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Madhya Pradesh CM cancels foreign tour after SC’s order on OBC reservation

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Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday cancelled his foreign trip, scheduled from May 14, for inviting business houses to invest in the state, saying his priority is to present the state government’s side in the Supreme Court and safeguard the interest of other backward classes (OBCs).

The decision came a day after the Supreme Court directed the State Election Commission (SEC) to conduct local body (gram, nagar and zila panchayat) elections without OBC reservation.

“I was scheduled to travel abroad from May 14 to attract investment in Madhya Pradesh, but at this time it is my priority to present my case again in the court and protect the interests of the backward classes. Therefore I am cancelling my proposed foreign trip. My government is fully committed to the socio-economic and political empowerment of other backward classes,” Chouhan added.

Chouhan asserted that the Supreme Court’s judgement would affect the OBC’s reservation in local bodies and that’s why the state government decided to file a review petition.

The chief minister’s office (CMO) told IANS that Chouhan’s foreign trip to the US, UK, Switzerland, Germany and Davos was scheduled from May 14 to 24.

The proposed visit was part of the state government’s plan to host a global investors summit in November this year.

In its judgment pronounced on Tuesday, the court had strictly directed the SEC to issue notification regarding the same within a period of two weeks.

After the Supreme Court judgment, both the political parties – BJP and the Congress started levelling allegations at each other and maintained that the local body elections should not be held without OBC reservation.

Veteran Congress leader and former Chief Minister Kamal Nath blamed Shivraj Singh Chouhan for the present situation on this matter.

“OBC class would have got the benefit of their increased reservation, but the Shivraj government did not want it, so it did not make any serious efforts regarding this, but the Congress is still determined that the OBC class should get the benefit of the increased reservation in any case, and without OBC reservation, urban body elections should not be held in Madhya Pradesh,” Nath said.

National News

Delhi Exit Poll Results 2025: BJP To Form Govt In National Capital With 39-49 Seats; AAP To Get 21-31 Seats, Predict Pollsters

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New Delhi: The polling for high-stakes Delhi Assembly Elections concluded on Wednesday at 6 pm. The voting took place in all 70 assembly constituencies in a single phase. The fates of 699 candidates were sealed in EVM machines across 13,766 polling stations. The ruling AAP aims for a third consecutive full term, while the BJP seeks to form its government after being out of power for over 25 years in the union territory. Congress, which ruled for 15 years before being ousted by AAP in 2014, is fighting to reclaim its lost ground.

Former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal (New Delhi), current Chief Minister Atishi (Kalkaji), and former deputy CM Manish Sisodia (Jangpura) are among the key candidates who are in the fray for the Delhi Assembly elections.

Other key candidates include AAP’s Awadh Ojha from the Patparganj seat and Congress’ Alka Lamba, who is contesting against CM Atishi from the Kalkaji seat. BJP has fielded Ramesh Bidhuri from the same seat. Congress’ Sandeep Dikshit is contesting from the New Delhi seat.

In the last election, the AAP registered a landslide victory by winning 62 out of 70 seats. BJP had won 8 seats while Congress failed to open its account.

AAP received 53.57% of the total polled votes, 38.51% of voters had voted for BJP and Congress received 4.26% votes in the 2020 Assembly elections.

The results will be declared on Saturday, February 8.

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Maharashtra

Attention! TMC Announces No Water Supply In Kalwa, Mumbra And Diva For 24 Hrs On February 7 Due To Repair Works

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Thane: Thane will face the water cut issue on Friday, February 7, according to the Municipal Corporation. The corporation announced via X (formerly Twitter) that there will be no water supply in Kalwa, Mumbra and Diva on Friday (February 7). People living in these areas are advised to prepare themselves and make arrangements accordingly.

TMC said in a tweet, “Urgent maintenance and repair work will be carried out on the Barvi gravity pipeline of the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation’s water supply project from Katai Naka to Mukund. As a result, the water supply will be shut off for 24 hours in the Kalwa, Diva, and Mumbra areas of the Thane Municipal Corporation area from 12:00 AM on Thursday, February 6, 2025, to 12:00 AM on Friday, February 7, 2025. After the repair work is completed, water supply will be at low pressure for the next few hours.”

Therefore, the Thane Municipal Corporation has appealed to the citizens to store enough water during this period and use water sparingly. water cut on Friday due to maintenance of the pipeline. According to the Tweet by TMC

Recent Water cut in Mumbai

In the western suburbs of Mumbai, places like Bandra, Kurla, and Andheri are facing a 30-hour water cut that begins today. Particularly affected areas are SEEPZ MIDC, LBS Road, Bandra Terminus, International Airport Road Civic wards like S (Bhandup), L (Kurla), K East (Andheri East), H East (Bandra East), and G North (Sion, Matunga) will face water cut.

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National News

57.70 per cent voter turnout recorded in Delhi Assembly polls

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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.

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