Evening News

THE HEADLINES:

Polling for third phase of Lok Sabha Elections concludes with about 62 per cent voter turnout; Assam at 75 per cent, Goa with over 74 per cent and West Bengal with nearly 74 per cent record highest voting.
Notification for the seventh and last phase of Lok Sabha Elections issued.
Two terrorists killed in an encounter with security forces at Kulgam in Jammu and Kashmir.
A Delhi Court extends judicial custody of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal till the 20th of this month.
Israel seizes control of Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
In IPL Cricket, match underway between Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals in Delhi.

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Polling concluded today for the third phase of Lok Sabha elections in ninety three Parliamentary Constituencies spread over ten States and one Union Territory. Except a few minor incidents, by and large peaceful voting was reported. Polling remained largely peaceful with voters from all walks of life participated enthusiastically despite the heat wave condition in several parts of the country. Approximate voter turnout of nearly 62 per cent was recorded. Assam at over 75 per cent, Goa with over 74 per cent and West Bengal with nearly 74 per cent recorded the highest voting.

With the conclusion of the third phase, voting for 284 out of 543 Lok Sabha constituencies has been completed. The remaining 259 constituencies will be covered in the remaining four phases.

Constituencies which went to polls in the third phase include, twenty five in Gujarat, 14 in Karnataka, 11 in Maharashtra and 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh. Besides, voting also took place for nine seats in Madhya Pradesh, seven in Chhattisgarh, five in Bihar, four seats each in Assam and West Bengal, two seats each in Goa and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.

The polling was also held for the Betul Parliamentary Constituency of Madhya Pradesh, which was rescheduled from the second phase due to the demise of the BSP candidate.

The Polling for Anantnag-Rajouri Parliamentary Constituency in Jammu and Kashmir, earlier scheduled in the third phase, will now take place in the Sixth phase on the 25th of May. In Surat Parliamentary Constituency of Gujarat, the BJP candidate has already been elected unopposed.

A total of one thousand 331 candidates were in the fray in this phase.

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In Madhya Pradesh, the polling was peaceful in 9 Lok Sabha constituencies today. Prominent candidates in the state whose political fate was sealed in the EVMs include senior BJP leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia and Shivraj Singh Chauhan and senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh. Our Correspondent has the details.

“Despite the scorching heat in Madhya Pradesh today, voters voted eagerly and peacefully on nine Lok Sabha seats. There is no news of any untoward incident from anywhere. The day temperature in most of the Lok Sabha constituencies was around 40 degrees Celsius today, hence long lines of voters were seen in the initial hours and before the end of voting, except in the afternoon. The fate of 127 candidates was sealed in the EVM today. Counting of votes on all these seats will take place on 4 June. Sanjeev Sharma, Akashvani News, Bhopal”.

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In Uttar Pradesh the polling remained peaceful in ten Lok Sabha seats of the state. These seats were Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, Etah, Hathras, Mainpuri, Aonla, Bareilly, Sambhal, Badayun and Ferozabad. We go over live to our correspondent Sushil Tiwari in Lucknow for more Details;

Q1 Hello Sushil, how was the overall polling in the state?

Ans…

Q2) Sushil, what are the stakes for political parties in this phase?

Ans…

Thank You Sushil for the update

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In Maharashtra, an average of over 55 per cent voting was recorded. With today’s polling, voting for 24 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats is now complete in the state. The remaining seats will go to vote in the next two phases.

“The fate of 258 candidates contesting for 11 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra is now sealed in EVMs. Beating the heat, people across all age groups showed great enthusiasm and turned out to vote. While first time voters were present in plenty, super senior citizens were also seen visiting the booths. In Kolhapur, a 102 year old person named Babosa Rajaram Yadav chose not to vote from home and visited his allocated booth to fulfill his national duty. As part of the International Election Visitors’ Programme, a seven member delegation visited various polling booths across Raigad and were amazed by the enthusiasm of voters and especially the Adarsh Divyang booth. They also held interactions with the voters regarding the ease of using EVMs. With Prarthna, This Is Nisha Raney, Akashwani News, Mumbai.”

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Our Bengaluru correspondent reports, the election in 14 constituencies in Karnataka concluded peacefully. With this, voting process in all 28 constituencies in the state has been completed. Brisk voting was seen in all constituencies with overall percentage of about 67 per cent at the end of the poll.

“The four time MP from Dharwad Prahlad Joshi, former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai from Haveri, Union minister of state and two time MP from Bidar Bhagwanth Khuba, B S Yediyurappa’s son B Y Raghavendra from Shivamogga are the prominent candidates from BJP. The Forest minister Eeshwar Khandra’s son Sagar Khandre, Congress National President Mallikarjuna Kharge son in law Radhakrishna Doddamani from Gulbarga, state Women and Child development minister Lakshmi Hebalkar son Mrinal Hebbalkar from Belagavi and PWD minister Satish Jarkiholi daughter Priyanka from Chikkodi are some of the notable candidates from Congress. Their fate is sealed by the voters today which will be known on June 4th. Sudhindra Akashvani News Bengaluru.”

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Meanwhile, Filing of nominations has begun for the 7th and last phase with issuance of notification by the Election Commission. Voting in this phase will be held in 57 Lok Sabha seats in seven States and one Union Territory in this phase.

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Polling percentage in Other States is as follows:

Chhattisgarh, over 67 per cent.
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, over 65 per cent
Bihar over 56 per cent
Madhya Pradesh over 65 per cent
And, Gujarat, over 55 per cent.

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The Election Commission has directed Delhi Chief Electoral Officer to ensure that no campaign material without having the names and addresses of the printer and publisher is circulated or fixed. In a letter to the Delhi CEO, the Election Commission said strict and swift action must be taken to take down or confiscate such election material.

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The Election Commission has directed the social media platform ‘X’ to immediately take down an objectionable tweet posted from the handle of Karnataka BJP. In a letter to the Nodal Officer of social media App, the Commission said, the post by the Karnataka BJP is violative of extant legal framework. It said, an FIR has already been registered in the matter.

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In the Kashmir Valley, two terrorists were killed in an encounter that broke out between terrorists and security forces in Redwani Payeen village of Kulgam district, last evening. One of the slain terrorists eliminated in the operation was a top Commander of TRF (The Resistance Front) terror outfit identified as Basit Dar.

IGP Kashmir V K Virdi told Akashwani that the most wanted terrorist Basit Dar, was A Category Terrorist of the banned TRF who was active since 2021. .

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A Delhi Court today extended the judicial custody of Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal till the 20th of May, in the money laundering case connected to the liquor policy scam.

Special judge Kaveri Baweja of Rouse Avenue Court passed the order on the expiry of his judicial custody in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case. Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on the 21st of March.

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The Israeli military has seized control of the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt today. Authorities said, Israeli tanks pushed into the southern Gaza town of Rafah after a night of air strikes on the Palestinian enclave. However, the cease-fire negotiations with Hamas remain precarious.

The development came after hours of whiplash in the Israel-Hamas war, with the militant group yesterday saying it accepted an Egyptian-Qatari mediated cease-fire proposal.

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Vladimir Putin was sworn in today for a new six-year term at a ceremony in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow. Putin is already in office for nearly a quarter-century and the longest-serving Kremlin leader after Josef Stalin.

In March this year, Putin had won a landslide victory in a tightly controlled election.

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India has once again called upon Canada to stop providing criminal and secessionist elements a safe haven and political space in the country. In response to media queries regarding a float in the Nagar Kirtan parade in Malton, Canada, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said New Delhi has repeatedly raised strong concerns regarding violent imagery being used by extremist elements in Canada against India’s political leadership.

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The Centre has granted permission for the export of 14 thousand Metric Tons of Non-Basmati White Rice to Mauritius. In a notification, Directorate General of Foreign Trade said that the authorization will be facilitated through the National Cooperative Exports Limited.

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The Regional Met Office has said, heat wave conditions are likely to continue for another five days in Tamil Nadu. The warning has been given after most of the districts have recorded two to three celsius above normal temperature.

“Heat wave conditions prevailed in coastal and isolated interior parts of the State today. Though it is sizzling hot in Chennai and suburban areas during the day time, sea breeze slowly settles late in the evening. Wall post advisories on prevention of heat stroke could be seen in many places in the city and district hospitals have set apart seperate wards for those who suffer from heat stroke. However there is a consolation as the Regional Met department has predicted rainfall in western districts and also in Chennai tonight or tomorrow.Joy,Akashvani News,Chennai.”

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In IPL Cricket, Delhi Capitals have set a target of 222 runs before Rajasthan Royals in New Delhi.

Delhi Capitals scored 221 runs for 8 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs.

Earlier Rajasthan Royals had won the toss and elected to bowl.

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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN

Polling for third phase of Lok Sabha Elections concludes with about 62 per cent voter turnout; Assam at 75 per cent, Goa with over 74 per cent and West Bengal with nearly 74 per cent record highest voting.
Notification for the seventh and last phase of Lok Sabha Elections issued.
Two terrorists killed in an encounter with security forces at Kulgam in Jammu and Kashmir.
A Delhi Court extends judicial custody of Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal till the 20th of this month.
Israel seizes control of Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
In IPL Cricket, match underway between Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals in Delhi.

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