Hectic campaigning going on in poll bound states of West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Union Territory of Puducherry.

In Tamil Nadu, senior BJP leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the opposition Congress and the DMK for posing as defenders of Tamil culture. Campaigning at a public meeting for the NDA alliance parties at Madurai, Mr.Modi said there were several issues like Jallikattu and reclassifying of Devendra Kula Velallar and in such issues both DMK and Congress did nothing and even had opposed them. He listed out the achievements of both the AIADMK at the state  and the BJP government at the Centre. Mr. Modi will also be campaigning at Kanyakumari for the Lok abha bye poll at and also for six assembly constituencies in the district.

Meanwhile DMK Leader M.K. Stalin while electioneering at Aravakuruchi said that neither he nor his party workers are scared of the IT raids . He criticised the BJP Government for trying to gag the opposition parties out of political vendetta.

Senior BJP leader and Home Minister Amit Shah is in Chennai city as part of electioneering.  State Congress President K.S. Alagiri also criticised the BJP for trying to malign opposition parties by conducting IT raids.

AIR correspondent reports that the Income tax department conducted raids in the residences of several DMK members including the residences of the daughter of M.K.Stalin at Chennai this morning. Paramilitary personnel could be seen outside the residence as IT officials were conducting raids. Houses and office establishments of party Candidate Mohan, Karur Candidate Senthil Balaji and some others were also raided in the State.

Police officials had to converse peacefully to disperse them. Party workers gathered in front of the houses where raids were conducted.  Cases were booked against some AIADMK party workers on money distribution . The unaccounted money kept for distribution was seized by the authorities.

In Kerala, as the public campaign ends on coming Sunday, all the three major fronts are campaigning intensively with active participation of National leaders and star campaigners.

AIR correspondent reports that Senior BJP leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is reaching Kerala this afternoon for campaigning for NDA in the State. He will address a rally in Konni, Pathanamthitta district.  Security has been beefed up in the area ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit.. Both the districts are expected to have a tough triangular contest as LDF, UDF and NDA is fielding their strong candidates. Union Minister Amit Shah will join the last leg of NDA campaign tomorrow. Later, Mr. Modi will proceed to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu for electioneering. 

Meanwhile Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi will also reach the State tomorrow to boost the final campaign of UDF.The senior CPM leaders Prakash karat, Brinda Karat is already camping in the State garnering votes for LDF.As just 4 days are left for polling, heated political debates are ongoing in the State on issues such as development, employment, Sabarimala, corruption etc. Meanwhile, the postal voting for officials having polling duty is continuing. 

Election campaigning for the third and fourth phases in West Bengal is to reach its peak today as senior leaders of the BJP and the Trinamool Congress will be locking horns in the same districts of North Bengal.

Senior BJP leader Home Minister Amit Shah has said that it was evident from yesterday that TMC leader Mamata Banerjee is losing at Nandigram. Addressing a public meeting at Sitalkuchi in Coochbehar today, Mr Shah said that on 2nd May Didi will be ousted from power.  

Accusing Mamata Banerjee of doing injustice to North Bengal, he claimed that now she will be looking for another seat for contesting in the election. Mr Shah also claimed that if voted to power, BJP will take up lots of development work including building an AIIMS at Coochbehar.

On the other hand, addressing a rally in the same district at Dinhata constituency, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee refuted the claim of Mr Shah and said that she will be winning from Nandigram.  The TMC leader has also accused the BJP of doing divisive politics. She criticized the central government for privatizing PSUs and asked the people of Coochbehar to vote for her party in order to ensure development and secularism in the state.

In Assam, election campaigning has reached its peak for the third phase of polls to be held on 6th of this month. The third and final phase will cover 40 seats. BJP’s star campaigner and National President J P Nadda addressed a rally at Patacharkuchi for state BJP President Ranjeet Kumar Dass.

Mr. Nadda alleged that the Congress is a communal force. The party is contesting elections in Assam with Badruddin Ajmal’s AIUDF. Mr. Nadda termed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as a political tourist. He further said that the party would give employment to 1 lakh youths by March next year if voted to power again. 

Other leaders including Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, NEDA Convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma, BPF Chief Hagrama Mahilary, State Congress President Ripun Bora and AIUDF President Badruddin Ajmal are also holding rallies and road shows.

Over six crore eighty seven lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered to the beneficiaries in the country so far. The Health and Family Welfare Ministry has today informed that more than thirty six lakh seventy one thousand doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in the last 24 hours.
 
Meanwhile, the country is witnessing continuous rise in daily new cases and deaths due to Covid-19. According to the Health Ministry, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh together account for over 80 per cent of the total active cases in the country.
 
The Health Ministry informed that more than eighty one thousand new cases have been reported in the country in last 24 hours taking the cumulative positive cases to over one crore twenty three lakh. A total of four hundred sixty nine deaths have also been reported in the country within the last 24 hours, taking the toll to over one lakh sixty three thousand across the country.
 
The active caseload is also continuously rising due to sudden spike in the cases reported from various States. At present, there are more than six lakh fourteen thousand active cases in the country which comprises five per cent of the total positive cases.
 
Amid the rising new cases, the recovery rate has declined to 93.67 per cent. The Ministry informed that more than fifty thousand people have recovered from the corona virus infection within 24 hours. So far, more than one crore fifteen lakh patients have recovered from this disease.

In a significant step to exponentially expand the countrywide Vaccination drive, the Centre has decided to operationalize both public and private sector COVID Vaccination Centres on all days this month. The Centre has written to all the States and UTs today and asked them to make necessary arrangements to provide COVID vaccination in these Centres on all days of the month including gazetted holidays.

This step has been taken after detailed deliberations with the States and UTs to optimally utilize all COVID Vaccination Centres across the public and private sectors to ensure rapid increase in the pace and coverage of COVID vaccination. This decision is in line with the graded and pro-active approach employed by the Government of India along with the States and UTs for COVID-19 vaccination.

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar today held talks with his Tajik counterpart Sirojiddin Muhriddin in Dushanbe on all aspects of the bilateral agenda, including development cooperation. They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of interest. Both leaders agreed to focus on further enhancing the economic partnership.
 
In his press statement, Dr Jaishankar said, Foreign Minister Sirojiddin and he shared a common view that while the bilateral strategic relations have grown and expanded over the years, there is potential for further strengthening the economic cooperation. He said, both countries will encourage the business community, the Chambers and trade bodies on both sides to engage more intensively with each other while the governments will continue to play a facilitating role. He said, development cooperation has also become an important pillar of India-Tajikistan bilateral relationship. Dr Jaishankar said, a number of projects have been successfully commissioned over the years in Tajikistan under Indian grant assistance.
 
On the last day of his three day visit to Tajikistan, the External Affairs Minister met Speaker Zokirzoda Mahmadtohir Zoir and appreciated the strong parliamentary support for Indo-Tajik cooperation.
 
Earlier in the day, the Minister paid his respects at the monument of Ismoili Somoni, the founder of the first Tajik state at Dusti Square in Dushanbe.

The fourth batch of three Rafale fighter jets arrived in India from France yesterday. The Indian Air Force in a tweet said that the three IAF Rafales landed on Indian soil after a direct ferry from Istres Air Base France.

It said, Rafales were refueled in-flight by UAE Air Force tankers. It said, this marks yet another milestone in the strong relationship between the two Air Forces.

World Bank has raised Indian GDP growth prediction for 2021-22 fiscal to 10.1 percent from 5.4 percent projected in January. The international bank said, given the significant uncertainty amid Covid-19 effects on the economy, the real India GDP growth could be in the range from 7.5 percent to 12.5 percent.

The World Bank in its South Asia Economic Focus Spring update report said that it has revised the projection amid a strong rebound in private consumption and investment growth. The international bank noted that government consumption is expected to rise by about 16.7 percent during the reported fiscal.

The World Bank, however, sounded a warning as economic activity is well below pre-Covid-19 estimate. It said that businesses need to make up for lost revenue and millions of workers, most of them in the informal sector, still reel from job losses and falling incomes should be taken care. 

Government has extended the last date for linking of Aadhaar number with PAN upto 30th June this year in view of the difficulties arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The deadline to link PAN with Aadhaar had ended yesterday.  Earlier, the Centre had extended the deadline to 31st March 2021 from the previous deadline of 30th June 2020 because of the pandemic. 

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan yesterday held a review meeting with all States and Union Territories on the COVID-19 vaccination drive and preparations. The meeting focused on the identification of low vaccine coverage pockets particularly in districts showing COVID surge and for taking corrective actions there.

With regards to the vaccination coverage of Health Care Workers and Front Line Workers, the states have been advised to ensure that only eligible beneficiaries are registered and vaccinated under these categories. Besides, the states were also asked to conduct regular reviews of vaccinations at Private COVID Vaccination Centres with respect to their capacity utilization. They were advised to ensure that there is no sedimentation of vaccine stocks at any level of storage.  

In the meeting, Chairperson, Empowered Group on COVID Vaccination, Dr. R S Sharma assured that there is no problem in the storage and logistics of vaccines. He reiterated that there is no value in conserving vaccines for the second dose and states must promptly supply vaccines to all government and private hospitals.

The COVID-19 vaccination opens this morning for everyone aged above 45 years irrespective of comorbidity. Our correspondent reports the cut-off date for the 45-plus years category is those persons born before 1st January 1977.

Experts have appealed citizens to get vaccinated. NITI Aayog Member and Chairman of National COVID-19 Task Force, Dr V K Paul has appealed to people above 45 years of age to get vaccinated without hesitation.

The Centre has asked the States and Union Territories to maintain vaccine wastage at less than one percent. The states have also been directed to ensure timely utilization of available stocks to avoid expiry of vaccines. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan yesterday held a review meeting with all States and Union Territories on the COVID-19 vaccination drive and preparations. The meeting focused on the identification of low vaccine coverage pockets particularly in districts showing COVID surge and for taking corrective actions there.

In the poll-bound states of Assam and West Bengal, polling for the Second Phase of Assembly Elections began today at 7.00 A.M. The polling will be conducted till 6.00 P.M. in Assam while it will continue till 6.30 P.M. in West Bengal. All the necessary facilities and security arrangements have been made to ensure free and fair polling during this phase. The Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) is being used along with Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) at every Polling Station, with a view to enhance the transparency and credibility of the election process. The availability of adequate number of EVMs and VVPATs has already been ensured for the smooth conduct of elections.

In view of the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, the option of Postal Ballot facility has been extended to the electors who are COVID- 19 positive or suspect as certified by competent authority and are in home or institutional quarantine along with those marked as Persons with Disabilities (PwD) and above the age of 80 years. It has also been ensured that every Polling Station is equipped with Assured Minimum Facilities (AMF) like drinking water, waiting shed, toilet with water facility, adequate arrangements for lighting, ramp of appropriate gradient for the  Persons with Disabilities. The special facilities include mandatory sanitization of Polling Station, thermal checking of voters at entry point either by polling staff or paramedical staff or an Asha worker. If temperature is above the set norms of Health Ministry, then the elector will be provided with token and asked to come for voting at the last hour of poll. At the last hour of poll, such electors will be facilitated for voting, strictly following COVID-19 related preventive measures.

Polling is going on peacefully in the second phase of assembly elections in 30 seats across 4 districts in West Bengal. It is being held at 9 seats each in East and West Medinipur, 8 seats in Bankura and 4 seats in South 24 Parganas.
Polling began at 7am in the morning, it will continue till 6.30 pm in the evening. People in large numbers are seen standing in queues from this morning. All covid protocols are being followed.

Elaborate security arrangements have been put in place to ensure free, fair and peaceful polling. A total of 651 companies of central forces have been deployed in 30 constituencies, 210 at West Medinipur and 199 companies at East Medinipur. 

Over 75 lakhs electors will be exercising their franchise in 10 thousand 620 booths. Webcasting is being done from 5 thousand 5 hundred 35 booths. Drones are being used for monitoring especially in the coastal areas of the Sundarbans as well as in Nandigram.  Two IPS officers have been given special charge in East Medinipur district, one at Haldia and the other one at Nandigram. The election commission has taken special measures for the high profile seat Nandigram. 22 companies of para military forces and 22 quick response teams have been put in place. 100 percent booths have been declared as sensitive and 8 jawans of central forces are manning each booth. Section 144 had been imposed across Nandigram. Ferry service had been stopped since last evening.
In West Bengal, 171 candidates including 19 women are vying for the 30 seats in four districts during the Second Phase. The state is witnessing eight-phase elections. Over 75.94 lakh voters including 37.13 lakh women and 89 Third Gender persons will decide the fate of these candidates. Total 10,620 Polling Stations have been set up in the Second Phase for this purpose. Bharatiya Janata Party and ruling AITC are contesting for all the 30 seats while Congress, Left parties and their alliance partner Indian Secular Front are fighting under the banner of Sanyukt Morcha. CPI (M) has fielded 15 candidates, Congress has nine, BSP seven, CPI two and AIFB and RSP one each while there are 32 independents along with 44 others are also in the fray.

The prominent leaders contesting during the Second Phase include AITC President and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, her former aide and rival BJP candidate Shubhendu Adhikari along with CPI (M) youth leader Minakshi Mukherjee from Nandigram. AITC Ministers Soumen Mahapatra from Tamluk and Manturam Pakhira from Kakdwip, former Minister Manas Bhuniya, former IPS officers Bharati Ghosh and Humayun Kabir from Debra, Tollywood film stars Sohom Chakraborty from Chandipur, Hiranmoy Chattopadhyaya from Kharagpur Sadar and Sayantika Banerjee from Bankura along with former cricketer Ashoke Dinda from Moyna are also in the fray in this phase.
In Assam, the polling has begun for the second phase in the state. Polling will conclude at 6 pm. This phase will cover 39 seats. A total of 345 candidates are in the fray in this phase. Over 73 lakh voters can exercise their voting rights. Nearly 80 percent polling was reported in the first phase of polls. In this phase, most of the seats are likely to see a straight fight between the NDA and Congress led Mahajoth. BJP has fielded 34 candidates, Congress has 28, Assam Jatiya Parishad  -19, AIUDF seven, AGP six and BPF has four candidates are in the fray .

For the ruling BJP , ministers Parimal Suklabaidya, Bhabesh Kalita , Pijush Hazarika and sitting MLA Numal Momin would seek re -election.  Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha, Sum Ronghang, Siddique Ahmed from the Congress would try their political luck. Senior BPF leader and minister Rihon Daimary is also in the fray from Udalguri seat. Suzam Uddin Lashkar, Siraj Uddin Ajmal would be in the contest for AIUDF. However, this election would not witness participation of former Chief Minister and Asom Gana Parishad leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta who represented Bahrampur seat for last 35 years.
In Assam, there are three main alliances including the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance with partners Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) and Mahajot or Grand Alliance led by the Congress. It includes All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), Bodoland Peoples’ Front (BPF) and the Left parties while yet another conglomerate of Assom Jatiya Party (AJP) and Raijor Dal is also there. BJP has fielded 34 candidates, Congress has 28, AJP -19, AIUDF seven, AGP six and BPF has four while 176 independents and others are also trying their luck.

The prominent leaders contesting during the Second Phase include BJP Ministers Piyush Hazarika from Jagiroad, Parimal Sukla Baidya from the Dholai and Bhabesh Kalita from Rangia along with Deputy Speaker of Assembly Aminul Haque Laskar from Sonai. Former Minister Gautam Roy is contesting from Katigorah while former Deputy Speaker Dilip Kumar Paul, who resigned from the BJP after he was denied ticket, is contesting as an Independent from Silchar. Former Minister and Congress leader Sum Ronghang is also in the fray from the Diphu seat. Rajya Sabha MP Biswajit Daimary is contesting from Panery and former Asam Sahitya Sabha President Paramananda Rajbongshi is trying his luck from Sipajhar.
Meanwhile, the election campaign is heating up in respect of the Third Phase in both these states and also for the single-phase elections in Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the Union Territory of Puducherry. The Third Phase of polling in these two states will be held on 6th of April when 338 candidates will be contesting for the 40 seats of Assam and 205 candidates for 31 seats of West Bengal.

The single-phase polling in Kerala, Tamil Nadu along with the Union Territory of Puducherry will also be held on the 6th of the next month. There are 957 candidates in the fray for the 140 Assembly Constituencies of Kerala.  The total number of candidates is 4,125 in respect of 234 Constituencies in Tamil Nadu. In Puducherry, 324 candidates will be vying for the 30 Assembly seats.

Besides, the Lok Sabha by-polls will be conducted simultaneously for Kanyakumari seat in Tamil Nadu where 12 candidates are in the fray and also for Malappuram seat in Kerala, where six candidates are taking part in the electoral battle.

During the Fourth Phase of Assembly Elections in West Bengal, the final scenario of electoral contests became clear last Friday after withdrawal of candidature and the election campaign was initiated by the prominent leaders of different political parties. During this phase, 373 candidates will be vying for 44 Assembly seats that will go to polls on the 10th of April.

The scrutiny of the nomination papers for the Fifth Phase was completed yesterday and the last date for withdrawal of candidature will be the 3rd of April.   The scrutiny was also done simultaneously for By-Elections of two Lok Sabha seats including Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh and Belgaum in Karnataka along with 14 Assembly Constituencies in eleven states. The ACs going in for the by-polls include three in Rajasthan, two in Karnataka and one each in Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Telangana and Uttarakhand.  In all, 45 ACs will go to polls in the Fifth Phase on 17th of April. 

Meanwhile, the process of filing nominations for the Sixth Phase of elections in West Bengal will continue till 3rd of April and the scrutiny of nominations will be held on the 5th of April. The last date of withdrawal of candidature will be 7th of April and 43 Assembly Constituencies will go to polls in this phase on the 22nd of April.

The nomination process for the Seventh as well as the Eighth and Final Phase of the Assembly Elections in West Bengal, which began yesterday, will continue till the 7th of April and the scrutiny will be held on the 8th of April. The last date for withdrawal of candidature will be the 12th of April.  In all, 36 Assembly Constituencies will go to polls in the Seventh Phase on the 26th of April while remaining 35 Assembly Constituencies will go to polls in the Eighth Phase on the 29th of April.

The counting of votes will be taken up together on the 2nd of May.

PM Modi urges people to vote in record numbers in Assam, West Bengal assembly polls. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has requested all eligible voters of the second phase of Assembly polls in Assam to strengthen the festival of democracy by exercising their franchise.

In a tweet, Mr Modi also urged the people of West Bengal in whose seats there is polling taking place today to vote in record numbers.

Religion have been defined by sociologists as man’s tryst with the unknown or a relationship with the supernatural.

Religions have paved the way for civilizations to move ahead. It provided for our cultural, social, linguistic and ancestral identity. It is an integral part of our social connection system. However, sadly in recent times, owing to technological advancements that have strangely promoted religious fanaticism. Extreme polarization seems to be the new norm. How have we transformed into this selfish and self-centred human that has no respect for coexistence but self-righteousness?

New forms of Crusades seem to be taking place. India a country whose Constitution promised secularism has been a very terrible victim of communalism. The last few decades have been the most trying and testing time for Indian democracy. It is estimated that 2 million have been killed during the partition of India. India is the homeland of three major religions of the world- Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Any religion has effortlessly dissolved into the Indian society even when the Mughals established an empire here and promoted Islam.

Coming to more recent times, there have been terrible cases of communal violence, the latest being the Delhi riots in February 2020. Muslims and other minority groups cried out the ‘minority tag’ while the Hindus screamed ‘infringement into the Hindu society. Has our religious sentiments become so fragile that we feel threatened by other religions and embark on self-enticed Crusades? While the makers of our country had removed every tag of identity to create a nation for a peaceful existence, the ascenders have shrugged themselves with personal labels to promote intolerance and utter disrespect for other communities. The controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill passed by the government in 2019 created a nationwide stir and mass protests in the country. Rashmi Samant, an Indian student who had won the presidential debate in Oxford University to become the Students Union leader was cancelled when trolls hit out at her and her family for supporting a religion viewed as fundamentalist.

The worst thing is the human nature of us to cancel out the entire group for the individual actions of the bad few. There is rising Islamophobia for numerous terrorist insurgencies that threaten human peace and wellbeing. The recent hate crimes against Asians in America provide us with another bad example. This ‘cancel culture’ is threatening human peace more than ever. The extreme extent of Globalisation has brought us equally bad degrees of conservatism and hatred towards other communities.

When Nikita Tomar, a young girl was killed by her wooer of a different religion for refusing to accept his proposal, leaders hit out immediately and labelled it as a religious crime. Nobody tagged it as a criminal act against women and her right to say no. Sadly, giving such communal tags to incidents further push religious divide among people. The common people simply got disillusioned by the ‘religion’ tag and ignored the civil and criminal aspect of the killing.

Ashish Nandy, a renowned theorist said that eve in the times of worst communal disputes, 40% of the people who got away with their lives were being helped by the people of the opposite enemy religion. This shows that all people share humane values.

Every religion have preached equality and humanness but we seem to have misinterpreted the values.

” For although there may be so-called gods in Heaven or on Earth- a indeed there are many “gods” and “lords” – yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom all things and for whom we exist, and one lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist”. – Corinthians 8:5-6, Bilble.

“Let there be no compulsion in religion : Truth stands out clear from Error.” – 2:256, Quran.

‘Abandon all varieties of religion and surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful activities. Do not fear.”- 18th chapter, verse 66, Bhagavad Gita.

The Way out

The only way out of these terrible and heartbreaking incidents is that we start to heal as a collective human consciousness. Eckhart Tolle, a modern spiritual teacher opines that once ” all humans become part of one human consciousness”, nothing can stop us. Leaders must prove themselves as capable humans first and protectors of religions later. Nobody deserves to live ain a world where they feel threatened for their religious beliefs.

Let religion show us the true ay of life and make the world a better and safer place.

“There is no way to peace, peace is the way.” – Thich Nhah Hanh.