Hyderabad, May 13 (IANS) Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president K. Chandrasekhar Rao said on Monday said regional parties will come to power at the Centre.

The former Telangana chief minister was talking to media persons after casting his vote in his native Chintamadaka village in Siddipet district.

When asked if he would join hands with INDIA bloc in days to come, he said there is nothing like a bloc.

“There is nothing like a block. Now, regional parties will come to power in India,” he said

“There is no doubt in it. This is the situation emerging in the country,” he said when asked about his earlier statement that regional parties will play a key role in the formation of the next government at the Centre.

KCR said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has to step down as per the rule set by the BJP that nobody should take up any position after reaching the age of 75.

The BRS chief hoped that Telangana will record 65-70 per cent polling.

The BRS, which lost power to Congress in Telangana five months ago, is contesting all 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state on its own.

KCR and his wife cast their votes in Siddipet Assembly segment, a part of Medak Lok Sabha constituency.

–IANS

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Kolkata, May 13 (IANS) Even as the polling percentage in West Bengal’s eight Lok Sabha was increasing, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) was flooded with complaints related to violence and tension, said officials here on Monday.

The polling percentage in the constituencies in the first four hours on Monday was 32.78, and the number of complaints received by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) during the same period was 1,088.

Party-wise CPI(M) has filed the maximum number of complaints at 72, followed by Congress at 70, six by BJP and one by Trinamool Congress.

As per the records from the CEO Ariz Aftab’s office, the highest polling percentage till 11 a.m. was reported from Baharampur at 35.53 followed by Bolpur at 35.22, Baradhaman-Purba at 33.82, Ranaghat at 33.23, Krishnanagar at 32.59, Bardhaman-Durgapur at 31.41, Birbhum at 30.45 and Asansol at 29.99 per cent.

Tension mounted in Pandaveswar in the Asansol Lok Sabha constituency after police stopped senior BJP leader Jitendra Tiwari from entering a particular area. Tiwari complained that the personnel of the state police stopped him despite his having the requisite papers from the Election Commission for visiting the place.

The most serious incident of poll-related clashes was reported from Chapra under Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency as the CPI(M) and Trinamool Congress supporters engaged in a scuffle. One CPI(M) polling agent received severe head injuries.

Similarly, at Monteswar under Baradhaman-Purba Lok Sabha, a BJP worker was severely injured following clashes between Trinamool Congress and BJP activists. At Bharatpur under the Baharampur Lok Sabha constituency, the Central Armed Forces Personnel had to resort to mild lathi-charge to disperse aggressive gatherings by ruling and opposition party supporters.

–IANS

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Jaunpur (UP), May 13 (IANS) Unidentified bike-borne assailants, on Monday morning, shot dead BJP leader and Sudarshan News correspondent Ashutosh Srivastava in Sabharhad market of Kotwali area of Jaunpur district.

According to reports, Ashutosh Srivastava (45) is also a BJP worker. He had gone out on a bike in the morning for campaigning. Around 9 a.m., an unknown bike rider stopped him and four others came and shot him.

Ashutosh was taken to Shahganj Community Health Centre for treatment where the doctors declared him dead.

After the incident, Shahganj MLA Ramesh Singh and other BJP leaders reached there.

Circle Officer Ajit Singh Chauhan said that a case for murder has been registered and the matter is being investigated.

–IANS

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Hyderabad, May 13 (IANS) Former Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu and Tripura Governor N. Indrasena Reddy, were among prominent leaders who cast their votes here on Monday for Lok Sabha elections in Telangana.

Naidu and his wife Ushamma were among the first voters at a polling station at Obul Reddy School in upscale Jubilee Hills in Secunderabad parliamentary constituency.

The former Vice President later posted on social media that they fulfilled their duty as responsible citizens by exercising their franchise. He appealed to all citizens to vote and urged others to participate actively in the world’s largest electoral process.

Tripura Governor Indrasena Reddy also cast his vote in Malakpet, a part of the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency.

Former Chief Justice of India N. V. Ramana also exercised his franchise in Hyderabad.

Telangana Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj, Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari, Director General of Police Ravi Gupta also cast their votes.

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K. T. Rama Rao cast his vote at Nandi Nagar in Hyderabad. His wife and son too polled their votes with him.

The BRS leader appealed to the people to exercise the valuable right given by the Constitution of India to elect the government of their choice.

Union minister and Telangana BJP President G. Kishan Reddy, who is seeking re-election from Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency, cast his vote at a polling station in Barkatpura.

He said all voters should come out and participate in the festival of democracy.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) President Asaduddin Owaisi, who is seeking re-election from Hyderabad for a fifth straight term, cast his vote at a polling centre in Shastripuram near his residence under Chevella Lok Sabha constituency.

He along with his family members exercised the franchise.

When media persons asked him if this was a special day for him as it was also his birthday, Owaisi said he never celebrated his birthday.

He appealed to people to cast their votes. He said they should vote for the country. “You should vote if you believe in democracy and if you love India and want to see it as a country where there is justice for the poor and oppressed, youth get employment and you feel safe and secure,” he said.

Owaisi’s main opponent and BJP candidate K. Madhavi Latha cast her vote in the Secunderabad Cantonment Assembly segment, a part of the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency. She appealed to all voters to participate in the polling process and strengthen democracy.

BJP’s Chevella candidate K. Vishweshwar Reddy cast his vote in Dharmasagar village in Chevella mandal.

–IANS

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Thiruvananthapuram, May 13 (IANS) In a jolt to Priya Varghese — the wife of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s secretary K.K. Ragesh — the UGC has filed a counter affidavit in the Supreme Court that her appointment as an Associate Professor in Kannur University was against the guidelines of the UGC.

In its affidavit, the UGC has said that the period during which any candidate goes for PhD studies cannot be considered as experience. If the apex court accepts the UGC view, then the appointment of Varghese can run into trouble.

It was on June 22 last year that a division bench of the Kerala High Court overturned a single bench judgment that asked to re-scrutinize her appointment after the second-ranked candidate raised objections against her appointment, which according to the petitioner was in violation of the UGC guidelines.

The verdict of a Kerala High Court division bench in July last year went in Varghese’s favour following which she joined her new post.

The second-ranked candidate, however, approached the apex court and it was in this case that the UGC filed its counter affidavit.

With the apex court all set to go for its summer recess, in all likelihood, the case will now be heard after the break.

Varghese is the wife of Ragesh, a former Rajya Sabha member of the CPI(M) who hails from Kannur. He is considered a close aide of CM Vijayan and is presently his private secretary.

The controversy surfaced when an RTI query revealed that Varghese got the maximum marks (32 out of 50) in the personal interview, while the second-ranked candidate Jacob Skariah scored 30. Varghese’s research score was a mere 156, while the second-ranked candidate secured 651. However, Varghese was ranked first based on the personal interview.

–IANS

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