Regional

New Delhi, April 18 (IANS) Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Thursday claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will hardly win 12-15 Parliamentary seats in the southern states in the Lok Sabha polls.

Speaking at a rally while campaigning for Congress leader Adoor Prakash in Kerala's Attingal, Revanth Reddy said that the grand old party will win all 20 LS seats in Kerala, while it will bag at least 14 out of 17 LS seats in Telangana.

On the BJP expressing confidence of crossing 400 seats, Revanth Reddy said even BRS president and former Telangana chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao while campaigning for last year's Assembly polls had claimed that he would win 100 seats but could bag only 39 seats.

Revanth Reddy said that "similarly, the BJP is trying to confuse people, but people are intelligent and they are going to teach a lesson to the party".

KCR has recently said that the Congress government in Telangana will not last more than a year "as nobody knows who will join the BJP and when".

"We don't know, the Chief Minister (Revanth Reddy) himself may jump to the BJP," he said.

KCR said while they want the Congress government to complete its five-year term, considering the recent developments, he doubts if it will last more than a year.

He also said that all surveys showed that the Congress would not get more than two Lok Sabha seats in Telangana.

--IANS

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Chandigarh, April 18 (IANS) Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Thursday expressed disapproval over BJP’s Ludhiana candidate Ravneet Bittu claiming the Congress never respected former chief minister Beant Singh, who was killed in a bomb blast in Chandigarh in 1995.

Warring questioned the use of Beant Singh’s image in the BJP’s election propaganda by Bittu, a rebel Congress MP.

The PPCC chief told the media here, “Beant Singh epitomized national leadership and commanded admiration nationwide. Revered as a symbol of peace, his sacrifices resonate across the nation. However, the use of his image for political gain by his grandson (Bittu), now aligned with the BJP, is regrettable and disrespects the sacrifices of Beant Singh.”

Warring added, “Bittu's defection to the BJP has already cast a shadow over Beant Singh’s legacy, and his actions continue to tarnish the distinguished memory of the former chief minister. Such actions are likely to dishearten the spirit of Beant Singh. The Congress has always kept Beant Singh in high regard, claims by Bittu about his statue being removed from Congress Bhavan Chandigarh are all false. We respect our leaders and martyrs, unlike Bittu who has disrespected his own grandfather.”

“It’s imperative to refrain from exploiting the legacy of his grandfather for political advantage, and Bittu should understand it. The people of Punjab recognize and reject such tactics. The valour of our martyrs demands reverence, and any attempt to undermine it will not find favour with the public,” he added.

--IANS

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Solapur (Maharashtra), April 18 (IANS) A man attired as 'Yamraj', the Hindu God of Death, and riding the deity's preferred mount, a buffalo, reached the Collectorate on Thursday to submit his nomination as an Independent candidate for Maharashtra's Madha Lok Sabha constituency

Ram Gaikwad, garbed in a gold-and-black robe and dhoti, a gleaming golden headgear with two protruding curved white horns and toting a shining mace, announced that he would contest the LS polls from Madha to enter the Parliament with the aim of saving the country from the menace of corruption, poverty, unemployment and other ills.

He claimed that he was donning the role of 'Yamraj' to "finish" off corruption in the country, ensure Maratha quotas, prevent the misuse of central investigation agencies by the government against political rivals, the politics of hacking and breaking political parties, self-centred politics, etc.

Gathering plenty of interesting glances from passers-by, who stopped to see the unusual spectacle, the handle-bar moustache sporting candidate’s arrival was heralded from quite a distance as over a hundred of his supporters lustily cheered and raised slogans in his support.

As his buffalo, guided and controlled by a couple of aides, reached the Collectorate office, Gaikwad alighted with aplomb, cast a menacing glance around and then stomped inside to submit his nomination papers.

In case his nomination is accepted, then 'Yamraj' Gaikwad will lock horns-cum-mace with two powerful contenders – Bharatiya Janata Party’s sitting MP Ranjitsinh Naik-Nimbalkar and Nationalist Congress Party-SP's Dhairyasheel Mohite-Patil, who quit the BJP last week to join Sharad Pawar's party.

Though it was labelled as a ‘publicity gimmick’, Gaikwad’s arrival as ‘Yamraj’ not only made waves but managed to garner much attention though most decided to keep a safe distance from the God of Death.

--IANS

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Chitrakoot (Uttar Pradesh), April 18 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh will soon get its first-ever glass skywalk bridge, which will be set against the picturesque backdrop of Tulsi Waterfalls in the Markundi range of the Chitrakoot forest division.

Built from a fusion of glass and steel, this marvel of engineering takes the form of Lord Ram's revered bow and arrow, thereby symbolising strength and valour.

According to reports, this bridge promises to redefine the landscape of eco-tourism in the region. This ambitious project aims to elevate the allure of Chitrakoot.

Drawing inspiration from Bihar's renowned skywalk glass bridge in Rajgir, Uttar Pradesh's glass skywalk is poised to captivate visitors with its blend of aesthetic charm and structural brilliance.

The bridge, said sources, will be inaugurated after the Lok Sabha polls.

Complementing the breathtaking vistas of the waterfall, the surrounding area has been transformed into a verdant oasis known as 'Kodand Van', which will provide visitors with a tranquil retreat amidst nature's splendour.

Built by the esteemed Ghazipur-based Pawan Sut Construction Company, the bridge stands as a testament to collaborative effort and visionary planning.

Originally known as Shabri Waterfall, the cascading beauty that serves as the foundation for the glass skywalk was recently christened Tulsi Waterfalls by the state government.

Offering both aesthetic appeal and structural integrity, the bow-and-arrow-shaped bridge spans an impressive length of 25 m towards the abyss and boasts of a width of 35 m between its sturdy pillars. With a robust load capacity of 500 kg per square metre, the bridge ensures safety and comfort for visitors eager to embark on this thrilling adventure.

--IANS

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Mumbai, April 18 (IANS) Ace filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani's son Vir is set to make his acting debut with the play 'Letters from Suresh', an updated version of the iconic 'Tumhari Amrita', which had featured the late Farooq Sheikh and Shabana Azmi.

'Letters from Suresh', as in the case of the original, is being directed by theatre veteran Feroze Abbas Khan.

Vir Hirani is a recent graduate of the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, better known as RADA, in London. He has been making short films since his teens.

The epistolary production 'Tumhari Amrita' was an adaptation of A.R. Gurney's American play 'Love Letters'. The Hindi/Urdu version was written in 1992 by playwright Javed Siddiqui after Feroze Abbas Khan approached him following a meeting with Gurney.

The play premiered at the Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai on February 27, 1992, during the Jennifer Kapoor Festival as a tribute to the late actress on her birth anniversary.

With the play set to return, albeit in a new avatar, Vir will be seen putting his skills to test in view of the legacy of 'Tumhari Amrita' and the shoes of Farooq Shaikh that he steps into.

In the original, Farooq Shaikh and Shabana Azmi were the two actors who drove the play, which was based on an exchange of letters between the two protagonists separated by Partition.

Vir Hirani, incidentally, has a film to his credit. He made his directorial debut with 'Return Gift', which premiered at the 18th edition of the International Children's Film Festival of India in Hyderabad.

The film, inspired by a true story narrated to Vir by his grandmother, and made along with his classmates, competed in the Little Directors category of the Festival.

--IANS

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New Delhi, April 18 (IANS) BJP President JP Nadda, on a campaign trail to Assam on Thursday, made a strong pitch for clean governance and said that only the BJP government can assure of the same as the ‘Ghamandiya alliance’ was a coalition of either ‘jailed or bailed’ leaders.

Underscoring the focus of the Modi government on putting the North-East region on a perennial growth trajectory, he said that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who described the eight states as ‘Ashta Lakshmi.’

On Thursday, Nadda addressed two poll rallies in Assam -- one in Udalguri and another in Kokrajhar.

He said that this election was a fight between NDA’s ‘Bhrashtachar hatao’ vs INDIA bloc’s ‘Bhrashtachari bachao’. He said that Congress regimes witnessed a series of scams including the VVIP chopper scam, 2G and Commonwealth scam and more but the Modi government brought an end to all.

He said that peace and development prevail in Assam today, under the BJP government.

“All the corrupt parties and leaders have ganged up under the Ghamandiya alliance while BJP is all for clean politics and transparent governance,” he said at a rally in Udalguri.

Nadda named many leaders of the INDIA bloc leaders, who are either in jail or on bail and said that this showed their approach to politics.

“Hemant Soren and Arvind Kejriwal are in jail while top leaders of INDIA bloc including Rahul Gandhi, P Chidambaram, Lalu Yadav, Sanjay Singh are on bail,” he pointed out.

Earlier, addressing a rally in Kokrajhar district, the BJP President said that the North-East region is witnessing unprecedented attention and development under the Modi government.

He said that the Prime Minister described North-East as ‘Ashta Lakshmi’ and also went on to explain the ‘eight aadhar’ behind it.

“First aadhar is peace, the second is hydropower generation, the third is tourism, fourth is 5G connectivity, fifth is culture, sixth is natural farming, seventh is sports and eight is to nourish the potential of the region,” he told the public gathering.

Highlighting the government’s focus on N-E, he said that Prime Minister Modi alone has made 70 visits to the region in 10 years while Union Ministers have visited the region, 680 times.

He also cited various peace accords like the Bodo accord, and the Karbi Anglong accord signed by the Centre to bring peace and prosperity in the North-East. He also highlighted how a series of welfare schemes including Kisan Samman Nidhi, Ayushman Yojana, and the free ration scheme were bringing ‘welcome change’ and said that Asia’s biggest cancer institute being built in Assam will give the region new recognition.

--IANS

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Bengaluru, April 18 (IANS) Senior BJP leader and the Leader of Opposition R. Ashoka on Thursday alleged that under Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's rule Hindus in Karnataka were living in fear.

Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Ashoka said "The Congress government is encouraging terrorist activities in Karnataka. The government led by CM Siddaramaiah had brought down the Hanuman flag. Hindus are living in fear under the rule of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and gang."

He warned that if the Goonda Act is not enforced against those attacking individuals for chanting 'Jai Shri Ram' and if sedition charges are not filed, the BJP will take to the streets.

Following an incident where three youths were assaulted by a gang for chanting 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans on Wednesday, the BJP leader said, "I am cautioning the police department regarding this matter. We will set a deadline and commence protests from tomorrow after consulting state party president B.Y. Vijayendra."

Ashoka accused the Congress government of supporting terrorist activities in Karnataka. He alleged that instead of curbing thuggery, the Congress was giving tacit approval. He said that in the Congress rule, chanting 'Jai Shri Ram' has become a criminal act, thereby disregarding the interests of the Hindu majority.

Ashoka said that the accused in the attack on the youths "are likely to be released after being fed biryani, without being charged under the Goonda Act and with no sedition charges".

He said that the statement made by Congress MP D.K. Suresh, brother of Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, about dividing the country has emboldened fundamentalists in Karnataka.

Meanwhile, BJP workers protested outside the Vidyaranyapura police station demanding the imposition of the Goonda Act and sedition charges against the accused.

Ashoka also criticised the Congress government for hastily concluding that the Bengaluru cafe blast was due to business rivalry. He claimed that this government's tenure would be short-lived, as people have developed a strong aversion to it.

--IANS

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Itanagar, April 18 (IANS) Stage is set for simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and assembly in Arunachal Pradesh on Friday as the Election Commission has made elaborate security arrangements in the frontier state.

Officials on Thursday said that voting for the two Lok Sabha seats -- Arunachal West and Arunachal East -- along with 50 assembly constituencies will be held on Friday under a tight security cover.

Of the total 60 assembly constituencies in the state, elections will be held in 50 seats as BJP candidates including Chief Minister Pema Khandu (Mukto seat) and Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein (Chowkham seat), have won unopposed in 10 seats.

Election officials said that the first batch of over 40 election officials accompanied by security personnel along with election-related materials including Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), were airlifted by an MI-172 chopper to four remote polling stations in Arunachal Pradesh’s Kra Daadi district on April 15 to conduct voting on Friday.

However, the majority of the polling and security personnel left for their destinations on Wednesday and Thursday.

In all, 11,130 polling officials have been deployed to conduct the elections while 6,874 Electronic Voting Machines will be used for the polls.

On the advice of the Election Commission, the Union Home Ministry has provided 80 companies (7500 personnel) of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) while thousands of state security force personnel have been deployed to maintain the law and order situation.

A total of 8.92,694 voters, including 4,54,256 women, will decide the fate of 133 candidates contesting for the 50 assembly seats, and 14 candidates vying for the two Lok Sabha seats.

Of the 133 candidates, 50 have been fielded by the ruling BJP, 19 by the opposition Congress, 14 by the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar), 20 by the National People’s Party (NPP), 11 by the People’s Party of Arunachal and the remaining by the other local parties and Independents.

Though 14 candidates are contesting in the two Lok Sabha seats, the main contest is expected to be between Union minister Kiren Rijiju and state Congress President and former chief minister Nabam Tuki for the Arunachal West seat. In the Arunachal East seat, the main fight would be between the BJP’s sitting MP Tapir Gao and the Congress’ Bosiram Siram, a former minister and state Congress Vice-President.

The NPP led by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma put up 20 candidates in the Arunachal Pradesh assembly elections, and announced its support to the BJP Lok Sabha candidates in the state -- Kiren Rijiju and Tapir Gao.

Rijiju is seeking re-election for a fourth term.

In the Arunachal West Parliamentary seat, eight candidates are in the fray while six aspirants are vying for the Arunachal East Parliamentary seat.

The over-a-month-long hectic campaigning for the simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the northeastern state ended on Wednesday afternoon.

BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, NPP supremo and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma campaigned for their respective parties in Arunachal Pradesh.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi were scheduled to visit Arunachal Pradesh to campaign for the party candidates but they did not turn up.

Though the BJP has a solid base in the state and is ahead of the other parties in the electoral battle, two major issues -- the anti-incumbency factor and Christian organisations’ open support to the Congress candidates -- caused concern among the saffron party leaders.

The counting of votes for the Assembly elections will be taken up on June 2, while the results of the Lok Sabha elections will be announced on June 4.

--IANS

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Mumbai, April 18 (IANS) The Congress on Thursday lodged a complaint against the ruling MahaYuti ally Shiv Sena for allegedly violating the model code of conduct by using some 1,000 Maharashtra state transport buses for a poll campaign, here.

Congress Chief Spokesperson Atul Londhe has written to the Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) pointing out the unauthorised use of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC)'s buses for displaying publicity material of the ruling MahaYuti alliance.

"The banners have a huge picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with the Bow and Arrow symbol of the Shiv Sena and photos of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. As per the Election Commission of India's letter no. 437/6/INST/2015-CCS dated 29.12.2015, the use of government and PSUs properties is banned for electoral campaigning. Despite this ban, the ST officials have allowed the illegal use of over 1,000 buses for the election campaign of Shiv Sena candidates," said Londhe's letter.

He called upon the CEO to take immediate and decisive action to address these violations, and cancel the candidature of all the LS candidates of Shiv Sena plus initiate appropriate disciplinary measures against the Shinde-led party.

Londhe also demanded action should also be taken against the senior officials of the Planning and Commercial Department of MSRTC for violation of Model Code of Conduct and ECI instructions in this regard to ensure the integrity of the election process.

--IANS

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Kottayam (Kerala), April 18 (IANS) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday told his predecessor and the country’s longest-serving Defence Minister A.K. Antony that he can understand the predicament of the latter.

Singh said this while addressing an election rally for the BJP candidate and son of Antony, Anil Antony, at Kanjirapally which comes under the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency, where Anil is fighting a poll battle against three-time sitting Congress MP Anto Antony and veteran CPI-M former finance minister Thomas Isaac.

“ All I have to tell Antony is even if he might not vote for him, he should bless him as a father. I was surprised by what Antony said, maybe he said like that due to the pressure from the Congress party,” said Singh.

Antony after almost six months broke his silence early this month when he said Anil should and will lose at Pathanamthitta and it was wrong for the children of Congress leaders to join the BJP.

“I have the highest regard for Antony and I see him as my elder brother. As Minister, Antony was a clean person, while other Congress leaders are not like that,” added Singh.

“ Anil has a bright future in the BJP,” said Singh and took a dig at Rahul Gandhi when he said the country’s Chandrayan Mission was a success, while the ‘Rahulyan’ mission, even after two decades, has not reached anywhere.

--IANS

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