New Delhi [India], July 27 (ANI): Border Security Force (BSF) Director General and all ranks on Wednesday expressed condolences on the demise of HC Shishupal Singh and HC Sanwala Ram Vishnoi on Tuesday, deployed with the UN Peacekeeping contingent (@MONUSCO) in the Democratic Republic of Congo, said BSF.

Naupada (Odisha) [India], June 21 (ANI): Three Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed in a Maoist attack in Odisha's Nuapada district on Tuesday afternoon, the force said.

Bhopal Oct 30 PTI A voter turnout of 4567 per cent was recorded till 1 PM on Saturday in the bypolls to three Assembly seats and of 3908 per cent in the byelection to the Khandwa Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh where ruling BJP and opposition Congress are locked in a straight contest Jobat Prithvipur and Raigaon Assembly constituencies recorded turnouts of 4061 5390 and 4452 per cent respectively in the first six hours of voting till 1 PM officials said A total of 48 candidates are in the fray in these four constituencies where polling will be held till 6 PM the officials said These byelections were necessitated due to the death of sitting MLAs and an MP Of the four seats for which the bypollls are underway two constituencies namely Khandwa Lok Sabha and Raigaon SC were held by the BJP while Jobat and Prithvipur were with the Congress Altogether 2650004 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise during the bypolls Of 3944 polling centres across the four constituencies 865 are deemed as sensitive by the administration Webcasting has been arranged at 874 polling stations while CCTV cameras have been installed at 361 centres Sixteen candidates each are in the fray for by-polls to Khandwa Lok Sabha seat and Raigaon SC Assembly constituency In these seats two ballot units have been placed in each polling centre due to the high number of candidates Ten candidates are in the fray in Prithvipur and six in Jobat ST assembly constituencies The counting of votes will take place on November 2 The Khandwa parliamentary seat and Raigaon assembly segment in the Satna district were held by the BJP while Jobat in Alirajpur and Prithvipur in Niwari districts were with the Congress In Khandwa the BJP has fielded former district panchayat president Gyaneshwar Patil denying the ticket to Harshvardhan Chauhan the son of sitting MP Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan whose demise necessitated the bypoll The Congress has fielded former MLA Rajnarayan Singh Purni In Jobat Sulochana Rawat is the BJPs nominee against Congress candidate Mahesh Patel The seat fell vacant due to the death of sitting Congress legislator Kalawati Bhuria Rawat a former MLA joined the BJP recently after quitting Congress She had won from Jobat on Congresss ticket in 1998 and 2008 In Raigaon SC seat the BJP has fielded Pratima Bagri the daughter-in-law of MLA Jugal Kishore Bagri whose death necessitated the bypoll She will face Congress Kalpana Verma Verma had been defeated by Jugal Kishore Bagri in 2018 In Prithvipur the BJP has fielded former Samajwadi Party leader Shishupal Singh against Congresss Nitendra Rathore the son of former minister Brajendra Singh Rathore whose death necessitated the bypoll Additional chief secretary Rajesh Rajora said 58 companies of special armed forces -- including 50 from other states -- have been deployed for ensuring fair and peaceful polls A total of 55 flying squads and 64 static surveillance teams have been pressed into service PTI LAL NSK NSK

Bhopal Oct 27 PTI The high-decibel campaign for the October 30 bypolls to four constituencies in Madhya Pradesh including one Lok Sabha seat and three Assembly segments where 48 candidates are in the fray in a straight contest between ruling BJP and opposition Congress ended on Wednesday evening Of these four constituencies two seats including the Khandwa Lok Sabha constituency were held by the BJP while the rest two seats were represented by Congress MLAs As per the poll schedule the silence period is 72 hours before the polling ends- 6 pm on October 30 Election Commission EC officials said polling will be held from 7 am to 6 pm in the four constituencies--Khandwa Lok Sabha seat and Assembly constituencies of Jobat ST in the Alirajpur district Raigaon SC in the Satna district and Prithvipur in the Niwari district 2650 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise for these four seats where 3944 polling booths are being set up Of these 865 booths are declared sensitive while 361 will be under the surveillance of CCTV cameras the officials said Two ballot units will be deployed at each booth in Khandwa and Raigaon as the number of candidates exceeds 15 Overall 10027 ballot machines including those kept in the reserve will be used they said The counting of votes will be taken up on November 2 Meanwhile MPs Home Secretary Rajesh Rajora informed that 58 Special Armed Force SAF companies including eight from Madhya Pradesh will be deployed in the poll-bound constituencies to ensure peaceful polling Besides 914 police officers of DSP inspector sub-inspector and assistant sub-inspector rank along with 6992 constables 3123 home guards and 3945 special police officers will be deployed during polling he said A total of 55 flying squads and 64 static surveillance teams will also be pressed into service In a high-octane campaign Union ministers Prahlad Patel Narendra Singh Tomar Jyotiraditya Scindia and former union minister Uma Bharti canvassed for the nominees of BJP At the state level Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the state BJP chief VD Sharma led the campaign trail On the other hand it was relatively low-key electioneering for Congress Apart from former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh no other prominent leader participated in the campaigning except Rajasthans former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot who addressed a couple of rallies on Wednesday Congress mainly raised the issue of the shortage of fertilisers and accused the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government of stopping the farm loan waiver scheme launched by the previous Kamal Nath-led government Nath had highlighted how farmers are queuing up at cooperative centres for getting fertiliser bags and police baton charging them at some places In the heat of campaigning Congress MLA from Badwaha assembly seat Sachin Birla joined the BJP Badwaha is a part of the Khandwa Lok Sabha constituency In Khandwa the BJP has fielded former district panchayat president Gyaneshwar Patil denying a ticket to Harshvardhan Chauhan the son of sitting MP Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan whose demise necessitated the bypoll The Congress has fielded former MLA Rajnarayan Singh Purni In Jobat Sulochana Rawat is the BJPs nominee against Congress candidate Mahesh Patel The seat fell vacant due to the death of sitting Congress legislator Kalawati BhuriaRawat a former MLA joined the BJP recently after quitting Congress She had won Jobat constituency twice on Congresss ticket in 1998 and 2008 From Raigaon SC seat the BJP has fielded Pratima Bagri the daughter-in-law of sitting MLA Jugal Kishore Bagri whose death necessitated the bypoll who will face Congress Kalpana Verma Verma was defeated by late Jugal Kishore Bagri in the 2018 Assembly elections In Prithvipur the BJP has fielded former Samajwadi Party leader Shishupal Singh against Congresss Nitendra Rathore the son of former minister Brajendra Singh Rathore whose death necessitated the bypoll PTI ADU MAS NSK NSK