Well, this may not be really shocking but 60 per cent of Americans do not trust social networking giant Facebook with their personal information.

A poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News sought to examine the thoughts about Americans when it comes to aspects of technology, social media, and government regulation of tech firms.

As Fast Company reports, it is not just Facebook that people don't trust. Thirty-seven per cent of Americans don't trust Google with their data, and 35 per cent don't trust the federal government, and 28 per cent of Americans don't trust Amazon on the same grounds.

Fifty-seven per cent of Americans believe that social media sites do more to divide the country than unite it. 74 per cent of Americans think that letting social media companies collect and use data about them in return for free services is not a fair trade-off.

Social media has always been into trouble for spreading misinformation, and 55 percent of Americans believe that social media does more to spread lies and falsehoods. -- ANI

The income-tax department on Monday said it has recovered Rs 14.6 crore of "unaccounted" cash and seized diaries and computer files of suspect payments in raids against close aides of Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath and others.

 

The Central Board of Direct Taxes said the department has also detected a trail of Rs 20 crore suspect cash allegedly being moved to the "headquarter of a major political party in Delhi".

"Rs 14.6 crore of unaccounted cash has been found so far, besides 252 bottles of liquor, few arms and tiger hide-skins," the CBDT said in a statement.

The CBDT frames policy for the I-T department.

"Searches in Madhya Pradesh have detected wide spread and well organised racket of collection of unaccounted cash of about Rs 281 crore through various persons in different walks of life, including business, politics and public service. 

"A part of the cash was also transferred to the headquarter of a major political party in Delhi, including about Rs 20 crore, which was moved through hawala recently to the headquarter of the political party from the residence of a senior functionary at Tughlak Road, New Delhi," the CBDT said.

It, however, neither identified the political party nor the senior functionary.

The statement added that records of collection and disbursement of cash "in the form of hand written diaries, computer files and excel sheets were found and seized and it corroborates the above findings". 

It added that the searches in Delhi in the group of a close relative of the senior functionary have further led to the seizure of "incriminating evidence, including cash book recording unaccounted transactions of Rs 230 crore, siphoning off money through bogus billing of more than Rs 242 crore and evidence of more than 80 companies in tax havens." 

Predictions about election results by astrologers, tarot card readers and others in media when there is a ban on broadcasting exit polls are a violation of law, the Election Commission said on Monday.

 

The poll body's advisory comes days before the first phase of Lok Sabha elections is to be held on April 11.

The silence period, when campaigning in poll-going areas is barred, begins Tuesday evening.

"The commission is of the view that prediction of results of elections in any form or manner by way of predictions etc by astrologers, tarot readers, political analysts or by any persons during the prohibited period is violation of the spirit of Section 126A (of the Representation of the People Act) which aims to prevent the electors of constituencies still going to polls from being influenced in their voting by such predictions about the prospects of the various political parties," the advisory read.

Electronic and print media is advised not to publish or publicise any article or programme related to the dissemination of results of exit polls during the prohibited period, it said.

The commission also reiterated its earlier advisory banning exit polls till the evening of May 19.

"Election Commission of India, in exercise of the powers under sub-section(1) of Section 126A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 has notified the period between 7.00 A.M. on 11.04.2019 (Thursday) and 6.30 P.M. on 19.05.2019 (Sunday) as the period during which conducting any exit poll and publishing or publicising the result of exit poll by means of the print or electronic media or in any other manner shall be prohibited," the advisory read. -- PTI 

The Congress on Monday fielded former BJP leader Kirti Azad from Dhanbad Lok Sabha constituency in Jharkhand.

   

The party also fielded Kalicharan Munda from Khunti ST seat in Jharkhand, a party statement said.

 

Azad, a former BJP MP from Dharbhanga in Bihar had to shift out after the seat was given to the RJD as part of the seat sharing arrangement for the alliance in the state.

 

The cricketer-turned-politician was seeking to contest from his Dharbhanga seat, but had to relent after senior Congress leadership intervened. 

Azad, who was suspended by the ruling BJP for anti-party activities, had joined the Congress in February. -- PTI 

The National Democratic Alliance at the Centre, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, may win 279 seats, says an opinion poll by Times Now and VMR.

The survey, carried out between March 22- April 04, 2019, also gave 149 seats for the United Progressive Alliance.

The opinion poll was conducted at 960 locations and a total of 14,301 voters were surveyed.

NDA: 279

UPA: 149

Others: 115

Pakistan said Monday that it will hold a technical meeting with India on April 16 to discuss the modalities for the corridor linking Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district in Punjab.

"Continuing with Pakistan's spirit of constructive engagement, we have agreed to the Indian proposal for a technical meeting on 16 April," Foreign Office spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal tweeted.

"We expect positivity from India so that the corridor becomes reality for 550th celebrations," he further said.

India and Pakistan last month held a meeting of technical experts on the Kartarpur corridor during which its alignment, coordinates, and other engineering aspects of the proposed crossing points were discussed.

The technical meeting at the level of experts, including engineers and surveyors, was held at "proposed zero points" in the follow up to the decision reached on the March 14 meeting.

Later, the Pakistani Cabinet constituted a 10-member Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC) to facilitate Sikh pilgrims after opening of the Kartarpur corridor.

India voiced concerns over the presence of several Khalistani separatists in the committee on the Kartarpur corridor and said it will wait for a response from Islamabad on the issue and will not go ahead with a previously agreed meeting on the corridor on April 2 in Wagah on the Pakistani side.

On Thursday, India said Pakistan is yet to respond to its concerns over reports that controversial elements have been appointed to the committee. -- PTI

The  Bharatiya Janata Party should not play with fire when it comes to the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti said on Monday and warned that abrogating Article 370 would lead to freedom for the state from India.

 

"If you free Jammu and Kashmir from Article 370, you will free the state from country as well. I have said many times that Article 370 links J&K with the country. When you break this bridge, India loses its legitimacy over the state. It becomes an occupational force," Mufti said.

 

The former chief minister was reacting to the BJP's manifesto, in which the party has reiterated its commitment to abrogate Article 370 and annul Article 35A of the Constitution.

 

"The BJP has failed on fronts, be it unemployment, farmer issues or it price rise. Now they are looking for issues which they can use to garner votes," Mufti said.

 

The Peoples Democratic Party leader warned that the BJP should desist from playing with fire, saying any change in the special status of the state could endanger the entire South-Asian region.

 

"J&K is already on a heap of explosives and we saw a glimpse of it in Pulwama. If the BJP does not stop making such statements and give up such intentions (about Article 370), it will not only burn J&K but the entire region. 

 

"So my warning to the BJP is to stop playing with fire. There is explosives in Jammu and Kashmir. If you will light a spark, everything will go up in flames... there will be no Jammu and Kashmir or India left," she added. -- PTI

The Army operated a convoy on Monday notwithstanding an order of the Jammu and Kashmir government that such movement of vehicles should take place only twice a week -- Sunday and Wednesday, army officials said.

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the order will hamper the operations of the army.

The officials claimed there were no consultations with the army officers concerned before the order on the convoy movement for security forces was issued.

"During informal talks, it was made clear to the state officials that such an order was not possible to implement," said an officer who is engaged in convoy movement.

The state Home Secretary Shaleen Kabra on the directions of Chief Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam issued an order on April 3 in which civilian traffic was restricted on the national highway from Udhampur in Jammu region to Baramulla in North Kashmir on Sunday and Wednesday every week till May 31 to facilitate the smooth movement of the convoys of the security forces on those two days.

However, there was movement of a army convoy on the national highway on Monday and at some places even the Central Reserve Police Force vehicles were seen.

There was no formal reply yet to a query sent by PTI to the spokesman of the strategically located XV corps which is also tasked with counter-insurgency operations.

The Jammu and Kashmir police as well as other state and central security agencies were also apparently caught unawares about the order issued by the state home department.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah also posted a video of an army convoy moving on Monday while the civilian traffic was plying normally on the other side of the road.

"Here's another full strength convoy. I'm simply trying to highlight the point that the architects of the highway closure have made no application of mind. Somehow this convoy on the highway is safe today but it wouldn't have been yesterday (Sunday) and won't be on Wednesday," he tweeted while taking a dig at the state administration.

"If it is safe for SF convoys to move on Monday WITHOUT closing the highway to civilian traffic, why is it not safe on Wednesdays & Sundays? Nothing proves the mindlessness of the order more than army movement on 'unsafe' days. This road is part of the highway by the way," the National Conference leader added.  -- PTI

Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah met party veterans L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi on Monday evening.

Shah is meeting the two leaders days after they were not given poll tickets.

The BJP has fielded Shah from Gujarat's Gandhinagar, a seat represented by Advani for many years.

Joshi has been replaced by Satyadev Pachauri in Kanpur.

After being denied ticket, Joshi had issued a statement saying the BJP told him that he would not be nominated by the party in Kanpur.

While Advani has not said anything about being dropped from the party's list of Lok Sabha candidates, he wrote a blog asserting his party never regarded those who disagreed with it politically as 'anti-national'.

More or less, both Advani and Joshi were sidelined in the party after 2014 general elections, in which the BJP got clear majority under the leadership of Narendra Modi.

After easing them out of key organisational positions, the party leadership brought the curtains down on their electoral innings by not giving them tickets to contest the Lok Sabha polls this time.

The BJP had earlier announced that it will not give tickets to those above 75 years of age.  -- PTI

A local court in Ahmedabad on Monday issued summons to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and the party's spokesperson Randeep Surjewala in a criminal defamation suit filed by the Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank (ADCB) and its chairman.

Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah is a director in the bank.

The two complainants had moved the court last year after the Congress leaders reportedly alleged the bank was involved in scam to convert Rs 750 crore scrapped notes within five days of demonetisation in 2016.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate S K Gadhvi issued the summons to the two leaders after finding prima facie evidence against them, and asked them to remain present in the court on May 27.  -- PTI

Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor added, "Have more credible evidence that is clearly indicative of fact that Pakistan has lost one F-16 however due to security and confidentiality concerns we are restricting the information being shared in the public domain."

The statement comes after American news publication Foreign Policy quoting unnamed US defence officials said that US personnel recently counted Islamabad's F-16s and found none missing.

Pawar said Modi should not talk about the ability of the opposition to lead the country nor about unity in the Pawar household. He said the UPA, of which his party was a part, had run the country well for a decade from 2004 under then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. 

"We can run the country well. Modi need not worry about our ability," he said. Pawar also attacked the PM for the latter's personal diatribe against him at a rally in Wardha. Modi had said Pawar had lost grip on the Nationalist Congress Party which was wracked by a "family feud". "Pawar's grip on the party is loosening. The situation is that Pawar saheb's nephew (Ajit Pawar) is trying to take control of the party. Because of this, the NCP faced problems in ticket distribution," the PM had claimed at the rally. 

"I am happy in my home. You (Modi) need not worry. You never had a home in your life," Pawar said. -- PTI

Image: On the occasion of his birthday in 2015, Supriya Sule put up the image of her father, Sharad Pawar and the family. 

Congress president Rahul Gandhi will file his nomination papers for the Amethi Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, a party spokesperson said on Monday.

Rahul Gandhi will be accompanied by his mother and United Progressive Alliance chairperson, Sonia Gandhi, and sister and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, according to a letter by the Special Protection Group to the Amethi district magistrate.

The Congress chief will also hold a roadshow in Gauriganj town, the administrative headquarters of Amethi, said Anil Singh, the party's district unit spokesperson.

The Congress president, who has been representing the constituency for the past 15 years, will face Smriti Irani of the the Bharatiya Janata Party. In 2014, Rahul Gandhi had defeated Irani by over one lakh votes.

Amethi goes to polls in the fifth phase of the general election on May 6.  -- PTI

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Monday said abrogating Article 370 of the Constitution will pave way for 'freedom' for people of Jammu and Kashmir and asked the Bharatiya Janata Party try joining the hearts and not break them.

Abdullah's remarks come on the day BJP released its manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls in which the party reiterated its commitment to scrap Article 370, which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

The party also resolved to annul Article 35A of the Constitution, which bars people from outside to own property in Jammu and Kashmir.

"They talk of abrogating Article 370. If you do that, the accession will also not stand. I swear by Allah, I think this is the wish of Almighty, we will get freedom from them," Abdullah, who is contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Srinagar constituency, said at an election rally in Srinagar.

The former chief minister said there would not be anyone to hoist the national flag in Kashmir if Article 370 is abrogated.

"Let them do it, we will see. I will see who is ready to hoist their flag here. So don't do such things that break our hearts. Try joining the hearts, not breaking them," he said.

Launching a scathing attack on the BJP leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Abdullah said, "When you do an election rally do speak a few words of love for Jammu and Kashmir."

"Yes, we are a Muslim majority state and there is no doubt about that. Try as much as you want but you can't change it. You think by removing Article 35A, you will usurp our rights. Will we take this lying down? We will fight it," he added.

The NC president said the special residency laws were brought in by then Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, Hari Singh, in 1927 as a safeguard for Dogras so that their numbers were not diluted by influx of population from other parts of India.

"Do you know what is Article 35A? It gives you (people of state) the right to this place. Nobody from outside can buy land here or apply for jobs. This was kept by Maharaja Hari Singh in 1927 so that the population of Dogras does not fall.

"It was not as much for us as much for them (Dogras). What do they want? Will they bring people from outside and settle them here to dilute our numbers?" he asked.

NC vice president Omar Abdullah used the BJP manifesto to hit out at Governor Satya Pal Malik.

"Recently J&K Governor claimed there was no threat to Art 370 & 35-A and that parties like mine were only using them to drum up fear in the elections. I hope his colleagues in the BJP send him a copy of their manifesto," he tweeted.  -- PTI

Dhanush artillery gun inducted in Indian Army.

Visuals from the handing over ceremony in Jabalpur, MadhyaPradesh.

The Dhanush, which has a calibre of 155x45mm, is the first ever indigenous artillery gun of this calibre.

In army parlance, it is classified as 'medium artillery'.    -- ANI

The party also resolved to annul Article 35A of the Constitution, which bars people from outside to own property in Jammu and Kashmir. 

"They talk of abrogating Article 370. If you do that, the accession will also not stand. I swear by Allah, I think this is the wish of Almighty, we will get freedom from them," Abdullah, who is contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Srinagar constituency, said at an election rally here. 

The former chief minister said there would not be anyone to hoist the national flag in Kashmir if Article 370 is abrogated. "Let them do it, we will see. I will see who is ready to hoist their flag here. So don't do such things that break our hearts. Try joining the hearts, not breaking them," he said. Launching a scathing attack on the BJP leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Abdullah said, "When you do an election rally do speak a few words of love for Jammu and Kashmir." "Yes, we are a Muslim majority state and there is no doubt about that. Try as much as you want but you can't change it. You think by removing Article 35A, you will usurp our rights. Will we take this lying down? We will fight it," he added. 

"Increasing the VVPAT verification from one EVM per constituency to five is to ensure the greatest degree of accuracy, satisfaction in the election process and not only political parties but the poor should be satisfied,"  a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said.

The court was hearing a petition by 21 parties, led by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, seeking random count of Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) of at least 50 per cent of the EVMs per Assembly segment in a Lok Sabha seat before the declaration of result. 

-- ANI

Polling for simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections will be held in the state on April 11. A thorough analysis of the affidavits submitted before the election office found that 131 of 184 Assembly poll candidates are crorepatis, the report by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said. As many as 67 candidates (36 per cent) have wealth above Rs 5 crore, while 44 candidates (24 per cent) possess assets to the tune of Rs 2-5 crore, it said. 

Khandu, who defected to the BJP from the Congress in 2016, has movable assets worth Rs 1,43,87,82,786 and immovable assets worth Rs 19,62,75,356, as declared in his affidavit. -- PTI

Modi did not have time to look after the farmers and the middle-class, as he was busy touring the globe for 4.5 years of his five-year term, Banerjee told a rally here. When elections are knocking at the door, Modi is threatening everybody and blabbering lies, Banerjee alleged claiming that he would get the first prize if there was a competition of telling lies. 

On April 5, the Delhi Government submitted a reply before the Special CBI court stating that the Delhi Police had filed the charge sheet in the case in a "secretive" and "hasty" manner, without obtaining approval of the appropriate authority. -- PTI

"Today, 22 teams will be sent from helicopters to Sukma. All the polling personnel were brought to the police line helipad from the bus. The army's helicopter was sent to the polling booth for the police camps. We will work to ensure a peaceful election," District Election officer Chandan Kumar. 

"Security mapping of each polling centre has been done. Planning has been done beforehand," he added.   Sukma will go to poll in the first phase of seven-phased election on April 11. 

The 11 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh will go to polls in three phases on April 11, 18 and 23. The results will be announced on May 23. -- ANI

They said the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was fully committed on nationalism and zero tolerance towards terrorism. 

BJP's Sankalp Patra, as it calls the manifesto, addresses expectations and aspirations of the country and contains the 'Jan ki Mann ki Baat', PM Modi said. 

"Nationalism is our inspiration, governance our mantra," Modi said at the launch. 

The BJP manifesto has 75 definitive time-bound targets for the country, Modi said and added that it was multi-layer and multi-dimensional and addressed the needs of all sections of society.

The BJP's 'Sankalp Patra' aims to make India a developed nation by 2047, on completion of 100 years of Independence, the PM said. 

"We will form separate Jal Shakti Ministry. We first addressed the needs of people, now we will fulfil their aspirations.  Good governance, easy governance, transparent governance and responsible governance have helped in increasing delivery on ground," he said. 

Read the BJP manifesto here. 

"The BJP should issue maafi patra (apology letter) for injecting a lethal injection of unemployment, farmers suicide, closing of businesses and putting youth towards unemployment," party's national spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill told ANI.

He added, "BJP has cheated people; they should answer on the promises they made in 2014".Taking a jibe at the BJP, Shergill said that the party has pushed the youth of the country towards "pakoda employment", linking it to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comment in an interview that a person earning Rs 200 per day by selling pakodas is also employed. --ANI

Ram Mandir: "As far as Ram Mandir is concerned, we reiterate the promise made in the last elections. We will weigh all our options and we will see that the Ram Mandir is built as soon as possible in a harmonious environment." 

"Our 'Sankalp Patra' is a vision document that lists expectations of 130 crore Indians," Rajnath Singh, who is head of the BJP's manifesto committee, said. 

"With all our promises made in this manifesto, we are taking a step towards building a 'New India. We are going forward with 75 resolutions that we can fulfill by the year 2022 when India completes 75 years of independence. We had a zero tolerance policy towards terrorism, it will continue till terror is not eliminated completely," he said. 

Earlier, he had refused to appear before the investigating agency."I will not travel to Delhi, nor will I turn up for any investigation come what may," Mirwaiz had said during his Friday sermon on March 15 at historic Jama Masjid in Srinagar.

The NIA had carried out searches in February at seven locations of separatists in Kashmir, including that of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, in connection with the case.

The agency had claimed to have found several incriminating documents, including letterheads of different terrorist organisations as well as high-end communication systems, during the searches.  -- ANI

Addressing a public gathering, Varun, who is also the grandson of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, said, "Vajpayeeji was from a normal family but had never seen abject poverty. Modiji is from an economically weaker family. Honestly speaking, some people of my family have also been Prime Minister but the honor that Prime Minister Modi has brought to the country hasn't been seen in long past."

He also said Prime Minister Modi is living for the country and would die for it as well as he has no other agenda. "In five years, Prime Minister Modi has not a single accusation of corruption. There are no corruption charges on him. For whom would he do corruption when he has no one else in his family? This person is only living for the country and would die for the country. He is only worried about the country," he said. 

Varun, who is an incumbent MP from Sultanpur constituency, is contesting the impending LokSabha polls from Pilibhit constituency, a seat which was long held by his mother Maneka.

Pilibhit will be going to polls in the third phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 23. Counting of votes will take place on May 23. While Varun is contesting from his mother's earlier constituency, Maneka will be contesting from her son's earlier constituency, Sultanpur.  -- ANI

Large numbers of residents of Majlis Taufikpur have threatened to boycott polls if the main road connecting their village to the other part is not constructed.Speaking to ANI, one of the villagers, Kuldeep Saini, said, 

"Our village comes under Bijnor Lok Sabha constituency. A lot of leaders are coming because of Lok Sabha elections but no one does anything. The main road is in very bad condition. Now the villagers have decided that vote will be given only when there is a proper road."

Another resident Veer Singh said, "We have a lot of issues but there is this road problem which affects us very adversely. The road is in very bad condition and there are big potholes. A lot of accidents have also happened in which our children have gotten injured. We have now decided that vote will be given only on the basis of work otherwise we will not give the vote. The whole village has unanimously taken the decision". -- ANI

The Congress had to remove one stanza from its campaign theme song, which was an apparent jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after the Election Commission objected to it, sources said.

A media monitoring committee of the Election Commission had Saturday objected to the stanza. After it was removed, the song was cleared for release, sources in the EC said.

The Election Commission has set up media certification and monitoring committee at state and district levels to clear political advertisements and campaign material for the Lok Sabha election. 

The Congress had referred its theme song to MCMC in Delhi. 

The song 'Main hi toh Hindustan hoon' has been penned by Javed Akhtar. While the campaign film has been directed by Nikkhil Advani and the cinematography is by Tushar Kanti Ray, the concept and script was provided by Anuja Chauhan, and the music was composed by Arjunna Harjai, the Congress said.

The RJD promises to implement Mandal Commission in its manifesto.

Income Tax officials on Monday morning continued their raids at various locations including the residence of Ashwin Sharma, an associate of Praveen Kakkar (OSD to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath).

A raid is also being carried out at Kakkar's residence. Security has also been heightened at the location.

On Sunday, IT officials in a pre-dawn swoop carried out raids at the residences of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath's private secretary, Praveen Kakkar, in Indore and former advisor R K Miglani in Delhi, on charges of alleged tax evasion.

Officials conducted searches at 50 locations including Indore, Bhopal, Goa and Delhi, according to sources.

Kakkar is Chief Minister Kamal Nath's Officer on Special Duty. 

More details are currently awaited.

The Bharatiya Janata Party will release its manifesto for 2019 Lok Sabha elections today. 

It is learnt that BJP chief Amit Shah will visit party veteran L K Advani this morning at 9.30 am and Murli Manohar Joshi at 10.15 am -- just before the release of the party's manifesto. 

According to sources, the visits are an exercise to soothen the anger within the party after it was announced that Shah would be contesting from Gandhinagar -- seat from which Advani normally contests elections. 

The primary opposition party -- Congress -- has already released its manifesto earlier this month. 

The BJP Sankalp Patra will be released in presence of senior party leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party chief Amit Shah, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and other union ministers. 

Meanwhile, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, his sister and general secretary Uttar Pradesh West Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Jyotiraditya Scindia will hold public meetings in Saharanpur, Shamli and Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh. 

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will hold a rally in Cooch Behar, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a rally there. Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati will hold election rallies in Meerut and Noida.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram has alleged that the government was planning Income Tax raids at his residence in a bid to cripple the Lok Sabha election campaign. He said the people of the country were watching and would give a befitting reply in this election.

"I have been told that the I-T Department has plans to raid my residence in Sivaganga constituency and in Chennai. We will welcome the search party," he said on Twitter.

"The I-T department knows that we have nothing to hide. They and other agencies have searched our residences before and found nothing. The intention is to cripple the election campaign," he claimed.

The former finance minister said the people are watching the "excesses of this government and will deliver a fitting lesson in the elections". Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram is contesting the Sivaganga Lok Sabha constituency in Tamil Nadu. He is facing charges of corruption and is out on bail.

The issue of I-T raids has gathered steam in the run-up to the 2019 elections, with the Opposition alleging that the government is using the department for a witch-hunt. On Saturday, the 'Centre versus state' tussle reached Madhya Pradesh on Sunday with Income Tax sleuths launching pre-dawn searches on at least 50 locations in Delhi, Indore and Bhopal against people linked to Chief Minister Kamal Nath on charges of alleged tax evasion.

The security cover of over 400 Jammu and Kashmir politicians, withdrawn after the Pulwama terror attack in February, has been restored. The decision taken by Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam had triggered widespread protests from parties who highlighted the risk to mainstream politicians in the state.

Governor Satya Pal Malik's decision came days after all the major political parties in the state complained to the Election Commission of India. The parties alleged that the withdrawal of security was a conspiracy to sabotage the election process and jeopardise the safety of political workers in the terrorism-hit state.

Jammu and Kashmir, which is under governor's rule since last year, will vote for the Lok Sabha elections in five phases from April 11 to May 6 and results will be declared on May 23.

In the days after the February 14 Pulwama terror attack that left 40 paramilitary soldiers dead, the governor's administration withdrew the police protection to large number of political workers and separatists.

On Friday, the Union home ministry had said that the security cover of over 900 "underserving" people had been withdrawn in Jammu and Kashmir, freeing 2,768 police personnel.

Sources said Governor Malik had expressed his displeasure over the chief secretary presiding over the security review meeting in which the decision to withdraw security to political workers was taken.

The State Level Security Review committee is headed by the State Intelligence Chief and it has members from all intelligence agencies and top police officers.