ENGLISH MORNING NEWS -

THE HEADLINES :

Voting begins for second phase of Lok Sabha Elections in 88 parliamentary constituencies across 12 states and a Union Territory.
Election Commission issues notification for fifth phase of Lok Sabha election.
Hectic campaigning continues for remaining phases of Lok Sabha Polls.
Supreme Court to pronounce judgment on pleas for 100 per cent EVM-VVPAT verification today.
Indian para-shooter Mona Aggarwal clinches gold medal in women’s 10m air rifle at WSPS World Cup in Changwon, Korea.

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Voting for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections began this morning in Eighty eight Parliamentary Constituencies spread over 12 States and the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir. Voting is taking place in twenty seats of Kerala, 14 seats of Karnataka, 13 seats of Rajasthan, eight seats each of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, six seats of Madhya Pradesh, five seats each in Assam and Bihar, three seats each of West Bengal and Chhattisgarh and one seat each in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir.

The polling for the Betul (ST) Parliamentary Constituency of Madhya Pradesh which was scheduled in the second phase will now be held in the third phase due to the demise of the BSP candidate.

Some of the prominent candidates whose political fate will be sealed in the EVMs today are Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad in Kerala, CPl’s Annie Raja also contesting from Wayanad, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar from Thiruvananthapuram, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also from Thiruvananthapuram, Tejasvi Surya of BJP from Bengaluru South, Hema Malini of BJP from Mathura. Other key candidates are BJP’s Arun Govil from Meerut, ex-Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy from Mandya and Pappu Yadav from Purnea.

A total of one thousand 202 candidates alongwith four candidates from the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha constituency are in the fray in this phase. Over 16 lakh Polling officials will welcome over 15.88 crore voters across 1.67 lakh polling stations.

Now, we go over live to our correspondents for the latest updates on the voting from various parts of the country.

We go to our correspondent in Kerala first. Voting is taking place in all 20 sests of Kerala in this phase. Top leaders of both the national parties BJP and Congress are trying their luck in this phase.

Question: Mayusha, Tell us how is voting progressing in the state, as top leaders of Congress and BJP are contesting in this phase.

ANSWER: THANKU Mayusha

In Uttar Pradesh, more than 1.67 crore voters will decide the fate of 91 candidates on 8 seats in the second phase of elections. A report from our Lucknow correspondent…

“Polling started peacefully on 17704 polling booths of the 8 lok sabha seats of UP where voting is underway during second phase of general elections. These seats are spread over western, and Braj regions of the state. All eyes will be on Mathura and Meerut constituencies where film stars Hema Malini and Arun govil are trying their luck, Baghpat is one seat where after 4 decades someone from outside of Chaudhary Charan Singh family is contesting elections. RLD candidate Rajkumar Sangwan is in direct fight with Samajwadi Party and BSP candidates on this seat. SUSHIL CHANDRA TIWARI, AAKASHWANI NEWS , LUCKNOW.”

Now we go across to our Correspondent, Bhupendra who has joined us on the phone from Ghaziabad for the latest updates.

Question: Bhupendra Singh, what security arrangements have been made to ensure peaceful polling and tell us about the atmosphere there?

ANSWER THANKU Bhupendra

In Bihar, polling is underway in five Lok Sabha constituencies of Purnea, Katihar, Bhagalpur, Kishsnganj, and Banka under the second phase of Lok Sabha polls. Long queues of voters are being witnessed at different polling booths. Special enthusiasm is being seen among youth and women voters.

Around 94 lakh electorates of these five parliamentary constituencies will decide the fate of 50 candidates.

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In Chhattisgarh, voting has started at 7 am in three Lok Sabha constituencies under the second phase of Lok Sabha elections. More from our Raipur correspondent Vikalp Shukla:

“Out of 11 Lok Sabha constituencies in Chhattisgarh, today voting is being held under the second phase in 3 Lok Sabha seats – Rajnandgaon Mahasamund and Kanker. It has been more than an hour since polling started. Long queues of voters are being seen outside the polling booths in urban as well as in rural areas. Twenty-three polling booths have been identified as vulnerable and four hundred and fifty-eight polling booths have been identified as critical. In sensitive areas, voting will continue till 3 pm. Whereas, in other areas, voters will be able to cast their votes till 6 pm. Vikalp Shukla, Akashvani News, Raipur.”

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Voting is being held on six seats in Madhya Pradesh today. More than 1 crore 11 lakh voters are deciding the fate of 80 candidates. Among them, 4 are women and one candidate is from the third gender. Among the prominent candidates of this phase are Union Minister Dr. Virendra Kumar from Tikamgarh, BJP state president VD Sharma from Khajuraho and Congress’ Siddharth Kushwaha from Satna.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked people to cast their votes in record numbers in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections today. In a social media post, the Prime Minister urged young and women voters to turn up at the polling booths in great numbers. He said, a high voter turnout strengthens the country’s democracy.

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In Karnataka, the voting is taking place in 14 constituencies. The Lok Sabha elections will seal the fate of BJP leader Tejasvi Surya, former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy and DK Shivakumar’s brother Congress leader DK Suresh and other prominent leaders.

We are now connected with our Bengaluru correspondent HR Sudhindra.

Question: Sudhindra, What preparations have been made by the Election Commission, keeping in the view of scorching heat and what are the key issues this time?

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The notification for the fifth phase of Lok Sabha election was issued today. Elections will be held in 49 Lok Sabha seats in six States and two Union Territories in this phase.

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Scrutiny of nomination papers for the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections will take place today. The filing of nominations for this phase ended last evening. A total of 96 Lok Sabha seats spread over nine States and a Union Territory will go to polls in this phase on the 13th of next month. The last day for the withdrawal of candidature for this phase is Monday.

Meanwhile, campaigning for later phases of polling is in full swing. Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah will address public meetings in Ashoknagar and Rajgarh today.

On the other hand, State Congress President Jitu Patwari, Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha and former Union Minister Arun Yadav will campaign in Burhanpur today.

Prime Minister and Senior BJP leader Narendra Modi will address two public meetings today in Bihar in support of the NDA candidates. The First rally will be held at Forbesganj Airport Ground in Araria parliamentary constituency while the second rally will be held at Safiasarai Airport ground in Munger parliamentary constituency.

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The Supreme Court will pronounce its judgment today on a batch of petitions seeking 100 percent verification of the votes recorded in the Electronic Voting Machines(EVMs) with the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips. A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta had reserved its judgment on the batch of petitions including one by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) on April 18 after concluding an extensive hearing for two days.

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In Para-Shooting, Indian para-shooter Mona Aggarwal claimed a gold medal in women’s 10m air rifle while Army man Amir Ahmed Bhatt secured a silver in 25m pistol at the World Shooting Para Sport tournament in Changwon, Korea, last night. 37-year old Mona claimed the R2- 10 metre air rifle standing SH1 gold medal with a score of 250.8 in the final.

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TODAY’S NEWSPAPERS HEADLINE:

“Poll mercury rises as 88 seats up for grabs today” states Hindustan Times as its top headline on the front page. The paper adds “NCR joins the mix: Ballots to be cast in Noida, Ghaziabad.”
The Indian Express reports “Messages, videos from Constitutional authorities before each phase to boost turnout.”
“Medical devices companies to soon have ‘Unique’ pricing model’ with expert panel studying price regulations in other countries to come up with a framework suitable for consumers, cites The Economic Times.
“Indigo places order for 30 new wide-body A 350s airbus” to expand its International network; deliveries to begin from 2027″ writes The Tribune.
And Finally, The Times of India cites the All India Football Federation sending out a big positive message of women football team more likely to qualify for World Cup than the Men’s team, under the headline “Setting and netting goals: Number of Indian women footballers up 138 percent in 2 years.

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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN.

Voting begins for second phase of Lok Sabha Elections in 88 parliamentary constituencies across 12 states and a Union Territory.
Election Commission issues notification for fifth phase of Lok Sabha election.
Hectic campaigning continues for remaining phases of Lok Sabha Polls.
Supreme Court to pronounce judgment on pleas for 100 per cent EVM-VVPAT verification today.
Indian para-shooter Mona Aggarwal clinches gold medal in women’s 10m air rifle at WSPS World Cup in Changwon, Korea.

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