Sonia Gandhi to address election rally in Karnataka on Saturday
Bengaluru (PTI): Former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi would address an election rally in Hubballi on Saturday, her first campaign meeting for the May 10 Assembly elections in Karnataka. The Congress candidate in Hubballi-Dharwad Central is former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who joined the party after being denied ticket to contest the elections by the BJP.
The BJP has fielded Mahesh Tenginkai in this segment.
The fight between Shettar and Tenginkai has become a prestigious battle of sorts for the ruling BJP and the Congress, which are putting all their might behind their candidates.
"Sonia Gandhi will arrive at around 12.30 pm on May 6, and after addressing an election rally, she is slated to return from there at around 3.30 pm. This is her only public meeting," party sources told PTI on Thursday.
AICC President M Mallikarjun Kharge, who hails from the State, and Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have been campaigning extensively in Karnataka, where the party is seeking to wrest power from the BJP.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi would hold a 36.6 km road-show in Bengaluru.
The road-show would pass through the city's 17 Assembly constituencies.
The Prime Minister would cover a distance of 10.1 km from 11 am to 1 pm, and 26.5 km from 4 pm to 10 pm, BJP leaders said.
May 8 is the last day for campaigning, and the counting of votes is on May 13.
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Two West Bengal SIR poll officials enter Odisha village ‘mistakenly’; 72 locals held for assaulting
Balasore: At least 72 people, including 23 women, from Rajnagar village in the district have been arrested under charge of assaulting two poll officials from West Bengal, who are suspected to have mistakenly entered their village on Wednesday.
Odisha Police are learned to have said that poll officers Sumit Hazra and Som Hansda, who are bank employees, had been assigned the duty of supervisiing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise at Baliagaria Block under the Nayagram Police Station limits in West Bengal. On Wednesday, however, the duo mistakenly entered the nearby Rajnagar, located under the Raibania Police Station limits in Balasore district, they added.
According to news agencies, Balasore Additional Superintendent of Police Niranjan Behera has said that the returning officers were detained and assaulted by the villagers on account of communication gap. Explaining the incident further, the officer said that Hazra and Hansda approached an auto rickshaw that was on school duty as they were unable to get any other transportation facility to reach Nayagram. “As the rickshaw driver declined to help, they were waiting for an alternate means of transportation, when a rumour was spread that child lifters were working in the area. This gave rise to suspicion among the villagers and led to the assault of Hazra and Hansda,” Behera is learned to have said.
Further, the Addl SP has said that the villagers are learned to have assaulted and detained two police personnel from Raibania Police Station who rushed to Rajnagar to rescue the returning officers. “Additional forces were sent to the village, even as senior police and administrative officers visited Rajnagar to bring the situation under control,” he reportedly added.
Behera also said, “The injured poll officials, after being rescued, were admitted to the local hospital for treatment. Two cases are registered in this regard, one by the poll officials and another by police. More than 100 people have been questioned.”
The investigation team, after verifying the video footage, has held 72 accused, who will be produced before court. Additional security forces have been mobilized in the Raibania Police Station limits to prevent any untoward situation, officials have said.
