Ramzan fasting will not impact poll percentage: Owaisi
Hyderabad, Mar 11: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi Monday said coinciding of Lok Sabha polls with Ramzan would not hamper poll percentage, rubbishing claims made by some leaders to the effect.
The general election will be held from April 11 to May 19 and the results will be declared on May 23 while Ramzan is expected to commence either on May 5 or 6, depending on sighting of the moon and lasts about 29 days.
Leaders of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have claimed that elections during the Muslim holy month will inconvenience the community, largely seen to be backing the opposition parties, and help the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
"They say poll percentage will come down because they are fasting. That is all rubbish. Nothing of that sort will happen. I am confident that the spirituality of Muslims will increase during Ramzan. On the contrary, poll per cent will go up," Owaisi told reporters.
"Elections are constitutional obligation and they must go on. Why Muslims will not work during Ramzan? Fasting is obligatory on Muslims. We cook, work, clean and take care of our families while fasting," he tweeted.
"It's an insult to Muslims to say Ramzan will affect our voting. In Ramzan, Shaitan is enchained - inshallah one will use their vote to defeat his agents," the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) said.
Reacting to the controversy, the Election Commission (EC) had earlier said polls are conducted during Ramzan as an entire month cannot be excluded from the schedule.
However, dates of main festivals and Fridays are avoided as poll days, it added.
AAP leader Amanatullah Khan had tweeted Sunday that elections will be held in Delhi on May 12, when Muslims will be observing Ramzan.
"There will be less polling among Muslims, and it will directly benefit the BJP," he had claimed.
Some leaders of the ruling TMC in West Bengal had also spoken on similar lines.
Lok Sabha elections will he held in seven phases and the counting of votes will be held on May 23, the EC had announced on Sunday.
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MP boat tragedy: Death toll rises to 10 with recovery of one more body; 3 tourists still missing
Jabalpur (PTI): The body of a child was retrieved on Saturday evening from Bargi Dam in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, raising the death toll in the cruise boat tragedy that took place two days ago to ten, while search continued for three missing tourists.
The boat, operated by the state tourism department, capsized during a storm on Thursday evening with some of the survivors alleging negligence and safety lapses such as life jackets not being distributed in time.
The body recovered on Saturday evening was possibly that of six-year-old Viraj Soni, said Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Anjul Ayank Mishra.
"The identity will be confirmed after family members identify the body," he told PTI.
Kamraj, an employee of the Ordnance Factory at Khamaria, his five-year-old son Tamil, and another child Mayuram (5) who had come from southern India were still missing.
Authorities have arranged equipment to search deep waters of the dam and are getting a generator to facilitate diving operations, Mishra added.
Divers and disaster response teams have expanded the search radius to five km, he said.
Of the 41 identified passengers on board the ill-fated vessel, 28 were rescued, police said.
More than 200 rescuers, including around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, joined the search operation that resumed at 5 on Saturday morning. The operation, involving the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and local divers, was briefly affected at around 9 am due to strong winds, officials said.
Post-mortem examinations of nine deceased persons have been completed, Mishra said.
"Our priority is to search for the missing persons. We will also register a First Information Report in the case soon," he said.
Police said CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the boat while the identities of 41 passengers have been confirmed so far.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the tragedy and dismissed three crew members. It also banned operation of similar vessels in the state.
