BJP to get majority on its own, BJP chief Rajnath Singh says

RAIPUR: BJP president Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said his party would cross the simple majority figure of 272 seats on its own in the Lok Sabha polls.

"The kind of massive support the Bharatiya Janata Party is getting from the masses across the country, I am sure the party will touch the 272-seat mark on its own," Rajnath Singh told media at Raipur airport in Chhattisgarh before leaving for Maoist-hit Kanker to address a meeting of party workers.

Welcoming the poll schedule announced by the Election Commission, the BJP chief said he was hopeful of free and fair polls.

He said the BJP would win all 11 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh which goes to polls in three phases - April 10, 17 and 24.

In the 2009 polls, the BJP had won 10 seats and the Congress was victorious in just one seat, Korba.

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ED attaches Rs 863 crore properties of Jagan, others in laundering case

NEW DELHI: Initiating one of its biggest criminal actions in a money laundering case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday attached assets worth Rs 863 crore of YSR Congress leader Jaganmohan Reddy and his associates in connection with its probe into alleged corruption in an infrastructure project in Andhra Pradesh.

The agency slapped separate notices against Jagan and Nimmagada Prasad whose companies were allegedly favoured by the then AP government (when Jagan's father Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was chief minister) in the Vadarevu and Nizampatnam Industrial Corridor (VANPIC) project whose aim was to develop sea ports and a green field airport in coastal areas of the southern state and industrial corridors in Prakasam and Guntur districts.

The ED had in 2012 registered a criminal probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against the individuals and associated firms based on a CBI FIR in this case.

The ED probe said there was 'quid pro quo' in this deal and hence illegal money exchanged hands.

"Various concessions were extended to the VANPIC project in the form of alienation of huge chunks of assigned government land to the companies floated by Nimmagadda Prasad, development of shipyard, green filed airport, exemptions from levy of stamp duty and registration charges, seigniorage (deed-signing) fee and other undue benefits were extended," the ED probe report said.

The CBI chargesheet, which the ED relied upon, said "illegal gains to the tune of Rs 1426.17 crore was made to Prasad in the acquisition of lands and Rs 854.54 crore was made to Jagan and his companies as quid pro quo by Prasad and his companies."

"This is one of the biggest attachments done by the ED in a money laundering case. The assets will now be seized," sources privy to the development told mediapersons.

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Lok Sabha elections: RJD, Cong, NCP announce alliance in Bihar

PATNA: Ending uncertainty, RJD, NCP and Congress on Wednesday announced a "secular alliance" in Bihar for the coming Lok Sabha elections.

RJD president Lalu Prasad accompanied by Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ashok Chaudhary announced the tie-up of the three parties here.

Prasad said as per seat-sharing arrangement, Congress would contest on 12 seats, Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party on one and RJD would contest on rest 27 out of 40 parliamentary seats.

"Congress would contest from Sasaram (SC, Reserved), Kisanganj, Aurangabad, Supual, Hajipur, Purnea, Patna Saheb, Nalanda, Samastipur, Gopalganj, Muzaffarpur and Balmikinagar," the RJD chief said.

NCP will contest Katihar seat. "The rest 27 seats will have RJD nominees, the two leaders announced at 10 Circular road residence of former chief minister Rabri Devi.

Madhubani, which had become a bone of contention between Congress and RJD and reported to be a major irritant in finalization of the tie-up has gone to Lalu Prasad's party.

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We have no powers to ban opinion polls: EC

NEW DELHI: There will be no restriction on dissemination of opinion polls during the upcoming general election, barring the limited period of 48 hours before end of polling in each phase.

The Election Commission on Wednesday clarified that it has no powers to ban opinion polls, and that it was for the government to act on its long-standing proposal to disallow dissemination of poll surveys from the date of notification of the election.

"We never hesitate to use a power that is available to us ...(but) you cannot expect the commission to use a power that is not available to it. Our view with regard to opinion polls is (that) this is something which falls within legislative competence ... So it for the legislature to make the decision," CEC V S Sampath told reporters when asked to clarify whether the media organizations could publish or broadcast opinion polls during the upcoming poll.

As per the existing norms, there are restrictions on broadcasting of opinion poll results during 48 hours prior to the end of polling. Experts pointed out that, technically, these restrictions may not apply to the print media.

EC had recently made a fresh appeal to the government to ban opinion polls, in the wake of a news channel claims that nearly 11 opinion poll companies secretly approached by it were willing to tweak their poll projections, purportedly for a fee. The EC wrote to the law ministry noting how its stand that opinion polls could be misused had been vindicated and sought an immediate ban on opinion polls during elections.

Interestingly, the Congress had moved EC seeking a ban on opinion polls in the wake of the "sting", even though its own government has been dragging its feet over the proposal.

Unlike opinion polls, exit polls will be banned until half an hour after the end of last phase of polling. This means that results of exit polls cannot be publicized in both print and electronic media until 5.30 pm on May 12.

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Kejriwal in Gujarat, says no evidence of development in state

RADHANPUR:Taking on Narendra Modi on his home turf, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday accused the BJP PM of trying to stall his visit to Gujarat after he was briefly "detained" by police and said he did not find any evidence of development claimed by the chief minister.

As he embarked on his four-day tour to verify Modi's claims of providing water, power, education and healthcare to people of his state, the former Delhi chief minister was taken to Radhanpur police station in north Gujarat and allowed to go after half an hour.

AAP's state convenor Sukhdev Patel claimed that Kejriwal was detained but police denied it saying they had only "briefed" Kejriwal on the model code of conduct which came into force today with the declaration of poll schedule.

Kejriwal alleged that the police had acted on the "orders from the top". "We came to know in the morning itself that all the DSPs have been instructed to stop Kejriwal under any circumstances. Modi has also been sending some people with black flags. We know they will resort to such tactics," Kejriwal said.

"They stopped us and claimed that we were violating the model code of conduct. I told them that none of our vehicles is carrying stickers or any symbol of our party. So we were allowed to go," Kejriwal said.

But police had a different version. "He was not detained. Since the election dates are announced, we just wanted to make sure that he follows the model code of conduct and take due permission. Thus, we took him to police station to brief him about the same," Parikshita Rathod, Patan district superintendent of police told PTI.

Kejriwal was heckled at some places by protesters who showed black flags and shouted slogans that AAP is "anti-Narmada" and called him an "agent of Congress". AAP has fielded NBA leader Medha Patkar from North East Mumbai.

Kejriwal, on his route from Ahmedabad city to North Gujarat on the first day of his four-day tour, interacted with villagers, visited government hospitals in backward areas and addressed small gatherings where he urged people to reject BJP and Congress.

After visiting a few villages in North Gujarat, he said that "no evidence of development is to be seen".

"Gujarat government and the media says there is 'Ramrajya' in this state. (They say) Education has developed, health issues have been resolved, corruption has been finished...So we have come here to see that development in Gujarat," he had said on his arrival at the city airport this morning.

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330 megawatt power plant gets commissioned in Uttarakhand

LUCKNOW: A 330 MW Shrinagar hydroelectric project has been developed on Alaknanda river in Uttarakhand by GVK Power & Infrastructure Limited.

The project has been developed as a run of the river project and is expected to supply 12 per cent of the energy to the Government of Uttarakhand at no charge. The balance 88 per cent power generated will go to the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) under a Power Purchase Agreement.

The project was inaugurated by UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav in the presence of Samajwadi Party President and Union Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav on Tuesday.

Akhilesh Yadav said that the inauguration of the project marks a significant milestone.

This project will supply 88 per cent of power to UP.

GVK Reddy, founder chairman and managing Director, GVK, said that it was his honour and privilege to witness the commissioning of the 330 MW hydro electric project.

Our power plants are benchmarked to the highest standards of efficiency and productivity. This project not only aims to benefit the people of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, but also aid the nation to be self-reliant, he said.

The project, which is 248 metres long, is 90 metre high (from deepest foundation level) dam. It is expected to utilize the net head of around 66 metre between the diversion dam and the power house to generate electricity. The water conductor system consists of two head race tunnels, RCC troughs, power channel and penstocks.

The power house has four vertical turbines rated at 82.5 MW each. The water released from turbines will flow into Alaknanda through a tail race channel.

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Lok Sabha poll schedule to be announced on Wednesday

NEW DELHI: The much-awaited schedule for the Lok Sabha polls will be announced by the Election Commission on Wednesday.

With the announcement of poll dates, the model code of conduct for governments and political parties will come into force with immediate effect.

The schedule will be announced at a press conference by chief election commissioner VS Sampath along with two election commissioners HS Brahma and SNA Zaidi. The conference this time is being held at Vigyan Bhawan instead of at Nirvachan Bhawan, the EC headquarters.

Polling is likely to commence from the second week of April and may be spread over six to seven phases, the longest so far, highly placed sources said.

The probable dates for the commencement of polling are between April 7 and 10, the sources in the Election Commission had told PTI.

As of now, the plan is to have the voting exercise involving an electorate of 81 crore in six to seven phases. The 2009 polls were held in five phases from April 16 to May 13.

The term of the current Lok Sabha expires on June 1 and the new House has to be constituted by May 31.

Along with the Lok Sabha election, Andhra Pradesh, including the regions comprising Telangana, Odisha and Sikkim will go to polls to elect new assemblies.

It could be the first time the country witnesses elections over such a long period in six or seven phases.

The sources had said that the attempt is to "maximize" use of forces and the polling days. In the first phase, polling is expected to be held in some of the Naxalite-hit states and in some northeastern states.

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UPA regime made defence sector defenceless, Jayalalithaa says

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Tuesday held the Congress-led UPA government responsible for a series of accidents involving submarines, which have claimed several lives.

"Despite Navy's continuous pleas for six new submarines, the Centre remained indifferent, which has resulted in such mishaps and sailors' death," she said, while addressing a gathering at Meenambakkam in Chennai on the second day of her campaign for Lok Sabha elections.

"While Navy chief Admiral Devender Kumar Joshi quit owning moral responsibility to the recent mishap involving INS Sindhuratna, those who rejected the Navy's pleas continue to stick to their posts," Jayalalithaa said, in an apparent reference to Union defence minister AK Antony.

The AIADMK general secretary slammed the Congress for not acting on a Comptroller and Auditor General of India's report in 2009 that pointed out the delay in the process of procurement of battery monitoring system. The system is meant to prevent fire in submarines.

"The UPA regime did nothing to modernize the armed forces during the last ten years. It has made the defence sector defenceless," she said.

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Yeddyurappa confident that BJP will win 20 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka

MANGALORE: Former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, ruling out any confusion after the merger of Karnataka Janata Party (KJP) founded by him with the BJP, said that BJP leadership will announce list of candidates for Lok Sabha polls from Karnataka on March 8. The list will take into consideration the aspirations of prominent leaders who went with him to KJP and have been identified as his loyalists, including the Tumkur MP GS Basavaraj.

Interacting with media here on Tuesday, Yeddyurappa admitted that there a few districts where the formal merger of KJP with BJP is yet to take place. The aspirations of workers who identified with KJP there will be addressed, he said, adding that both units will work together leaving behind KJP as an old dream. Issues pertaining to Dhananjay Kumar — once his trusted lieutenant — will be sorted out and the party leaders will address the same, he said.

On him contesting Lok Sabha polls from Shimoga in place of BY Raghavendra, the sitting MP and his son, Yeddyurappa said, "I have fallen in line with the decision taken by party's central leadership who want me in Delhi." Stating that they wanted his presence in Delhi more than in Karnataka given that next elections in Karnataka are due 51 months away, he said, "I have given in to their decision in agreeing to contesting the polls from Shimoga."

Pointing that his son had done exceedingly well as an MP, Yeddyurappa said, "He is one among few MPs from the state who have been active in their first stint as MP."

On the likelihood of a byelection to Shikaripura assembly constituency that he currently represents if he won from Shimoga, Yeddyurappa said the party could consider Raghavendra's name for bypolls in such a scenario. "He has proved his leadership mettle," Yeddyurappa pointed.

Claiming there is a favourable wave for BJP to do well in forthcoming general election; Yeddyurappa exuded confidence that BJP will win 20 out of 28 seats in the state.

The youth are rallying behind BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in the same vein and zest that one saw during the socialist movement spearheaded by socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan, Yeddyurappa said adding that the party has already commenced its groundwork.

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Shiv Sena warns BJP against links with MNS, NCP

MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena on Tuesday said its "grand alliance" with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could collapse if the BJP continued to hobnob with the NCP or Raj Thackeray's MNS.

"If any senior leader from the BJP supports either Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray or Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar, it can affect the 'mahayuti' (grand alliance)," Sena spokesman and MP Sanjay Raut said.

He was reacting to reports that the Shiv Sena was peeved over Monday's meeting between BJP leader Nitin Gadkari and Raj Thackeray, sparking speculation that the BJP was trying to woo the MNS.

However, Gadkari dismissed the Sena's apprehensions, saying he only discussed strategies to dislodge the Congress in the Lok Sabha election.

Not convinced, Raut said: "The Marathi votes will always be with the Shiv Sena and nobody can take it away."

Meanwhile, Republican Party of India (Athawale) chief Ramdas Athawale, which is part of the alliance, said it would welcome the MNS into the NDA.

Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray is said to be displeased over the BJP-MNS links. State BJP chief Devendra Fadnavis rushed to meet him at his bungalow around midnight.

Uddhav Thackeray said there was a "communication gap within the BJP" as its leaders speak of defeating the Congress-NCP government but keep praising Pawar or Raj Thackeray.

At their meeting on Monday, Gadkari reportedly urged the MNS not to put up candidates in the Lok Sabha election and instead support BJP candidates to oust the Congress-NCP combine.

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