Trump, Biden confident of big victory as the US goes for polls
Washington: US President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden on Tuesday exuded confidence of a big victory in the presidential polls as Americans in large numbers headed to cast their ballots to decide the fate of the two leaders in the world's most significant democratic exercise.
Trump predicted that a red wave would re-elect him to the White House, while his Democratic challenger Biden is confident of a big win .
Addressing as many as five election rallies in as many states on the last day of the campaigning, Trump exuded confidence of winning the race with a much greater margin.
We are gonna have a red wave. It's gonna be a beautiful sight, Trump told thousands of his supporters in Wisconsin on Monday.
At his last rally at Grand Rapids in Michigan, which passed midnight, Trump asked his supporters to give him a bit bigger margin of victory.
"We want to do it just like last time. ..but give me a little more margin than last time," the president told his cheering supporters who had waited for him for hours in the bitter Michigan cold.
The level of enthusiasm and I think you are going to see a great red wave tomorrow, Trump, 74, told his supporters in Florida.
Meanwhile, Biden, 77, at an event in Pittsburgh on Monday, which was headlined by popular singer Lady Gaga, said he is confident of a big win.
Folks, I have a feeling we're coming together for a big win tomorrow, he said.
Tomorrow, we can put an end to a presidency that has left hard-working Americans out in the cold. Tomorrow we can put an end to a presidency that has fanned the flames of hatred.
"Tomorrow we can put an end to a presidency that has failed to protect this nation said the former vice president.
Biden continues to lead over Trump with the polls indicating that the margin between the two leaders.
In the key battleground states, the average lead of Biden by Tuesday morning has reduced to 2.3 percent, according to Real Clear Politics which keeps track of all major opinion polls.
This is within the margin of error. The top battleground States are Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona.
Biden's average national lead is not 6.7 percentage points, according to Real Clear Politics.
Nate Silver from FiveThirtyEight.Com, which is known for the prediction of election results, said that Biden is favored to win the election.
Our model forecasts Biden to win the popular vote by 8 percentage points, 1 more than twice Clinton's projected margin at the end of 2016," Silver said on Tuesday.
Indeed, some of the dynamics that allowed Trump to prevail in 2016 wouldn't seem to exist this year. There are considerably fewer undecided voters in this race just 4.8 percent of voters say they're undecided or plan to vote for third-party candidates, as compared to 12.5 percent at the end of 2016. And the polls have been considerably more stable this year than they were four years ago, he wrote.
"Finally, unlike the 'Comey letter' in the closing days of the campaign four years ago when then-FBI Director James Comey told Congress that new evidence had turned up pertinent to the investigation into the private email server that Clinton used as secretary of state there's been no major development in the final 10 days to further shake up the race, Silver said.
According to The Hill newspaper, the key to the White House depends on the election results of five states Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, and Arizona.
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West Asia conflict: More than 700 travellers from MP stranded in UAE
Indore (PTI): More than 700 people from Madhya Pradesh, including two former MLAs, are stranded in the United Arab Emirates due to flight cancellations amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia, an office-bearer of a travel agents' outfit said on Sunday.
Several people from the state had travelled to the UAE for tourism and business purposes, and the crisis in the region had left them stranded, Amol Kataria, chairman of the Travel Agents Federation of India's MP unit, told PTI.
Many travellers from the state had cancelled their upcoming trips to Dubai and Sharjah, he added.
ALSO READ: Delhi airport: 100 int'l flights cancelled amid Middle East conflict
Kataria said that more than 700 people were stuck in the UAE, and among them, former MLA and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sanjay Shukla is in Dubai.
"Due to the current international situation, our return to India today could not take place as Dubai airport was temporarily closed. We are receiving full cooperation from the Dubai administration and the Government of India. We will return to Indore as soon as the situation normalises," Shukla's post on social media stated.
Talking to PTI, the former Indore legislator's son, Sagar, said that his father had gone to Dubai three days ago with former Depalpur MLA Vishal Patel and some industrialist friends, and was scheduled to return to Indore on Sunday.
He said he had spoken to his father over the phone and heard explosions during the conversation, following which his father and his friends moved to a safe location.
He expressed hope that his father and his friends would return home soon with the efforts of the Indian government.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari, in a social media post, claimed that over 100 citizens from the state were stranded at Dubai and Sharjah airports.
Women, children and families had been facing inconvenience for several hours, and anxiety had increased after flight cancellations, he said.
Patwari urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene immediately and ensure the safety of all Indians stranded in the UAE, while making arrangements for their early return home.
The United States and Israel launched a major attack on Iran on Saturday, with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei killed early on Sunday.
Hundreds of flights have been disrupted across West Asia and in other countries, including India, due to airspace restrictions following the joint attack and retaliatory action by Iran.
