Karnal, May 17 (IANS) Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda on Friday said people in the state are excited about the “formation” of the Congress government both at the Centre and in the state.

Addressing a public meeting in Balla village of Assandh in the Karnal Lok Sabha, Hooda said that the BJP has “baton-charged” every section of society, including farmers, workers, employees, traders, temporary workers and sanitation workers.

“Now, the opportunity has come to avenge the injury of the batons through votes. This is not just an election, but a fight to save the Constitution and democracy. Just as entire Haryana is unilaterally voting for Congress to defeat the BJP, Karnal has also become a part of the campaign,” he said.

Hooda was in Karnal to seek votes for Congress candidate Divyanshu Budhiraja for the parliamentary seat and Trilochan Singh for the Karnal assembly by-poll.

The two-time Chief Minister said inputs coming from all over the country “shows that a coalition government will be formed at the Centre.”

“After the victory in the Lok Sabha, the Congress government is certain to be formed in Haryana as well. As soon as the Congress government is formed in Haryana, criminals and miscreants will not be allowed to live here,” he said.

He said that Congress wants the youth should move forward on the path of employment, instead of becoming victims of drugs, crime and migration.

“That is why the Congress in its manifesto has promised to provide 30 lakh government jobs within a year. The Haryana Congress has also announced to provide more than 2 lakh jobs.”

Speaking on the occasion, Divyanshu Budhiraja said the BJP undoubtedly has money power, but the Congress has manpower and youth power.

“The Congress high command has fielded a youth from an ordinary family against the former Chief Minister. That’s why the people of Karnal themselves are contesting his elections. Many big leaders like former Panipat MLA Rohita Revdi, Independent MLA from Nilokheri, Dharampal Gondar, and former deputy mayor Manoj Wadhwa have joined the Congress after deserting the BJP,” he said.

BJP veteran Manohar Lal Khattar, who as the Haryana Chief Minister advocated simultaneous Assembly and general elections in the state, is facing a litmus test in his main support base Karnal, where Assembly by-poll and Lok Sabha elections will be held simultaneously on May 25.

Khattar not only has to ensure the victory of his successor Chief Minister Nayab Saini in the by-polls but also win his maiden Lok Sabha battle to script BJP’s hat-trick in Karnal, which is spread over nine Assembly segments.

The by-election was necessitated after the resignation of Khattar as the Chief Minister on March 13.

Polling in Haryana will be held in the sixth phase for 10 parliamentary seats and the by-poll for the lone Karnal assembly seat on May 25, while the results will be out on June 4.

–IANS

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Baramulla, May 17 (IANS) The electoral battle has become both interesting and intriguing in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency where the contest is triangular, with large crowds in rallies of each contestant defying a sense of winner and loser.

Former Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah of the National Conference (NC), Sajad Gani Lone of the People’s Conference (PC) and Sheikh Abdul Rashid, alias Engineer Rashid of the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) are locked in a triangular contest, although Fayaz Ahmad Mir of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is also in the fray.

The entry of former MLA, Engineer Rasheed, who is in Tihar Jail since 2019, has added fire to the election campaign in Baramulla.

The NC and PC are slugging it out with each other over acrimony of the past.

While PC is blaming NC of having converted J&K into a family fiefdom, the NC is accusing PC of being the visible extension of the BJP in Kashmir.

In sharp contrast to politics and politicking between the NC and PC, the son of incarcerated Engineer Rasheed is spearheading a fiery campaign and asking people to vote for the AIP so that his father can be released from prison.

Significantly, the youth are lending support to the son’s campaign for release of Engineer Rasheed.

Interestingly, for the voters of this constituency and intriguingly for his rivals in the election, Engineer Rasheed’s campaign does not speak of employment, development, tourism, healthcare, education, infrastructure or any developmental issue.

“Vote for our party to get my father released whom we haven’t met for the last 5 years. To break the lock of my father’s prison, use your vote”, this emotional appeal seems to have gone down well with the voters in Baramulla constituency.

The old parents of Engineer Rasheed also joined a poll rally of the AIP, walking barefoot among the people. This is sitting well with the voters since no electoral promises are made and hence there is no danger of such promises being broken if the incarcerated former MLA gets elected to Parliament.

Interestingly, Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) headed by former Chief Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad has announced its support to AIP.

Sensing the fast spreading sympathy for a person in prison, both NC and the PC have started campaigning aggressively in Baramulla constituency.

Omar Abdullah has even sought the release of Engineer Rasheed to buttress the feelings of his opponent’s supporters.

The NC undoubtedly has cadre-based presence in Baramulla constituency and despite the sympathy wave being seen in favour of Engineer Rasheed, one cannot overlook the fact that the voting segments of this constituency are much beyond the line of influence of AIP.

There are voting segments in Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora and Budgam Districts where the NC is well-entrenched and can get enough support to counterbalance the sympathy vote that Engineer Rasheed is likely to get.

In addition to this, Sajad Gani also belongs to Handwara town of Kupwara District and his late father, Abdul Gani Lone remained a respected and popular politician of the area.

Sajad has been working hard along with his colleague, Imran Raza Ansari, the senior Shia Muslim leader known to wield considerable influence among his community.

The main electoral plank of the PC has been to oppose the NC for the alleged 1987 rigging which Sajad says gave birth to the over 30-year-long armed violence in J&K.

Sajad also blames the NC leader, Omar Abdullah of having chosen to visit the remote areas of the constituency first time primarily to seek votes.

The PC spurns the NC’s charge of being close to the BJP by saying that Omar was first the commerce minister and then the deputy foreign minister in the government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and he has no right to blame Sajad for being close to the BJP.

J&K Apni Party headed by Syed Altaf Bukhari is supporting Sajad Gani Lone in the constituency and the party has not fielded any candidate in Baramulla.

If one goes by the large crowds attending the election meetings and rallies of the NC, PC and the AIP, then any one of them could be a winner in Baramulla constituency.

But, the great magic of India’s democracy is that the voter weighs options a hundred times before s/he presses the button on the EVM. How many of the crowds attending the rallies of the 3 rivals in this constituency would vote for those they went to hear during the poll rallies will decide the winners and losers in this constituency.

There are 17,32,459 voters including 8,73,171 male, 8,59,255 female and 33 third gender voters in the constituency.

The EC has set up 2,103 polling stations including 244 urban and 1,859 rural polling stations. Areas like Gurez, Tangdhar, Keran, Karnah and Uri falling in this constituency are close to the Line of Control (LoC).

Campaigning ends at 6 PM on Saturday and voting will start at 7 AM on Monday in Baramulla Lok Sabha seat.

–IANS

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While RJD leader Tejashwi

Patna, May 17 (IANS) While Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav is claiming surprising results in the Lok Sabha elections, LJPR national president Chirag Paswan hit back at him and said the Grand Alliance will draw a blank in Bihar.

“The Grand Alliance is not going to get a single Lok Sabha seat in Bihar. The Congress had won one seat in Kishanganj in 2019. This time, the Congress is losing that seat too. The NDA candidates will win 40 out of the 40 seats in Bihar, this is the change that is going to happen here,” Paswan said while interacting with media persons in Patna on Friday.

“Due to this change, all the leaders of the Grand Alliance including Tejashwi Yadav are in a panic. The people of Bihar are giving immense support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the first four phases of voting, the public has supported the NDA candidates,” he said.

Tejashwi Yadav earlier said that Bihar will give surprising results and the NDA will lose here badly. Narendra Modi is not going to become the Prime Minister for the third time.

“I want to ask the Grand Alliance leaders why the big leaders of the Congress are not coming to Bihar. The reason for this is clear: the big leaders of Congress have understood that the Grand Alliance is not going to win in Bihar. Tejashwi Yadav should answer why the big leaders of Congress are not coming to Bihar,” he said.

–IANS

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New Delhi, May 17 (IANS) A one of its kind campaign titled ‘Main hoon Modi ka parivaar’ was recently organised in Old Delhi’s Chandni Chowk market and Red Fort area, apparently with an aim to encourage and exhort fellow city residents’ participation in the polling process by casting their ballot.

A group of youth, sporting saffron T-shirts walked past the market and other areas of hustle-bustle in Chandni Chowk market, capturing the attention of locals as well as roadside vendors and shopkeepers.

They also distributed T-shirts to city residents, with ‘Main hoon Modi kar Parivaar’ inscribed on them.

They raised slogans like ‘Hum Hain Modi ka Parivaar’, ‘Har Har Modi’ and ‘Abki Baar Modi sarkaar’.

This campaign came off as a unique method of rallying behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi and supporting him for the third term.

A couple of them said that they were also trying to create awareness and inspire residents to exercise their franchise. They chose this ‘unique’ method because PM Modi carries the biggest appeal and helps build instant connections with the masses.

Notably, ‘Modi ka Parivaar’ tagline first came into play after a bitter jibe by RJD supremo Lalu Yadav on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Following the controversy, many BJP leaders of the party updated their X biography with ‘Modi ka Parivaar’ tagline while many supporters and workers were also seen flaunting the same punchline on their social media handles.

In March this year, Delhi BJP workers also put up posters of ‘Modi ka parivaar’ at city’s cross-sections to counter the INDIA alliance’s charges.

At the March 3 rally in Patna, RJD supremo Lalu Yadav had said that PM Modi was attacking the INDIA alliance partners over ‘parivaarvad’ and for having more children but the reality is that he himself has no family.

Prime Minister took the challenge head-on and declared that the whole country comprising 140 crore people was ‘Modi ka parivaar’.

Notably, all seven Lok Sabha seats of Delhi go to polls in the sixth phase on May 20.

–IANS

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Kolkata, May 17 (IANS) Soon after the Trinamool Congress on Friday moved the Election Commission of India (ECI) accusing the former judge of Calcutta High Court, Abhijit Gangopadhyay, of making derogatory remarks against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the poll panel issued a show-cause notice to Gangopadhyay, who is the BJP Lok Sabha nominee from Tamluk in East Midnapore district.

Sources in the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said that after receiving the complaint from the ruling party, it sought a detailed report from the district electoral officer concerned on the matter.

After receiving the report, the CEO’s office forwarded it to the ECI headquarters in Delhi, which issued the show-cause notice to Gangopadhyay seeking a reply from him by 5 p.m. on May 20.

The remarks by Gangopadhyay were made at a public meeting in Haldia district on Wednesday. They were made public after a purported video emerged online a day later in which Gangopadhyay could be heard wondering about the amount at which CM Banerjee was getting sold.

In its plea, the Trinamool urged the poll panel to bar Gangopadhyay from addressing public meetings, holding roadshows, or giving interviews to the media.

In its letter to the Commission, a copy of which is available with IANS, the Trinamool said, “It is shocking that BJP candidates are stooping to such low levels of indecency on a regular basis, making indecorous, unwanted, and degrading statements involving the integrity and honour of a woman just to garner votes.”

The Trinamool has also urged the Commission to ensure that no other BJP leader makes such derogatory remarks about the Chief Minister in the future.

–IANS

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