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Sinha's motorcade attacked in Hazaribagh

          Hazaribagh: The motorcade of External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha came under attack on Tuesday in Hazaribagh in Jharkhand. While Sinha escaped unhurt, the window panes of his car were shattered. It is still not clear who was behind the attack. Sinha is seeking election from the Naxal-infested constituency of Hazaribagh. The ultras had last night withdrawn their call to boycott polls through handbills in Chatra and Hazaribagh. Earlier in the day, Sinha cast his vote at the Hupad village in the constituency, accompanied by his wife, daughter and elder brother.

50 per cent polling recorded in Assam (Go To Top)

          Guwahati: More than 50 per cent polling has been recorded for six seats in lower and northern Assam where first phase of elections in the state was held on Tuesday. Polling was peaceful with no untoward incident reported barring a minor incident at Kokrakjhar where voting was suspended for 15 minutes. A total electorate of 60.04 lakh would choose their representatives from among 48 candiates in the six seats. It is a triangular contest between Congress, BJP and AGP. Besides Guwahati, which is witnessing a 12-cornered contest, other constituencies that voted today were Tezpur, Mangaldai, Barpeta, Kokrajhar and Dhubri. Security has been beefed up by dividing the state into 100 zones and 762 sectors with police officers of the rank of Deputy Superintendents monitoring security of the zones while those of sub-inspector rank looking after security arrangements in the sectors.

Kashmiri Pandits turn up to vote (Go To Top)

          Akhnoor: Scores of Kashmiri Hindus, living in relief camps across the restive state, cast their votes at special polling booths as the troubled region polled for two constituencies, in the first phase of the elections. The Kashmiri Pandits, as they are called in local parlance, have been displaced from their homes in the upper reaches of the Himalayan state owing to a 15-year rebellion against Indian rule, which has claimed over 40,000 lives. The Pandits claim over 700,000 of them have fled their native villages since 1990, when the killings of Hindus and attacks on their homes by Muslim militants gained momentum. While some of those displaced have made their way to Delhi and other parts of the country, about 200,000 bitter and disillusioned Pandits are still languishing in camps in and around main city Jammu. Violence has escalated after rebels and separatists called for a poll boycott, saying they were not a substitute for a resolution of the decades-old dispute over the Muslim-majority region. People at the Aknoor camp, a few km from the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan, however, said they were under no coercion or fear.

Kashmir votes with enthusiasm, despite violence (Go To Top)

          Rajouri: People in troubled Kashmir braved violence and boycott threats by separatists as they voted on Tuesday. Polls for Baramulla and Jammu constituencies of the restive state opened early morning in which 670 million people are eligible to vote. All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference (APHC), an amalgam of around 20 separatist groups, along with Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party have urged the Kashmiris to boycott Indian elections. However the polling booths in Rajouri, guarded by security personnel, saw enthusiastic voters, turned up in hordes to cast their votes.

Three killed in Kashmir poll violence (Go To Top)

         Srinagar: Militants in Kashmir set off mines and fired at polling stations as India began voting on Tuesday to elect a new parliament, killing at least three people and wounding dozens. Landmine explosions in Kupwara area of Kashmir claimed two lives including that of a girl. Another landmine exploded in Bandipora area injuring five people, including a policeman. No militant outfit has taken responsibilty for the attacks. Earlier during the day, suspected militants lobbed grenades at a polling station in Pattan town of Baramulla constituency, which went to first phase of polling along with Jammu. Meanwhile, one person was killed and six others were wounded in Kashmir's Lolab area, as a vehicle ran over a landmine. Muslim rebels and separatists in the Himalyan state have called for a boycott of the polls, saying they are not a substitute for a resolution of the decades-old dispute over the Muslim-majority region.

Millions brave heat, threats for first round (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Tens of millions of Indians braved scorching heat and threats of violence to vote on Tuesday at the start of a three-week-long election that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's coalition government is expected to win. In all, 670 million people are eligible to vote in the world's largest exercise in democracy. Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition is predicted to win a narrow majority and defeat the opposition Congress party of Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, widow of assassinated former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

          Private television exit polls gave the BJP-led coalition 82 out of 140 seats contested in the first phase. Star and Sahara television's tally was down slightly from the coalition's 1999 showing of 88 seats but well ahead of the Congress and allies who were seen winning 55 seats. In rural areas of Gujarat's Rajkot district, villagers came out in large numbers to vote. Turnout was reported to be relatively high in parts of the remote northeast despite the threat of attacks by separatist rebels, but hot weather and a lacklustre election campaign seemed to have weighed on turnout elsewhere. Queues formed outside polling booths in of Assam, Manipur and Mizoram, and also Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand, as voters defied threats by separatist rebels to disrupt the election. State-run Doordarshan television news said turnout was around 40 percent an hour before polls closed at 5 p.m. compared to just under 60 percent overall in the 1999 election.

High Court issues notice to Lalji Tandon (Go To Top)

          Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High on Tuesday issued a notice to senior BJP leader Lalji Tandon on the saree distribution case and directed the Uttar Pradesh government to pay Rs two hundred thousand each as compensation to the families of the 22 women killed in the stampede. The division bench comprising Justices Vishnu Sahay and G K Gupta while hearing a public interest petition filed in this connection directed the government to complete the ongoing commissioner- level inquiry into the case within three weeks. The court issued notices to Tandon and Brijendra Murai Yadav, a function organiser against whom a bribery case has been registered on the orders of the election commission and fixed May 11 as the next date of hearing. The notices were issued on the plea of the petitioner that both should also be asked to pay compensation to the victims. The court asked the government to pay the raised compensation amount of Rs two hundred thousand to the families of each of the victims within a week after the advocate general of the state Virendra Bhatia told the court that the compensation amount could be hiked as an interim measure on the instructions of Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav. However, there is no change in the amount to be paid to those injured in the incident.