By Rajlakhsmi Trivedi | Patna
Though official voting age may be 18 years, children between 12-14 years are also reported to have voted on April 17. The official voting age may be 18 years, but in Jagmalbigha village, under Khusrupur police station of Patna Saheb Lok Sabha constituency, children between 12-14 years are also reported to have voted on April 17. Moreover, while the village recorded a turnout of almost 70 per cent, not many have the indelible ink mark on their fingers.
“This time, even some children voted. Many people avoided the ink mark so that they could vote again in someone else’s name. There was largescale bogus voting while polling officials remained silent,” said Ram Vinay Kumar Singh, a villager.
By M H Ahssan | INNLIVE
EDITORIAL It is received wisdom (or is it assumption?) that the Muslim vote will go against the BJP in most places. This might well happen in some constituencies and states, but there are now good reasons to question the assumption that the Muslim vote will be cast en bloc to stop the Narendra Modi bandwagon in its tracks.
To be sure, voting against Modi, even if it were to happen, does not affect the BJP’s overall prospects, especially if the anti-Modi vote is distributed among two or more parties parties, as it could happen in Uttar Pradesh. But there are now straws in the wind indicating that the Muslim vote may not be monolithic anyway. It may not even be that enthusiastic about voting solidly against Modi.
By Arhaan Faraaz | INNLIVE
Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi has sought the support of Telangana people for his party in the state and for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) at the centre to ensure inclusive development in society.
Addressing a mammoth election rally in Mahbubnagar, Rahul made a strong pitch for a prosperous and progressive Telangana with social justice.
“Only Congress will ensure development which will benefit Dalits, farmers, labourers, backwards, women and minorities. It will benefit Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians,” he said.
By Rajinder Puri | Delhi
Never has so much partisan passion been spent on a general election campaign. But readers are advised to read the following facts unemotionally and with detachment and then decide whether it is worth losing too much sleep over election result.
It is common knowledge that the closest confidant of Sonia Gandhi and her most powerful adviser in the party is Ahmed Patel. What are . Patel’s relations with fellow Gujarati Narendra Modi? In the last Rajya Sabha election Modi chose not to put up a candidate against Patel to allow him uncontested entry into parliament. Patel reciprocated to help the Gujarat government by interceding with the Union cabinet in order to lift the duty on import of cotton badly needed by the state government.
By M H Ahssan | INNLIVE
Who is more dangerous for India – Arvind Kejriwal or Narendra Modi? This is a question that India needs to answer. But a recent article titled ‘Arvind Kejriwal: The Most Dangerous Man In Indian Politics’ has ventured to supply a one-sided answer to this question. The title is as catchy as it is misleading if not subversive.
The ensuing ‘analysis’ is sadly not borne out by facts but relies on obfuscation and rhetoric. The tragic outcome is that many pertinent facts have been buried beneath the rubble of unsubstantiated allegations and sinister accusations. On the whole the article is an anti-Kejriwal diatribe disguised as an intellectual treatise.
While conferring on Modi the respectable halo of a “firebrand Hindu nationalist”, the writer goes on to indulge in pure speculation and sweeping generalizations about Kejriwal and other AAP leaders.
By Sadanand Mihir | INNLIVE
SPECIAL REPORT Not rabble-rousing but deliverance through governance is what Kejriwal should be aiming at and for that he must steer clear of populist overtones that his 49-day rule as Delhi chief minister came to symbolise.
For many Indians, their country’s most exciting politician is neither the firebrand Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi nor the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty scion Rahul Gandhi, but Arvind Kejriwal, a mustachioed, bespectacled former tax inspector whom most people had barely heard of just three years ago.
By Sridhar Shah | INNLIVE
BREAKING Hate speeches show no signs of stopping this election season. After Azam Khan, Giriraj Singh, and Amit Shah, now Vishwa Hindu Parishad president Pravin Togadia has also reportedly jumped on the bandwagon by telling people to clear Muslims from areas where a majority of the residents were Hindus. Togadia had joined a VHP and Bajrang Dal street protest outside a house purchased by a Muslim businessman in Bhavnagar, Rajkot where he urged protesters to storm the house.
By Niloufer Khan | INNLIVE
SPECIAL REPORT Fatehpur Sikri, the must-see stopover for tourists driving from Agra to Jaipur via Bharatpur, is in the news, and it has little to do with the proposed new attractions at the famous Mughal-era monument. Even as the campaign cacophony reaches the crescendo here, the voters have a lot to discuss beyond politics.
Bollywood star power is in ample display here, courtesy the irrepressible Amar Singh who is contesting on a Rashtriya Lok Dal ticket from the seat this time. Never the one to shy away from flaunting his connections with the high and the mighty and the glamorous, the former Samajwadi Party leader has roped in a number of former and current Bollywood personalities to spice up his campaign.
