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Lok Sabha poll ends, India awaits verdict
NEW DELHI: India's General Election ended Monday evening, with some 60
per cent of the 66 million electorate in three states voting in the 10th and last leg of a contest widely tipped to end a decade of Congress rule.
The Election Commission said the balloting ended in Uttar Pradesh (18 seats), West Bengal (17) and Bihar (six), marking the culmination of over five weeks of electoral process during which more than 500 million voters came out to elect a new 545-member Lok Sabha.
Most interest nationally on the final day of polling Monday was on Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh where BJP veteran Narendra Modi, who will be the new
Prime Minister if the BJP-led NDA coalition wins, was a candidate, his might challenged by AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal and the Congress.
Barring stray clashes and allegations of voter intimidation in parts of West Bengal, Monday's voting too passed off peacefully in a tribute to the world's largest democracy.
As in the past, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said it was confident of forming the next government.
"We will cross the half-way mark of 272" (in the Lok Sabha), party spokesman Prakash Javadekar told IANS. "And there will be a government led by Narendra Modi."
Exit polls are expected within hours, while the actual counting of the millions of votes polled across the country will take place
on Friday.
Monday saw a key index of the Bombay Stock Exchange closing at an all-time high, just before exit polls started pouring in, gaining over 550 points or nearly 2.5
per cent intra-day.
Even as voting started, serpentine queues of men and women voters were seen at most of the 71,254 polling centres in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar as well as West Bengal.
The turnout was so heavy in Varanasi that some voters complained that they had been standing in the queue for as long as four hours.
More than 50 per cent of the electorate had voted within the first six hours of polling that began at 7
am. Balloting continued right up to the time the polling centres closed in the evening.
In Varanasi, Aam Aadmi Party's Arvind Kejriwal, a former Delhi Chief
Minister, claimed he was sure to defeat Modi. "The situation has changed in the last three days, and now everyone is saying Modi is losing."
Kejriwal insisted that the Varanasi battle was no more a triangular contest. "(Congress candidate) Ajai Rai does not feature anywhere. I feel it is a direct fight with Modi."
The BJP is equally confident of ensuring Modi's win by a huge margin in Varanasi, the second Lok Sabha seat from where the Gujarat chief minister is contesting besides Vadodara in his home state.
Modi Monday urged the electorate to vote in large numbers. His appeal, telecast by television news channels, triggered an immediate protest from the AAP which called it a violation of the model code of conduct.
Ajay Rai courted controversy when he walked into a polling station with the party symbol tucked on his kurta
— a violation of electoral laws.
Officials reported brisk polling in the other 17 constituencies of Uttar Pradesh, too, including Azamgarh where Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav is considered the front-runner.
In Bihar, almost 55 per cent of the electorate had voted by 4 pm.
Additional Chief Electoral Officer R. Lakshmanan said voting was peaceful despite fears of violence. The six constituencies where polling took place were Valmiki Nagar, West Champaran, East Champaran, Vaishali, Gopalganj and Siwan.
The highest polling of nearly 70 per cent was reported till 3 pm from West Bengal, where the ruling Trinamool Congress is battling the Congress, the Left and a resurgent BJP in 17 Lok Sabha seats.
The Opposition accused the Trinamool of unleashing violence to intimidate voters. They claimed that a number of their polling agents were driven out of booths. The Trinamool denied the allegations.
At least 20 persons were injured in clashes between CPI-M and Trinamool activists in Haroa, about 40 km from Kolkata.
Uttar Pradesh accounted for most candidates in the final round (328) followed by West Bengal (188) and Bihar (90). Uttar Pradesh has 31 million voters, West Bengal 25 million and Bihar about 9 million.
The drawn out Lok Sabha contest that began April 7 was one of the most bitterly fought in India, with political discourse repeatedly degenerating into vicious personal attacks.
— IANS
FIR against Ajay Rai for wearing party symbol
Varanasi: The Varanasi Police on Monday filed an FIR against Congress candidate Ajay Rai on directions of the Election Commission after he displayed his party's symbol at a polling booth.
Rai landed in trouble after he walked into the polling station with the party symbol tucked on his
kurta, prompting the poll body to launch an inquiry into the matter as the Bharatiya Janata Party and Aam Aadmi Party also sought action against him.
Using any party symbol within 100 metres of a polling station is a violation of election rules and regulations.
Dressed in a cream colour kurta and pyjama, Rai walked into the polling station early in the day accompanied by his wife to cast his vote.
He also spoke to reporters within 10 metres of the polling station, which again is a breach of law.
"We have called for the CCTV footage of the polling booth and action will be taken after examining the same," special election observer Praveen Kumar told PTI in
Varanasi.
Kumar also said that flashing of election symbol at the booth is violation of Section 130 of the Representation of People Act and a report will be sent to the chief election commissioner after an inquiry into this matter.
A report has also been sought from the local administration. — PTI
Modi’s video message a poll violation: Congress
NEW DELHI: Terming the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s video message on polling day as a violation of the Model Code of Conduct, the Congress on Monday asked the Election Commission to take cognisance of it.
“How can the channels show Modi’s speech today in violation of the code of conduct? The Election Commission should take cognisance immediately,” Congress leader and
in charge of AICC Communication Department Ajay Maken tweeted.
With polling in Varanasi underway, Modi, in his message, spoke about the ‘Ganga Jamuna
tehzeeb’ of the holy city and appealed to its voters there to reflect its spirit of unity and harmony through their votes.
“I appeal to people to cast their votes in the last phase of polls with the same zeal and enthusiasm they have shown so far. My brothers and sisters in
Kashi, the honour of Kashi is in peace, harmony and unity....We should love each other and take everybody along,”
Modi, who is a candidate from Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, said. — PTI
After
EC nod, MoD recommends Lt Gen Suhag’s
name for Army Chief
NEW DELHI: The Defence Ministry today decided to go ahead with the process of appointing the next Army Chief as it recommended the name of Vice-Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag for the top post.
The Defence Ministry sent its recommendation to the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) shortly after receiving the go-ahead from the Election Commission to which the matter had been referred in view of the Model Code of Conduct, highly placed sources told PTI.
The sources said the recommendation had only the name of 59-year-old Lt Gen Suhag, who is the seniormost among the Lt Generals.
It is now for the ACC, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to take a call on the recommendation.
Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh will retire on July 31 and as per the tradition, the government announces the name of
Services Chiefs two months before the tenure of the incumbent comes to an end.
The appointment of the next Army Chief had got mired in a controversy as BJP is strictly opposing it, questioning the "hurry" and insisting that the matter be left to the next government as there is still time left.
Earlier in the day, the EC sent a communication to the Defence Ministry giving the go-ahead.
The EC cited its March 27 order which makes it clear that appointments, promotions, tenders and procurements of defence forces are not covered under the Model Code of Conduct in the ongoing elections as well as any other election in the future, sources said.
The EC, responding to a reference made by the Defence Ministry, said if the government wants, it can proceed with the process to appoint the next Chief of Army Staff, the sources added.
— PTI
Nifty breaches 7,000 level
for the first time
MUMBAI: The broader NSE Nifty on Monday crossed the 7,000 level for the first time on a strong rally in oil and gas, PSUs, banking and capital goods sector stocks driven by sustained foreign capital inflows ahead of the exit poll results.
The 50-issue NSE Nifty crossed the 7,000 level after rising 141.45 points, or 2.06 per cent, to trade at an all-time high of 7,000.25, surpassing its previous intra-day high of 6,871.35 reached on May 9.
Brokers said sentiment was upbeat on sustained capital inflows and widespread buying by retail investors before the exit poll results after trading hours on Monday.
Further, a higher opening on the European markets and trends on the other Asian bourses influenced the trading sentiments here, they said.
The benchmark BSE Sensex too climbed 534.77 points,or 2.32 per cent, to trade at new record high of 23,529.00.
Major gainers which lifted Nifty to fresh record high included Ultra Cement, Coal India, HDFC Bank, ITC Ltd, GAIL, Grasim Industries, Hero Motorcorp, Reliance Industries, ONGC, SBI, Axis Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Larsen and Toubro and BHEL.
Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 1.91 per cent while Japan's Nikkei fell by 0.35 per cent. — PTI
New Boko Haram video claims to show missing Nigerian girls
LAGOS: Boko Haram released a new video on Monday claiming to show the missing Nigerian schoolgirls, alleging the teenagers had converted to Islam and would not be released until all militant prisoners were freed.
The group's leader, Abubakar Shekau, speaks on the video obtained by AFP for 17 minutes before showing what he said were the girls, in Muslim dress and praying in an undisclosed rural location.
A total of 276 girls were abducted on April 14 from the northeastern town of Chibok, in Borno state, which has a sizeable Christian community. Some 223 are still missing.
The footage shows about 130 girls in black and grey full-length hijabs sitting on scrubland near trees, reciting the first chapter of the Muslim holy book, the Koran, and holding their palms upwards in prayer.
Three of the girls are interviewed. Two say they were Christian and had converted, while one said she was Muslim. Most of the group were seated. The girls appeared calm and one said that they had not been harmed.
There was no indication of when the video was taken, although the quality is better than on previous occasions and at one point an armed man is seen in shot with a hand-held video camera.
Boko Haram has been waging an increasingly deadly insurgency in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north since 2009, attacking schools teaching a "Western" curriculum, churches and government targets.
Civilians, though, have borne the brunt of recent violence, with more than 1,500 killed this year alone while tens of thousands have been displaced after their homes and businesses were razed.
Nigeria's government has been criticised for its lack of immediate response to the kidnapping but has been forced to act after Shekau threatened to sell the girls as slaves.
President Goodluck Jonathan has now accepted help from the United States, Britain, France, China and Israel, which have sent specialist teams to help in the search effort.
In the video, Shekau appears in front of a lime green canvas backdrop wearing combat fatigues and carrying an automatic weapon. Shekau does not appear in the same shot as the girls at any point during the 27-minute video.
Speaking in Hausa and Arabic, he restates his claim of responsibility made in a video released last Monday and said the girls had converted to Islam.
"These girls, these girls you occupy yourselves with... we have indeed liberated them. We have indeed liberated them. Do you know we have liberated them? These girls have become Muslims," he said.
The militant leader said that Boko Haram's brothers in arms had been held in prison for up to five years and suggested that the girls would be released if the fighters were freed.
"We will never release them (the girls) until after you release our brethren. Here I mean those girls who have not submitted (converted to Islam)," he added.
Boko Haram has used kidnapping of women and young girls in the past and Shekau indicated that more were being held.
Eleven girls were abducted from the Gwoza area of Borno state on May 4.Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Nigeria's Islamist Boko Haram militants, said on Monday he would release more than 200 schoolgirls abducted by his fighters in exchange for prisoners, according to a video seen by Agence France-Presse.
The French news agency said the 17-minute video showed about 100 girls wearing full veils praying in an undisclosed location.
Boko Haram released the new video on Monday claiming to show the missing Nigerian schoolgirls, alleging they had converted to Islam and would not be released until all militant prisoners were freed.
The group's leader, Abubakar Shekau, speaks on the video obtained by AFP for 17 minutes before showing what he said were about 130 of the girls, wearing the full-length hijab and praying in an undisclosed rural location.
A total of 276 girls were abducted on April 14 from the northeastern town of Chibok, in Borno state, which has a sizeable Christian community. Some 223 are still missing. — AFP
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