About 500 masked men carrying guns and machetes attacked election officials in Arunachal Pradesh and made off with computerised voting machines, officials said.
On Sunday, a team of officials was travelling through dense jungle to a polling station in Arunachal Pradesh when it was ambushed, district magistrate Rido Tarek said.
Some of the attackers opened fire but there were no casualties, police said.
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In anticipation of its widely expected victory in Indian elections, the Bharatiya Janata Part's New Delhi unit has placed an order of 350kg of sweets for Thursday when the votes will be counted.
"The weight of the laddoos has been kept at 350 kg in line with Mission 350, our aim to win 350 seats. We will also officially kick-start the campaign for the Delhi Assembly elections from Thursday," The Hindu quoted a party source as saying.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah has said that the opposition parties' allegations that electronic voting machines (EVMs) have been rigged is akin to "tarnishing India and its democracy".
India's Ministry of Home Affairs has told states and union territories to remain alert as violence could erupt when the vote counting takes place on Thursday, according to India Today.
"MHA has asked the states and Union Territories to maintain law and order, peace and public tranquility. States/UTs have been further asked to take adequate measures for the security of strong rooms and venues of counting of votes. This is in the wake of calls given and statements made in various quarters for inciting violence and causing disruption on the day of counting of votes." — Ministry of Home Affairs
Equity strategists have predicted that a re-election of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead stock markets to a record high by the end of this year.
The BSE Sensex index rose by its biggest amount in one day since September 2013 on Monday after exit polls showed NDA will retain power for a second consecutive term. Having gained eight per cent so far this year, the index is forecast to add another 2.6pc by end-2019.
Read more details here.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called on his supporters to remain cautious and alert over the next 24 hours in the lead-up to the formal announcement of the results of election.
Dismissing the exit polls predicting a victory for the BJP and its allies as propaganda, Gandhi assured workers their hard work would not go to waste.
Find out more here.
The Lok Sabha elections spanning over a month and seven phases finally ended on Sunday.
The Print points out the seven key issues that defined what has been one of the most ferociously fought, politically polarised and the most distinct election in recent times.
These include:
Click here to read the article.
On May 23, 2019, the curtain will come down on the darkest five years in the history of independent India. What lies on the other side of that curtain is anybody’s guess, says Rohit Kumar.
Read the full article here.
India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley looks set to retain his post if Prime Minister Narendra Modi wins a second term as expected when results come on Thursday.
But if his health worsens, Railways and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal could take over.
Whoever holds the job, Modi needs a finance minister who can reinvigorate the economy without hiking debt.
Read more.
With the elections finally over, the Indian Air Force (IAF) may end up pressing charges against its own officers found guilty of the lapses that led to the downing of an Mi-17 helicopter on February 27, allegedly in friendly fire.
According to The Wire, six IAF personnel and a civilian were killed when the helicopter disintegrated and crashed in Budgam.
A report by Indian defence analyst Ajai Shukla said that the court of inquiry had “conclusively determined” that the Mi-17 V5 helicopter was brought down by friendly fire.
The Indian Election Commission has rejected allegations of mishandling of Electronic Voting Machines and VVPAT in Uttar Pradesh and maintained that all machines are safe and secure, India Today reported.
The statement came after several videos of EVMs being stored and moved from one unauthorised storage house to another surfaced on Twitter.
Leading opposition parties urged India’s election commission to count the paper trail attached to electronic voting machines (EVMs) before turning to the EVMs amid reports of rigging by changing the machines across the country.
The Frontline magazine had reported recently that a Right to Information (RTI) activist had revealed that two million EVMs had gone unaccounted between their manufacturers and the election commission.
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"India is much more politically polarised with Modi trying to turn the country into a Hindu rashtriya. Secularism, which kept the multi-ethnic and multifaith country united, has weakened — that is likely to have a direct bearing on India’s regional policy under Modi 2.0. Depending on the scale of his electoral mandate, it may lead to a significant societal change in the country."
Read more of Zahid Hussain's analysis here.
While reporting on The Modi Voter series, Scroll.in's Supriya Sharma spoke to Indians in four different states ─ Maharashtra, Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh ─ to find out what it is that draws voters to the Bharatiya Janata Party – the record of the Narendra Modi government, the party’s majoritarian politics, or the personal appeal of Modi.
Explore her findings in this article.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is preparing to meet coalition partners to discuss a new government, two BJP sources have said, after exit polls predicted a better-than-expected result for it in a general election.
The talks would most likely be held on Tuesday afternoon, the two sources in the BJP said. They declined to be identified as they are not authorised to speak about the meeting.
Exit polls from India's marathon election showed an "overwhelming" vote in favour of a new term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his party said as shares and the Indian currency surged on expectations of a new term.
While opposition parties refused to give in and the country faces a nerve-jangling three day wait until the official count begins, most media polls said Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies would secure enough seats to form a new government after the world's biggest election.
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Indian markets have rallied after exit polls showed Prime Minister Narendra Modi was set to win a second term after a general election with an even bigger mandate than in 2014.
Markets had been expecting the NDA to win a second term but the margin of victory as suggested by the polls is a clear surprise and expected to keep sentiment buoyant in the near term.
NDTV's poll of polls — an aggregate of exit polls — has tipped Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party to nearly replicate its triumph of 2014 polls and comfortably clinch a second straight term in power.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), according to the poll of polls, is set to win 302 seats, while the Congress and co will have to suffice with victories in merely 122 constituencies.
After West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Indian Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu has also come out doubting the accuracy of exit polls.
Following reports that most exit polls were indicating a victory for Modi's BJP, Naidu warned that such surveys are not reliable measures to gauge poll outcomes.
"Exit polls do not mean exact polls. We have to understand that. Since 1999, most of the exit polls have gone wrong." — M. Venkaiah Naidu
Violent clashes broke out in India's eastern state of West Bengal again on Sunday in the final phase of the staggered election that will decide whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns for a second term.
The police, according to AFP used batons to break up skirmishes between supporters of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the regional Trinamool Congress party in Kankinara, on the outskirts of state capital Kolkata.
Several crude bombs were also exploded during the clashes, the police said.
After exit polls tipped the Bharatiya Janata Party to win a second straight term in Indian elections, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee urged the opposition parties to not put too faith in such surveys and instead "fight this battle together".
"I don’t trust Exit Poll gossip. The game plan is to manipulate or replace thousands of EVMs through this gossip. I appeal to all Opposition parties to be united, strong and bold. We will fight this battle together." — Mamata Banerjee
Voting ended on Sunday in India's most acrimonious election in decades that will decide whether Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi gets a second term in power.
As the final polling booths closed, a huge security cordon was thrown around the voting machines and boxes of paper votes used in the 542 seats for the world's biggest election before the official count starts on Thursday.
Tens of thousands of police and paramilitaries on duty in West Bengal state were a symbol of the mounting tensions between Modi's right wing Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition during the six weeks of voting.
Long queues formed outside polling stations in the eastern state but the BJP and its rivals again accused each other of using violence, fraud and intimidation.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling alliance is likely to win a majority in parliament, two exit polls showed today after voting ended.
Modi’s National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is projected to win 287 seats in the 545-member lower house of parliament followed by 128 for the Congress party-led opposition alliance, CVoter exit poll said.
To rule a party needs the support of 272 lawmakers. Votes are to be counted on Thursday. Exit polls have a mixed record in a country with an electorate of 900 million people.
According to another poll released by Times Now television Modi’s alliance is likely to get 306 seats, a clear majority.
Voting for the marathon seven-phase national elections to constitute the 17th Lok Sabha has ended and will be followed by exit polls, Hindustan Times reported.
The election process, spread over a staggering 71 days and 7 phases, was one of the most-acrimoniously fought with the National Democratic Alliance led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a second term in office and the Opposition attempting to dent its chances.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke the internet with images that showed him wrapped in saffron robes, meditating in an austere cave near the Kedarnath shrine in Uttarakhand.
The Rudra cave is located one kilometre from the Kedarnath shrine. The tariff was slashed from Indian Rupee 3,000 a day to Rs990 this year, and the first five guests in the cave will be allowed complimentary stays, the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam’s general manager BL Rana told the Hindustan Times.
Read more here.
"Polling is over. Now we can say that the 'pilgrimage' of the PM in the last two days is an unacceptable use of religion and religious symbols to influence the voting," Member of Parliament P Chidambaram wrote on Twitter.
"Our charge had been that the EC was sleeping on the job. Now, we can go further and say that the EC completely surrendered its independence and authority. Shame!"
"In the liberal view of things, the ongoing Lok Sabha election will decide India’s future. It will decide whether India will become a Hindu-first state with reduced civil liberties and intolerance of minorities or be dragged back to its old state of sometimes wavering secularism but a general agreement to co-habitation and tolerance."
"I want to tell my fellow liberals that it is too late. That decision has already been made," writes Samar Halarnkar for Scroll.in.
"Even if Modi fails, the Hindu view of life will predominate, civil liberties may be further eroded, and minorities will likely find themselves pushed to evolve a new contract with their country. A new government could recover some ground here, if it is determined to, by rolling back the deliberate, institutionalised misuse of the law and technology."
Read the full article here.
The Congress, the Trinamool Congress and the Telugu Desam Party has filed complaints with the Indian Election Commission alleging that media coverage of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Kedarnath visit violated the Model Code of Conduct.
Meanwhile, BJP shared more pictures of Modi on Twitter as his two-day visit to Kedarnath ended.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a total of 144 rallies and roadshows this election campaign season while Congress chief Rahul Gandhi addressed 125.
According to an NDTV report, Uttar Pradesh, a state that gave the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance or NDA 73 off 80 seats in the last Lok Sabha elections, was the Modi's top focus. He held 36 rallies and roadshows there, which is an average of one rally per 2.3 seats.
The prime minister's other big focus was West Bengal, a state where a bitter battle was fought between his BJP and Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, noted NDTV.
Meanwhile, Gandhi's four priority states were Uttar Pradsh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala.
Read the full breakdown by NDTV here.
A polling booth in Kalpa village, Himachal Pradesh, rolled out the red carpet honouring Shyam Saran Negi, the 102-year-old voter, who became the 'first' Indian to vote in the General elections of 1952, reported Times of India.
"All the abuse and misconduct claims suggest that standards in Indian politics have slipped badly," Asit Banerjee, a history teacher in Kolkata, said as he queued to vote.
"Endless mudslinging and bitter comments pervaded the campaign. We are losing hope in democracy, it is time for a reset," the 60-year-old told AFP.
Writing in the Hindustan Times, political commentator Karan Thapar said Modi's message "played on our insecurities and strummed upon our deep inner fears". He also criticised Gandhi's campaign.
Crude bombs were hurled at two places in West Bengal, where polling is underway in nine constituencies, Hindustan Times reported.
Reports of bombs thrown in Gilaberia area in Deganga and in Raidighi came in as voters queued up in polling booths, it added.
There were allegations that BJP supporters were beaten up and its camp office vandalised.
Read the full report here.
Rahul Gandhi, vying to become the latest prime minister from India's most famous dynasty, has worked hard to shed his image as an entitled footloose princeling and political lightweight.
But the great-grandson, grandson and son of three past premiers of the world's biggest democracy still faces a tough task beating Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the elections.
Read more.
Stern, sharp and shrewd, Narendra Modi fought his way off the streets to become one of India's most popular and polarising prime ministers.
There is no middle ground between admirers and adversaries of the man — now running for a second term — who helped his father run a railway station tea stall before launching his career in nationalist politics.
The 68-year-old makes much of his humble roots while unashamedly portraying himself as the tough guy protecting India's national security and Hindu values, pressing its claims to be the world's rising power.
Read more.
Indians are voting in the seventh and final phase of national elections, wrapping up a 6-week-long long, gruelling campaign season with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party seeking reelection for another five years.
The last round of election includes 59 constituencies in eight states.
Up for grabs are 13 seats in Punjab and an equal number in Uttar Pradesh, eight each in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, four in Himachal Pradesh and three in Jharkhand and Chandigarh.
The voting also covers Modi's constituency of Varanasi, a holy Hindu city where he was elected in 2014. The election is seen as a referendum on Modi's five-year rule. He has adopted a nationalist pitch in trying to win votes from the country's Hindu majority by projecting a tough stance against Pakistan.
The Congress and other opposition parties are challenging him over a high unemployment rate of 6.1 per cent and farmers' distress aggravated by low crop prices.
Counting of votes is scheduled for May 23.
Any political party hoping to win a majority in the Indian parliament needs to "perform very well in UP (Uttar Pradesh)", says Ashok Upadhyay, a political scientist at Banaras Hindu University.
UP — a poverty-stricken melting pot of over 200 million people — has 80 parliamentary seats and is the biggest prize of the Indian elections. Both BJP and Congress, India's major parties, are hoping to win as many seats in UP as possible in order to win the elections.
Read more about UP's electoral importance here.
Oxford Dictionaries was dragged into India’s bitter election on Thursday as it rubbished a claim that “Modilie” — referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi — is a recognised word.
Rahul Gandhi, Modi’s main challenger in the election, tweeted what he said was a screen shot of an online dictionary entry for the word combining the words Modi and lie. “There’s a new word in the English Dictionary. Attached is a snapshot of the entry :),” the scion of India’s Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty wrote in a post forwarded almost 10,000 times.
The image used a similar font, layout and logo to Oxford Dictionaries’ website, but did not use the word Oxford. Oxford Dictionaries replied on its verified Twitter account. “We can confirm that the image showing the entry ‘Modilie’ is fake and does not exist in any of our Oxford Dictionaries,” it said.
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India’s Election Commission cut off campaigning early in the eastern state of West Bengal after days of clashes in the final stretch of the country’s marathon elections, a drastic and unprecedented action in the world’s largest democracy.
The three-member body said in the order on Thursday that “growing incidents of disruption and violence” were creating a “fear psychosis” among voters, and ordered campaigning to cease by 10pm on Thursday, a day before it had been scheduled to end.
Normally campaigns run up to 48 hours before polls open, according to Indian law.
Read more here.
Do you know how political parties are aligned in India's ongoing elections?
Find out here.
With a white beard neatly trimmed and a sleeveless jacket thrown over his traditional Indian shirt, Abhinandan Pathak turns heads thanks to an uncanny resemblance to the country's Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
While he looks like Modi, Pathak is contesting the election as an independent candidate against the BJP.
Read more here.
An overall voter turnout of 62.86 per cent was recorded till 8:30pm local time as polling concluded in the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections, according to the Indian Election Commission.
Among the seven states where voting was held today, West Bengal witnessed the highest voter turnout at 80.16pc while Uttar Pradesh saw the lowest estimated turnout at 54.29pc. The figure recorded in the capital Delhi was 58.45pc.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi said it was "very clear" that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would be defeated in the election as people were "angry and distressed" and would express their sentiment through their votes, NDTV reported.
"It is very clear that the BJP government is going," she was quoted as saying.
Gandhi cast her vote on Sunday morning along with her husband Rober Vadra.
He has been smeared with chilli powder and slapped, but Delhi's chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, will still be leading the fight against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Sunday's penultimate round of the Indian election.
Fifty-nine seats are up for grabs across the country on the sixth voting day of the marathon ballot.
The tussle for the capital will be front and centre, with all eyes on Kejriwal, whose Aam Aadmi Party was formed just seven years ago amid outrage over corruption.
It has since taken control of Delhi's regional government and is fighting to add to its four seats in India's lower house of parliament.
Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be trying to stave off the onslaught and keep the seven seats it currently holds.
Find out more here.
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