National News
57.70 per cent voter turnout recorded in Delhi Assembly polls
New Delhi, Feb 5: Voting to pick a new 70-member Delhi Assembly continued peacefully on Wednesday as the turnout touched 57.70 per cent till 5 p.m. with the ruling AAP eyeing a fourth straight win and the BJP putting up a tough fight to return to power after 1998.
As the turnout continued to rise after a slow start, there were allegations of a model code violation after a brief commotion at a polling booth in Seelampur where a bogus voter was caught casting a vote on someone else’s identity. The incident occurred at Aryan Public School, Booth Level Officer, Seelampur, Gayatri, said.
BJP nominee from the seat, Anil Gaur, accused the rival Congress and the AAP of bringing 300-400 fake voters from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.
Special Commissioner of Police D.C. Srivastava confirmed getting complaints of attempted bogus voting. “Two persons have been detained on the allegation of bogus voting. The facts are being verified.”
Till 5 p.m., Mustafabad seat recorded the highest turnout of 66.68 per cent followed by Seelampur with 66.41 per cent.
The New Delhi seat of AAP convenor and former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal recorded a turnout of 54.27 per cent by 5 p.m. The Greater Kailash seat of Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj recorded 52 per cent voting, Rajinder Nager recorded 57.88 per cent, Patel Nagar 54.63 per cent, R.K. Puram 51.81 per cent and Delhi Cantonment seat recorded 57 per cent voting till 5 p.m.
Chief Minister Atishi’s constituency recorded a turnout of 51.81 per cent till 5 p.m. Former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia’s Jungpura seat recorded 55.23 per cent voting till 5 p.m.
Other turnout trends till 5 p.m. were Sangam Vihar 57.41 per cent, Badarpur 54.51 per cent, Tughlakabad 53 per cent, Okhla 52.77 per cent, Kasturba Nagar 51.70 per cent, Malviya Nager 52.07 per cent, Chhatarpur 60.53 per cent, Ambedkar Nagar 56.98 per cent, Deoli 56.8 per cent and Mehrauli 50.59 per cent.
Till 5 p.m. the turnout in Central Delhi’s Matia Mahal was 61.40 per cent, Ballimaran 59.56 per cent, Burari 56.16 per cent, Sadar Bazar 57.06, Timarpur 53.29 per cent, Karol Bagh 47.40 per cent, Chandni Chowk 52.76 per cent.
In West Delhi, the turnout till 5 p.m. in Janakpuri was 59.28 per cent, Rajouri Garden 58.96 per cent, Madipur 58.13 per cent, Hari Nagar 57.92 per cent, Moti Nagar 55.21 per cent, Nangloi Jat 56.20 per cent and Tilak Nagar 56.65 per cent.
AAP Jangpura nominee Sisodia alleged that rival parties were giving money to voters, a charge which was dismissed by police as ‘unsubstantiated’.
His party colleague and AAP MP Raghav Chadha alleged that at many polling booths in the New Delhi constituency, the party’s polling agents and their relievers faced problems in entry.
AAP MP Sandeep Pathak raised the issue of slow voting in some constituencies, claiming that the party has raised the matter with the EC.
Union Minister Harsh Malhotra accused the AAP of trying to use goons and money on election eve to influence voters. “They want a street fight and vitiate the atmosphere out of fear of a big loss,” he said.
On the eve of voting, the Delhi Police seized Rs 23.76 lakh, six illegal firearms and 4,119 litres of illegal liquor, said a police official.
Earlier, former Chief Minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal and his wife gave up their car and walked down to their polling booth. Both of them escorted their parents, both in wheelchairs, to the booth at a school close to their Ferozeshah Road residence.
Kejriwal’s BJP rival Parvesh Verma performed religious rituals on the Yamuna bank before proceeding to cast his vote with his wife and daughter at the Nirman Bhawan booth.
Congress candidate from New Delhi Sandeep Dikshit cast his vote at a polling booth on Rahim Khan Road and later accompanied voters from the party and members of the Gandhi family – Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra – to their respective booths.
The turnout in the 2020 Delhi Assembly election stood at 62.82 per cent, 4.65 per cent lower than 67.47 per cent in 2015. In 2013, the turnout was 66.02 per cent, 8.42 per cent higher than 2008’s 57.6 per cent.
In 2020, the AAP won 62 out of 70 seats with a vote share of 53.57 per cent. The BJP won eight seats with a 38.51 per cent vote share. The Congress got 4.26 per cent of votes and others polled 3.66 per cent votes.
Crime
Seven injured in Haryana gang war outside police station

Chandigarh, Aug 6: In a brazen daylight indiscriminate firing in front of the police station in Dadri city of Haryana on Thursday, seven people, who were riding on an SUV car, received injuries, police said.
Three assaulters fled on foot by waving revolvers.
Prima facie the police believed the crime was linked to a gang war, although the attackers, who fired at least 30 shots, are yet to be identified.
A video of the crime was surfaced, showing injured men sitting in the bullet-riddled SUV car.
The injured have been referred to the PGI in Rohtak in a critical condition.
The cause of the crime is yet to be ascertained.
The gunfire sound triggered panic in the area.
Seven people riding Scorpio car were seriously injured.
According to eyewitnesses, the firing was so sudden that there was a stampede-like condition among passersby.
As the information received, the police reached the spot and the injured were rushed to the Civil Hospital of Charkhi Dadri for treatment.
After first-aid, all the seven injured were referred to PGI Rohtak in critical conditions.
The injured have been identified as Ankit of Charkhi Dadri, Kirtiman of Hisar, Suraj, Ankit of Bhiwani, Sunny of Hisar, Krishan of Mahendragarh and Amit of Fatehgarh.
A forensic team took possession of the evidence at the spot.
Footage from CCTV cameras installed in the vicinity is also being scanned to identify the attackers, an Investigating official said.
Preliminary investigation by the police revealed that the three miscreants came on a bike.
The accused positioned the bike in front of the Scorpio car and forced him to stop it following which they opened fire.
The firing caused a stampede and chaos at the spot.
The Superintendent of Police and other senior officers reached the spot as the incident was reported.
The police have cordoned off the entire area.
With the help of the forensic team, evidence, bullet shells and other important clues found from the spot are being seized and they are being examined.
National News
Row erupts over revocation of permission for Rahul Gandhi’s student event in UP; Cong cries foul

New Delhi, Aug 6: The withdrawal of permission for Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’ event, slated to be held in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj, has snowballed into a major controversy with many Congress leaders calling out “shameful” conduct, allegedly at the behest of the BJP government in the state.
Rahul Gandhi was set to address a gathering of students at KP Ground on August 8, but the venue permission has been revoked just two days before the scheduled address. The Kayastha Pathshala Trust, which owns the KP Ground, cancelled the permission citing ‘unsafe conditions’ in light of incessant rains and also a court order.
However, a string of Congress leaders cried foul over the abrupt cancellation of the venue, accusing the BJP of crushing dissent and throttling democracy.
UP Congress chief Ajay Rai saw a “BJP design” in disrupting Rahul’s ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’ events across the country and claimed that the ruling dispensation was making futile attempts to block the LoP’s dialogue with students.
“First Kota (Rajasthan), then Dehradun (Uttarakhand), and now Prayagraj – the BJP government is making futile attempts everywhere to stop this historic dialogue between the youth and Rahul Gandhi,” he said on X.
He asserted that the programme will go on in Prayagraj and also made a fervent appeal to students and examination aspirants to reach the city on the day.
Many Congress MPs and leaders reacted to the cancellation of permission for Rahul’s much-publicised students’ event venue, with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra telling scribes in a one-liner, “Don’t know what they are afraid of”.
Congress MP Vivek Tankha, speaking to scribes on Parliament premises, said, “This amounts to throttling democracy” and questioned the government’s approach in upholding democratic values.
Another Congress MP, Imran Pratapgarhi, called out the “shameful” conduct and slammed the administration over attempts to stop students’ engagement.
“What could be more shameful than this? You are afraid of a students’ programme. You are unwilling to engage with students yourselves, and when the Leader of Opposition goes to interact with them, you cancel the permission for the programme,” he said.
Samajwadi Party MP Iqra Hassan called the move “unconstitutional”, saying, “In a democracy, everyone has the right to go anywhere, and preventing someone from doing so only reflects the weakness of the government.”
Crime
Atiq Ahmed son Abaan dies in UP road accident on way to meet jailed brother

Lucknow, Aug 6: Former Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Atiq Ahmed’s youngest son Abaan Ahmed died in a fatal car accident on Thursday, said multiple reports.
The deadly mishap happened on the Jhanshi-Kanpur national highway in Uttar Pradesh while Abaan was on his way to meet his brother, imprisoned in extortion and other cases. Their vehicle apparently crashed into a highway divider, leaving the vehicle in ruins.
Preliminary findings suggest rash driving as the reason behind the deadly crash. The images and visuals that surfaced from the accident site show the scale and intensity of the crash. The car’s front portion was completely wrecked in the collision, as the car purportedly hit a road divider.
Abaan Ahmed, the youngest son of the slain gangster-turned-politician, was said to have been behind the wheel during the mishap, and he was accompanied by four other associates. Abaan and one of his aides died in the severe accident, while three others are said to be seriously injured.
The accident occurred when Abaan and his associates were going to meet his jailed brother Ali Ahmed, who is currently incarcerated in a Jhansi prison.
The car met with an accident near the Poonch area on the highway. The police and local administration swung into action after getting information about the fatal crash, and they shifted the critically injured to a nearby hospital. The doctors declared Abaan Ahmed, along with one other, dead on arrival, while three others were administered initial medical aid and subsequently referred to Maharani Laxmibai Medical College.
The police team reached the accident spot and was investigating the reasons behind the fatal accident. The two dead bodies have also been taken into custody and sent for post-mortem.
According to police, over-speeding and rash driving led to loss of control and are believed to be the key reasons behind the fatal accident.
Abaan Ahmed was the youngest son of Atiq Ahmed, while his elder brother Ali Ahmed is currently lodged in Jhansi jail over involvement in multiple cases.
Ali has been in prison in an extortion case. He is an accused in the February 2023 killing of Umesh Pal, the key witness in the BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case.
In 2023, Atiq Ahmed and his brother, Ashraf, were shot dead by three men posing as journalists, as police were taking them for a mandatory medical checkup. The entire episode was beamed live on television, leaving many shocked and appalled over the gruesome murder in full media glare.
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