Today's PUBLISHED Newspaper
Edition update time 2:30 am (IST)

Round 7: Moderate to high turnout on 89 seats At 70.39%, Punjab second best after Bengal amid skirmishes Chandigarh, April 30 Punjab recorded 70.39% polling as the state went to the polls for the 13 Lok Sabha constituencies amidst sporadic incidents of violence. The state had recorded 70% polling in the 2009 Lok Sabha election. Sangrur witnessed the highest poll percentage at 74.04%, followed by Bathinda (72%).

epaper

SAD councillor leads attack on AAP Patiala candidate
Rasoolpur saidan (Patiala), April 30
AAP Patiala candidate Dr Dharamvir Gandhi was allegedly punched in the face, slapped repeatedly and abused by a group of men led by local SAD councillor Rajinder Virk an hour before the end of polling at Rasoolpur Saidan village in the Patiala (rural) Assembly segment in one of the many incidents of Akali workers allegedly thrashing workers of the fledgling party.

Fate of Modi, Rajnath, Advani, Sonia sealed
New Delhi, April 30
Moderate to high turnout marked polling in the seventh phase of Lok Sabha elections on Wednesday. Braving the scorching summer, nearly 60 per cent of the 13.83 crore electorate trooped to over 1.5 lakh polling stations in seven states and two union territories to pick 89 MPs from among 1,200 candidates, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi (Rae Bareli), BJP president Rajnath Singh (Lucknow) and BJP patriarch LK Advani (Gandhinagar).

Modi booked for poll code violation; Badal put on notice
New Delhi, April 30
Dealing with three separate cases, the Election Commission of India ordered registration of an FIR against BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, issued a notice to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for claiming to have spent crores in electioneering and censured BJP leader Giriraj Singh.

In Bathinda’s Mann village, camaraderie triumphs over money
Bathinda, April 30
It is well past midnight. A group of youths is standing on the corner of a street about to hand over something to a prospective voter. It looks like money. Seeing a car approaching, they vanish in a dingy street. In Paras Ram Nagar, Raju, a peon, did not take long to decline a crisp Rs 500 note being offered for his vote.
Women queue up at a polling station in Mann village, Bathinda, on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma