JAIPUR l THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00
FIRST PHASE OF MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS TODAY
THE FIRST PHASE OF MUNICIPAL POLLS WILL BE HELD TODAY AT JAIPUR HERITAGE, JODHPUR NORTH AND KOTA NORTH MUNICIPAL CORPS
RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/77764 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 144
OVER 16.54 LAKH VOTERS WILL DECIDED FATE OF 951 CANDIDATES IN 250 WARDS. POLLING WILL BE HELD FROM 7.30 AM TO 5.30 PM
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD 16°C - 32°C
FULL REPORT P2
www.firstindia.co.in | www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia | instagram.com/thefirstindia
BIG BALLOT BATTLE BEGINS Bihar Elections were a ‘leap of faith’ not a ‘leap in the dark’: CEC
Mohd Fahad New Delhi: CEC Sunil Arora chose to share his impromptu thoughts, as to how ECI felt after the completion of the first phase of elections to the state assembly of Bihar with the media, before Umesh Sinha Secretary General, Chandra Bhushan and other senior officials had a detailed interaction with them. Sunil Arora started by saying that we always vouch for free, fair, ethical and transparent elections but this time we added ‘safe’ elections to our aim, ‘safe’ because of this ongoing pandemic. “At times, the ECI was demotivated by comments on why are we holding
the elections during COVID19 but ECI was of the view, which I articulated in the opening press conference of Bihar Elections at Gyan Bhavan on September 25 and later at Patna on October 1, that for the Election Commission of India the Bihar Elections are a ‘leap of faith’ not a ‘leap into the dark”, added CEC Arora. Senior officials in the EC, who themselves were taken by surprise, said without being quoted, this prefatory statement of CEC was probably prompted by the peculiar situation of holding elections in a state with 7.29 crore electorate under the shadow of pandemic 19 when there was no dearth of skeptics and
Well done, Mr. Chief Election Commissioner Dr Anita
Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora speaking during the virtual press conference.
cynics. The Election Commission has been enthused by the massive participation of
the electorate of Bihar who have reaffirmed their faith in electoral process of India, to
whom CEC Arora expressed the gratefulness of the Commission.
53.54% voter turnout in 1st phase Patna: Over 53 per cent voter turnout has been recorded till 5 PM in the first phase of Bihar assembly polls on Wednesday, the Election Commission said in its provisional data. Voting ended at 6 PM. A total of 71 assembly segments of the state’s 243 constituencies voted in the first phase in which nearly 2.15 crore voters were to decide the electoral fate of over 1,000 candidates. Voter turnout was low in the beginning, but it progressed with the time everywhere notwithstanding raging coronavirus cases in the state. As per the voter turnout data updated by the Election Commission at 6 PM, 53.54 per cent of the total electorates have exercised their franchise. The 71 constituencies are spread across 16 districts. The maximum 55.95 per cent turnout has been recorded in Kaimur, followed by
DU V-C SUSPENDED
Voters, adhering to social distancing norms, stand in queues outside a polling station to cast their votes for the first phase of Bihar Assembly Elections, at Paliganj constituency in Patna on Wednesday. —PHOTO BY PTI
55.44 per cent in Lakhisarai, Buxar (53.84 per cent), Bhagalpur (52.16 per cent) and Patna (51.02 per cent) among others. Union minister and senior BJP leader Giriraj Singh cast his vote at a polling booth in Lakhisarai, while former Bi-
har chief minister and HAM president Jitan Ram Manjhi exercised his franchise at a booth in Gaya. State ministers and also candidates from different constituencies- Vijay Sinha and Krishnandan Verma- and commonwealth games gold
medal winning shooter Shreyasi Singh, BJP nominee from Jamui seat, cast their vote. Enthusiasm of voters was seen at many a booth. In Nawada, a physically challenged voter reached booth on his tricycle to cast his vote. In Dinana assembly
constituency, a group of women expressed happiness after exercising franchise. Polling time was curtailed in the naxal-affected areas. Out of the 71 constituencies, 35 are in naxalhit areas where polling was conducted in a staggered manner.
the back. The voter turnout of around 54 per cent shows not just the people’s confidence in the democratic framework, but also immense trust on its torchbearer - EC.
New Delhi: While there is some clarity on the appointment of Director General of Police for Rajasthan, sadly suspense looms large on the service extension proposal for Chief Secretary Rajeeva Swarup since till Wednesday night, the Government of India (GoI) did not take any final call on the matter. In fact, according to a highly reliable input, the proposal of the state government was
Rajeeva Swarup
Usha Sharma
Veenu Gupta
It is the result of tremendous homework on the ground doubled up with CEC Arora’s multiple visits to the poll-bound state that the election has started on a positive note.
PM: Who used to ask date of Ram temple now applauding Darbhanga: In a veiled attack at Congress and other Opposition parties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that those who used to ask us about the date of Ram temple construction are now compelled to applaud. Addressing a poll rally here, the Prime Minister said that the people of Bihar have taken a resolve to again defeat those who brought ‘jungle raj’ to the state, those who looted Bihar. “After years of wait, the construction of Ram temple has started. Those political people who used to ask us for a date (for temple construction) are now compelled to applaud... It is the identity of BJP and NDA. We do what we promise,” he said. “People of Bihar have taken a resolve to again defeat those who brought ‘jungle raj’ in the state, those who
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses an election meeting in Darbhanga on Wednesday.
MODI’S ‘JUNGLE YUVRAJ’ JIBE PM Modi attacked RJD leader and Mahagathbandhan chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav by calling him the “yuvraaj” (crown prince) of “jungle raj”. Asking voters to beware of those responsible for ‘jungle raj’ in the state, PM Modi said. looted Bihar. These are the people under whose government crime was rampant in the state. They did corruption in money meant for loan waiver. NDA has taken
No extension to Swarup, search on for next CS! Aditi Nagar
New Delhi: The Vice Chancellor of the University of Delhi has been suspended on President Ram Nath Kovind’s orders on Wednesday, amid a major row over appointments that spawned an ugly power tussle. The President also allowed the inquiry against the V-C.
New Delhi/Patna: Conducting world’s biggest election in the times of corona pandemic is no mean task, as it still isn’t over as two phases of polling in Bihar is left. But going by the way the first phase is conducted not just peacefully, but also in compliance with Covid guidelines, the Election Commission headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora certainly needs a pat on
not even processed and was kept in the proverbial ‘cold bag’. On the contrary, Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary K. Shanmugam, who also belongs to same batch as Rajeeva Swarup (1985), was given extension two weeks back. There are unconfirmed reports that such ‘favors’ are not being granted to Congress ruled states like Rajasthan and Chattisgarh where also the current CS is likely to retire next month but CM Bhupesh Bhagel is
keeping a close watch on Rajasthan ‘development’ before making any extension request to the GoI. Even though CS Swarup was in New Delhi on Wednesday to attend a meeting in UPSC, but sources claim that there was no ‘action’ in the DOPT and PMO pertaining to his service extension. It is learnt that in the last attempt Rajeeva, also met one top official in South block but there were no positive indications. Turn to P8
a resolve to make Bihar self-reliant, while on the other side are people who are eyeing money which will come for development projects in Bihar,” he added.
SMRITI TESTS POSITIVE
New Delhi: Union Minister Smriti Irani on Wednesday tested corona positive. “It is rare for me to search for words while making announcement; hence keeping it simple - I’ve tested positive for #COVID and request those who came in contact with me to get tested,” she wrote.