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LIVE! 25% turnout in Chhattisgarh polls so far


13:44  Rupee falls below 73 level against US dollar:  The rupee weakened further and dipped by 54 paise to 73.04 against the US dollar Monday, owing to increased demand for the American currency from importers amid increasing global crude oil prices.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading higher by 2.04 per cent at USD 71.61 per barrel. Forex traders said besides increased demand for the US currency from importers, the dollar’s strength against some currencies overseas weighed on the domestic unit. — PTI


13:38  Two CoBRA personnel injured in encounter with Naxals in C’garh:  Two CoBRA personnel were injured in an encounter with Naxals in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on Monday, even as polling was underway for the first phase of the state elections, police said. The skirmish took place at a forest in Pamed area, located around 500 km from the state capital Raipur, when a team of security personnel was patrolling in view of the voting going on in the region, a senior police official told PTI.

As per preliminary information, a group of Naxalites opened fire on the patrolling team of Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA), a elite unit of the Central Reserve Police Force, he said.

However, ultras fled from the spot after security personnel retaliated, he added. “Two CoBRA personnel, including a sub-inspector, received injuries in the incident,” he said.

Reinforcement was rushed to the spot and efforts were on to evacuate the injured commandos by a helicopter, he said. Voting in 18 constituencies of eight Naxal-affected districts, including Bijapur, was underway on Monday. Around 1.25 lakh security personnel were deployed in the region to ensure peaceful polling. — PTI

13:28  25% turnout in Chhattisgarh polls so far :  A healthy 25.15% voter turnout has been recorded till 1 pm in the first phase of the Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections even as two CoBRA personnel were injured in an exchange of fire with Naxals in Bijapur district.

Polling in 18 assembly constituencies in the first phase of the Chhattisgarh elections began on a slow note Monday with about 14 per cent of the electorate casting their votes in the first few hours, a poll official said.

An improvised explosive device was detonated early morning in Dantewada district by Naxals, who had called for a boycott of the polls, police said. Voting in nine seats of Bastar division and one seat in Rajnandgaon district began at 7 am while in the other eight seats, it started at 8 am.

Image: In Sukma, a 103-year-old woman, Soni Bai, exercised her voting rights at a polling booth in Gorgunda’s Devarpalli. His son carried her to the polling station. Pic: ANI

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13:12  Tulsi Gabbard planning to run for US presidency in 2020: Sources:  Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu lawmaker in the US Congress, is considering a run for the American presidency in 2020, according to sources close to her.

On Friday, at a Medtronic conference in Los Angeles an eminent Indian-American Dr Sampat Shivangi introduced Gabbard, 37, and said that she could be the next president of the US in 2020.

The brief statement was marked by a standing ovation, in the presence of the four-term Congresswoman from Hawaii. Gabbard, a Democrat, who addressed the gathering, however neither confirmed or denied that she is running for president in 2020.

A decision on this could be taken before Christmas, which might not necessarily result in a formal announcement as that could be delayed till the next year, people familiar with her thinking process told PTI.

However, it is said that she and her team has quietly been reaching out to prospective donors, including a large number of Indian Americans, and volunteers to build an impressive campaign for her 2020 run.

Given that Gabbard is highly popular among Indian-Americans, a constituency she has nurtured from the very beginning of her political carrier, it is but natural that her team has quietly started reaching out to this community, which is considered as the richest ethnic group after the Jewish Americans.

File pic: Tulsi Gabbard with PM Modi in 2014


13:04  Temple will be built in Ayodhya when Lord Ram wants it: UP Dy CM:  Uttar Pradesh deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma has said that the Ram temple in Ayodhya will be built “when Lord Ram wants it”. Sharma was in Bahraich on Sunday to attend a programme at the residence of UP co-operative minister Mukut Bihari Verma.

“The BJP has explained its stand on Ram temple in its Sankalp patra. Every work is done by God,” Sharma said. “The sooner the benevolence of Lord Ram showers, the work (constructing the temple) will be accomplished. When Lord Ram wants, he will become the kaarak (factor) and kaaran (reason),” he added. The UP deputy chief minister also said, “Our country runs on religion and belief. And, it motivates us to move on the path of piety.” — PTI


12:57  DGCA suspends flying licence of AI Operations Dir Kathpalia for 3 yrs:  Aviation regulator DGCA has suspended the flying licence of Air India Director of Operations Arvind Kathpalia who failed alcohol test Sunday, a senior official said. On Sunday, Air India grounded Kathpalia after he failed to clear pre-flight alcohol test. In the case of Kathpalia being detected ‘BA positive’ on November 11, the privileges of his licence have been suspended for a period of three years as per the provisions of applicable regulations, the official said. The suspension is effective from November 11.

Rule 24 of the Aircraft Rules prohibits crew members from partaking any alcoholic drink 12 hours prior to the commencement of a flight, and it is mandatory for him/her to undergo an alcohol test both before and after operating a flight.

The prescribed punishment for such offences under the DGCA rules is suspension of flying licence for three months in case of first breach. For violating the norms for a second time, the licence is suspended for three years and for a third time, the licence is permanently cancelled. — PTI

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12:52  That’s a nice, tattoo!:  @RahulGandhi tweets: Jack Dorsey, the Co Founder & CEO of Twitter dropped in to chat this morning. Twitter has grown into the most dominant “conversations’ platform globally. Jack explained some of the steps being taken to keep those conversations healthy & to tackle the menace of fake news. 


12:42  The Rs 20 crore Diwali gift!:  Capital First’s founder and chairman V Vaidyanathan has gifted 4.29 lkah shares, worth over Rs20 crore from his personal stake to 26 of his colleagues, three former employees, 10 close relatives and five of his personal staff including house help and drivers. This is a gesture of gratitude to his colleagues, close relatives and personal staff, who stood with him in all the ups and downs of building the Capital First brand.  Read more

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12:38  EVMs not malfunctioning, voting smooth: EC on Chhattisgarh polls:  Election Commission on Chhattisgarh elections: “Certain sources are spreading rumours that EVMs are malfunctioning repeatedly. This is to clarify that above information is false. Voting is going on smoothly. If at all, any glitches are noticed, issue is sorted out as quickly as possible.”

However, voters in Jagdalpur’s Gandhi Nagar ward protested outside the polling centre, saying, “The names of many voters are missing including those who have been living here for the past 25 years.”

Polling in 18 assembly constituencies in the first phase of the Chhattisgarh elections began on a slow note Monday with about 14 per cent of the electorate casting their votes in the first few hours, a poll official said.     

An improvised explosive device was detonated early morning in Dantewada district by Naxals, who had called for a boycott of the polls, police said.   

Voting in nine seats of Bastar division and one seat in Rajnandgaon district began at 7 am while in the other eight seats, it started at 8 am.

Image: Voters in Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh, say many names are missing from the electoral rolls. Pic: ANI

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12:12  CBI vs CBI: CVC files preliminary probe report in sealed cover in SC:  The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Monday filed its preliminary probe report relating to CBI Director Alok Kumar Verma in a sealed cover in the Supreme Court today. A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice SK Kaul took the report on record and fixed the next hearing on November 16. During the hearing, interim CBI Director M Nageswar Rao also filed his report on decisions taken by him from October 23 till date as head of the agency.  — PTI

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that former apex court judge A K Patnaik supervised the CVC inquiry which was completed on November 10.

The CJI observed that the Registry was open on Sunday also but no intimation was given to the Registrar regarding filing of the report. Later the SG tendered an apology and said though he was not explaining the circumstances there was delay on their part in submitting the report. — PTI

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12:10  Home they brought her warrior dead:  Bharatpur: The mortal remains of BSF Sub-Inspector Mahender Singh who lost his life in an IED blast in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker yesterday, was brought to his residence in Dumariya village, Rajasthan.


11:54  Oil-producing nations close to pact on output cut:  Plummeting oil prices and signs of a coming global oversupply are bringing producers closer to a pact to cut output, report Summer Said, Christopher Alessi and Benoit Faucon in the Wall Street Journal.   

While the Saudis have announced that the kingdom would unilaterally cut its exports next month, they write, the OPEC is still debating a collective cut in output. Russia, which has kept pace with OPEC on such issues, naturally has its options open.   

The oil producing nations were meeting in Abu Dhabi over the weekend to decide if they needed to collective pull back production by one million barrels a day, over fears of looming oversupply and falling oil prices.   

You can read the WSJ report here.

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11:27  Last rites of Ananth Kumar tomorrow in Bengaluru:  The last rites of Union minister Ananth Kumar, who passed away in Bengaluru Monday, will be performed on Tuesday afternoon, Karnataka BJP said. The mortal remains of Kumar was placed at his residence in Basavanagudifor the entire day today, state BJP General Secretary N RaviKumar said in a statement. He said, by 8 am on Tuesday, it would be taken to Jagannath Bhavan, BJP state office at Malleshwaram, where arrangements would be made for party workers and his followers to pay their last respects.

Kumar’s body would then be taken to National College Ground in the city for public to pay their respects, and the last rites would be performed at 1 pm at Chjamarajapete crematorium, the statement added.

Kumar died at a private hospital in Bengaluru in the early hours of Monday after battling lung cancer for several months. PTI

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11:19  Amit Shah pays tribute to Ananth Kumar :  BJP President Amit Shah pays a floral tribute to Union Minister Ananth Kumar at the party headquarters in New Delhi. The national flag will fly at half mast throughout the country on Monday as a mark of respect to the Union Minister who passed away in the early hours, the Home Ministry announced. The Central government will also accord a state funeral to the Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister.

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11:16  SC declines early hearing Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title case:   The Supreme Court Monday declined early hearing of petitions in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case. A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice SK Kaul said it had already listed the appeals before the appropriate bench in January.

“We have already passed the order. The appeals are coming up in January. Permission declined,” the bench said while rejecting the request of early hearing of lawyer Barun Kumar Sinha, appearing for Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha. — PTI

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11:12  Defying Naxals, 100-year-old woman votes in Chhattisgarh polls :  
As voting for the first phase of the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections is underway, a 100-year-old woman, Viswas, cast her vote at a polling station in Dornapal district.

The woman was helped by her son as she visited the polling booth set up near her house. The woman looked very fragile but it did not stop her to exercise her franchise.

The first phase of the Assembly elections for 18 seats began on a full swing on Monday. Of these, 12 are Scheduled Tribe seats while one is a Scheduled Caste seat.

Out of the 18 seats, 12 are located in the sensitive Baster region dominated by the Maoists.

Talking about the preparations undertaken by the poll body and the government, Chief Election Commissioner, OP Rawat, said, “As many as 900 polling personnel have been air-dropped from helicopters so that they can reach safely. Over 16,500 polling personnel went by road. I we  will be in a position to deliver peaceful elections.” — ANI


10:47  Ajit Jogi: ‘I will be the King, not the kingmaker’:  “Raman Singh will certainly be defeated by the alliance we have created,” Ajit Jogi, Chhattisgarh’s first chief minister and one of Indian politics’s great survivors, tells Rediff.com’s Archana Masih. Read the report here.

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10:41  In Jharkhand, children of Naxal-affected Chakulia’s Pochpani village carry bow and arrows to school to protect themselves from Naxals. Locals say the children have to pass through a forest area where a number of Naxals have been spotted.

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10:37  In Dantewada, a differently-abled person reaches Chintagupha polling booth to cast his vote in the first phase of the Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections 2018.

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10:23  10.7% voting in Chhattisgarh so far:  Voting underway in interior areas of Kistaram, Palem and Bejji in Naxal-affected Sukma district in Chhattisgarh. An IED was detected near a polling booth in Konta’s Banda in Sukma. Nevertheless voters queued up at polling booths like this makeshift one under a tree, to cast their vote. 10.7% voter turnout recorded till 10 am in the first phase in 18 constituencies in the Naxal hotbed. At least 700 paramilitary companies have been deployed to keep the peace.

A thick security blanket, comprising over 1.25 lakh police and paramilitary personnel, was thrown across the 18 constituencies as they fall under the Naxal-hit areas of Bastar, Kanker, Sukma, Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur, Kondagaon and Rajnandgaon districts.

Polling in 10 constituencies — Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta — started at 7 am and would conclude at 3 pm, an election official said.

In the other eight constituencies — Khairgarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Bastar, Jagdalpur and Chitrakot — voting began at 8 am and would end at 5 pm, he said.


10:17  Sensex, Nifty back in green, all eyes on macro data:  The BSE benchmark Sensex recovered by over 155 points and the NSE Nifty breached the 10,600-mark in opening trade Monday on fresh buying by investors, ahead of release of macroeconomic data later in the day.

Traders said, fresh fund inflows by foreign funds and a bullish trend on other Asian bourses also influenced trading sentiments.

The 30-share Sensex was quoting 155.14 points, or 0.44 per cent higher at 35,313.69 points. The gauge had lost over 79 points on Friday. Reflecting the market’s better mood, all the sectoral indices led by consumer durables, IT, healthcare and banking were trading in the positive zone with gains up to 1.66 per cent.

Also, the NSE Nifty was trading higher by 46.55 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 10,631.75. Brokers said, building up of positions by domestic investors ahead of the release of index of industrial production data for September and inflation data for October later in the day, buoyed trading sentiment.

Among the Sensex constituents, Kotak Bank, Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, Adani Ports, Infosys, HDFC Ltd, Tata Steel, M&M, TCS, ONGC, Coal India, Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto, L&T, Vedanta Ltd, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank were major gainers, rising by up to 1.49 per cent. — PTI

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10:14  Why is Salman irked by Arjun and Malaika?:  “Is it because Salman didn’t expect his protge, who once dated his sister Arpita (when both were young, nice and plump) to get seriously involved with his bhabhi? That shouldn’t matter either since Arjun and Arpita broke up ages ago and, at that time, the young Kapoor wasn’t even looking at Malaika.

“Could it be that Salman felt cheated that a fat boy he had brought into the house to use his gym, a boy on whom he prevailed to shed weight fast, had found chemistry with his bhabhi?”

Read the column here.

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10:02   State funeral for Ananth Kumar; Tricolour to fly at half mast:  The national flag will fly at half mast throughout the country on Monday as a mark of respect to Union Minister Ananth Kumar, who passed away in the early hours, the Home Ministry announced. The Central government will also accord a state funeral to the Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister.

“Following the unfortunate demise of Union Minister Ananth Kumar, it has been decided that the national flag will fly at half mast throughout the country today and a state funeral will be accorded,” a Home Ministry spokesperson said.

Kumar died at a private hospital in Bengaluru in the early hours of Monday after battling lung cancer for several months. A six-time MP, Kumar was in the inner circle of the central leadership of the BJP — be it during the heydays of Atal Bihari Vajpayee or L K Advani and now Narendra Modi. —  PTI

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09:51  
Bengaluru: Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala pays last respects to Union Minister Ananth Kumar.


09:36  Sacrilege incidents: Parkash, Sukhbir Badal, actor Akshay Kumar summoned by SIT:  

The special investigation team, probing police firing incidents at Behbal Kalan on sacrilege issue, has summoned former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, his son Sukhbir Singh Badal and actor Akshay Kumar.

   

While Parkash has been asked to appear before the SIT of Punjab Police on November 16, Sukhbir has been summoned on November 19 and Akshay has been asked to come on November 21 to the Circuit House in Amritsar.

 

The summon orders have been issued separately for the three by SIT member and IG rank officer Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, according to an official release.

 

The SIT is probing police firing incidents at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan in Faridkot in 2015 after a series of sacrilege incidents in the state. In police firing at Behbal Kalan, two persons were killed.

 

Notably, the actor’s name was mentioned in Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report on sacrilege incidents.

According to the report, a meeting between former deputy chief minister Sukhbir and Dera Sacha Sauda sect head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in connection with the release of latter’s movie ‘MSG’ was held at Akshay’s flat in Mumbai.

 

The meeting was held before the pardon given to Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a blasphemy case. However, Akshay had denied all the claims.

 

Kunwar Singh said the summons relate to investigation of cases originating from the various incidents of sacrilege in the year 2015.

 

The summons have been issued under Section 160 of the CrPC, requiring attendance at investigation, relating to the Bargari sacrilege case and the Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura police firing incidents, the release said.

 

The notice says the presence of the aforesaid person is necessary for the purpose of inquiry into the above-mentioned offence and the person summoned needed to give such information relating to the said alleged offence as he may possess. — PTI

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09:35  K’taka declares 3-day mourning as mark of respect to Ananth Kumar:  

The Karnataka government has declared a three-day state mourning till November 14  as a mark of respect to Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, who died in the early hours of Monday.

 

The state government has also declared a holiday on Monday as a mark of respect to Kumar.

His last rites would be performed with all Government honour, an official release said.

Kumar died at a private hospital in Bengaluru after battling lung cancer for several months.

A government notification said, during state mourning there would be no official programmes.

The national flag would fly at half mast atop all government buildings, it said.

Condoling Kumar’s death Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said, he has lost a great friend.

“Our families had a friendship beyond politics. He always valued and gave priority to friendship. I have lost a great friend in his death, Kumaraswamy said in a statement.

Describing him as a “value-based politician”, who made significant contribution to the country as an MP and Union Minister, the Chief Minister said, his pro people attitude and activities had made him the “apple of the eye of Bengalurians”.

Kumaraswamy will directly arrive to the National College Ground from Mysuru Monday and will pay his last respects to the departed leader, the Chief Minister’s Office said. — PTI  

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09:28  Shiv Sena loves us ‘secretly’: Fadnavis :  

The Shiv Sena “secretly” loves the Bharatiya Janata Party while the latter shows its affection openly, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said. 

On the Sena’s demand that the names of Aurangabad and Osmanabad be changed to Sambhaji Nagar and Dharashiv respectively, Fadnavis said the state government had cleared the proposal but there were litigations pending in this connection.

The Maharashtra chief minister said an expansion of the state cabinet was likely before the winter session of the Maharashtra legislature.

Fadnavis’ government has 38 ministers and as per norms, its strength can go up to 42. — PTI

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09:26  Over 1.28 lakh tourists visit Statue of Unity in 11 days:  

Since opening for the public on November 1, the 182-metre tall Statue of Unity in Narmada district of Gujarat has attracted more than 1.28 lakh tourists, officials said.

A huge rush of tourists was seen during the weekend, with over 50,000 people visiting the world’s tallest statue at Kevadiya village on Saturday and Sunday alone (November 10- 11), they said.

“Since November 1, when the statue opened for the public, we have recieved around 1.28 lakh tourists (till Sunday),” Superintending Engineer of Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd R G Kanungo said.

Over 24,000 tourists visited the site Sunday and more than 27,000 Saturday, he said.

The statue, dedicated to `Iron Man of India’ Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, is situated on an islet near the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Kevadiya. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 31.

Principal Secretary (Tourism) S J Haider said more than 10,000 tourists had visited the statue on the very first day of its opening.

“The number of tourists kept on increasing since November 1,” he said.

Haider said the government is ready to welcome any number of tourists at the site.

He said the new tourist attraction in Gujarat will help increase the number of travellers visiting the state from other parts of the country and also abroad.

“Gujarat has registered 17 per cent year-on growth in tourism with a total 5.2 crore tourists visiting the state in 2017. The Statue of Unity will help in achieving considerable growth in arrival of tourists to Gujarat,” he said.

The towering structure, built at a cost of Rs 2,989 crore, is nearly twice the height of Statue of Liberty in United States and also bigger than Spring Temple Buddha, China (153 metres) and Ushika Daibustum Japan (120 metres). 

Along with the Statue of Unity, Gujarat Tourism has added many attractions nearby for sight-seeing. Two tent cities have been created along the backwater lakes of the Narmada dam reservoir for tourists who want to stay there.

Among the prime attractions at the site is a viewers gallery inside the statue located at a height of 135 metres with a capacity to accommodate 200 persons at a time. — PTI

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09:24  C’garh poll: Minutes before polling, Naxals trigger IED blast in Dantewada :  

Minutes before the polling for first phase of the Chhattisgarh assembly elections, an improvised explosive device of 1-2 kilograms was exploded by the Naxals near Tumakpal camp in Katekalyan block of Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district.

The blast triggered when troops of 195 Battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force were approaching polling booth at 6:20 am.

No injury or loss of life has been reported.

On Sunday, a Border Security Force personnel was killed in an IED blast in Kanker’s Koyalibeda area of Chhattisgarh.

Naxalites have called for a boycott of polls in the state and have executed half a dozen attacks in the last 15 days, three of them major ones which left 13 people dead including a camera-person of national broadcaster Doordarshan who was covering the election campaign.

Keeping in view the growing terror of Naxals in Chhattisgarh, tight security arrangements have been made in several sensitive areas of the state to ensure peaceful elections.


09:17  UPDATE: Voting begins for 1st phase of Chhattisgarh poll:  

Voting for all 18 constituencies in the first phase of Chhattisgarh assembly election has began.

Of total 18 constituencies, polling for 10 seats began from 7 am to 3 pm while voting in the remainder of the constituencies will take place from 8 am to 5 pm.

Tight security arrangements have been made in all the districts of the state to ensure free, fair and peaceful elections.


08:54  Raje in first list of 131 BJP candidates for Rajasthan:  

The BJP on Sunday announced its candidates for 131 of the 200 seats of the Rajasthan assembly with Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje being fielded from her traditional seat of Jhalrapatan.

The names were announced by senior party leader J P Nadda following a meeting of the BJP central election committee which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and its president Amir Shah besides other top leaders.

Raje also attended the meeting.

The party has also fielded its Lok Sabha MP Sona Ram Choudhary in the assembly poll and given tickets to 12 women.

Nadda said the party has fielded 25 new faces.

BJP sources said 85 sitting MLAs have found their names on the first list.

“Party candidates for all the seats we’re discussed in the meeting. Names of other nominees will be announced soon,” Nadda told reporters.

The BJP is facing a strong challenge from a resurgent Congress in the state with the opposition party winning a number of by-polls in the last couple of years. 

A number of opinion polls has also given an edge to the Congress but the BJP has insisted that it will be able to repulse the opposition’s challenge.

The saffron party under Raje had won a whopping 163 of the 200 assembly seats in the state in 2013, giving the Congress its worst ever drubbing at its hands.

The state has for the last two decades has seen the incumbent party losing the assembly polls. — PTI

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08:41  Voting begins under tight security for 10 seats in Chhattisgarh:  

Voting began in 10 out of 18 assembly constituencies in the first phase of Chhattisgarh elections on Monday under a tight security blanket comprising over 1.25 lakh police and paramilitary personnel.

   

In the first phase, 190 candidates are in the fray and as per electoral rolls, there are 31,80,014 voters.

 

Women voters outnumber men for the first phase of polling, with 16,22,492 female voters on the rolls against 15,57,435 men. There are 87 third gender voters as well.

 

As many as 4,336 polling booths have been set up for the first phase and 19,079 polling personnel have been deployed.

 

“Polling in nine constituencies of Bastar division and one in Rajnandgaon district has begun from 7 am and will conclude at 3 pm, while in the rest of the constituencies the polling time is from 8 am to 5 pm,” a poll official said.

 

Polling time in 10 constituencies — Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta — is from 7 am to 3 pm, due to the Naxal menace.

 

In the remaining eight constituencies — Khairgarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Bastar, Jagdalpur and Chitrakot —  it is from 8 am till 5 pm.

 

Among the prominent candidates who will try their electoral luck are Chief Minister Raman Singh, state ministers Kedar Kashyap (Narayanpur) and Mahesh Gagda (Bijpaur), as well as BJPs Kanker Lok Sabha MP Vikram Usendi (Antagarh).

 

In the first phase, the prestige of nine sitting Congress MLAs -Manoj Singh Mandavi (Bhanupratappur), Mohan Lal Markam (Kondagaon), Lakheshwar Baghel (Bastar), Deepak Kumar Baij (Chitrakot), Devati Karma (Dantewada), Kawasi Lakhma (Konta), Girwar Janghel (Khairagarh), Santram Netam (Keshkal) and Daleshwar Sahu (Dongargaon) is at stake.

 

Of the 18 seats going to polling in the first phase, 12 are reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) while one is for Scheduled Caste (SC) category.

 

The second phase of polls will see voting in 72 seats on November 20. — PTI 

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08:08  Union Minister Ananth Kumar passes away:  

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar died at a private hospital in Bengaluru in the early hours of Monday, party spokesman said.

 

He was suffering from cancer and had come back from the United States in October after treatment at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, New York.

 

Kumar, 59, is survived by wife and two daughters.

 

He breathed his last around 4 am, party spokesman Prakash told PTI.

 

Kumar’s wife Tejaswini and his two daughters were with him when he passed away, he said.

 

Kumar was a BJP MP from south Bengaluru constituency.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the demise of Kumar.

 

“Extremely saddened by the passing away of my valued colleague and friend, Shri Ananth Kumar Ji. He was a remarkable leader, who entered public life at a young age and went on to serve society with utmost diligence and compassion. He will always be remembered for his good work,” he tweeted.

 

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also expressed deep sorrow over Kumar’s death.

 

“Deep sense of grief on hearing that Shri @AnanthKumar_BJP is no more with us. Served @BJP4India @BJP4Karnataka all along. Bengaluru was in his head and heart, always. May God give his family the strength to bear with this loss,” she tweeted. — PTI  

Source: Rediff