Campaigning for phase 1 of LS poll ends in Assam
Guwahati, April 5
Campaigning for the first phase of the Lok sabha elections came to an end today in Assam which would go to polls on April 7.






Workers carry election material for the elections to be held in Tezpur, on Saturday. PTI

FIR against Sena-MNS cadres after street fight
Mumbai, April 5
The differences between Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray and his estranged cousin Raj who heads the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is spilling into the open with supporters of both parties battling it out on the streets.

Haryana is headed for the most intensely fought election ever with each of the 10 parliamentary segments locked in a multi-cornered contest. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has travelled across the state in his ‘Swaraj Mazda-turned rath’, campaigning for every Congress candidate. The neck-and-neck contest has forced most leaders to remain confined to their segments.

There is a palpable ‘Modi wave’ and the BJP is expected to do much better than the INLD, which is traditionally considered to be the number two party. Sukhbir Singh Badal, SAD president, is filling in for Om Parkash Chautala and his son Ajay who are in jail. Though the INLD has its Jat vote bank intact, the BJP may fare better. 

The only seat that can be predicted to have a clear lead is Rohtak, where opposition leaders concede that Deepinder Hooda is ahead of the competition. Here too, like in most other constituencies, the Congress is cashing on the development agenda. The BJP is banking on the ‘Modi wave’ while AAP is promising to provide ‘corruption free political atmosphere’. Since the INLD does not have much of an issue, it is depending on sympathy for its jailed leaders.

Interestingly, most BJP nominees are Congressmen who have joined the party for ticket. People are not taking too kindly to them, but the ‘Modi wave’ seems to be helping them. The HJC, a BJP alliance partner, is confined to Hisar and Sirsa and is in a precarious position. Since AAP has substantial support in the NCR, it appears to be eating into Congress votes, giving the BJP an edge in constituencies around Delhi.

The next few days will see crystallisation of voters and Haryana will be one of the few states that will have to wait the longest to see how the people voted on April 10.

Gandhinagar, April 5
Accompanied by Narendra Modi, veteran BJP leader LK Advani today filed his nomination from Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency, putting up a show of unity after months of apparent frost in ties between the two.

Modi himself handed over the papers to the Returning Officer of Gandhinagar, a seat Advani was virtually forced to accept over Bhopal which was said to be his first choice.

Advani, seeking his seventh term in Lok Sabha, was accompanied by Modi, Revenue Minister Anandiben Patel and his aide Deepak Chopra who suggested that Modi hand over the papers. Modi first urged Advani to give the papers but later relented.

Before the filing of nomination, Modi addressed a public meeting where he exhorted party workers to ensure victory of Advani with a "huge" margin and recalled the "illustrious" political career of the party patriarch Advani too praised Modi, calling him an able administrator. "I will not call Narendra bhai my protege, but I have never seen a more brilliant and efficient events manager than him.

"And this event management capacity he had brought to governance also. That has made him more suitable for the assignment, the party has given to him." He said Modi has proved a remarkable leader, not just of the BJP but even when he was an RSS pracharak.

Advani, however, said Modi should not be compared with Atal Bihari Vajpayee. "I would not compare, certainly not to Atal ji. Atal ji was a class by himself. The main ideologue of the party was Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and the person to implement it in governance was Atal ji," he said.

Advani also denied that he was not keen on contesting from his traditional Lok Sabha seat of Gandhinagar and recalled his long association with Gujarat.

"Our friends from Madhya Pradesh wanted me to contest from Bhopal also. But I have never intended not contesting from Gandhinagar," Advani said, denying there was any row over his choice of constituency.

He said contesting from Gandhinagar is "absolutely rejoicing" and traced his decades-old association with the state. — PTI

Mumbai, April 5
The differences between Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray and his estranged cousin Raj who heads the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is spilling into the open with supporters of both parties battling it out on the streets.

Earlier this week, workers of the two parties clashed outside the office of the Collector in suburban Bandra where their respective candidates had gone to file their nominations. The police said they have filed an FIR against several local level leaders of the two parties under various sections of the IPC, including those relating to breach of peace, wanton destruction of public property, illegal assembly, etc.

The police said apart from the ward-level leaders of the two parties, at least 500 workers of the Sena and 300 of the MNS were involved in the fight.

Senior Shiv Sena leader Anil Desai told reporters that his workers were only retaliating to attacks. "We won't throw flowers when someone throws soda bottles at us," Desai said.

Despite the EC threatening to file charges against the top leaders of the two parties, Uddhav and Raj are showing no signs of slowing down on their provocative speeches against each other.

While Raj said he was anguished by the violence, Uddhav Thackeray's son Aditya has decided to take on the MNS leader. "Some people are frustrated because they cannot win elections on their own. They have instead chosen to spoil the chances of Shiv Sena's candidates..... I feel that their mental balance is disturbed," Aditya said.

The NCP has gotten into the fight by blaming the BJP for driving a wedge between the cousins. 

New Delhi, April 5 
To make its election campaign more robust and enable its prime ministerial candidate Narender Modi consolidate and expand his outreach, the BJP will telecast his speech at a specially organised public meetings even to the remotest parts of the country through an alpha "3D hologram technology" from Monday.

BJP vice-president and in charge of party's central election committee, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, said here today that Modi would address more than 1,000 "Bharat Vijay" rallies using this technology. He claimed that it was the first time that any democratic country will use the technique on such a large scale for an election campaign.

As per the modus operandi of the technique, Modi's address live would be transmitted at designated places simultaneously in a number of parliamentary segments across the country where masses will be mobilised by the cadres.

On the inaugural day, Modi will make the address (the venue not decided yet) which will be zoomed at 100 rallies orgainsed all over the country. The BJP will seek to cover all the parliamentary segments by the time curtains are drawn on campaigning for the General Election.

The technology was used in the last Assembly elections in Gujarat. The new module is the prototype, but an upgraded version. The main features of this advanced 3D hologram technique is that even people of those areas which have no transmission or mobile network facility available could see Modi live, Naqvi added.

Before the speech of Modi there will be a street play under the rubric "Bhrashtachar Mukt-Sushasan Yukt Bharat", "Sabka sath" and "Ek Bharat Sreshtha Bharat".

* The main features of this technique is that even people of those areas which have no transmission or mobile network facility available could see Modi live

* Modi's address will be transmitted at designated places simultaneously in a number of parliamentary segments across the country

* The BJP will seek to cover all the parliamentary segments by the time curtains are drawn on campaigning for the General Election

* The technology was used in the last Assembly elections in Gujarat. The new module is the prototype, but an upgraded version

BRIEFLY

Lucknow
Rajnath files papers

BJP president Rajnath Singh on Saturday filed his nomination papers for the Lucknow Lok Sabha seat. Sitting MP from Ghaziabad Singh filed four sets of his nomination papers before the district magistrate and district elections officer Raj Shekhar. He was accompanied by BJP's sitting MP in Lucknow Lalji Tandon. TNS

Badaun (UP)
SP ‘working’ for people

Charging BJP with spending thousands of crores of rupees on elections, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said it might be ahead of the Samajwadi Party in campaigning, but his party was way ahead of it in working for people. PTI

Jaipur
Raje hits back

Hitting back at the Congress after its Saharanpur leader threatened to chop Narendra Modi to pieces, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Saturday said the Lok Sabha results will clearly show who will be cut to size and who will be the winner. PTI