THE HEADLINES:-
⦁ Star campaigners of various political parties hold back to back rallies for first and second phase of Lok Sabha polls.
⦁ Prime Minister and Senior BJP leader Narendra Modi addresses two rallies in Bihar; Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra holds road show in Jorhat, Assam.
⦁ BJP, BSP and AAP release another list of candidates for Lok Sabha Polls.
⦁ President Droupadi Murmu emphasizes role of data analysis and implementation of evidence based development programme in economic upliftment of people.
⦁ United Nations nuclear watchdog IAEA, expresses concern over possibility of Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.
⦁ In Chess India’s Gukesh maintains joint-lead alongside Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi in FIDE Candidates tournament in Toronto, Canada.
<><><>
Star campaigners of various political parties are holding back to back rallies for first and second phase of Lok Sabha polls. The polling for the first phase is on 19th of this month. Prime Minister and Senior BJP leader Narendra Modi has said that Congress and its allies are trying to use constitution as a weapon for their political benefit. Addressing a public meeting at Gandhi Maidan in Gaya in Bihar this morning, Mr. Modi said, a false narrative is being created by opposition parties to mislead people that BJP will change the Constitution.
He assured that no one can change the Constitution. He said, the BJP has tried to instill the true spirit of constitution among people by institutionalizing the National Constitution Day in the country.
Prime Minister Modi said, the nefarious design of the opposition will be defeated by people of the country through vote in the elections.
Criticizing the erstwhile regime of RJD for poor condition of Bihar, the senior BJP leader said, RJD is the face of Jungle Raj and corruption.
Later addressing another rally at Purnea, Mr. Modi accussed the opposition of doing vote bank politics and compromising with security by allowing illegal intrusion in the Seemanchal-Purnea area.
<><><>
The Prime Minister will reach Guwahati this evening to campaign for the NDA candidates in Assam. Party sources said that local people and party workers will welcome him upon his arrival at Borjhar in Guwahati . Mr. Modi will address a rally at Nalbari tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is currently holding a road show in Jorhat district. Chief Minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma is also holding meeting at Majuli. On the other hand, TMC Chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will campaign at Silchar tomorrow. Assam is to witness three phase polls for 14 Lok Sabha seats.
<><><>
BJP President J.P.Nadda today held a roadshow at Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu. Speaking at the roadshow, he said that the voters should think of the development of the Country and take decisive action during this election. He said, the NDA government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has put India on a higher pedestal to grow stronger. The BJP leader said that the Union Government has a longer vision to serve the people of the country.
Campaigning at North Chennai, DMK leader and Chief Minister M.K.Stalin today said the people should think for the betterment of their future and cast their franchisee.
<><><>
BJP today released list of candidates for the ensuing Lok Sabha polls, Assembly polls in Odisha and By-election for Telangana and Uttar Pradesh Assembly.
The party declared names of 21 candidates for Odisha Assembly Elections and list of seven candidates for Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. It also released list of five candidates for By-elections in Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party has announced a list of four candidates for the ensuing Lok Sabha polls in Punjab. Jagdeep Singh Kaka Brar will contest from Ferozpur, while Amansher Singh from Gurdaspur Parliamentary constituency. The party has fielded Pawan Kumar Tinu from Jalandhar and Ashok Parashar Pappi from Ludhiana Parliamentary constituency.
In an another development, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has announced the name of eleven more candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. BSP candidate, Athar Jamal Lari has been fielded from Varanasi against Prime Minister and BJP candidate Narendra Modi. The party has changed its candidate from the Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency and gave the ticket to Shiv Prasad Yadav.
<><><>
Aam Aadmi Party today alleged that Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal was being mistreated in jail. While addressing a press conference, party leader Sanjay Singh said that Arvind Kajriwal’s wife and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann were only allowed to meet him in a room divided by a glass window. He also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of vendetta politics and said he was acting out of malice for Arvind Kejriwal. He also said that no amount of pressure can break Arvind Kejriwal. Mr. Singh also alleged that BJP’s sole motive in the entire Delhi excise policy scam was to destroy the Aam Aadmi Party.
<><><>
In order to conduct peaceful and fair elections, the Polling teams have been airlifted for deployment to the sensitive polling stations in Gadchiroli-Chimur Lok Sabha Constituency in the naxal affected Gadchiroli region of Maharashtra. 295 Polling Officers and Staff of 68 Polling parties along with the EVMs and other units were airlifted and landed safely on base camps in 68 polling stations which are highly sensitive polling stations in Gadchiroli .
Gadchiroli-Chimur Lok Sabha Constituency consists of six assembly constituencies. The Aheri Assembly Constituency is known as highly sensitive and Naxal affected. Under the guidance of District Superintendent of Police Nilotpal, the polling teams are being safely deployed in this region to discharge their duties in a fearless and peaceful environment.
<><><>
Adjacent to the Pakistan border and spread in the Thar Desert, Barmer parliamentary Constituency is the largest Lok Sabha seat of Rajasthan in terms of area. Election campaign is in full swing in this constituency. Voting will take place in Barmer in the second phase on April 26.
This Lok Sabha constituency consists of a total of 8 assembly seats of Barmer, Jaisalmer and Balotra districts. A total of 11 candidates are in the fray from this parliamentary seat which has more than 22 lakh 06 thousand voters. Number of young voters in the age group of 18 to 40 years are highest in this constituency. BJP has again reposed faith in Union Minister and sitting MP Kailash Choudhary at this seat, Whereas Congress has fielded Ummedaram Beniwal, who recently joined congress leaving Rashtriya Loktantrik Party. The contest has become interesting with MLA from Sheo assembly seat Ravindra Singh Bhati contesting as an independent candidate. Large public meetings have been held here in support of the three main candidates. It has become Hot seat and now everyone is looking keen interested about the ups and downs on this seat. – Jitendra Dwivedi, Akashwani News, Jaipur.
<><><>
Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Amit Shah has accused the Congress, National Conference and PDP of promoting terrorism and handing over guns in the hands of young boys. Our Correspondent reports that addressing a public rally in Paloura area of Jammu, Mr. Shah urged Kashmiri people especially youth not to vote for such parties . He hinted that BJP won’t field candidates for the three crucial Lok Sabha seats of Kashmir. The Union Minister also said that Assembly elections in J&K will be held on the dates announced by the Supreme Court of India. The SC had stated that Assembly polls will be held in J&K by September 2024. Mr Shah said that today terrorism is on its deathbed, stone pelting, bandh calls and street protests are a history.
Recalling the sacrifices made by Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Mr Shah said that today Dr. Mookerjee’s dream of Ek Vidhan, Ek Pradhan, Eik Nishan stands fulfilled.
<><><>
President Droupadi Murmu has said that the analysis of data and implementations of evidence-based development programs have helped the government to accelerate the economic upliftment of the people. She said that it is the duty of the young IES officers to enhance their work efficiency through new ideas, methods and techniques. President Murmu said this while addressing a group of Probationers of Indian Economic Service at Rashtrapati Bhavan today. She said that economic growth is an important component in the development of the country. The President urged young officers to keep in mind the interest of the poor and backward sections of the country while giving policy related suggestions or taking any decision in their workplace.
<><><>
Union Public Service Commission has announced the final result of Civil Services Examination, 2023. Aditya Srivastava has topped the exam. Animesh Pradhan got the second and Donuru Ananya Reddy has secured third rank. A total one thousand sixteen candidates have been recommended for appointment by the commission.
<><><>
On to international news
International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, a United Nations nuclear watchdog, has expressed concern over the possibility of Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has appealed for extreme restraint. He informed that Iran has temporarily closed its nuclear facilities over security considerations in the wake of its massive missile and drone attack on Israel over the weekend.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summoned his war cabinet for the second time in less than 24 hours yesterday to decide on the course of response to Iran’s attack. The government has made no announcements on any decisions so far.
While Iran has signalled it considers the matter closed, the Israeli military’s chief of staff said the attack would not go unanswered. A senior Iranian official, Abolfazl Amoui, stated that the country has devised comprehensive strategies for all potential scenarios in the event of Israeli escalation.
<><><>
On to sports
In Chess, India’s D. Gukesh stayed on top of the leaderboards after playing out a draw against the joint leader Ian Nepomniachtchi in round ten of the FIDE Candidates 2024 at the Great Hall in Toronto, Canada last night.
<><><>
In Cricket, the Board of Council for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the Indian women’s cricket team squad for the five-match T20 International series against Bangladesh.
<><><>
THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN:-
⦁ Star campaigners of various political parties hold back to back rallies for first and second phase of Lok Sabha polls.
⦁ Prime Minister and Senior BJP leader Narendra Modi addresses two rallies in Bihar; Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra holds road show in Jorhat, Assam.
⦁ BJP, BSP and AAP release another list of candidates for Lok Sabha Polls.
⦁ President Droupadi Murmu emphasizes role of data analysis and implementation of evidence based development programme in economic upliftment of people.
⦁ United Nations nuclear watchdog IAEA, expresses concern over possibility of Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.
⦁ In Chess India’s Gukesh maintains joint-lead alongside Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi in FIDE Candidates tournament in Toronto, Canada.
<><><>
