Trump wins New Hampshire GOP primary; strong showing by Indian American Nikki Haley
Washington (PTI): Former US President Donald Trump is projected to win the New Hampshire primary, despite a stronger than expected performance by Indian American Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor, thus making the former White House occupant all but certain of earning the party's nominee for the November presidential elections against the Democratic incumbent Joe Biden.
Major American media outlets called the Republican primary race in favour of Trump with one-fourth of the votes being counted. Trump was leading with 52.5 per cent of the votes counted and Haley 46.6 per cent. Haley, political pundits said performed much better than expected. She is the only Republican left in the race standing against the mighty Trump.
By winning the New Hampshire primary after the Iowa Caucus, Trump has made the strongest ever case to be the Republican party's nominee for the November presidential elections. Notably, Trump is the first non-incumbent Republican presidential candidate to win both the Iowa Caucus and the New Hampshire primary back-to-back.
Trump is the only Republican candidate to have won the New Hampshire primary thrice. "This is a decisive win for Donald Trump tonight," former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy told Fox News in an interview with 20 per cent of the votes being called. He said that Haley withdrawing from the race in favour of Trump would be the right thing for the former South Carolina Governor.
In a statement, the Trump campaign asked Haley to drop out of the race. Haley does not have a path to victory. Instead, if Haley stays in the race, she will play an active role in advancing the re-election of Harris-Biden, it said.
"Nikki Haley said she's running to stop the re-election of Harris-Biden. Yet, without a viable path to victory, every day she stays in this race is another day she delivers to the Harris-Biden campaign," said Taylor Budowich, CEO of Make America Great Again Inc. "It's time for unity, it's time to take the fight to the Democrats, and for Nikki Haley: it's time to drop out," Budowich said.
But Haley appeared to be determined to be in the race. "What a great night, God is so good," she told her supporters at Concord in New Hampshire. "I want to congratulate Donald Trump on his victory tonight. He earned it. And I want to acknowledge that. Now you've all heard the chatter among the political class they're falling all over themselves saying this race is over," she said.
"Well, I have news for New Hampshire is first in the nation. It is not the last. This race is far from over. There are dozens of states left," Haley said asserting that in New Hampshire she got almost half of the votes.
Haley said when she started, there were 14 of them in the race and she was polling at two per cent in the polls. "Well, I'm a fighter. And now we're the last one standing next to Donald Trump," Haley said. "A Trump nomination is a Biden win, and a Kamala Harris presidency," she said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
CM Siddaramaiah alleges ‘criminal conspiracy’ in Sringeri recount, vows legal action
Bengaluru (PTI): Alleging a “criminal conspiracy” by BJP candidate D N Jeevaraj in the Sringeri Assembly poll recounting, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the outcome was manipulated after valid postal ballot votes in favour of Congress leader T D Raje Gowda were tampered with during the recounting process.
Following a Karnataka High Court order on an election petition filed by Jeevaraj, challenging Raje Gowda’s election, the reverification and recounting were conducted on Saturday.
After the reverification and recount of postal ballots for the Sringeri Assembly constituency, votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda were reduced by 255, the returning officer said.
A report on the matter has been submitted to the Election Commission of India for further action, the officer added.
Congress leader Raje Gowda had won the 2023 Assembly polls from Sringeri by 201 votes, defeating his nearest rival Jeevaraj.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said the High Court had directed the recounting of postal ballots and that irregularities were noticed during the exercise conducted on May 2.
“This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” Siddaramaiah said, alleging that valid votes cast in favour of Raje Gowda were altered after being accepted by counting agents of all parties, including Congress, BJP, and JD(S).
He claimed that during the recounting of postal ballots, 255 votes were initially accepted as valid by all agents but were later tampered with by subordinate officials.
“There is a second mark on the votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda. They had accepted these as valid votes. Subsequently, another mark was made by officials. This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” he said.
When asked who was behind the alleged conspiracy, the CM replied, “It was hatched by Jeevaraj and others. It is planned.”
Siddaramaiah further alleged that the returning officer acted improperly by declaring the result despite the presence of an Election Commission observer during the recounting.
“Immediately after the counting, the returning officer announced the result. He should not have done so; this is against the law,” he said.
He pointed out that Raje Gowda had originally won by 201 votes, but after the recounting, the BJP candidate was declared the winner by 52 votes.
“The BJP has committed a criminal act of conspiracy. This is not vote chori but vote dacoity,” he alleged.
The CM said a police complaint had already been filed by Raje Gowda’s election agent, Sudhir Kumar, and emphasised the need for electoral integrity.
“We want transparency and free and fair elections. That is what our Constitution mandates,” he added.
Stating that the government would pursue legal remedies, Siddaramaiah said, “We are preparing an appeal challenging the returning officer’s announcement in a court of law.”
Responding to a separate query on elections in other states, the CM said there appeared to be an anti-incumbency factor in West Bengal, while results in Tamil Nadu were “surprising,” adding that Vijay’s party was emerging as the largest there.
Following the victory of party candidates in Bagalkote and Davanagere South, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence about future electoral prospects in Karnataka.
“Even in 2028, we will win the Assembly elections. We will come back,” the CM said.
Siddaramaiah added that he would order a forensic examination into the alleged tampering of postal ballots.
