Timeline Refresh
A total of 42,000 litres of liquor worth more than Rs 1 crore was seized while Rs 1.64 crore, which was allegedly meant for distribution among voters in order to lure them, was recovered from various constituencies.
Delhi Election Commission also detected 21 cases of paid news out of 80 complaints it received. As many as 346 First Information Reports were also registered against various political parties for various offences.
Leading the pack was the Aam Aadmi Party as 105 cases were filed against them while 88 FIRs were filed against Congress and 86 against BJP. In addition to that, five FIRs were also registered for model code violation today.
The Congress-led UPA government will feel the immediate effect of the election results in the winter session of Parliament which opens on Thursday.
The confrontation between the ruling alliance and the principal opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party will escalate next week after the declaration of the election results on December 8.
Read the full article on rediff.com shortly
The BJP believes that if it wins Chhattisgarh and Delhi, the credit should go to Modi. The BJP functionary said the party would emerge victorious in Rajasthan as well.
The party believes it will somehow form the government in New Delhi and in Madhya Pradesh, while they predict a win, it will be with a reduced margin.
In Chhattisgarh, the party expects to sweep the polls.
In MP, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and New Delhi, the BJP gives a 3:1 to a 4:0 score in its favour.
"Around 65 per cent polling has been recorded. But the figure may change as we are compiling all the data. Around 70,000 people are still standing in queue," a senior official of Delhi Election Commission said.
He said people who queued before 5 pm are being allowed to vote. Polling has also been extended in booths where voting started late due to snag in electornic voting machies.
In 2008 assembly polls, the overall voting percentage was 57.58 per cent. Earlier, Delhi's Chief Electoral officer Vijay Dev said he expected the final percentage of voting to be between 70 and 75 per cent.
There were reports of malfunctioning of electronic voting machines (EVM) in some parts of the city but they were rectified, election officials said. Time of polling has been extended by an hour in all the booths where voting started late due to snag in EVMs.
Congress's estimate at the time of the close of voting hours (at 5 pm) in New Delhi is that there will be a hung assembly where neither the BJP nor the Congress will get majority.
The Congress is confident that they will win Mizoram and Chhattisgarh since they believe a huge turnout indicates a message for change.
The party's internal estimate is that in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan its chance of victory was diluted towards the last phase of campaigning.
So Congress is expecting a 2:2 score in four states and New Delhi undecided.
ABP TV: Exit polls for Delhi: BJP: 32, Congress: 18, AAP 18.
This comes after Pak PM Nawaz Sharif said Kashmir was a flashpoint that can trigger a fourth war between Pakistan and India anytime. He said he was seeking an early settlement of the issue.
He also said he had a dream of seeing Indian Kashmir free and hoped to see it happen during his lifetime.
"Kashmir is a flashpoint and can trigger a fourth war between the two nuclear powers at anytime," he was quoted as saying by the Dawn daily in his brief address to the budget session of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Council in Pak-occupied Kashmir yesterday.
The press release issued by his office last night did not carry the above statement.
The statement had however quoted Sharif as saying that the Kashmir issue should be settled according to the aspirations of the people and the UN resolutions as peace in the region was not possible without it.
"The Prime Minister said that he had a dream of seeing held-Kashmir free from the Indian occupation and desired that this dream could turn into reality during his lifetime," the statement said.
This election has given us a unique opportunity of pressing the NOTA button," said Arvind Tyagi who listed a host of problems faced by his colony in Vikaspuri in West Delhi. Read more
Pic: A spirited woman voter during the Delhi polls today
The fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student in the city earned it the "unsafe' tag internationally.
The city is full of obstacles that make living here challenging. Just getting around is tough.
But there are rays of light in the city, which on a closer look, reveal a certain charm. As the capital went to the polls today, here's a look at 10 things about Delhi that remind us of the brighter side. Read
So far, this is what is happening on the Tejpal case.
Tehelka Editor Tarun Tejpal, arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman journalist, underwent a potency test which came out positive.
Officials at the Goa Medical College, where he was brought for the potency test that is mandatory in sexual assault cases, said that the examination fetched positive result.
Fifty-year Tejpal was subjected to various other tests, including blood test, at the college's forensic department near Panaji. He was medically examined for five hours in the morning and later brought again at 3.15 pm for further tests, sources said.
Goa Medical College Dean VN Jindal said that the tests were conducted as per the requirement of the investigation agency. He, however, refused to disclose the results of the test.
Tejpal was arrested on Saturday by the crime branch after his anticipatory bail petition was rejected by the sessions court. He was remanded in six-day police custody by a court on Goa on Sunday after which the crime branch officials grilled him for over five hours.
"Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is of the opinion that any issue of conflict between Pakistan and India has to be resolved through peaceful means," said a statement issued by his office.
The influential Dawn daily had quoted Sharif as saying that "Kashmir is a flashpoint and can trigger a fourth war between the two nuclear powers at any time".
The report said he made the remarks during a brief address to the Council of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in Muzaffarabad yesterday.
The statement from Sharif's office said: "Prime Minister of Pakistan never uttered these words and the news item is baseless, incorrect and based on malafide intentions."
Yesterday, Ganguly, who is the chief of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission, has said he is undecided about resigning from it.
Today, Ganguly said that he hasn't seen the copy of the FIR and neither has anyone contacted him.
Justice Ganguly retired in February last year. He has said in an interview last week that he was "shattered and disturbed" by the allegations.
The woman who blogged about him and he have testified for a committee of three serving Supreme Court judges. They have delivered their report to P Sathasivam, the Chief Justice of India, naming him.
Officials said that the statement of Chowdhary is very crucial for the case as she was the first person to have known about the alleged sexual assault.
The official said that all the four would be called after the court gives the date to record the statement. Tejpal was arrested on November 30 by crime branch after his anticipatory bail petition was rejected by a sessions court.
On December 1, he was remanded in six-day police custody by a court here.
The murder took place in the high-profile Golden Nest apartment in Bhayander yesterday and the accused - Girish Pote (29) -- was arrested at night, Thane Rural Police said today.
Pote and his wife Madhuwanti used to have frequent quarrels over several issues, including financial matters, API Satish Shivarkar of the Navghar police station said.
On Tuesday, after a heated argument with his wife, the accused stabbed her and then cut her body into three pieces inside their flat.
The cousin of the accused and the residents in the apartment alerted the police, who rushed to the spot and recovered the severed body, which was sent for post-mortem.
Based on a complaint filed by his cousin, a case was filed against Girish and he was later arrested, police added. The accused has been charged under sections 302 (murder) and 201 (destruction of evidence), police said.
This, despite people in many polling booths in Tuglaqabad, Karol Bagh, Trilokpuri and Badarpur said they had to wait for a long time to cast their votes as electronic voting machines were not working.
"In Tuesday's meeting, we decided to target only journalists and media organisations which twisted the recent statement of Shahidullah Shahid and tried to tarnish Taliban's image nationally and internationally," an unnamed senior Taliban leader and member of the shura was quoted as saying by The News daily.
"The task has been given to a select group of people within the Taliban to collect information about the journalists and media organisations who fabricated statement of the spokesman," he said.
A strange howling sound from the building is even keeping the residents up at night. According to news.com.au, the building''s 104-storey Freedom Tower is 1776-feet high, making it the tallest building in the US.
On top of the tower is a spire, which appears to be the source of the disturbing sound as the wind blows. The creepy, choral-like sound was first reported during Superstorm Sandy, when the building was lashed with strong winds and rain, the report added
The royal couple were received by State Minister for Higher Education P Palaniappan and senior government officials at the Airport, sources said.
During their visit, the couple is scheduled to visit Kalakshetra Foundation later in the day, sources said.
Tomorrow, they are expected to make a visit to the Children's Park in Guindy before attending the luncheon hosted by Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah.
The royal couple would also attend a function at the Spastics Society of Tamil Nadu and are expected to leave for Tokyo the same day.
"I can tell you very categorically that we are far ahead of Congress and the new entrant in Delhi politics. I am 100 per cent confident about our victory. I think nobody can make any dent in our vote bank," he said after casting his vote in Krishna Nagar constituency.
Rejecting claims that a triangular electoral contest has made it tough for BJP in the national capital, he said, "If there is any contest or fight, it is between the Congress and the new entrant (for the second place)."
Vardhan, who was named BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate at a very later stage, is trying to unseat the Sheila Dikshit-led Congress government which has been ruling the national capital since the last 15 years.
Congress MLA from Kondli, Amrish Singh Gautam, has also come under the scanner as his photographs were found pasted on the doors of one Malohtra Properties Office, from where four cartons of liquor were seized by a team of flying squad teams at Kichripur yesterday.
"No direct link has been established with Gautam's picture and the carton of liquors seized. Investigation in the matter is on," said Ankur Garg, Chief Nodal Officer, Model code of Conduct.
The two BSP workers are identified as Lait and Pramod.They were allegedly caught in action by a patrolling team of police yesterday.
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The last pamphlets had been doled out before being trampled under foot or used as napkins.
No more mega rallies were planned, with most of the biggest political names having come and gone in the past few weeks as they campaigned for a contest seen as a preview for the national elections next year. Read more
Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal was arrested last Saturday after his anticipatory bail plea was rejected. He was remanded to six days police custody on Sunday. Tejpal is accused of sexually assaulting a woman journalist in a lift during a Tehelka event in Goa.
The magazine expects to begin a 64-page weekly edition in January or February, Newsweek's editor-in-chief Jim Impoco said in an interview to the New York Times.
He said the newly published Newsweek would depend more on subscribers than advertisers to pay its bills, with readers paying more than in the past.
"It's going to be a more subscription-based model, closer to what The Economist is compared to what Time magazine is," Impoco said.
"We see it as a premium product, a boutique product." Newsweek's return to print is being seen as a positive sign for a magazine that had struggled to survive as more readers switched to online versions of newspapers and magazines to get their news.
So far, names of 7000 voters are missing from the list.
Till 1 pm, 34 per cent turnout has been recorded.
Nath also informed that all parties are in agreement that the session will continue for extended hours to expedite pending work.
Nath said leaders of all political parties have assured that session will run smoothly. Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, has demanded the passage of the Telangana Bill and the Lokpal Bill during the winter session.
She said the Women's Reservation Bill, and issues such as the atrocities against women, inflation and unemployment should also be discussed. CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury demanded the passage of pending public welfare bills.
Judicial Magistrate First Class Kshama Joshi rejected the application by Tejpal, who has been lodged in Panaji police custody since Saturday in connection with a sexual assault case.
On December 2, Tejpal's lawyer had argued in the court that a fan be allowed to be put up in the lock-up on humanitarian grounds.
The 50-year-old Tehelka founder was taken for a second round of medical tests today.
Vote BJP: Ink index finger (authoritarian),
Vote AAP: Ink thumb (upbeat),
NOTA: Middle finger.
He added that he will meditate for the next two days and "return on December 7". The results will be counted on the 8th (Sunday).
Kejriwal has chosen New Delhi as his constituency, a bold move that places him in direct competition with Sheila Dikshit, the 75-year-old chief minister who is looking for a record fourth term. The BJP has fielded former Delhi chief Vijender Gupta for the same area.
Between 2008-09 and 2013-14 (till November 15 this year), the number of elephant deaths caused by poaching, electrocution, and accidents is higher than the casualties due to natural reasons and diseases. Nearly 150 elephants died due to poaching, electrocution, and accidents as against 144 natural deaths.
As per the information procured under Right to Information Act (RTI) by social worker Anil Galgali, as many as 229 rape cases and eight gang rape cases, including two Shakti Mills gangrapes that jolted the nation, were reported till August this year.
"The number of such cases will go up by the end of this year, as in November alone two gang rapes of minors were reported in suburban Dindoshi and Borivali," said Galgali.
Last year, 223 rape cases and eight gang rape cases were reported, while in 2011 as many as 211 rapes and nine gang rapes were registered. In 2010, a total 188 sexual assault cases while seven gang rapes were reported.
Judicial magistrate first class Mapusa granted bail to Nitesh and three others, who were released late last night. Pernem police had arrested nine people, including Nitesh, last evening.
While the court granted bail to four, five others would be taken for remand today.
A Goa-bound group, led by Nitesh, travelling in a convoy of private cars, had refused to pay toll fee at the plaza in Pernem village on Goa-Maharashtra border.
Toll fee is charged from all non-Goa registered vehicles when they enter from the neighbouring states.
The group created a ruckus and damaged the toll collection centre and assaulted three workers employed by Goa Public Works Department to man the toll booth. Narayan Rane, a Shiv Sainik-turned-Congressman, wields considerable influence in Maharashtra's Konkan region, which borders Goa.
Rane, a former Chief Minister, currently holds industry portfolio in the Prithviraj Chavan Cabinet.
Deutsche Bank Research recently looked at the last five federal elections in India, starting 1996, to find out what the data says about how politics affects the economics of the world's largest democracy.
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The BJP has also promised to give 12 subsidised LPG cylinders in a year to each household instead of current nine, besides ensuring full statehood. It has also promised to set up a dedicated Women Security Force to ensure safety of women.
Congress has promised to set up a Single Command System to address the problems of multiplicity of authorities and a common economic zone for the entire National Capital Region to minimise load on Delhi's infrastructure. It has also promised to construct double-decker flyovers to ease traffic congestion.
The AAP said it will pass the Jan Lokpal Bill within 15 days of coming to power, besides promising to cut power tariff by 50 per cent. It said 700 litres of water per day will be given free to each household.
The EVM at the polling booth in Aurangazeb Lane, where Rahul cast his vote, malfunctioned when polling began.
In Jungpura, Badli and Krishna Nagar constituencies, some voters complained that their names have been struck from the electoral rolls and they could not vote.
Elaborate security arrangements were made in the capital with deployment of 32,801 personnel of Delhi Police and 10,700 central paramilitary force personnel to ensure peaceful elections.
The voting began at 8 am at 11,753 polling booths out of which 630 have been identified as critical and hyper critical.
The Election Commission has appealed to people not to carry mobile phones while going to cast their votes.
A total of 1.19 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise, out of which 66.11 lakh are men and 53.20 lakh are women.
The number of first time voters is 4.05 lakh. 810 candidates are in the fray in the three-cornered contest between Congress, BJP and AAP.
While BJP has fielded candidates in 66 constituencies Congress and AAP are contesting from all 70 seats. BSP, which was the third largest party in last Assembly election, has fielded candidates in 69 seats, NCP in nine and Samajwadi Party in 27 seats. A total of 224 independents are also in the fray.
Kapil Sibal has just cast his vote as well. He said the turnout was considerable, and urged people to vote for the right candidates.
Sheila Dikshit said earlier that she was confident and not nervous at all. She said it was the media who was calling it anti-incumbency. "I say it's pro-incumbency."
Clad in a while kurta-pyjama and a half-jacket, Gandhi cast his ballot at booth number 88 at Aurangazeb Lane in New Delhi constituency from where Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is contesting.
There were 25 people ahead of Gandhi in the queue when he arrived at the booth at around 10:30 am.
The EVM at polling booth in Aurangazeb Lane, where Rahul cast his vote, malfunctioned earlier but was immediately rectified. Gandhi stood in the queue for around 32 minutes before his turn came to cast his vote.
The Congress Vice President had addressed two election rallies in the city one of which witnessed a low turnout.
Bharti Group chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal was among those who exercised their franchise at the Aurangazeb Lane booth in the morning.
The election is witnessing a triangular contest among Congress, BJP and newbie Aam Admi Party.
In pictures: Delhi bigwigs ink their fingers.
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Most Congress stalwarts, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram, did not campaign for the Congress in the national capital.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi addressed one rally, party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi opted for two in Delhi in the run-up to the assembly election.
Did whispers of Dikshit nursing ambitions of a bigger role in the 'Delhi durbar' post-polls upset the high and mighty within the party? Read more
Remember, Justice Ganguly was appointed WBHRC chairman by the Mamata Banerjee government in 2011, but he fell apart with the TMC supremo over some issues including the suo motu cognisance of the arrest of a professor for posting cartoons lampooning the Chief Minister.
The government had refused to give a compensation of Rs 50,000 to the Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra as recommended by the Commission.
"(Bursts into laughter.) I have nothing to say. All I can say is the Congress party, after nine-and-a-half years as part of the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government, is poised to suffer a big defeat."
Read the full interview on Rediff.com.
The other two prominent contestants in the constituency are Aam Admi Party Chief Arvind Kejriwal and former Delhi BJP president Vijender Gupta. Kejriwal voted at polling booth no 47 at Hanuman Road at around 8:15 am.
"People of Delhi will win and corruption will be defeated in the election," he told reporters.
Vice President Hamid Ansari and Delhi's Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Dev were among the first few to cast their votes.
When asked whether she was worried about AAP's possible impact, Dikshit said "no".
Dikshit (75), who led Congress to three consecutive electoral victories in Delhi, said her government ensured inclusive development in the last 15 years and hoped that people of the city will give the ruling party another opportunity to serve them.
"I am fighting the polls with confidence. We have ensured consistent development. We followed an agenda of inclusive development. We made Delhi the best city.
"The Opposition made tall claims and tried to defame us. But people of Delhi know about our performance. I think they will vote considering what will be good for them," she said before stepping out of her residence to vote.
Tejpal's medical examination was earlier conducted on December 2 at Goa Medical College and Hospital. Various tests, including potency examination, was conducted on him.
Tejpal would be subjected to various medical tests that are required as part of investigation, a senior police officer said. The 50-year-old Tehelka founder was arrested last Saturday after his anticipatory bail plea was rejected. He was remanded to six days police custody on Sunday.
However, the police have not been able to nab him yet. Police sources say that they will arrest him soon, as he is believed to be in Andhra. The man had allegedly attacked a woman with a machete at an ATM kiosk in Bangalore in mid November, leaving her seriously injured.
A CCTV footage showed him threatening the woman, then attacking her. He later cleaned the blood with the woman's napkin, took away her phone and left the kiosk after pulling down the rolling shutter. The Bangalore attacker is also believed to have murdered a woman in the Dharmavaram town on November 10.
Ten per cent polling has been recorded in the capital till 10 am.
When asked to show the victory sign she refused and laughed saying, "That would be too premature."
Both Asaram Bapu and Narayan Sai were booked in October for the alleged rape of two sisters from Surat in Gujarat.
He told CNN-IBN that the Aam Aadmi Party did not exist for him. "We are 100 per cent sure of victory, we'll win with a very high margin. The third party does not exist."
Sai, an absconder in a sexual assault case, has been on the run for over two months. The Gujarat police has conducted raids in five states over the last two months in the hunt for Sai.
More details are awaited.
While leaving for the poll booth, Kejriwal told CNN-IBN, " "The people of Delhi have to make up their minds on what they want. These are not my elections, these are the elections of the people of Delhi."
Nearly 1.2 crore residents of the capital are expected to choose representatives to the 70-member Delhi assembly today.
"I would just note that there has been no change in US rules or regulations, with respect to its visa policy. That is that all individuals apply and have to undergo a review process," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Nisha Desai Biswal, said at a news conference.
"So the point at which there is an application, there will be a review process, and I can't speak to what the outcome of that process would be."
"So as far as I'm concerned, there's no news there," Biswal said when asked about the US visa policy with regard to Modi, the Gujarat chief minister.
"There's no change in policy there. It is as it has always been, which is that visa applications are reviewed on a case-by-case basis," she said.
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