India

Jorhat, Apr 11 (PTI) Former Chief Minister of Assam Tarun Gogoi on Thursday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the state for campaigning on polling day is a violation of the model code of conduct (MCC).

Gogoi said this at the DCB Girls High School polling station in Jorhat when he was there to cast his vote. His son Gaurav Gogoi, a sitting MP, was accompanying him.

Rae Bareli, Apr 11 (PTI) UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi Thursday filed her nomination papers from the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh.

She was accompanied by her son and Congress president Rahul Gandhi, daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and her son-in-law Robert Vadra.

Before filing her nomination papers at the Collectorate here, the UPA chairperson held a roadshow and offered puja at the Congress central office here.

New Delhi, Apr 11 (PTI) AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal Thursday claimed that genuine anti-BJP votes have been deleted across India at an "unprecedented scale" and questioned the Election Commission over the fairness of the ongoing polls.

His deputy Manish Sisodia accused the EC of "serving the BJP".

In a series of tweets, Kejriwal tagged the people who claimed their names or the names of their relatives have been deleted from the voter lists.

Alipurduar, Apr 11 (PTI) Around 55.9 per cent of voters exercised their franchise till 1 pm in two parliamentary constituencies in West Bengal on Thursday, an election official said.

An estimated 55.44 per cent of voters cast their ballots in the Cooch Behar (SC) constituency, while 56.45 per cent polling was recorded in the Alipurduar (ST) seat, till 1 pm, a senior official of the Election Commission said.

Lucknow, Apr 11 (PTI) Over 24 per cent polling has been recorded till 11 am in the eight Lok Sabha seats of western Uttar Pradesh on Thursday in the first leg of the seven-phased general elections.

Three Union ministers-- V K Singh (Ghaziabad), Satyapal Singh (Baghpat) and Mahesh Sharma (Gautam Buddha Nagar) are in the fray in this phase.

New Delhi, Apr 10 (PTI) The National Investigation Agency on Wednesday arrested JKLF chief Yasin Malik in connection with a case related to alleged funding of terror and separatist groups in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said here.

Malik was brought to the national capital Tuesday evening after a special NIA court in Jammu gave the go ahead for his custodial interrogation by the probe agency, they said.

Lucknow, April 9 (PTI): Campaigning ended Tuesday evening in eight western Uttar Pradesh constituencies where the ruling BJP is going all out to repeat its 2014 Lok Sabha performance, a task made much tougher this time by the new SP-BSP-RLD alliance.

In the 2014 parliamentary elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party won all eight seats -- Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar that go to the polls on April 11, the first phase of staggered elections.

Hailakandi (Assam), Apr 9 (PTI) The axiom that people cannot resist the lure of discounts has reached a new level in Hailakandi district of Assam where people are going to get concessions on a range of products and services if they vote on the polling day - April 18.

Following an appeal by the District Election Officer Keerthi Jalli, various business houses of this south Assam district are offering discounts on jewellery, food and hospitality, and medicines.

New Delhi, Apr 9 (PTI) The Pakistan High Commission Tuesday said it has issued visas to 2,200 Sikh pilgrims from India to facilitate their participation in the annual Baisakhi celebrations from April 12 to 21.

The issuance of visas by Pakistan is seen as signs of easing of tension between the two countries, and came nearly six weeks after the Balakot strike and subsequent Pakistani retaliation.

New Delhi, Apr 9 (PTI) The Election Commission has taken cognizance of Prime Mnister Narendra Modi's remarks asking first-time voters to dedicate their vote to those who carried out the air strike in Balakot, and has sought a report from poll officials in Maharashtra.

Sources in the poll panel said Tuesday that the chief electoral officer of Maharashtra has been asked to submit a report at the earliest.