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Orissa|55 pc
AP|65 pc
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Pollspeak |
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up|50 pc
N-E|60-70 pc
Chhattisgarh|51 pc
Bihar|46 pc
Ex-servicemen boycott voting
Maoists disrupt polling in Orissa
Bride, groom rush to cast vote
4 Shiv Sainiks held for damaging EVMs
State of Parties
Jamshedpur
Sikkim: 7 in fray for LS seat
Politico-insurgent nexus in Manipur
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Orissa|55 pc Reeling under Naxal threat, Orissa today recorded the lowest poll percentage for Lok Sabha elections in the past 38 years. The state had been maintaining an average voter turnout of 60.15 throughout the elections to 10 Lok Sabhas from 1971 to 2004. In the last general election of 2004, it witnessed 66.06 per cent voting, which was down today to 55 per cent. Naxal-infested Malkangiri (Nawarangpur LS segment), Koraput and Sunderarh districts registered the lowest voter turnout at 41, 45 and 49 per cent, respectively. Kandhamal sprung a surprise by touching 55 per cent polling, along with the sensitive Rayagada, Sambalpur and Sonpur districts at 58 per cent, 50 per cent and 57 per cent voting, respectively. Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s home district Ganjam also hovered at a lower level with 53 per cent polling. Surprisingly, south Orissa’s Nawarangpur LS segment - one of the most affected Naxal areas -- saw maximum voting today at 60 per cent, except its assembly segment Malkangiri, where Naxals snatched EVMs from four polling booths. Chitrakonda Assembly segment (also in Nawarangpur) and Bonai segment of Sundergarh parliamentary constituency in north Orissa also witnessed Naxal attacks. The left-wing extremists fled with EVMs from one booth in each of these segments here. In Chitrakonda, they also burnt a jeep; there were unconfirmed reports that CPI (Maoist) cadres had burnt three polling stations in Koraput LS segment, where no one turned up to vote in four polling booths. Naxal threat also prevented polling in six booths of Kalahandi parliamentary constituency. Rayagada district (under Koraput LS segment) witnessed boycott in 14 booths - with people in six booths of Gunpur Assembly area protesting lack of development; those in eight booths of Rayagada assembly segment who boycotted polls wanted ST status for the local Jhodia tribe. That apart, Naxals proved to be the single largest dampeners in Orissa’s largely upbeat poll spirit (especially in south Orissa districts of Koraput and Malkangiri). Both these areas recently saw audacious extremist attacks. While one candidate was killed in Malkangiri a week ago, Koraput’s Nalco bauxite mining site was attacked only four days ago by Naxals, killing four in their cadres and 11 CISF men. “Today, one poll party had to return from Malkangiri due to Naxal threat. There was also this fear of landmine blasts though no casualties were reported. We just lost one micro observer who suffered a cardiac arrest in early hours,” Orissa chief electoral officer Alka Panda said. Jagdish Nayak, the dead micro observer, was assistant manager with SBI at Rajgangpur here. Despite the Naxal fear today, no booth capturing incident was reported, thanks to heavy security deployment -- 49 central police force companies (BSF, RAF, CRPF and CISF) across the state - 18 in Kandhamal alone. In all, 70 assembly and 10 LS segments went to polls today, with 12,650,750 electors (6,442,008 of them males) on rolls.
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AP|65 pc
Hyderabad, April 16 Barring minor incidents of violence and allegations of rigging, the polling was peaceful across Telangana region, including the state capital, and the north coastal belt. The Election Commission ordered re-polling in 17 polling stations at Aiza village in Mahaboobnagar district after a group of villagers damaged Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and attacked the election staff and policemen. They were protesting against inclusion of their area in Alampur Assembly constituency in the delimitation process. In another incident of violence, Hyderabad MP and president of Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) Asaduddin Owaisi was caught on camera beating up activists of a rival party during polling in old city area. The state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) IV Subba Rao said an inquiry would be ordered into the incident. The outcome of the first phase polling will be keenly watched as it will reflect the mood of the voters in Telangana region on the demand for separate state. The backward region, accounting for 119 seats in the 294-member Assembly and 17 out of a total of 42 Lok Sabha seats, holds key to the future shape of the government. Among the prominent Lok Sabha candidates in fray for the first phase are Union Ministers S Jaipal Reddy, Renuka Chowdary and D Purandareswari, Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president K Chandrasekhara Rao, film actress Vijayashanthi and state BJP president B Dattatreya. The ruling Congress is facing a formidable rival in Telangana region in the four-party opposition alliance, comprising the Telugu Desam Party, TRS, CPI and CPM. The Praja Rajyam Party of superstar Chiranjeevi is facing its maiden electoral test. Tight security arrangements were made for the polling with deployment of over 60,000 policemen and 123 companies of paramilitary forces. Four helicopters were used to ferry men and material to inaccessible areas. As many as 315 candidates were in the fray for the Lok Sabha and 1,833 candidates for Assembly seats that went to polls today. The Election Commission has pressed into service 72,973 EVMs. The second and final phase of polling will be held on April 23, covering the remaining 20 Lok Sabha and 150 Assembly constituencies in south coast and Rayalaseema region.
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up|50 pc
Lucknow, April 16 An average of approximately 47 per cent polling was registered for the 16 seats that went to poll during the first phase today. Salempur in Deoria district registering the lowest 41 per cent, while Chandauli and Mirzapur were the highest. Among the urban constituencies, Varanasi had 44 per cent polling while the other city Gorakhpur had a high 49 per cent polling equal to neighboring Maharajganj. According to Chief Electoral Officer AK Bishnoi, around 80 complaints were received but none were found to be correct. They were mostly related to non-functioning EVM machine, skirmishes at polling stations, etc. Around 14 EVM machines had malfunctioned but were repaired in time so that polling was not adversely impacted, claimed the CEO. The election tracking mechanism set up by the state Election Commission with phones, mobile phones at every polling station and booth levels was put to test today. “We received around 1,000 calls from 715 villages,” informed Bishnoi. Around 2.49 crore voters from 13 districts exercised their franchise to elect 16 candidates out of a total of 271. Around 4,200 micro observers and 1.29 polling personnel were on duty today.
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N-E|60-70 pc
Guwahati, April 16 Election was held in total 10 parliamentary constituencies in the region, including three in Assam, two each in Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya and one each in Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram. According to sources in election department in these states, the polling remained by and large peaceful though there was apprehension about militants trying to disrupt the proceedings, especially in Manipur and in one constituency in Assam. The voters turn out was estimated to be around 60 to 70 per cent in different states, barring Mizoram where the people did not show much enthusiasm in participating in the polling. Re-polling was ordered in one polling station under Tuensang legislative assembly segment in Nagaland after miscreants had damaged the EVM. Elephants were used to carry poling materials and personnel in some areas in Assam and Meghalaya while country boats were used for eight polling stations in Cachar district under Silchar Parliamentary constituency. In view of disruption of railway services in a portion of Silchar constituency affected by insurgency, poling officials and materials were carried on railway trolley between Chandranathpur and Bandakhal Railway stations under Borkhola legislative assembly segment I Silchar Constituency. Returning officer Gautom Ganguly informed that the BSF personnel manning the India-Bangladesh border facilitated hassles free their entry of these people to Indian territory in time for casting their votes. These tiny hamlets on Indian citizens remained outside the border fencing because of the rule as agreed upon by the two countries that the fencing can’t be constructed within 150 meters of the Zero Line between the two countries.
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Chhattisgarh|51 pc
Raipur, April 16 According to official figures, 51 per cent voting was recorded in 20,967 polling booths by the time polling ended. Officials said the figures may go up after the data were collected from many far off polling booths. State electoral officer Sunil Kumar Kujur said the state’s Durg, Korba and Raigarh constituencies recorded the highest average of 55 per cent each, followed by Bilaspur, Rajnandgaon, Mahasamund and Jangir with 53, 52, 51 and 50 per cent, respectively. — IANS
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Bihar|46 pc
Patna, April 16 The outlawed Naxal outfits attempted to attack security forces at other places, too, but the alert paramilitary personnel of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the BSF foiled their attempts by their superior fire power. They also blasted two land mines at Narganjo under the Jamui parliamentary constituency and a jeep carrying the district JD(U) president came under its impact injuring him and two other party men. Gun battle between armed Naxals and the ITBP and the BSF personnel were reported from booth no. 241 and 250 at Chordaha under the Gaya Lok Sabha constituency. An encounter between the Naxals and BSF men had also been reported from booth no. 16 at Koriyaru under Rohtas district of the Sasaram parliamentary constituency. However, there were no casualties from either side. A heavy exchange of fire took place between the ITBP personnel and the Naxals when the ultras attacked the polling party returning after conclusion of polls from booth no. 91 and 92 at Sono under the Jamui Lok Sabha constituency. The police had to open fire to chase miscreants wanting to disrupt polling at Kutumba under the Auranabad constituency. Amidst all these skirmishes between the Naxals and security forces, around 46 per cent voters cast their polls on an average. The lowest polling has been reported from Gopalganj (SC) constituency which also happens to be the native district of Railway Minister and RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. Briefing mediapersons after conclusion of polls today, DGP DN Gautam and principal secretary (Home) Afzal Amanullah informed that just after an hour when the polling began, an armed squad of Naxals attacked booth no. 244 located at a Govt. School at Sindhupur under Bankebazaar police station of Gaya district. Three armed home guards and one jawan of the District Armed Police (DAP) were deployed there to provide security. The ultras shot dead DAP jawan BK Chaudhary and one of the home guards Ramdev. The other two home guards immediately surrendered before them. Amanullah said the armed home guards were deployed at the said booth in Naxal belt in violation of the standing instructions from the state administration not to deploy them in ‘red zone’. The state administration had taken a serious exception to this lapse, and the guilty officials would be hauled up for it after the elections are over. Although, the DGP and the home secretary did not disclose the number of Central Para-Military Force (CPMF) deployed in the 13 constituencies.
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Ex-servicemen boycott voting
Maoists disrupt polling in Orissa
Bride, groom rush to cast vote Kochi: Wedding rituals did not come in the way of a newly married couple exercising their franchise at a polling booth hereon Thursday. The bride, Aswathy, dressed in a red sari and decked in gold ornaments, came to the Sreenarayana Higher Secondary School polling booth at Vaduthula along with her groom, Unni soon after exchanging wedding vows at a temple. The couple said instead of the usual practice of visiting the groom's house for 'grihapravesham', they had decided to vote first and then continue with the wedding rituals.After casting their respective votes, the couple left for the groom's residence. — PTI
4 Shiv Sainiks held for damaging EVMs
Mumbai: Four activists of the Shiv Sena were arrested for disrupting polling at the Hingoli Lok Sabha constituency, police said on Thursday. The four activists were arrested from Babulgaon village when they entered a polling booth and began damaging the electronic voting machines there. Polling staff called in the police who took the four into custody. Voting was resumed shortly afterwards, police said. Hingoli is seeing a tough contest between Union Minister of State for Rural Development Suryakanta Patil of the NCP and the Shiv Sena's Subhash Wankhede. —
TNS
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State of Parties
Chandigarh, April 16 The euphoria was generated following generous announcements made by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for various sections of society during the Budget session of the Assembly. But in their wisdom those who matter in the Congress did not take a call on the proposal for premature Assembly elections and the party preferred to participate in the Lok Sabha elections with a fully working government and not a caretaker Chief Minister. The party took such a long time in selecting its candidates that much of the sheen was lost by the time it finalised its nominees. Reports of hectic lobbying by various factions and the virtual stand-off between Hooda and his Finance Minister Birender Singh for the Sonepat seat and between him and his Minister of State for Tourism Kiran Choudhry for the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh seat did dent the party image. The Congress cause has been clearly damaged by Trojan horses like its Urban Local Bodies Minister AC Chaudhary, who not only submitted his resignation from the Cabinet but also from the post of senior vice-president of the party to AICC chief Sonia Gandhi in protest against what he called the “denial of the ticket to the Punjabi community”. He has not relented yet and is openly proclaiming that he would not support Congress nominee from Faridabad Avtar Singh Badhana. He has the support of at least two more MLAs from Faridabad, firebrand Karan Singh Dalal and mild Mahendra Pratap Singh. To be fair to them, they had told the party high command in unambiguous terms that they would not support Badhana if he were given the ticket. Faridabad is not the only place where the Congress nominee is facing dissidence. In Hisar, where sitting MP Jai Prakash Barwala is pitted against heavyweight Opposition leaders like former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal and former Finance Minister Sampat Singh, he is facing open opposition from party MLA Chhattar Pal Singh, who is out to teach him a lesson. The only difference is that while in Faridabad the dissidence is very visible, at other places, the dissidents are sulking and may not work whole-heartedly for the party. Among such seats are Ambala, Kurukshetra, Bhiwani-Mahendragarh, Karnal and Gurgaon. Since some of the MLAs may not find a seat to contest during the next Assembly elections as their present constituencies have either been reserved or abolished by the Delimitation Commission, such MLAs are in search of new homes (read parties), which can accommodate them. They have nothing to lose even if the party high command acts tough with them. The Assembly elections are just a few months away. It will be a challenge for the Chief Minister and the party high command to keep the dissidence within manageable limits, forget about controlling the dissidents. If they are able to do so, the Congress is not badly placed in Haryana.
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Jamshedpur
Jamshedpur, April 16 Taking this into consideration, the BJP has fielded its star tribal leader and former Chief Minister Arjun Munda. Suman’s husband Sunil Mahto, a prominent leader of the JMM, had won the seat in 2004, but was later gunned down by the MCC. In the byelection following his death, Suman was fielded, who won the elections on sympathy wave. Besides, JMM chief Sibu Soren’s son Durga Soren is busy creating a rift between the Congress and the JMM, which has added to the BJP’s confidence. The local BJP co-convener of Munda’s election management, Lalan Dwivedi, said: “Our strength is Arjun Munda himself. He is efficient and has a clean image. Meanwhile, Suman Mahto is essentially a housewife and has hardly been seen in public after winning the elections.” However, contrary to Dwivedi’s claims it seems the very choice of Munda seems to be going against the BJP, which has a traditional base vote of Bhumihars, Rajputs and large sections of urban upper caste population in this cosmopolitan town. “There are five reserved seats in the state. Why isn’t he (Munda) contesting from one of them? He should have left a general seat for people like us who cannot contest from reserved constituencies,” said Ravindra Rai, a local who seemed to have sympathy for JVM candidate Arvind Singh. Even Dwivedi agrees that Arvind Singh is formidable. He is popular because he has spent from his pocket to get development work done in his assembly constituency, which forms a part of the Jamshedpur parliamentary constituency. What he left unsaid was the sympathy of the BJP voters and sympathisers with a Bhumihar Arvind Singh. Such is the level of disenchantment among the BJP workers over the choice of the candidate that in the middle of the day the main camp office of the party was shut and Dwivedi had to be summoned by neighbouring shopkeepers to meet a Delhi journalist. It took quite some time to locate the closed BJP office, demonstrating the general apathy of the people. This is notwithstanding the fact that both LK Advani and Rajnath Singh have addressed rallies here. In normal circumstances, it should have been a cakewalk for Arjun Munda in Jamshedpur. However, the fact that Suman Mahto is the lone serious rival to Munda her vote bank of Adivasis, Muslims and Christians have nowhere else to look with no Congress or RJD candidate here.
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Sikkim: 7 in fray for LS seat
Gangtok, April 16 Among other prominent candidates, SHRPP president has entered into the ring from Yangthang and Soreng-Chakung assembly constituencies in West Sikkim, SNPP president Biraj Adhikari has filed his nomination from Chujachen and Rhenock assembly constituencies in East Sikkim. NCP president Ashok Tsong is contesting from Arithang and Namcheybung assembly constituencies in East Sikkim, while the SGPP president GM has filed his nomination from Upper Tadong assembly constituency in East Sikkim. — PTI
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Politico-insurgent nexus in Manipur
Guwahati, April 16 The Outer Manipur constituency that covers the hill districts infested with Naga and Kuki militant groups went to polls today while the Inner Manipur constituency comprising the valley areas will go to polls on April 23 in the second phase. “It is a state where numerous insurgent groups are active. These groups invariably try to cast their spell in all elections. So, there is need for adequate deployment of forces for the conduct of election as well as to check movements of militants,” Defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Mishra said. In Manipur, the insurgents try to influence election so that candidates of their choice get elected. These elected candidates then provide funds for insurgents in a vicious cycle. This alleged nexus then leads to the siphoning off of development funds through politicians and other sources in the administration to militants’ coffers. It happens in all other insurgency hit states in the region, including Nagaland and Assam. A Congress minister in Assam, Dr Himanta Bishwa Sharma, in the run up to current elections accused the rival AGP and BJP leaders of having nexus with a peace negotiator appointed by ULFA . The minister presented call details of the ULFA negotiator to expose leaders of the AGP and the BJP, who had close ties with him. In the run up to 2001 Assembly election in Assam, a spurt in violence triggered by ULFA left 40 political activists, including a BJP candidate, dead and at least 50 others, including an AGP candidate, injured. The Congress came back to power in the state after 2001 polls. The AGP and the BJP accused the Congress of winning that election with ULFA’s help. “Since the 1991 elections, political parties have taken the help of ULFA to win elections. In fact, no party has come to power in Assam since 1991 without the help of ULFA and the people of Assam know that,” said Mrinal Hazarika, leader of the pro-talk faction of ULFA. In view of alleged insurgents-politicos nexus that led to draining of development funds, the Union Home Ministry had set up an Advisory Group on the North eastern states to recommend necessary steps to curb flow of development funds to militant groups. The group in one of the observations says that politicians in power require slush money that comes from state funds, extortions through commissions on supplies and recruitments, to pay off insurgents as well as to keep MLAs on their side for survival of unstable governments. The group further observes that insurgency helps getting money from the Central government. Such a situation leads to parallel system of governance both by insurgents, ministers, MLAs, bureaucracy and the police. Without the help of politicians in power, insurgents in Manipur, Nagaland wouldn’t have been able to carry out daylight extortions from goods-carrying trucks on highways. Insurgents obviously need friendly politicians in power.
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Pollscape
Twirling a lock of his shoulder-length hair, Suleiman (name changed) who goes by the name Sulekha stared at a pocket mirror. Checking the lipstick shade twice over, he sighed: “I want to vote - but what good will it do to me? How will it help my community?” Sulekha is a eunuch from Seelampur in east Delhi. He is one of the 7,000-odd eunuchs in the capital. “I do not have a voter card. How can I when I don’t even know my identity? There is nothing that can be done for me or my kind,” he said. His friend and fellow eunuch Mangala (Mangal), a peer-outreach officer with NGO Sahara’s transgender project, cut in: “What do you mean? We are a part of society!” Mangala has a voter’s identity card and a ration card. —
IANS Bizarre adoration
In a bizarre display of adoration, an ardent fan of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy has cut his tongue as an offering to the God seeking victory for the ruling Congress in the elections. Thirty-year-old C Mahesh from West Godavari district resorted to this act at Venkateswara temple here on Wednesday. A profusely bleeding Mahesh was later rushed to a hospital, where he has been undergoing treatment. This was not the first time that Mahesh had resorted to such a bizarre act. On the eve of the 2004 elections, he had slit his tongue praying for Reddy to come to power. An active member of the Congress, Mahesh had earlier worked in the Telugu film industry as an assistant director till 2004 before moving to his native district.
—TNS Crematorium road to LS
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Poll buzz
SURAT: The city BJP unit has alleged that Congress candidate from Surat Dhiru Gajera has been employing children to campaign for him for the Lok Sabha elections on April 30. BJP leaders have alleged that Gajera paid the children a pittance after making them work for the entire day. “Making children work for election propaganda and that too for the whole day for a nominal amount is not good,” BJP leader Kishore Vankawala said. —
PTI Scindia booked
LALITPUR (UP): An FIR has been lodged against Congress candidate from Guna constituency Jyotiraditya Scindia for allegedly violating the model code after a helicopter flying him landed on a ground here without prior official permission. Scindia had allegedly landed his helicopter at Chaandmaari ground here without prior permission from the district administration, the police said on Thursday. — PTI Puducherry seat
Puducherry: Filing of nominations for the lone Lok Sabha seat in Puducherry will begin on Friday. District Election Officer and Returning Officer of Parliamentary constituency G Ragesh Chandra said here on Thursdday that the notification to set the poll process in motion will be issued on Friday. The polling for the seat is scheduled in fifth and last phase of elections on May 13. The last date for filing of nominations is April 24, Chandra said. —
PTI
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Voter’s guide
Can the name of a star campaigner(s) be substituted in the list of star campaigners (leaders) after it is submitted to the poll commission?
No. The substitution of a name is permitted only in cases where a person mentioned in the list dies or ceases to be a member of the political party concerned or otherwise Can a candidate who has been declared a star campaigner by a political party be considered a star campaigner in the constituency from where he is contesting an election? No. In his own constituency, he is a candidate first.The expenditure incurred by him within his own constituency will be booked against his poll expenditure |
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Kochi: About 50 inmates of the Sainik Ashram at Kakkanad, who had voting right in Ernakulam Lok Sabha constituency, boycotted elections by not casting their franchise, as a mark of protest against the 'failure' of the authorities in repairing the road at the ashram. Col KBR Pillai, founder and president of the Kerala Ex-Servicemen Welfare Assocation, which runs the ashram, said the oldage home falls under the Thrikkakkara panchayat and the authorities did not bother to repair the road, which connects the ashram with the main road, despite several memorandums.The Ashram has 60 inmates and some of them are living with their wives.
—PTI
Bhubaneswar: At least seven polling booths, EVMs and two vehicles were set on fire by Maoists in the Chitrakonda and Kalimela areas in Orissa's Malkangiri district, disrupting the first phase of Lok Sabha and Assembly polls today. Maoists also looted EVMs and other election materials at gunpoint from a polling booth in Karada under the Bonai area of Sundargarh district, sub-collector (Bonai) SC Mishra said. There was an exchange of fire between the CRPF and the Maoists in the morning at Mahupada, about 40 km from Rourkela in Sundargarh district. Rourkela SP Santosh Bala said a police team rushed to the spot. "The situation is normal and polling was held peacefully." Voting was virtually nil in several booths in Kalimela, Padia and Korkunda in Malkangiri as people stayed away because of Maoist threat, officials said. Boycott of elections by voters over local issues affected polling in over 24 booths in Rayagada, Deogarh, Sambalpur, Ganjam, Nuapada and Sundargarh districts. — PTI
There are many ways to reach the Lok
Sabha, Rajan Yadav prefers the way that leads through the crematorium.
Yadav, seeking election from Gorakhpur to the hallowed corridors of power as an Independent candidate, has set up an office at the city’s “shamshan ghat” (crematorium), while his rivals prefer to operate from state-of-the-art election war rooms. He even moves around on a real “arthi” (a bamboo structure used for carrying bodies) to muster support from voters, who stare at him in disbelief and tell him that they are definitely in no hurry to ride with him. “I have adopted this method of campaigning as by this I could meet maximum number of people without spending money, which I don’t have. At least 20-30 bodies accompanied with 80-100 persons come here for cremation everyday and I personally meet each person and try to convince them to vote for me,”
Yadav, who has an MBA in international business from Gorakhpur University, said. —
PTI