LIVE! Russian presidential vote: Navalny 'nominated to run' against Putin

LIVE

Sun, 24 December 2017

Russian presidential vote: Navalny 'nominated to run' against Putin

Timeline Refresh

21:23 Russian presidential vote: Navalny 'nominated to run' against Putin

Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny says he has gathered enough nominations to challenge Vladimir Putin in March's presidential election.

His supporters met in 20 cities across the country to secure the signatures.

Navalny is still unlikely to run as election officials ruled him ineligible due to a corruption conviction which he says is politically motivated.

He told his supporters in a marquee on a snowy riverbank that he would call a boycott of the election if he were not allowed to stand.

Navalny is widely regarded as the only candidate with a chance of challenging the president, who is seeking a fourth term that would see him become the longest-serving Russian leader since Joseph Stalin.

Russian socialite and TV presenter Ksenia Sobchak is standing in the election but some - including Navalny - regard her as a "Kremlin stooge".

The Uttar Pradesh Police was today put on maximum alert in view of the RSS-affiliate Hindu Jagran Manch's threat to all Aligarh schools against celebrating Christmas.

"All district police chiefs have been asked to tighten vigil and ensure that Christmas festivities pass off smoothly without any untoward incident," ADG (Law and Order) Anand Kumar said on the Christmas eve.

"They have been directed to take strict legal action against those indulging in intimidation of any sort," he said.

The directive comes after Hindu Jagran Manch issued a circular last week, threatening all Aligarh schools against celebrating Christmas saying, if they did so, it would be "at their own risk".

Aligarh SSP Rajesh Pandey said the district authority would stop any effort to impose any restriction on the celebrations.

"All school managements have been assured that full security would be provided to them on Christmas and none would be allowed to take law into their own hands," Pandey said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to make his debut at the World Economic Forum's annual jamboree of the global elite in the snow-laden Swiss resort town of Davos next month, where he is also expected to address a special plenary session.

While the final list of participants would be released next month itself for the five-day Davos Annual Meeting of Geneva-based WEF beginning January 22, 2018, sources familiar with the programme said Indian presence will be really big this time with over 100 CEOs including Mukesh Ambani, Chanda Kochhar and Uday Kotak, as also Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan and top filmmaker Karan Johar expected to participate.

Other big names from India and abroad include former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan and IMF chief Christine Lagarde.

Sources said Modi is expected to be there on January 23-24 and may address the first special plenary of the biggest congregation of top global leaders including over 40 heads of state and government. He may hold a number of bilaterals besides other meetings.

Modi will be the first Indian Prime Minister at the Davos summit since 1997 when the then Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda had attended.

-- PTI

NDA Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar today said Congress president Rahul Gandhi's charm would not spell magic in next year's Karnataka assembly polls and Congress would taste defeat as it did it in Gujarat polls for playing caste politics.

"Rahul Gandhi's charm will not spell any magic in Karnataka elections next year. Congress will face defeat just as it did in Gujarat polls for playing caste politics," he said.

Gandhi's elevation as party president has not brought about a resurgence in Congress.

His elevation has only brought about yet another drubbing in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh polls, he said.

Chandrasekhar alleged that Congress always played divisive politics in the name of caste and religion. Siddaramaiah's government in Karnataka was no exception, he said.

"Just consider the issue of separate religious status for Lingayats. This has brewed tension in the society. This simply is an attempt by Siddaramaiah-led Congress government to divide Lingayat community for electoral gains," he said.

-- PTI

A day after Pakistani troops killed Sepoy Pargat Singh, his father today exhorted the Centre to avenge the killing of his son and other Indian

soldiers.

Pargat Singh was one of the four soldiers killed in a ceasefire violation along the Line of Control in Keri sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district.

"Our government must give a befitting reply to Pakistan. Why is our government not taking any action? They must teach them a lesson," Pargat's father Rattan Singh said.

Pargat Singh's mother Sukhwinder Kaur was distraught, so was his widow Ramanpreet Kaur.

"He telephoned me yesterday but disconnected the call abruptly.. later on, this news (about his killing) came," an inconsolable Ramanpreet Kaur said.

Rattan Singh said his son wanted to join the army from an early age.

"Our entire family is proud of his sacrifice," he said.

The soldier leaves behind a five-year-old son, whose photograph in army-like fatigue adorns one of the room of the house where the family lives in Ramba village in Haryana's Karnal district.

-- PTI

Friends and family of former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav today organised a bike rally in his support in Mumbai, a day before his mother and wife are scheduled to meet him in a Pakistani prison.

Organisers said that the rally started from Arthur Road and culminated at Currey Road in Central Mumbai and drew a very good response.

"The bike rally and a human chain we formed are in support of our friend Kulbhushan Jadhav," said Subrato Mukherji, one of the hundreds who participated in the rally.

"As there is no evidence against Kulbhushan, the Pakistan government should release him immediately," said Tulshidas Pawar, a friend of Jadhav and another rally participant.

Jadhav has been in a Pakistan prison since March last year and has been sentenced to death on charges of espionage by a military court there.

-- PTI

The RK Nagar bypoll results are not what Dravida Munnetra Kazagham had hoped.

After its candidate Maruthu Ganesh came in third in the election, which Dinakaran won with a margin of over 40,000 votes, Stalin said, "Not DMK, it was the Election Commission of India that faced a Himalayan defeat in RK Nagar bypoll."

In the bypoll, 57 candidates, including DMKs Maruthu Ganesh, lost their deposits. The DMK was expected to benefit by the verdict in the 2G spectrum scam case coming at an opportune time but Ganesh got only 24,651 votes.

This is one record the BJP candidate who contested the RK Nagar bypoll will not be proud of, as NOTA got more votes than he did.

While the main battle was confined to the giants -- TTV Dinakaran and AIADMK veteran E Madhusudhanan, in an interesting aside, NOTA pipped the saffron party's Karu Nagarajan.

As many as 2,373 voters from the constituency did not want to vote for anyone and pressed the EVM button for None of the Above, leaving Nagarajan with a meagre 1,417 votes.

This was his second electoral failure in as many years.

Nagarajan, a regular face in Tamil TV channels who puts forth his party's views on various issues, had unsuccessfully contested the 2016 assembly polls from Mylapore constituency in this city.

-- PTI

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board said on Sunday that it will request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withhold and withdraw a proposed bill that criminalises the practice of instant triple talaq.

Criticising The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017, AIMPLB spokesperson Sajjad Nomani said: After observing the provisions mentioned in the bill, it looks like that it is a kind of a conspiracy to grab the power of divorce from Muslims.

If government want to stop triple talaq, then it can take our suggestions. We will help in solving the issues under the constitutional provision of Muslim laws, he said.

The proposed bill that criminalises the practice of instant divorce,also empowers Indian Muslim women by giving them a larger say in dissolving marriages, custody of minor children and the right to seek maintenance from their estranged husbands, according to the the cabinet-cleared controversial legislation opposed by Muslim groups.

The bill defines triple talaq as any pronouncement (of divorce) by a person upon his wife by words, either spoken or written or in electronic form, or in any other manner. It proposes to make the practice a punishable offence and is set to be introduced in the Lok Sabha next week.

18:05 And the final tally is

Here are the final figures from the RK Nagar bypoll, according to the Election Commission:

>> TTV Dhinakaran at 89013 votes

>> AIADMK's E. Madhusudhanan at 48,306 votes

>> DMK's N Marudhu Ganesh at 24,651

>> BJP's Karu Nagarajan at 1,417 votes

A day after an army officer, a Lance Naik and two jawans lost their lives in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir's Keri sector, the Congress questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "commitment and assurance" to keeping the Line of Control and International Border inviolable.

Addressing the media, Congress leader Manish Tewari raised doubts over government policies towards Pakistan.

"Mr Prime Minister, before assuming office, he proudly proclaimed from every podium across the country that if his government came into office, then Pakistan won't be able to kill even a bird. What happened to your commitment and the assurance which you gave to this country that you will keep the LoC and IB inviolable?" he questioned.

"We would like to ask as to what is your government's policy towards Pakistan? Because for the last three-and-a-half years all that this country has seen in the name of policy are U-turns, flip-flops and somersaults," he added.

Continuing his tirade, he again raised questions on Prime Minister Modi's surprise visit to Lahore in December 2015.

"Mr Prime Minister, we would like to ask you once again, today it is 24th of December 2017, exactly two years ago you went to Pakistan, till today the country doesn't know as to why did you go to Pakistan. We would like to ask you as to why did you invite the ISI to investigate the Pathankot terror attack when the figure of complexity straight pointed at the Pakistani establishments", he added.

Further giving details on the number of unprovoked ceasefires that took place along the LoC and IB, Tewari said, "In this year alone from Jan 1st till December 24 there have been 900 major ceasefires across the LoC and the International Border. 780 across the LoC and 120 across IB.in the year 2014 between June and December the number of violations was 583. In 2015, there were 400, in 2016, there were 460 and this year, 900".

He also paid tribute to Major Moharkar Prafulla Ambadas, Sepoy Pargat Singh, Lance Naik Gurmail Singh and Lance Naik Kuldeep Singh, who lost their lives in yesterday's ceasefire violation.

-- ANI

Sidelined leader TTV Dinakaran has won the RK Nagar bypoll. The AIADMK came in a distant second while the DMK came in third.

Dinakaran won the bypoll by over 40,000 votes. Earlier during counting as he raced ahead of his competitors, Dinakaran had said, "We are the true AIADMK...people of RK Nagar have elected Ammas successor.

The RK Nagar bypoll was necessitated after the demise of former chief minister Jayalalithaa.

North Korea on Sunday has termed the new United Nations sanctions as an 'act of war' and also said that this would lead to a complete economic blockade.

The United Nations Security Council slapped new sanctions on North Korea yesterday in the backdrop of its recent ballistic missile tests.

The 15-member Security Council unanimously adopted a new set of US-drafted sanctions on the reclusive country that will further strangle its energy supplies and tighten restrictions on smuggling and the use of North Korean workers overseas.

The latest penalties seek to halt nearly 90 per cent of the country's refined petroleum imports and limit crude oil supplies to 4 million barrels a year.

The resolution also ordered North Koreans who work abroad to return to the country within 24 months.

In addition to this, the resolution also bans exports of industrial equipment, machinery, transportation vehicles and industrial metals to the communist-ruled country.

In a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea's foreign ministry said: "The US is terrified by our nuclear force and is getting more and more frenzied in the moves to impose the harshest-ever sanctions and pressure on our country".

"We define this 'sanctions resolution' rigged up by the US and its followers as a grave infringement upon the sovereignty of our republic, as an act of war violating peace and stability in the Korean peninsula and the region, and categorically reject the 'resolution'," the ministry said.

North Korea has also argued that the nuclear weapon tests are a self-defensive deterrence, not in contradiction of international law. It also warned other countries that those who would support the sanctions would pay a 'heavy price'.

16:41

Rival AIADMK leader and independent candidate T T V Dinakaran gets 72,413 votes at the end of 15th round of counting of votes for RK Nagar bypoll. AIADMK's E Madhusudanan gets 38,966 votes. N Maruthu Ganesh of DMK gets 20,388 votes.

16:23 MP polls: Congress to start picking probable nominees from Jan 15

Although there is still a year to go for the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, the state unit of the Congress today said the party would start the

exercise of identifying probable candidates from mid-January.

The party said the leadership might give opportunity to fresh and young faces over the older ones this time.

"We will start the candidate selection process for the next year's assembly elections after January 15. The process of streamlining the organisational structure in the state would also be completed by the next month," AICC general secretary and party in-charge of Madhya Pradesh, Deepak Babaria said.

Madhya Pradesh assembly elections are scheduled to be held in November-December next year.

"Initially, we will focus on 60-65 seats, where the party could not win in the past two elections. We will tell the probable candidates to start preparing," he said.

Asked about the demand of some party leaders that the candidates should be announced six months prior to the election, Babaria said, "It depends on the vulnerability of the seats. The announcement may be made two months, two weeks or two hours prior to the filing of nominations, because the opposition may also plan its strategies accordingly."

-- PTI

A newly-elected BJP corporator has demanded that night shelters set up by municipal bodies during winters be named after Atal Behari Vajpayee, who represented Lucknow in Parliament, ahead of the former prime minister's birthday tomorrow.

Dilip Srivastava, the corporator from Maithilisharan Gupt ward, also said he would distribute saffron shawls, blankets and woollen clothes here through an NGO on the occasion, adding that saffron colour signifies "warmth" and these clothes would be "instrumental in combating the chill".

"He is a man of masses and known for his political convictions. It would be a true acknowledgement to the stalwart leader, if the shelter homes put up by various municipal corporations across the state are named after him. They should be called 'Atal Rain Basera'," Srivastava said.

"A letter in this regard has been sent to the office of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath requesting him to rename the winter shelter homes after the former prime minister who had represented Lucknow in the Lok Sabha," he added.

When asked what prompted him to offer this suggestion, Srivastava said, "Atalji was always concerned for the welfare and upliftment of the poor, and the homeless. This is a small step in acknowledging the vision and concern which he had for the downtrodden."

-- PTI

The Centre has asked all states to tighten security and take all possible steps to ensure peace ahead of Christmas and new year celebrations, an

official said.

In an advisory sent country-wide, the home ministry said a large gathering of people are expected in public places while celebrating Christmas and New Year.

The home ministry has asked all states to maintain utmost vigil to prevent any untoward incident, the ministry official said.

The state administrations have been advised to take appropriate measures to ensure peaceful celebrations, including effective crowd control and maintenance of law and order.

The ministry also asked the state governments to deploy adequate forces in malls, religious places, markets, airports, railway stations, bus terminus so that any attempt to disturb peace could be foiled, the official said.

-- PTI

15:04 Why Track 2 with Pakistan has no future

Those who were close to late J N Dixit, one of Indias most distinguished diplomats, would know that he had a keen sense of humour, at times of a kind bordering on the bawdry.

The latter invariably surfaced when he commented on our Track 2 protagonists. On a serious note, Indians only delude themselves into thinking that they practise Track 2 diplomacy.

The ABC of Track 2 is actually a lot more than travelling business class and staying in five-star hotels.

Read full HERE

West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress today won the Sabang assembly constituency by-poll, by a massive margin of 64,192 votes. Trinamool candidate Gita Rani Bhunia got 1,06,179 votes while her nearest rival Rita Mondal of the the Left Front backed Communist Party of India-Marxist secured 41,987 votes.

Amid a continuous downslide popularity over the past few years, the by-poll offered an opportunity for the CPI-M, which contested the seat for the first time as the Left Front during its 34 year rule, had fielded Biplobi Bangla Congress candidates.

Bharatiya Janata Party aspirant Antara Bhattacharyya was in the third spot with 37,476 votes. However, the party gained a substantial number of votes in this by-poll as against about 5,000 votes secured by the saffron party in 2016 Assembly elections.

The Congress, which won the seat in last year's assembly polls, fared poorly, with its nominee Chiranjib Bhowmick in the fourth position securing 18,060 votes.

The by-poll was necessitated due to sitting Congress legislator Manas Bhunia's resignation, after he crossed over to the Trinamool. He is now a Rajya Sabha member of his new party. Gita Rani is Bhunia's wife.

Taking a cue from Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy has said that the state government is planning to frame a law enabling capital punishment to rapists of minor girls.

"The Karnataka government is planning to frame a law enabling capital punishment to rapists of minor girls. I have asked the officials to get details of a similar law passed by the Madhya Pradesh Government," Reddy told reporters on the sidelines of the inauguration of the Crime Prevention Month, organised by the city police.

The home minister said that he would be taking up the matter with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

On December 4, the Madhya Pradesh assembly had passed a bill, becoming the first state in India, to award capital punishment to those convicted for raping girls below 12 years.

Five-time legislator Jairam Thakur will be the new Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, the BJP said after the party lawmakers met today to pick their chief. The meeting was attended by the party's Central observers Nirmala Sitharaman and Narendra Singh Tomar. The legislators will meet the Governor later today to announce their decision.

The legislators' decision came a day after Prem Kumar Dhumal -- whom the BJP had named as its prospective Chief Minister 10 days before the elections - pulled out of the race. The 73-year-old had lost the election to his Congress opponent and one-time protege Rajendra Rana, even though his party won 44 of the state's 68 seats. But he remained in the race as several loyal lawmakers offered him their fresh-won seats.

Thakur has been seen as a Chief Minister-in-waiting for a long time. The 52-year-old had earlier been the party's state unit chief and a minister in a government headed by Dhumal.

Considered a popular Thakur face, the lawmaker from Seraj constituency served as the BJP's state chief between 2006 and 2009 and was credited with striking a balance between the warring factions.

Temples in Andhra Pradesh have been asked not to celebrate New Year on January 1 by the state Endowments Department, which said it was not "Indian vedic culture".

The Hindu Dharma Parirakshna Trust under the state Endowments Department, has issued a circular to all temples in this regard, citing a directive from the Endowments Commissioner Y V Anuradha.

"Exchanging greetings on January 1 and celebrating (like a festival) is not Indian vedic culture. Celebrating Ugadi, the Telugu New Year's Day (in the month of Chaitra), only is appropriate and the best culture," HDPT secretary C Vijaya Raghavacharyulu said in the circular.

"Though India attained Independence 70 years ago, we are still following the Gregorian calendar introduced by the British. Lakhs of rupees are being spent on decorating temples to celebrate January 1 by ignoring Indian culture and following western culture. The (Endowments) Commissioner suggested this is not right," it said.

"Hence, there should be no special decoration of temples (with flowers and lighting) on January 1 and no festive atmosphere should be created," the trust secretary added.

It's a common practice in most of the temples in Andhra Pradesh to conduct special pujas and darshan for pilgrims on January 1.

-- PTI

Fodder scam convict Lalu Prasad was on Saturday put in the same upper division cell where he stayed after the 2013 conviction in Ranchis Birsa Munda Jail, highly placed sources in the jail informed.

In the upper division cell, he will be entitled to avail one mosquito net, one newspaper to read every day, and a television set apart from the usual cell bed. Sources said that he can have access to home-cooked food in the jail and also prepare food for himself. The former railway minister had undergone a heart surgery in 2014 and has several restrictions in his diet.

Read full story HERE

According to TV reports, Jairam Thakur, a five-time MLA from Seraj in Mandi district, has been selected to be the new chief minister of Himachal Pradesh.

The 52-year-old leader was previously part of Dhumals cabinet and also worked as the president of the BJP state unit. Thakur is perceived to be a non-controversial pick due to this low-profile.

Earlier, the name of Union Health Minister J P Nadda was doing the rounds of being a contender for the post of chief minister.

Party insiders had said that Nadda had been a chief ministerial aspirant for a long time but after the BJP decided to name Dhumal as its leader, he quietly withdrew from the limelight.

Kulbhushan Jadhav's wife and mother will visit Pakistan on December 25 to meet the Indian prisoner on death row, Pakistan's foreign office said on Saturday.

They will arrive by a commercial flight on December 25 and leave the same day. Indian deputy high commissioner will be the accompanying diplomat.

"India informs that the mother and wife of Commander Jadhav will arrive by commercial flight on 25 Dec and leave the same day. Indian DHC in Islamabad will be the accompanying diplomat," Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal tweeted.

Pakistan on December 20 issued visa to Jadhav's wife and mother to visit Islamabad to meet him.

Pakistan had agreed that a diplomat from the Indian high commission in Islamabad would accompany the visitors.

Jadhav, 47, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April, following which India moved the ICJ in May. The ICJ halted his execution on India's appeal pending the final verdict by it.

Prem Kumar Dhumal on Saturday night ruled himself out from the race for the post of Himachal Pradesh chief minister, a day before a meeting of BJP MLAs to elect their leader. Five-term MLA Jairam Thakur and Union minister J P Nadda are the frontrunners for the chief minister's office.

A lack of consensus among the newly elected MLAs had resulted in the two central observers -- Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Narendra Singh Tomar -- returning to Delhi from Shimla on Friday to hold fresh consultation with the central leadership.

Although Thakur was seen a frontrunner for the job till recently, Nadda may emerge as the most acceptable candidate in this changed scenario, a BJP source said.

"There is speculation in media that I am in race for the post of the chief minister. I had made it clear on the day of the result that I am not in any race," Dhumal said.

The statement of Dhumal, a former chief minister who was the party's candidate for the job again but suffered a shock defeat in the polls, that he was not in contention has come following a nudge from the BJP leadership, sources said.

11:56

Current Leads in the RK Nagar bypoll:

TTV Dinakaran (Independent): 15,868

E Madhusudhanan (AIADMK): 7,033

N Maruthu Ganesh (DMK): 3,750

Others: 2,229

11:45 'People of RK Nagar have elected Amma's successor'

With early trends of counting of votes for RK Nagar bypoll favouring independent candidate TTV Dinakaran, the sidelined leader today said it showed that people want a change of regime.

The sidelined AIADMK leader said, "We are the true AIADMK... people of RK Nagar have elected Amma's successor."

He also sought to make light of the K Palaniswami camp winning the Two Leaves symbol after both camps staked claim for it before the Election Commission.

"During my recent visits to various parts of Tamil Nadu such as Avinashi (Tirupur) and Arumanai (Kanyakumari), people said the pressure cooker (his poll symbol at RK Nagar) will win. They want a change of this regime," he said.

Dinakaran's statement to reporters came in response to the early leads he had taken against his AIADMK rival E Madhusudhanan and DMK's N Maruthu Ganesh.

Claiming victory, he said, "Tthis is the best gift for the 1.5 crore party supporters" on the 30th death anniversary of party founder, the late Chief Minister MG Ramachandran, fondly addressed as MGR.

On the symbol issue, with the Election Commission awarding it recently to the Palaniswami-led camp, Dinakaran said only a candidate determines the symbol.

"We are the true AIADMK. A candidate determines the symbol. I have already said the 'Two Leaves' will be a success symbol only if it was with Puratchi Thalaivar (MGR) and Amma (Jayalalithaa). Will the people vote if it is handed over to MN Nambiar and PS Veerappa," he asked, amidst chuckles from his supporters.

-- PTI

Counting of votes for the RK Nagar bypoll suffered a temporary disruption following an alleged altercation between supporters of independent candidate T T V Dinakaran and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's E Madhusudhanan.

A senior electoral official said 'altercation caused disruption', even as the two rival sides charged each other with roughing up counting agents.

Another official said police restored peace and that the second round of counting was on.

"Police restored peace, Nothing alarming. Compilation of the second round going on," he said.

At the end of the second round, Dinakaran leads with 5,082 votes, Madhusudhanan gets 1,783 votes and DMK's N Marudhu Ganesh gets 1,142 votes. -- PTI

IMAGE: Supporters of T T V Dinakaran celebrate outside a counting centre.

RK Nagar bypoll counting:

Election Commission's early trends indicate T T V Dinakaran leading with 5,339 votes, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's E Madhusudhanan gets 2,738 votes, while Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's N Marudhu Ganesh gets 1,181 votes.

As the trends came, Dinakaran supporters started celebrating outside a counting centre in Chennai. -- ANI

09:17

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, Deputy CM O Panneerselvam pay tributes to late All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam founder M G Ramachandran at his Marina Beach memorial on his 30th death anniversary. Photograph: ANI

08:19 RK Nagar bypoll: Counting begins, results today

Counting of votes begins in Chennaifor RK Nagar bypolls.

For the ruling AIADMK, RK Nagar represents the legacy of J Jayalalithaa, its charismatic leader, and retaining it is vital to establish that Chief Minister E Palaniswami and his team are in control.

The party had fielded AIADMK veteran E Madhusudanan, who has held the seat before and has influence among Telugu people who have a sizeable presence in RK Nagar. -- Agencies, ANI

IMAGE: Sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dinakaran, who is contesting as an Independent candidate, greets voters at a polling booth during voting for the RK Nagar assembly constituency bypoll in Chennai on Thursday. Photograph: R Senthil Kumar/ PTI Photo

Timeline Refresh

TOP STORIES