Rahul Gandhi to file nomination in Amethi
Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be filling his nomination from the Amethi Lok Sabha seat on April 10 while his mother and former Congress chief, Sonia Gandhi, will be filing her papers from the Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency a day later.
Deep in Maoist turf, no sign of polls
Munshi Madavi probably holds the most challenging job in the entire Dandkaranya forest range in central India. The 37-year-old farm labourer is pondering resignation as de facto village patil responsible for 123 inhabitants of Kasnasur, 190 km from Gadchiroli in Maharashtra.
Nearly a year after around alleged 40 Maoist guerrillas were gunned down by security forces near the village on April 22, 2018, in what was later described by civil rights activists as a “questionable” encounter, some 27 families continue to live in the shadow of fear.
As April 11 [voting day] looms large, the village — an arduous eight-kilometre trek from Tadgaon towards the banks of the Indravati river — seems to have completely missed out on the biggest celebration of Indian democracy — the Lok Sabha election.
Nizamabad farmers to vote for themselves
Contesting farmers in the Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency and their families have unanimously resolved to vote for themselves and not for the ruling party until their demands are met.
They have also resolved to contest in large numbers in every future election such as MPP, ZPTC and MPTC. “We don’t mind even if the farming community vote for other parties but they should not vote for the ruling party in this election,” said Rajender Reddy, one of the contestants from Dharmaram village in Korutla Assembly segment.
A number of farmers from different mandals in the constituency attended the Rythu Ikya Vedika sadassu (farmers’ unity forum meet) held here on Tuesday. Among those who attended the meeting included High Court advocate B. Rachana Reddy who fought on behalf of farmers in the court on their demands for postponement of polling and the use of ballot, and former MLC K. Nageswar.