Politics

The GoM constituted recently, met for the first time on April 11. Its other members include Law Minister DV Sadananda Gowda, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh.

Several elderly people were seen being greeted by officials at many polling stations and escorted to an area specially set up for them.

A police official said two CPI-M agents were obstructed from entering booth numbers 76 and 77 of Jamuria seat, just as polling began at 7 AM.

Tendulkar stated, "When I was approached for endorsing Skill India, I realised that it is an important component in one's personal growth that needs to be valued and mastered."

Launching her election campaign at the Island Grounds, she said her government had fulfilled all the poll promises made in her party's manifesto in 2011.

All the major parties -- Congress, BJP and its allies AGP and BPF, and the AIUDF have given fewer tickets to women candidates this time than in the last elections.

"These are not the words befitting the Prime Minister of India. They bring his high office to disrepute," Derek O'Brien said.

The 81-year-old Congress veteran feels his party and Left parties should have formed an alliance before the polls to defeat the BJP.

Noting that infiltration from Bangladesh was continuing unabated and the state government had failed to check it, Singh promised the borders with neighbouring country would be sealed and infiltration checked if BJP was voted to power.

The campaigning is over and Assam is set to vote but if BJP wants to take the train to Dispur, they will have to perform strongly in the first phase.

An unstarred question No.1408 raised in the Lok Sabha in February 1968 was answered by the then government, saying there was no need for a fresh probe.

Singhvi said that it is a "victory of Indian Constitution" that the journal repeatedly approached him and he finally agreed to write for it.

BJP also raked up the issue of infiltration, a major pollplank of the saffron alliance in the state, to attack Congress, saying its "affection" was not for Assamese people but infiltrators whom the Tarun Gogoi government had "cultivated" as a "vote bank".

The saffron party, which is trying hard to make a foray in the southern State, last week announced Sreesanth's candidature from Thiruvananthapuram seat.

"This is a huge challenge for us. This is a big ideological challenge. We should consider this an ideological battle and I feel we have won its first round," the Finance Minister said.

BJP also announced the first list of 54 candidates for the Tamil Nadu polls and said a second list would be issued after talks with IJK and NJP fructify in the coming days.