End of 7th Phase of elections with attack on AAP candidate : Dharamvir Gandhi

Moderate to high turnout marked the polling on Wednesday in the seventh phase of Lok Sabha elections on a day when Narendra Modi sparked a major controversy by violating the election law by making a speech and displaying BJP's poll symbol in a booth.

The fate of some of the top guns of Congress, including Sonia Gandhi, and BJP like Modi, L K Advani, Rajnath Singh and Murli Manohar Joshi and Arun Jaitley were decided in the seventh round that covered 89 constituencies across seven states and two union territories.

The whole of Gujarat with 26 seats and Punjab with 13 seats were among the constituencies which went to polls today in which 13.83 crore voters were eligible to exercise their franchise.

While Punjab recorded a turnout of 73 per cent, the day's second highest after 81.35 per cent in nine seats in West Bengal, Gujarat witnessed a 62 per cent turnout, a quantum jump from 47.92 percent in the last Lok Sabha polls.

In Gujarat, BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and party veteran L K Advani were among the early voters in Gandhinagar.

However, in an embarrassment for Modi, he violated election laws by displaying BJP's poll symbol 'Lotus' and making a speech after casting his vote in a booth in Gandhinagar, after which an FIR was registered against him by police following a directive of the Election Commission.

Vadodara constituency in Gujarat, where Modi is contesting LS poll for the first time, saw a turnout of 70 per cent. He is pitted against Madhusudan Mistry of Congress.

In Punjab, clashes erupted between Akali Dal and Congress workers in Moga, Khadoor Sahib and Amritsar, leaving 15 people injured.

Among the riveting contests in the state is that between BJP's Arun Jaitley, also making his debut in Lok Sabha poll, and senior Congress leader Amarinder Singh in Amritsar. Ambika Soni, who too is contesting her first national elections, is in fray from Anandpur Sahib.

An estimated 70 per cent of the voters exercised their franchise in Telangana to elect its 119 representatives to the proposed state's first assembly and 17 representatives to Lok Sabha.

Uttar Pradesh saw a turnout of 57.10 per cent in 14 seats where SP, BSP, Congress and BJP are locked in a bitter battle to establish supremacy. Congress, which had done quite well in this region last time, may find the going tough this time but Sonia Gandhi appears comfortably placed to win from Rae Bareli for a third consecutive term.

Polling in seven constituencies in Bihar, crucial for RJD, BJP and JD(U) whose chief Sharad Yadav is in fray from Madhepura, saw a turnout of 60 per cent.

JD(U), which broke ties with BJP in the state on Modi as PM issue, finds an uphill task this time, according to ground reports.

Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, where union minister and NC leader Farooq Abdullah is in fray, saw a turnout of 25.62 per cent, the lowest in today's exercise.

The seventh round saw completion of polling in 438 of the total of 543 constituencies. The exercise was already over in 349 constituencies in the first six phases. Voting in the remaining 105 constituencies will he held on May 7 (64 seats) and May 12 (41) before counting of votes is taken on up on May 16.

In a case related to poll violence, Aam Aadmi Party's Patiala candidate Dr Dharamvir Gandhi was attacked by workers of the Shiromani Akali Dal on Wednesday evening.

Gandhi along with his supporters were attacked allegedly because he was protesting against booth capturing by SAD workers. The AAP nominee has suffered injuries in the incident. Police is investigating the matter.

Deepinder Singh Dhillon is SAD's contestant from Patiala. SAD workers had earlier in the day damaged the control unit of EVM at the Bajwa Colony at Patiala and later banged the machine on the floor.

If History of 1947 will repeat?

It is a surreal coincidence, the likes of which rarely happen and go down in the annals of history when they do. The year of Independence, 1947, started with a Wednesday and this year also starts with the same day. There's more. All the days and national holidays of 2014 correspond with 1947. Even Independence Day, August 15, falls on a Friday, like it did in 1947. For city residents, this strengthens the desire to experience the intensity of 1947 again. Is it natural or Kejriwal Effect?

Fifth Phase of Loksabha Elections. Mark on your finger makes you proud..

High turnout was on Thursday witnessed across 12 states covering 121 constituencies in the fifth phase - the biggest of the nine-phased Lok Sabha polls. While there was nearly 79 per cent polling in rural districts of West Bengal, around 65 per cent polling was recorded in Karnataka. The IT hub Bangalore, which has 2 former Infosys honchos contesting, saw just above 50 per cent polling. The Karnataka capital didn't even have bad weather conditions, pointing to voter apathy in the city's four seats.
There were a few incidents of violence, including blasts, in Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh in which four people, including three security personnel, were injured.
Nandan Nilekani (Congress), Maneka Gandhi, former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda (JD-S), Union Minister Veerappa Moily (Congress) and Srikant Jena, Supriya Sule and Lalu Prasad's eldest daughter Misa Bharti figure among the 1,769 candidates in the fifth of the nine-phased elections. Forrmer Karnataka CM Jagadish Shettar along with his family after casting votes for Lok Sabha elections at a polling station in Hubli.
Karnataka: An estimated 65 per cent of the 4.62 crore voters in Karnataka exercised their franchise on Thursday for 28 Lok Sabha seats in the single-phase polls in which the ruling Congress and BJP are playing for high stakes.
"Polling ended peacefully at 6 pm in all the 28 parliamentary constituencies across the state. As per the provisionalfigures available with us, an average of 60.75 percent voting took place till 6 p.m.," chief electoral officer A.K. Jha said.

The elections held under the watchful eyes of some 85,000 security personnel, including the central forces, passed off peacefully with no major untoward incident, officials said.
As per Election Commission data, the turnout was around 58 per cent in 2009.Nandan Nilekani with his family after using his franchise.
West Bengal:Nearly 79 per cent votes were cast at the close of polling in the first of the five-phase Lok Sabha elections inWest Bengal, which determined the electoral fate of 47 candidates.
"On an average 78.89 per cent of the 60,33,310 voters cast their votes in Coochbehar, Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in north Bengal," state's Chief Electoral Officer Sunil Gupta said here.

The figure as of now was lower than previous Lok Sabha election turnout of 80.85 per cent.RJD chief Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti after using her franchise. Photo: PTI.
Maharashtra: The 19 constituencies in Maharashtra where polling was held today in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections in the state recorded an average 61.7 per cent turnout by 6 pm, the closing time.

Thursday's polling decided the fate of 358 candidates, including Union Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and former chief minister Ashok Chavan (both Congress) and senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde in Maharashtra. Catholic nuns wait in a queue to cast their votes in Jharkhand. Photo: PTI.
Uttar Pradesh: Around 62 per cent of the electorate voted in the second phase of polling in six Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.
Polling in Uttar Pradesh decided the fate of 150 candidates, including ManekaGandhi, Santosh Gangwar, Saleem Sherwani and Begum Noor Bano.

According to EC sources, Nagina witnessed 61.98 per cent polling while Moradabad and Rampur recorded 61.22 per cent and 69.32 per cent polling respectively.
In UP's Shahjahanpur and Pilibhit districts, people decided to boycott polling in a total of six polling stations over issued related to development and missing names in electoral rolls, Deputy EC Vinod Zutshi said.
In Rampur constituency of UP, some 60 people entered a booth and cast 40 votes. A repoll is likely in the polling booth, he said.
Bihar: Polling gained momentum as 54 per cent votes were cast in seven parliamentary seats in Bihar.

A maximum 54 per cent voting was recorded in Buxar and Jehanabad Lok Sabha seats each followed by Arrah, Munger and Jehanabad where 47 per cent votes were cast till 4 pm, the office of Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Bihar, said in a statement.
Jharkhand: Around 62 per cent of the electorate voted in the second phase of polling in six Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand amid Maoist violence that left five persons, including 4 CRPF men, injured.
"Around 62 per cent polling was recorded in the second phase for six seats," Chief Electoral Officer P K Jajoria told a press conference here.

Polling was held in Ranchi, Giridih, Jamshedpur, Singhbhum (ST), Khunti (ST) and Hazaribagh seats under strict security and helicopter surveillance.
Chhattisgarh: Around 65 per cent voter turnout was recorded in three Naxal-hit Lok Sabha constituencies of Chhattisgarh where Maoists targeted a polling team but there was no casualty.
Barring the one Naxal-related incident, polling was by and large peaceful in the state which completed the second phase of voting that decided the fate of Congress leader Ajit Jogi and CM Raman Singh's son Abhishek (BJP) among others.Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and his wife show their fingers after using their franchise in Ranchi. Photo: PTI.
Odisha: An estimated 70 per cent voters exercised their franchise for the simultaneous second and last phase of the elections to 11 Lok Sabha and 77 assembly constituencies in Odisha on Thursday.
In Odisha's Cuttack, miscreants damaged an EVM, while in other case, a member of the flying squad was caught doing "wrong thing" inside a polling station. He was suspended and a case lodged, Deputy EC Alok Shukla told reporters here without elaborating.Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje shows her finger after using her franchise in Jhalawar on Thursday, April 17, 2014. Photo: PTI.
Madhya Pradesh: A moderate 54.41 per cent polling was recorded in Madhya Pradesh for ten Lok Sabha seats amid rains, intense heat conditions and poll boycott in some villages.
Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia of Congress and state BJP President Narendra Singh Tomar were among prominent candidates whose fate was locked in EVMs in the second phase where voting was largely peaceful.
This year's turnout was 8.20 per cent higher than the 2009 Lok Sabha polls when the figure was 46.21, election office sources said.
Guna recorded the highest turnout at 61.1 per cent so far, followed by Sagar at 59.1 per cent and Rajgarh at 58.95 per cent. The state capital recorded a turnout of 58.42 per cent. All you want to know about Lok Sabha electionsStudent Nida casts her first vote in Rampur.
Rajasthan: First phase of polling in 20 Lok Sabha constituencies ended with 63 per cent voter, the Election Commission said.
"It was mostly incident free poll barring a few incidents of party workers' altercation and jostling in Bikaner, Ajmer and Jhunjhunu districts outside the booths over voters' list or supermacy," DGP-Law and Order Navdeep Singh said.

In Manipur Inner constituency, the turnout was an impressive 80 per cent and it was likely to go up further.
Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency in Jammu and Kashmir, where senior Congress leader and Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad is in fray, recorded over 69 per cent polling.

Source: India Today

Mostly searched Politician on internet..

BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was the most searched politician, followed by Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, on Google in India during March-August period of this year, the Internet giant said today.

According to the Website's search trends during the period, BJP was the most searched political party on Google India, while Congress and Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party came in the second and the third positions.Google India also released a survey 'Urban Indian Voters', which said 42 per cent of respondents were undecided about who to vote for in elections.

The trends showed that the three-time Gujarat Chief Minister is the most searched. Congress Vice-PresidentRahul Gandhi is second, while UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi occupies the third position.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, TN Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj and Congress leaderDigvijay Singh were the other most searched politicians.

In terms of political parties, BJP was the most searched, followed by Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bahujan Samajwadi Party and Shiv Sena in that order.

How to get an election card was the most searched query, followed by how to find electoral roll number. Getting election card online, how to vote were the other top queries.

Google India's survey 'Urban Indian Voters' was conducted offline by research firm TNS during July-August 2013. It covered 41,000 people, with a focus on 7,042 respondents who were registered voters and active Internet users.

"Interestingly, a large proportion of the urban Indian registered voters (42 per cent) were undecided about whom to vote for in the upcoming elections," the study said.

Thirty five per cent respondents said their decision will be based on the party, while, 36 per cent said localcandidate matters to them, the study said.

"Interestingly, 11 per cent said the prime ministerial candidate of the political party will play an important role in their final voting decision. In the west, the preference for the local candidate was the highest at 45 per cent and was the lowest in east at 27 per cent," it added.

Sixty eight per cent of respondents were in the age group of 18-35 years. Male respondents were 63 per cent, while female respondents were 37 per cent.

source:Economic Times

Fourth Phase of Elections of Lok sabha goes viral...

The fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections on Saturday in seven constituencies spread across four states witnessed an impressive turnout with East Tripura registering 81.8% per cent voting.

Two seats of Goa, three of Assam and one each of Tripura and Sikkim went to polls on Saturday where more than five million voters sealed the fate of 74 candidates in voting machines.

The Election Commission here said that the polls were by and large peaceful. In Goa’s north and south seats, the voter turnout was 75%. Assam’s three seats—the Autonomous District, Karimganj and Silchar seats saw 75% turnout. The turnout in whole of Assam was 69.6% in the last Lok Sabha polls. The state has 14 Lok Sabha constituencies.

Tripura’s Tripura (East) seat which went for polls on Saturday saw a voter turnout of 81.8%. Last time, however, the turnout was much higher at 83.11%.

Sikkim went for simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections on Saturday. The lone seat witnessed turnout of 76%. The voter percentage in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections was way above at 83.79%.

“The voter turnout percentage will be higher as we are yet to get finalfigures. There were still long queues of voters at polling stations,” said deputy election commissioner Alok Shukla.

Prominent candidates from North Goa include Ravi Naik (Cong), BJP’ssitting MP Shripad Naik and AAP’s Dattaram Desai. From the South Goa seat, Congress’ Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, BJP’s Narendra Sawaikar and AAP’s Swati Kerkar are among the prominent contenders.

Tripura saw a multi-cornered contest. There are 12 candidates in the fray including CPM’s Jitendra Chowdhury, who is the state industries minister,Congress’ Sachitra Debbarma, a prominent educationist, BJP’s Parkshit Debbarma, an ex-armyman, and Trinamool Congress leader Bhriguram Reang.

In the lone Lok Sabha seat of Sikkim, SKM’s Tek Nath Dhakal is expected to give sitting SDF MP Prem Das Rai a tough fight. BJP, Congress, Trinamool and Aam Aadmi Party had also put up candidates.

The contest in Assam’s Karimganj (SC) and Silchar was triangular between the Congress, BJP and AIUDF, while in the Autonomous District (ST) it was a fight direct between the Congress and the BJP

Arvind Slapped again...Who behind the slaps?

The campaign for Delhi’s seven Lok Sabha seats, which go to polls on April 10, ended on a dramatic note Tuesday with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal being slapped, yet again, during a road show in Sultanpuri.Kejriwal was campaigning for AAP’s northwest Delhi candidate Rakhi Birla when an autorickshaw driver climbed atop his vehicle on the pretext of garlanding him and slapped him hard across his face — the second such attack on the former chief minister in four days. Senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia tweeted that Kejriwal was injured in his eye and his spectacles fell to the ground following the attack.A man had slapped Kejriwal in south Delhi’s Dakshinpuri on April 4. He has been attacked with ink, eggs and even stones while campaigning for AAP candidates across the country.
Tuesday’s attacker, 38-year-old Lali, was beaten up by AAP supporters and detained by the police. He accused Kejriwal of not fulfilling promises made to auto drivers — a key support base for AAP during last year’s assembly elections.

“No matter what they do, we will not be deterred from our goals,” Kejriwal said immediately after the incident.
“I am thinking, why am I being repeatedly attacked? Who are the masterminds? What do they want? What do they achieve?” he tweeted.
Kejriwal, who later “meditated” at Rajghat with Sisodia, told reporters at his Tilak Lane residence, “I forgive all my attackers. I still don’t want any security, God is my biggest security.”
In the other camps, Delhi BJP chief Harsh Vardhan said the party was “confident of a ‘seven all’ win” while his Congress counterpart Arvinder Singh appealed to Delhiites to turn out in large numbers to vote. 
There are 11,763 poll booths across Delhi and 35,000 police personnel will be deployed for smooth conduct of the elections.
This was the second such attack on Kejriwal in the last four days. He was slapped by a 19-year-old manduring his campaigning in south Delhi's Dakshinpuri on Friday.
On March 28, Kejriwal, who has time and again refused police security, was attacked and hit on his neck by a man claiming to be a supporter of Anna Hazare during his road show at Charkhi Dadri in Haryana.
The AAP leader and some of his colleagues were victims of an ink attack in Varanasi, earlier in March, where he has challenged the Bharatiya Janata party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha elections. An egg was also hurled at his car outside the famous Vishwanath temple on the same day.

Source HT

Now AAMIR KHAN on AAM AADMI PARTY.

Aamir & Arvind: Fighting for same cause?

You believe or not but i do think that Aamir khan will vote for AAP. Yesterday or day before yesterday, He was on ABP news with serial named "ASAR" & it was seen that he was supporting the ideology of Arvind and his team. I believe Aamir khan to be a real Alchemist. He really converts simple metal into gold. I remember him doing advertisement for Samsung Mobiles at time when Samsung was no where & see the height on which Samsung is right now. Every movie he touched has done wonders. Lets see how his words will affect Politics this time. Superstar Aamir Khan endorsed the ideology of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), but ruled out lending support to the nascent party in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls. "Most parties promise to do things for people if they are voted to power, but AAP is the only party which says people will be a part of that rule. But AAP has to be tested and I do not want to say anything in a hurry", Khan said at an interaction organized by the Indian Women Press Corps.The 49 year old actor, who had earlier supported activist Anna Hazare in his fight for a strong anti-corruption law, said he does not see himself as a social activist and will not join politics. "A social activist lives for a cause. Iam happy as an actor and a creative person, contributing to social causes", he said, while evading a question on who would be his choice for the prime ministerial candidate. The actor had written to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expessing deep anguish over corruption when Anna Hazare went on fast to push for the Lok Pal Bill. " Iam one of the over one billion citizens in this country who is concerned about corruption", wrote Khan. Kejriwal was part of the movement, but parted ways with Hazare to form AAP. "It would be inappropriate for me to support any political party. Democracy empowers everyone to exercise their choice and I will vote too" said the actor and host of the television show Satyamev Jayate. He also said he did not understand the logic of opinion polls. Khan talked a lot about what he hopes "Satyamev Jayate's will achieve and how it has changed his own life. "I have become brittle", he said. However, he admitted that to expect a change in the mindset of peopleovernight was unrealistic. "We have had threats from khap panchayats and a section of doctors after our episode to popularise generic medicines. The only threat I get is about people boycotting my movies and it doesn't put me under any pressure as the choice is theirs", he said. At the conference organized a day ahead of the International Women's Day, Khan said justice should be rendered swiftly for perpetrators of crimes against women.

Direct From Varanasi..Arvind Kejriwal on Rahul & Modi..

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Monday joined his party’s general election campaign in Delhi, where AAP came to power after a spectacular debut in the December assembly elections.

Addressing an election rally in Dwarka locality in West Delhi constituency, Kejriwal defended his 49-day government and cautioned voters that electing the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or the rulingCongress would “either double or quadruple” inflation.

“If after elections either Rahul Gandhi or Narendra Modi forms the government, inflation will definitely increase by two to four times,” Kejriwal said. “But you can stop this inflation by the power of your votes.”

Emerging as the second largest party with 28 seats in the 70-member Delhi assembly in December, AAP pushed the ruling Congress in the state to a distant third with eight seats.

It took outside support from the Congress and formed a government, only to quit it after 49 days, alleging a collusion between BJP and Congress to stall the anti-graft Jan Lokpal legislation.

On Monday, Kejriwal defended his move of quitting government and sought to hard-sell achievements of his government. “A lot of work happened during that time and the BJP and the Congress got scared that at this rate, they would not win even one seat,” he said. “If I wanted, I would have continued being the chief minister. But I asked my soul and it told me that I am not here to cling to the chair and so I went ahead and resigned.”

Defending a two-day protest he held in the national capital in January against the Delhi Police, Kejriwal said: “I was the chief minister and I could have easily taken a big bungalow and slept in an air-conditioned room. But, I slept on the streets in four degree Celsius temperature. They say this is drama. If this is drama, then they too should do drama.”

Kejriwal will contest against BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency. In a direct attack on the Gujarat chief minister, he said that there
was no Modi wave anywhere in the country.

Source: Mint

Kumar Vishwas VS Smriti Irani VS Rahul Gandhi in Amethi & SC Lawyer Ajay aggarwal VS Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli

The BJP in a late night decision on Monday named actor-politician Smriti Irani as its Amethi candidate to take on Rahul Gandhi and make a match of a contest tilted heavily in favour of the Congress vice-president.

Contrary to speculation, the BJP opted for a Supreme Court lawyer, Ajay Aggarwal, and not Uma Bharti, for Rae Bareli from where Congress president Sonia Gandhi is seeking a re-election.

With the Congress making public its intention to put up a "formidable" candidate against its PM candidate Narendra Modi in Varanasi, the BJP decided to challenge Rahul, who is leading the Congress’ Lok Sabha campaign.

The party expects its Rajya Sabha MP to put up a "tough" fight in a likely triangular contest in which Aam Aadmi Party’s Kumar Vishwas, a poet, is the thirdcontestant.

The Samajwadi Party, which is in power in Uttar Pradesh, has decided against fielding candidates from the Gandhi pocket boroughs of Amethi and Rae Bareli.

Irani, who became a household name playing Tulsi in a popular TV soap, has served the party in various capacities — national secretary, chief of women's wing and now as a vice-president.

The 38-year-old, feels the party, would not only add glamour to the fight, but will also have the advantage of being the only prominent woman candidate from Amethi that goes to the polls on May 7.

"She is an energetic politician, who will make a difference despite the delayedannouncement of her candidature," a BJP leader said.

The party didn’t opt for Bharti as she was reluctant to give up the Jhansi seat from where her candidature had been announced. "The party was not willing to concede to her demand for contesting from two seats in Uttar Pradesh," BJP sources said.

Earlier, she had flip-flopped on the party's offer to take on Sonia. First, Bharti said she would not leave Jhansi but a few days later she declared that she was ready to contest both the seats.

Minutes after his he was named the Rae Bareli candidate, Aggarwal told reportersthat it was his petition before the Supreme Court in the Taj corridor case that eventually led to the fall of Mayawati government. He claimed contributing “a lot in exposing the truth in Bofors scandal”.

The BJP, said sources, was also close to sealing an alliance with N Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP), delayed by last-minute glitches over seat-sharing. The talks with the TDP were "not over" and might take "a couple of more days", the party said.

The BJP wants to contest 40 of the 119 assembly seats and eight of the 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana. "We are even ready to accept two or three Lok Sabha seats (of 25) in Seemandhra, but agreeing to anything less than 25 assembly seats (out of 175) would be not possible," a BJP leader said.

Andhra Pradesh is holding assembly polls along with the Lok Sabha polls in two phases – April 30 in Telangana and May 7 in Seemandhra. The southern state is to be split on June 2 when a formal notification will name Telangana as the 29th state of the Indian union.

Source: Hindustan Times