By Richa Bansal
Thursday saw the first phase of polling of the fifteenth Lok Sabha elections in India held in 124 constituencies spread across fourteen states and three Union Territories. The remaining phases of Lok Sabha polls are due on 23 April, 30 April and 7 May and 13 May. The results will be counted and released 16 May.
Naxals attack on polling day
Maoists attacked polling officials and security personnel across four states on polling day killing at least seventeen people. The central states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Orissa - all gripped to varying degrees by Maoist insurgeny - were affected by the attacks.
In Chhattisgarh, a five members of a zonal reserve polling team members were killed in a landmine blast in Rajnandgaon district and a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper was killed in Maroki village in Dantewada in bullet exchange. The rebels also opened gunfire at six polling stations in Bastar soon after voting began. The booths were, however, secured by the police.
In Jharkhand too, seven Border Security Force (BSF) personnel heading to an election centre were killed in a landmine explosion in Latehar district and there were gun battles in the Khuti and Palamau districts of the state disrupting voting. Maoists opened fire at a polling station in the Gaya district of Bihar killing a policeman and a Home Guard. In Orissa, they raided four polling stations setting fire to voting machines and a vehicle in the Malkangiri and Sundargarh districts. The Maoists, who seek to bring about a grass roots revolution, regularly call for election boycotts and step up attacks during this period.
Varun Gandhi on parole
The Supreme Court granted two weeks parole to Varun Gandhi [0] on Thursday. Varun Gandhi, a Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, was in prison under the stringent National Secutiry Act (NSA) for his anti-minority speeches at Pilhibit in Uttar Pradesh.
Gandhi, a nephew of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the black sheep of the India's political dynasty, will be released from Etah jail on Thursday evening after pledging not to make "provocative speeches" during the poll campaign. He would also have to file a fresh affidavit to this effect at the Supreme Court on Monday.
Earlier on, Varun Gandhi had submitted a similar pledge to the District magistrate of Pilhibit, the constituency from which he is contesting for the Lok Sabha, at the behest of the Supreme Court. He is expected to file his nomination papers next week.
Advani gets the shoe
The latest shoe attack drama unfolded at Katni, Madhya Pradesh, and the politician on the receiving end this time around was BJP leader and prime ministerial candidate L K Advani. Pawas Agarwal, the man who threw a "khadaun" (a slipper made of wood) at Advani as he made his way up the stage to address a public meeting, is an erstwhile BJP worker from the state.
Agarwal accused Advani of being a "fake iron man", claiming that he did not deserve to be the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP as he had "no ideology". "On the one hand he asks for votes in the name of Ram and on the other hand pays obeisance to (Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali) Jinnah," he said. Agarwal chose to make his discontent known via the increasingly popular shoe attack because he alleged that none of the party members were allowed to speak and did not have the courage to voice their true opinions.
Ajmal Kasab gets a new lawyer
Ajmal Kasab, the sole surviving terrorist suspect involved in last November's Mumbai attacks, was appointed a new lawyer on Thursday after the appointment of Anjali Waghmare was revoked on grounds of "professional misconduct". Abbas Kazmi, a private lawyer and a well known name in legal circles, has been appointed to defend the accused. Proceedings in the case are expected to begin on Friday. Waghmare was removed by Justice M. L. Tahilyani, when the fact that she was appearing both for the witness and the accused in the same case was brought to light by another lawyer. However, K P Pawar, who was also appointed along with Waghmare, was retained. Meanwhile, Kasab's request for a Pakistani lawyer will be intimated to Pakistan through diplomatic channels.
SIT clears ex-DGP in Gujarat riots
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigating team (SIT) of the Gujarat Police gave a clean chit to controversial ex-Director General of the Police of the state, P C Pandey. Pandey was the Ahmedabad police commissioner during the 2002 Gujarat communal riots. Pandey, who had been criticised by human rights activists for his partisan role, has been cleared of all charges after an investigation that has lasted seven years. According to the SIT report, Pandey was in a hospital helping those injured during the riots at the time of the Gulbarg society incident, in which former Congress MP E Zafri and his family members were allegedly burnt alive by rioters.
Also on Wednesday again, Abhinav Bharat, a pre-independence era Hindu extremist group revived in Pune in 2006, came under the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) scanner for the Ajmer Dargah blast of 2007. The group is involved in the Malegaon blasts and now evidence from the narco-analysis and brain mapping tests of chief accused Lt Col Purohit indicates that the group may also be the hidden hand behind the Ajmer blasts.
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