BJP announces names of 4 more LS candidates, ends speculation of PM Modi contesting from Bluru South
Tejasvi Surya given ticket over Tejasvini Ananth Kumar
New Delhi: The BJP on Monday released names of four more Lok Sabha election candidates and announced its nominee for Odisha's Bijepur assembly constituency, the second seat from where Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is contesting the state polls.
With this list, the party has announced names of 310 candidates for the general elections.
Two Lok Sabha poll candidates are for Karnataka and one each for Assam and Uttar Pradesh.
In Karnataka, the BJP has fielded Ashawat Narain from Bangalore Rural and Tejaswi Surya from Bangalore South. Speculations were rife that PM Modi will himself contest from the constituency to boost morale of party workers in the Southern state. Name of Tejasvini Ananth Kumar, wife of Ananth Kumar who was the MP from the seat and died in November last year was also doing rounds but the BJP high command gave the ticket to Tejasvi Surya ahead of her.
Rajveer Singh Balmiki has been fielded from Uttar Pradesh's Hathras (SC) Lok Sabha seat and Rupak Sharma from Nowgong in Assam
BJP's Sanat Gadtia will contest against Chief Minister and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik in Bijepur in the Odisha polls, which will be held simultaneously in the state with the parliamentary elections.
Patnaik, who is seeking a fifth consecutive term in office, is fighting the assembly polls from his home turf Hinjli and a second seat, Bijepur, in western Odisha.
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Ruckus outside counting centre in Mamata's constituency, TMC claims entry of car with BJP flag
Kolkata (PTI): The counting centre at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Bhabanipur assembly constituency witnessed a ruckus a day ahead of the counting of votes, with TMC workers alleging two cars bearing the BJP's flag were allowed entry to the compound where EVMs are kept.
The incident comes close on the heels of a four-hour-long sit-in by Banerjee in front of the same counting centre at the Sakhawat Memorial Girls School on Thursday night, alleging unauthorised entry of persons into the strongroom.
With the polling now over, the wrangling for power in West Bengal has turned into a battle of nerves between the incumbent TMC and the BJP. Workers and leaders of both parties have been keeping a steely gaze on the security of strongrooms across the state where the electoral fate of the candidates is sealed.
Despite expressing her confidence in a "landslide victory", Banerjee has repeatedly aired her apprehensions of "counting malpractice and EVM tampering ahead of the day of results".
On Sunday morning, TMC workers camping 100 metres from the counting centre alleged that two cars with BJP flags entered the premises and went near the strongroom.
"The CAPF personnel at the spot are not allowing any vehicle or person to enter the premises of the counting centre without valid identity proof. Then how come this car, which we have not seen in the past few days, was allowed entry? Once we protested, the central forces asked us to move 100 metres away," a TMC activist said.
The TMC claimed that while the police personnel posted there promised the vehicle would be removed from the spot, it remained there for some time.
A senior Election Commission official said the car was passing by the Harish Mukherjee Road, and after checking by security forces and police, it was allowed to leave as nothing objectionable was found in it.
On Thursday night, two counting centres, including one at Sakhawat Memorial Girls School in the city, witnessed high drama after TMC leaders alleged a lack of transparency and possible malpractice at the strongrooms housing sealed EVMs of the assembly polls, which concluded on April 29.
TMC leaders and candidates, Sashi Panja and Kunal Ghosh, held a sit-in outside the Khudiram Anushilan Kendra counting centre on Thursday evening, alleging unauthorised activities inside the strongroom amid the absence of TMC agents
In Howrah, TMC protested renovation work by the public works department at a place adjacent to the strongroom, and the EC stopped the work temporarily.
On Saturday, the ruling party filed a complaint with the poll panel, alleging unauthorised sorting of postal ballot covers at the EVM strongroom in Khudiram Anushilan Kendra.
Similar scenes were witnessed on Saturday outside the strongrooms at Asansol College in Paschim Bardhaman and the Barasat Government College in North 24 Parganas districts, where TMC workers held protests, alleging that CCTV cameras were switched off for several minutes.
The EC turned down all allegations, saying the surveillance cameras were working in an uninterrupted manner.
BJP spokesperson Sajal Ghosh told reporters that the people of Bengal were finding it "hilarious" that the TMC, "which used to win elections through unfair means and strongarm tactics" were now coming up with all sorts of "frivolous charges".
"Are they scared of losing?" he posed.
