Campaigning for the Himachal Pradesh assembly polls had a good amount of emotional quotient. BJP’s star campaigner, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reaped rich dividends with his sustained emotive appeals. He tried to strike an emotional chord with the people of the state while referring to his visit to Himachal Pradesh as the homecoming.

From his claim to have relished local dishes to giving way to an ambulance by stopping his convoy at Chambi in Kangra district during his visit for campaigning have been taken again as an opportunity to depict his larger-than-life image. “Woh Kehte Hai Naa Ki Insaniyat Se Badkar Kuchh Nahi Hain (They say that nothing is bigger than humanity),” tweeted the BJP while sharing a video.

Congress’ star campaigner Priyanka Gandhi, in her speeches, too took up the majoritarian impulse to evoke emotions to connect with the people. In her speeches, she reminded the people of her grandmother former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s love for the people and the state.

Her role in Himachal Pradesh getting statehood and an identity that the people should be proud of, said Priyanka, adding that it was in Himachal Pradesh that Indira Gandhi wanted to live after retirement, which, however, could not happen as she was martyred.

Union Minister Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur broke down during an election meeting last month at Sujanpur while talking to his party workers as he recalled the love and support he and his father former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal have got from them.

The Congress, despite being in the Opposition, had won Mandi Lok Sabha and three assembly by-polls held in 2021 seeking votes in the name of six-time former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh as a tribute. This time too, in his absence, the Congress urged the people to vote for the party on the development works done by him, which helped in taking the state forward.

Emotive slogans, publicity material and social media were widely used to arouse public sentiments by the political parties in the fray.

Traditional rivals were banking on slogans. The BJP mainly harped on ‘Raj Nahi Rivaz Badlega’ (Tradition will change, and not the rule), while the Congress amongst many of those talked about fulfilling promises – ‘Wada Kiya Hai Wada Nibhayenge/Congress Ko Satta Mein Layenge’ (Promise has been made. It will be fulfilled. The Congress will be brought to power).

Even the state leaders too were not behind in joining the bandwagon.

Sitting BJP MLA from Churah and Deputy Speaker Hans Raj said that he had left no stone unturned to work for the upliftment of the people of his constituency and it is being said that he will not win the elections this time.

BJP seven-time MLA and Minister Mahender Singh Thakur and his son Rajat Thakur, who replaced him this time to contest from Dharampur assembly segment, were in tears while addressing a public rally.

Getting emotional, Shashi Bala, BJP woman candidate from Rohru in Shimla district, wept on the stage targeting the opposition Congress for tarnishing her image and accusing her of corruption.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday released the second list of six candidates for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections.

In the second list of six candidates, BJP has given tickets to two women. It has fielded Mahendrabhai Padaliya from Dhoraji, Mulubhai Bera from Khambhalia, Dheliben Maldebhai Odedara from Kutiyana, Sejal Rajiv Kumar Pandya from Bhavnagar East, Hitesh Devji Vasava from Dediapada (ST) and Sandeep Desai from Choryasi.

Earlier on Thursday, the BJP had announced the first list of candidates for 160 candidates out of the 182 constituencies for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections.

The first list of of 160 candidates includes 14 females, 13 from scheduled caste, 24 from the scheduled tribe and there are 69 candidates who have been repeated.

The Assembly elections are scheduled for December 1 and 5 in the State.
In the first round, 89 of the total 182 Assembly seats will go to polls and prominent political parties have declared their candidates for almost all these constituencies.

The BJP has drawn up a list of star campaigners for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections. Topping the list is Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The other prominent names on the list include BJP national president JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari and fellow central cabinet colleagues Smriti Irani, Dharmendra Pradhan, Mansukh Mandaviya and Purushottam Rupala.

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, who is seeking a fresh mandate from the Ghatlodia Assembly segment, also features in the star campainers’ list along with BJP state president CR Patil and state Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi.
Actors-turned-politicians Manoj Tiwary, Nirahua and Ravi Kishan will also be canvassing for BJP candidates ahead of the polls, which will be conducted over two phases on December 1 and 5.

Fromer Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala also features on the BJP’s list of campaigners.

The ruling party is seeking its seventh, straight term in power in the ensuing state polls. The state has been a BJP stronghold for long and the party has set its sights on returning to power with a handsome majority this time as well.
However, it faces a stiff electoral challenge from the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has named Isudan Gadhvi as its chief ministerial candidate.

The Congress is also hoping to put its best electoral foot forward to unseat the BJP government.

BJP is in power in the state from the last 27 years and is considered as BJP bastion.

The elections will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5. The counting of votes will take place on December 8, which coincides with Himachal Pradesh’s result date.

In a shocking incident, a minor girl was allegedly forcibly married by her mother to the latter’s 28-year-old lover and she also forced the teen victim to have sexual relations with him in Pune in Maharashtra, a police official said on Friday.

The 36-year-old woman and her 28-year-old lover have been arrested under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, he said.

“The incident came to light when the 15-year-old victim narrated her ordeal to a classmate and a woman social worker was alerted. The man is a distant relative and stayed with the accused woman,” the Chandannagar police station official said

“The woman told the girl she would commit suicide if the latter did not agree to the marriage. On November 6, the teen girl was married off to the man in a temple in Ahmednagar. The man forcibly established sexual relations with her. Further probe into the case is underway,” he added.

United Nations, Nov 12: As the world’s population is approaching 8 billion, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres gave a review of the mixed implications, urging the world community to seize opportunities and take actions to bridge divides between the global haves and have-nots.

On November 15, the world’s population is projected to reach 8 billion people, having grown by 1 billion since 2010, according to a recent policy brief by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

In an op-ed article published on Friday by the USA Today newspaper, Guterres called the milestone “a testament to scientific breakthroughs and improvements in nutrition, public health and sanitation”.

The 8-billion-strong world could yield enormous opportunities for some of the poorest countries, where population growth is highest, he said, adding that within a few decades, today’s poorest countries could become engines of sustainable, green growth and prosperity across entire regions.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Friday demanded Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who also holds the Home portfolio, to accept responsibility for the collapse of the law and order situation in Punjab and resign from his post immediately.

Addressing a Press conference, senior leader Bikram Singh Majithia said, “Never in the history of the State has law and order descended to this level as under this Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. It seems the law of jungle is prevailing in Punjab with targeted killings and extortions becoming the norm and gangsters being allowed a free reign. Since the CM is directly responsible for this state of affairs he should own responsibility and step down”.

He said there were extremely dangerous implications to the ongoing breakdown in the law and order situation. “A sharp increase in smuggling of weapons into the state has compromised national security. Daily killings and the new culture of extortions whereby no businessman is safe, is resulting in fleeing of capital from Punjab to other states. No investment is coming in and with home investors also choosing to move out we are staring at an economic collapse as well as a burgeoning unemployment crisis,” the SAD leader said.

Majithia said the CM should introspect to understand why things have taken such a turn and stop indulging in dance shows in Gujarat and instead concentrate on setting things right in Punjab.

“Only peace and communal harmony can bring development and progress and since both are missing in Punjab today there is a real threat of the State slipping back to the erstwhile era of darkness,” he said. The SAD leader said the CM was oblivious to the situation. “It was shocking that Mann praised Chandigarh Police at a function today and asserted that it was corruption free which itself was an indictment of the Punjab Police and its functioning,” he added.

Meanwhile Mr Majithia while welcoming the Supreme Court order freeing former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s killers said “there cannot be double standards and all Sikh detainees who were languishing in jail even after completion of their jail sentences, should be released”.

The Delhi Congress is going to release the first list of its candidates for the forthcoming municipal corporation elections on Saturday.

A meeting of the Congress Screening Committee for the corporation elections got on till late on Friday, in which Delhi State President Anil Chaudhary, Dr Ajoy Kumar and Avinash Pandey were present. A Senior Congress leader present at the meeting disclosed that the first list of Congress regarding corporation elections may be released today.

Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party declared its first list of 134 candidates for the corporation elections on Friday. The list has more than 60 women candidates.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday also released the party’s manifesto for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections and asserted that his government will work on fulfilling 10 ‘guarantees’.

The Election Commission has announced the date for Delhi civic body elections, and 250 seats of MCD to polls on December 4 and its counting is to be done on December 8. The last date of nomination is November 14.

As per Rule 14 of the DMC (Election of Councilors) Rules, 2012, a ‘public holiday’ comprises of a day which is a public holiday for the purpose of section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 Accordingly, the 2nd Saturday which will be following on Saturday will be a public holiday for the purpose of receiving nominations.

In view of this rule, it was announced that no nomination papers from candidates would be received on the 2nd Saturday. November 13 is also a public holiday. So rush of nominations is likely to be on 14.11.2022 (Monday) which is the last day for filing nominations.

In a bid to counter China’s high-speed cellular connectivity in areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Ladakh administration has amended the Communication Connectivity Infrastructure Rules 2020 (LCCIR) to accelerate upgradation and expansion of telecom networks and speed up the rollout of 5G services in the cold desert region that is witnessing a long stretched standoff on its borders with China.

A meeting of the 5G working committee was held in Leh on Friday under the Chairmanship of Advisor Umang Narula to review and discuss the amendments to the LCCIR and Right of Way Policy, Ladakh.

The move has come amidst complaints of poor cellular connectivity in far-flung villages, whereas China has installed latest communication infrastructure in the shephard villages that have come up along the LAC in the past two years.

In the meeting presided by Narula, it was informed that the LCCIR-20 lays down guidelines for implementation of over-ground (Mobile Towers, Cells on Wheels, etc.) and underground (Optical Fiber Cable) infrastructure establishment in the Union Territory.

Advisor Narula noted that the amendments would pave the way for the installation of 5G services in the Union Territory.

Principal Secretary, Information Technology Department, Sanjeev Khirwar, gave a comprehensive presentation to the participants on the proposed amendments to the LCCIR, 2020.

He stated that these rules were made to introduce transparency and to ease out the entire process of applying for approval, installation, and maintenance of telecom infrastructure across the Union Territory in a time-bound manner to ensure quality telecom service in Ladakh. He shared that no charges would be levied for the mobilization of small cells and telegraph lines using street furniture.

Further, he informed that the LCCIR-20 will also be integrated with the central Gati Shakti Sanchar Portal.

The meeting was also attended by the Principal Secretary, Planning and Revenue Department; Commissioner/Secretary, Rural Development Department; DDG (Rural), Chief Engineer, PWD, Telecom Enforcement & Resource Monitoring Cell, J&K; General Manager BSNL, Ladakh, and officials of the IT Department, Ladakh.

New Delhi, Nov 12: India saw a single day rise of 833 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,46,65,643, while the active cases declined to 12,553, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday.
The death toll has climbed to 5,30,528 with eight fatalities which includes three reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The active cases comprises 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.78 per cent, according to the health ministry website.
A decrease of 199 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,22,562, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.
According to the ministry’s website 219.79 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive.
India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.
India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4, three crore on June 23 last year and four crore on January 25 this year.
Five new deaths reported in a span of 24 hours are two from Maharashtra, one each from Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Karnataka. (Agencies)

Himachal Pradesh, Nov 12: Jairam Thakur, the Himachal Pradesh CM urged voters to come out in big numbers and enthusiastically participate in the voting process on Saturday. He stated that every vote in the election would help to build a prosperous Himachal Pradesh.
“First vote, then refreshments. Dear fellow state residents, today is the day of voting.
“My humble request to all the voters is to participate in this festival of democracy with full enthusiasm,” he said in a tweet in Hindi.
“Vote in huge numbers, your one vote will help build a prosperous Himachal,” he added.
The chief minister also responded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who on Twitter urged the people to enthusiastically participate in the polling.
Thakur said on Modi’s call, the people of Himachal will create a new voting record.
“Hearty greetings respected prime minister ji. There is a lot of enthusiasm among the voters of Devbhoomi Himachal about voting.
“Certainly, according to your call, voters in the state will create a new record by participating in the polling and are going to create a new ‘riwaaz’ (trend). Warm greetings to you,” Thakur said in another tweet.
The BJP is seeking to change the trend of not re-electing incumbent governments in the state, while the Congress is asking people to follow the tradition and vote out the BJP.
The polling began at 8 am and will continue till 5 pm in all 68 assembly constituencies. (Agencies)