By-election: Voting tomorrow
Bengaluru, November 2: The voting for the by-election to three Lok Sabha and two Assembly constituencies in the state would be held on November 3 from 7 am and the Election Commission has made all preparation for conducting smooth and fair election.
The by-election which is considered as the referendum for the forthcoming Lok Sabha election, created a tough fight between Congress-JDS and opposition BJP and tried to woo the voters in their own way.
The voter would seal the fate of candidates VS Ugrappa, J Shanta, Madhu Bangarappa, BY Raghavendra, LR Shivarame Gowda, Dr Siddaramaiah, Anitha Kumaraswamy, Anand Nyama Gowda and Srikanth Kulkarni in the EVMs on November 3.
Total 6453 polling booths including 57 pink polling stations in Ballary, Shivamogga, Mandya, Ramanagara and Jamakhandi constituencies and 1502 sensitive polling stations were set up. Along with the local police, 39 platoons of central reserve police force were deployed for the duty.
Total 9822 ballot units, 8438 control units and 8922 VVPAT machines were being used for the voting and web-casting would be done in 130 polling stations and 1312 micro observers were appointed, the Election Commission said.
Total 54.54 lakh voters including 27.21 lakh male and 27.30 female voters would cast their votes in five constituencies. For the first time, vehicle facility was made for physically disabled voters to come to polling stations and vote.
Drilling for winning
In order to woo the electorate, the candidates, local leaders have been visiting the houses in the last day of campaigning. They have also been trying to woo the voters in the last moment with all means. Following possible distribution of money and liquor by the candidates, the Election Commission is keeping a strict vigil on the activities of the political leaders and took many people who tried to distribute money and liquor to the voters into custody.
As Ramanagara BJP candidate Chandrashekar backtracked from the election in the last moment, the BJP has planned to knock the Election Commission to postpone the election in Ramanagara.
The Election Commission has already banned sales of liquor in all the five constituencies and imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144. The counting of votes would be held at respective constituencies on November 6 and the result would be announced on the same day.
“The Election Commission will apply indelible ink on the pointing finger of the left arm in three Lok Sabha and two Assembly by-elections to be held on November 3”.
- Sanjeev Kumar, Chief Election Commissioner
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
