Jailed Jagan is on trial today in Andhra-elections

June 12, 2012

jagan_bypolls_reddy_ysr

Hyderabad, June 12: A crucial day for Jagan Mohan Reddy and the Congress in Andhra Pradesh. By-polls to the Nellore Lok Sabha seat and 18 Legislative assembly constituencies is underway on Tuesday. The ruling Congress, the opposition TDP and Jagan's YSR Congress party will be slugging it out for these seats. Polling has commenced at 8 am.

The assembly seats including one in Telangana fell vacant following the disqualification of Congress rebels who joined Jagan's party.

The Tirupati seat fell vacant following Praja Rajyam chief Chiranjeevi's election to the Rajya Sabha.

YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy will remain in Chanchalguda jail during polling as his custody was extended on Monday in the alleged disproportionate assets case. Jagan's arrest could go against the ruling Congress in these elections because Jagan's family has been calling it political vendetta.

Other factors that could weigh on voters minds are enhanced electricity charges and erratic power supply in the state. The recent hike in petrol price - the steepest ever - and a severe shortage of drinking water could also hurt the Congress' prospects.

The by-polls to 18 Assembly segments on Tuesday will not lead to the fall of the Kiran Kumar Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh anytime soon but will give a new direction to the state politics. A 'wave' is anticipated in favour of YSR Congress, its chief's arrest in the disproportionate assets case and the corruption allegations against him notwithstanding, and its candidates are expected to 'sweep' the crucial by-elections.

Jagan's arrest by CBI and the subsequent campaign by his mother YS Vijaya and sister Sharmila have in a way generated sympathy for the YSR Congress. As the current trends indicate, the YSR Congress is the front-runner in almost all the constituencies except Parkal in Warangal district of Telangana.

The Congress' strategy in this regard miserably backfired and virtually landed it in the dock as the misdeeds of the past eight years started haunting it.

The TDP, which otherwise should have benefited from the anti-incumbency factor, was caught in the crossfire between the Congress and the YSR Congress though it started off with some advantage in the beginning.

In Parkal the TRS is bent on preventing the BJP's victory as it will threaten its existence as the sole torch-bearer of the statehood movement.

In the Nellore Lok Sabha constituency, sitting Congress MP Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy who quit his party to join the YSR Congress will face former Union Minister T Subbarami Reddy of the Congress.

Meanwhile, the election authorities have made elaborate arrangements in 18 assembly constituencies and one Lok Sabha seat where 46,13,589 voters are expected to exercise their franchise in 5,413 polling stations spread over 12 districts.

State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Bhanwar Lal told reporters that 50,000 polling personnel, including 138 companies of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), have been deployed for the conduct of the elections.

By-polls were necessitated in 16 of the 18 assembly seats as the sitting Congress MLAs were disqualified for switching loyalty to Jagan and voting against the Congress government during a no-trust vote in December.

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Agencies
April 23,2020

More and more Indians have become better prepared in the last one month, as far as stocking of their ration, medicine or money is concerned, according to the IANS-CVoter COVID-19 Tracker.

With the second leg of the lockdown half way through and Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying it's a long haul, 57.2% respondents said they have less than three weeks of stock while 43.3% said they have a stock that will last beyond that

However, if one breaks into weeks, most respondents said they are prepared for a week's time. 24.5% respondents said they have ration, medicine or money to last a week. This is closely followed by 21.9 % respondents saying they are ready for a month.

Meanwhile, 20.4 % said they are ready for a couple of weeks. There are 15.8 % who said they are ready for more than a month with food, ration and medicine. A tiny 5.6 % said they are ready with three weeks of stock.

However, there is 12.3% who still seem to live on the edge with less than a week's preparation.

But, the biggest takeaway from the IANS-CVoter COVID-19 Tracker is that in the last one month, a massive segment of society realised that the fight is long and the preparation should also be to last that long.

o put things into context, on March 16 when the tracker started, a whopping 77.1% said they have stock to last for less than a week. More than a month later on April 21, that number jumped to just 12.3%, which essentially means, people have become better prepared for a long-hauled lockdown period.

Similarly, on April 21, a sizable 21.9% respondents claimed they are ready with ration and medicine that will last them a month. On March 16, not even one respondent could claim they have a month's stock. In fact till March 22, just ahead of the announcement of the first lockdown, no respondent the IANS-CVoter tracker said that they have a month's preparation.

Similarly, when the tracker started, 9.9% said they simply ‘don't know'. As on April 21, that number is a big zero.

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News Network
May 24,2020

New Delhi, May 24: India witnessed the biggest ever spike of 6,767 positive cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases to 1,31,868, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

As many as 147 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 3,867.
Out of the total number of cases, 73,560 are active and 54,440 have been cured/discharged and one migrated.

Maharashtra continues to remain the worst-affected state with 47,190 COVID-19 cases. It is followed by Tamil Nadu (15,512), Gujarat (13,664), and Delhi (12,910).

The nationwide lockdown imposed as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of COVID-19 has been extended till May 31.

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Agencies
July 19,2020

New Delhi, Jul 19: Amid the political firestorm in Rajasthan following Sachin Pilot's rebellion, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Sunday called for amending the anti-defection law to ban all defectors from holding public office for five years and fighting the next election.

Sibal also said that the "antibodies" against the "virus of corrupt means" to topple elected governments lie in amending the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution (anti-defection law).

His attack comes in the wake of Pilot's open rebellion against the Ashok Gehlot government, which has been on shaky ground since, with at least 18 legislators backing the rebel leader.

Pilot was sacked as deputy chief minister and the state Congress chief earlier this week.

The Congress has accused the BJP of making efforts to topple the Gehlot government by indulging in horse-trading.

"Need for Vaccine: Virus of 'corrupt means' to topple elected governments has spread through a 'Wuhan like facility' in Delhi," Sibal tweeted, in an apparent swipe at the BJP.

"Its 'antibodies' lie in amending the Tenth Schedule. Ban all defectors from: Holding public office for five years, fighting the next election," he said.

Taking a swipe at Pilot over his claim that he is not joining the BJP, Sibal on Thursday had asked what happens to his "ghar wapsi" and whether Rajasthan's dissident legislators are vacationing in Haryana under the "watchful eye" of the saffron party.

In the house of 200, the Congress has 107 MLAs, including the 19 dissidents who have been issued notices of disqualification by the speaker and they have challenged them in the high court.

The Congress has maintained the claim that the Gehlot government has the support of 109 MLAs, including the two BTP MLAs.

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abdulkarim bakhar
 - 
Sunday, 19 Jul 2020

I FULLY AGREE WITH MR. KAPIL SIBAL.  IN FACT, IT IS NEED OF THE HOUR TO SAVE OUR DEMOCRACY.

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