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Baramulla Punjab A security man stands guard as electors await their turn to vote at a booth in Jalandhar. — PTI |
I am not finding fault with Kumaraswamy for not informing me or taking my consent to meet Sonia Gandhi. As I have been down with fever and away at Hassan, my son could not contact me. Don’t forget, he was the state Chief Minister and is the party’s state president It is good that the Congress has realised that the Left parties are part of the secular grouping. The Congress has started having a realistic approach. It is a good sign |
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I’ll not quit politics even if I lose: Jaya Prada TN: 65 pc West Bengal: 75 pc Enthusiastic Kolkatans throng booths
In UP, Pilibhit records highest voting percentage Divided by years, even opinion, but not polls apart
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Baramulla Baramulla/Kupwara, May 13 A keen triangular fight in the constituency between the NC and PDP contestants besides Lone meant supporters of these candidates, who enjoy solid vote banks in their respective segments, made a determined bid to elect their leader to the Parliament. Brisk polling was seen in the Kupwara district, where Lone family wields major influence. The general disinterest shown by the voters in previous two phases seemed distant as large queues could be seen at most places barring separatist hotbeds like Sopore and Baramulla towns. “I had lot of respect for Sajjad’s father Lone Sahab (Abdul Gani Lone). His son is a strong boy and I want him to win,” Majid Sheikh, an octogenarian voter, said at a booth in Handwara. Kupwara district has been traditionally notching up the highest polling percentage in the Valley, and the fact that NC candidate Sharief-ud-Din Shariq and Lone hail from here brought many more voters than the previous election in 2004. “Chowdhary Ramzan, a senior NC leader and local MLA, has done a lot of work in the area. So, we want to ensure NC’s victory,” a group of youths lined up outside a booth in Handwara town said. Many booths like this one located in Boys’ Higher Secondary School had recorded over 55 per cent polling by 2 pm. Another booth in Handwara located in a girls’ school saw Lone and Chowdhary Ramzan coming to cast their vote, much to the joy of their supporters. At some distance in Rafiabad, which was represented in the Assembly by PDP candidate Dilawar Mir for several times before he suffered a shock defeat by a young NC leader in the previous election, party supporters chanted slogans and urged locals to cast their votes. “It’s a close fight. Every vote counts,” Mohammad Aslam, a PDP worker, said.
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Punjab Bathinda, May 13 People of this part of Punjab take with a pinch of salt the government claim of uninterrupted power supply even after the results are declared. Not only here, people in other parts of the state for over a month had uninterrupted power supply that they had earlier enjoyed only on the day Sukhbir Singh Badal was inducted Deputy Chief Minister. With the mercury rising, short-duration cuts have already begun, particularly in rural areas that have made people sceptical of the things to come. Punjab is far short in generating power to meet demand of the state and is dependent on other sources. However, Congress Campaign in charge Amarinder Singh in his election rallies was stressing that uninterrupted power supply was an election strategy of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and things would return to the square one with 8 to 10-hour-long power cuts after the counting of votes. Shortly before the announcement of elections, the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) had ordered 24-hour electric supply for Bathinda and other towns where thermal power stations are located. Before that, residents of Bathinda faced frequent power cuts coupled with high pollution of fly ash from chimneys of outdated thermal station. Chairman, PSEB, HS Brar said, “Uninterrupted power supply is in no way connected with the ongoing elections. We have tied up with various sources for making adequate electricity available to the state even after the elections to meet peak demand in summer”. Brar clarified that breakdowns occur to save the power system from collapse when there is extra load. Abohar: Though members of the SAD-BJP alliance, including the CM and the Deputy CM, had announced 24-hour electricity supply before the day of notification of the election schedule, PSEB officials were prompt to inform the small-scale units through the media not to expect any relief during the peak hours and weekly off schedule. Sudesh Setia, a merchant at Dhrangwala village of Balluana, says the PSEB had restored power cuts a few hours after the polling was over on May 7. This has hit sale of soft drinks as refrigerators and deep freezers are not operating properly. Ferozepur, Fazilka: The power scenario in rural areas of this border belt has started worsening, while consumers in urban areas are apprehensive of more power cuts after the final round of Lok Sabha polls. A majority of the farmers and domestic consumers in border villages who are dependent on agriculture claim power supply was better than previous years till May 7 when polling for this constituency was held. More power is needed at the time of transplantation of paddy. (With inputs from Rajay Deep, Raj Sadosh, Anirudh Gupta and Parful Nagpal)
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I’ll not quit politics even if I lose: Jaya Prada
Rampur (UP), May 13 "I want to make it clear that under no circumstances will I leave politics even if I suffer a defeat," Jaya Prada told reporters in this parliamentary constituency, about 200 km from state capital Lucknow. Accusing senior SP leader Azam Khan of hatching a political conspiracy against her, she said he had been making every attempt to see her defeated. And for this he had even supported her rival and Congress candidate Begum Noor Bano. She alleged that Azam Khan --- who had fallen out with the SP leadership after the party joined hands with BJP rebel Kalyan Singh and was seen to be working against Jaya Prada --- had distributed obscene posters and CDs on her in the constituency to malign her image. "It was part of Azam's political conspiracy.... It depressed me and even made me think of committing suicide. However, with the support of my family I overcame the depression and decided to give a befitting reply to Azam by winning the election." Asked what action should the party take against Azam Khan, Jaya Prada said: "This decision must be left to senior party functionaries."On Sunday, Amar Singh had said at an election rally that Jaya Prada --- who had got leading Bollywood actors to campaign for her - could commit suicide in case she was defeated. —
PTI
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TN: 65 pc Chennai, May 13 AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa alleged booth capturing and sabotage of electronic machines in a few booths in Central Chennai, where DMK workers clashed with the cadres of the Manitheya Makkal Katchi, a Muslim outfit. Incidents of violence were reported from Dindigul, Madurai and Cuddalore and voting was delayed for more than an hour in about 50 booths in the city due to the malfunctioning of EVMs. Voters queued up in large numbers and serpentine lines were seen in front of many polling booths even before the clock struck 8 and voting was brisk before the closing of the polls. The polling was dull in the afternoon due to the scorching heat. Speaking to reporters after voting Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M Karunanidhi said the Congress-led UPA would form the government at the Centre after the Lok Sabha poll. Karunanidhi, who came to the booth around 9 am, said, “It will be again a Congress-led government at the Centre.” AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa, after
voting, complained about the “manipulation” of electronic voting machines across Tamil Nadu
and “bogus voting” in the Central Chennai constituency. While Tamil superstar Rajinikanth cast his vote, another star, Kamal Hassan, was not able to vote since his name had been deleted from the voters' list. State Chief Electoral Officer Naresh Gupta refrained from commenting on allegations that money was distributed among voters during the nearly three-hour “power cut” in some parts of Chennai last night. Chennai Corporation Commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni said the technical snag in voting machines was rectified immediately. Director-General of Police K P Jain said the polling took place peacefully with no law and order problems in any part of
the state. After visiting a polling booth with Police Commissioner K Radhakrishnan, he said: "The situation is under control and no untoward incident has been reported across the state". He said a CB-CID inquiry had been ordered into the power cut last night.
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West Bengal: 75 pc Kolkata, May 13 State chief electoral officer Debasish Sen said brisk polling was reported towards the end. Sen said in some areas where elections could not be conducted, following problems in EVMs, the re-polling would be held tomorrow and the EC was finalising the list of the booths after getting reports from the observers. The fate of 100 candidates, including that of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata South, former Union Minister and BJP candidate Tapan Sikdar in Dum Dum and CPM candidate Amitava Nandy in the same seat were sealed in EVMs. Veteran Jyoti Basu could not exercise his franchise for the first time today since 1952 because he fell down from his bed in the morning and had to be hospitalised. According to the PTI, a CPM local leader was shot dead allegedly by Trinamool Congress supporters in Joynagar (SC) Lok Sabha constituency in South 24-Parganas district, while 14 persons were injured in clashes in North 24-Parganas and South 24-Parganas districts. The police said Zainal Mollah was shot at Narayanpur in South 24-Parganas district and succumbed to injuries in hospital. A voter was killed and two others injured when a vehicle carrying polling personnel, ploughed through them at Kalyani in Nadia district, the CEO said. Meanwhile, alleging that the CPM resorted to rigging, terror tactics and false voting in many constituencies, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee said, “We are grateful to the people because they resisted the rigging and terror by the CPM and voted.” She alleged that her party general secretary Mukul Roy was attacked while “Marxists goons opened fire at Joynagar and Halisahar.” Meanwhile, Left Front chairman Biman Bose rubbished Trinamool Congress' allegations of rigging by CPM cadre and said Mamta Banerjee suffers from rigging phobia.
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Enthusiastic Kolkatans throng booths
Kolkata, May 13 Paramilitary personnel stood guard at all voting stations in the metropolis where every booth had been declared sensitive, but polling was peaceful. ”Voting is peaceful so far. There have been no major or minor incidents yet,” Jawed Shamim, Deputy Commissioner (detective department) of city police, told IANS.Polling booths were crowded at around 8 am, one hour after voting started for the five parliamentary constituencies in and around Kolkata --- Jadavpur, Barashat, Dum Dum, Kolkata South and Kolkata North. Over 6.6 million people were eligible to vote. “We went to cast our vote early to avoid long queues,” said Rathin Banerjee, who came with his family to cast his vote in a booth at Ballygunge under the Kolkata South constituency where Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee is a heavyweight candidate.It was a pleasant day in Kolkata with After spending weeks on gruelling campaigns to woo the electorate, it was time for the city's political VIPs to vote themselves. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, and Communist Party of India-Marxist leaders members Brinda Karat and Biman Bose cast their votes in the first half of the day. After coming out of the booth, Karat said: "This is a very good trend that people are coming out in numbers in the morning to vote." Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee was busy at her ‘election control room’ in Kalighat. Her aides were seen coming in and out of the room as complaints poured in from her party candidates. Allegations and counter-allegations of bogus voting and intimidation have continued to fly since morning.Tension prevailed in many pockets. Trinamool Congress nominee from Kolkata North Sudip Bandopadhyay reportedly had altercations with CPM activists twice, but police intervened to defuse the situation. Many first time voters also exercised their franchise. A homemaker, Latika Ghosh, who came with two of her sisters-in-law to vote at a Tollygunge booth under the Jadavpur seat, said: “We have come early as we have to do our household chores once we return. It is a holiday for our husbands. We will have a feast.” —
IANS
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In UP, Pilibhit records highest voting percentage Lucknow, May 13 With an event-free final phase of polling for the 14 seats concluding today the massive exercise to elect 80 representatives to the Lok Sabha spread over five phases in the state finally came to an end. According to the Chief Electoral Officer A.K. Bishnoi the state today registered an overall 52.7 percent polling which may go up to 54 percent. This is a drop from the overall percentage (54.3) for the same seats in 2004. Even during the 2007 assembly election the polling percentage for roughly these seats was 57.7 per cent. While Pilibhit registered the highest voter turnout the lowest (47) per cent votes was witnessed at mother Maneka Gandhi’s constituency of Aonla next door. However the overall lowest percentage in the entire five phases was seen in capital Lucknow during the third phase on April 30 when only 34.5 per cent voters braved the scorching heat to come out and vote. In Bijnore, a bizarre incident was reported today at polling station no 239 under Haldaur police station when a mentally unstable person Bijendra smashed the EVM machine by dropping it on the floor. He was immediately arrested. Six personnel on poll duty in Shahjehanpur were injured when the truck carrying them to their respective areas of duty lost control and hit a tree. News of boycotting of elections was also reported from four places in Rampur and six in Shahjehanpur.
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Divided by years, even opinion, but not polls apart
How his day started Sohan Singh woke up today like everyday at 6 am and started his day with prayers for his son and four other family members, including mother, who were killed in the hay days of militancy by the police. Goes to his field to feed his buffalos before coming to vote Was he looking forward to cast his vote? Yes. He said: “I have realised that the solution to any problem comes from dialogue and not the barrel of the gun. I have lost my entire family, my son, mother and many more to bullets fired by the police. I want there should be an elected representative who can hear our grievances and help us resolve them to avoid people taking to the gun. Has his life changed from the days of militancy? Earlier, I was picked up by the Punjab police and taken from one police station to another and tortured to reveal the whereabouts of my son. However, now no one bothers me. I wake up and sleep as I want. Is he voting for a party or a candidate? Every political party has distanced itself from him because he is the father of a “once dreaded militant”. But for the first time, the SAD personally came to seek his vote. So, he has decided to oblige the “panthic” candidate. Lucky to be alive “I consider myself lucky to be alive and around to cast my vote,” he says. “The day four members of my family were killed and my house set on fire, I was in police station detained for questioning about an attack on a police officer. “If I were home, I too would have been killed along with others,” he said.
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Pollscape Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati continues to shun the media as much as she avoids any direct contact with the public. A leading media baron-cum-celebrated journalist moved heaven and earth to get an appointment with Mayawati but to no avail. While every other political neta was more than ready to spend quality time with the renowned journalist, Mayawati not only refused to give an interview but also declined to meet him for a few minutes at the venue of one of her rallies in Uttar Pradesh. “She feels that if she meets one journalist, others would feel discriminated against,” was the curt reply of a member of her inner coterie. —
IANS For those living in the badlands of western Uttar Pradesh, it was a big surprise when the polls went off peacefully on Wednesday contrary to the volatile image of the region that was the backdrop for the film “Omkara”. “It is one of the most peaceful Lok Sabha elections that we have witnessed. We were all very surprised,” said Mohammed Umar, a local businessman, who lives in Rampur. There were long lines of people lining up to vote in the constituency. Violence had been feared in Rampur, which has been in the news for the wrong reasons. — IANS
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Poll Buzz BHOPAL: Meenakshi Natarajan, Congress candidate from Mandsaur for the current Lok Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh, has set an example for other nominees by returning Rs 20 lakh to the party as it was left after all the expenditure on her electioneering. “This is the first case that any candidate from Madhya Pradesh has returned the balance money to the party,” Congress sources said here on Wednesday. Party high command had allotted a sum of more than Rs 75 lakh, including Rs 25 lakh, as declared fund to 28 candidates each for the parliamentary elections, they said. — PTI Losing interest
THRISSUR: Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Vayalar Ravi on Wednesday attributed decline in poll percentage in the Lok Sabha elections to the “indifference” among the middle-class and youth. Inaugurating the yearlong birth centenary celebrations of veteran freedom fighter and Congress leader VR Krishnan Ezhuthachan, he said this indifference did not augur well for a healthy democracy and the country’s stability and economic growth. —
PTI No-vote option
CHENNAI: Nearly 100 persons “affected” by the land acquisition made for expansion of the Chennai airport on Wednesday recorded their protest by making use of a relevant section in the election procedure 49 (0) - not casting vote for any particular candidate - during the Lok Sabha elections held here on Wednesday. S Karthikeyan, a resident of Tharapakkam, one of the areas which has been earmarked for land acquisition for the project, said he and the other protesters preferred not to vote “to express anger against the government.” — PTI Courageous act
MOGA: The Dalit woman who was raped and was admitted in the local Civil Hospital since May 8 was allowed to cast her vote in her native village Ghalkalan on Wednesday. At the intervention of Punjab State Scheduled Caste Commission member Dalip Singh Pandhi, the woman was taken by the police from the hospital to Ghalkalan and after exercising vote there she was again taken back to hospital. —
PTI
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How good a fight separatist-turned-mainstream politician, Sajjad Lone, has put up in Baramulla constituency may be known only on May
16
Now that polling for Lok Sabha elections in Punjab is over, the fear of long power cuts returning after the counting of votes haunts residents of urban and rural areas.
Kolkata, May 13
Name: Sohan Singh
Name: Sukhpreet Kaur