Voting underway for Phase 3 of LS polls in 14 states, UTs
New Delhi: Voting began Tuesday for 116 Lok Sabha seats, including all constituencies in Gujarat and Kerala, with BJP president Amit Shah, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and several Union ministers among prominent candidates in the fray.
About 18.56 crore voters are eligible for voting in the third phase of the elections, for which 2.10 lakh polling booths/stations have been set up.
The Election Commission has made elaborate security arrangements.
Besides all seats in Gujarat (26) and Kerala (20), voting will be held in four seats in Assam, five in Bihar, seven in Chhattisgarh, 14 each in Karnataka and Maharashtra, six in Odisha, 10 in Uttar Pradesh, five in West Bengal, two in Goa, and one each in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Tripura.
Voting in Tripura East constituency, which was earlier scheduled for April 18, is also being held, as also in a part of the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat in Jammu and Kashmir, where election is being held in three phases.
Voting is also being held in some Assembly constituencies in Odisha, Gujarat and Goa. In the first two phases, election was held to 91 and 96 Lok Sabha seats on April 11 and April 18 respectively.
This phase will decide the fate of the heads of the BJP and Congress -- Shah, who replaced L K Advani as the party nominee from Gandhinagar in Gujarat, and Gandhi, who is contesting from Wayanad in Kerala besides his traditional Amethi seat in Uttar Pradesh.
Among other prominent candidates in this phase are Union ministers Alphons Kannamthanam (Ernakulam-Kerala), Jaswantsinh Bhabhor (Dahod-Gujarat) and Shripad Naik (North Goa), Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav (Mainpuri-Uttar Pradesh), Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and former Governor and BJP nominee Kummanam Rajasekharan (Thiruvananthapuram-Kerala), and AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal (Dhubri-Assam).
The stakes are high for the ruling BJP and its allies as they bagged 66 seats out of these 116 spread across 14 states and Union Territories in 2014 general election, while the Congress and its alliance partners won 27, and the rest went to other opposition parties and Independents.
In the first two phases, election was held to 91 and 96 seats on April 11 and April 18 respectively. Election to 543 seats are being held in seven phases. The counting of votes will be on May 23.
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Malayalam film director Ranjith remanded in sexual assault case; FEFKA takes action
Kochi (PTI): A court here on Wednesday sent noted Malayalam film director Ranjith to judicial custody after he was arrested late last night in connection with an attempted sexual assault case.
Following his remand, the director claimed that the accusations against him were "false" and that he would be able to prove it.
He made the claim before reporters while being taken inside the sub-jail here.
Even as the director claimed innocence, state Culture Minister Saji Cherian indicated that the government and the police were with the victim, and the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) recommended suspension of Ranjith's membership from the directors and writers unions.
The police said that the victim was "traumatised" by the incident and had to undergo counselling and psychiatric treatment before she could come forward with the complaint.
Kochi City Police Commissioner S Kaliraj Mahesh Kumar said that a Special Investigation Team was formed after recording the victim's statement, and then the allegations were discreetly verified before moving forward with the arrest.
"It should not happen to any woman, especially at the workplace," he told reporters here.
The officer also said that the director had attempted to remove himself from the area.
Kumar also said that the biggest challenge before the police was to maintain the confidentiality of the case and protect the identity of the victim.
He also said that there were several witnesses to the alleged sexual assault, as the incident happened on a shooting set.
The officer said that the evidence collection was progressing, and the director's custody will be sought when required.
FEFKA general secretary B Unnikrishnan told reporters here that there was no complaint made to the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) in connection with the incident.
FEFKA is an association of several craft unions in the Malayalam film industry.
Ranjith was taken into custody from the Idukki district on Tuesday evening, and subsequently, his arrest was recorded.
He was produced at the residence of a magistrate here in the morning and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days.
The case against Ranjith was registered by Kochi City Police a few days ago based on the victim's complaint.
Earlier in the day, Cherian told reporters that "such acts will not be accepted by the government or the society" and that the government and the police were with the victim.
Ranjith was appointed as chairman of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy in 2022 and resigned from the post in 2024.
The minister said that the director was appointed to the post because he was qualified for it, and at that time, there were no such allegations against him.
"He carried forward the academy in a good way. When such allegations came up earlier, he had left the position. We are viewing the repetition of the same allegations against him seriously. Neither the police nor the government is protecting him," he said.
He said that the quick action taken against the director is an outcome of the recent changes in the movie sector, including holding of the cinema conclave and the state film policy.
"Let the investigation take its course," he added.
The minister also said that anyone in the film sector having similar bad experiences can come forward with a complaint and stand firm on it, as the government will be with them.
According to the police, the woman actor alleged that the director had invited her to a caravan during the shooting of a film and attempted to sexually assault her.
Ranjith had earlier faced allegations of sexual harassment following revelations in the Justice K Hema Committee report on harassment and abuse in the Malayalam film industry.
In 2024, a case was registered against Ranjith after a Bengali actress filed a complaint with the Kochi City Police Commissioner.
The complaint, sent via email, alleged that Ranjith had touched her inappropriately with sexual intent after inviting her to act in the film Paleri Manikyam in 2009.
