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Battle of ballot in 5 states
Rebels hold key in Nagaur, Ajmer
Winning Gandhi Nagar seat a challenge for saffron party
Modi calls Congress a failure; Rahul says BJP masters in corruption
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Hanumangarh candidates bank on women power
soliciting support:
Congress candidate Vinod Chaudhary's wife Vijay Laxmi campaigns in Hanumangarh on Thursday. Photo: Raj Sadosh
Cong seeks surveillance of Punjab Bhavan in Delhi
Vote for change, Badal tells Delhi electorate
EC takes sheen off Punjab investment summit ads
Telangana: Congress looks to table Bill in winter session
Karzai to seek greater military aid from India
Assam Police gear up to check extortion, abduction
Sushma flays Jolly for organising protest
KBC 2013 gets first female crorepati
Andhra breathes easy as Cyclone Lehar weakens
Talwars could have destroyed evidence of sexual act: Court New Delhi, November 28 After the CBI had argued that Rajesh and Nupur Talwar had murdered their daughter Aarushi and servant Hemraj on finding them in a 'compromising position', the special CBI judge in his order had added that the accused being doctors were capable of destroying evidence of sexual intercourse. 2 more cases against Ramdev’s trusts Live-in relationship neither a crime nor a sin, says SC
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with general election 2014 only a few months away...  Rajasthan 200
Madhya Pradesh 230 Chhattisgarh 90
Mizoram 40
Cong, BJP stalwarts face tough contest
Sikar, November 28 Thinking itself to be strong till recently in the Taranagar, Sadarshahar, Sujangarh, Srimadhopur and Nawalgarh constituencies of the region, the Congress is finding it difficult now. It is facing a stiff fight from the BJP in four constituencies and from Independents in two. The situation is quite the same for the BJP in the Sadulpur, Pilani and Dantaramgarh constituencies. It is facing a stiff challenge from Independents in these constituencies. Development, corruption and inflation are the issues that the common man sees hurting it the most. There is a major demand for creating a separate district with Sikar, Churu and Jhunjhunu as part and a similar separate district with Neem Ka Thana and Sujangarh. Locals point out that the Shekhawati region has given a large number of soldiers to the country, but not much has been done to improve their living conditions at the district or the tehsil level. Over the past few years, Sikar, Churu and Jhunjhunu have emerged as major educational hubs with a large number of private universities and coaching institutes coming into existence. But the region still doesn’t have any government-aided or state-run colleges. There is a demand for setting up a medical college in the Shekhawati region and an agricultural college in Jhunjhunu. The region remains in sharp focus for the Congress and the BJP with the candidates promising development, if elected.
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Rebels hold key in Nagaur, Ajmer
Nagaur/Ajmer, November 28 Three seats in the Nagaur parliamentary constituency have rebels from prominent political families taking on new faces from the Congress and the BJP. While Nagaur and Degana have candidates from the heavyweight political Mirdha family, Khinvsar has former BJP heavyweight Jat leader Hanuman Beniwal contesting against his former party’s candidate. Of the total 29 seats in the region, there is direct contest between the incumbent Congress and the Opposition BJP on 14 seats. There is a three-corner contest while for seven seats, with either the Congress or the BJP rebel contesting, making things difficult for both parties. In Degana, BJP MLA Ajay Singh Kilak and Congress’ Richpal Mirdha -- nephew of one-time Congress heavyweight Nathuram Mirdha - are locked in a direct contest. Kilak himself is no mean name being the son of strongman Ramraghunath Chaudhary and brother of BJP district head Bindu Chaudhary. What, however, makes the contest interesting is that Kilak had dislodged Mirdha in the last round of elections after the latter had returned to the state Assembly on four consecutive occasions. Despite the anti-incumbency factor against the BJP in 2009, Kilak emerged victorious against Mirdha, though the margin was slender. Locals say Kilak has in the last five years been available for anyone from the constituency at any given time and has made efforts to develop the region, which ostensibly remains rural and backward. Another Mirdha heavyweight Harendra Mirdha is contesting from Nagaur. The son of former Central minister Ram Niwas Mirdha, Harendra is in the fray as an Independent after he was denied ticket in the town that holds his father’s legacy. Having lost on two previous occasions, Harendra was denied ticket by the Congress as it chose to put up a Muslim candidate, Shaukat Ali. Harendra and Shaukat Ali face another Muslim candidate from the BJP -- Habib-ur Rehman -- making it a three-corner contest. This is the first time since Independence that Nagaur will see two Muslim candidates pitted against each other. Interestingly, two of the four Muslim candidates contesting elections on the BJP ticket are in this region. The other is Younus Khan (rural Deedwara constituency) giving the saffron party a strong standing in the region and making a strong case for Muslims to rally behind the party. The most interesting contest on the cards is undoubtedly in Khinvsar constituency. There is a four-corner contest here with ex-BJP Jat leader Hanuman Beniwal throwing in his hat against not only his former party but also against the Congress and the BSP candidate Durg Singh Chauhan.
POLL TURF
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Winning Gandhi Nagar seat a challenge for saffron party
New Delhi, November 28 The constituency has around 28 per cent Punjabis, who are said to be traditional supporters of the BJP. However, the party has failed to widen its base in the area. Sitting Congress MLA from Gandhi Nagar Arvinder Singh Lovely set a record of winning the seat by around 32,000 votes in the last elections. It would be a challenging task for the BJP to cover this margin in the coming Assembly elections. The last time the BJP won the seat was in 1993. The winning margin was of 3,000 votes. The party put up a poor show even in 2012 municipal elections where it could manage to win only one seat out of the total four. The remaining three seats went to the Congress. BJP insiders acknowledge that the party lacks a suitable candidate to give Lovely a tough fight. This time, it has fielded a new face, RC Jain, from the constituency. The Aam Admi Party (AAP) has given the ticket to Anil Kumar Vajpayee from this constituency. The BSP has also announced its candidate from the area. However, they both these candidates don't appear to be strong enough to pose any threat to the Congress. Home to one of the biggest wholesale markets of readymade garments, the constituency battles with the problems of traffic jams, unorganised public transport, narrow roads etc. The cloth market attracts over four lakh people daily. The area is also grappling with the problem of water shortage. Three-time MLA Arvinder Singh Lovely is the Revenue and Urban Development Minister in the Delhi Cabinet. "We have undertaken several road-widening projects in the area. Central verges have been constructed on main roads to make these one-way," Lovely claimed.
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Modi calls Congress a failure; Rahul says BJP masters in corruption
Sikar/Ajmer/ Banswara, Nov 28 Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on the other hand said there was only one thing that the BJP did better than the Congress-corruption-and branded the Opposition party as "masters" in it. Both leaders were in Rajasthan today addressing campaign rallies for their party candidates. Modi held rallies at Sikar and Ajmer while Rahul held a rally at Banswara. Modi said, "If a gun licence instead of a gun is shown to a lion, he is not going to get scared. In the same way just making laws for the poor is not enough, their implementation is also required." The BJP Prime Ministerial candidate slammed Congress' handling of Andhra Pradesh bifurcation and said its government was neither visible at the Centre nor in Rajasthan. The Congress vice-president claimed while the Congress did better than the BJP on all other fronts, including development, it had surrendered before the Opposition party on the corruption front. "Today I can acknowledge one thing from this dais. They do only one thing better than us. They do corruption the best. One can see this in BJP-ruled states like Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and others. They are the masters in corruption and they are way ahead of us. We surrender on this issue before them," he said. — PTI
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Hanumangarh candidates bank on women power
Abohar, November 28 Eying support of around 1.07 lakh female voters (out of total 2.27 lakh electorate) in Hanumangarh, female family members of Congress and BJP candidates have taken to door-to-door campaigning in village areas. Vinod Chaudhary (Congress) and Ram Pratap (BJP) are in fray from here. Despite Manmohan Singh addressing the last election rally for the Hanumangarh seat during the last elections, the Congress could manage to win the seat only with a razor-thin margin of less than 400 votes. This time, there is a multi-corner contest with rebels like Jaspal Singh (husband of Municipal Council president Surinder Kaur of the BJP), Prof Suman Chawla (Congress) and Rajinder Makkasar (former vice-president of the panchayat samiti) also in the fray. Women activists led by Vinod’s wife Vijay Laxmi and daughter Ritu were seen doing hectic canvassing as the deadline for campaigning drew closer. Ram Pratap’s wife Tara Devi and daughter-in-law were also seen trying hard to win over female voters. Family members of other candidates also did not spare any effort to woo voters during the final round of campaigning. BSP supremo Mayawati held a rally at Hanumangarh last week, but it hardly seems to have given any boost to the prospects of her party candidate.
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Cong seeks surveillance of Punjab Bhavan in Delhi
New Delhi, November 28 In a late evening complaint to Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath, secretary of Congress' legal cell KC Mittal said, "We have been informed that Punjab Bhawan, Kapurthala House and other places belonging to the Punjab Government in Delhi are being used by Akali Dal ministers for election purposes. They are not only staying there with fictitious names, but also using the premises for all kinds of illegal activities." On November 26, a Congress delegation had informed the EC of Punjab Police personnel moving into Delhi in plain clothes to influence voters for the four seats where the SAD had put up its candidates.
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Vote for change, Badal tells Delhi electorate
New Delhi, November 28 In Delhi, the BJP has projected a man of clean image, Dr Harsh Vardhan, for Chief Ministership and Narendra Modi for Prime Ministership at the Centre, he said. “If we win the Delhi election and the poll in three other states -- Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh -- we will surely make a BJP-led NDA government at the Centre,” said Parkash Singh Badal who is in Delhi on an election tour. Addressing a rally at East of Kailash, a segment of Kalkaji Assembly constituency, Badal said that the BJP was like “amrit dhara” that treats all kinds of ailments. If the BJP was voted to power, all kinds of problems of the denizens of Delhi would get sorted out. SAD-BJP alliance candidate Harmit Singh Kalkaji is contesting from the Kalkaji Assembly constituency. Badal, who held a series of public meetings in Kalkaji constituency today, said that after getting independence, Mahatma Gandhi wanted to disband the Congress as non-Congress leaders had also fought for the freedom of the country. Arun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, who accompanied Badal said that during the 15-year rule of the Congress, power tariff in Delhi had gone up 300 per cent and water tariff 1,100 per cent.
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EC takes sheen off Punjab investment summit ads
Chandigarh, November 28 The state government has been told by the Election Commission that no advertisement, featuring photographs of politicians, can be issued in the media in the poll-bound states of Delhi, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram. The state government had been planning to advertise its mega investment summit-Progressive Punjab Investors Summit-in most of these states by advertising through newspapers and television channels. Following the directions of the Election Commission, the state government will now release ads in these states without photographs of CM Parkash Singh Badal, Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal and Industries Minister Madan Mohan
Mittal.
Investment promotion Deputy Chief Minister Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Thursday okayed the formation of Punjab Bureau of Investment Promotion (PBIP), an apex body for all industrial issues, which will also grant approvals for setting up of new industrial units under one roof through the single-window system
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Telangana: Congress looks to table Bill in winter session
New Delhi, November 28 In Delhi, Central ministers from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema areas took a principled stand on Hyderabad being made a joint capital of Telangana and residual Andhra by being given UT status. Back in Andhra, talk Union Minister JD Seelam held a meeting with his senior colleague from the state and Science Minister Jaipal Reddy urging him to make Hyderabad a UT to serve as a joint capital of both Telangana and residual Andhra. Jaipal Reddy for his part is a staunch supporter of Hyderabad being an inseparable part of Andhra. Another Union Minister MM Pallam Raju, who holds HRD charge, today advocated UT status for Hyderabad. “There is a lot of insecurity and apprehension in the people who have made Hyderabad their home across the years from Andhra and Rayalaseema areas. The only secure option to protect their interests and also for being a common capital is for the creation of Hyderabad as UT, at least until the establishment of a new capital for the residual state of Andhra radish,” Raju told TNS. In the Congress circles, there is acknowledgement of the fact that the formation of Telangana is more to do with political management than anything else. “We hope to introduce the draft state reorganisation Bill in the winter session of Parliament so it can be referred to the Andhra Assembly before the final formation of the new state. But more than the infrastructural and technical issues which the GOM on Telangana is addressing the challenge for us is political management,” a top Congress leader admitted. Earlier, Congress general secretary in charge of Andhra Digvijay Singh had made it clear that the decision of the Andhra Assembly would not be binding in the case of Telangana. That said, the Congress is well aware of the simmering discontent on the division of Andhra with its own Chief Miniser threatening time and again to quit. Asked if the party was about to take any disciplinary action against Kiran Reddy, top Congress leaders declined to comment. The GOM on Telangana will finalise its report for submission to the Cabinet so that the draft reorganisation Bill can be introduced in the winter session starting December 5. The GOM comprises Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Defence Minister AK Antony, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Oil Minister Veerappa Moily and MoS PMO V
Narayanasamy.
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Karzai to seek greater military aid from India
New Delhi, November 28 MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said Karzai would visit New Delhi primarily to attend a function being organised by an educational institution. “Whenever he (Karzai) is in India, he always meets important sections of
the Indian society, including the Prime Minister,” he added. Sources said Karzai’s meeting with Manmohan Singh would take place on December 14, a day after his arrival. The Afghan leader had last visited India in May. Discussions between the two countries will cover various issues, including India’s proposal to
build the Chabahar Port in Iran that will provide New Delhi a road link to Afghanistan and Central Asia. India is deeply concerned over the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan even as NATO troops prepare to pull out of the embattled nation.
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Assam Police gear up to check extortion, abduction
Guwahati, November 28 The meeting was held in the wake of instructions from Chief Minister and state Home Minister Tarun Gogoi to prepare an action plan to curb the growing incidents of extortion and abduction by militants in the state. The anti-talks faction of the ULFA and National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Sangbijit faction) has been creating trouble through extortion spree and extortion-related abductions in the state of late. The police and security forces have initiated anti-insurgent operations in the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) areas, Goalpara district in western Assam and along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary to curb the growing activities of insurgents. Two militants belonging to the NDFB (Sangbijit) were killed by the Army in the Chakrasila area of Kokrajhar district in an encounter yesterday. The Army recovered two pistols and two hand grenades from the slain militants. Four more insurgents belonging to a newly-formed Rabha tribe insurgent group were killed by the Goalpara police last week in connection with the abduction of an employee of the neighbouring Meghalaya Government. The Centre recently extended the continued imposition of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 in Assam with effect from December 3 by renewing the “disturbed area” tag on Assam in view of worsening law and order situation and Maoist presence. The continued counter-insurgency operation by the Army in Assam completed 24 years today. It was on this day in 1990, the Army operation was first launched in Assam to tame insurgents belonging to the
ULFA.
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Sushma flays Jolly for organising protest
Senior leader Sushma Swaraj criticised Jolly for organising the protest, which the man in question later termed as “spontaneous and not organised by the BJP”. The party distanced itself from the protest immediately with leaders admitting in private that the act only helped digress attention from the real issue - Tarun Tejpal and the alleged rape case against him. Soon after the Jolly-led protests, Sushma tweeted: “I disapprove of what Shri Vijay Jolly has done at the residence of Ms. Shoma Chaudhury”. Later, Sushma said she would never agree with this method of protest. “Both I and Arun Jaitley had told Jolly not to stage such a protest,” she said. Party President Rajnath Singh would take action against him, “but I totally condemn it”, she added. A chastened Jolly later explained that he was participating in a padayatra in support of BJP Mehrauli candidate Pravesh Verma in Saket and “suddenly came to know that Shoma” lived closeby. “A spontaneous protest and uproar erupted against her. Protest was spontaneous and was not organised by the BJP,” Jolly said, calling it “a decision taken on the spur of the movement.
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KBC 2013 gets first female crorepati
New Delhi, November 28 A Bachelor of Science student from Uttar Pradesh, Fatma participated in the game show to win a certain amount to pay off her deceased father's loan. Fatma had lost hope of making it to the hot seat this season, but she finally found her lucky moment. “I was very nervous when I wasn't able to make it to the hot seat in the second last episode and felt I have to go home empty-handed. But then I aced the ‘fastest finger first’ round and made my way to the hot seat,” Fatma said after her win. “Also, I didn’t feel as the one-crore winner until the audience clapped and Bachchanji hugged me. It is a great feeling,” she said. Fatma credits her pool of general knowledge to newspapers and news channels. She now plans to get rid of her father’s loan and invest some money in studying further. — IANS
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Andhra breathes easy as Cyclone Lehar weakens
Hyderabad, November 28 Under its influence, very heavy rains lashed the south coastal districts of Guntur, East Godavari, West Godavari and Krishna while the north coastal districts of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam experienced heavy rains. The heavy rains added to the damage caused by two previous cyclones over the past two months. As a precautionary measure, nearly 43,000 people were evacuated from low-lying areas in Krishna, East Godavari and West Godavari districts. Besides, the Army, the Navy and the Air Force were asked to standby for assistance in relief and rehabilitation efforts if the situation turned worse. The state government had put seven coastal districts on high alert following the cyclone threat and the government machinery was ready to swing into action if the need arose, the officials said. Several teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were also deployed in the coastal districts. “People will now be allowed to return to their homes,” said C Parthasarathy, Commissioner of the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Department. The Indian Meteorological Department withdrew its cyclone warning after Lehar weakened into a deep depression. The weather report now forecasts squally winds of 45 to 55 kilometers per hour, causing rainfall in most places of the state. Though the wind would no longer pose much of a threat, the heavy rainfall could cause serious damage, particularly in areas which were ravaged by the last week’s Cyclone Helen, Parthasarathi said.
Recent storms
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Talwars could have destroyed evidence of sexual act: Court
New Delhi, November 28 The judgment was given Special Judge Anti-Corruption (CBI), Ghaziabad S Lal. It also revealed that Dr Sushil Chaudhary, a friend of Rajesh Talwar's brother, Dinesh Talwar, had contacted a prosecution witness, KK Gautam, a retired police officer, for suppressing the fact of sexual intercourse in Aarushi's post-mortem report. "Gautam has deposed that Sushil Chaudhary had made a telephone call to him on May 16, 2008. Sushil informed him that the daughter of Dr Rajesh Talwar, who happens to be the brother of his friend, Dr Dinesh Talwar, has been murdered and the body has been sent for a post-mortem examination and he should help him. He (Gautam) has also stated that Chaudhary has desired that the fact of rape should not be mentioned in the post-mortem report," read the order. The presence of 'white discharge' in Aarushi's private parts denoted that she was allegedly engaged in sexual intercourse, the judgment said. But there was no evidence of sperm on the vaginal swab. "Mere absence of sperm in the vaginal swab cannot rule out the possibility of sexual intercourse. This fact (sexual intercourse) gets strengthened from another fact that the private parts of Aarushi were cleaned with water. Therefore, the bedsheet below the pelvic region was found wet and no biological fluid or semen could be detected," read the judgment. Judge Lal on Tuesday sentenced Rajesh and Nupur to life imprisonment on the charge of murdering Aarushi and Hemraj. The CBI's closure report in the case mentioned that Hemraj's blood was not found on the bedsheet and pillow in Aarushi's bedroom, suggesting that he was not killed there. The report that was mentioned by the counsel for the accused in their arguments, also said no biological fluid, sperm and body hair belonging to Hemraj was found in her room. While taking note of the report, the judge said it did not create a dent in the prosecution's case.
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2 more cases against Ramdev’s trusts Haridwar, November 28 District Magistrate Dr Nidhi Pandey told The Tribune that the authorites had been receiving complaints regarding the violation of norms by Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust, Yog Gram and Divya Pharmacy. Taking cognisance of these, she had ordered Sub-divisional Magistrate and Tehsildar to probe into the matter. On finding violations of norms by these Trusts, two cases were filed yesterday and two have been filed today. She said that 53 cases were related to the evasion of stamp duty, eight to illegal possession of village gram sabha land and 26 to violation of land allocation and purchase deals. On fresh cases that were registered today, Bala Krishan, Managing Director of the Patanjali Yogpeeth-run Trusts, said that he hadn’t received any notice in this regard. "We have done nothing wrong or illegal. The timing of these cases just prior to the Assembly elections points to political vendetta," he said. Meanwhile, the BJP district unit today came out in support of
Ramdev.
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Live-in relationship neither a crime nor a sin, says SC New Delhi, November 28 In the landmark judgment, a Bench headed by Justice KS Radhakrishnan framed guidelines for bringing live-in relationship within the expression 'relationship in the nature of marriage' for protection of women under the Domestic Violence Act. "Parliament has to ponder over these issues, bring in proper legislation or make a proper amendment to the Act, so that women and the children born out of such kinds of relationships be protected, though those types of relationships might not be a relationship in the nature of a marriage," the Bench said. The apex court said a legislation was required as it was the woman who invariably suffers because of the breakdown of such a relationship. "We cannot, however, lose sight of the fact that inequities do exist in such relationships and on breaking down of such a relationship, the woman invariably is the sufferer," it said, noting "Live-in relationship is a relationship which has not been socially accepted in India, unlike many other countries". — PTI
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Legal notice to Rahul BSF seizes five Pakistani fishing boats in Indian waters
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Hanumangarh and Sriganganagar districts bordering Abohar were on the campaign schedule of big leaders like Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and AICC president Sonia Gandhi during the last Vidhan Sabha elections in
Rajasthan, but no top-ranking leader was available for these areas this time.
Campaigning for the BJP-SAD alliance in Delhi, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today asked the electorate in Delhi to vote for the alliance if they wanted to change the fortunes of their state and the country.
In Delhi, the BJP has projected a man of clean image, Dr Harsh Vardhan, for Chief Ministership and Narendra Modi for Prime Ministership at the
Centre, he said.
Over the past few days, after the electioneering got underway, the equation of the two parties in some of the 21 constituencies, which fall under Sikar, Jhunjhunu and Churu has changed, forcing the candidates from the two parties to put in extra efforts to cross that last mile.
New Delhi, November 28
