Bathinda, April 9
The caste factor has always played a key role in determining the outcome of any electoral battle in this border constituency which shares a 200 km border with Pakistan.

Rai Sikhs are predominant here followed by Kumhars, Jat Sikhs, Kamboj and Hindu voters. The voters have sent either a Jat Sikh or a Rai Sikh to Parliament — the exception being Balram Jakhar in 1980. The constituency has nine Assembly segments of Ferozepur (rural), Ferozepur (urban), Guruharsahai, Jalalabad, Fazilka, Abohar, Balluana, Muktsar and Malout. Presently, four Assembly segments are represented by the Congress while the rest have SAD-BJP alliance MLAs.

The Congress won the Ferozepur seat in 1985 when its nominee Gurdial Singh Dhillon won the seat from Inderjit Singh of the SAD by a margin of 43,356 votes. Since then, the Congress has been on a losing spree and its candidates have tasted seven consecutive defeats. In 1989, Dhian Singh Mand was elected as an Independent candidate defeating the firebrand Congress leader Jagmeet Singh Brar by 32,850 votes.

In the next two elections — 1992 and 1996 — the seat was won by Mohan Singh Phalianwala of the BSP who defeated his nearest rivals Santokh Singh and Sunil Jakhar, both from the Congress, by a margin of 1,296 and 59,921 votes, respectively. Thereafter, the BSP could not continue its winning streak and lost the subsequent elections by huge margins.

In 1998, the SAD fielded party stalwart and old warhorse Zora Singh Mann who won by a huge margin of 44,467 votes. A close confidant of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Mann represented this seat for three consecutive terms — 1998, 1999 and 2004.

However, Mann developed differences with the party leadership over the allocation of Jalalabad Assembly ticket to his bête noire Sher Singh Ghubaya, a Rai Sikh. Going a step further, the SAD rewarded Sher Singh by making him a Chief Parliamentary Secretary which alienated an already slighted Mann from the party.

In 2009, the SAD played the caste card and allocated the ticket to Ghubaya who defeated Congress’ Jagmeet Singh Brar by a margin of 21,071 votes.

In this ensuing poll, the SAD has again pinned hopes on Ghubaya. The Congress, as part of its strategy to field top guns, has given ticket to CLP leader Sunil Jakhar, who is also the sitting MLA from Abohar.

Anandpur Sahib, April 9
It’s 6 am. A slight chill is perceptible despite the rising political heat in the City Beautiful. The Sector 9 in Chandigarh, home of the Rajya Sabha member and Congress candidate from Anandpur Sahib Ambika Soni, is bustling with activity.

A 15-minute yoga session, some breathing exercises, a visit to a temple, and Soni is ready for the gruelling day ahead. Last night, her political deliberations had extended well past 1 am.

Soni’s supporters and the party leaders have arrived at her residence. After a brief interaction with them, she serves them tea and snacks. As for herself, she manages to squeeze in a quick breakfast.

The day starts on an ‘induction’ note. Senior Congress leaders Lal Singh, Jagmohan Kang, Charanjit Channi, HS Hanspal, Kewal Singh Dhillon, GS Lehal and Sukhpal Singh Bhullar are at her residence for the formal induction of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leaders into the Congress fold. Soni welcomes Kewal Krishan Chouhan, who had contested the Lok Sabha election on the BSP ticket last time and later joined the Akali Dal, into the Congress fold. She also extends her welcome to the Akali leader Arjun Singh Kansal and to the BSP leader Shiv Ram Singh Chouhan. A media interaction follows.

She has at least five public meetings to address in various villages of Shaheed Bhagat Singh (SBS) Nagar. At 10.30 am, she, along with her supporters, leaves for Naura village in SBS Nagar.

Not letting a minute go waste, Soni makes use of her travel time to go through some important papers.

After a nonstop journey of two hours covering 110 km, the SUV reaches the dilapidated approach road and the by lanes in the village, before stopping in a narrow street near the venue of the meeting at Naura village.

The audience is waiting for her. It has been a long wait. The programme that was to start at 10.30 am is late by at least two hours. Soni seeks apology from the gathering for being late.

She is dressed in salwar suit and her head is covered with a dupatta. She talks about her contribution to the Anandpur Sahib constituency. Her speech, peppered with patriotic sentiments, is a mix of the national, political and local issues.

“As the Union Minister of Tourism and Culture, I provided funds for projects at Anandpur Sahib, Talwandi Sabo, Nanded Sahib and Khatkar Kalan. The Punjab Chief Minister had demanded Rs 175 crore for Anandpur Sahib and Talwandi Sabo. I sanctioned Rs 182 crore.”

She lashes out at SAD candidate Prem Singh Chandumajra for the ageist remarks he had made against her. “Chandumajra’s statements reveal his anti-women mindset. He calls himself a professor. But the language he uses is hardly appropriate for educational institutions.”

Soni’s next stop is at Kahma village, followed by the public meetings at Garcha, Phambra, Niyamatpur and Rahon villages. At Phambra, she has a typical Punjabi lunch at one of her supporter’s place. It’s 5.30 pm, by no means a suitable time to have lunch, but food is decidedly not her priority. Her campaign for the day is behind schedule. In all the public meetings she addresses, she makes it a point to apologise for her late arrival.

Soni’s refrain remains the same in the meetings. She calls herself Punjab di dhee (daughter of Punjab). “I have served the public for 45 years. I am contesting my first election from Anandpur Sahib,” she says.

In an attempt to play up her local connection, she mentions running a 125-year-old school at Bijwara village in Hoshiarpur. Her appeal to the voters is upfront: “You will never repent voting for me.” She tapers her statement off with: “I will not make any empty promises. Whatever be the outcome of the election, I will come again to meet you.”

She is aggressive when it comes to projecting her clean image. Daring Chandumajra and the SAD to point the finger at her, she says: “Ungli tod diyangi (I will break the finger).” At Garcha village, she says if anyone tries to tarnish her image, she will “pull his tongue out”. The women in the audience are visibly impressed as a woman leader has dared to challenge the political patriarchy.

Soni touches upon a slew of subjects: Rajiv Gandhi’s contribution, the achievements of the UPA government, women’s participation in Panchayati Raj, MGNREGA, Congress manifesto with its promise of 10 crore jobs and a roadmap for industrialisation. She raises the issue of the Gujarat Sikh farmers, Yeddyurappa’s return to the BJP and farmers’ suicide during the NDA regime.

She is an angry matriarch as she flays the state government for “bad” roads. She exhorts the gathering to ask the Mandi Board for details on the funds spent on maintenance of roads in rural areas. The Akali Government’s ‘unfulfilled’ promise of the old-age pension and Balachaur legislator’s ‘failure’ to deliver on the poll promises he had made, her speeches are rich in details.

By this time she has travelled nearly 200 km. At Niyamatpur, she takes up the cause of the Scheduled Castes and the backward classes. A man complains about funds not reaching his village. She listens to him patiently. “He’s asking for his right. I like it,” she tells us in a confidential tone.

Her last scheduled visit is at a temple near Dana Mandi in SBS Nagar. It is 9.15 pm. She is not yet done for the day. The poll-centric discussions with her supporters and phone calls to the party leaders and workers may take a couple of hours. What keeps her going is her core strength: She is a ‘people person’. As she says: “I have worked with the people of all age groups at all levels.”

Bathinda, April 9
When former CM Capt Amarinder Singh sought blessings from Roomi Dera near Rampura in Bathinda before leaving for Amritsar to contest the Lok Sabha poll, he just underlined the importance of such religious deras in the state polity.

Few days ago, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal had visited the Roomi Wala Dera a day before Capt Amarinder Singh did besides other deras in the Doaba belt of the state.

Not just them, but any politician today can dare stay away from these deras. Reason: The religious deras have huge following and it is believed many of them cast vote en masse for a party and can tilt the scales in any direction.

Studies suggest that there were 9,000 to 10,000 such deras in Punjab. The number does not include small deras that have their own influence in a given area.

Political scientist Prof Ronki Ram of Panjab University claimed that it would be no exaggeration to say that there would be one or two deras per village in the state. "But how many of these have political affiliation and vote en masse is a subject of study," he said.

He said he had noticed that dera followers do not change their religion and caste and marry within their clan only.

He said: "Under such circumstances, it remains to be seen how they change their political affiliations at the behest of the heads. Though about 20 top deras in the state are listed as having political influence, a recent example of the Dera Sacha Sauda suggests that people may follow some of the dera heads completely."

If the matter was of votes only, the dera politics could have been ignored. But the state has already witnessed bloodshed over them started by the confrontation between Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and the Nirankaris, which later led to the decade of mindless terrorism in the state.

The deras suffer and flourish also because of the politicians. The Bhaniara Wala Baba, Dera Sacha Sauda, the Nirankaris, Namdhari Dera, Radha Swamis and Ashutosh Maharaj's Noormahal Dera-all have figured in news owing to political affiliations denied later by the sect heads.

All remember how the Sacha Sauda having head office at Sirsa in Haryana has its influence across the Malwa belt in Punjab.

The dera had supported the Congress in the 2002 Assembly elections and the conflict began when the Akalis retained power in 2007 Assembly elections.

Akalis again won in 2012 and just days before that the police recommended cancellation of an FIR for hurting religious sentiments registered against the dera head. The case is in local court.

Before the 2007 elections, Dera Dhakki Sahib in Maqsoodran in Ludhiana witnessed a similar turmoil when Akali workers led by two MLA brothers of the party ransacked the dera. The dera head known as Helicopter Baba had immense influence in the region.

Deras have changed their strategy after that. They have made political wings. The followers, local journalists and intelligence bureau sleuths reveal that the deras don't declare their stand openly now. They pass subtle directions through the political wings and that too a day or hours before the elections.

In Malwa Dera Sacha Sauda has a huge impact. It was supporting the Congress, but after the clash with the Akalis things changed and in the next elections, Akali won the majority of seats from Malwa.

Harmander Jassi, whose daughter is married to the son of dera head lost elections from Bathinda Urban, where dera followers are in a plenty.

During militancy in the state, a number of deras openly declared that they were supporting the government's fight against terrorism.

The Akalis have managed to win over many of them a substantial level. Revenue Minister Bikramjit Majithia is married to the niece of an influential sect in the Doaba belt.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal developed close affinity with dera heads by offering them land at a token price of Re 1, that too along the National Highway in Ludhiana city.

Lucknow, April 9
The political fallout of the Jat reservation in Uttar Pradesh does not appear to be to the advantage of the Rashtriya Lok Dal-Congress combine. For the Jats in the region, it appears to be too little and too late.

The damage that this may have done to salvage the traditional Jat-Muslim arrangement, which was the backbone of the RLD in the region, is still to become apparent.

For the BJP, the Muzaffarnagar riots had managed to fulfil its wish list in Western UP. It had shattered the Muslim-Jat bonhomie, consolidated the Hindu votes on the basis of religion, not caste. It ensured the political demise of its 2009 poll partner, RLD, now a partner in UPA II.

Union cabinet clearing the March 3 ordinance paving the way for including Jats among other backward classes making them eligible for reservation in Central government jobs and educational institutions was seen as an attempt to reverse the trend.

After the prospect of a wipe out following the riots, the Jat reservation has apparently brought the RLD back in the battle.

The reservation issue has warmed the hearts of the older generation who still fondly remember the contribution of legendary Jat leader Chaudhury Charan Singh to the region.

A Jat leader from Daula village near Baghpat Rajendra Singh confesses that the ghost of Charan Singh may not be able to persuade the young generation this time who are inclined towards BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

"What will the reservation do if we continue to feel unsafe? We want a government where we live with dignity," said Chaudhury Dharampal Singh from Sikera village in Bijnore.

For the Jats in the riot-hit districts of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli (Kairana), it is common sense to side with the BJP.

Without elaboration, the BJP has sent a clear signal regarding its attitude towards the riots, the victims and the perpetrators of violence by fielding riot accused as candidates from Kairana, Bijnore and Muzaffarnagar constituencies.

The perception that the BJP will help the accused evade the law has been made clear by Amit Shah's statement. "This is the single motivating factor for the Jat youth shifting towards the BJP, claims activist-lawyer Askari Naqvi.

Giving an example of Kutba village in Muzaffarnagar, Naqvi said during the riot frenzy, eight people were killed and 36 were injured. "Of the 111 named for the violence, only three have been arrested. Others are on the run hoping that the BJP would drop the cases against them," he added.

If the political benefit of the Jat reservation is debatable for the RLD-Congress alliance in Western UP, what certainly is not is how adversely it has affected the perception of the sizable Muslim population of the area.

Congress leader Rashid Alvi had put it most succinctly in his letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi when he said: "To award reservation to a particular community after riots in Muzaffarnagar has given a wrong signal to the people at large and the Muslim community in particular." He said in the present situation, Muslims in Western UP view Jats as 'perpetrators' of violence.

In comparison to the affluent Jats, who owe most of the land, the landless working class Muslims of the riot-hit districts have lost their family, livelihood and in many places the courage to return to their homes. Sixty-five people were killed and 50,000 were rendered homeless.

While Jats are confined to 15 districts of Western UP, Muslims are spread evenly across the 75 districts providing Jat reservation the potential to do more harm than good.

Vadodara, April 9
BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi today filed his nomination from Vadodara, formally launching his bid for a maiden entry into the Lok Sabha and steering his party and NDA to power at the Centre.

Shortly afterwards, Modi, 63, made a pitch for "good governance" and recalled his old association with the region once ruled by the Gaekwards, one of whom proposed his candidacy. Vadodara will witness a three-way contest as Modi takes on Congress general secretary Madhusudan Mistry, a confidante of party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, while AAP has fielded a local candidate Sunil Kulkarni, a mechanical engineer.

Modi's nomination for the April 30 poll was preceded by an impressive road show, which saw his cavalcade crawl its way through the streets of Vadodara as a sea of BJP workers, supporters and onlookers cheered the leader. As the procession traversed some areas inhabited by Muslims, a large number of people from the community were seen coming out to greet Modi.

The filing of nomination by Modi was high on symbolism, with a humble tea vendor Kiran Mahida and Shubhanginidevi Raje Gaekwad of the erstwhile royalty of Baroda, a clan that had ruled the princely state from early 18th century till Independence, being among the proposers.

During his high-pitch campaign in the last few months, Modi has often referred to his humble 'chaiwalla' background while targeting the Congress. Soon after filing the nomination, he briefly addressed the media and lauded the "suraj and sushasan" (good governannce) of Gaekwads, who had ruled Vadodara and described the region as his "karmabhoomi".

"The name of Gaekwads will be written in golden letters for good governance and welfare of the people ....Vadodrara has been my 'karmbhoomi'....I am grateful to the people of Vadodara for the grand welcome they have accorded to me. I have benefited immensely from the institutions established by the Gaekwads in Vadodara. I have got my primary education also in a school established by the Gaekwads," he said.

This was Modi's first visit to Vadodara constituency after BJP decided to field him from the seat besides Varanasi, which goes to poll on May 12. Balkrishna Shukla, a sitting BJP MP, who vacated his Vadodara seat in favour of Modi, filed his papers as a dummy candidate. — PTI

Guwahati, April 9
Repolling will be held tomorrow in six polling booths of three of the five Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam where polling was held in the first phase on April 7.

Repolling was ordered in four booths of the Jorhat Lok Sabha seat and in one booth each in Dibrugarh and Tezpur constituencies because of EVM malfunctioning during the first phase of polling, an election department communiqué informed today.

In Jorhat, repolling will be held at booth No. 38 in Sensua Gaon LP School falling under the Jorhat assembly constituency; at booth No. 61, the voting will be hled in Khargarh LP School which comes under the Amguri assembly seat; and at booth No. 5, people will cast vote in Pukuhuria LP School under the Mariani assembly constituency.

At booth No. 84 in Bahboria Prathamik Vidyalaya (West) under Sonari Assembly seat, the repolling will take place.

In Dibrugarh, repolling will be held at booth No. 122 in Laina LP School of the Tinsukia assembly constituency. In Tezpur, repolling will be held at booth No 86 in Borgang High School (South) under the Behali assembly seat. Polling will be held from 7 am to 5 pm.

Idukki, April 9
Much like the furore resulting from Sonia Gandhi's recent meeting with the Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid, Kerala CPM's state secretary Pinayari Vijayan's meeting in January with Bishop Remijius Inchananiyil of the Syro Malabar Catholic Church (SMCC) had triggered off a stir in Kerala.

The Muslim cleric, after meeting Congress president, appealed to his co-religionists to vote for the Congress. Although the Kozhikode Bishop hasn’t done any such thing, his colleague Mathew Anikuzhikattil, Bishop of the Idukki Diocese, has asked Christians in Idukki to vote against the Congress.

The communists and the church have always been bitter foes in Kerala as they are elsewhere in the world. What paved the way for a dialogue between the 'believers' and the 'non-believers' is the report on the Western Ghats' ecological conservation by a high-level working group headed by K Kasturirangan, Planning Commission member and former ISRO chief.

The report, notified by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), bans environmentally damaging activities in 123 villages spread across 12 districts of Kerala. The activities banned include mining, quarrying, construction of thermal plants and red-category (highly polluting) industries, construction of buildings spread over more than 2,000 sq metres and townships spreading more than 50 hectares.

Most of the villages listed in the Kasturirangan committee report as environmentally sensitive falls in the Idukki parliamentary constituency making the recommendations the most potent issue in the constituency.

Lending support to the report has cost PC Thomas, sitting MP from Idukki, his ticket. The Congress has denied him ticket fearing backlash from the church and has fielded Kerala state Youth Congress chief Dean Kuriakose from the seat.

Sensing that Congress is in a tight spot in the constituency, the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) has extended support to Independent candidate Joice George. George, an advocate, a legal adviser to the High Range Protection Council (HRPC) floated by the church to lead the protest against Kasturirangan report. He joined the fray as a candidate of HRPC and was subsequently co-opted by the LDF.

"George is an Independent candidate who is being supported by the CPM-led LDF. He is not a Communist," Father Sebastian Kochupurackal, Christian clergyman who is general convener of the HRPC, answered when this reporter asked him if the church and the CPM has joined hands in Idukki. Kochupurackal said HRPC was having people from all walks of life and belonging to various religions besides Christian farmers.

The Kasturirangan report, according to him, was a result of a conspiracy by NGOs interested in extracting funds from international agencies. "The farmers were encouraged by the state government to settle in the higher ranges. Now, their livelihood is being threatened," he said. The MoEF brought out a draft notification exempting vast tracts from the purview of the ban recommended in the original notification.

But the step has failed to reassure the aggrieved sections of people. "How can you issue a draft notification after issuing the final notification," points out Kochupurackal.

"People can see through their lie," remarked CPM politburo member MA Baby about the draft notification.

Hyderabad, April 9
In several blockbusters during his three-decade long career, megastar of Telugu cinema Chiranjeevi rescues damsels in distress and emerges as a saviour. In his political avatar now, he has been roped in to do a similar act to save the beleaguered Congress in Andhra Pradesh.

What has further complicated his task is the presence of his actor-brother Pawan Kalyan on the other side of the battle line.

A sort of "star wars" is set to unfold in the state politics as the two brothers, with equally strong fan base, are locked in a political slugfest ahead of the elections.

Battling a strong anti-incumbency, the Congress has turned to the ageing star and made him the chairman of the campaign committee for Seemandhra region, where the ruling party is facing a prospect of total rout due to public anger over division of the state.

Chiranjeevi, 58, has an unenviable task in hand to reinvigorate a despondent party cadre and repair the damage caused to the party in the wake of bifurcation.

Against this backdrop, the political entry of Pawan Kalyan on an anti-Congress plank has made the matters worse for the ruling party.

"Let me make it very clear. I love my brother but I will see the end of the Congress for what it has done to the Telugu people," the 43-year-old Pawan Kalyan said after launching "Jana Sena" party last month.

Endorsing BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's leadership, he gave a call to the people to vote for the saffron party to make Modi the next Prime Minister.

Though Pawan Kalyan is not contesting elections this time, he has vowed to campaign to defeat the Congress. This is being interpreted in political circles as an indirect support to the Telugu Desam Party, the principal rival of Congress.

He has a huge fan base, particularly in coastal Andhra region where the influential "Kapu" community, to which the star brothers belong, account for a significant chunk of the electorate.

With a quintessential middle-class background from West Godavari district of coastal Andhra and no family connection with the film industry, Chiranjeevi and his actor brothers Nagababu and Pawan Kalyan represent a close-knit family and never miss an opportunity to express their mutual affection and love. The rise of Chiranjeevi, in an industry that is traditionally dominated by a handful of families, was akin to the action-filled blockbusters that he has been associated with. The star brothers, however, have contrasting lifestyles. Chiranjeevi, a veteran of 149 films, has been a mass hero, in the mould of late NT Rama Rao, and his image is one of a do-gooder, shy, kind-hearted and a loving family man. Pawan

Kalyan, on the other hand, is known for his quirky temperament, rebellious streak and aloofness. He is the reigning star of Telugu film industry now with a string of mega hits under his belt, including the recent blockbuster "Gabbar Singh", a Telugu remake of Salman Khan's "Dabangg".

"I am a restless person, disgusted with the political system around me and sometimes tormented by self-doubt. Call me maverick but I will chart my own course and will not care a damn about what others think of me," Kalyan says. Not many in the film industry and political circles really understood his motive behind launching a party, just weeks ahead of General Election and his decision not to contest. None of the members of Chiranjeevi's family, including his actor-son Ramcharan Tej, brother Nagababu and nephew Allu Arjun, also an actor, is backing Pawan Kalyan in his political endeavour.

A bitter family drama is expected to be unfolded during the poll campaign in Seemandhra as Pawan Kalyan has vowed to address rallies in support of Modi.

"I do not agree with his views on Modi and strongly disapprove of his meeting with Modi in Gandhinagar," Chiranjeevi said.

The differences between the brothers had cropped up when Chiranjeevi had decided to merge his three-year-old Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) with

Congress in 2011. Pawan Kalyan was the head of the youth wing of PRP.

After a hectic tour across the state, the actor suddenly withdrew himself from the public glare, apparently unhappy with the merger of the party with the Congress. Since then, the star brothers started drifting apart.

Patna, April 9
The Election Commission has complimented the Income-Tax Department in Bihar and Jharkhand for launching crackdown on black money and unaccounted cash for use in polls.

The appreciation came during a meeting between I-T and EC team, comprising Election Commissioners HS Brahma and Nasim Zaidi, which came to Patna on a two-day visit late last week.

Kumar Sanjay, director of Investigation Department, Bihar and Jharkhand, said: "When we told the Election Commission about the deployment of manpower by the I-T in all constituencies and crackdown on real-time basis on black money and unaccounted cash for use in present Lok Sabha polls, they said it could be emulated in other parts of the country."

Sanjay, who was present at the meeting with EC along with Director General of I-T, Bihar and Jharkhand, Ujjwal Chaudhary on Saturday, said we told the EC team about deployment of nodal officers in all 54 Lok Sabha seats in the two states, besides placing officials at the Patna, Gaya and Ranchi airports.

"We informed them about the detection of Rs 50 lakh loan procured by All Jharkhand Student Union (AJSU) from two businessmen of the state who could not explain the purpose of transaction," Sanjay said.

Sanjay said: "We suggested the EC team that some identification document like the Pan Card of donors to political parties should be made mandatory which they took very seriously and promised to give a serious thought over it."

In addition to the seizure of Rs 41.5 lakh cash from Darbhanga and Bagha, the Income-Tax Department has come across unaccounted cash of Rs 48 lakh from Motihari. In addition to this, 'challans' of Rs 9.8 lakh have been seized by the Bihar wing so far.

Similarly, in Jharkhand, Rs 24 lakh cash has been seized and Rs 4.9 lakh 'challan' realised, Sanjay further added.—PTI

New Delhi, April 9
In a surprise move ahead of the polling day tomorrow, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal today visited the autorickshaw driver who had slapped him at a roadshow in North-West Delhi and said he has "forgiven" the attacker. “I forgave him,” Kejriwal said after meeting 38-year-old Lali at his residence in Aman Vihar area of Outer Delhi.

However, the autorickshaw driver was today booked for voluntarily causing hurt to the former Delhi Chief Minister. The police registered the case against Lali on its own after it summoned him for questioning.

Yesterday, Lali had first garlanded Kejriwal and then slapped him hard, leaving him with a swollen eye. Touched by Kejriwal's gesture, the autorickshaw driver today described Kejriwal as “God” and said he made a "mistake" by attacking the former Chief Minister. "I have committed a mistake. He is God for me. I did it because he left the government after some days. The government is not just for the Lok Pal Bill. There are other important issues also.

“He organized a 'janta darbar', I also went in it but could not see him. I tried hard to meet him, my entire day was wasted. I thought I could never meet him again and then I got to know that the BJP may form government. Then nothing could be done,” Lali said. — PTI

I believe that power is a medium for development, not for 2G, 3G or Jijaji.
— Shatrughan Sinha

Azam khan needs explaining that there r people in this country who put country n duty first and think of thmslvs first as indians ! 
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Our armed forces should be kept out of communal politics at any cost. Any inimical attempt to do so should face prosecution.
— ShivrajSingh Chouhan

Indian Army does not work on religious lines. Army's only religion is their love for Bharat Mata 
—Swami Ramdev

snapshots

Bihar, Jharkhand to cooperate for air patrolling
Patna: With the first phase of Lok Sabha polls scheduled tomorrow in six constituencies in Bihar, the state teamed up with neighbouring Jharkhand to make maximum use of helicopters for surveillance, logistics and rescue operations. R Lakshmanan, Additional Chief Electoral Officer, said: "We have received three Indian Air Force helicopters. Jharkhand has got eight of them. The Chief Electoral Officers of both states have decided to cooperate to ensure smooth polling."—PTI

Polling to be webcast in Odisha’s Ganjam district
Odisha: The Ganjam district administration has decided to webcast polling in 19 selected booths in various Assembly constituencies. "Polling will be webcast from at least 19 booths where broadband facility by the BSNL is available," Prem Chandra Chaudhary, District Collector, said. The main objective of the webcast was to prevent illegal activities such as booth capturing and bogus voting, he said.— PTI

DTC buses to operate from 3am today
New Delhi: In view of the Lok Sabha elections in the national capital, Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has made arrangements for providing bus service to the staff deployed on election duty and also for the general public from 3am. — PTI