By-election: Voting tomorrow
Bengaluru, November 2: The voting for the by-election to three Lok Sabha and two Assembly constituencies in the state would be held on November 3 from 7 am and the Election Commission has made all preparation for conducting smooth and fair election.
The by-election which is considered as the referendum for the forthcoming Lok Sabha election, created a tough fight between Congress-JDS and opposition BJP and tried to woo the voters in their own way.
The voter would seal the fate of candidates VS Ugrappa, J Shanta, Madhu Bangarappa, BY Raghavendra, LR Shivarame Gowda, Dr Siddaramaiah, Anitha Kumaraswamy, Anand Nyama Gowda and Srikanth Kulkarni in the EVMs on November 3.
Total 6453 polling booths including 57 pink polling stations in Ballary, Shivamogga, Mandya, Ramanagara and Jamakhandi constituencies and 1502 sensitive polling stations were set up. Along with the local police, 39 platoons of central reserve police force were deployed for the duty.
Total 9822 ballot units, 8438 control units and 8922 VVPAT machines were being used for the voting and web-casting would be done in 130 polling stations and 1312 micro observers were appointed, the Election Commission said.
Total 54.54 lakh voters including 27.21 lakh male and 27.30 female voters would cast their votes in five constituencies. For the first time, vehicle facility was made for physically disabled voters to come to polling stations and vote.
Drilling for winning
In order to woo the electorate, the candidates, local leaders have been visiting the houses in the last day of campaigning. They have also been trying to woo the voters in the last moment with all means. Following possible distribution of money and liquor by the candidates, the Election Commission is keeping a strict vigil on the activities of the political leaders and took many people who tried to distribute money and liquor to the voters into custody.
As Ramanagara BJP candidate Chandrashekar backtracked from the election in the last moment, the BJP has planned to knock the Election Commission to postpone the election in Ramanagara.
The Election Commission has already banned sales of liquor in all the five constituencies and imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144. The counting of votes would be held at respective constituencies on November 6 and the result would be announced on the same day.
“The Election Commission will apply indelible ink on the pointing finger of the left arm in three Lok Sabha and two Assembly by-elections to be held on November 3”.
- Sanjeev Kumar, Chief Election Commissioner
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
