Today’s Big Story
BJP battles to retain bastions as voting begins in Maharashtra, Haryana
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will seek to retain its bastions as Maharashtra and Haryana vote today, while the Opposition hopes to turn the tide by taking advantage of anti-incumbency. Bypolls will also be held to 51 assembly seats and two Lok Sabha constituencies spread across 18 states.
Tight security arrangements have been made with deployment of more than three lakh personnel from state police and central forces in Maharashtra, while over 75,000 security personnel have been mobilised in Haryana.
Follow live updates here.
A 3-way contest in Haryana: The ruling BJP is locked in a contest with the opposition Congress and the fledgling JJP for the 90 assembly seats in Haryana which has over 1.83 crore voters, including 85 lakh women and 252 transgenders, while 19,578 polling stations have been set up.
Polling will be held from 7am to 6pm.
Maharashtra’s heated arena: The BJP, which is seeking a second straight term under Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Maharashtra, is contesting 164 seats, which include candidates of smaller allies contesting on its lotus symbol, while Sena has fielded candidates on 126 seats.
On the other hand, the Congress has fielded 147 candidates and the ally NCP 121.
Among other parties, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), led by Raj Thackeray, has fielded 101 candidates, the CPI 16 and the CPM 8. The BSP has fielded candidates in 262 constituencies. A total of 1400 Independents are also in the poll arena.
In Other News
Precision strike: After Pakistan’s unprovoked firing in Tangdhar in J&K that killed 2 Indian soldiers and a civilian, the Indian Army on Sunday carried out heavy artillery strikes. According to Army Chief Bipin Rawat the Army targeted four terror launch pads and several Pakistani military positions in Neelam Valley in PoK, killing 6-10 of their soldiers and as many terrorists.
Sounding alarm: The Muslim parties in the Ayodhya case have urged the Supreme Court to be mindful of the “future of the country" and the “multi-religious and multicultural values in resolving the issues confronting it" as part of their written submissions to the Constitution Bench hearing the case in a sealed cover on Saturday.
Cold Turkey: The government cancelled a two-day official visit to Turkey by PM Modi after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s UNGA speech where he criticised India’s move on Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. He also raised the Kashmir issue at the General Assembly and backed Pakistan at the Financial Action Task Force meet in Paris.
Fresh breakthrough: Uttar Pradesh police claim to have found the clothes allegedly worn by the suspects in the murder of Hindu leader Kamlesh Tiwari, who was killed at his residence on Friday. The clothes and a bag were found in hotel near Tiwari’s house in Lucknow.
On Our Specials
Survivors of caste war: Hundreds of Dalit families across Haryana are not looking forward to state elections. Once subjected to violence and humiliation, these survivors of caste wars have little hope from the democratic exercise. Interestingly, Dalits form 22 per cent of the total voters in Haryana, second only to 29 per cent Jats. However, the state has not witnessed a strong Dalit leadership in the polls due on October 21. Rounak Kumar Gunjan reports from Sagga village in Karnal, Mirchpur in Hisar and Gohana in Sonipat district where houses belonging to Dalits were burnt down and people were killed in brutal attempts at the assertion of dominance by upper-caste men.
Candid: In the news for winning the Economics Nobel along with Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer for their experimental approach towards alleviating global poverty, Abhijit Banerjee speaks to CNN-News18 about handling criticism, economic slowdown and Congress’s NYAY scheme.
On Reel
Narendra Modi Meets Bollywood Stars, Discusses Gandhi | CRUX
Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with members of the film industry in New Delhi, and several of Bollywood’s stars, including Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, and Kangana Ranaut were present at the event. Watch to know more.
Curated and compiled by Chitwan Kaur
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