FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS VOL. 13 NO. 332 | BHOPAL | TUESDAY | MAY 14, 2024 | PAGES 14 r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2021-2023; `3 r RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 QUALITY AT VALUE www.freepressjournal.in - WE WANT TO SECURE OUR FUTURE IN ALL THREE FORMATS: SIKANDAR RAZA SPORTS WORLD BIPARTISAN BACKLASH TO BIDEN’S ULTIMATUM ON ISRAELI OFFENSIVE WEATHER EDITIONS: INDORE, BHOPAL, UJJAIN, MUMBAI, PUNE 38.30c. 25.60c Sunrise : 05.47 Sunset : 06.59 OOPS MOMENT! CINEMA 4TH PHASE: 71.22% POLLING IN STATE Indore sees least polling among 8 seats Will Lalwani's create history with victory margin OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in The final and fourth phase of Lok Sabha election passed off peacefully in Madhya Pradesh on Monday. Till 6 pm, the tentative voting percentage of all eight Lok Sabha seats vis Dewas, Ujjain, Mandsaur Ratlam, Dhar, Indore, Khargone and Khanwda stood at 71.72 %. This voting figure is likely to increase as final voting figures were yet to come out. Among the all eight Lok Sabha seat, Indore recorded the lowest 61.75 % voting. The polling percent of Dewas parliamentary seat stood at 74.86% followed by Ujjain (73.03 %), Mandsaur (74.50 %), Ratlam (72.86 %), Dhar (71.50 %), Khargone (75.79 %) and Khandwa (70.72 %). Giving the aforesaid information, chief electoral officer Anupam Rajan said that as far as assembly wise polling percentage of all eight Lok Sabha seats is concerned then highest polling percentage of 84.51 percent was recorded in Sailana. Ratlam Gramin registered second highest polling percentage of 80.61 %. Pansemal of Khargone saw 78.49 % voting. Ujjain's Ghatia assembly seat's polling percentage was pegged at 77.93 %. In Indore, among the five assembly seats from where least voting percentage was reported, Indore 3 recorded 56.54 % polling, Indore 5 voting percentage was 57.54 %, Indore 2 voting percentage stood at 58.03 %, Indore 1 polling percentage was 59.84 % and Indore 4 registered polling percentage of 61.89 %. OUR STAFF REPORTER Indore Tribal voters in queue wait patiently for their turn outside polling station in tribal dominated Jhabua district on Monday KHARGONE 75.79% RATLAM 72.86% MANDSAUR 74.50% 71.50% INDORE UJJAIN DEWAS KHANDWA 61.75% 73.58% PHASE WISE POLLING The average polling percentage of first phase was 67.75 %, second phase 58.59 % and third phase 66.75 %. As far a fourth phase of polling is concerned then it stood at 71.72 % and it is highest from first three rounds. 2019 LOK SABHA POLLS In the Lok Sabha election 2019, the voting percentage of Dewas was 79.46 %, Ujjain 75.40 %, Mandsaur 77.84 %, Ratlam 75.66 %, Dhar 75.25 %, Indore 69.31 %, Khargone 77.82 % and Khandwa 76.90 %. 74.86% 68.45 % WOMEN TURN UP TO VOTE CM Mohan Yadav standing in queue before casting his vote in Ujjain on Monday morning. FP PHOTO Girls outshined boys in both Class 10, 12 OUR STAFF REPORTER BHOPAL Radio collars for jumbos in Tripura AGARTALA: The Tripura Forest department has launched a special drive to fit radio collars on wild elephants, which have been creating problems across human habitations in the Khowai district for the last few months, officials said on Monday. The four-day-long drive, carried out by four teams, began on Saturday. It will cover all the natural habitations of the jumbos in T eliamura and Mugiakami hills, a senior forest department official said. 70.72% BJP candidate Shankar Lalwani, who did not get an opponent from Congress, the main rival party in Indore, has an opportunity to create history by registering a victory with largest number of votes across India. There are around 26 lakh voters in Indore Lok Sabha constituency. With more than 60 per cent electorate exercising their franchise in Indore, total ballots polled is believed to be around 15 lakh. Even if NOTA, on the call by Congress, drew 2 lakhs votes and all other candidates together garnered 50,000 votes, the victory margin of Lalwani would be not less than 12.5 lakh votes, which will be the biggest victory margin ever in Indian Parliamentary elections. The previous record of highest victory margin rests with Pritam Munde, who won by-election with 6.96 lakh votes at Bheed seat in Maharashtra in October 2014, after the untimely death of her father and former Union minister Gopinath Munde. Incidentally, NOTA also has a chance to set a new record if it polls more than 52,000 votes. 63% VOTING, VIOLENCE IN ANDHRA, WB Passing percentage of Class 12 is 82.46% whereas it is 95.58% in Class 10. While 80.40% boys & 84.76% girls cleared Class 12, it is 89.59% and 91.78% respectively in Class 10 GADCHIROLI: Three Naxalites, including two females, were killed in an encounter with security forces in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district on Monday, police said. An intelligence input was received that some members of the Perimili Dalam of Naxalites were camping in a forest near Katrangatta village in Bhamragad taluka to carry out subversive activities. DHAR Like the first three rounds of Lok Sabha election, the male voters outshined the female voters in fourth phase as well. The percentage of male voters was registered at 75.01 % while the female voter turnout stood at 68.45 %. In the third phase of election, male voting percentage was pegged at 69.69 %. The female voting percentage was 63.52 %. This means that in comparison to the third round, the female voting percentage increased in the fourth round. BJP, Election Commission and other organizations carried out a dedicated campaign, urging voters to step out of their home and cast the vote. This helped a lot in increasing the voting percentage. CM CASTS VOTE IN UJJAIN UJJAIN: Chief Minister Mohan Yadav along with his family members cast votes at polling booth number 60 at Alakhdham Sindhi Dharmshala in Freeganj area. In all, Ujjain-Alot (SC reserve) parliamentary constituency, reported 73.58% polling. Out of eight assembly segments of the constituency, highest 77.68% voting was recorded in Ghatiya (SC reserve) assembly segment while lowest 67.22% polling was recorded in Ujjain South segment. Incidentally, Ujjain-South assembly seat is represented by the chief minister. Collector Neeraj Kumar Singh told Free Press that the voting was peaceful and final voting figures could be known by Tuesday. In 2019 parliamentary elections, Ujjain-Alot constituency had registered 75.40% turnout. NEWS BRIEF 3 Naxalites killed in Gadchiroli Oppn says Pak is not wearing bangles, we will make them wear it: PM The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has announced the Class 12 and 10 board examinations results on Monday. 82.46% of the students from Madhya Pradesh who wrote the Class 12 CBSE examination have been declared successful. In Class 12, the Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal region) was 14 among 17 regions of the CBSE in the country in terms of pass percentage. The passing percentage of boys and girls are 80.40 and 84.76 respectively. The girls students outshined the boys. A total of 76930 students from the state ( Toppers look jubilant after CBSE 10th board results declared on Monday Bhopal region) registered for the Class 12 exam . Of these,76545 students appeared in the exam and 63120 passed the exam. The passing percentage of Government 70. 11 whereas it was 63.82 in 2024. Similarly it was 97.53 in KVS in 2024 and last year it was 86.88. Rajvi Sharma from DPS topped with a score of 99% in Bhopal in class 12 in Hu- manities. Moreover, the pass percentage of Class 10 was 95.58 in the state. And the Bhopal region stood 15 among 17 regions of the CBSE in the country in terms of pass percentage. The passing percentage of boys and girls are 89.59 and 91.78 respectively. The girls outshined the boys in class 10 too. CONTD. ON P7 NEW DELHI: A voter turnout of nearly 63% was recorded on Monday in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections covering 96 constituencies spread over 10 states and Union Territories, with scattered incidents of violence reported in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. West Bengal again recorded an impressive turnout at 75.94%, the highest among states/UTs in this phase. Srinagar constituency in J&K witnessed 36.58% voting in the first Lok Sabha election in the Valley since the scrapping of Article 370, with the EC stating that it was the "highest turnout in decades". "Polling in the fourth phase of General Elections 2024 recorded an approximate voter turnout of 62.84 per cent till 8 pm,” said EC. Now, Jaipur schools receive bomb threats JAIPUR: Over 50 schools here received bomb threats via email on Monday morning, triggering panic among students and their parents, police said. However, no explosive or anything suspicious has been found so far in these schools, they added. The threatening emails to schools came 12 days after a similar scare in Delhi-NCR where 150 schools received bomb threat emails from a Russiabased mailing service on May 1, triggering massive evacuations and searches. On Sunday, 20 hospitals, including the IGI Airport and the Northern Railways' CPRO office, in Delhi received similar emails. The authorities declared both the incidents as hoax. At least three persons were killed and 59 others injured on Monday when a 100-foot tall illegal billboard fell on a petrol pump in Ghatkopar area of Mumbai as unseasonal rains accompanied by dust storms lashed the city. In another rain-related incident, an under-construc- tion metal parking tower collapsed on a road amid gusty winds in Wadala area, injuring three persons and damaging vehicles. Flight operations at Mumbai airport were suspended for an hour in the evening due to low visibility while local trains were delayed. As many as 15 flights were diverted to different air- ports and the runways operation resumed at 5.03 pm, the airport operator said. "Due to the inclement weather and dust storms in the city, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) tem- MUZAFFARPUR/HAJIPUR Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday lashed out at the opposition INDIA bloc, calling its leaders 'cowards' who were 'scared of Pakistan's nuclear power'. Addressing an election rally in Muzaffarpur Lok Sabha constituency of Bihar, PM Modi made an apparent reference to a recent statement of National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, without mentioning him by name. 'The INDIA bloc seems to have leaders who are scared of Pakistan and have nightmares of its nuclear power,' he said. The remarks come in the backdrop of comments by Abdullah about Pakistan having atom bombs and not wearing bangles. 'If Pakistan does not wear bangles, we will make the country wear them. I knew they did not have food grains. Now, I come to know they do not even have an ad- equate supply of bangles,' the PM said. "But, we must look carefully at the opposition which seems to be full of cowards and timid people, who give a clean chit to Pakistan on terrorism, raise doubts on surgical strikes... their Left allies even want our nuclear arsenal to be dismantled," he said. Earlier, addressing an election rally in Hajipur Lok Sabha constituency, PM Modi said the money recovered in raids against politicians 'belonged to the country's poor'. "I will tell you why they are crying hoarse against the action of agencies like the ED. During the previous Congress regime, the ED seized only ? 35 lakh, which could be contained in a school bag. Ever since we took over, the agency has recovered ? 2,200 crore, which would require 70 small trucks to be carried," said the PM. CONTD. ON P7 Ab jaldi hi karni padegi: RaGa RAEBARELI: After evading queries for years, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Monday finally responded to a question about his marriage. Gandhi scion Rahul, who is considered one of the most eligible bachelors in the country, was addressing a meeting in Raebareli on Monday when someone from the crowd teased the senior Congress leader about his marital status and asked him when he plans to tie the knot. His sister Priyanka Gandhi who was standing close to him drew Rahul Gandhi’s attention to the question and he said, “Ab jaldi hi karni padegi (now, I will have to get married soon).”On hearing his reply, the crowd cheered wildly and Rahul Gandhi responded with a smile. ASHOKA GARDEN CASH RECOVERY CASE Rs 40.11L recovered from house of Khatri's sister ‘Hawala operator’ OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in Police seized Rs 40.11 lakh from a house in Bairagarh owned by the sister of Kailash Khatri from whose Ashoka Garden house they had seized Rs 31 lakh a few days back. With this the total cash seized is over Rs 71 lakh, police revealed on Monday. DCP (Zone-1), Priyanka Shukla said that they suspect that Kailash Khatri from house the initial cash seizure was made is involved in hawala operation. At the time the cash was seized, Khatri had told police that he worked as a money exchanger. The seized amount was handed over to I-T department. Lat- 3 killed, 59 hurt as billboard collapses amid gusty wind & rain MUMBAI Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds a roadshow with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for the Lok Sabha elections, in Varanasi on Monday porarily suspended flight operations for around 66 min due to low visibility and gusty winds," it said in a statement. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde visited the spot of the hoarding collapse incident in Ghatkopar late in the evening. CONTD. ON P7 er, on Thursday, a police team, under the supervision of additional DCP (Zone-1) of Bhopal, Rashmi Agrawal Dubey, raided the house of Khatri's sister, located in Bairagarh, where they found Rs 40.11 lakh cash money. Police said that while sifting through CCTV footages, they saw Khatri transporting bags to Bairagarh. Suspecting that they contained money, they raided the house and seized DCP Shukla told Free Press that the police also came to know that Khatri operated a hawala business and deploy middlemen, who used to hunt for people trying to exchange notes. He allegedly also paid commission to all the middlemen. DCP Shukla said that the I-T dept has been informed about the seizures the money. DCP Shukla said that in connection with the case, the station house officer (SHO) of Ashoka Garden police station, Vandana Lakade, and four other cops had been suspended, as they carried out the raids and took further actions without taking the senior police officials into confidence. Sushil Modi, ex-dy CM of Bihar, dies At 72 NEW DELHI: Senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister of Bihar, Sushil Modi, died at Delhi's All-India Institute of Medical Sciences this evening. He was 72. Modi was battling cancer and was admitted in the intensive care unit of AIIMS for the last one month. He had opted out of the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections also on account of his health. Modi was named by the BJP as one of its star campaigners for the state and a member of its election manifesto committee. “I have been battling cancer for the last six months. Now, I feel that the time has come to inform people about it.