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| Lok Sabha polls: World’s biggest electoral exercise begins in India, over 62% turnout in phase-1 | | | |
New Delhi, Apr 19:
A voter turnout of nearly 63 per cent was recorded in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections covering 102 seats across 21 states and Union territories amid sporadic incidents of violence at some places and an accidental explosion of a grenade launcher shell in Chhattisgarh that left a CRPF jawan dead.
The Election Commission said polling for the first and biggest phase of the seven-phase elections remained largely peaceful.
Voters braved the heat in most parts while at some places, they waited patiently in pouring rain as the world’s largest poll exercise got underway at 7 am.
The National Democratic alliance (NDA) under Prime Minister Modi is seeking a stronger majority for a third consecutive term, while the constituents of the opposition INDIA bloc are hoping for a rebound after facing reverses in the 2014 and 2019 elections.
Tripura recorded the highest turnout of 80.17 per cent, followed by West Bengal at 77.57, Meghalaya 74.21 per cent, Puducherry 73.50 per cent, and Assam 72.10. Voters in six districts of eastern Nagaland stayed indoors follow... | |
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FRONT PAGE STORIES |
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| Newlyweds queue up to cast votes | | |  Early Times Report
Udhampur/Jammu, Apr 19: Several newly-wed couples turned up at polling stations in wedding attire to cast their votes in Udhampur constituency which went to polls in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on Friday.
Accompanied by his friends dressed in traditional attires, a groom in sherwani and colourful headgear was among the first to cast his vote at a polling booth in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur as the first phase of the Lok Sabha election began Friday. Kapil Gupt... | |
| | | | Udhampur witnesses 65.08 % polling, figures likely to go up | | |  Early Times Report
JAMMU, Apr 19: Heading towards a huge voter turnout, the Udhampur Parliamentary Constituency (PC) has recorded 65.08 percent voting till 05:00 PM.
As per office of the Chief Electoral Officer, J&K, by 5.00 PM, 66.9 % polling was recorded in 48- Inderwal AC; 62. 51% in 49- Kishtwar AC; 60. 81% in 50-Padder Nagseni AC; 60.85% in 51-Bhaderwah AC; 65.78% in 52-Doda AC; 66.62 % in 53-Doda West AC; 64. 76 % in 54-Ramban AC; 56.62 % in 55-Banihal AC; 67.33 % in 59-Udhampur West... | |
| | | | Returning officer stands in queue to cast his vote | | |  Early Times Report
Jammu, Apr 19: In an unusual scene, the returning officer of the Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency on Friday exercised his franchise after standing in a queue and waiting for his turn at a polling station in the Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir. Rakesh Minhas (34), who originally hails from Punjab, came to a polling station set up at the irrigation department in the Kathua town and exercised his franchise after waiting in a queue for his turn.
Rakesh Minhas and his wif... | |
| | | | Voters of 'silent hamlet' cast ballots for basic amenities | | | | Dhadkahi, Apr 19:
The residents of Dhadkahi, known as the "silent village" in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district due to its large deaf-and-dumb population, exercised their right to vote in the Lok Sabha polls on Friday in the hope of getting basic amenities, such as roads, water, healthcare facilities and education. However, they warned of boycotting future elections if their demands are not met. Located amidst snow-clad mountains, Dhadkahi is primarily inhabited by members of the Gujjar community, known for their agricultural practices and nomadic lifestyle. The unique characteristic of the village is that more than half of its population has faced challenges in hearing and speaking due... | |
| | | | Inclement weather, rain spells dampen spirits | | | |
Early Times Report
Jammu, Apr 19: Inclement weather with intermittent spells of rain marked the first phase of polling on Udhampur parliamentary constituency during the first phase of Lok Sabha elections of 2024.
From Kathua to Marwah and Ramnagar to Banihal, rain lashed the entire region which somehow kept people away from the polling stations. Since morning it started raining in Kathua and Udhampur districts followed by Chenab valley and people kept waiting for the clouds to disappear and give a breathing space to voters to reach polling stations.
Though it was somehow easy to reach polling stations in plains of Kathua district like Kathua town, Hiranagar and few areas of Billawa... | |
| | | | KP body lauds EC for scrapping ‘Form M’, urges community to vote in large numbers | | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Apr 19: A Kashmiri Pandit organisation on Friday lauded the Election Commission’s move to scrap the mandatory filing of ‘Form M’ for displaced Kashmiri voters ahead of the parliamentary elections and urged the community to turn up in large numbers for the polls.
Speaking to reporters, R K Bhat, president of Youth All India Kashmiri Samaj (YAIKS), said the Form M process was the biggest hurdle in migrant votes share, resulting in a low turnout in the polls.
Fulfilling a long-standing demand and making changes to the existing voting scheme for the displaced people, the EC on April 11 announced that Kashmiri migrants from Jammu and Udhampur districts of Jammu a... | |
| | | | PM Modi led Govt will never touch reservation policy: Amit Shah | | |  New Delhi, Apr 19:
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday made it clear that the Narendra Modi government will never touch the reservation policy or let anyone else do it.
Shah also said that the government will do its best to eradicate Naxalism from the country. “We will never touch the policy of reservation or let anyone else do it,” he told national channel in an interview.
The home minister also dismissed speculations regarding the government planning to amend the Constitution.
“I... | |
| | | | Traditional boundaries getting blurred: IAF Chief | | |  New Delhi, Apr 19:
Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari has said the traditional boundaries of the land, sea, air, cyber and space domains are increasingly becoming “blurred”, bringing about a “paradigm shift” in war fighting.
In a recorded video address that was played at the inaugural session of the three-day Indian Defence Space Symposium here on Friday, the IAF chief also said in order to “maintain our strategic autonomy”, capabilities must be developed that wo... | |
| | | | 25 candidates minus BJP file nomination papers from Anantnag-Rajouri LS seat | | | | Early Times Report
Srinagar, Apr 19: A total of 25 candidates have submitted nomination papers from Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency, which will go to polls on May 7, officials said on Friday. “A total of 28 nomination papers have been received. Three candidates have submitted two nomination papers each, so we have 25 candidates,” Anantnag Deputy Commissioner Syed Fakhruddin, who is the returning officer of the constituency, said.
He said the scrutiny of the nomination papers will be done on Saturday. April 22 is the last date for withdrawal of nominations.
The allotment of poll symbols will be done on April 23, Fakhruddin said.
The key candidates from the constituency are ... | |
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