SC to hear on Friday plea on delay in release of voter turnout data The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear on Friday a plea by an NGO seeking direction to the Election Commission to upload voter turnout data on its website within 48 hours of conclusion of polling for the Lok Sabha elections. The petition said the delay in the release of final voter turnout data, coupled with the unusually high revision of over 5% in the poll panel’s press note of April 30 has raised suspicion over correctness of the data. hubballi l tuesday l may 14, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Revanna gets bail in abduction case E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru bengal Violence People stand in queues to cast their votes at a polling station in Fakeer Gujri on the outskirts of Srinagar, in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections on Monday | PTI In this combo, BJP candidate Dilip Ghosh’s personal security (left) and a TMC worker (right) got injured after clashes between rival groups in the Susunia area of Bardhaman-Durgapur seat Highest Srinagar voter turnout in decades; better 4th phase polling Chadoora, Charar, Ganderbal segments record over 45% votes P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi After registering a dip in voter turnout in the first three phases, the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections saw a 64.09% turnout in 96 seats across 10 states and Union territories. In the 2019 polls, the polling percentage in these 96 seats was 69.12%. “Polling in the fourth phase of general elections 2024 closed at 6 pm, but a large number of voters were still in the queue at polling stations,” the Election Commission said in a statement, adding these were provisional figures. Voting was also held in Srinagar, one of the three parliamentary constituencies of Kashmir. Polling was brisk by Srinagar’s standards — it record- ed over 38% voter turnout — the highest in decades. In 2019, it was just 14.43%. Srinagar’s highest ever turnout was 40.9% in 1996. This is the first general election in Kashmir after the hollowing out of Article 370 in 2019. West Bengal recorded 76.32%, followed by Madhya Pradesh (70.47%), Andhra Pradesh (68. 2%), Jharkhand (64.59%), Telang ana (62.28%), Odisha (64.4%), UP (57.88%) and Bihar (55.90%). The low voter turnout in the last three phases has been a cause of worry for the Election Commission and political parties. The fourth round is crucial for the BJP as it hopes to make considerable g ains in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha. In 2019, the BJP and its allies won 47 of these 96 seats. One of the main highlights of the fourth phase is the simultaneous election to all 175 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh and 28 in Odisha. The contest in Andhra is keenly watched as the NDA alliance of the BJP Chandrababu Naidu’s , TDP and Pawan Kalyan-led Jana Sena Party (JSP) is taking on the ruling YSRCP led by Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy . With Andhra Pradesh and Telangana concluding the polling, the fourth phase will also mark the culmination of voting in South. Scattered incidents of violence were reported in Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal. Trinamool Congress and BJP workers clashed in various areas under Birbhum and Bardhaman-Durgapur Lok Sabha seats. The special court on Monday granted bail to Holenarasipur JDS MLA HD Revanna, who is facing charges of kidnapping a sexual assault survivor in a case allegedly involving his son Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna.It has come as express read 3 kids found dead in Vijayapura STP tank Vijayapura: Three children were found dead in a tank at an STP in Vijayapura on Monday. The trio had gone missing after a camel ride on Sunday, and their bodies were found floating in the tank the next day | P5 Maliwal says Kejriwal’s PA ‘assaulted’ her New Delhi: AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal on Monday alleged that a member of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s personal assistant assaulted her at CM’s official residence. Police have not yet received a formal complaint | P7 Bengaluru stands 4th in Class 10, 12 CBSE exams Bengaluru: Bengaluru secured the fourth position in Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class 12 and 10 examinations. It secured 96.95 pass percentage in Class 12 and 99.26 in Class 10. The results of the examinations were announced on Monday | P5 a big relief for Revanna, who was in judicial custody after being remanded in the SIT custody on May 8. The SIT arrested him on May 4, immediately after his anticipatory bail was rejected. Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat of the special court pronounced the order in the evening after day-long ar- guments by the defence and the prosecution on the criteria over granting or rejecting bail. Quoting various judgments in support of his submission, Re v a n n a ’ s a dvo c a t e C V Nagesh argued that Section 364(A), which was introduced as an amendment to IPC Section 364 to punish dreaded terrorists, had been invoked P4 against the MLA. billboard falls off in rain-hit mumbai, 8 dead A 100-feettall illegal billboard fell over a petrol pump in Ghatkopar area of Mumbai as unseasonal rain and dust storms lashed the city Eight people were found dead. Efforts were under way on Monday night to rescue about 100 people feared trapped beneath the hoarding. About 60 people were injured Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said the maximum permissible size for hoardings is 40X40 feet. But the one that collapsed was 120x120 feet India gets strategic depth with 10-yr deal to run Chabahar Y e s h i Se l i @ New Delhi India and Iran signed a contract on Monday allowing India Ports Global Ltd (IPGL) to equip and operate the strategically located Shahid Beheshti Port in Iran’s Chabahar for 10 years. “We are scripting a new chapter in bilateral partnership. The contract will give a boost to regional connectivity and India’s linkages with Afghanistan, Central Asia and Eurasia,” the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, said. The IPGL will invest approximately $120 million in equipping the port. India has also offered a credit window equivalent to $250 million, for mutually identified projects that will improve portrelated infrastructure in Chabahar. Shahid Beheshti is the closest Iranian port to India. The deep sea port can accommodate large cargo ships. It is a more economical and stable alternative route for Indian goods to reach landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asian countries, bypassing Pakistan. In fact, more than 2.5 million tons of wheat and 2,000 tons of pulses have been trans-shipped from India to Afghanistan through the port since IPGL, through its wholly owned subsidiary India Ports Global Chabahar Free Zone (IPGCFZ), took over its operations in 2018.
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