EC impact? Akhilesh plays it safe in Agra

AGRA: The impact of Election Commission's tough stance towards Mulayam Singh Yadav and Azam Khan was apparent in Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav's speeches. While addressing public gatherings in Agra on Sunday, a visibly subdued Akhilesh stayed away from controversial statements.

He was accompanied by Samajwadi Party MP and actress Jaya Bachchan, who made an emotional appeal to the locals to vote for the party. "UP ki bahu hun, muh dikhai mein vote maang rahi hun (I am UP's daughter-in-law and I am asking for votes as a present)," she said. Jaya added that she was surprised why people in UP were termed narrow-minded when they have elected a young and dynamic CM.

A sea of SP supporters was seen at both Etmadpur and Fatehabad where Akhilesh addressed public gatherings and appealed to people to vote for SP candidates from the region. While Maharaj Singh Dhangar is representing SP in Agra, Maharani Pakshalika Singh will be contesting on a party ticket from Fatehpur Sikri. The locals appeared overwhelmed with Akhilesh Bhaiya who made big poll promises.

Hitting out at the opposition parties for criticizing SP's laptop scheme, the CM said, "What problem do people have if UP boys watch films on laptops? At least they are learning how to use the device."

Terming BJP "chaalu" (cunning) and Congress and BSP "luteri" (corrupt) parties, Akhilesh warned people not to believe the rumors against SP as they were a conspiracy by the rival parties to divert public attention from the good work done by his government.

Seeking public support for father Mulayam Singh Yadav's prime ministerial dream in typical UP lingo, Akhilesh said, "Bhaiyo agar netaji jaisa koi tajurbekar hai to bolo? Agar netaji ka koi vikalp nazar aata ho to bolo? Agar Samajwadi Party jaise kam kisi party ne kiye to bolo? Agar nahi, to Sapa pratyashi ko jita kar netaji ke hatho ko mazboot karo. (Do you know of a more experienced leader than netaji? Do you think there is an alternative to him? Has any party done as much as SP? If not, then vote for our candidates and strengthen netaji's position)."

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 Vote for me, get CM free: Renuka Rawat

HARIDWAR: Wary of strong competition from BJP candidate Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, chief minister Harish Rawat's wife and Congress nominee from Haridwar, Renuka has given a new tag line to her poll campaign - Double ka Dum.

"Vote for me and get Uttarakhand CM free," she has been saying during her campaign in the most high-profile battle at Uttarakhand for the Lok Sabha polls.

"Have you seen TV advertisements, where it says buy one and get one free? Here, I will say, vote for your behen (sister) and get state's chief minister free," Rawat told a group of 200-odd people at Sitapur, a minority dominated area.

Draped in a light purple sari with flower print, the Congress candidate reminded the people about the projects initiated in the district by her husband, who had won from Haridwar by a margin of over 1.25 lakh votes in 2009. "For the development of Haridwar, it is important to ensure win for Congress as the constituency will not only get a parliamentarian but also a chief minister," she said.

In a meeting at Ram Lila ground of Bahadrabad area, about six-kms away from Sitapur, Renuka made an emotional appeal to the voters. "This is the month of Bhitauli (a gift given by brothers to sisters during the Hindu month of Baishak), kya aap apni is behen ko jeet ka tohfa nahin denge? (Will you not gift a victory to your sister)," Renuka said.

The Congress nominee is hoping to sway the high percentage of minority voters at Haridwar in her favour. Of the 15.53 lakh voters, the constituency has about 3.85 lakh Muslim voters and 1.85 lakh SC/ST voters.

Nishank, however, told TOI, "People will not be misled by meaningless slogans and tag lines like Double ka Dum or buy one and get one free." The BJP leader pointed out that after winning in 2009, Harish rarely came to the constituency and it was only after being made the CM that he realized his duty towards Haridwar as he did not want the party ticket to go outside his family.

"The question still remains that what has the couple done for the religious city apart from making hollow commitments," he added. Upbeat after the recent meetings in minority-dominated areas of Haridwar, Nishank said, "Both minorities as well as SC/STs are backing BJP this time and we will register a thumping win."

Adding to Renuka's problems, former CM and MLA of Doiwala assembly under Haridwar, Nishank, hit the campaign trail about a month before her name was announced as Congress nominee. It was only after Harish took oath as Uttarakhand CM on February 1 that the name of his family members, including Renuka and daughter Anupama, cropped up for the seat.

The worrying factor for Congress is that seven of the 14 assembly seats under Haridwar Lok Sabha were won by the BJP in 2012. Congress won only four seats while BSP emerged victorious in three constituencies.

Besides Renuka and Nishank, the country's first woman DGP Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya - the AAP candidate from the constituency - is also among the frontrunners for the seat. Bhattacharya, who has been camping at Haridwar for more than a month now has stuck to the formula of talking about development rather than criticizing her rival candidates and parties.

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SP supporters thrash police officers in Agra

AGRA: Samajwadi Party workers allegedly assaulted a police team on election duty near Bateshwar temple in Agra on Saturday. The police have arrested four persons for the attack.

The incident took place when a police team, along with static magistrate Pankaj Yadav, was checking vehicles crossing the Bateshwar-Shikohabad lane. The officers stopped around a dozen vehicles going towards Bateshwar temple, five of which had occupants waving SP flags.

According to Rajendra Kumar, an officer who was injured in the episode, the men inside the vehicles misbehaved with the static magistrate when asked to show permission for the vehicles' entry in the area and later stepped out and assaulted the policemen.s

He added that the attackers hit videographer Vishnu who was shooting the incident and also snatched the guns of constables. Kumar said the men in the vehicles were taking the name of senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav's son Akshay.

Two officers and a videographer were seriously injured in the attack and were taken to Agra medical college. City SSP Shalabh Mathur said the accused were waving SP flags from their cars but there was no involvement of SP leader Akshay Yadav. He added that the police arrested four accused named Mahendra Yadav, Gaurav Yadav, Bhole and Chote Singh from Mainpuri.

Meanwhile, SP district coordinator Anil Rawat said the incident was a conspiracy by rival parties to divert public attention from the good work done by his government.

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Snow blocks road to Badrinath

DEHRADUN: Fresh snow and incessant rain have blocked the highway to Badrinath, threatening the Char Dham yatra which is scheduled to kick off next month in Uttarakhand.

The state government has rushed more than 500 personnel of the recently raised State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) to take up the massive task of clearing snow on the highway to Badrinath and on the tracks near Kedarnath.

Confirming the Rishikesh-Badrinath highway blockage, executive director, Uttarakhand Disaster Mitigation Centre, Piyush Rautela said: "The snow has blocked the highway three kilometers ahead of Badrinath. It is a small stretch and the work of clearing the snow is going on. It would be clear for vehicles soon if the weather normalizes." He said the stretch would be cleared before the Char Dham yatra.

The state government is regularly monitoring the weather forecast and planning out reinforcement of personnel to expedite the work of clearing the snow and repairing the road.

The work has been carried out by the BRO and PWD in Uttarakhand. State government sources said if inclement weather continues for another two weeks, it would impact the yatra. "At present, we are expecting to complete the work before the end of April but if more snowfall and rain happens, it would be create a lot of problems," said a senior official.

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FIR filed against Giriraj Singh, Gadkari, other BJP leaders

RANCHI: An FIR was on Sunday filed against Bihar BJP leader Giriraj Singh, former BJP chief Nitin Gadkari and some other party leaders following a controversial remark by Singh that the Centre gave subsidy to those who exported beef and taxed those who reared cows.

The FIR was lodged under the Bihar Representation of Improvement of Animal Act, 1952, under the Representation of People's Act 1951, and for violation of the Model Code of Conduct, police said.

Deoghar Superintendent of Police Rakesh Bansal confirmed that an FIR has been filed against the leaders with the Mohanpur police.

On the direction of sub-divisional magistrate-cum-deputy Returning Officer Jay Jyoti Samanta, the FIR was filed against Singh, Gadkari, BJP's Godda candidate Nishikant Dubey and those who were on the stage during the meeting at Mohanpur, Bansal said.

Singh had also said in his poll speech that those who opposed the party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi would have to shift base to Pakistan after the outcome of election results.

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‘No vacancy’ for leadership role for Priyanka Gandhi in Congress, Shashi Tharoor says

NEW DELHI: With Sonia and Rahul Gandhi at the top, Congress has "no vacancy" for a leadership role, party leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday said amid speculation that Priyanka Gandhi could assume a bigger responsibility in the organization.

"Congress has a president and a vice-president, who is not only functioning but also active. Off course, Priyanka Gandhi is campaigning in two Lok Sabha constituencies (Amethi and Rae Bareli)," Tharoor, who is also a party spokesperson, told reporters, adding that she herself had restricted her role to the two seats.

Asked if this meant Priyanka was not required, Tharoor said "there is no vacancy at the moment. We have a President and a Vice President and they are doing a job".

The Congress leader, at the same time, said that there has been a "very positive impact" by the campaigning of Priyanka in the two parliamentary constituencies.

Earlier this week, Priyanka had said that her brother Rahul had expressed to her many times that he thinks, she should contest".

She had also said that no one in her family would ever stop her from contesting an election.

"My brother, mother and husband would whole-heartedly support me if I wanted to contest. My decision not to contest is entirely my own. I will only change it when I feel from within I should," she had said.

Priyanka's comments had came in response to a report that she was very keen to contest from Varanasi Lok Sabha seat against Modi because she felt he was "bad for the country" and needed to be "stopped".

But, the report added, the "party leadership finally decided against fielding her".

Two years younger than 43-year-old Rahul, Priyanka is seen as a more natural leader in Congress than her brother.

There have been demands from partymen from time to time that Priyanka should assume a larger role and campaign all over the country.

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Those opposing Modi will have to go to Pakistan: BJP leader

DEOGARH/DUMKA (Jharkhand): Bihar's BJP leader Giriraj Singh has stirred up a controversy saying that those opposing the party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi would have to go to Pakistan after the Lok Sabha elections.

"Those opposing Narendra Modi are looking at Pakistan, and such people will have place in Pakistan and not in India," Singh told a poll meeting at Mohanpur Haat Maidan near the temple town Deogarh on Friday.

Attacking the Congress-led UPA government, Singh said, "The central government gives subsidy to those who export beef and not to those rearing cows."

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Bangalore doctors' bloodless coup in operation theatre

BANGALORE: When teetotaller Ganesh Kamath's doctors told him he had liver cirrhosis, the 51-year-old businessman was shocked. He was prescribed medicines but they only offered temporary relief.

Slowly, the disorder began to cripple his daily activities. Eighteen months later, doctors suggested he undergo a liver transplant.

Rebirth came in the form of an accident victim whose family donated the cadaver. On March 12 this year Ganesh received a call from BGS Global Hospital where he was being treated. The doctors had found a liver match for Ganesh. The victim's family had donated the body for cadaver organ transplant. Ganesh got admitted in hospital on the same day and underwent transplant on March 13, after just a month's wait for a potential liver.

What makes Ganesh's story special ahead of World Liver Day (April 20), apart from the cadaver transplant, is the fact that it was a bloodless transplant. For the first time, the surgery was conducted without using extra blood or blood transfusion. A team of liver transplant surgeons, including Dr Mathew Jacob, Dr Keizar Raja, Dr Sonal Asphana and Dr Rajiv Lochan, spearheaded the transplant that saved the patient suffering from endstage liver disorder.

According to Dr Rajiv Lochan, senior liver transplant surgeon, there is no medical literature found in India about a previous case of liver transplant done without blood transfusion. "This may be the first of its kind in India. While most liver transplants require a large volume of blood and blood products like plasma and platelets, his surgery was unique in that no blood products were used at all. He made a smooth and rapid recovery and was discharged from the hospital just two weeks after his surgery," he said.

Historically, significant blood loss at the time of liver transplantation has been treated with large transfusions of packed red blood cells, fresh frozen plasma and platelets along with drugs, Dr Rajiv said.

"Transfusion-free transplantation requires an experienced surgical and anaesthetic team assisted with modern technology such as a 'cell saver', which collects patient's blood as it is lost during surgery, cleans it and returns it to the patient. Anaesthetists can give the patient drugs to reduce blood pressure. This is called hypotensive anaesthesia. Bloodless surgery also requires meticulous technique with decisive control of bleeding," said Dr Rajiv Lochan.

Penning his gratitude: For Ganesh, the family of the accident victim that came to his rescue in the hour of need is responsible for his rebirth. Soon after surgery, he wrote a letter to the family thanking them for it.

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Election Commission refuses to respond to Azam Khan's allegations

HYDERABAD: The Election Commission of India on Saturday refused to be drawn into a controversy over allegations levelled by the Samajwadi Party that the poll watchdog was "biased" towards the BJP.

"The commission doesn't get into individual allegations. We can't get into a public debate. These are allegations made from time to time. We don't get drawn into such controversy," Chief Election Commissioner, VS Sampath said this evening, reacting to the SP's allegations that the ECI was biased towards the BJP.

Responding to a query on SP leader and Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan's threat to move the Supreme Court against the ECI order banning him from campaigning, the CEC noted that the commission would not get into individual allegations.

Asked if the ECI would provide "relief" to Azam Khan, similar to the one given to BJP leader Amit Shah, Sampath remarked, "It is for him (Khan) to decide whether he wants relief or not."

The CEC, along with election commissioners Hari Shankar Brahma and Nasim Zaidi and other officials of the commission, was here to review the preparedness of the administration for conduct of elections to Lok Sabha and the state assembly on April 30 and May 7.

"We have reviewed the preparedness for the polls. We met representatives of recognized political parties, who offered good and positive suggestions. They also offered full support to the ECI in election management," Sampath said.

Subsequently, the CEC and ECs held a review with collectors and Superintendents of Police of all districts and top police officials.

This was followed by a meeting with chief secretary Prasanna Kumar Mohanty, DGP B Prasada Rao, principal secretary (Home) T P Das and other officials.

Of the total 70,171 polling stations across the state, 25,319 have been classified as "critical and hyper critical".

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Innovators seek to make polls smooth

AHMEDABAD: Some young innovators are creating products that hold the promise of making the election process smooth. These 20-something innovators are working on a range of products — right from a flameless seal-maker to a stampede-preventing device. The innovations are in different stages of development and are being documented by Ahmedabad-based non-governmental organization, SRISTI, and National Innovation Foundation (NIF).

To give an example, S Vidyasagar and his classmates have created a stampede-preventing device using image analysis technology. Intended for use at political rallies and temple festivals, the device can detect the likelihood of a stampede and keep police in the loop.

"Through videocameras, the situation can be monitored frame by frame. The device, using image analysis, will assess whether a stampede is likely," said Vidyasagar, an engineering student of Kongu Engineering College in Erode. The product has been tested on a crowd model to understand its efficacy.

Shanu Sharma, a PhD student from IIT-Kanpur, can help officials ensure maximum voter turnout at polling booths. Sharma has designed a unique wheelchair that can climb a staircase instead of the usual ramp, and thus help people with disabilities.

Similarly, Masha Nazeem from Kanyakumari has created an electronic, flameless seal-maker that has been tested in two election booths in Kanyakumari during polls. According to the NIF, the possibility of the flameless seal-for different government departments and by the Election Commission is being explored.

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