24% voting in Kerala's Pala Assembly bypoll till 11 am

Agencies
September 23, 2019

Kottayam, Sept 23:  Voting in the by-election to the Pala Assembly constituency here began on Monday with nearly 24 per cent votes being cast by 11 a.m.

As many as 13 candidates are in the fray in the constituency having a total of 1,79,107 voters.

"At 11 a.m, 24.14 per cent votes have been cast. Till now, there are no untoward incidents in the constituency. Polling is going on smoothly," an Election Commission official from Kottayam district told PTI.

The by-election was necessitated due to the death of former Finance Minister and Kerala Congress (M) leader K M Mani, who had held the constituency for more than five decades.

While the ruling LDF has fielded its ally, NCP's leader, Mani C Kappan as its candidate in the constituency, Jose Tom Pulikunnel of Kerala Congress (M) is the candidate of the Congress-led UDF.

The BJP's Kottayam district president N Hari is the NDA candidate.

Among those who voted in the first couple of hours include the UDF candidate Pulikkunnel, LDF candidate Kappen and the family members of Mani, including his wife and son Jose K Mani, a Rajya Sabha member.

Kappen and Pulikunnel cast their votes at the Government Polytechnic School, Kanattupara, and Government LP School, Poovathode, respectively.

The results are expected to have a bearing on the future course of three major political fronts -- the LDF, the UDF and the BJP-led NDA -- in the southern state.

The Pala Assembly bypoll is seen as an acid test for the parties as victory would give a big boost to their prospects in the by-elections to five constituencies scheduled for October 21 in the state.

The bypoll which started at 7 a.m will conclude at 6 p.m.

During the bitter poll campaign, various issues including corruption, economic slowdown, the crisis in the farm sector and the Sabarimala temple women entry issue were raised by the parties.

While the LDF leaders raised the irregularities in construction of the flyover in Palarivattom in Kochi during the UDF rule, the UDF leaders alleged corruption in setting up infrastructure in the state using funds from Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB).

Both the ruling LDF and the opposition UDF were confident of winning the bypoll.

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News Network
June 20,2020

Jun 20: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remark that neither is anyone inside India's territory nor has any of its posts been captured, alleging that the PM has "surrendered" Indian territory to Chinese aggression.

In a statement on the all-party meeting called by Modi on Friday to discuss the situation at the India-China border, the government said, "At the outset, prime minister clarified that neither is anyone inside our territory nor is any of our post captured."

Tagging PM's remarks with his tweet, Gandhi said, "PM has surrendered Indian territory to Chinese aggression."

"If the land was Chinese: 1. Why were our soldiers killed? 2. Where were they killed?" Gandhi said.

The categorical statement by the prime minister came in the wake of reports that Chinese military has transgressed into the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control, the de-facto border, in several areas of eastern Ladakh including Pangong Tso and Galwan Valley.

Soon after Gandhi's tweet, Union Home Minister Amit Shah posted video of father of a soldier, who was injured in Galwan face-off, and hit out at the Congress leader, accusing him of indulging in "petty politics".

"A brave armyman’s father speaks and he has a very clear message for Mr. Rahul Gandhi. At a time when the entire nation is united, Mr. Rahul Gandhi should also rise above petty politics and stand in solidarity with national interest," Shah wrote.

The prime minister's assertion came even as Congress president Sonia Gandhi, at the all-party meet, questioned the government's handling of the situation, asking if there was any intelligence failure, and seeking assurance that China will "revert" to its original position.

Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused senior ministers in the government of "lying" to protect the prime minister and that the Centre was "fast asleep" while martyred jawans paid the price in Ladakh.

The former Congress chief also tagged a one-minute video of a jawan's father saying the Indian soldiers were unarmed when they were attacked by Chinese troops.

He has been questioning the government on the LAC standoff and asking how the Chinese occupied Indian territory and why Indian soldiers were sent "unarmed to martyrdom" in Ladakh.

Twenty Indian Army personnel, including a colonel, were killed in a clash with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on Monday night, the biggest military confrontation in over five decades that has significantly escalated the already volatile border standoff in the region.

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News Network
April 14,2020

New Delhi, Apr 14: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday requested young scientists of the country to come forward and take the lead in developing a vaccine for novel coronavirus which has claimed over one lakhs lives worldwide.

"While India has limited resources today. I have a special request for India's young scientists. They should come forward and take a lead in developing a vaccine for coronavirus for the welfare of the world, for the welfare of the human race," the Prime Minister said in the address to the nation.

He said that if people continue to be patient and follow rules then the country will be able to defeat even a pandemic like coronavirus.
Prime Minister Modi also announced that the country will remain under lockdown till May 3 to contain COVID-19 cases. The 21-day lockdown, which was announced by the Prime Minister last month, was slated to end today.

However, he indicated at easing of lockdown restrictions in places where there are no hotspots after April 20.

"Till 20th April, all districts, localities, states will be closely monitored, as to how strictly they are implementing norms. The states which will not let hotspots increase, they could be allowed to let some important activities resume, but with certain conditions," Modi said.

Odisha, Punjab, Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have already announced the extension of lockdown.

India's total number of coronavirus positive cases has climbed to 10,363 including 8,988 active cases, 1,035 cured/discharged/migrated and 339 deaths, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said today.

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News Network
March 12,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 12: Imarti Devi, who recently resigned as Congress MLA from Madhya Pradesh, on Wednesday said that she was happy with Jyotiraditya Scindia's decision to join the BJP.

Imarti said: "All 22 MLAs are here (in Bengaluru) on their own. We're happy that Scindiaji has taken this decision. I'll always stay with him even if I had to jump in a well."

"When we were in the Congress, Kamal Nathji never heard us," she said.

Another rebel leader and former minister Mahendra Singh Sisodia said: "Betrayal is not done by Jyotiraditya Scindia. Instead, betrayal was done by the Congress and Kamal Nathji."

"Congress betrayed the people of Madhya Pradesh. We are with Jyotiraditya Scindia," he said.

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