New Delhi: Senior Congress leader and Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor and Journalists Rajdeep Sardesai, Vinod K Jose (Caravan) Mrinal Pande, and others have been booked by Noida Police for sedition on Thursday evening.
An FIR lodged at the Sector-20 police station stated that they were booked for tweeting and spreading fake news pertaining to the death of a farmer during the tractor rally on January 26, 2021.
According to the reports, the FIR was lodged based on a complaint by Arpit Mishra. The FIR also names Zafar Agha, the Group Editor-in-Chief of National Herald, and Ananth Nath, the Editor of Caravan.
The journalists and politicians have been booked under sections 153A [Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony], 153B [Imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration], 295A [Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs], 298 [Uttering, words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person], 504 [Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace], 506 [Criminal Intimidation], 505(2) [Statements conducing to public mischief], 124-A [Sedition], 34 [Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention] and 120-B [Punishment of criminal conspiracy] of the Indian Penal Code and section 66 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
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Bengaluru: The Vartha Bharati–Sankalp election analysis has shown a high level of accuracy in predicting the outcome of the recent Karnataka Assembly by-elections held in May 2026, correctly calling winners in both constituencies and closely estimating vote share trends.
The by-elections were held in Bagalkot and Davanagere South, drawing significant political attention as both seats were seen as key tests for the ruling Congress and opposition BJP.
According to the analysis, Vartha Bharati–Sankalp had made three major projections ahead of the results the winning party, vote share percentages, and margin of victory.
In both constituencies, the platform accurately predicted that the Congress would emerge victorious. The outcome matched the projections, with Congress candidates winning in Bagalkot and Davanagere South.
In terms of vote share, the predictions were largely in line with the final results. In Bagalkot, the BJP’s vote share was forecast in the range of 40 to 46 per cent, while the actual figure stood at 42.9 per cent. The Congress vote share, however, exceeded expectations, with the party securing 55.4 per cent against a projected range of 43 to 48 per cent.
The margin of victory in Bagalkot turned out to be significantly higher than anticipated. While the projection had placed the margin between 2,000 and 3,500 votes, the final margin was around 22,332 votes.
In Davanagere South, the predictions also remained largely accurate. The Congress vote share was projected between 43 and 51 per cent, and the final figure stood at 43.9 per cent. The BJP was expected to secure between 42 and 50 per cent but ended with 40.3 per cent.
The analysis had also identified the role of SDPI as a potential spoiler in the constituency. While its vote share was estimated around 6 per cent, the party eventually secured around 12 per cent of the vote.
The margin of victory in Davanagere South was predicted to be between 1,500 and 2,600 votes. The actual margin was higher at around 5,708 votes, though the contest remained relatively close as anticipated.
Overall, the performance of Vartha Bharati–Sankalp stood out for correctly identifying the winning parties in both seats and maintaining close accuracy in vote share estimates, with only limited deviations in specific cases.
