Maharashtra Assembly polls: It’s BJP vs the rest

October 14, 2014

Modi Maharastra

Mumbai, Oct 14: With the end of campaigning on Monday, Maharashtra braces for an epic poll battle. With a riveting and unprecedented five-way contest, even Mumbai’s bookies are hedging their bets. The splintering of long-standing political alliances, just three weeks before the polls, set the stage for an election which could dramatically alter the State’s political map.

The big question is whether there will be a clear verdict. Much depends on who will benefit from the anti-incumbency factor against the 15-year rule of the Congress-NCP government, and to what extent.

BJP has the edge

Pollsters see a clear edge for the BJP that could emerge as the single-largest party. The BJP has banked heavily on the Narendra Modi juggernaut, with the Prime Minister’s blitzkrieg of 25 rallies in 10 days. By contrast the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi addressed four rallies and vice-president Rahul Gandhi six.

“There is a definite edge for the BJP because Mr. Modi’s honeymoon period has not yet ended. But whether it will get a clear mandate is not clear. Much depends on whether it has a pan-Maharashtra impact and whether the splitting of both alliances will swing votes towards the BJP,” says B. Venkatesh Kumar, political science professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

In the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won 23 of the 24 seats it contested from Maharashtra. With the Prime Minister’s larger than life presence, the campaign became Modi versus the rest. The BJP had to fight off the sentiment of wounded Marathi pride fanned by its former ally the Shiv Sena.

Win will strengthen Modi-Shah as poll mascots

With the Prime Minister’s larger than life presence, the campaign for the Maharashtra Assembly polls became Modi versus the rest. The BJP had to fight off the sentiment of wounded Marathi pride fanned by its former ally the Shiv Sena.

Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), the NCP and the Congress accused him of trying to divide Maharashtra, forcing the Prime Minister to issue an uncharacteristic denial.

The BJP is hoping for a repeat of its Lok Sabha success, an antidote to its recent by-election reverses. In the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won 23 of the 24 seats it contested from Maharashtra.

“There is a definite edge for the BJP because Mr. Modi’s honeymoon period has not yet ended. But whether it will get a clear mandate is not clear. Much depends on whether it has a pan-Maharashtra impact and whether the splitting of both alliances will swing votes towards the BJP,” says B. Venkatesh Kumar, political science professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

A win in this key State will cement the position of both Mr. Modi and party president Amit Shah as election mascots within the BJP.

However, the lack of strong leadership within the State after the death of Gopinath Munde and the party’s going back and forth on the issue of Vidarbha’s statehood could upset the party’s calculations.

If no clear mandate emerges, the post-poll picture will depend entirely on the numbers with each party. The party with the largest number of seats could form the government with the help of Independents and smaller parties. The BJP and the Shiv Sena could patch up, setting aside the bitterness during the campaign. Or non-BJP parties could try and form an alliance, with signs of a rapprochement between the Shiv Sena and the MNS. Many feel the NCP could join this camp though the party has strongly denied this. If all else fails, the State could well be in for another spell of President’s Rule.

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Maharashtra Assembly polls: It’s BJP vs the rest

Mumbai, Oct 14: With the end of campaigning on Monday, Maharashtra braces for an epic poll battle. With a riveting and unprecedented five-way contest, even Mumbai’s bookies are hedging their bets. The splintering of long-standing political alliances, just three weeks before the polls, set the stage for an election which could dramatically alter the State’s political map.

The big question is whether there will be a clear verdict. Much depends on who will benefit from the anti-incumbency factor against the 15-year rule of the Congress-NCP government, and to what extent.

BJP has the edge

Pollsters see a clear edge for the BJP that could emerge as the single-largest party. The BJP has banked heavily on the Narendra Modi juggernaut, with the Prime Minister’s blitzkrieg of 25 rallies in 10 days. By contrast the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi addressed four rallies and vice-president Rahul Gandhi six.

“There is a definite edge for the BJP because Mr. Modi’s honeymoon period has not yet ended. But whether it will get a clear mandate is not clear. Much depends on whether it has a pan-Maharashtra impact and whether the splitting of both alliances will swing votes towards the BJP,” says B. Venkatesh Kumar, political science professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

In the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won 23 of the 24 seats it contested from Maharashtra. With the Prime Minister’s larger than life presence, the campaign became Modi versus the rest. The BJP had to fight off the sentiment of wounded Marathi pride fanned by its former ally the Shiv Sena.

Win will strengthen Modi-Shah as poll mascots

With the Prime Minister’s larger than life presence, the campaign for the Maharashtra Assembly polls became Modi versus the rest. The BJP had to fight off the sentiment of wounded Marathi pride fanned by its former ally the Shiv Sena.

Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), the NCP and the Congress accused him of trying to divide Maharashtra, forcing the Prime Minister to issue an uncharacteristic denial.

The BJP is hoping for a repeat of its Lok Sabha success, an antidote to its recent by-election reverses. In the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won 23 of the 24 seats it contested from Maharashtra.

“There is a definite edge for the BJP because Mr. Modi’s honeymoon period has not yet ended. But whether it will get a clear mandate is not clear. Much depends on whether it has a pan-Maharashtra impact and whether the splitting of both alliances will swing votes towards the BJP,” says B. Venkatesh Kumar, political science professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

A win in this key State will cement the position of both Mr. Modi and party president Amit Shah as election mascots within the BJP.

However, the lack of strong leadership within the State after the death of Gopinath Munde and the party’s going back and forth on the issue of Vidarbha’s statehood could upset the party’s calculations.

If no clear mandate emerges, the post-poll picture will depend entirely on the numbers with each party. The party with the largest number of seats could form the government with the help of Independents and smaller parties. The BJP and the Shiv Sena could patch up, setting aside the bitterness during the campaign. Or non-BJP parties could try and form an alliance, with signs of a rapprochement between the Shiv Sena and the MNS. Many feel the NCP could join this camp though the party has strongly denied this. If all else fails, the State could well be in for another spell of President’s Rule.

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News Network
May 21,2020

Bengaluru, May 21: The COVID-19-induced lockdown saw a spurt in crybercrimes in India with Kerala recording the highest number during the period, according to an analysis of IT security solutions provider K7 Computing.

The report analyses various cyberattacks within India during the pandemic and reveals that threat actors targeted the States with COVID-19-themed attacks aimed at exploiting user trust.

The sudden surge in the frequency of attacks witnessed from February 2020 to mid-April 2020 indicates that scamsters across the world were exploiting the widespread panic around coronavirus at both the individual and corporate level, the company said in a statement.

These attacks aimed to compromise computers and mobile devices to gain access to users confidential data, banking details and cryptocurrency accounts.

The key threats seen during this period ranged from phishing attacks to rogue apps disguised as COVID-19 information apps that targeted users sensitive data.

Phishing attacks were noticed more in Tier-II and Tier-III cities while the metros fared better.

Smaller cities saw over 250 attacks being blocked per 10,000 users.

Users from Ghaziabad and Lucknow seem to have faced almost six and four times the number of attacks, respectively, as Bengaluru users.

In Kerala, regions like Kottayam, Kannur, Kollam, and Kochi saw the highest hits with 462, 374, 236, and 147 attacks respectively, while the state as a whole saw around 2,000 attacks during the period, the highest thus far in the country.

This was followed by Punjab with 207 attacks and Tamil Nadu at 184 attacks, the statement said.

A majority of the recorded attacks were phishing attacks with sophisticated campaigns that could easily snare even the most educated users, it said.

These attacks were aimed at heightening users fears and creating a sense of urgency to take action.

The report noted phishing attacks where scamsters posed as representatives of the United States Department of the Treasury, the World Health Organisation, and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Users were encouraged to visit links that would automatically download malware on the host computer such as the Agent Tesla keylogger or Lokibot information-stealing malware, infamous banking Trojans such as Trickbot or Zeus Sphinx, and even disastrous ransomware.

Other attacks included infected COVID-19 Android apps like CoronaSafetyMask that scam users with promises of masks for an upfront payment; the spyware app Project Spy; and seemingly genuine apps that are infected with dangerous malware like banking Trojans such as Ginp, Anubis and Cerberus, it was stated.

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News Network
March 29,2020

Theni, Mar 29: A young man under home quarantine for coronavirus after return from Sri Lanka suddenly ran out of his house and fatally bit a 80-year old woman in his neighbourhood in a village near here, police said on Saturday.

The woman with injuries in her neck was hospitalised late Friday after the incident but died on Saturday without responding to treatment, they said.

The man, a resident of Jakkamanayakanpatti and engaged in seasonal business in clothing, was overpowered and handed over to police, who arrested him and investigations were on.

He had recently returned from Sri Lanka and directed to remain under quarantine by health authorities as per the protocol for foreign returnees to check coronavirus spread.

He came out of his house on Friday evening and all of a sudden, denuded himself and began running through the street.

Shocked family members including his father gave a chase even as he caught hold of Nachiyammal, seated on her house’s front yard and bit hard her neck.

The man’s kin overpowered him and admitted the woman to nearby Bodi Government Hospital where doctors on Saturday said she succumbed to her injuries, not responding to treatment. Health authorities were unavailable for comments immediately.

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News Network
July 10,2020

New Delhi, July 10: Hours before gangster Vikas Dubey was killed in an alleged police encounter on Friday, a plea was filed in the Supreme Court demanding urgent listing for action into his "possible killing" by Uttar Pradesh Police.

Advocate Ghanshyam Upadhyay had apprehended in his plea that there is a high possibility that Dubey will also be killed in a 'fake' encounter after his arrest from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh a day ago.

Upadhyay claimed that the UP Police was expected to "concoct the same story of encounter" for Dubey like it did when four of his associates were killed after the 2 July incident.

Dubey was the primary accused in the killing of eight policemen in Kanpur on July 2. He was arrested from Ujjain on Thursday. He was killed in a police encounter, when he allegedly tried to flee on Friday morning.

"During the hunt for Dubey and co-accused, five of his accused aides were arrested/caught and then killed by the police in the name of encounter...Thus, there is every possibility that even Dubey shall be killed by Uttar Pradesh Police like other co-accused once his custody is obtained," Upadhyay feared.

He submitted that the killing of the accused by the police in the name of encounter no matter how heinous the crime was "against the rule of law and serious violation of human rights and nothing sort of Talibanisation of the country". Upadhyay sought hearing in the matter on Friday itself, citing extreme urgency.

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