Indian Polls

On the last day of Indian LS election campaign, PM Narendra Modi appeared in the first press conference in 5 years of his Prime Ministership, which is being claimed by media as a ‘guest appearance’, because he did not answer any questions, passing them over to Amit Shah to answer.

In the press conference organised by BJP President, when asked a direct question, Modi passed it to BJP President Amit Shah saying, “President is everything for us”.

New Delhi, May 16 (PTI) East Delhi, New Delhi and South Delhi parliamentary constituencies saw more women turning out to vote as compared to men, officials said Thursday.

Delhi recorded a turnout of 60.52 percent in the polls on May 12, five percentage points down from 2014.

According to official data, 60.82 per cent male voters and 60.15 per cent female voters exercised their right this time.

New Delhi, May 16 (PTI) The Election Commission Thursday ordered repoll at a booth in the Chandni Chowk parliamentary constituency, officials said Thursday.

The Chief Electoral Office of Delhi had submitted a report to the EC asking for a repoll in polling station number 32 after the presiding officer forgot to delete the 'test votes' that were cast during mock poll before actual polling commenced at 7 am on May 12, they said.

Kolkata, May 16 (PTI) In a first in the country, campaigning for nine Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal going to polls in the last phase came to an end at 10 pm on Thursday, 20 hours before the scheduled time, as per orders of the Election Commission.

Polling will be held in nine constituencies of south Bengal on Sunday where an electorate of 1,49,63,064 will decide the fate of 111 candidates, the EC said.

New Delhi, May 16 (PTI) Under fire for her "Nathuram-Godse-is-a-patriot" remark, BJP's Bhopal Lok Sabha seat candidate Pragya Singh Thakur tendered an apology on Thursday night and said she respected Mahatma Gandhi as his work for the country cannot be forgotten.

"My sentiment was not to hurt anyone's feelings. If it has hurt anybody's feelings then I apologise. What Gandhi ji has done for the country cannot be forgotten. I respect him a lot," she said in a video statement.

Bhopal, May 16 (PTI) Bhopal police Thursday registered an FIR against self-styled godman Namdev Das Tyagi alias Computer Baba for allegedly violating the model code of conduct (MCC), an official said on Thursday.

The FIR was registered at the directions of the district election officer.

Computer Baba had organised a "hath yoga" camp in Bhopal to campaign for Digvijaya Singh, Congress candidate from Bhopal, who had also participated in the event.

Lucknow, May 17 (PTI) BSP chief Mayawati Friday alleged that outsiders are being used to lure and threaten voters in Varanasi to ensure a win for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked why the EC was not focusing on the constituency.

Slamming the Election Commission, she asked why the poll body was not keeping a watch on Varanasi like it was doing in West Bengal.

Imphal, May 17 (PTI) Contending that the BJP does not pay heed to its ideas and suggestions, the NPF, a partner in the saffron party-led alliance in the state, has convened a meeting of its leaders on Saturday to decide if it would continue to stay in the coalition or withdraw support.

Denying the allegation, the BJP said it has extended all possible cooperation to its partners to ensure smooth functioning of the government.

New Delhi, May 16; PTI/GANASHAKTI:  The Congress on Thursday accused the Election Commission of losing its credibility and independence and said time has come to review the process of the poll panel's appointment.

Asking whether the model code of conduct had become the "Modi code of misconduct", Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the Election Commission order curtailing campaigning in West Bengal by 20 hours is a "dark spot" on India's democracy and institutions like the poll panel.

Kolkata, May 15; GANASHAKTI:  Within  24 Hours of the ghastly act  of demolishing the Vidyasagar Statue   by the BJP –RSS--TMC  hoodlums in a show of BJP -TMC mockfight in the state, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury  and Left Front Chairman Biman Basu  led a Huge March of Red flag carriers  in Kolkata, in the same place, where  hours before Modi’s  and Amit Shah’s  followers in the name of roadshow  had been engaged in a mockfight  and demolished the statue of Pt Vidyasagar, the 19th Century iconic reformer and Rationalist.