By Sumi Khan

Dhaka, Aug 2 (SocialNews.XYZ) At least 21 police personnel, including the in-charge of Baharchhara police outpost, have been suspended in connection with the killing of a retired Bangladesh Army officer, Deputy Inspector General, Chattogram Range, Khandaker Golam Faruq said on Sunday.

Retired Army officer Sinha Md Rashed was killed in alleged police firing on Marine Drive road in Teknaf on Friday night.

Superintendent of Police A.B.M. Masud Hossain on Saturday said that two people were arrested and two separate cases were lodged in this case.

Meanwhile, the three-member probe committee constituted by the Bangladesh Home Ministry has been asked to submit a report in the next seven days. Cox's Bazar's Additional District Magistrate Shajahan Ali has been made the convener of the committee.

Rashed was allegedly killed by Police Sub-Inspector Liaqat at a check post at Shaplapur along the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf Marine Drive road, when he was returning after a documentary film shoot.

Police claimed that they have found Yaba and hemp pills in Rashed's car. Besides, local and foreign-made liquor was found in his hotel room.

As per intelligence reports, the officer took voluntary retirement from the Bangladesh Army in 2018. Since his retirement, he has been making various kinds of documentaries for a Youtube channel called "Just Go."

It was stated in the preliminary report that he was making a travel documentary for the YouTube channel. He took three students of the Department of Film and Media of a private university of Dhaka with him.

They went to different mountainous areas of Teknaf in Cox's Bazar district for the shooting on July 3. Following a month of shooting, Rashed was returning by car to Cox's Bazar with a student accompanying him.

They were stopped at Shamlapur BGB Checkpost but allowed to go when BGB personnel confirmed their identities.

But, when they reached Shamlapur Police Checkpost at about 9 p.m., Liaqat stopped their car. When Rashed identified himself, SI Liaqat asked him to leave, but then allegedly fired at Rashed thrice, leading to his death.

Student Sifat, who was accompanying Rashed, was detained and taken to the Baharchhara Information Centre.

Source: IANS

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By Sumi Khan

Dhaka, Aug 1 (SocialNews.XYZ) A 48-year-old college professor and leader of the ruling Awami League party was hacked to death by some unidentified bike-borne miscreants at Tangail's Gopalpur area, the police said on Saturday.

The deceased identified as Aminul Islam Talukdar Nixon was an assistant professor in the Department of Social Science in the Lion Nazrul Islam Degree College.

According to Madhupur police station officer-in-charge (OC) Tarek Kamal, the incident took place on Friday night when Aminul was returning to his home in Dhanbari village after holding a meeting with other leaders of his party. As he reached near the bridge in Ajgora village, some armed miscreants allegedly attacked him with knives.

Soon after the incident, the locals admitted him to the Madhupur hospital, where he was declared brought dead.

Aminul was the General Secretary of the Hadia union unit of the ruling Awami League in Gopalpur.

Further probe is on, the police said.

(Sumi Khan can be contacted at sumikhan29bdj@gmail.com)

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, July 21 (SocialNews.XYZ) Even as the Indian Railways plans to introduce the first set of 12 private trains in 2023, followed by 45 more in the next fiscal, according to an initial timeline drawn by the Railways, the national transporter held a pre-bid conference, which was attended by 16 private players to seek clarifications.

The Railways in a formal kick-start to its plans to allow private entities to operate passenger trains on its network has invited proposals from companies to run 151 modern passenger trains on 109 pairs of routes across the country. The project would entail private sector investment of about Rs 30,000 crore.

A Railways spokesperson said that as part of the bidding process, the Railways conducted the first pre-application conference which received an overwhelming response with the participation of around 16 prospective applicants.

He said the issues and concerns raised by the prospective private players were discussed and clarifications were provided by the officials of the Ministry of Railways and NITI Aayog for improved clarity on the provisions of RFQ and bidding framework.

He said the queries were mainly related to eligibility criteria, bidding process, procurement of rakes, operations of trains and composition of clusters.

The official further said that there were queries on haulage charges to which the Railways replied that haulage charges will be specified upfront and will be suitably indexed for the entire concession period, thereby bringing certainty in the haulage charges.

"The Railways will also provide the details of passenger traffic being handled on the routes under bidding. This will enable the bidders to do due diligence for the project," he said.

The official also said that Railways has clarified that trains to be operated under the project can be either purchased or taken on lease by the private entities.

The national transporter clarified that risks with regard to operation of trains shall be allocated to the parties in an equitable manner.

The Ministry of Railways will be providing written replies to the queries received from the prospective applicants by July 31 and the second pre-application conference is scheduled on August 12.

As part its privatisation plan, the Railways has planned to introduce 12 trains in 2022-23, 45 in 2023-2024, 50 in 2025-26 and 44 in 2026-27, taking the total number to 151.

The request for qualification (RFQ), which was floated on July 8, is likely to be finalised by November, while the financial bids will be opened by March, 2021. The selection of bidders is planned to be done by April 31, 2021, according to a timeline for introduction of private passenger trains prepared by the Railways.

Source: IANS

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Gandhinagar, June 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Monday announced that the state government has requested the Advocate General (AG) to seek permission from the Gujarat High Court to allow the Ahmedabad RathYatra to pass, similarly to the apex court's order on Jagannath Puri Yatra on Monday.

Talking to media persons, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said, "The Yatra has over a century old tradition and looking at the traditional procession, we have asked the Advocate General, Kamal Trivedi, to seek permission from the Gujarat High Court to allow the Ahmedabad Rath Yatra on the lines similar to the apex court's modified order on Odisha Jagannath Puri Yatra. The state government will abide by all the restrictions, the Gujarat High Court will impose, to allow the procession to be carried out."

Meanwhile, the lord Jagannath temple in Ahmedabad had carried out all the preparations to hold the Yatra inside the temple premises. According to sources, if the HC allows the Yatra to be carried out in a restricted manner in the city, the chariots will be pulled by tractors instead of devotees.

According to sources, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be participating in the 'Mangla Aarti' at the temple at 4 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Shah will be arriving at the Ahmedabad airport at around midnight with his family from Delhi.

Gujarat Chief Minister Rupani will also participate in the 143rd RathYatra and perform the ritual flagging off of the procession, 'Pahind Vidhi'.

The Gujarat High Court is expected to hear the petitions regarding the Yatra on an urgent hearing basis.

Source: IANS

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Amaravati, March 26 (SocialNews.XYZ) Amid the coronavirus crisis, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy has reached out to people of the state in the same fashion as Prime Minister Narendra did on March 24.

In an address, broadcast live on Thursday by most major news channels in the state, Reddy requested the people of Andhra Pradesh to stay indoors and venture out only when unavoidable.

Stating that the situation arising out of Covid-19 outbreak is a 'once-in-a-lifetime' situation, Reddy urged people to exercise utmost self-discipline. "Only discipline on each one of our parts will be able to defeat coronavirus," he said.

He requested Andhraites staying in other states, particularly Telangana, to remain there till the lockdown conditions were relaxed. Even if some one was allowed into the state on humanitarian grounds, he/she would be confined to an isolation centre, he added.

The Chief Minister's appeal follwed the Wednesday's developments when the state police barred around 200 students from Hyderabad from entering AP. Recalling the incident, Reddy said Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao had assured all support to the stranded students.

Reddy also listed out various steps and facilities put in place to tackle the Covid-19 challenge.

Assuring that the state is fully equipped to deal with the crisis, the Chief Minister requested people to not travel even within the state and stay at their homes.

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Feb 20 (SocialNews.XYZ) Congress on Wednesday accused the Centre of shutting down the crop insurance scheme in a "surreptitious" manner by making it completely unimplementable after the Union cabinet decided that the government would reduce its share in the premium.

Launching a scathing attack on the government, Congress Chief Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, "The scheme itself is being shut down completely. So, where will the farmer, where will India's farmers face the consequences of rap of nature. That is the question that is lying unanswered and the Agriculture Minister has the audacity to say that they have taken a great step forward."

Congress also accused the earlier scheme was also to benefit private insurance companies.

"Except for one or two the rest are all private companies and these figures and data that government has released is unequivocal. It shows the total premium amount received which is Rs. 77,801 crore. It shows the claims paid and it shows then consequently whatever left is profit and that profit is Rs. 19,200 crore. This is the Modi Model of business crony capitalism - on Rs. 77,000 crore premium after making payments of farmer claims walk away with Rs. 19,200 crore of profit and the farmers claims are not yet settled."

The Congress also slammed the new parameter of "Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS)" In which the central subsidy under PMFBY and RWBCIS is to be limited for premium rates up to 30 per cent for unirrigated areas or crops and 25 per cent for irrigated areas. Crops and districts having 50 per cent or more irrigated areas will be considered as irrigated areas or districts.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved to make the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) voluntary for farmers, The scheme provides comprehensive crop insurance from pre-sowing to the post-harvest period against non-preventable natural risks at an extremely low premium of 2 per cent for kharif crops, 1.5 per cent for rabi crops, and 5 per cent for horticulture and commercial crops.

PMFBY is compulsory for farmers availing of crop loans and Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs) accounts for notified crops, while it is voluntary for others.

The decision at the Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will lead to the revamp of PMFBY and to address the existing challenges in the implementation of crop insurance schemes.

It is proposed to modify certain parameters and provisions of the ongoing schemes of PMFBY and RWBCIS under which allocation of business to insurance companies will be done for three years.

"Options will be given to the states and Union Territories to choose the scale of finance or district-level Value of Notional Average Yield (NAY), that is NAY Minimum Support Price (MSP), as sum insured for any district crop combination (both PMFBY and RWBCIS). Farm gate price will be considered for the other crops for which MSP is not declared," a Cabinet statement said.

Source: IANS

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Jaunpur, Nov 1 (SocialNews.XYZ) In a move that is bound to give a jolt to BSP President Mayawati, her party MP Shyam Singh Yadav, on Thursday, attended a Samajwadi Party (SP) meeting and thanked the party leaders for ensuring his victory.

In September, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) suffered a major setback when all its six legislators in Rajasthan joined the Congress.

On Thursday, Shyam Singh Yadav arrived at a function organised by the Samajwadi Party to celebrate the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, leaving many surprised.

Yadav, who won the Jaunpur Lok Sabha constituency, said that he was not "afraid of anyone" and would keep attending SP meetings and functions.

The SP and the BSP has contested the Lok Sabha elections in an alliance in Uttar Pradesh, and the SP won five seats while the BSP scored 10. Immediately after the elections, Mayawati called off the alliance accusing the SP of not transferring its votes to her candidates.

However, at Thursday's function, the BSP MP addressed the Samajwadi Party members as 'bhai' and said they had worked hard for his victory in the general elections.

Yadav was warmly welcomed at the gathering by the district party office bearers and when asked by media persons, he said, "I am not afraid of anyone and will keep coming here."

Shyam Singh Yadav, a former officer of the provincial Civil Services (PCS) hails from Ranipatti village in Jaunpur.

As a former civil servant, he has worked in various capacities, including sub-divisional magistrate, municipal commissioner, special secretary and vice-chairman of different development authorities.

Yadav is also an ace shooter. He has participated in a number of shooting competitions at both national and international level. He was the Indian coach of rifle shooting and has also coached Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, the former Union minister.

He coached the Indian shooting team for the Beijing Olympic Games 2008 and Melbourne Commonwealth Games 2006.

Shyam Singh Yadav is the President of Uttar Pradesh State Rifle Association and the Vice President of Uttar Pradesh Olympic Association. He has also been the Treasurer of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).

Source: IANS

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New Delhi, Sep 17 (IANS) Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta here on Tuesday criticised the Delhi government for its failure to set up one-stop centres (OSC) to help sexual assault and violence victims and blamed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chairperson Swati Maliwal for that.

Instead of focusing on real issues affecting women, Kejriwal and Maliwal were taking up issues that could fetch them easy publicity, he said.

"These 100 per cent centrally-sponsored and funded centres were to be set up by the Delhi government. But the Kejriwal government has drawn total blank on this front," Gupta said.

The BJP leader said the Delhi government had failed to develop the facilities mandated under the Nirbhaya Scheme. "The central government had made provisions for funding OSCs through the Nirbhaya Fund set up in 2013 to support scheme for women safety. These centres were to help in all forms of gender-based violence, including domestic violence, sexual assault and acid attacks," he said.

Criticising the AAP government and the DCW "for showing lack of sensitivity on such an important and sensitive issue concerning women," Gupta said the Delhi government never sent any proposal to set up OSCs or sought funds for them.

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Mumbai, Sep 14 (IANS) With a filmography boasting of titles like "Kai Po che", "M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story" and the latest release "Chhichhore", actor Sushant Singh Rajput has carved a niche for himself in Hindi filmdom. But he has a lot more to do in his life. Sushant on Saturday took to Instagram and shared his wish list.

From learning how to fly a plane to teaching computer coding to visually impaired and to get six pack abs in six weeks, Sushant has shared a list of his dreams which he wants to achieve in his life.

The 33-year-old has some materialistic dreams too. He wants to own a luxurious car Lamborghini. He also wants to contribute his bit for the environment as he is planning to plant 1000 trees.

And the sports enthusiast wants to play a cricket match left-handed.

Sushant, an alumni of Delhi College of Engineering, wants to relive his old college days.

"Spend an evening in my Delhi College of Engineering hostel," he added.

On seeing his wishlist, Sushant's rumoured girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty commented: "I saw you the other day, you look like a dreamer."

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Mumbai, Sep 10 (IANS) While Mumbai has been receiving heavy rainfall, actress Sumona Chakravarti is seen setting style goals during the monsoon season.

"The Kapil Sharma Show" fame actress on Monday took to Instagram and shared a few photographs from the shoot.

Donning a purple sari with silver danglers on her blouse, Sumona is seen enjoying the rain to the fullest.

"Ek ladki bheegi bhaagi si," she captioned the images with the hit song from the 1958 movie "Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi".

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By Arundhuti Banerjee

Mumbai, Aug 21 (IANS) Telugu actor Prabhas became a global star after the blockbuster success of the "Baahubali" films, is back with his new film "Saaho", which promises to be an extravagant action thriller and is rumoured to be made at a budget of Rs 350 crore.

Going by the trailer of his new film, Prabhas is back to playing the larger-than-life hero in "Saaho", after the "Baahubali" series. The actor says he is comfortable portraying such an image.

"I am quite confident doing action and giving silent expressions as well as close-up shots. I go easy with the swagger and convey a lot with my eyes. I am not that confident with my dialogue delivery and am constantly working on that," Prabhas revealed to IANS, on how he goes about creating the alpha male image for the screen.

Considering his last release, "Baahubali 2: The Conclusion" ended up one of the highest-grossing Indian films ever, Prabhas concedes he was careful about what to do next. Initially, he has toyed with the idea of signing a small and easy film, to have some stress-free time.

"I was looking for a different script after 'Baahubali' and I wanted to do something small. If we look at the magnitude of 'Baahubali', honestly speaking, it is not possible for an actor to deliver every film at such a level. It is too much of a pressure and the risk was huge. We shot for the two 'Baahubali' films over five years. It was exhausting, though the final product was grand. So, initially I wanted to do something easy-breezy," he said.

However, when the script of 'Saaho' came up, the actor could not resist. He also mentioned that the budget of his new film eventually increased to create all the grandeur.

"we started planning the film with a budget of 150 crore rupees. Then slowly we developed the script and especially the action sequences, and that made us expand the budget to 350 crore rupees. We cannot deliver a bad quality of VFX...we are looking for excellence."

The film 'Saaho' directed by Sujeeth, featuring Jackie Shroff, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Mahesh Manjerekar, Murli Sharma, Chunkey Pandey among others.

"Saaho" has been simultaneously shot in Telugu and Hindi, and Prabhas says he had to constantly adapt to the two versions, particularly when it came to dialogue delivery.

"There are differences I had to keep in mind as an actor. For example, in a south Indian language, say in Telugu, the emotion inherent in a sentence normally comes at in the end of the line, while in Hindi you express the emotion with every word. The flow of the language is different and my expression had to be in sync with the words. It is a technical thing but I had to get it right," he pointed out.

Language, Prabhas says, was a challenge. "I born in Tamil Nadu, so I am familiar with the Tamil language but Hindi was a first-time experience for me. This was the first time I was shooting a film in Hindi, so I consciously put extra effort. It is upto the audience to decide now, though our whole unit fely my Hindi is good," he said.

Starting his career in 2003 with the Telugu film "Eeswar", Prabhas has done several films in Telugu but recognition came only after the "Baahubali" series.

What does he look for in a script now? "For me, the story has to be engaging and the treatment of the story has to be designed to entertain the audience. It is not star power (that I look at). Rather, I look at my character in the film as secondary because the script is what we are contributing to. In 'Baahubali', too, the global appreciation happened because of the way (directior) Rajamouli garu treated the story with grandeur. It was a story of our superhero, an Indian story," said Prabhas.

'Saaho' is one of the most technically-advanced films ever produced in India. The film has been shot with IMAX cameras and has the look and feel of a Hollywood film. Does that snatch away an element of Indianness from the film?

"What we saw in (the action sequences) 'Baahubali' was a combination of action and dance choreography, and that is why there was a different kind of grace in those scenes. 'Saaho' is a regular film, with some stylish and slick action choreography. We are not trying to compete with Hollywood because they are much advanced than us, but it is true that we are capable of delivering something at par with international standard. We have the talent but in Indian films, we haven't tried this level of action and VFX. So, for the mass audience in India, we are giving something that is new and technologically advanced. "For the rest, it is upto the audience to decide. As for me, as the release date approaches, my stress level is going higher!" he smiled.

"Saaho", directed by Sujeeth, also stars Shraddha Kapoor, Jackie Shroff and Neil Nitin Mukhesh in key roles. The film releases on August 30.

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Chandigarh, May 22 (IANS) With a majority of exit polls predicting a victory for the Congress in Punjab in the Lok Sabha polls, sweetshop owners in the state are gearing up for celebrations on Thursday by preparing 'laddoos' for their political clients.

Prominent sweetmeat outlets in Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Patiala, Jalandhar and Bathinda have been placed orders for 'motichoor laddoos' for the anticipated celebrations.

"We had received an order for 10,000 'laddoos' from a prominent leader from Punjab. By late this evening we have to send them to Patiala," a prominent sweetmeat seller based here told IANS.

The demand for garlands, musical bands and crackers has also shot up.

Durgesh Ghai, owner of a flower shop in Chandigarh's Sector 34, said: "The demand for flowers, especially marigold, has gone up alarmingly high. Special orders have been placed both by the Congress and the BJP for bouquets and garlands."

Likewise, the 'dholis' or drummers are much in demand at every celebration in Punjab. Most of the 'dholis' have been booked in advance.

"We were earlier hired by the candidates during the election campaign. We are not associated with any political party. Whichever wins, we will be invited and we will perform," Ludhiana-based drummer Raja Majid told IANS.

The exit polls on news channels projected victory on eight to nine seats by the state's ruling Congress, with the rest out of the total 13 parliamentary seats going to the Akali Dal-BJP combine.

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Chandigarh, May 21 (IANS) Over 4,600 centenarians exercised their franchise for Punjab's 13 parliamentary seats and they also comprised one transgender, Chief Electoral Officer S. Karuna Raju said on Tuesday.

A total of 4,654 voters, comprising 2,631 women, all aged above 100, cast their votes on May 19, he said.

Those who were 100 years of age and exercised their franchise numbered 945, comprising 546 women.

A total of 162,595 voters aged around 18 cast their votes.

Of the total electorate of 2,07,81,211, there were 1,37,07,312 voters, with a polling percentage of 65.96 per cent, Raju added.

In the 2014 polls, Punjab saw 70.61 per cent polling.

A straight contest between the Congress and the Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) combine has become three-cornered with the Punjab Democratic Alliance (PDA) also fielding candidates in all seats.

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BY VISHAL GULATI

Shimla, May 21 (IANS) While Himachal Pradesh registered 72.25 per cent polling in the recently-concluded general elections, 7.80 per cent higher than the 64.45 per cent witnessed in 2014 Lok Sabha polls, voting in Shimla was 64.01 per cent -- the lowest among towns in the state.

The all-time high polling record in Shimla (city) till date was recorded in 1982 at 66.01 per cent, said officials.

Poll experts attribute the low poll percentage largely to urban lethargy and presence of floating population, largely government employees.

The voter turnout in Shimla (city) was 58 per cent in 2014, which means this time it was 6 per cent higher than the last Lok Sabha polls.

Seat of power since the days of the British Raj, the democratic process has failed to strike its roots firmly in Shimla with electorate of nearly 50,000.

This is despite extensive awareness drives.

In Shimla district, the highest polling percentage at 71.59 and 69.93 was reported from Rampur and Theog towns, respectively.

Poll officials said the highest voter turnout in the elections held on Sunday was 75.88 per cent in Una.

Among the 12 districts, the highest polling was registered in Una district (75.88 per cent) followed by Solan (75.80) and Kullu (75.06) and the lowest was in Lahaul and Spiti (61.79 per cent).

Neeraj Kumar, officer on special duty with the state election department, told IANS that the total voting percentage in Shimla was 63.76 per cent in 2017 Assembly elections, the third highest till date.

He said this time the voter turnout in Shimla was higher by 16.92 per cent than 47.15 per cent in 2007.

In the 2003 Assembly elections, polling percentage was 46.14 per cent, while it was 43.12 per cent in 1998.

The fourth highest turnout was 60.25 per cent in the 1993 Assembly elections.

According to election department archives, Shimla saw the highest polling in 1982 (66.01 per cent) and the lowest in 1957 (30.44 per cent) since the first Assembly elections in 1951.

Poll officials attribute voter apathy and dual voter registration for the trend.

Shimla has a problem of a floating population part from duplication of names. Most of the people settled here don't actually belong to this place. On the day of voting, they normally return to their native places. This might be the main reason for low voter turnout, Kumar said.

"The state boasts the highest enrolment of 99.05 per cent," he added.

Parkash Chand, a retired government employee settled in Shimla since 1960, said the town supports a large population of serving and retired employees who prefer to go to their native places rather than participate in the election process.

(Vishal Gulati can be reached at vishal.g@ians.in)

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Lucknow, May 20 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has now been established as BJP's biggest star campaigner, second only to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections, the Chief Minister addressed 137 elections meetings. He began his campaign from Saharanpur after offering prayers at the Shakumbhari Devi temple and then campaigned on every constituency in the state.

He went more than once on seats where the candidates sent in their requests. In Gorakhpur, Adityanath addressed 25 meetings as the seat was directly linked to his own prestige.

Adityanath's popularity and crowd pulling capacity has endeared him to the Bharatiya Janata Party and RSS cadres.

With his firebrand image, Adityanath is the ideal leader to reach out to BJP's traditional voters and keep the Hindu voters in good humour.

Moreover, he has a huge following as head of the Goraksh Peeth which belongs to the Nath sect that has an appeal in almost all states of the country including the north east states.

"In states like Maharashtra and Gujarat that have a large workforce from Uttar Pradesh, particularly Purvanchal areas, Yogi Adityanath are very popular. His Hindutva pitch also appeals to the people," said a Yogi supporter.

Adityanath's 'Ali versus Bajrangbali' speeches during elections may have earned him a ban of 72 hours from the Election Commission but the speech further reaffirmed his image as a Hindu hardliner.

In his two years as Chief Minister Adityanath has refused to develop his image in conformity with the 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas' concept.

He has refused to attend the Eid prayers at Idgah which has been a tradition for all Chief Ministers in Uttar Pradesh. He proudly proclaimed in the state Assembly that he was a Hindu and did not celebrate Eid. His decision to shut down illegal slaughter houses was another step in this direction.

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Mumbai, May 19 (IANS) After the seventh and final phase of the 17th Lok Sabha polls ended on Sunday, the unofficial 'Satta Bazaar' here had bookies and punters in a tizzy with the predictions made in exit polls which were declared tonight largely favouring Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP's win.

The bookies have virtually embraced Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party and rejected outright the Congress and its chief Rahul Gandhi, as per latest trends available late on Sunday.

As per the bookies, the BJP-NDA could easily touch and even cross the 300-seat mark, way over the minimum required and magic figure of 272 of the total 543 seats in the Lok Sabha.

On the other hand, the Congress-led 'Mahagathbandhan' could lag far behind with around 150 seats, and other regional parties getting the rest.

As far as the country's business community is concerned, the odds strongly are in favour of Modi retaining the top job, with the opposition Congress and its allies way behind, marking a significant change in the situation from barely a month ago.

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Patna, May 19 (IANS) Conjoined twin sisters Farah and Saba were among the voters in the last phase of polling in Patna, capital of Bihar, on sunday.

The two sisters, who have been joined at the head since birth, voted separately. In the 2015 Assembly elections, their names were on a single voter identity card and they could cast only one vote, jointly.

The Election Commission also took note of the twins exercising their franchise.

"A victory for democracy! Saba & Farah, the conjoined sisters of Patna cast their vote as separate individuals with independent voting rights for the first time," the EC tweeted.

The sisters from Samanpura in Patna were pleased after casting their votes.

Saba and Farah have separate bodies, but their heads are fused together. Plans were made to surgically separate them, but doctors deemed it too risky with fears that one of them may not survive.

Later the Supreme Court also disallowed the operation to separate the two and ordered the state government to pay them Rs 5,000 per month.

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Shimla, May 19 (IANS) Shyam Saran Negi, a 102-year-old voter who also participated in the 1951-52 general elections which were the country's first, cast his ballot on Sunday at a picturesque hamlet in Kinnaur district as elections were held to elect four members of Parliament from Himachal

"I have never missed an opportunity to vote," Negi told reporters in Kalpa, some 275 km from the state capital.

A staunch believer in democracy, the 102-year-old never fails to cast his vote in any of the elections, be it Lok Sabha, Assembly or the panchayat.

In 1951, Negi, a retired schoolteacher, was on an election duty and exercised his franchise in Chini constituency - later renamed Kinnaur.

At that time, balloting in the snow-bound areas of the hill state was held ahead of other places in the country.

This time he cast his 31st vote. He has voted in 17 parliamentary and 14 Assembly polls.

"In the 2007 Assembly polls, an election official got in touch with him for the first time and since then he is in limelight in every election," a state election official told IANS.

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Gorakhpur, May 19 (IANS) An official on election duty died inside a polling booth on Sunday in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur.

Rajaram, 56, stationed in booth no 381 in Pipraich had started breathing heavily. His colleagues realising that he was unwell, rushed him to the hospital in an ambulance. However, the doctors declared him brought dead.

The doctors said he probably suffered a massive heart attack.

Rajaram was working in the office of the Railway General Manager and was on polling duty.

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Gurdaspur, May 19 (IANS) Donning a turban, BJP's Gurdaspur candidate and actor Sunny Deol on Sunday visited polling stations to oversee the polling process.

Outside a booth in the Fatehgarh Churian area, he was seen greeting voters with folded hands.

Jumping a barricade, when a young voter requested for a photograph, the star obliged.

The actor-turned-politician is pitted against state Congress President Sunil Jakhar from here in Punjab. It has been represented four times earlier by yesteryear actor Vinod Khanna, who died in April 2017 due to cancer.

Jakhar won the October 2017 bye-election with a margin of 1.92 lakh votes. The bypoll was necessitated by Khanna's death.

Gurdaspur lies in the north of Punjab, sharing an international border with Pakistan and the troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir. The area is not as developed as other areas in Punjab.

The constituency, which has 14,68,972 voters, including 72,6363 women, has nine Assembly constituencies.

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Chandigarh, May 19 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday appealed to voters to vote for peace as 59 constituencies went to poll in the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha elections.

"I call upon the people of Punjab to vote and to make their vote count. It's time to choose between @BJP4India and @INCIndia to preserve the secular fabric of India that is threatened by divisive forces of hatred. Let's vote for the peace, progress and stability that only Congress can deliver.

Voting is underway for Punjab's 13 Lok Sabha seats and the lone seat of its capital Chandigarh amid tight security in the seventh and final phase of the general elections.

He would be in Patiala to cast his vote later in the day.

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Ludhiana, May 19 (IANS) Former Union Minister and Congress candidate Manish Tewari on Sunday cast his vote in his hometown here in Punjab.

"Cast my vote in Ludhiana. Started from Chandigarh at 6.10 a.m. Reached Ludhiana at 7.50 a.m. and cast my vote now on my way to Banga," he tweeted.

"Appeal to my press friends to monitor whether @PSChandumajra who is a voter in Patiala exercises his franchise."

"My vote, my right to make a change! Did my bit to ensure that justice and equality see the light of the day! Have you done yours?" he added.

Tewari is in fray from Anandpur Sahib, one of the holiest places of the Sikhs. He is pitted against sitting Akali Dal MP Chandumajra.

Both are engaged in a fierce battle of words, tagging each other as "outsider".

Punjab's 13 Lok Sabha seats and the lone seat of its capital Chandigarh went to the polls amid tight security in the seventh and final phase of general elections.

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Patna, May 19 (IANS) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi cast their votes in Patna on Sunday.

Nitish Kumar, president of Janata Dal-United, an ally of the BJP-led NDA, cast his vote at polling booth number 326 at a school in Raj Bhawan.

Manjhi, chief of Hindustani Awam Morcha, an ally of the RJD-led Grand Alliance, cast his vote at another polling booth.

For another former Chief Minister Lalu Prasad though it would be the first-time when he would not cast his vote along with his family members here. The RJD chief has been in jail in connection with fodder scam cases.

At present though, he is under going treatment in a Ranchi-based government hospital.

More than 1,52,52,608 voters will decide the fate of 157 candidates in Patna Sahib, Patliputra, Arrah, Buxar, Nalanda, Sasaram, Karakat and Jehanabad constituencies.

Four Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Ram Kripal Yadav, Ashwini Choubey and R.K. Singh are in the fray.

Important candidates from the opposition camp include former Speaker of Lok Sabha Meira Kumar is Congress candidate from Sasaram seat and former Union Minister and RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha from Karakat seat. The RLSP is an ally of the RJD-led Grand Alliance.

The ruling BJP-led NDA had won all these eight Bihar seats in 2014.

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New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday appealed to voters to exercise their right in record numbers and said that one vote will shape India's development trajectory.

"Today is the final phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. I urge all those voting in this phase to vote in record numbers. Your one vote will shape India's development trajectory in the years to come.

"I also hope first time voters vote enthusiastically," Modi, who is in Kedarnath, said in a series of tweets.

Voting took place across 59 Lok Sabha constituencies spanning seven states and a Union Territory across north, central and east India in the final of the mega seven-phase electoral exercise.

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Chandigarh, May 19 (IANS) Veteran Bollywood actor Anupam Kher on Sunday appealed to voters here to exercise their franchise as Chandigarh went to polls in the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

The actor had been campaigning for his wife and BJP candidate Kirron Kher, who is seeking re-election from Chandigarh.

"Your vote is precious. Please vote," Anupam tweeted.

There are 597 booths at 191 polling stations in Chandigarh.

The Lok Sabha seat is witnessing a triangular contest among four-time MP and Congress candidate Pawan Kumar Bansal, 70, Kirron, 66, and former Union Minister Harmohan Dhawan, 78, of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Former Railway Minister Bansal lost to Kirron by nearly 70,000 votes in the 2014 elections.

According to Deputy Commissioner-cum-Returning Officer Mandip Singh Brar, there are 3,41,640 male and 3,04,423 female and 21 transgender voters. Of this, 17,598 voters were in the 18-19 years age group and 3,157 with disability.

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New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) A day after Congress President Rahul Gandhi, mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, posted a snapshot that a new word "Modilie" has been added to English dictionaries, the authoritative Oxford English Dictionary on Thursday said that there no such word not exist in any of its dictionaries.

However, Gandhi continued to target the Prime Minister and tweeted on Thursday that "Modilie" is the new word that has become popular worldwide.

"Now there's even a website that catalogues the best Modilies," he said, sharing the address of the website listing alleged lies of Modi since he came to office in 2014.

On Wednesday, Gandhi had targeted Modi saying "Modilie" is the new word in the dictionary.

"There's a new word in the English Dictionary. Attached is a snapshot of the entry," he said in a tweet. Attached was a screen shot of a page of "English Living Dictionaries" describing the word "a mass noun" that means "to constantly Modify the truth, to lie incessantly and habitually and to lie without respite". The meanings were followed by example sentences.

However, the OED said no such word exists.

"We can confirm that the image showing the entry 'Modilie' is fake and does not exist in any of our Oxford Dictionaries," it posted from its official Twitter handle in reply to Gandhi's tweet.

This led to Twitter users trolling the Congress President with some of them accusing him of resorting to lies.

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Chandigarh, May 16 (IANS) Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday defended his wife's remarks blaming the state Congress leadership for denying her a ticket from Amritsar.

"My wife has that much strength and moral authority that she will never lie. This is my answer," Sidhu told reporters when asked about his wife's allegations that she was denied party ticket from Amritsar at the instance of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and party's Punjab affairs in-charge Asha Kumari.

Navjot Kaur, a former Bharatiya Janata Party legislator from Amritsar (East), on May 14 blamed the Chief Minister for denying her a Lok Sabha ticket either from Chandigarh or Amritsar.

She said Sidhu would not campaign for his party in his home state as the Chief Minister has told him not to do so.

Hours after his wife's claim, Sidhu said at an election rally in Bathinda in the presence of Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi and Amarinder Singh that he would be returning to Punjab on May 17 to deliver a "knockout punch" to the Badals.

Amid reports that the Minister's health was not allowing him to campaign, his wife also blamed Asha Kumari for not allowing Sidhu to campaign in Punjab.

"Captain Saab is our smaller captain and (Congress President) Rahul Gandhi is our bigger captain and he has given duty to him (Sidhu) in other states and Navjot is busy campaigning there," she told reporters in Amritsar city.

"When Captain saab and Asha Kumari have taken the lead role in ensuring victory of the party in all (13) seats, then what is the need for Navjot (Sidhu) to campaign in Punjab?"

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Batala (Punjab), May 16 (IANS) The BJP-Akali Dal candidate from Punjab's Gurdaspur constituency Sunny Deol on Thursday said he has not entered politics with vendetta issues.

Addressing a series of election rallies in Batala, he said unnecessary statements were being issued against him.

He said he would not waste his time countering such statements and instead work hard towards achieving his goal on winning the seat.

The actor-turned-politician said his mind was more occupied thinking about creating employment opportunities and development of the constituency rather than indulge in mudslinging.

He appealed to the voters to vote for the candidate who cares about the future of area.

Area legislator Lakhbir Singh Lodhinangal said neither Congress candidate Sunil Jakhar nor Chief Minister Amrinder Singh could bring improvement nor initiate developmental works in the area.

The BJP-Akali Dal has fielded 62-year-old Deol from Gurdaspur, the seat represented four times by yesteryear actor Vinod Khanna, who died in April 2017 due to cancer.

Gurdaspur lies in the north of Punjab, sharing a border with Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir. The area is not as developed as other areas in Punjab.

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Chandigarh, May 15 (IANS) A Facebook page titled 'Fans of Sunny Deol' costs the actor-turned-politician and BJP candidate from Punjab's Gurdaspur seat Rs 174,644 and this amount was included in his poll expenditure, it was announced on Wednesday.

Acting on the complaint of the Congress on May 6, Chief Electoral Officer S. Karuna Raju said an inquiry was conducted by a Nodal Officer of the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee of Gurdaspur.

A notice was also served on the admin of 'Fans of Sunny Deol' page and the BJP candidate to seek their explanation, but both failed to reply within the timeframe.

He said the monitoring committee decided to add Rs 174,644 to the expenditure of Deol.

Complainant Himanshu Pathak, who is the Congress vice-president, said Deol had not given information about this social media page to the Election Commission, which is mandatory.

He said the page was created on Facebook on April 30, through which lakhs of rupees were being spent on Deol's social media campaign.

Deol, 62, is a Bharatiya Janata Party-Akali Dal alliance candidate from Gurdaspur, the seat represented four times by yesteryear actor Vinod Khanna, who passed away due to cancer in April 2017.

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By Vishal Gulati

Chandigarh, May 15 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, 77, may have been out of the Indian Army for decades now but he is proud to have served the nation in uniform.

But this tactical advance into the opponent's political territory by associating fellow 'faujis' (ex-servicemen) seems unparalleled.

He has been striking a cord during his election meetings by saying from the dais: "I am seeing too many 'faujis' here. How many of you participated in the 1965 India-Pakistan war?"

Keeping his humorous side alive, Captain Amarinder Singh, who had served as an army captain during the war and often greets his contemporaries by saluting them, does not miss an opportunity to remind the gathering by saying BJP actor-turned-politician candidate Sunny Deol from Gurdaspur is a 'filmy fauji' while 'I am a real fauji'."

At time, he goes nostalgic with the ex-servicemen, a major vote bank in the border towns and villages of Punjab.

Invoking his Army background, Amarinder Singh, whose book "Honour and Fidelity: India's Military Contribution to the Great War 1914-1918" talks about the massive contribution of Indian soldiers, had gone nostalgic when he met an Army war veteran in Bathinda at an election meeting last week.

He met Captain Mall Singh (retired) of 2 Sikh, who had sustained nearly half a dozen bullet injuries as part of Charlie Company in the 1965 war, and got himself photographed with him.

Going down memory lane, Amarinder Singh, the scion of the erstwhile Patiala royal family and a prolific military historian, Amarinder Singh in a tweet on May 12 wrote. "This painting brings to life memories from 1966 when I was serving in the Indian Army as ADC to Lt. General Harbaksh Singh. Proud to have served the nation in uniform."

Terming the Pulwama terror strike an act of cowardice, Amarinder Singh does not forget to lash out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for seeking votes in the name of those who died in the attack and in the name of the Balakot air strike carried out by what Modi claimed to be "his" army.

"It is not Modi's 'fauj' (army), but India's 'fauj' which has fought all the battles and made sacrifices," said Amarinder Singh, who has to his credit several books on war and Sikh history, at an election rally.

He also called Modi's attempt to take credit of the armed forces' valour "abominable".

"Nobody ever saw Indira Gandhi taking credit for dividing Pakistan in 1971. She gave full credit to the armed forces," said Amarinder Singh, who joined the Congress in 1980 under Rajiv Gandhi.

Describing Modi as a self-obsessed man, the Chief Minister, who resigned as a Congress MP and left the party in 1984 to protest against Operation Bluestar and returned to the party in 1997, drew a sharp contrast between the Prime Minister's handling of the Balakot success and Indira Gandhi's achievement in splitting Pakistan to create Bangladesh during the 1971 war.

(Vishal Gulati can be reached at vishal.g@ians.in)

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New Delhi, May 14 (IANS) Veteran actor Dalip Tahil has been part of musicals and recently sang live with a band in Mumbai. He says he always wanted to sing in films, but it never materialised.

"It's (singing in films) always been on my mind. I always wanted to do it. But it never happened because of the kind of roles I was doing. People are always put in a box or slot," Dalip, mostly known for doing negative roles in movies like "Shaan" and "Baazigar", told IANS in a telephonic interview.

"In the early days, some producers and directors saw me in the musical 'Evita' and cast me in their movies. They heard me singing on stage also, but they couldn't translate that into a Hindi movie song. I'd love to do it," he said.

Singing is one side of him that's not that known even though he began his career with English musicals like "Evita" and "Godspell" decades ago.

"I also sang on a London stage for (composers) Andrew Lloyd Webber and A.R. Rahman, but it's not necessarily what people know me for," said the "Kaho Naa...Pyaar Hai" actor.

A few months ago, he and singer Shweta Shetty judged a dance competition where she heard Dalip singing. This was followed by a meeting at a common friend's place where again his singing skills were displayed.

Finally, they decided to do an intimate unplugged concert with composer Louis Banks on board.

"Soul2Soul - that's our band... from our soul to the audience's soul," he said about the band that performed last weekend in Mumbai's iconic venue -- The Royal Opera House. He hopes the band gets more shows.

"We are very much a band that is out there and ready to take up whatever comes our way," said the fan of retro music.

What about original music? "At this stage, we haven't really thought about composing our own music, but I am absolutely sure it will happen," said Dalip, who made his Bollywood debut with "Ankur" in 1974.

Back then, there weren't as many platforms for singers as there are now, he said.

"The music scene is very vibrant in India. You see technology... in movies, there are different budget films being made because of the distribution... because of various platforms. It's the same for music.

"I remember when I got into movies, the only way singers could be heard was to through playback singing in movies. Then gradually came the music companies promoting independent pop singers," he recalled.

Now, the digital platform has opened up more avenues for singers. "Anyone can pick up an instrument if they want to express themselves or write a song and put it on YouTube. It's always technology that comes and turns around how we think creatively and what we do creatively," the actor said.

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By Vishal Gulati

Patiala, May 14 (IANS) Royalty will take on commoner in the Patiala parliamentary seat of Punjab as Preneet Kaur, popularly known as Maharani Sahiba because of her royal antecedents, will face sitting Member of Parliament Dharamvira Gandhi.

Kaur is in the fray for the fifth time from this Lok Sabha seat where the fort of her husband and now Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's erstwhile kingdom is located.

She is facing the main 'battle' from Gandhi, 69, a cardiologist by profession, who prefers to ride a rickshaw to reach out to his voters for a personal rapport.

The Akali Dal-BJP combine has fielded former Minister Surjit Singh Rakhra from this seat, while AAP has fielded greenhorn Neena Mittal, an activist who worked for the party during the 2013 Delhi Assembly elections.

"I have travelled to every nook and corner of the constituency. People know me personally. They have seen my clean image and they will vote in my favour as development is my main poll plank," Kaur told IANS.

Contrary to her, Gandhi in his election speeches never forgets to talk about her royal lineage: "There is a queen on that side and you have a commoner Gandhi this side. The choice is yours."

This time Gandhi, who was ousted from AAP after revolting, is in the fray as a candidate of his newly floated outfit Nawan Punjab Party, which has a backing of the six-party alliance Punjab Democratic Alliance led by AAP firebrand rebel and legislator Sukhpal Khaira.

In her campaign to reach Parliament for the fourth time, the 75-year-old Kaur speaks of development during her husband's two-year stint as the Chief Minister vis-a-vis the 10-year "misrule" of the Akalis.

"I am focusing on the development works done by the Captain Amarinder government in just two years. I am telling the people that only the Congress can bring them back on the path of progress," said a soft-spoken Kaur, who is known to be an easy access to the public, more than her husband.

The former Union Minister, who had won this Lok Sabha seat in 1999, 2004 and 2009, proudly says she has inaugurated projects worth Rs 1,000 crore in her constituency since her husband-led Congress government came to helm in March 2017.

However, Gandhi banks on the projects and grants he got them sanctioned after becoming a Member of Parliament.

When asked about the issues dominating these elections, he said: "I think local issues will take precedence over national ones. People are fed up with PM Modi's policies."

"Here my fight is not against Preneet Kaur, but against Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's style of functioning."

A headache though for rickshaw-riding Gandhi in this election is to remind the voters that his party symbol this time is not the 'jhadoo' or broom but a microphone.

In his election rallies, Shriomani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate Rakhra, who defeated Preneet Kaur in 1999 polls by 78,000 votes, is banking on the Modi wave and development by the SAD-BJP combine government in its 10-year stint in the state.

He is also gunning for the Congress government for its failure to fulfil poll promises, mainly loan waiver and eradication of drugs.

Asserting that there is no Modi factor in Congress-ruled Punjab, Kaur said: "The BJP tries to divide people along communal lines for petty political gains, which Punjabis will never allow."

"The so-called Modi factor failed to click in Punjab even during the 2017 Assembly polls, even though the BJP-led NDA government was still in its prime."

She also does not sees any threat from the sitting MP.

"In the last (2014) elections, my family members were divided and also Captain Saab was himself busy in contesting from Amritsar against Arun Jaitley. Now, all are campaigning for me."

On Dharamvira Gandhi, Kaur, who faced defeat by a slender margin of 20,000 votes in 2014, replied: "I really know very little about Dr Gandhi, except that he is a well-to-do practising doctor."

He had joined politics on AAP plank but had obviously decided to shift his ideology by leaving the party only within two months of entering Parliament.

"I don't know whether the party could not fit into his thinking or vice versa. Either way, I do not see him as a threat of any kind," a confident Kaur added.

As a consolation, she knows that her party has legislators on seven of the nine assembly segments that fall in the Patiala parliamentary seat, while the Akali Dal has just two.

In the 15 general elections held in Punjab since 1957, the Congress won Patiala nine times while the Akali Dal, including its stalwart Gurcharan Singh Tohra, four times.

Punjab goes to the polls on May 19 for its 13 Lok Sabha seats.

(Vishal Gulati can be reached at vishal.g@ians.in)

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New Delhi, May 13 (IANS) Of the 909 candidates contesting the seventh phase of the Lok Sabha elections, 170 (19 per cent) have criminal cases against them, while 127 (14 per cent) have declared serious criminal cases against their names, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

Among the major parties, 18 (42 per cent) of the 43 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates, 14 (31 per cent) of the 45 Congress candidates, 6 (15 per cent) of the 39 Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidates, 3 (21 per cent) of the 14 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates have declared criminal cases against their names. Of the 313 Independents, 29 (9 per cent) have criminal cases filed against them.

The National Election Watch and the ADR have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 909 of the 918 candidates contesting the Lok Sabha elections in the seventh phase. Of the 909 candidates, 159 are from national parties, 68 from state parties, 369 from registered unrecognised parties and 313 are Independents.

Fifteen (35 per cent) of the 43 candidates from the BJP, 10 (22 per cent) of the 45 candidates from the Congress, four (10 per cent) of the 39 candidates from the BSP, one (14 per cent) of the 22 candidates from the AIADMK, 7 (29 per cent) of the 24 candidates from the DMK and one (7 per cent) of the 14 candidates from the AAP and 24 (8 per cent) out of 313 Independents have declared serious criminal cases against themselves.

In the seventh phase, 33 out of 59 constituencies are red alert constituencies. Red alert constituencies are those where three or more contesting candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves.

While 5 candidates have declared convicted cases against themselves, 12 have declared cases related to murder, 34 cases related to attempt to murder, and seven related to kidnapping with intent to secretly and wrongfully confine persons.

Twenty candidates have declared cases related to crime against women. Of them, two have declared cases related to rape. But 10 candidates have declared cases related to hate speech against themselves.

On the financial status of candidates, the ADR said 278 (31 per cent) candidates had assets worth Rs 1 crore and more.

Forty (89 per cent) of the 45 candidates are from the Congress, 36 (84 per cent) of the 43 candidates from the BJP, 11 (28 per cent) of the 39 candidates from the BSP, 9 (64 per cent) of the 14 candidates from the AAP and 59 (19 per cent) of the 313 Independents have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.

The average assets per candidate contesting in the elections to be held on May 19 is Rs 4.61 crore.

Among major parties, the average assets per candidate for 45 Congress candidates is Rs 17.15 crores, for 43 BJP candidates it is Rs 9.82 crore, 39 BSP candidates have average assets of Rs 5.24 crore, and 14 AAP candidates have average assets of Rs 5.20 crore.

Siromani Akali Dal's Harsimrat Kaur Badal (over Rs 217 crore) and Sukhbir Singh Badal (over Rs 217 crore) from Punjab's Bathinda and Firozpur constituencies, respectively, are among three high asset candidates along with Ramesh Kumar Sharma of the Congress(over Rs 1,107 crore) in Patliputra seatuency of Bihar.

On the other hand, Congress candidate from Punjab's Sangur, Pappu Kumar, along with Shiv Charan of the Jai Hind Party from UP's Maharajganj and Sunil Kumar Pandey of the Congress from UP's Salempur are the candidates who have declared zero assets.

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By Sumit Saxena

New Delhi, May 12 (IANS) Bachan Singh is among the millions who voted in the capital on Sunday in the penultimate phase of the general election, but he is unique because of his vintage.

At the ripe old age of 111, Bachan Singh is Delhi's oldest voter.

His house is within 100 metres of one of the biggest drains in Nihal Vihar in west Delhi.

The road to his house is made of construction debris, and large potholes around the house have turned it into a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Bachan, who was a carpenter and only talks in Punjabi, claims to be a staunch Congress supporter, and identifies himself as a follower of the non-violence movement initiated by Mahatma Gandhi.

He has been voting since the first election in the country after independence in 1951 and he had voted for the Congress then.

"In the first election of the country, I voted for Congress as it was the only political party which had sworn to fight against poverty, but politically, things have not changed much," said Bachan in Punjabi, translated by his grandson Gurcharan Singh.

Bachan, a Namdhari Sikh, is fluent in Urdu and Punjabi and proudly hails his ancestral connection with Pakistan.

The family has traditionally voted for the Congress because the country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru "supported Namdhari Sikhs at the time of partition".

According to his family, he believes in the ethos of non-violence, but often expressed grief that the same has disappeared from the existing political discourse.

In allegiance to non-violence, Bachan throughout his life only wore white clothes - kurta-pyjama, with a white turban.

On Sunday, special arrangements were made by the Election Commission to facilitate the centenarian's visit to the polling station in Sant Garh.

"He was ferried to the polling station in a car and then, inside the booth, a wheelchair was arranged and the officials escorted him to the voting machine. It made him feel very special," said his grandson, Gurcharan, who is also a professional carpenter.

As usual, clad in a white kurta-pyjama with a white turban, Bachan seemed to be unhappy, as he was late for voting.

"He has never been late to vote. On voting day, he would be the first to cast his vote. Until a few years ago, he used to ride a bicycle, but after a paralysis attack last year, his speech and body movement has been limited," added Gurcharan.

But surprisingly, on Sunday at the polling booth, he could fairly identify the Congress symbol on the electronic voting machine.

"I have voted for the party with whom I identify myself," said Bachan, despite his impaired speech.

The younger generation in his family support the Aam Aadmi Party, saying its councillors have undertaken many infrastructure-related initiatives, and believe the party should be given a chance to govern at the Centre.

(Sumit Saxena can be contacted at sumit.s@ians.in)

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New Delhi, May 12 (IANS) As voters in Delhi exercised their franchise to elect seven Members of Parliament on Sunday, local issues seem to have been strongly on their minds even as many of them also talked of national issues.

People IANS spoke to in North East Delhi and in South Delhi spoke about their local problems related to security, sealing, parking, pollution, traffic management but also talked of having given importance to national security in their voting preferences.

Reena Devi, 52, a resident of Sant Nagar in Burari, said she gets water supply in her home on alternate days and even that is not always assured.

"This is not a new problem and it has remained unresolved for years. Who is thinking about us but there is talk of other bigger issues," she said.

D. Fathima, 28, also a resident of Burari, said that security for women was inadequate.

"It is difficult for us to step out of our house at odd hours. We are not in any remote area. This is the national capital," she said.

People also raised issues concerning traffic jams, bad roads and lack of cleanliness.

Brijesh Yadav, 62, who resides in Shahdara, said he had not seen any difference in the congestion in the area since he shifted here in 2003.

"A number of governments have come and gone since then. I have little hope that the situation will improve in the next 10 years," he said.

Residents of Bhajanpura talked of traffic jams, illegal parking and congestion created by street vendors and autos.

"Crossing the chowk (Bhajanpura roundabout) is a nightmare. Everyday it takes us a minimum of 30 minutes to cross it," said Vikas, a resident.

Similar issues were raised by residents of nearby Arvind Nagar, North Ghonda, Gamri village, Kartar Nagar and Sudama Puri.

A few locals said that national security was of paramount importance.

"People should think of local issues in municipal and Assembly elections. This is a national election and it is the time to think about the nation," said Vijay Singh, a resident of Bhajanpura.

Prema Pandey, another resident of the area, said local issues have to be tackled by local representatives.

"Do you think any party or Prime Minister can solve the water issue here? We elect a PM so that he represents us globally. He has to deal with bigger issues," she said.

In South Delhi also, local and national issues played on the minds of voters.

Pramod Agarwal, whose daily needs store in Lajpat Nagar was shut down after his shop was sealed, said this will be the deciding factor for him.

"BJP and AAP both failed to save our livelihood. I was not impressed by the work of previous Congress-led government but livelihood is more important to me than anything else," he said.

Anshuman Bohra, who voted at a polling booth in Greater Kailash, said the issue of national security has been on his mind for some weeks.

"A strong government is necessary at the Centre to make sure that peace prevails in the region," he said.

People in the constituency also mentioned their problems related to parking, regulatory norms for setting up businesses, security of women and pollution.

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