Clashes break out in Andhra; green laser light on Rahul creates scare
Tamil Nadu
In a time in Tamil Nadu’s electoral history, the chief electoral officer was accompanied by a sign language interpreter while addressing a press conference at the Secretariat here on Thursday (April 11). While TN’s chief electoral officer Satyabrata Sahoo briefed the media on election updates, Suresh Kumar, a special teacher, simultaneously interpreted Sahoo’s words into sign language, for the benefit of hearing impaired voters.
Telangana
Polling took place in 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana on Thursday (April 11), where former Union minister Renuka Chowdary and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi are among the prominent candidates who are in fray. Polling in 16 constituencies began at 7 am, while voting process in Nizamabad started at 8 am. Over 2.97 crore voters would decide the fate of 443 candidates in the state.
Andhra Pradesh
Clashes broke out on Thursday (April 11) between workers of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and YSR Congress at various places in Andhra Pradesh even as technical glitches in electronic voting machines (EVMs) hampered the poll process at numerous polling booths as voting got underway for 25 Lok Sabha and 175 Assembly seats. In Guntakal, former MLA and contesting candidate of Jana Sena Party Madhusudan Gupta smashed an EVM in a fit of rage alleging that party symbols were not properly printed on the ballot unit. He also shouted at the polling personnel on duty. Gupta was immediately taken into police custody.
A TDP member lost his life after an altercation with YSRCP workers took a violent turn. The incident took place in Tadipatri mandal in Andhra’s Anantapur district. Siddha Bhaskar Reddy, a local TDP leader, was killed after he sustained injuries in a clash of his party cadres with YSRCP members. Another person too lost his life in poll related violence.
Assam
Tezpur on April 11 witnessed a friendly face-off between Congress candidate MGVK Bhanu and BJP’s candidate Pallab Lochan Das. The two bumped into each other at the historic Mahabhairav temple at Tezpur town. Tezpur Lok Sabha constituency became the election ‘hot seat’ with BJP bigwigs vying for a ticket from there. Das, on the other hand, is a former Congress worker who joined the BJP in 2016, along with Himanta Sarma and several other Congress leaders. He was named the candidate from Tezpur after BJP president Amit Shah “requested” party’s Northeast slayer Himanta Biswa Sarma not to contest the elections.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said a massive Modi wave is sweeping the country. Addressing an election campaign rally in Assam’s Silchar, the PM resorted to a speech akin to self-praise and said, “Which way the winds are blowing, can be seen from your enthusiasm. Today voting is taking place in the first phase in some parts of the country. From what we know so far, a zabardast (massive) wave for ‘phir ek baar Modi Sarkar (Modi government again)’ is visible,” PM Modi said at a rally in Silchar in Assam.
Taking a dig at the Congress, he said, “Those born with silver spoons can only taste the tea. They don’t understand the pain of those who work in the tea gardens. But this ‘chaiwala’ is working hard towards making your lives better.”
Sikkim
Lakhi Paul and Sumitra Rai centenarian voters, cast their vote in Assam and Sikkim respectively. Paul, 107 and Rai, 104 were among the oldest voters in the country. The Assam and Sikkim voting officials rewarded them for their efforts.
Chhattisgarh
Naxals triggered an IED blast on Thursday (April 11) in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district in Bastar Lok Sabha constituency where voting is underway, a senior police official said. No casualty was reported in the incident, he said. Narayanpur comes under the Bastar Lok Sabha seat. “The explosion took place around 4.15 am in Farasgaon area on Narayanpur-Dandwan road when a team of security men was escorting polling personnel to their booth,” the official said. Naxals had planted the explosive underground and were waiting for the security forces to arrive.
Amethi
A green laser light pointed at Congress president Rahul Gandhi during his roadshow in Amethi on Wednesday created a scare, but the Home Ministry said there was no threat to his life. However, sources said that a security breach was alleged when the laser light was seen pointed at the head of Rahul during the roadshow. This led to security concerns within the party, but it was later found that the light was from a camera.
Noida
Some security personnel on election duty in Noida were served meals in packets labelled “Namo Foods”, triggering criticism from the opposition even after the local police said the packs only displayed the name of food shop. The Bahujan Samaj Party said it has complained to the Election Commission.
The packets were brought in the boot of a hatchback and distributed among police personnel in Noidas sector 15A around 9.30 am, while polling was on in the Gautam Buddh Nagar constituency under which the Delhi suburb falls.
Union minister Mahesh Sharma is the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate seeking re-election there. The packets, coloured in a shade of saffron, had Namo Foods emblazoned on top in Hindi. They soon started generating a buzz among curious onlookers.
