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Kamal Haasan to launch his political party from Madurai tomorrow

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Kamal Haasan

After months of preparing the ground for his debut in politics, Tamil film icon Kamal Haasan will finally launch his political outfit at a grand public meeting in Madurai on Wednesday (February 21). The thespian will announce the name of his party, its ideology and agenda at the event which will also kick-start his state-wide tour of Tamil Nadu.

It is learnt that Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who Haasan had hosted for lunch at his Chennai residence a few months ago, is likely to attend the launch event. The Tamil actor has also invited his “close friend and guide” Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan for the function while there are also rumours of an invitation being extended to Bihar and Bengal chief ministers, Nitish Kumar and Mamata Banerjee, respectively though none of these stalwarts have confirmed their participation as yet.

Haasan is expected to visit his hometown Ramanathapuram and also tour the state’s Dindigul and Sivaganga districts after launching his party from Madurai.

Addressing the media at the Chennai airport on Tuesday, Kamal Haasan said, “I’ll take this press meet as a token of welcome. People who are going to join us are comingtomorrow. Political leaders from other parties are also coming to wish me tomorrow, you’ll see them all.”

Over the last several months, the immensely popular Tamil actor has been carefully crafting his political plans, vociferously criticising the state of politics and administration in his home state and hitting out at the incumbent AIADMK-led government of chief minister E Palaniswamy. He has been vocal about redefining Dravidian politics and the need for reaching out to other southern states of the country for building a Dravidian axis that would have more leverage with the Centre in seeking funds and development programs for the region.

While the actor had, earlier this month, asserted that the motive of his political party is to challenge the status quo that has been plaguing Tamil Nadu politics, on Tuesday, he told reporters: “Yes I spoke against the Tamil Nadu govt and I can’t speak anything more here, I’ll speak everything tomorrow at Madurai.”

Earlier in the day, Haasan took to Twitter to announce: “Tomorrow is the beginning of our journey. At 6 pm tomorrow we will load our party flag at a grand public meeting at the Madurai ground. I will explain the name of the new party and the essence of our policy. Welcome to New Age (sic).”

The actor’s entry in Tamil politics is being keenly watched by political observers, especially at a time when the other cine-icon of the state – Rajinikanth– has also triggered speculations over his imminent political debut. It remains to be seen whether the two actors, who collectively have a fan following that is arguably larger than any other Indian film personality, will ultimately join forces to break the existing power arithmetic of Tamil Nadu which has seen its government alternating between the DMK and AIADMK for nearly three decades.

Many political observers have raised doubts on whether the actor will be able to make a mark in Tamil politics or if his debut will end as another case of mere hype.

In October, at a function to inaugurate a memorial dedicated to the late Tamil film icon Sivaji Ganesan, Rajinikanth had cautioned his film colleague over his political plans saying: “to be successful in politics, just name, fame and money are not enough”. Rajini’s advise was backed by the most credible evidence possible in Tamil politics – that of Sivaji Ganesan himself. Despite his massive success in cinema and a fan-following that went beyond Tamil Nadu, Ganesan had failed to become a formidable political force in the state even after being with various political parties – including the Congress, DMK, Janata Party and floating his own outfit, the Thamizhaga Munnetra Munnani. “Sivaji (Ganesan) has left a lesson not just in cinema but also in politics. He started his own political party, fought and lost (elections) from his own constituency…” Rajinikanth had said, taking a not-so-veiled dig at Haasan’s grand ambition of providing a viable political alternative to the people of his state.

2024 Lok Sabha Elections

Lok Sabha elections 2024: 102-year-old man walks to polling booth to cast his vote in Jammu

The lowest voter turnout so far was noted in Ramgarh at 1.53%.

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A 102-year-old man showed up at a Jammu polling place to cast his vote in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Friday. Haji Karam Din arrived at the Reasi district polling place in the Jammu constituency with a walking stick in hand and a family member who assisted him with the pre-voting process.

Haji Karam Din, who is 102-year-old, showed his inked finger and posed for pictures outside the polling booth after casting his vote. He said voting at this polling place at this age makes him very happy. He has always cast his vote. Even at the age of 102, this experience is still ongoing, he said.

Reasi district is a part of the Jammu parliamentary constituency, and 22 candidates are up for vote with around 17.81 lakh eligible voters.

BJP’s sitting member Jugal Kishore Sharma is aiming for a third term in office following wins in the elections of 2014 and 2019. Former minister and Congress candidate Raman Bhalla is his main opponent.

Voting in the Jammu-Reasi Lok Sabha constituency began with eager voters showing up at the polling places. Some of them were wearing traditional Dogra attire.

In 2,416 polling places around the constituency, voting got underway at 7 a.m., and 10.39% of the total votes were cast by 9 a.m. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Jammu recorded a 74% voter turnout.

Following the repeal of Article 370 and the division of the former state into two Union Territories five years ago, this is Jammu’s first significant election.

The Akhnoor segment received the highest percentage of votes, 14.24%, followed by Reasi (14.13%), Gulabgarh (13.53%), Shri Mata Vaishnodevi (12.71%), Marh (12.31%), Samba (8.56%), R S Pura Jammu South (8.17%), and Suchetgarh (5.67%), according to the officials. Ramgarh recorded the lowest voter participation of 1.53% so far.

Low attendance was observed in the border areas of the districts of Jammu and Samba till nine in the morning, according to poll data.

The officials said that big lines of voters were observed at several polling places throughout Jammu city. Voters were observed heading towards polling places early in the morning.

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Salman Khan house firing case: NIA interrogates arrested shooters Sagar Pal, Vicky Gupta for three hours

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The investigation into the shocking firing incident that took place outside Salman Khan’s house on April 14 keeps bringing new updates with every passing day. In this case, Sagar Pal and Vicky Gupta, the two suspected shooters, have already been taken into custody.

The two shooters have reportedly been questioned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), according to a new development. Every day that goes by, more information is revealed about the inquiry into the shocking firing incident that happened outside Salman Khan’s house on April 14. Sagar Pal and Vicky Gupta, the two accused shooters, are being held in custody after their first arrests.

It was recently discovered that the two shooters were questioned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

NIA has reportedly begun questioning Sagar Pal and Vicky Gupta, who were detained a few days ago for firing openly outside Salman Khan’s Galaxy Apartments in Mumbai, according to a recent update posted on their X (Twitter) account. NIA has interrogated shooters Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal, arrested in the firing case, the tweet said.

According to the reports, two Punjabi residents were taken into custody by the Mumbai Crime Branch yesterday on suspicion of being involved in the recent shooting incident outside the house of Bollywood actor Salman Khan.

The two men, Sonu Subhash Chander and Anuj Thapan, provided guns to Sagar Pal and Vicky Gupta, the shooters, according to information released by the Mumbai Crime Branch. It was also reported that they had communication with the Bishnoi gang. For those who don’t know, hours after the incident, Anmol Bishnoi, the brother of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, allegedly took credit for the firing in a Facebook post.

The shooters’ custody has been extended by Mumbai’s Esplanade Court until April 29.

Meanwhile, on the workfront Salman Khan was last seen in Tiger 3 alongside Katrina Kaif.

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2024 Lok Sabha Elections

PM Modi calls for high voter turnout in second phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024, says your vote is your voice

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urges citizens to participate in record numbers during the second phase of polling for the Lok Sabha Elections 2024.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to social media as the second phase of voting for the Lok Sabha Elections of 2024 got underway across the country to encourage voters to cast votes in huge numbers. PM Modi emphasized in his speech the value of voting in preserving democracy and notably urged women and young people to cast votes.

Taking to social media X, formerly Twitter, PM Modi wrote, urging everyone in constituencies to participate in record numbers in today’s second phase of the Lok Sabha elections. He said our democracy is strengthened by high voter turnout. He especially urged female and youth voters to cast votes in large numbers. Your vote is your voice, he added.

It is important to remember that 88 Lok Sabha constituencies—spread among 13 states and Union Territories—are presently holding polls. Twenty seats in Kerala, fourteen in Karnataka, thirteen in Rajasthan, eight in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, six in Madhya Pradesh, five in Assam and Bihar, three in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and one in each of Tripura, Jammu & Kashmir, and Manipur are currently up for election. Notably, the untimely death of a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate has resulted in the Madhya Pradesh constituency of Betul being spared from voting on April 26.

Meanwhile, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar emphasized the thorough planning that has taken place over the previous two years and reassured the public of careful security measures at every voting place. They have been preparing for the last two years, he said. At each booth, the arrangements are ready. Everything has been prepared for the voters, including fans and drinking water. Voters must turn out to cast their votes. Safety has been considered. There is zero information available anywhere regarding violence. However, there will be forces at every booth.

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