Aaditya becomes 1st Thackeray family member to contest and win polls
Aaditya Thackeray, Shiv Sena candidate and the son of party chief Uddhav Thackeray, has won from the Worli seat in the Maharashtra Assembly elections. He defeated NCP candidate Suresh Mane by a margin of around 67,427 votes. Aaditya, who was contesting elections for the first time, also became the first member of the Thackeray family to contest an election.
Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar wins from Baramati for 7th time
NCP candidate and party chief Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar won from the Baramati seat in the Maharashtra Assembly elections for the seventh time. He defeated BJP candidate Gopichand Padalkar by 1,65,265 votes. Ajit had quit as the constituency’s MLA last month, stating that Sharad Pawar was being defamed in an alleged money laundering case because he was his relative.
Ex-Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan wins from Bhokar seat by 97,000 votes
Congress candidate and former Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan won from the Bhokar seat in the state Assembly elections. He defeated BJP candidate Bapusaheb Gorthekar by a margin of 97,445 votes. In 2014, the seat was won by the former CM’s wife Ameeta Chavan on a Congress ticket by defeating BJP’s Dr Madhavrao Bhujangrao Kinhalkar.
Haryana CM ML Khattar retains Karnal Assembly seat
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has retained the Karnal constituency in the Haryana Assembly elections. The 65-year-old, who had become BJP’s first Chief Minister of the state in 2014, defeated Congress’ Tarlochan Singh by a margin of 45,188 votes. In 2014, Khattar had become first-time MLA by winning the election by a margin of 63,773 votes.
2-time Haryana CM Hooda wins Garhi Sampla-Kiloi seat for 3rd straight time
Two-time CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda won Garhi Sampla-Kiloi seat in Harayana Assembly elections for the third straight term. Hooda, who has been a four-time MP, defeated BJP’s Satish Kumar Nandal by 58,312 votes. In 2014, Hooda had defeated Nandal, who was then part of INLD, by 47,185 votes. Garhi Sampla-Kiloi came into being in 2007 after a delimitation exercise.
Congress wins 3 seats and SAD 1 seat in Punjab bypolls
The bypoll results for all four seats of Punjab were declared on Thursday. Congress party’s Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal, Indu Bala and Raminder Singh Awla won from Phagwara, Mukerian and Jalalabad constituencies, respectively. Shiromani Akali Dal’s Manpreet Singh Ayali has won from the Dakha constituency.
Kohli rested, Rohit to lead India in T20Is vs Bangladesh; Samson included
Kerala wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson, who recently slammed the fastest 50-over double hundred by an Indian, has been included in India’s 15-member squad for T20I series against Bangladesh. The squad will be led by Rohit Sharma as Virat Kohli has been rested. Mumbai all-rounder Shivam Dube, who was bought for ₹5 crore by RCB, has received his maiden India call-up.
Alpesh & Dhavalsinh lose Guj bypolls as Cong wins 3 out of 6 seats
Former Congress leaders Alpesh Thakor and Dhavalsinh Zala, who joined the BJP after Gujarat Rajya Sabha polls held a few months back, lost Radhanpur and Bayad Assembly seats respectively. Meanwhile, the Congress also won Tharad Assembly seat after a gap of 15 years. The BJP won from Kheralu seat, while bypolls results for two seats were yet to be announced.
Cong-led UDF wins 3 seats in Kerala bypolls, CPI(M) wins 2, BJP 0
The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has won three out of the five seats for which bye-elections were held in Kerala. The ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) emerged victorious in two constituencies. The BJP could not win a single seat even though the party had fielded state General Secretary K Surendran as its candidate from Konni in Pathanamthitta district.
Going with Shiv Sena is out of question: Sharad Pawar
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday said that going with the Shiv Sena was “out of question”. Pawar added that going with the Shiv Sena was against the policy of his party. Notably, BJP has won 35 seats and Shiv Sena and NCP have won 24 and 16 seats respectively in the Maharashtra Assembly polls till now.
Reporter fired for jumping on vintage cars while covering US auto show
A correspondent with KMAX-TV was fired earlier this week after he jumped on vintage cars while reporting from the Sacramento International Auto Show on its final day in the US. He did so as only a Ford representative and the media was there by then. “I feel like a kid in a candy store without the owner,” he had said.
Vast population of venomous sea snakes found by grandmothers’ group
A group of grandmothers who swim up to 3 km five days a week, has uncovered a large population of venomous sea snakes in French territory New Caledonia’s Nouméa. The group members, who call themselves ‘the fantastic grandmothers’, were helping scientists in studying the sea snakes. The snakes had only been spotted about six times over 15 years, scientists revealed.
Goa govt websites redirect users to porn site for several hours
Goa government’s websites for Directorate of Official Language and Directorate of Education on Wednesday redirected users to a porn website for several hours. On clicking the Aadhaar logo at the bottom of the pages, users were being redirected to a porn website. Both the affected websites are currently displaying the message – “This website is under maintenance until further notice.”
39 people found dead in a truck in UK were Chinese nationals The 39 people found dead in a refrigerated truck in UK’s Essex were Chinese nationals, police said. Police are continuing to question lorry driver 25-year-old Mo Robinson who was arrested on suspicion of murder. Reports had suggested that those inside the refrigerated truck could have frozen to death as the temperatures were as low as -25°C.
