems, he said.
    “We strongly condemn the Congress and the toolkit and their associates who are working against India’s interest and are damaging India’s credibility and India’s rich tradition of democracy across the world. We are proud of our electoral process,” Goyal said.
National, Politics

BJP returns to power in Arunachal Pradesh, secures 46 seats in 60-member assembly: EC

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 Votes were counted for 50 assembly segments for which elections were held in the northeastern state along with Lok Sabha polls on April 19, the rest 10 seats were won by the saffron party uncontested

PTI, Itanagar (Arunachal), 02.06.24 : The BJP on Sunday returned to power in Arunachal Pradesh for the third time in a row, as the party won 46 seats in the 60-member assembly and secured a majority, Election Commission officials said.

Votes were counted for 50 assembly segments for which elections were held in the northeastern state along with Lok Sabha polls on April 19. The rest 10 seats were won by the saffron party uncontested.

Of the 50 seats, the BJP secured 36 seats and Chief Minister Pema Khandu is one of the 10 candidates who won unopposed.

Taking to X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Thank you Arunachal Pradesh! The people of this wonderful state have given an unequivocal mandate to politics of development. My gratitude to them for reposing their faith in @BJP4Arunachal yet again. Our Party will keep working with even greater vigour for the state’s growth.” The PM also said, “I would like to appreciate the hardwork of the exceptional @BJP4Arunachal Karyakartas through the election campaign. It is commendable how they went across the state and connected with the people.” The saffron party had won 41 seats in 2019.


The National People’s Party (NPP) bagged five seats, while the People’s Party of Arunachal won two seats and the NCP secured three.

The Congress won one seat, and Independent candidates emerged victorious in three constituencies.
National, Politics

INDIA bloc leaders meet as count down to results begins; Kharge says grouping to get over 295 seats : TMC and PDP skip meeting

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PTI, New Delhi, Jun 1, 2024 :  Leaders of several INDIA bloc parties met on Saturday to take stock of the opposition’s preparations leading up to the June 4 counting of votes polled in the Lok Sabha elections, and claimed they will get more than 295 seats, enough for them to form the next government.

    Addressing the media after a two-and-a-half-hour confabulations here, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge asserted the INDIA bloc has arrived at the figure after feedback from people.

    Kharge said the leaders of the alliance met at his residence and dwelled upon a host of issues, including the precautions to be taken on the counting day on June 4. He said they have instructed their party workers to not leave the counting halls till all formalities are completed.

    He said the opposition parties have sought time from the Election Commission on Sunday to raise their concerns and urge the poll body to address them.

    The meeting began at Kharge’s residence this afternoon as voting in the last phase of the seven-phase general elections were underway for 57 seats. The counting for all the phases will be held on June 4.

    “The INDIA bloc will get more than 295 seats. We have arrived at this figure after speaking with all our leaders,” Kharge told reporters. “This is a survey of people. People have given this information to our leaders. The government surveys are there and their media friends also inflate figures and put it out. Therefore, we want to tell you about the reality,” the Congress president said.

    Targeting the BJP, he said, “They are trying to give a narrative through government exit polls and we want to tell the people the truth.”

    Senior leaders of the Congress, Samajwadi Party, CPI(M), CPI, DMK, JMM, AAP, RJD, Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP (Sharad Pawar) were present at the meeting.

    TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had already said they would not attend the meeting as polling was to take place in some Lok Sabha seats in the state. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti did not attend the meeting due to personal reasons.

    Opposition leaders who attended the meeting included Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, Anil Desai, Sitaram Yechury, Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann, Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chadha, Champai Soren, Kalpana Soren, T R Baalu, Farooq Abdullah, D Raja, Dipankar Bhattacharya, Jitendra Awhad and Mukesh Sahani.

    Congress leaders Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, K C Venugopal and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were also present at the meeting.

    Kharge said the leaders of INDIA parties met informally to take stock of the preparations leading up to the counting day. He said they discussed and analysed the feedback received from different sources.

    The INDIA bloc parties have also given instructions to their workers about Form 17 C — which contains the break-up of number of votes polled — and not to get out of the counting hall until he or she gets the certificate of election, he said.

    “The fight is still not over, and the leaders and workers of all the parties are extremely alert. I thank each one of them for their esteemed presence.,” he said.

    “We have fought the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 with all our might and are confident of a positive outcome, as the people of India have supported us,” he said in a post on X.

     Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that after taking feedback from everywhere “we believe that the INDIA bloc will win more than 295 seats, while the BJP will get around 220 seats. The NDA, meanwhile, will get around 235 seats. The INDIA bloc is moving forward to form a strong government.”

    Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav said, “The INDIA bloc is going to form the government. He (PM) has gone to see the sea and he has his back towards the people, who are now against him”.

     “The results are in favour of the INDIA alliance and the big thing is that the BJP is losing,” he said.

    Jharkhand CM Champai Soren said, “We (INDIA bloc) will do very well in Jharkhand and win more than 10 seats. The INDIA bloc is winning 295 seats.”

    “The people are winning, and INDIA will win. We have been saying that we will get 295-plus seats,” said RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav.

    Asked about who would be their PM candidate, he said, “We will decide about the rest together after June 4”.

    CPI-M’s Sitaram Yechury said a common minimum programme will be chalked out once the numbers come and that will be the basis of the new government.

    Meanwhile, the INDIA bloc parties also announced they will participate in the exit poll debates on TV this evening after the grouping’s top leaders met and deliberated on the issue.

    The development came a day after the Congress said it has decided not to participate in any Lok Sabha exit poll debates on television channels. The party does not want to indulge in speculation and slugfest for TRP, it had said.

    “After considering factors for and against participating in the exit polls, it has been decided by consensus that all the INDIA (bloc) parties will participate in the exit poll debates on television this evening,” Congress’s media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said in a post on X.

    In another development, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that Home Minister Amit Shah has been calling up district magistrates and collectors and indulging in “blatant and brazen” intimidation.

    “The outgoing home minister has been calling up DMs/Collectors. So far he has spoken to 150 of them. This is blatant and brazen intimidation, showing how desperate the BJP is,” he said in a post on X.

National, Politics

Arunachal Pradesh Assembly elections: BJP wins 13 assembly seats, National People’s Party wins one

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The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was leading in three seats, while the People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA) was ahead in two

PTI, Itanagar, 02.06.24 : The ruling BJP won 13 Assembly seats in Arunachal Pradesh while the National People’s Party (NPP) got one, officials said on Sunday.

The counting of votes for the 50 Assembly seats began at 6 am on Sunday.
The saffron party had already won 10 seats in the 60-member assembly unopposed. Elections to the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly were held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls in the first phase on April 19.

Tesam Pongte of BJP won from Changlang North defeating his nearest rival Dihom Kitnya of NPP by a margin of 2,002 votes, while the party’s candidate Wangki Lowang won from Namsang seat defeating his nearest rival Ngonglin Boi of NCP by 56 votes.

Balo Raja of BJP won from Palin constituency defeating his nearest rival Mayu Taring of NPP by 5,040 votes.

Hayeng Mangfi of BJP won from Chayang-Tajo seat defeating his nearest rival Kompu Dolo of Congress by a margin of 6,685 votes. Mangfi retained the seat.

Chakat Aboh of BJP won from Khonsa West by defeating her nearest rival Yang Sen Matey of NCP by 804 votes. She retained the seat.

BJP’s Tsering Lhamu won from Lumla constituency defeating her nearest rival Jampa Thirnly Kunkhap of Congress by a margin of 1,531 votes. Lhamu retained the seat.

Puinnyo Apum of BJP won from Dambuk constituency defeating his nearest rival Raju Tayeng of People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA) by a margin of 222 votes.

BJP candidate Rode Bui won Dumporijo seat defeating his opponent Tabe Doni of NPP by 1,591 votes. Bui retained the seat.

Ealing Tallang of BJP won from Seppa East seat defeating Tame Gyadi of Congress by 5,600 votes.

BJP’s Mahesh Chai won the Tezu-Sunpura seat defeating NPP candidate Karikho Kri by a margin of 2,805 votes.

Rotom Tebin of BJP won from Raga constituency defeating Ajay Murtem of NPP by 2,934 votes.

NPP candidate Pesi Jilen won from Liromoba defeating his opponent Nyamar Karbak of BJP by a margin of 1,698 votes.
National, Politics

Several exit polls predict big win for BJP-led NDA in LS elections

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‘Opportunistic INDI Alliance’ failed to strike chord with voters, says PM 

PTI, New Delhi, Jun 1, 2024 : Several exit polls on Saturday predicted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will retain power for a third straight term, with the BJP-led NDA expected to win a big majority in the Lok Sabha polls. 

The ruling alliance in all likelihood will open its account in Tamil Nadu and Kerala and sweep Karnataka but may see a fall in its tally in states like Bihar, Rajasthan and Haryana, according to these pollsters. 
The Republic TV-P Marq poll claimed that the ruling alliance will win up to 359 seats and the opposition INDIA bloc will bag 154 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha. 
The Republic TV- Matrize poll gave 353-368 seats to the NDA and 118-133 seats to the Opposition. 
The Jan Ki Baat poll gave 362-392 seats to the ruling NDA and 141-161 to the Opposition alliance. 
The India TV-CNX gave them 371-401 and 109-139 seats respectively, while the corresponding tally predicted by News Nation was 342-378 and 153-169. In the 2019 polls, the BJP won 303 seats, while the NDA tally was 353. 
The Congress had bagged 53 seats and its allies 38. The ‘INDIA’ bloc was formed by Opposition parties to take on the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections. 
After the seventh and last phase of voting ended on Saturday, Modi exuded confidence that people have voted in record numbers to re-elect the NDA government and said the “opportunistic INDI Alliance” failed to strike a chord with the voters who rejected their “regressive politics”. 
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge told reporters after a meeting of the Opposition INDIA bloc that the alliance will win more than 295 seats. 
“We have arrived at this figure after speaking with all our leaders. This is a survey of people. People have given this information to our leaders. The government surveys are there and their media friends also inflate figures and put it out. 
Therefore, we want to tell you about the reality,” he said. BJP president J P Nadda, however, asserted that people have voted for a capable, powerful, developed and self-reliant India and to put aside appeasement, nepotism and corruption, exuding confidence that his party will win more than 370 Lok Sabha seats and the NDA over 400. 
The counting of votes will take place on June 4.Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday exuded confidence that people have voted in record numbers to re-elect the NDA government and said the “opportunistic INDI Alliance” failed to strike a chord with the voters who rejected their “regressive politics”.
Modi said the people have seen his government’s track record and the manner in which its work has brought about a qualitative change in the lives of the poor, marginalised and downtrodden. “India has voted! 
A heartfelt thank you to all those who exercised their franchise. Their active participation is the cornerstone of our democracy. Their commitment and dedication ensures that the democratic spirit thrives in our nation. 
I would also like to specially appreciate India’s Nari Shakti and Yuva Shakti. Their strong presence at the polls is a very encouraging sign,” Modi said in a series of posts on X. 
The Prime Minister said he can say with confidence that the people of India have voted in record numbers to re-elect the NDA government 
A few other exit polls, including those from Axis My India and Today’s Chanakya, were yet to forecast the full results by 8.40 pm. 
The counting of votes will take place on June 4.
Crime, National, Politics

Prajwal Revanna arrested on his arrival, remanded to police custody till June 6

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Revanna on Friday was remanded to police custody till June 6, by a Court in Bengaluru over the obscene videos case
Prajwal being taken to a hospital for medical examination under tight security, in Bengaluru, on Friday,  

PTI, Bengaluru, May 31, 2024 :  Suspended JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna, facing sexual abuse allegations, was remanded to police custody on Friday, hours after he was arrested by a special team upon his return from Germany.

A special court in the city remanded him to police custody till June 6. Prajwal was arrested in the wee hours of Friday by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), minutes after he landed here past midnight from Germany. He had left the country on April 27.

In a clear messaging early in the day, a team of women police personnel ‘welcomed’ Prajwal Revanna upon his arrival here, as they were deputed to execute a warrant and take him to the CID office for interrogation.

After evading summons and staying out of the country for a little over a month, the 33 year-old grandson of JD(S) supremo and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda landed here from Germany’s Munich, only to be arrested by the SIT minutes later and whisked away for questioning. He had issued a video statement earlier this week, stating he would appear before the SIT on Friday.

Prajwal was later produced before the 42nd Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate K N Shivakumar, who heard the remand application and objection argument from Prajwal’s advocate. He later remanded Prajwal to police custody.

The NDA Lok Sabha candidate from Hassan, facing allegations of sexually abusing several women, was arrested after completing the due process, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said.

Prajwal’s advocate said the former was extending full cooperation to the SIT probe and cautioned against any media trial in the case.

“Prajwal Revanna landed around 12.40-12:50 am from Germany’s Munich. As there was an arrest warrant against him, SIT accordingly arrested him and took him into custody,” Parameshwara said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, “…naturally he should have cooperated to the arrest. His immigration papers were cleared and he was brought out (of airport). As he had a diplomatic passport, things happened easily. After completing all the due process, he was arrested,” he added.

Asked if the government will appeal to more victims to come forward following his arrest, Parameshwara said, “We have already said, those who have faced trouble from him to come forward and give complaints to SIT and police, and we will provide them all kind of protection. We will have to wait and see further developments.”

The SIT, sending out a message, deputed an all-woman police team to execute the warrant against Prajwal. Soon after he alighted from the plane from Munich, he was received by women in Khaki, SIT sources said.

During the procedure of executing the arrest warrant, he was flanked by the women police personnel who were led by two IPS officers, Suman D Pennekar and Seema Latkar. He was then taken in a jeep in which only women police were present. They took him to the CID office.

“It was a conscious call to send women officers to arrest Prajwal, sending home a message that the JD(S) leader exploited his seat and power as an MP with women. The same women have authority to arrest him through all legal proceedings,” a source in the SIT said.

There was also a symbolic message to the alleged victims that women officers were not afraid of anyone, the source added.

The MP was later taken for medical examination under tight security. Escorted by female police officials, he was taken to Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital here.

The SIT is also contemplating a potency test on Prajwal. A potency test is done to ascertain if a rape accused is capable of committing sexual assault on victims.

Meanwhile, Prajwal’s advocate, met him earlier.

“I went to speak to him. He has told to the media that he has come forward to cooperate with the investigation. So he has requested that there be no media trial. Let there be no negative campaign unnecessarily,” advocate G Arun said.

“Prajwal said — I have come forward, the whole purpose of me coming to Bengaluru or before SIT is that I have to stand by my words. I have come forward. I will give the fullest cooperation — these are his words,” he added.

Prajwal had on May 29 filed an anticipatory bail plea at the Principal City and Sessions Court for Elected Representatives, which issued a notice to the SIT to file objections before posting the hearing for Friday.

In the first case registered against him at the Holenarasipura Town police station in Hassan on April 28, Prajwal is accused of sexually harassing a 47-year-old former maid. He is listed as accused number two, while his father and local MLA, H D Revanna, is the primary accused. Prajwal has been so far booked in three cases of sexual assault. There are also charges of rape against him.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has served a show-cause notice to Prajwal, asking him why his diplomatic passport should not be cancelled as sought by the Karnataka government in view of allegations of sexual abuse against him.

Deve Gowda had recently issued a ‘stern warning’ to Prajwal, asking him to return to the country and face probe into the sexual abuse allegations, while asserting there will be no interference from him or other family members into the enquiry.

The JD(S) supremo had reiterated that his grandson should be given the harshest punishment under the law “if found guilty”.

    JD(S) has suspended Prajwal Revanna from the party following the allegations.
National, Politics

Modi performs ‘Surya Arghya’ at Vivekananda Rock Memorial

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PTI, Kanyakumari, May 31, 2024 :  Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the second day of his meditation on Friday, performed ‘Surya Arghya’ at the time of sunrise at the Vivekananda Rock Memorial, here.


Modi carried out ‘Surya Arghya,’ a ritual associated with spiritual practice involving salutations to the Almighty, manifest in the form of sun and offered prayers with folded hands.

A short video clip, ‘Sunrise, Surya Arghya, Spirituality,’ posted by the BJP on its ‘X’ handle showed the PM pouring little water from a traditional, beaker-like small vessel into the sea as an offering (Arghya) and prayed using his prayer beads (Japa mala).

The BJP also posted photographs of the Prime Minister, clad in saffron shirt, shawl and dhoti, engrossed in meditation at the Dhyan Mandapam, where incense sticks, in front of him, could be spotted burning slowly. Modi also walked around the mandapam with his japa mala in his hands.


Photographs of Modi in meditating posture have been apparently clicked during different times and similar is the case of video clips.

In view of the PM’s stay, senior DMK leader and Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan alleged that tourists are not allowed in that area which has seriously affected the local businesses and ‘we have pointed out that this is not good.’ Also, the vicinity has been declared out of bounds for ships and aircraft, he claimed during his interaction with journalists.

Tamil Nadu Congress president K Selvaperunthagai, in a post on ‘X’, taunted Modi over release of video clips and photographs by the BJP that show him meditating. “How many angles! how many videographers! Swami Vivekananda is silent,” the Congress leader said in his post.

Kanyakumari is famous for its sunrise and sunset and the memorial is located on a tiny islet near the shoreline. At the Vivekananda Rock Memorial, the PM embarked on meditation on the evening of May 30 and he is scheduled to complete it on the evening of June 1.
National, Politics, West Bengal

Last phase of LS polls in 57 seats today, Prime Minister in fray

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Counting of votes to take place on June 4 
PTI, May 31, 2024 : Fifty-seven seats across seven states and the Union territory of Chandigarh will go to polls in the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha elections on Saturday that include Varanasi, from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a third consecutive term.

Polling is scheduled in all 13 seats of Punjab and four of Himachal Pradesh, 13 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight in Bihar, six in Odisha and three seats in Jharkhand besides Chandigarh. Polling for the remaining 42 assembly constituencies of Odisha and bypolls to six assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh will also take place simultaneously.

Other prominent candidates among the total 904 contestants in fray are Union minister Anurag Thakur, Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee, Lalu Prasad’s daughter Misa Bharti and actor Kangana Ranaut.

Over 10.06 crore citizens, including nearly 5.24 crore men, 4.82 crore women and 3,574 third gender electors are eligible to vote in this phase.

Saturday’s voting will mark the end to the marathon polling process that began on April 19 and has already covered 486 Lok Sabha seats in 28 states and Union territories. The assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim also went to polls. Counting of votes will be taken up on June 4. In Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, the counting for the assembly polls will be held on June 2.

According to Election Commission guidelines, television channels and news outlets will be able to run exit poll data and its results on June 1 after 6.30 pm.

The EC said polling parties have been dispatched along with machines and poll materials to their respective polling stations. At the 1.09 lakh polling stations, basic facilities including ample shade, drinking water, ramps, and toilets are being provided to ensure that polling takes place in a comfortable and secure environment, it said. The poll panel has also directed CEOs and state machineries to take adequate measures to manage the adverse impact of hot weather or rainfall wherever predicted.

The commission called upon voters to turn out in greater numbers and vote with responsibility and pride. The turnout in the first six phases was 66.14 per cent, 66.71, 65.68, 69.16, 62.2 and 63.36 per cent respectively.

The campaigning for the last phase which ended Thursday evening saw BJP leaders led by Modi accusing the Congress and the INDIA alliance of being corrupt, anti-Hindu and engaging in loot, appeasement and dynastic politics.

The Opposition parties have been claiming that the BJP is anti-farmer, anti-youth and will change and scrap the Constitution if they win the elections.

On Thursday evening, Modi headed to Kanyakumari where he is meditating till June 1 at the site associated with Swami Vivekananda. Modi had 206 public outreach programmes, including rallies and roadshows, since the Election Commission announced the Lok Sabha election schedule on March 16.

The parliamentary seats where polling will take place in Uttar Pradesh are Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Bansgaon (SC), Ghosi, Salempur, Ballia, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur and Robertsganj (SC), spread across 11 districts.

Uttar Pradesh is a seeing a direct contest between the BJP-led NDA and the coalition of INDIA bloc members Samajwadi Party and Congress.

From Chandauli, Maharajganj and Mirzapur, Union ministers Mahendra Nath Pandey, Pankaj Chaudhary and Anupriya Patel respectively are contesting. Late Mukhtar Ansari’s brother Afzal Ansari is in the fray from Ghazipur and former prime minister Chandrashekhar’s son Neeraj Shekhar is contesting from Ballia.

In Varanasi, those contesting against Modi are Ajay Rai (Congress), Ather Jamal Lari (BSP), Kolisetty Shiva Kumar (Yuga Thulasi Party), Gagan Prakash Yadav, (Apna Dal, Kameravadi), and independents Dinesh Kumar Yadav and Sanjay Kumar Tiwari.

The polls in South Bengal, a traditional TMC stronghold, will test the party’s dominance amid an ‘old versus new’ power struggle, with the national spotlight on Sandeshkhali in Basirhat due to allegations of atrocities on women and land grabs.

The seventh phase will cover Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jayanagar, Mathurapur, Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur, Kolkata Dakshin, and Kolkata Uttar, where the TMC secured victories in the 2019 elections.

TMC heavyweight Abhishek Banerjee, considered the party’s de facto number two, is contesting from Diamond Harbour. Banerjee’s performance in this seat, which the TMC touts as a ‘model constituency’, will be closely watched as the opposition attempts to paint it as a ‘laboratory of violence’. The two-time MP faces CPI (M)’s Pratikur Rahaman and BJP’s Abhijit Das in a three-way contest.

The minority-dominated Basirhat Lok Sabha seat, and specifically the Sandeshkhali segment, is a microcosm of the broader electoral battle as it garnered national attention due to allegations of atrocities on women and land grabs by local TMC leaders.

The BJP has capitalised on these issues by nominating Rekha Patra, a prominent local protestor, against TMC veteran Haji Nurul Islam. The CPI (M) has fielded former MLA Nirapada Sardar, making this a three-cornered contest.

In Punjab, prominent candidates in the fray are four-time MP Preneet Kaur, former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, three-time MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Ravneet Singh Bittu.

The BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal are contesting the polls on their own for the first time since 1996 while two INDIA bloc parties – the Congress and AAP – have fielded their own candidates.

The prestige of Ranaut and Himachal Pradesh minister Vikramaditya Singh Singh, the heir of the erstwhile Rampur royal family and son of six-time former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, is at stake in Mandi.

Stakes are also high for Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Thakur, who is seeking a fifth term from Hamirpur, and former Union minister Anand Sharma, who is the Congress candidate from the Kangra Lok Sabha constituency, while for Sukhu, the six assembly bypolls are for survival and stability of his 17-month-old government.

In Bihar, Union minister RK Singh is aiming at a hat-trick from Arrah, where his principal challenger is Sudama Prasad, a sitting MLA of the CPI(ML) Liberation.

In Patna Sahib, veteran BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad is aiming at a second consecutive Lok Sabha term. His principal challenger is Congress spokesman Anshul Avijit, son of former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and grandson of Jagjivan Ram.

In Pataliputra, Misa Bharti is trying her luck for the third time. BJP MP Ram Kripal Yadav is aiming at a hat-trick.

Karakat is witnessing a multi-cornered fight which is being most talked about because of Bhojpuri superstar Pawan Singh, who is contesting as an Independent. Singh entered the fray after having earlier turned down a BJP ticket from Asansol in West Bengal. The move has led to his expulsion from the party.

Upendra Kushwaha, a former Union minister who heads the Rashtriya Lok Morcha, had won the seat in 2014 but lost it five years later upon quitting NDA. He is hopeful of wresting the seat back following return to the BJP-led coalition. The CPI(ML), which has a strong presence in the area, has fielded Raja Ram Kushwaha, a former MLA and farmer leader. The pitch has been queered further with the AIMIM fielding Priyanka Chaudhary, a Zila Parishad member. 
National

3 killed, thousands affected by floods in Manipur

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(Photo Courtesy: Morung Express)

PTI, 30 May 2024 : Three persons were killed while thousands were affected by floods triggered by heavy rain in Manipur’s Imphal valley, officials said on Thursday.


A 34-year-old man was killed and three others were injured in a landslide caused by heavy rain at Thonglang road in Senapati district on Wednesday. An 83-year-old woman drowned in the overflowing Senapati river, officials said.

In Imphal a 75-year-old man died of electrocution on Wednesday when he came in contact with an electric pole during rain, they said.

The overflowing Imphal river inundated several areas, with water entering hundreds of houses in Imphal valley, as a result, people took shelter at nearby community halls, they said.

Flooding was reported from at least 86 areas in Imphal West district, including Khuman Lampak, Nagaram, Sagolband, Uripok, Keisamthong and Paona areas due to the overflowing Nambul river, they added.

“Due to incessant rainfall, the bank of Imphal river has been breached near Keirang, Khabam and Lairiyengbam Leikai areas in Imphal East district and water gushed into several areas, inundating hundreds of houses.


“Several areas in Heingang and Khurai assembly constituencies in Imphal East district have been badly affected, with floodwater at chest level in many parts,” an official said.

A team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) arrived in Imphal by a special Air Force flight around 10 pm on Wednesday to lead the rescue operations, officials said.

Chief Minister N Biren Singh said, “Due to breach in riverbank in several areas, many people and livestock have been affected. All authorities concerned, including state government officials, security and NDRF personnel and local volunteers, are working tirelessly to provide assistance to the affected people. Those stranded are being relocated to safe areas by boats.”


Meanwhile, the Irang Bailey bridge on NH 37, which connects Imphal and Silchar, collapsed in Taobam village in Noney district, disrupting road communication, officials said.

In a statement, the SP office of Imphal East district said, “In view of the incessant rains during the past few days, a number of places have been inundated. The police department along with other agencies are helping in the rescue of stranded people. It is hereby appealed to the public to not hamper rescue operations by coming out in large numbers and crowding the place.”
Crime, National, Politics

Delhi court issues notice to ED on CM Kejriwal’s pleas for bail in excise policy case

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PTI, New Delhi, May 30, 2024 :  A Delhi court on Thursday issued notice to the ED on Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea seeking regular bail in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam.

Special Judge Kaveri Baweja, who initially directed the central probe agency to file its response to Kejriwal’s plea by Saturday, later fixed the matter for June 7 after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sought more time to respond.

The judge, however, directed the ED to file its response by Saturday on Kejriwal’s another plea seeking interim bail for a week on medical grounds.

Kejriwal is currently out on interim bail, granted by the Supreme Court, in the case till June 1.

The Supreme Court registry on Wednesday refused urgent listing of Kejriwal’s plea seeking extension of his interim bail by seven days for undergoing certain medical tests, saying since he was given liberty to move the trial court for regular bail, the plea was not maintainable.

The AAP leader had sought extension of his interim bail by seven days to undergo a host of medical tests, including a PET-CT scan, in view of “sudden and unexplained weight loss coupled with high ketone levels”, which are indicative of kidney, serious cardiac ailments and even cancer.

The chief minister, in his fresh plea filed before the apex court on May 26, said he wanted to surrender before the Tihar jail authorities on June 9 instead of June 2, the scheduled date for his return to prison.

The top court had on May 10 granted 21-day interim bail to the chief minister to enable him to campaign during the Lok Sabha polls.

    It had directed him to surrender on June 2, a day after the last phase of the seven-phase poll gets over.

    The matter relates to the alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government’s now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22.

National, Politics

Anticipating INDIA bloc victory, women rush to open India Post accounts to get Rs 8.5k per month

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PTI, 29 May 2024, Bengaluru : An otherwise silent General Post Office in Bengaluru is witnessing an unprecedented rush of women hurrying to open India Post Payment Bank accounts, anticipating a monthly deposit of Rs 8,500 into their accounts if the INDIA bloc comes to power at the Centre.


The elections are still in the process but women, largely from the minority communities sporting burqas, stood in long queues to open the account.

Some of them believed that opening the IPPB account would ensure that they get Rs 8,500 per month.

A woman said she stood in the queue early in the morning itself. Another said everyone in her neighbourhood was saying that money would start coming from the day the account is opened, so she too came to open an account.

Most of the women the news agency spoke to were from Shivajinagar, Chamarajpet and surrounding places in the city. Talking to reporters, Chief Post Master of GPO Bengaluru H M Manjesh said people have been coming to the office to open IPPB accounts in the belief that the Department of Post would credit Rs 2,000 or Rs 8,500 into their accounts. 

“Actually it is a rumour. Somebody has spread this rumour. The department will not pay any amount to them. However, this account can be used for any type of online transaction or even Direct Benefit (Transfer) scheme,” Manjesh clarified. He said that the department has already informed the customers about this. 

“We have displayed some posters also. In spite of that, customers are requesting that we open IPPB accounts for them.” There was such a rush that more counters were opened outside the GPO building, under the open sky, he added.

“Earlier we used to open 50 to 60accounts in a counter. Now we have made separate arrangements. We have brought our postmen for this purpose and regularly we are opening around 500 to 600 accounts, sometimes even 1,000 accounts in a day,”Manjesh said. 

According to sources in the department, this rush has been witnessed for the past three days. It is learnt that some Congress MLAs spread the rumours, believing which the women made a beeline for the GPO. The MLAs said that the women will start getting money after June 4 “when the INDIA bloc will come to power”. 

The Congress has made a promise to launch the Mahalakshmi scheme under which Rs 8,500 will be directly credited into the account of women heads of families belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL) category. It is similar to the Gruha Lakshmi guarantee scheme started by the Karnataka government in which Rs 2,000 is paid to women heads of BPL families.  
Health, National

Heatwave strikes Delhi, maximum temperature highest in 79 years

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PTI & Agencies, 29 May 2024 : Amid the intense heatwave in northern India, several cities on Wednesday witnessed temperatures well above 45 degrees Celcius. 


Delhi’s Mungeshpur on Wednesday logged a maximum of 52.9 degrees Celsius, the highest ever temperature recorded in the city, even as the India Meteorological Department said it is examining sensors and data of the area’s weather station for error.

Delhi’s primary weather station Safdarjung Observatory on Wednesday recorded a maximum temperature of 46.8 degrees Celsius, the highest in 79 years, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data. It was 46.7 degrees Celsius on June 17, 1945.

Apart from the national capital, several places in Northern India are also reeling under the sweltering heat with temperatures hovering close to 50 degrees Celsius.

Here is a list of 10 other hottest places in India today:
Haryana’s Mahendragarh- 49.4 degrees Celsius
Delhi’s Najafgarh- 49.1 degrees Celsius
Haryana’s Rohtak- 48.8 degrees Celsius
Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj- 48.8 degrees Celsius
Punjab’s Bhatinda – 48.5 degrees Celsius
Uttar Pradesh’s Agra- 48 degrees Celsius
Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior- 48 degrees Celsius
Haryana’s Rohtak- 47.7 degrees Celsius
Rajasthan’s Alwar- 47.5 degrees Celsius
Uttarakhand’s Dehradun – 43.1 degrees Celsius

The national capital and large swathes of north India have been reeling under heat wave conditions for the past few days, with at least three weather stations here — Mungeshpur, Narela and Najafgarh — recording nearly 50 degrees Celsius even on Tuesday.

Delhi’s primary weather station Safdarjung observatory on Wednesday recorded a maximum temperature of 46.8 degrees Celsius, the highest in 79 years, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data. It was 46.7 degrees Celsius on June 17, 1945.

On the temperature at Mungeshpur, the IMD, however, said it is examining sensors and data of the weather station for the area. “The maximum temperature over Delhi-NCR varied from 45.2 degrees Celsius to 49.1 degrees Celsius in different parts of city. 

Mungeshpur reported 52.9 degrees Celsius as an outlier compared to other stations. It could be due to error in the sensor or the local factor. 

IMD is examining the data and sensors,” the department said in a statement.

In a post on X, Minister of Earth Sciences Kiren Rijiju said, “It is not official yet. Temperature of 52.3 degrees Celsius in Delhi is very unlikely. Our senior officials in IMD have been asked to verify the news report. The official position will be stated soon.” Other areas of the city also sizzled with maximum temperatures recorded at 49.1 degrees Celsius in Najafgarh, 49 degrees Celsius at Pusa and 48.4 degrees Celsius at Narela, according to the data.

The temperatures soared in the national capital as hot winds blew into the city from Rajasthan, according to officials.

In the evening, there was a sudden change in weather, with drizzle in some parts of the city. However, this could increase the humidity level, compounding the unease for people as forecast shows heat wave and hot weather condition not relenting in the coming days. Delhi’s relative humidity oscillated between 43 per cent and 30 per cent during the day, according to the IMD. The city has been witnessing a steady rise in temperatures in the final days of May.

For Thursday, the IMD predicted partly cloudy skies with heatwave conditions in a few places along with the possibility of thunderstorms and dust storms accompanied by very light rain and drizzling with gusty winds at speeds of 25 to 35 kmph.

Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena directed that a paid break from 12 noon to 3 pm be given to labourers, along with water and coconut milk at construction sites, as he flagged the “lack of sensitivity” on the part of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Hitting back, Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the AAP government was making heatwave preparations even before the LG office became active and urged Mr Saxena to “give up negativity”.

Mr Saxena directed that the three-hour break for labourers has been implemented by the Delhi Development Authority since May 20 and will continue across all sites till temperatures come down below 40 degrees Celsius, according to a letter sent to Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar by the principal secretary to the Lt Governor.

The Delhi government announced that a fine of ₹ 2,000 will be imposed on water-wasting activities like washing vehicles with a hose and using domestic water supply for construction and commercial purposes amid unprecedented summer heat.

Water Minister Atishi has directed the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to deploy 200 teams across the city to prevent wastage of water.

The extreme summer heat also pushed Delhi’s peak power demand to an all-time high of 8,302 MW on Wednesday afternoon, officials said.

It is the first time in the history of the national capital that its power demand has crossed the 8,300-MW mark. Power distribution companies had estimated the power demand to peak at 8,200 MW this summer, the discom officials said.

The threshold for a heatwave is met when the maximum temperature of a weather station reaches at least 40 degrees Celsius in the plains, 37 degrees in the coastal areas, and 30 degrees in the hilly regions, and the departure from normal is at least 4.5 notches.

A severe heatwave is declared if the departure from normal exceeds 6.4 notches.

In a forecast released, the IMD has urged “extreme care for vulnerable people” due to the heatwave.

Explaining the reason behind the scorching heat in the outskirts of Delhi, Mahesh Palawat, Vice President of Meteorology and Climate Change at Skymet Weather, said: “In open areas with vacant land, there is increased radiation. Direct sunlight and lack of shade make these regions exceptionally hot.” Palawat added that when wind blows from the west, it affects these outlying areas first in Delhi contributing to rise in temperature.

Kuldeep Srivastava, the regional head of IMD, said the city’s outskirts are the first areas to be hit by hot winds from Rajasthan.

“Parts of Delhi are particularly susceptible to the early arrival of these hot winds, worsening the already severe weather. Areas like Mungeshpur, Narela and Najafgarh are the first to experience the full force of these hot winds,” he said.

Open areas and barren land are contributing to higher temperatures due to increased radiation, said IMD’s Charan Singh.