#Lok Sabha Second Phase voting percentage

[swamyworld]

What is the reason for the delay in releasing voting percentage? Why the difference between provisional and final voting percentage? Election Commission surrounded by questions

New Delhi. Nothing has been officially said yet by the Election Commission (ECI) on the late release of final voting percentage figures. On the other hand, questions have been raised by the opposition on the issue of late release of voting percentage figures of the first and second phase by the Commission, while on the other hand, questions are being raised on the ability of the Election…

[market-news-24]

Today’s Current Affairs: Lok Sabha Polls 2024 Phase 5 Unfolds Today's Current Affairs bring you the latest updates from the crucial fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024. With a voter turnout of 56.68% recorded by 5 PM, this phase has seen the most active participation in West Bengal at 73%, while Maharashtra had the least with 48.66%. Voting is ongoing for 49 seats across six states and two Union Territories, including Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir. The Election Commission has reported 1036 complaints in West Bengal alone, concerning malfunctioning EVMs and voter intimidation. Meanwhile, simultaneous state assembly elections in Odisha are also capturing public interest. Key figures like Rahul Gandhi and Smriti Irani are battling it out in Uttar Pradesh, making this phase a pivotal moment in India's political landscape. [ad_2] Download Latest Movies in HD Quality Downloading In 15 seconds Scroll Down to End of This Post const downloadBtn = document.getElementById('download-btn'); const timerBtn = document.getElementById('timer-btn'); const downloadLinkBtn = document.getElementById('download-link-btn'); downloadBtn.addEventListener('click', () => downloadBtn.style.display = 'none'; timerBtn.style.display = 'block'; let timeLeft = 15; const timerInterval = setInterval(() => if (timeLeft === 0) clearInterval(timerInterval); timerBtn.style.display = 'none'; downloadLinkBtn.style.display = 'inline-block'; // Add your download functionality here console.log('Download started!'); else timerBtn.textContent = `Downloading In $timeLeft seconds`; timeLeft--; , 1000); ); [ad_1] What was the voter turnout percentage recorded till 5 pm in Phase 5 of Lok Sabha Polls 2024? - 48.66% - 56.68% - 73% - 65.42% Answer: 56.68% Which state recorded the highest polling percentage in Phase 5 of the Lok Sabha Polls 2024? - Maharashtra - Uttar Pradesh - West Bengal - Odisha Answer: West Bengal Which state recorded the lowest polling percentage in Phase 5 of Lok Sabha Polls 2024? - Jammu and Kashmir - Maharashtra - Bihar - Jharkhand Answer: Maharashtra For how many Lok Sabha seats was polling conducted in phase 5? - 13 seats - 49 seats - 31 seats - 52 seats Answer: 49 seats In which area were 1036 complaints received from various political parties related to malfunctioning EVMs? - Maharashtra - West Bengal - Uttar Pradesh - Odisha Answer: West Bengal How many Lok Sabha seats are being contested in Odisha in Phase 5, along with the second phase of state assembly elections? - 7 seats - 3 seats - 5 seats - 10 seats Answer: 5 seats Which BJP candidate accused TMC’s Partha Bhowmick of distributing money ahead of the polls? - Narendra Modi - Arjun Singh - Amit Shah - Smriti Irani Answer: Arjun Singh How many constituencies are voting in the second and final phase in Maharashtra? - 13 - 14 - 6 - 7 Answer: 13 Which Congress leader is contesting from Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh? - Priyanka Gandhi - Sonia Gandhi - Rahul Gandhi - Manmohan Singh Answer: Rahul Gandhi For which place is the lone seat in polling being contested in the Union Territory of Ladakh? - Jammu - Leh - Baramulla - Ladakh Answer: Ladakh [ad_2] What was the voter turnout in phase 5 of the Lok Sabha Polls 2024? In phase 5 of the Lok Sabha Polls 2024, a voter turnout of 56.68 per cent was recorded till 5 pm, according to the Election Commission's Voter Turnout App. Which state had the highest and lowest polling percentages? West Bengal had the highest polling percentage at 73%, while Maharashtra had the lowest at 48.66%. How many Lok Sabha seats were being voted on in phase 5? Polling was underway for 49 Lok Sabha seats across six states and two Union Territories. Which states and Union Territories were included in this phase? The states and Union Territories included were Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla, Odisha, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Ladakh.

What kinds of complaints did the Election Commission receive in West Bengal? The Election Commission received about 1036 complaints from various political parties in West Bengal. These included issues related to malfunctioning Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), agents being stopped from entering polling booths, and voters being threatened or stopped from casting their votes. What additional voting took place in Odisha during phase 5? In addition to the five Lok Sabha seats in Odisha, voters also cast their ballots for the second phase of simultaneous state assembly elections. What allegations were made by BJP MP Arjun Singh in West Bengal? BJP MP Arjun Singh from West Bengal's Barrackpore accused TMC candidate Partha Bhowmick of distributing money on the night before the polling day. He stated that a complaint had been made to the Election Commission and warned that if such activities continued, it would not be good for Partha Bhowmick. Singh mentioned that the government would be responsible for any disruptions in holding peaceful elections. In which constituencies were people voting in Maharashtra for phase 5? In Maharashtra, people were voting in 13 constituencies, including six in Mumbai. Which constituencies were included in West Bengal for phase 5? Seven seats in the southern part of West Bengal went to polls during this phase. How many seats were contested in Uttar Pradesh and who were the significant candidates? Fourteen seats in Uttar Pradesh were contested. Significant candidates included Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, contesting from Rae Bareli, a stronghold of his mother Sonia Gandhi, and BJP MP Smriti Irani, contesting in Amethi, another traditional Gandhi-family bastion. What was the situation in Ladakh and Jharkhand? Voting also took place for a lone seat in Ladakh and three seats in Jharkhand, along with a by-poll in Jharkhand's Gandey assembly seat. How many seats were contested in Bihar, and which political alliance held them? Five seats in Bihar were contested, all of which were currently held by the BJP-led NDA alliance. What was significant about the polls in Baramulla, Jammu and Kashmir? The polls in Baramulla were significant as it marked the first major political battle post the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, with former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah (National Conference) being a notable figure in the fray. [ad_1] Download Movies Now Searching for Latest movies 20 seconds Sorry There is No Latest movies link found due to technical error. Please Try Again Later. function claimAirdrop() document.getElementById('claim-button').style.display = 'none'; document.getElementById('timer-container').style.display = 'block'; let countdownTimer = 20; const countdownInterval = setInterval(function() document.getElementById('countdown').textContent = countdownTimer; countdownTimer--; if (countdownTimer < 0) clearInterval(countdownInterval); document.getElementById('timer-container').style.display = 'none'; document.getElementById('sorry-button').style.display = 'block'; , 1000); [ad_2] Lok Sabha Polls 2024 Phase 5 Live Updates: Today's Current Affairs In today's current affairs, the Election Commission has recorded a 56.68% voter turnout for the phase 5 Lok Sabha polls by 5 pm. Leading with the highest turnout is West Bengal at 73%, while Maharashtra lags behind with the lowest at 48.66%. The voting process is ongoing for 49 Lok Sabha seats spread across six states and two Union Territories, including the pivotal Baramulla seat in Jammu and Kashmir. West Bengal has been particularly contentious, with 1036 complaints reported about malfunctioning EVMs, polling booth entry restrictions, and voter intimidation. In Odisha, voters are also participating in the second phase of simultaneous state assembly elections alongside the Lok Sabha polls.

In Maharashtra, voters in 13 constituencies including Mumbai are casting their ballots. Key battlegrounds in Uttar Pradesh, such as Rae Bareli and Amethi, feature prominent candidates like Rahul Gandhi and Smriti Irani. For additional updates, notably, former CM Omar Abdullah from National Conference faces his first major political fight post the abrogation of Article 370 in Baramulla, J-K. This critical phase of the election sets the stage for the larger outcome of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections. [ad_1]

[bbcbreakingnews]

Voting underway for 78 assembly seats in final phase of Bihar polls

PATNA: Polling is underway in 78 assembly segments of Bihar in the third and final phase of state elections on Saturday in which 2.35 crore voters are eligible to decide the fate of 1,204 candidates. Casting of votes began at 7 am at all 33,782 polling stations where as many EVM sets and VVPAT machines have been installed and paramilitary forces deployed to maintain order, officials said. Voting is simultaneously taking place for the Valmiki Nagar Lok Sabha seat in West Champaran district where a by-election has been necessitated by the death of the sitting JD(U) MP Baidyanath Mahto. Of the total 2.35 voters in the 78 assembly segments, spread across 15 districts of north Bihar, 1.23 are men, 1.12 crore are women while 894 are in the “third gender” category, according to statistics provided by the Election Commission. In addition, re-poll is being held at two polling stations of Hisua assembly segment in Nalanda district where votes were cast in the second phase on November 3, the Election commission said. It said the re-poll has been necessitated by the EVMS getting damaged in a road accident. Among the candidates in the fray, 37 belong to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), 35 to the BJP, while five are contesting on tickets of junior NDA ally Vikassheel Insaan Party and one from the Hindustani Awam Morcha. The candidates of the JD(U)-BJP include the assembly Speaker and 12 members of the state cabinet. The main opposition RJD is fighting 46 seats in the final phase, while its ally Congress is in the fray in 25. Ultra-Left outfit CPI(ML), which has joined the RJD-led Grand Alliance along with CPI and CPI(M), is contesting five seats in the final phase. A notable Congress candidate in this phase is Subhashini Yadav (30), veteran socialist leader Sharad Yadav’s daughter who is making her debut from Bihariganj which falls under Madhepura Lok Sabha seat, represented by her father a number of times. Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party is in the fray on 42 seats, including Govindganj, which it holds and where it is pitted against the BJP, which it claims to be supporting while being opposed to the JD(U). The final phase of elections is also noteworthy because of the role the “Owaisi factor” might play. Headed by fiery Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, the AIMIM had registered a stunning victory in Kishanganj last year, defeating the Congress candidate whose son’s election to Lok Sabha had necessitated the by-poll. The AIMIM is in the fray in more than a dozen seats, mostly in the Kosi-Seemanchal region which is densely populated and has a high percentage of Muslim residents. The NDA hopes that the party’s ability to cut into Muslim votes will weaken the RJD and help the JD(U)-BJP combine. Voting for the first phase was held on October 28 and for the second phase on November 3. Results will be out on November 10.

The post Voting underway for 78 assembly seats in final phase of Bihar polls appeared first on BreakingNews.

source https://bbcbreakingnews.com/2020/11/07/voting-underway-for-78-assembly-seats-in-final-phase-of-bihar-polls/

[u4u-voice]

Nearly 80% candidates lost security deposit in LS polls in J&K

JAMMU: Barring the Ladakh parliamentary constituency, majority of the contesting candidates lost their security deposit in five other Lok Sabha constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir where 51 of them even failed to get one per cent of the valid votes. The BJP retained three parliamentary seats of Jammu, Udhampur and Ladakh, while the National Conference swept the polls in the Kashmir valley, winning all the three seats of Srinagar, Anantnag and Baramulla. A total of 79 candidates were in the fray for the six parliamentary seats, but 63 of them lost their security deposit of Rs 25,000 and Rs 12,500 (for schedule tribe and scheduled caste candidates) as they failed to get the minimum required one-sixth (16.67 per cent) of the total polled valid votes, according to official data by the Election Commission of India. The Ladakh parliamentary seat which was won by 33-year-old BJP leader Jamyang Tsering Namgyal — the youngest among the six winners from the state — was the only constituency where rest of the three candidates managed to save their deposits. Namgyal got 42,914 votes (33.94 per cent) and defeated his nearest rival and independent candidate Sajjad Hussain who secured 31,984 votes (25.3 per cent). Congress rebel candidate Asgar Ali Karbalai came third with 29,365 votes (23.23 per cent) followed by Congress’ official candidate Rigzin Spalbar who polled 21,241 votes (16.8 per cent). The Ladakh Lok Sabha constituency is the largest in India in terms of area but has the lowest number of over 1.71 lakh voters in the state. A total of over 1.26 lakh voters had exercised their franchise with 922 of them preferring None Of The Above (NOTA), which was 0.73 per cent of the total voting. The voting trend in the Jammu parliamentary constituency, where the highest 24 candidates were in the fray, revealed a direct contest between BJP’s Jugal Kishore and senior Congress leader and former minister Raman Bhalla. While Kishore retained the seat for the party by getting 8,58,066 votes (58.02 per cent), Bhalla got 5,55,191 votes (37.54 per cent). The rest of the 22 candidates, including patron of Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party Bhim Singh, Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan (DSS) founder and former BJP minister Lal Singh and BSP leader Badri Nath got below one per cent votes. The constituency had recorded the highest 72.16 per cent polling in the state and only 2,618 among 14,78,795 voters pushed the NOTA button. Similarly, the Udhampur parliamentary constituency, which was retained by union minister Jitendra Singh by a huge margin of 3.57 lakh votes defeating Dogra scion and Congress leader Vikramaditya Singh, saw 10 candidates loosing their security deposit. The BJP’s candidate got 7,24,311 votes (61.38 per cent) against the Congress candidate who polled 3,67,659 votes (31.1 per cent). Two other Rajputs in the fray — JKNPP chairman and former minister Harsh Dev Singh and DSS founder (Lal Singh) — got 2.06 and 1.61 per cent votes, respectively. Seven other candidates got below one per cent votes despite the constituency recording the second highest voter turnout at 70.2 per cent. Among the 11.80 lakh voters, 7568 voters preferred NOTA. In Srinagar, where only 14.1 per cent of over 12.94 lakh electorate exercised their right, 10 of the 12 candidates lost their deposits with eight even failing to reach one per cent mark. National Conference president Farooq Abdullah retained the seat by getting 1,06,750 votes (57.14 per cent), defeating Aga Syed Mohsin of the PDP, who got 36,700 votes (19.64 per cent). People’s Conference candidate Irfan Raza Ansari was the only other candidate who managed double figures with 15.4 per cent (28,773 votes). The 83-year-old Abdullah — the three-time former chief minister — has so far lost an election only once in his 42-year political career since his debut in 1980. This was his fourth win in the parliamentary elections. The Anantnag parliamentary constituency, where the second highest 18 candidates, including former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, were locked in a multi-cornered contest, saw 15 candidates losing their security deposits. The seat, where election was held in three phases due to security concerns, registered the lowest voter turnout of only 8.76 per cent in the state. It was won by National Conference candidate and former judge Hasnain Masoodi. Masoodi got 40,180 votes (32.17 per cent), followed by state Congress chief G A Mir, who got 33,504 votes (26.83 per cent). Mufti, who had won the seat in 2014 before resigning to become the first women chief minister in 2016, polled only 30,524 votes (24.44 per cent). A dozen other candidates, including BJP’s Sofi Yousuf, failed to reach double figures as far as the voting percentage is concerned. Eleven of the candidates ended up below one per cent. The Baramulla parliamentary constituency was won by senior NC leader Mohammad Akbar Lone after securing 1,33,426 (29.29 per cent) votes, defeating Raja Aijaz Ali of the Peoples’ Conference, who got 1,03,193 (22.65 per cent). Engineer Rashid managed 1,02,168 votes (22.43 per cent). The constituency has recorded the highest 34.71 per cent voting in the Valley. Six of the candidates, including from the PDP, the Congress and the BJP, got only 11.75 (53,530), 7.58 (34,532) and 1.73 per cent (7,894 votes), respectively. While two candidates received below one per cent votes, the NOTA got the maximum 1.78 per cent (8,055 votes) in the constituency, which was the highest in all the six seats in the state. Incidentally, forty-five candidates had secured far less votes than NOTA which had got a total of 21,724 votes across the state.@PTI Read the full article

[danieljohnstonposts-blog]

Bengaluru/Thiruvananthapuram: Voting in 14 Lok Sabha parliamentary constituencies of Karnataka and all the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala has kicked off today. Half of the total 28 seats in Karnataka have already voted in the second phase of the general elections with 67.89 per cent voter turnout.

[iamflypped01-blog]

66% Voting In Phase 2, Faulty EVMs Reported in Many States: Election 2019

At least 67.84% voters turned up at the polling stations as 95 constituencies in 11 States and one Union Territory went to the polls in the second phase of polling for the Lok Sabha elections on Thursday.

The Election Commission (EC) officials in New Delhi, however, said that the turnout percentage would go up when the final reports in all polling stations would come in. The Lok Sabha constituencies, which went to the polls in the second phase, had registered an average turnout of 69.62% during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

The ninety one Constituencies, wherever polling was command withinthe initial section on Apr eleven last, had recorded a sixty nine.43% turnout.

The EC set up nearly 1.78 lakh Polling Stations for over 15.52 crore voters to exercise franchise and decide the fate of altogether 1596 candidates.

Sudeep Jain, Deputy Election Commissioner, said that only 0.371% of the Ballot Units of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), 0.40% of the Control Units and 1.45% of the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) devices deployed for polls in 95 constituencies had to be replaced after they developed glitches and malfunctioned.

The reports of the EVMs being damaged by miscreants came in from two polling stations located in Inner Manipur constituency of Manipur and Uttar Dinajpur constituency of West Bengal respectively, said Jain.

The constituencies, which went to polls in the second phase, included 14 of the total 28 parliamentary constituencies in Karnataka. The polling for the remaining Lok Sabha seats from the state will take place in the third phase on April 23.

Five constituencies in state, 3 in Chhattisgarh, 2 in Jammu and Kashmir, ten in geographical area, one in province and eight in Uttar Pradesh conjointly visited the polls on Thursday. Polling was conjointly command in 5 constituencies every in Bihar and Odisha, 3 in province and one in Union Territory of Puducherry on Thursday.

An official deployed by the EC for works related to polling was killed in an attack by ultra-leftist insurgents in Odisha on Wednesday. A 95-year-old man also collapsed and died while waiting in the queue before a polling station in the State on Thursday. Another man was killed in a clash between two political parties in the state, Chandra Bhushan Kumar, Deputy Election Commissioner, said in New Delhi.

A polling official also died in Chhatisgarh after suffering a cardiac arrest. The polling for the by-polls to 18 assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu was also held along with the Lok Sabha polls on Thursday.

[bharatiyamedia-blog]

Battle for Bengal - Nation News

http://tinyurl.com/y3kxel78 Last March, as the BJP wrested Tripura from the Left, its leaders and workers rejoiced over the march of the party in 21 of India’s 29 states, but party president Amit Shah cautioned against complacency. “Jab tak Odisha, West Bengal aur Kerala mein BJP nahin aa jati, tab tak party ka golden period shuru nahin hoga (the BJP’s golden period will commence only when we win Odisha, West Bengal and Kerala,” he said, conveying that the party’s pan-India dream was far from over. Bengal, apart from being geographically close to Tripura, shares a similar past of Left rule. It was a natural choice for Shah’s ‘destination next’. ‘Ebar Bangla’-Shah gave the battle cry, charted out the roadmap and set a highly ambitious but not impossible target of winning 23 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. If Tripura could do a turnaround with the BJP’s 1.3 per cent vote share and zero seats in the 2013 assembly poll, West Bengal, with its three MLAs, two MPs and an increasing vote share-from 13 per cent in 2014 Lok Sabha to 22 per cent in the subsequent bypolls-seemed comfortably close to scripting a similar story. Shah’s strategy was formulated in April 2018, immediately after the party’s victory in Tripura and after sensing people’s dissatisfaction with the Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) alleged extortion or tolabaji, where beneficiaries of various welfare schemes are forced to pay a ‘cut’ to party leaders in order to claim the dole-be it for Nijashree (LIG housing scheme), Yuvasree (allowance and credit for the unemployed youth) or job cards for 100 days of work. There’s also discontent within the majority community over the TMC’s alleged appeasement politics. Strengthening the organisation at the booth level and ensuring the party’s significant presence in the booths as a safeguard against rigging was the first task Shah set out for the Bengal BJP leaders. He flagged off the ‘Booth Chalo’ drive by visiting an urban slum in Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s home turf, Bhowanipore. For one and a half years, Shah sent party leaders to Bengal’s hinterland to mobilise BJP sympathisers. Even as the party, with the help of the RSS, went on to make inroads in rural Bengal, cashing in on the general discontent against the TMC’s high-handedness, Shah also made use of resourceful persons in the TMC, who were the brains behind defeating the Left after its 34-year reign. Mukul Roy, the second-in-command in TMC and known for successful electioneering, was welcomed, even though he was facing allegations of involvement in a financial scam. Roy was desperate to make peace with the BJP to avoid a probe by the central investigating agencies. His induction was Shah’s strategy to weaken the TMC from within. Roy, known for his poaching skills, took advantage of the factional feud within the Trinamool to line up a number of ‘winnable’ leaders, who were willing to cross over. Nisith Pramanik, a former TMC leader with 11 criminal cases against him, was offered a BJP ticket from Cooch Behar immediately after his defection because he was seen as capable of taking on the TMC. “We are aiming at an erosion in the middle-order leaders who control the grassroot workers and votes and have not been rewarded by the party. By giving them respect and responsibility, we are making the ground shaky for TMC’s heavyweights. This is what has happened after TMC’s Barrackpore leader Arjun Singh joined us,” says Diptiman Sengupta, BJP leader from Cooch Behar. Blame game: BJP’s Locket Chatterjee in a heated argument with TMC workers in Dhanekhali on May 6 (Photo: Debajyoti Chakraborty) “For the first time, the RSS has given us a free hand in choosing candidates to ensure the party’s victory. Winnability has to be ensured first and acceptability will follow,” says Debashree Choudhury, the party’s candidate from the Raiganj seat. The constituency, a Congress stronghold, is likely to go to the BJP because of the polarisation of the Hindu votes, following the death of two students from the majority community in police firing over the appointment of Urdu and Sanskrit teachers at the Daribhit High School. The 48 per cent Muslim vote is likely to be divided between the CPI(M)’s Mohammad Salim and Congress’s Deepa Dasmunshi. Polarisation on the basis of religion is happening for the first time in Bengal and this can be attributed to Shah, who has been talking of Mamata’s ‘Muslim appeasement policy’ in all his public meetings. The districts sharing borders with Bangladesh have witnessed illegal immigration, and are now seeing a consolidation of Hindu votes. With the promise of a National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Bengal and citizenship rights for Hindu refugees, the BJP is looking at a massive swell of Hindu votes in Raiganj (North Dinajpur), Balurghat (South Dinajpur), Alipurduar, Malda North (Malda), Krishnanagar (Nadia), Ranaghat, Bongaon, Barrackpore, Basirhat (all in North 24 Parganas) seats. Mamata, too, is getting drawn into the narrative of religious identity, even as she accuses Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being “communal” and “having the blood of Godhra riots on his hands”. She is reciting hymns in Sanskrit at every rally and invoking Hindu gods in a desperate attempt to project herself as ‘secular’, repeatedly reciting all that she has done for the Hindus, Buddhists and Jains. “I have given acres and acres of land to the ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), renovated the Tarapith, Tarakeswar, Kalighat shrines, constructed a skywalk for the Dakshineswar temple. What has he (Modi) done for the Hindus? I have renovated crematoriums and burial ghats,” she says while asking her audience not to get carried away by Modi’s promises. Bankura, Purulia, West Midnapore and Birbhum are witnessing a consolidation of the tribal votes. The tribals are seething with anger about being left out of the development and employment generation schemes that Mamata has been talking about in her campaigns. Jhargram in West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura are some of the districts where the BJP pulled a coup of sorts by winning almost half the gram panchayat seats for the first time in June 2018. Ministers like James Kujur, Chudamani Mahato and MP Uma Soren, who have allegedly amassed wealth and property, had to be removed to appease tribal sentiments. State BJP president Dilip Ghosh is contesting from Midnapore this time and is addressing both the Hindu and the tribal voters. The BJP has also given tickets to tribals and party workers who are popular among the Adivasis. “Birbhum is a challenging seat for us because the BJP candidate Dudhkumar Mondal is a son of the soil and a dedicated party worker. Our only hope was Muraroi with 73 per cent Muslim population, but with a Muslim candidate-Rezaul Karim of the CPI(M)-contesting from the seat, a split in Muslim votes is inevitable, benefitting the BJP,” says a TMC district leader. With Shah and Modi claiming that the TMC government will fall after the election results are out on May 23, Mamata has lashed out saying this poll is for electing the prime minister and not the chief minister. “How dare he ask what I have done in my tenure? Instead of telling people what he has done for the country in the past five years, he’s constantly asking my people what I have done for them. I tell them this is a vote for Modi hatao, desh bachao,” she says. Modi has lined up 20 rallies and is coming to the state every other day. Further, Bengal features in his poll rallies-be it in Varanasi or Jammu. Mamata, in turn, is highlighting demonetisation, lynching, intolerance and breakdown of institutions like the CBI, RBI in the past five years. Modi has said that democracy was murdered in Bengal during the panchayat polls. “The major issue this election is people’s frustration with not being able to vote in the panchayat elections. About 17.5 million out of 50 million people could not cast their votes in the panchayat polls and you can see the fallout in the polling percentage-as high as 80 per cent in the first four phases of the Lok Sabha election,” says Mohit Ray, a former professor at the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management. “There’s a strong wave of anti-incumbency in Bengal. This kind of huge turnout is likely to indicate a vote against the current establishment. Compare this with the rest of the country, where polling percentage is moderate to poor,” says Prasanta Ray, a former professor of political science at the Presidency College in Kolkata. “The Trinamool has won 34 per cent of the panchayat seats uncontested all over the state. Wherever we campaign, people ask us if they will be able to vote this time. This indicates that people are desperate to vote for a change,” says BJP vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar. Sensing the mood, Mamata is reminding voters of her achievements in the past seven years. She is holding her campaigns in scorching afternoon heat so that she gets time to listen to BJP leaders during the day and give a point-by-point rebuttal to Modi, Shah and Yogi Adityanath. The BJP has also raised its pitch in favour of deploying central forces in all booths to ensure a free and fair poll. The party is keeping up its pressure on the Election Commission, demanding transfers of partisan officers. The EC has already ordered the transfer of two police commissioners, two superintendents of police and seven police officers. “The deployment of central forces will increase as a confidence building measure in the subsequent phases when the number of seats going to polls will also go up. We will also revamp our war rooms with more party cadres joining us from across the country,” says Majumdar. According to BJP leaders, Modi is “more than willing to campaign in Bengal because there’s a ‘Modi wave’ in the state this time”. Not one to back out of a fight, Mamata has dubbed Modi ‘Expiry Babu’. The idea is to convey to people that Modi’s days at the Centre are over and the people of Bengal will make a big mistake if they believe in Modi’s tall promises. In fact, most of Mamata’s poll speeches focus on Modi-bashing. The idea is to boost the morale of her party workers, who are feeling intimidated by the BJP’s show of strength in Modi’s rallies. If the BJP is accusing her and TMC leaders of being involved in financial scams like Saradha and Narada, Mamata is alluding to the Sahara scam and Modi’s alleged involvement in it. She is also making the state CID dig up old cases to harass BJP candidates. For instance, the BJP candidate from Ghatal (West Midnapore), Bharati Ghosh, who was once close to Mamata as the SP of West Midnapore, is being repeatedly interrogated for hours and prevented from campaigning. For now, it is full-fledged war and both the BJP and the TMC are pulling out all the stops to win the battle for West Bengal. SAFFRON SURGE In 2014, the BJP won only two of the 42 seats in West Bengal. Since then, the party has done everything possible to make inroads, with opinion polls in March this year predicting that the saffron party may come up with its best showing ever in Bengal this general election. The parliamentary constituencies where the BJP is a strong contender are Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Raiganj, Balurghat, Malda North, Krishnanagar, Ranaghat, Bongaon, Barrackpore, Birbhum, Asansol, Purulia, Bankura, Jhargram and Midnapore. Of these, seats such as Malda North, Balurghat, Jalpaiguri, Bongaon share a border with Bangladesh, and so, the BJP has stirred up the issue of illegal immigrants. In Alipurduar, Cooch Behar and Darjeeling, BJP leaders are harping on the ethnic identity of the Gorkhas. Birbhum, Purulia, Jhargram, Midnapore are tribal- dominated areas, where the party is banking on the general discontent over the distribution of doles and alleged extortion by TMC leaders. Birbhum, with a 34 per cent Muslim population, is also witnessing a polarisation of votes. The BJP has also made a mark in Basirhat, Serampore, Hooghly, Dum Dum and Uluberia, though it is not yet a strong contender in these constituencies. Source link

[whittlebaggett8]

Nearly 80% candidates lost security deposit in LS polls in J-K

BJP rebel Lal Singh among them, got less than 1% vote

Jammu: Barring the Ladakh parliamentary constituency, majority of the candidates lost their security deposit in five other Lok Sabha constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir where 51 of them even failed to get one per cent of the valid votes. The BJP retained three parliamentary seats of Jammu, Udhampur and Ladakh, while the National Conference swept the polls in the Kashmir valley, winning all the three seats of Srinagar, Anantnag and Baramulla. A total of 79 candidates were in the fray for the six parliamentary seats, but 63 of them lost their security deposit of Rs 25,000 and Rs 12,500 (for schedule tribe and scheduled caste candidates) as they failed to get the minimum required one-sixth (16.67 per cent) of the total polled valid votes, according to official data by the Election Commission of India. The Ladakh parliamentary seat which was won by 33-year-old BJP leader Jamyang Tsering Namgyal — the youngest among the six winners from the state — was the only constituency where rest of the three candidates managed to save their deposits. Namgyal got 42,914 votes (33.94 per cent) and defeated his nearest rival and independent candidate Sajjad Hussain who secured 31,984 votes (25.3 per cent). Congress rebel candidate Asgar Ali Karbalai came third with 29,365 votes (23.23 per cent) followed by Congress’ official candidate Rigzin Spalbar who polled 21,241 votes (16.8 per cent). The Ladakh Lok Sabha constituency is the largest in India in terms of area but has the lowest number of over 1.71 lakh voters in the state. A total of over 1.26 lakh voters had exercised their franchise with 922 of them preferring None Of The Above (NOTA), which was 0.73 per cent of the total voting. The voting trend in the Jammu parliamentary constituency, where the highest 24 candidates were in the fray, revealed a direct contest between BJP’s Jugal Kishore and senior Congress leader and former minister Raman Bhalla. While Kishore retained the seat for the party by getting 8,58,066 votes (58.02 per cent), Bhalla got 5,55,191 votes (37.54 per cent). The rest of the 22 candidates, including patron of Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party Bhim Singh, Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan (DSS) founder and former BJP minister Lal Singh and BSP leader Badri Nath got below one per cent votes. The constituency had recorded the highest 72.16 per cent polling in the state and only 2,618 among 14,78,795 voters pushed the NOTA button. Similarly, the Udhampur parliamentary constituency, which was retained by union minister Jitendra Singh by a huge margin of 3.57 lakh votes defeating Dogra scion and Congress leader Vikramaditya Singh, saw 10 candidates loosing their security deposit. The BJP’s candidate got 7,24,311 votes (61.38 per cent) against the Congress candidate who polled 3,67,659 votes (31.1 per cent). Two other Rajputs in the fray — JKNPP chairman and former minister Harsh Dev Singh and DSS founder (Lal Singh) — got 2.06 and 1.61 per cent votes, respectively. Seven other candidates got below one per cent votes despite the constituency recording the second highest voter turnout at 70.2 per cent. Among the 11.80 lakh voters, 7568 voters preferred NOTA. In Srinagar, where only 14.1 per cent of over 12.94 lakh electorate exercised their right, 10 of the 12 candidates lost their deposits with eight even failing to reach one per cent mark. National Conference president Farooq Abdullah retained the seat by getting 1,06,750 votes (57.14 per cent), defeating Aga Syed Mohsin of the PDP, who got 36,700 votes (19.64 per cent). People’s Conference candidate Irfan Raza Ansari was the only other candidate who managed double figures with 15.4 per cent (28,773 votes). The 83-year-old Abdullah — the three-time former chief minister — has so far lost an election only once in his 42-year political career since his debut in 1980. This was his fourth win in the parliamentary elections. The Anantnag parliamentary constituency, where the second highest 18 candidates, including former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, were locked in a multi-cornered contest, saw 15 candidates losing their security deposits. The seat, where election was held in three phases due to security concerns, registered the lowest voter turnout of only 8.76 per cent in the state. It was won by National Conference candidate and former judge Hasnain Masoodi. Masoodi got 40,180 votes (32.17 per cent), followed by state Congress chief G A Mir, who got 33,504 votes (26.83 per cent). Mufti, who had won the seat in 2014 before resigning to become the first women chief minister in 2016, polled only 30,524 votes (24.44 per cent). A dozen other candidates, including BJP’s Sofi Yousuf, failed to reach double figures as far as the voting percentage is concerned. Eleven of the candidates ended up below one per cent. The Baramulla parliamentary constituency was won by senior NC leader Mohammad Akbar Lone after securing 1,33,426 (29.29 per cent) votes, defeating Raja Aijaz Ali of the Peoples’ Conference, who got 1,03,193 (22.65 per cent). Engineer Rashid managed 1,02,168 votes (22.43 per cent). The constituency has recorded the highest 34.71 per cent voting in the Valley. Six of the candidates, including from the PDP, the Congress and the BJP, got only 11.75 (53,530), 7.58 (34,532) and 1.73 per cent (7,894 votes), respectively. While two candidates received below one per cent votes, the NOTA got the maximum 1.78 per cent (8,055 votes) in the constituency, which was the highest in all the six seats in the state. Incidentally, forty-five candidates had secured far less votes than NOTA which had got a total of 21,724 votes across the state. PTI

  BJP, India politics, JK Elections, Kashmir issue, Lok Sabha elections, Modi Govt

Related

The post Nearly 80% candidates lost security deposit in LS polls in J-K appeared first on Defence Online.

from WordPress https://defenceonline.com/2019/05/26/nearly-80-candidates-lost-security-deposit-in-ls-polls-in-j-k/

[presentkashmir-blog]

LS Polls: 10.2% voter turnout in Kulgam

LS Polls: 10.2% voter turnout in Kulgam

SRINAGAR:As the polling for the second phase of the three-phase elections for Anantnag Lok Sabha seat ended on Monday, the Noorabad assembly segment recorded the highest turnout and the overall percentage in the Kulgam district was recorded 10.2%.

As many as 15663 (20.5 per cent) people cast the vote in Noorabad, 15160 (16.6 per cent) in Devsar, Kulgam 1684 (1.7 per cent) and Homeshalibugh 891…

[swamyworld]

Attack on BJP workers returning from CM Yogi Adityanath's rally in West Bengal, blame on TMC Lok Sabha Elections 2024 live updates election commission amethi raebareli congress candidate pm modi rally-elections news

Lok Sabha Elections 2024 LIVE: Regarding the Lok Sabha elections 2024, the Election Commission on Tuesday released the final figures of voting percentage for the first phase and second phase. These figures have been released 11 days after the first and 4 days after the second phase. According to the Commission, 66.14 percent voting took place in the first phase and 66.71 percent voting took place…

[headlines-twentyfour]

By now more than half the parliamentary constituencies have already voted, and it is becoming increasingly clear that the turnout rates will hold at the 2014 level. This is heartening news given that at 66.4%, the turnout in 2014 was unprecedented — an eight percentage point increase between two Lok Sabha elections.After the first phase of polling on April 11, the initial estimates suggested that the turnout may have dropped a few percentage points in comparison to 2014. Many commentators went overboard in making claims about the effect of this drop. Fast forward to phase 3. When the voting took place on April 23, and there were reports of highest-ever turnout in states such as Gujarat, Kerala and Karnataka, the incumbent as well as the opposition claimed that the high turnout would favour them.Some myths die hard; especially the ones in which logic could be used in either direction to support the claimant’s case. If turnout increases, the claim goes: ‘People are unhappy with the government and that’s why they are turning out in larger numbers to vote to express their anger’. If the turnout decreases, the claim is that ‘people are unhappy but as the opposition has nothing concrete to offer they have decided not to turn out’.What are the effects of an increase or decrease in voter turnout on the re-election chances of an incumbent party in India? Several scholarly analyses of both parliamentary elections, as well as state assembly elections, have consistently shown that there is no relationship between turnout and incumbency. These findings are robust even after controlling several confounding factors and have been tested using sophisticated statistical tools. Yet turnout hypothesis is once again all over the news media, but as usual, it is missing the nuances.Ideally, if there are no wild fluctuations, turnout rates do not invite any public scrutiny. However, turnouts matter for those in the business of forecasting elections, especially if there is a significant increase or decrease in the overall level (Type 1) or if the composition of who is turning out to vote undergoes a sea change (Type 2). In 2014, an increase in turnout at the constituency level was directly correlated with BJP winning that seat. Similarly, in the 1990s, though the turnout level had remained the same, increased electoral participation by marginalised communities led to the ‘second democratic upsurge’. Yogendra Yadav coined this phrase in a very influential paper which argued, comparing survey data from the 1970s and ’90s, that participation in election-related activities has substantially increased among the lower castes, religious minorities, and women. This had significantly affected the nature of political competition in the 1990s.The data presented in the graph below shows that greater the increase in turnout in 2014, higher the probability of BJP winning the seat. The NDA won 67 out of the 70 seats (96%) where the voter turnout increased by more than 15 percentage points. In 145 seats, the increase in turnout was between 10 and 15 percentage points; the NDA won 125 of those seats with a success rate of 86%. The turnout increase in 267 seats was less than 10 percentage points, and the NDA won 123 of these seats (46%). Finally, the NDA’s strike rate was 34% in constituencies with no or negative change in turnout. 69079583 While we can safely rule out Type 1 scenario (significant increase or decrease in turnout) playing a role in 2019 verdict, Type 2 (the composition of who is turning out) is going to be crucial. Even in 2014, despite an increase in turnout across communities, the change was greater among the upper segments of the caste-class matrix. The poor and Muslims turned out less. And this was reflected in BJP’s ability to win seats with huge margins.The pre-poll survey conducted by Lokniti-CSDS in March 2019 indicated an interesting pattern. While two in every three respondents interviewed for this survey said that they are highly likely to vote in the election, one in every three was less enthusiastic about turning out. The data in the second graph is unambiguous about the advantage the NDA has among the voters who are more likely to turn out. Yogendra Yadav describes this as the phenomenon of “active pro-incumbency” vs “passive anti-incumbency”. In his words, while Modi backers are enthusiastic about voting, those who are unhappy with the Modi regime are unenthusiastic about voting this time. The pre-poll data suggests that poor, Muslims, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are less likely to turn out to vote.Contrary to all the chatter in the first two phases, that the decline in turnout rates (which turned out to be not true) may harm the BJP, all the evidence seems to be indicating bad news for the opposition parties. Moreover, the cadre-based parties like the BJP (and some regional parties like the DMK in Tamil Nadu) are well equipped to mobilising, thus even in low-turnout scenarios they do well as they bring their voters to the polling booth. Parties that are poorly organised on the ground, such as the Congress, face challenges in getting their voters to the booth.If the turnout plays any role in the verdict on May 23, it would be because of those who did not turn out to vote. The elections in 2004 indicated that the reach of the ‘second democratic upsurge’ was on the wane — participation among the marginalised had stagnated. And 2014 pointed to a process of reversal — decline in participation rates among the marginalised. If 2019 consolidates this trend, we can bid farewell to the promise of the deepening of democracy in India.Verma is a Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) from Economic Times http://bit.ly/2GEOzZU

[global-news-station]

SRINAGAR: People of central Kashmir completely rejected the second phase of the so-called elections enacted by India on Thursday, Kashmir Media Service reported.

As per details, 90 polling booths saw no voting in the election held for the Srinagar constituency of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament.

The Srinagar constituency recorded zero turnout in as many as 50 polling booths. The majority of these booths were located in Eidgah, Khanyar, Habba Kadal and Batamaloo areas of Srinagar. Many booths recorded a single digit voting percentage with Eidgah at 3.3 per cent by the end of the polling, KMS reported.

The polling staff, tired of waiting for someone to turn up, was seen basking in the sun for most of the time. “No one turned up to vote at any of the polling booths here. We have been waiting for the voters, but no one came here,” an official at the polling station said.

Outside the polling station, a few youth said that the whole area had sworn to boycott the polls in view of recent killings of citizens at the hands of Indian troops.

  The post Kashmiris completely boycott Indian poll drama in Srinagar appeared first on ARYNEWS.

http://bit.ly/2XsgN0C

[harmukhnews-blog]

Over 76% turn out in Bengal amid sporadic violence

Over 76% turn out in Bengal amid sporadic violence

SILIGURI

Over 76 per cent of the electorate cast their votes in the three northern West Bengal constituencies in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Thursday.

Polling remained largely peaceful barring sporadic incidents of violence and vandalism, including an attack on a CPI-M candidate and the smashing of an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).

Till 5 p.m., the overall polling percentage…

[wionews]

Opinion: BJP remains buoyant in Gujarat, Congress rides a wave, Hardik Patel does some heavy lifting

Over the last few days, the discourse in the media seems to be dominated by war of words between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress. At the centre of this discourse are exchanges - the verdict is still out on who-said-what - targeted at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. And poor Mani Shankar Aiyar, now suspended from the Congress, is struggling to provide an explanation or the context to what-on-earth-prompted him to call the PM ‘neech’.

Much of the campaign in 2014 was dominated by political capital made from his ‘chaiwalla’ comment, and one would have thought that Aiyar and his Congress friends would have learnt how personal attacks on Mr Modi don’t bear fruit. Here was Rahul Gandhi, the president-elect of the Congress party, indulging the Prime Minister and his incumbent BJP - a party that has ruled Gujarat since 1995 - in a game of 10 questions - and along came the ‘neech’ comment and put paid to a strategy that many say was well thought out.

My gut feeling is that this ‘tu-tu-main-main’ will not impact the outcome greatly. Media often plays to political rhetoric and, sitting in Delhi, the two principal political parties trading barbs seems to be a good way to cover the goings-on in Gujarat. On the ground, these may not be reflective of the concerns of Maqsud bhai and Mansukh bhai. The people of Gujarat have made up their mind and they have real issues - unemployment and the impact of GST and demonetisation seem to be the pervading themes. The rehtoric will not sway how they vote.

Too much should not be read into the poll percentage - 68% - down from last elections 72% but still a healthy turnout. 89 of the 182 constituencies have voted and the fates of 977 candidates are already sealed in EVMs. While many pollsters have predicted a decline in fortunes for the BJP in the areas of south Gujarat and Saurashtra that have polled, these are comparisons to the wildly successful Lok Sabha campaign of 2014. Extrapolate those and the BJP won in 85 of the 89 seats that voted in the first phase. A more realistic comparison would be the 2012 assembly elections where the party won 63 of these 89 seats. An encore would not only see the BJP to a comfortable majority but would also do away with all the anti-incumbency talk. Sure, the BJP’s claims of winning 150 seats in Gujarat could have been born out of political chest-thumping and bravado, but getting almost a two-thirds majority in a state that they’ve ruled for 22 years is definitely creditable.

The Hardik Patel Factor

The Congress is not dictating the discourse in this campaign - what it has successfully managed to do is piggy-back on certain situations and ride a wave. The question that pundits don’t seem to agree upon is how the Hardik Patel factor will affect the BJP’s fortunes, but what is there in plain sight for everyone to see is that Hardik has done all the heavy-lifting for the Congress. There is no denying the fact that there has been resentment is many sections of Gujarat’s population over demonetisation and GST - both measures hit business hard. But this resentment may have been overestimated - on my trip to the state a month ago, the common refrain I heard talking to both members of the Patidaar (Patel) community and traders was ‘gussa hain, gaddar nahi’ (we’re angry but we aren’t traitors).

With all eyes on the second phase, the Hardik Patel-factor may play a role in North Gujarat but will hardly influence voters in the central parts of the state where there are 61 seats. It is here that the BJP could offset some losses from other regions. The overbearing Paatidar campaign against the party could also consolidate backward caste votes in its favour.

With the Prime Minister fervently on the campaign trail and responding to the barbs against him, the spotlight has shifted to emotive issues and optics - and even the Congress president-elect seems to be falling prey to these - the ‘janeudhari brahman’ is now seen at temples.

People in 105 constituencies will cast their votes on Thursday, December 14. And put to rest this debate on temple visits, oonch-neech and what-have-you. Meanwhile, did anyone miss the manifestos this time? Just in case you did - the Congress released theirs on December 4 and the BJP on the eve of polling. In Gujarat, it seems, polls don’t even need manifestos - the lip-service paid by both the principal parties certainly suggests that.

(Disclaimer: The author writes here in a personal capacity)

]]>

[eagle-eyez]

09:31 (IST)

Assembly Election 2021 LATEST Updates

Assam records 8.84% turnout, Bengal sees 7.72% voting percentage till 9 am

According to the Election Commission's data, Assam and West Bengal recorded a voter turnout of 8.84 percent and 7.72 percent respectively till 9 am.

09:22 (IST)

West Bengal Assembly Election 2021 LATEST Updates

'Bengal's daughter will defeat Bengal's traitor': Derek O'Brien

🏁May2. Trinamool will win Bengal. 🏁 1️⃣Bengal's Daughter will defeat Bengal's Traitor in his 'backyard' in Nandigram. 2️⃣Mo-Sha and members of the Tourist Gang will continue trying to destroy every institution 3️⃣Women in Bengal will continue to wear saris any way they want.

— Derek O'Brien | ডেরেক ও'ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) March 27, 2021

09:07 (IST)

West Bengal Assembly Election 2021 LATEST Updates

BJP complains to EC about TMC candidate 'distributing cash' among voters

The BJP on Friday drew the attention of the Election Commission to a video in which a Trinamool Congress candidate is seen allegedly distributing cash among the electorate.

The BJP also made complaints about TMC workers "unleashing terror" in poll-bound districts in collusion with a section of the state police.

In a letter to the poll panel, the saffron party attached links of the video, released on Friday, which showed an ex-minister and a TMC candidate from Purulia purportedly distributing cash among the voters.

"It is a blatant violation of the model code of conduct that says all parties and candidates shall avoid scrupulously all activities which are corrupt practices and offences under the election law," the letter signed by senior state BJP leaders said.

PTI

09:00 (IST)

Assembly Election 2021 LATEST Updates

Choose govt that upholds Constitution, Manmohan Singh urges Assam voters

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in a video appeal to the people of Assam ahead of the first round of voting for state elections tomorrow, urged them to "vote wisely" and vote for a government that upholds the constitution and democracy.

Manmohan Singh, 88, was a Rajya Sabha member from Assam from 1991 to 2019, after which he was elected to the Upper House of Parliament from Rajasthan. "For many years Assam has been my second home," said the senior Congress leader.

"The people of Assam enabled me to serve our country as Finance Minister of India for five years and as Prime Minister for 10 years. Today I am speaking as one of you. Once again the time has come for you to cast your ballot... You must vote wisely," Dr Singh urged.

Under the leadership of late Shri Tarun Gogoi, Assam made a new beginning towards peace & development. However it is now facing a serious set-back, society is being divided on the basis of religion, culture & language, rights of people being denied.: Former PM, Dr. Manmohan Singh pic.twitter.com/fTAJCQazqD

— Congress (@INCIndia) March 26, 2021

08:47 (IST)

West Bengal Assembly Election 2021 LATEST Updates

Tight security in Bengal

Elections in West Bengal are being held amid tight security with the Election Commission deploying around 730 companies of central forces, guarding 10,288 polling booths housed in 7,061 premises, officials told PTI.

08:36 (IST)

Assembly Election 2021 LATEST Updates

BJP seeks to retain power in Assam; TMC looks to win third straight term in Bengal

The BJP is hoping to retain power in Assam and defeat the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. The TMC is looking to win a third straight term in Bengal.

Assam and Bengal will have three-phase and eight-phase elections, respectively. The counting of votes will be on May 2

08:21 (IST)

Assembly Election 2021 LATEST Updates

EVM glitches reported from Kharagpur

According to media reports, voting on Saturday was stopped in Kharagpur after EVM malfunctions were reported from polling booth 98 and 99. 

08:12 (IST)

Assembly Election 2021 LATEST Updates

Modi urges people to vote in record numbers

Narendra Modi on Saturday urged people to cast votes in record numbers in the first phase of assembly elections in West Bengal and Assam.

"The first phase of elections begin in Assam. Urging those eligible to vote in record numbers. I particularly call upon my young friends to vote.

"Today, Phase 1 of the West Bengal Assembly elections begin. I would request all those who are voters in the seats polling today to exercise their franchise in record numbers," he tweeted.

Today, Phase 1 of the West Bengal Assembly elections begin. I would request all those who are voters in the seats polling today to exercise their franchise in record numbers.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 27, 2021

07:45 (IST)

Assam Assembly Election 2021 LATEST Updates

Polling begins in Assam

Voting began at 7 am on Saturday for 47 seats in the first phase of the assembly elections in Assam to decide the fate of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, and a host of ministers and Opposition leaders, officials said.

Altogether 264 candidates, including 23 women, are in the fray in the first phase, they said.

A total of 300 companies of security forces have been deployed in the first phase, in which people are voting at 11,537 polling stations across 12 districts of Upper Assam and the Northern Bank of Brahmaputra.

Patrolling has been intensified and strict vigil is being kept in all the vulnerable areas, officials said.

PTI

07:42 (IST)

People queuing up to vote in Dibrugarh

Image credit: Simantik Dowerah/Firstpost

07:31 (IST)

Assembly Election 2021 LATEST Updates

Here are identity proofs that you can carry to voting booths

One can carry any of these mentioned identity proofs while voting.

Voter ID card issued by Election Commission of India (ECI)

MNREGA Job Card

Bank/Post Office Passbooks with photograph

Driving License

PAN Card

Indian Passport

Pension document with photograph

Service Identity Cards with photograph issued by Central/State Govt./PSUs/Public Limited Companies

07:25 (IST)

West Bengal Assembly Election 2021 LATEST Updates

Polling begins for 30 seats in first phase of Bengal elections

Polling began at 7 am on Saturday for the 30 seats in the first phase of the assembly elections in West Bengal amid tight security, officials said.

More than 73 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 191 candidates in these seats, most of which are located in the once-Naxal-affected Jungle Mahal region.

The elections are being held following COVID-19 guidelines in all nine seats in Purulia, four in Bankura, four in Jhargram and six in Paschim Medinipur, besides the seven seats in high-stakes Purba Medinipur -- the home turf of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari.

PTI

07:07 (IST)

West Bengal Assembly election 2021 LATEST Updates

EC vehicle set ablaze in Bengal's Purulia district

A vehicle hired for poll duty was set ablaze at Bandwan in Purulia district on Friday night, hours before the first phase of assembly elections get underway, official sources told PTI.

The vehicle was reportedly on its way back after dropping election officials at a polling station, when it was set on fire at Tulsidi village in the once-Maoist-affected 'Jangalmahal' belt of the state, they said.

According to eyewitnesses, the vehicle was stopped by a few persons who emerged out of the forests all of a sudden and allegedly threw a petrol-soaked material on it, before fleeing.

No one was injured in the incident, the sources said.

PTI

05:58 (IST)

West Bengal Assembly Election 2021 LATEST Updates

Phase 1 of West Bengal Assembly election today

The West Bengal districts going to polls in Phase 1 on Saturday are Purulia, Bankura, Jhargram, Paschim Midnapore Part 1 and Purba Midnapore Part 1. Overall there are 30 seats that will go to polls on 27 March. 

05:50 (IST)

Assembly Election 2021 LATEST Updates

Bengal, Assam will go to polls in Phase 1 today

Politically volatile states of West Bengal and Assam will go to polls in the first phase of assembly elections on Saturday amid a resurgent COVID-19 crisis to decide the fate of a number of top politicians including Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

Assembly Election 2021 LATEST Updates:: Voting on Saturday was stopped in Kharagpur after EVM malfunctions were reported from polling booth 98 and 99, according to media reports.

Voting has now begun in both West Bengal and Assam.

Politically volatile states of West Bengal and Assam will go to polls in the first phase of assembly elections on Saturday amid a resurgent COVID-19 crisis to decide the fate of a number of top politicians including Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

The Assembly elections to the two states apart from Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry are the first, after the state polls in Bihar, to be held during the pandemic. Polling will be held in 30 of the 294 constituencies of West Bengal and 47 of the 126 in Assam which together have 1.54 crore eligible voters who can exercise their franchise on Saturday.

The polling, mostly in the Jungalmahal area of West Bengal, where the BJP had managed to win most of the seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, will likely witness a straight contest between the saffron party and the ruling TMC.

A staggering 684 companies of central paramilitary forces, each having about 100 men and officers, have been deployed to guard 10,288 polling booths housed in 7,061 premises, officials said. Thousands of state police personnel will also be positioned at vulnerable places to thwart attempts at vitiating the elections.

West Bengal has been caught in the throes of violent political clashes between the TMC and BJP supporters which have claimed several lives on both sides. The first phase of poll in Assam will decide the fate of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Speaker Hitendranath Goswami, state Congress chief Ripun Borah and a host of ministers.

Most of these seats will likely witness triangular contest between the ruling BJP-AGP alliance, the Congress-led opposition grand alliance and the newly formed Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP).

West Bengal will have an eight-phase poll, while in Assam the exercise will be completed in three phases on 27 March, 1 and 6 April. Altogether 264 candidates, including 23 women, are in the fray.

Central forces will assist the state police in maintaining law and order during the polling, a senior police officer said without divulging their numbers. The official said there will be enough security personnel to cover all polling stations.

The ruling BJP is contesting 39 seats and its partner AGP 10. The two allies are engaged in friendly contest in Lakhimpur and Naharkatiya constituencies. The grand alliance is contesting all the seats, with the Congress party putting up candidates in 43, and the AIUDF, CPI(ML-L), RJD and Anchalik Gana Morcha (contesting as Independent) in one each.

The newly formed AJP is in the fray in 41 seats, while there are 78 Independents, including 19 candidates of he newly formed Raijor Dal who are also contesting as Independents. Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal is trying his luck from Majuli (ST) seat where he is locked in a direct contest with three-time former Congress MLA and former minister Rajib Lochan Pegu.

Speaker of the outgoing assembly Hitendranath Goswami is also locked in a direct contest with former Congress MLA Rana Goswami in Jorhat. Titabor, another high-profile seat that was held by former chief minister Tarun Gogoi of the Congress for four successive terms will likely see a direct contest between Bhaskar Jyoti Barua of the Congress and former MLA Hemanta Kalita. Gogoi, the tallest Congress leader in the state, died last year.

BJP Ministers Ranjit Dutta (Behali), Naba Kumar Doley (Dhakuakha), Jogen Mohan (Mahmora), Terash Gowala (Duliajan) and Sanjoy Kishan (Tinsukia) are all locked in triangular contest with Congress or its alliance partners and the AJP.

AGP Ministers Atul Bora and Keshab Mahanta are in the electoral arena in Bokakhat and Kaliabor. Congress Legislature Party leader Debabrata Saikia and state Congress president Ripun Borah are in the fray from Nazira and Gohpur respectively.

Activist and Raijor Dal leader Akhil Gogoi, in jail for his alleged role in the violent anti-CAA protests, is contesting as an Independent from Sivasagar. AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi is contesting from Duliajan and Naharkatiya, and is pitted against Congress and BJP nominees in both the constituencies. The first phase of polling in West Bengal will see voting in all the nine seats in Purulia, four in Bankura, four in Jhargram and six in Paschim Medinipur, besides the seven seats in high-stakes Purba Medinipur - the home turf of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari.

The TMC and BJP have fielded candidates in 29 seats each, while the Left-Congress-ISF alliance has put up its nominee in all 30 seats. "Friendly fights" will take place in some constituencies.

In Jhargram, 11 paramilitary personnel will be deployed per booth, the highest for any election held in the state so far, officials said. In the other districts, an average of six paramilitary personnel will be deployed at every polling booth, officials said.

The Trinamool Congress is contesting 29 of the 30 seats, while supporting an Independent in the Joypur assembly segment in Purulia as the nomination of its official candidate Ujjwal Kumar was rejected by the EC due to a discrepancy. The BJP is also contesting 29 seats and backing ally AJSU Party of Jharkhand in Baghmundi.

Among the notable seats going to the polls in the first phase are Salboni, where the CPI(M) has fielded former minister Susanta Ghosh against BJP's Rajib Kundu and TMC's Srikanta Mahata. Ghosh, the MLA of Garbeta from 1987 to 2016, was in jail in the skeleton recovery case and is at present out on bail. Seven skeletons had been exhumed from behind his house in West Midnapore in 2011 arousing suspicion that Ghosh, a minister in the Jyoti Basu and Bhuddhadeb Bhattacharjee governments, was involved in the killing of seven Trinamool Congress activists in 2002.

The TMC has fielded actor June Malia, a known face on the Bengali silver screen, from Medinipur against BJP's Samit Kumar Dash. The Left-led alliance candidate is Tarun Kumar Ghosh of the CPI. In another significant contest, Santhali actor Birbaha Hansda is fighting on a TMC ticket from Jhargram against BJP's Sukhamay Satpathy and CPI(M)'s youth leader Madhuja Sen Roy.

The seven seats in Purba Medinipur -- Patashpur, Kanthi Uttar, Bhagabanpur, Khejuri, Kanthi Dakshin, Ramnagar and Egra -- will also be closely watched beause of a prestige fight between the influential Adhikari family, which has gone over to the BJP, and the TMC.

With inputs from  PTI

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