Election News '09

Hung house again, UPA seems to lead the race 
"The fifth and final phase of Lok Sabha elections registered 62% turnout. With this the five phase voting comes to an end. Results will be declared on May 16, 2009. According to exit polls hung house seems to be inevitable and in the face of no party getting the magic figure of 272 all the leading parties are busy wooing the regional players to reach the center. According to predictions, UPA is leading the race, followed closely by NDA. " 
 
Prakash Karat Confirms his resolve not to support Congress-led government 
"The Third Front leader, Prakash Karat once again confirmed his resolve, not to support any Congress-led government. "We will not support a Congress-led government. We will not let the BJP exploit the post-poll numbers to form a government," said Prakash Karat, CPI (M) General Secretary. "
Final phase of elections underway 
"Polling for the fifth and final phase of Lok Sabha elections is underway. 10.8 crore voters will choose the representatives for 86 seats. More than 1,400 contestants are in fray for these seats spread over 9 states. 39 seats in Tamil Nadu, 14 in Uttar Pradesh, 11 in West Bengal, 9 in Punjab, 5 in Uttar Pradesh, 4 in Himachal Pradesh,2 in Jammu & Kashmir, and 1 seat each in Chandigarh and Puducherry are going to polls in this phase of elections. " 
 
Kumaraswamy denies reports of alliance with Congress 
"Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former chief minister of Karnataka, H D Kumaraswamy, denied reports of patch-up with Congress. The leading south Indian politician fuelled speculations when he visited Sonia Gandhi at 10 Janpath. But in an interview he denied any alliance with Congress and clarified that 'his party will continue to fight the Congress.' "
Campaigning ended for fifth phase of elections 
"Campaigning for the fifth phase of elections ended on Monday. 86 constituencies spread over 9 states are going to poll in this final phase of elections. Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand will be the major battlegrounds where reputation of a number of leading politicians is on stake. The leaders whose fate will be decided in this phase of elections include Home minister, P Chidambaram, former cricketer Mohd Azharduddin, Maneka Gandhi, Varun Gandhi, Trninamool Congress chief, Mamata Bannerjee; Vinod Khanna, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Jaya Prada. " 
 
LJP to remain faithful to UPA 
"LJP Chief, Ram Vilas Paswan made it clear that the party is with UPA and would like to remain a part of the UPA alliance if Congress President, Sonia Gandhi extends the invitation. The leader was reported to be upset over Congress�to JD (U). �We have been saying it from the beginning that we are in UPA and we will remain in UPA,� said Ram Vilas Paswan. "
Campaigning for the final Phase of elections, in full force. 
"Campaigning is full swing and Political grouping are trying to make friends out of foes as the election is reaching its closing stage. In a show of unity, leaders of NDA today came together at a rally at Ludhiana in Punjab, in which the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) which fought the elections in alliance with the Left parties in Andhra Pradesh, appeared on the NDA platform. Addressing the rally Senior BJP leader L.K.Advani claimed that the NDA is gaining strength day by day and the UPA on the other hand is disintegrating. Launching a blistering attack on the UPA government at the rally, attended by a galaxy of leaders, he said it has no achievements to its credit during its five-year rule. " 
 
Senior JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar states that there is no possibility of his being in touch with non-NDA parties 
"Rejecting Congress and Left overtures, Senior JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar stated that there is no possibility of his being in touch with non-NDA parties. Talking to reporters in Patna, he said he is neither in touch with anybody nor any party or leader from outside NDA has contacted him. Nitish Kumar had recently said that his party would not accept Mr. Modi for Prime Ministership. He was the star attraction of the Ludhiana rally which was attended by Narendra Modi, L K Advani , TRS Chief K Chandrashekar Rao among others."
57% voting in Phase IV 
"57% electors exercised their adult franchise in phase IV of the Lok Sabha elections. Delhi registered 53% turnout, 12% more than Mumbai. West Bengal became the leading state in terms of voter turnout with 75% votes while Haryana and Punjab both got more than 60% votes. Bihar and J& K remained at lowest levels with just 37% electors registering their presence in Bihar and 24% in J&K . " 
 
Campaigning for Phase V gains momentum 
"Phase IV of Lok Sabha elections has got over and campaigning for the fifth and final phase of elections has gained momentum. 86 constituencies spread over 9 states will be going to poll in this phase of elections which is scheduled to be held on May 13, 2009. The top leaders of all the major parties have pulled themselves up for the final shot of the democratic process. "

Polling underway for fourth phase of elections. 
"Polling for the fourth phase of elections is underway in 7 states and National Capital territory of Delhi. Voters will give their opinion today for 85 Lok Sabha seats spread over these states. The first hour of polling did not show any enthusiasm but it picked up as the day progressed. 21% voters have cast polls in Rajasthan till 11 am while Bihar registered 15.5%. 18.29% voters in Uttar Pradesh used their adult franchise during initial 4 hours, while West Bengal and Punjab registered maximum polling - 23.3% - during early hours. " 
 
Delhi registered 15.8 % turnout during initial 4 hours 
"Delhi registered 15.8% turnout during initial 4 hours of polling. Just 10% voters cast their vote till 9 am. The percentage reduced to 9% during next 1 hour. But people started reaching polling booths in large numbers as the day progressed. Over 1 crore voters of Delhi will decide the fate of 160 candidates which are contesting for 7 Lok Sabha seats. "
Last Day of Campaigning for Phase IV 
"Campaigning for the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections ends today. All the political parties are busy making their last minute efforts to woo the voters in their favor. The star leaders of Congress, BJP, BSP, RJD and other leading parties are addressing election rallies and public meetings. The road shows are also being organized to raise the awareness among the electors. 85 parliamentary constituencies in 8 states will be going to polls in this phase of elections. " 
 
Repolling in Orissa 
"Election Commission has ordered repelling at 25 booths in Orissa today. The process of election was disrupted at these booths due to Naxalite activities. This time elaborate security arrangements have been done to ensure fair and peaceful polling. 11 companies of para military forces have been pressed into service in 22 booths of Malkangiri and Koraput district of Nawarangpur parliamentary constituency. "
Parties busy wooing voters of Delhi 
"Campaigning for Phase IV of elections is in full swing and all the major political parties are busy making most of the time. Sunday saw election rallies of three leading national parties of India, in Delhi with their star campaigners. BSP supremo, Mayawati addressed an election rally in Ramlila Maidan while BJP's L K Advani was face to face with Delhities in Dwarka. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh campaigned for Congress in Hari Nagar locality in West Delhi. " 
 
Repolling in Bihar, Gujarat, West Bengal and Sikkim 
"Repolling is scheduled at 35 booths in the states of Bihar, Gujarat, West Bengal and Sikkim on Monday. Election Commission has ordered re polling at these booths following complaints of irregularities during the third phase of elections. 28 booths of Bihar went to re polls on Sunday. Elections would also be held again at four booths in Mumbai North Central Parliamentary Constituency. "
Dismal turnout in Mumbai 
"Mumbai went to polls, first time post 26/11 in the third phase of elections. The city which was shook by the attacks, refused to register its enthusiasm for the polls. The turnout was even lower than the last Lok Sabha elections. 44.15% voters turned up to cast their polls as compared to 47.5% turnout in 2004 General Elections. " 
 
Digvijay Singh Censured for Violating Code of Conduct 
"The Election Commission has censured the senior Congress leader, Digvijay Singh, for violating the Model Code of Conduct. EC found the reply filed by Singh unsatisfactory. The Election Commission has issued a notice to the Congress politician as he had violated the Model Code of Conduct by threatening to use CBI against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati."
Third phase of General Elections Underway 
"Polling started today morning for the third phase of General Elections. 14.4 crore voters of nine states and two union territories will exercise their adult franchise to decide the fate of 1,567 candidates. Votes will be cast for 107 seats during this phase of elections. Fate of some of the leading politicians - Sonia Gandhi, L K Advani, Priya Dutt, Mallika Sarabhai, Ram Naik, Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, Jaswant Singh, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sharad Yadav and H D Deve Gowda - will be decided today. " 
 
2 injured in landmine blast in West Bengal 
"A landmine blast near a polling booth in Purulia district of West Bengal injured 2 Central paramilitary force jawans, patrolling the area. The blast took place at around 0750 hrs IST near Biramdih polling booth and was carried out by Maoists. Following the incident, polling has been suspended at the booth. Shantiram Mahato of Congress and Narhari Mahato of All India Forward Bloc are the leading contestants for the Purulia parliamentary constituency seat."
 
Karnataka Chief Minister: Latest target of shoe attack 
"B S Yeddyurappa, the Chief Minister of Karnataka became the latest target of shoe attack on Monday while addressing an election rally in Hassan district of Karnataka. A slipper was hurled at him by a person named, Chandrashekhar. The slipper missed its target and landed at a distance from the chief minister. The accused has been taken into custody and booked under Section 355. " 
 
Notice to Jayaprada over conduct code violation 
"The Election Commission has issued a notice to actor turned politician, Jayaprada over violation of model code of conduct. The actor, who is a Samajwadi party candidate from Rampur parliamentary constituency of Uttar Pradesh has been asked to file a reply over the issue of distributing packets of 'bindis' bearing Samajwadi party symbol, in Swar locality. "
 
Last Day of Campaigning for Third Phase 
"The campaigning for the third phase of elections, scheduled to be held on April 30, ends today. All the parties and politicians are busy making last minute efforts to tilt voters' mind in their favor. Fate of quite a few of bigwigs will be decided in this phase, with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and BJP leader L K Advani being the prominent ones. " 
 
Vote Rigging in Orissa 
"A local journalist has captured vote rigging in Nayagarh during the second phase of Assembly elections on camera. The footage clearly shows votes being rigged allegedly by some of the Biju Janata Dal workers, that too in presence of polling officials. So far no action has been taken in this regard. The senior leaders of the BJD have refuted all such allegations, saying their party people are innocent. "

Shoe Flung at Manmohan Singh 
"Manmohan Singh, the prime minister of India, became the latest politician to be the target of shoe politics. An engineering student flung a shoe at the veteran Congress leader when he was addressing a rally in Gujarat on Sunday. When questioned, the 21-year old told the police, he did all this to get famous. The person is reported to be a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthee Parishad, which disown him just minutes after the incident. " 
 
Don't Vote for Independents, says Sonia Gandhi 
"Congress President, Sonia Gandhi asked voters not to vote for the independent candidates this Lok Sabha elections. "Do not vote here and there. Do not vote for independents," said Sonia Gandhi while addressing a rally in Maharashtra. According to her today's issues such as terrorism and recession can be best dealt by a government with a 'vision and determination' and Congress is the only party in recent times with these characteristics."

Congress under Pressure from Allies 
"The pressure seems to be mounting on Congress these days over the issue of prime ministerial candidate of UPA. According to three major allies of UPA- NCP, RJD, LJP - Congress need to give its decision a second thought as the name of Manmohan Singh as the next PM is not acceptable to a large number of alliance's members. The parties have softened their tone towards Left parties, who have made it clear that they won't be the part of any government headed by the Congress. At times when all the signs of 15th Lok Sabha being the hung parliament are clearly visible, Congress is not left with many options. " 
 
Maoists Shot Two CPI (M) Leaders in West Bengal 
"Two CPI (M) leaders were shot dead by suspected Maoists in the Supurdh village of Balarampur area of West Bengal. The leaders - Bibhuti Singh Sardar and Baikuntha Mahato - were reportedly returning from a fair at about 11 pm when the incident took place. Both the persons died on the spot. CPI (M) has called for a 12 hour bandh in the area to protest the incidence. "

No Support to Congress from Left Parties 
"The Left parties will not support UPA, if the alliance gets the majority after polls, clarified Prakash Karat, General Secretary of CPI(M). Though Congress has showed its interest in aligning with the left but Karat made it clear that they would prefer to sit in opposition than joining the Congress. Left was a part of the UPA alliance but parted ways over the issue of Indo-US nuclear deal. " 

Second Phase of elections in 12 states 
"Second phase of elections are underway in 12 states of India. 19.5 crore voters will decide the fate of 2041 candidates contesting for 140 Lok Sabha seats. States going to poll today include Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Tripura, and Uttar Pradesh. Fate of a large number of heavyweights such as Rahul Gandhi, Sushma Swaraj, Sharad Pawar, George Fernandes, and Ram Vilas Paswan - will be sealed today. " 
 
Voting Underway For Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency 
"Voting for the second phase of elections begins in Manipur today morning. Manipur is the only state going to second phase of elections today while in rest of India second phase of elections will be conducted tomorrow. Polls began at Inner Manipur parliamentary constituency amidst high security. 825,019 electors will decide the fate of seven contestants in the fray for the seat. "

FIR filed Against Digvijay Singh for Violating Model Code of Conduct 
"An FIR has been filed against the former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Digvijay Singh, for violating the model code of conduct. He has been booked for allegedly threatening Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati. He has been reportedly said to 'use' CBI against Mayawati if she continued harassing Congress workers. Digvijay Singh was addressing an election rally in Hardoi, 110 km off Lucknow. " 
 
Karunanidhi Corrects Himself after Calling Prabhakaran a Friend 
"M Karunanidhi, after calling Prabhakaran his friend did a flip flop on his statement. As the discussion heated up over the issue, he made a total reverse sweep, saying he has been misinterpreted and quoted out of context. The minister in his interview with NDTV has reportedly said LTTE leader Prabhakarn to be his friend."