BJP will win all 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan

by Utkalika Mohanty

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Union Minister and BJP candidate from Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat, Dharmendra Pradhan expressed confidence that BJP will win all the 21 Lok Sabha seats of the state in the upcoming polls.

Sambalpur, May 9: Union Minister and BJP candidate from Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat, Dharmendra Pradhan expressed confidence that BJP will win all the 21 Lok Sabha seats of the state in the upcoming polls.

Dharmendra Pradhan said, "The credibility and trust in PM Narendra Modi is 100 percent in Odisha. BJP will win all the 21 Lok Sabha seats of the state. PM Modi has emphasised, why the state of immense possibilities, Odisha is lagging behind. Why people are migrating to other states for jobs? Why there is no drinking water in villages? Why irrigation is not taking place? Why there is no cold storage? Why there are no doctors in government hospitals?"

He said that this incompetent government is abusing PM Modi to hide its failures and the people of Odisha will answer to it.

"PM Modi distributed 18 lakh crores in the last 10 years in various sectors like railway, road, minerals. Odisha's earnings from minerals in 2014 were only Rs 5000 crores and today it has become 49 to 50 thousand crores. For drinking water PM Modi gave Rs 10,000 crores but the state has spent only 800 crores. Today in Odisha 3 crore 25 lakh people are getting free food grains of 5 kgs per month," he further said.

He further added that people will vote BJD out of power in this election.

The state of Odisha will hold Assembly elections and Lok Sabha elections in four phases from May 13 to June 1, with vote counting scheduled for June 4.

(ANI)

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Iran President Raisi's death: India declares one day state mourning on Tuesday

by Utkalika Mohanty

New Delhi, May 20: India on Monday declared one day of state mourning on May 21 as a mark of respect to Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi and the country's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who died in a helicopter crash on Sunday.

"On the day of mourning (Tuesday), the National Flag will be flown at half-mast on all buildings where the National Flag is flown regularly and there will be no official entertainment on the day," read a statement issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Raisi and Abdollahian were among nine people who died after their helicopter crashed in Iran's mountainous north-west region while they were returning from the Azerbaijan border after flagging off joint projects in the region.

(IANS)

56.68 pc turnout in fifth phase of Lok Sabha polls till 5 pm, West Bengal leads with 73 pc voting

by Utkalika Mohanty

New Delhi, May 20: The fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections for 49 parliamentary constituencies saw a cumulative voter turnout of 56.68 per cent till 5 pm, as per the data shared by the Election Commission.

According to the poll body, West Bengal recorded the highest voter turnout (73 per cent), followed by Ladakh (67.15 per cent), Jharkhand (61.90 per cent), Odisha (60.55 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (55.80 per cent), Jammu and Kashmir (54.21 per cent), Bihar (52.35 per cent) and Maharashtra (48.66 per cent).

Mumbai continued to disappoint with voter turnout failing to cross 50 per cent till 5 pm. Mumbai North recorded a turnout of 46.91 per cent; Mumbai North Central saw a turnout of 47.32 per cent, Mumbai North East saw a turnout of 48.67 per cent per cent, Mumbai North West recorded a turnout of 49.79 per cent. Mumbai South had the lowest turnout in the city with 44.22 per cent recorded till 5 pm. Mumbai South Central saw a turnout of 48.26 per cent.

As per the ECI, over 8.95 crore voters, including 4.69 crore males, 4.26 crore females, and 5409 third-gender electors, will decide the fate of 695 candidates in the fifth phase of voting. The fifth phase is witnessing key contests in various constituencies.

Leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, BJP leaders Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Piyush Goyal, Ujjwal Nikam, Karan Bhushan Singh, LJP (Ramvilas) chief Chirag Paswan, JKNC chief Omar Abdullah, and RJD leader Rohini Acharya are looking for electoral success.

The eight states/UTs polling in phase 5 are Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.

Cities like Mumbai, Thane, and Lucknow are polling in this phase, which has in the past suffered from urban apathy in voting. Of the 49 Lok Sabha seats, 14 are from Uttar Pradesh, 13 from Maharashtra, 7 from West Bengal, 5 from Bihar, 3 from Jharkhand, 5 from Odisha, and one each from Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

In a bid to create a peaceful atmosphere for the electors, a total of 2,000 flying squads, 2105 static surveillance teams, 881 video surveillance teams, and 502 video viewing teams are keeping surveillance round the clock across the 94,732 polling stations.

A total of 216 international border check posts and 565 inter-state border check posts are keeping a strict vigil on any illicit flow of liquor, drugs, cash, and freebies. Strict surveillance has been kept on sea and air routes, the ECI said.

(ANI)

"Thank you Puri, bow in gratitude to this iconic place": PM Modi

by Utkalika Mohanty

Puri, May 20: Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed gratitude to the holy city of Puri hours after holding a roadshow and said the heat did not deter the crowds from coming and blessing us.

PM Modi also appreciated the divinity and culture of the holy city and said each of these blessings inspires us to work harder for the people.

Thank you Puri. I bow in gratitude to this iconic place, associated with divinity and culture. The roadshow this morning was spectacular. The heat didn’t deter the crowds from coming and blessing us. Each of these blessings are cherished and inspire us to work harder for the… pic.twitter.com/FVEzalTpbQ — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 20, 2024

PM Modi also shared some pictures of the roadshow held in Puri today on his official social media account.

"Thank you, Puri. I bow in gratitude to this iconic place, associated with divinity and culture. The roadshow this morning was spectacular. The heat didn't deter the crowds from coming and blessing us. Each of these blessings is cherished and inspires us to work harder for the people," PM Modi posted on X, (formerly Twitter).

Urging people to vote amid the scorching heat, PM Modi pointed out a wheel-chaired youth at a rally and said this affection makes him work even harder to fulfil people's dreams.

"It's very satisfying to see people from all walks of life come to bless me at the rallies across India. At Dhenkanal, one of the attendees was young Anshuman Mohapatra from Angul. Despite his health challenges and the scorching heat, he came to the rally. This affection is humbling and makes me work even harder to fulfil people's dreams," PM Modi added.