Wind in Bihar in favour of 'Mahagathbandhan', says Cong leader Venugopal
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): India cannot believe the exit poll results and field reports from Congress workers in Bihar where Assembly polls were held suggest that the wind is blowing in favour of the 'Mahagathbandhan', AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said here on Wednesday.
The exit polls conducted by various organisations on Tuesday predicted a return of the NDA government in the state, a poor show for the opposition Mahagathbandhan (INDIA bloc in local parlance), and a disappointing performance for former poll strategist Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a protest organised by the Congress demanding the resignation of the Devaswom Board Minister taking responsibility for the Sabarimala gold theft case, Venugopal said Congress workers had been serving as observers in all Assembly constituencies in Bihar for the past six months and had given clear indications regarding the Mahagathbandhan’s victory in the state.
He rubbished the exit poll results in Bihar.
"What were the exit poll results after the Haryana elections? A landslide victory for Congress was predicted but the results came in a different way. So let us wait for the results to come," he said.
Venugopal alleged that the Election Commission has become a "compromise commission" and the elections in Bihar were held after removing 65 lakh voters.
"Earlier, during every election around 8.30 pm, the Election Commission used to give us full details of the total turnout, how many men and how many women voted etc. Now they are not doing it. In some elections, the total polling count was announced after two weeks. We have been reiterating that the Election Commission has become a compromise commission," Venugopal said.
He said the country will witness widespread protests against the efforts to "sabotage" the elections in India in the coming days.
The polling in two phases were held on November 6 and 11 in Bihar, and results will be announced on Friday.
The state has registered the highest voter turnout of 66.91 per cent in its history since 1951.
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.
3 officials of private banks arrested in Gujarat in Rs 2,500 crore cyber fraud; 20 held so far
Rajkot (PTI): Three officials of leading private banks were arrested for their alleged involvement in a Rs 2,500-crore cyber fraud racket in Gujarat's Rajkot district, bringing the number of those held so far in the case to 20, police said on Monday.
Those arrested were identified as Maulik Kamani, a personal manager at Yes Bank in Padadhari; Kalpesh Dangariya, a manager at Axis Bank in Jamnagar; and Anurag Baldha, a personal banker with HDFC Bank, Rajkot (Rural) Superintendent of Police Vijay Gurjar said.
Dangariya and Baldha were previously employed with Yes Bank, he added.
Kamani allegedly assisted the earlier arrested accused in opening and managing suspicious accounts. He also helped bypass banking alerts triggered by high-value transactions by submitting additional documentation to keep accounts active, the SP said.
Kamani was allegedly involved in cash withdrawals that were later routed through hawala channels (illegal money transfer system), supported by digital evidence recovered from his mobile device, he added.
Dangariya is accused of facilitating the opening of fraudulent accounts using fake or misrepresented identities, police said.
He also assisted in structuring documentation, including Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC)-related papers, to prevent transactions from being flagged as suspicious, they said.
On the other hand, Baldha opened new accounts after verification and certification processes as part of the racket, Gurjar informed.
All the three accused are in police custody, while others are in jail under judicial remand, SP said.
So far, police have identified 85 bank accounts linked to the racket with 535 complaints filed on the cyber crime portal.
The total transaction linked to the cyber fraud exceeds Rs 2,500 crore, police said.
The earlier fraud amount was pegged by police at Rs 1,500 crore.
