INDIA’S
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Narendra Modi calls Rahul Gandhi a ‘specimen'
ELECTIONS SPECIAL 2014 w w w . l e m a t i n a l . c o m
The BJP leader dubbed Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi a “specimen who has little knowledge of Gujarat.” “If you want to relieve stress, listen to Rahul’s speeches. As per his mathematics, there are 27,000 crore jobs lying vacant in Gujarat. How can this be possible when the total population of Gujarat is six crore?.
LE MATINAL, PORT-LOUIS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2014
SP candidate vows to fulfil demands of forest people
Yoga guru Ramdev faces arrest under SC/ST Act Y
Fate of Modi, Sonia and other top guns to be decided today N
EW DELHI: The whole of Gujarat and Punjab goes to polls on Wednesday in the seventh phase of Lok Sabha elections along with some seats in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar that will decide the fate of top guns including Narendra Modi, Sonia Gandhi, LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi. Telangana, the new state-tobe, will also elect its first assembly along with representatives to Parliament when elections will be held in 119 Assembly constituencies and 17 Lok Sabha seats in that part of Andhra Pradesh. On Wednesday, a total of 13.83 crore voters have the right to vote in the polls in seven states and two Union territories that will in all elect 89 MPs. Elections are already over in 349 constituencies in the first six phases. Yet again, Congress and BJP have big stakes in Wednesday's elections with 35 and 23 seats in their bag respectively which were won in the last elections.Stakes are also high for the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab which has four seats and is locked in a bitter contest with Congress. TRS, which spearheaded the campaign for Telangana state, and Congress, whose government at the Centre cleared the new state proposal, are said to be involved in a hard-fought contest over credit for the new state. TRS has two Lok Sabha seats while TDP has two from the region. JD(U) and Trinamool Congress have five seats each in the constituencies going to polls tomorrow, while CPM has four. Modi is seeking to make his debut in Lok Sabha by contesting from Vadodara, which is among the 26 seats in Gujarat going to polls in a single phase tomorrow. He is pitted against Madhusudan Mistry of Congress.
Modi is also contesting from Varanasi where he is pitted against AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal and Congress's Ajay Rai. The Varanasi seat in eastern Uttar Pradesh will go to polls in the last phase on May 12. BJP veteran LK Advani is seeking re-election from Gandhinagar in Gujarat. Rae Bareli, the pocket borough of the Gandhis, Lucknow and Kanpur are among the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh where election will be held on Wednesday. Congress president Sonia Gandhi is seeking re-election from Rae Bareli, BJP president Rajnath Singh is contesting from Lucknow, once represented by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Lok Sabha. He is a sitting MP from Ghaziabad.Singh is pitted against former UP Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi and AAP's Jaaved Jaffrey. Shifted from Varanasi, senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi is contesting from Kanpur where Union minister and Congress leader Sriprakash Jaiswal is fighting to retain his turf. Along with Gujarat, Punjab will also witness polling in a single phase on Wednesday with leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha and BJP leader Arun Jaitley pitted against former state chief minister Amarinder Singh in the keenly fought electoral battle in Amritsar.Jaitley is fighting his maiden Lok Sabha polls and a victory is likely to propel him to a position of power if the NDA forms the government, while Amarinder's win will revive his political fortunes and he will again emerge as the key Congress leader in the state which has 13 Lok Sabha constituencies.Punjab will also witness a contest between SAD's Harsimrat Kaur with her brother-in-law Manpreet Badal (Congress) in Bhatinda.
oga guru Ramdev sank deeper into trouble after he was booked under the under the stringent SC/ST Act for his comment that Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has "picnic and honeymoon" in Dalit homes. He is likely to be arrested as the law hands out high penalties for practicing or preaching untouchability. The Election Commission too cancelled Ramdev's campaign for the BJP in Himachal Pradesh and Amethi, effectively shutting down his promotion of saffron party candidates. After the FIR in Gorakhpur late on Sunday evening, two more FIRs were filed, in Patna and Agra, under the same Act on Monday. While Bihar food and consumer protection minister Shyam Razak moved a Patna court against Ramdev under the prevention of SC-ST Act, members of Dr BR Ambedkar Bar Association in Agra filed a case in the sessions court under the same law. A case was also registered against BJP spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain in Agra for backing Ramdev's objectionable comment. The hearing in the Patna chief judicial magistrate's court will come up on Tuesday. Gorakhpur-based lawyer Udai Nath, who filed the FIR, said, "The entire nation, especially Dalits, is angry over the honeymoon remark of Ramdev. It is an attack on the culture of the nation because he has abused women folk." Former government officer Paras Nath, part of the delegation that went to the police, said, "Ramdev's remarks show his hatred of Dalits. He feels any leader who visits a Dalit
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Members of NCP’s women’s wing protest at Azad Maidan on Monday against Baba Ramdev for his alleged anti-Dalit, remarks Salman Ansari.
BHU students burn Ramdev’s effigy A group of students of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) burnt the effigy of yoga guru Baba Ramdev at the main gate on Monday in protest against his alleged remarks against dalits. Raising slogan against the yoga guru, the students assembled near the main gate of BHU in Lanka and burnt his effigy for
home goes there for honeymoon." Ramdev had stirred a controversy last week saying, "Rahul goes to Dalit homes for
his anti-dalit statement. They demanded appropriate action against Baba Ramdev for hurting the sentiment of the dalit community. The yoga guru has been facing the heat as police complaints have been lodged against him in different parts of the country.
honeymoon and picnic. Had he married a Dalit girl, his luck could have clicked and he would have become the prime
minister." Later he apologized for his remarks claiming he was misquoted. Razak told TOI that Ramdev's statement not only insulted Dalit women but also portrayed them as commodity for entertainment. "The statement exposed the pseudo guru's feudal mindset," he said, pleading harshest punitive action against him for humiliating Dalits. Petition filed by advocate Rajendra Kumar Kardam said Ramdev's comment had insulted downtrodden.
AAP accuses BJP, Congress of being hand in glove
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he Aam Aadmi Party came heavily on the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing both of them of being hand-in-glove to promote corporate interests. In a press statement issued on Monday, AAP said that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's half-hearted attacks on BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's links with businessman Gautam Adani have exposed the selective shadow boxing between the two parties. More than two months after AAP had re-
vealed the large scale favours to the Adani group by Modi government. Rahul is now talking about it, but is totally silent on his own government's undue favours to the Reliance Industries Limited (RIL). The AAP also added that both the parties criticized Election Commission's decision to defer the gas price hike indicating both of them being hand-in-glove to promote corporate interests. They avoid talking on real issues and divert people's mind on such topics.
Three injured in bomb blast in poll-bound Madhubani in Bihar
n order to protect the rights of forest people, All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP), a Sonbhadra-based organisation, is trying to make the contestants of Lok Sabha election from Robertsganj seat accountable to people's demand. In its strategy 'first give and then take', it took the signature of Samajwadi Party candidate Pakodi Kol on a stamp paper with a promise to fight for the demands of forest people. "We will also approach Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Sharda Prasad with our demand and take his signature on a stamp paper," Roma of AIUFWP said. There is no need of contacting the candidates of Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party as they can do nothing, she said. This election is sponsored by the corporate houses, who are desperate to bring a communal and fascist government at the centre. According to Roma, a delegation AIUFWP met chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on April 14 with its demands that include implementation of Forest Rights Act and amendments of 2012, granting community rights, withdrawal of false cases against forest people, granting revenue status to forest villages, good infrastructure of health, education, water and other development issues in the forest region. The AIUFWP recently organised a meeting of tribals, dalits and women at Robertsganj. The SP candidate was invited in the meeting. He held a dialogue with members and committed that he would stick to the demand charter if he wins and if he loses, he will fight for these demand. AIUFWP was preparing the election strategy since September 2013.
HIGHLIGHTS
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hree persons were critically injured when a bomb exploded at Katma village in Bihar's Madhubani district on Tuesday, a day before the fourth phase of polling in Bihar. A woman named Shanti Devi was injured when she picked up from the ground the crude bomb mistaking it for an interesting object and it exploded in her hand. Her husband and a neighbour's boy standing nearby were also wounded. All the three injured were admitted to hospital. Seven constituencies are going to polls on Wednesday in the fourth of the six-phase Lok Sabha elections in Bihar to decide the fate of 94 candidates. The seats are Madhubani, Jhanjharpur, Madhepura, Darbhanga, Samastipur (SC, Reserved), Begusarai and Khagaria, all in the Kosi river belt.
Stage set for first elections in Telangana The stage is set for the first phase of simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the Andhra Pradesh assembly Wednesday in the Telangana region, which becomes a full-fledged state in June.
Seven constituencies are going to poll tomorrow in the fourth of the six-phase Lok Sabha elections in Bihar to decide the fate of 94 candidates.
Mahatma Gandhi's great grandson Srikrishna Kulkarni today came out in support of AAP candidate Kumar Vishwas, saying he was a "selfmade" man taking on the "corruption-based dynastic rule" in Amethi.
Congress, BJP colluding on corruption: Arvind Kejriwal.