(1) 68% voter turnout in Haryana Assembly election
About 68% of Haryana voters cast their ballot in Saturday (October 5, 2024)’s Assembly election. According to the Election Commission, the approximate voter turnout was 67.90%, in which Ellenabad seat saw the highest polling with 80.61% while Badkhal constituency recorded the lowest polling at 48.27%.
Polling across the was largely in the high-stakes election battle, barring a few reports of minor clashes between supporters of political parties were reported.
Both the BJP and Congress proclaimed a prospective victory. Former Chief Minister and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said Congress was all set to form government with comfortable majority. Incumbent Chief Minister and BJP leader Nayab Singh Saini asserted that the BJP will form the government for a third time with a big mandate.
Haryana voted for all the 90 Assembly seats in a single phase on Saturday, with 1,031 candidates in the fray, including 101 women and 464 Independents. The counting of votes will take place on October 8.
The key candidates whose fate would be sealed in the EVMs include Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Vinesh Phogat of the Congress besides JJP’s Dushyant Chautala.
(2) J&K Assembly polls: Over 65% polling recorded in final Phase
Polling for the third and final phase of Assembly elections ended on Tuesday (Oct. 1, 2024), with a voter turnout of 65.65% across 40 seats in seven districts of Jammu and Kashmir. Among the districts, Samba recorded the highest polling percentage of 73.45% followed by Udhampur at 72.91% while Baramulla was the lowest at 55.73%.
More than 400 companies of security forces, including paramilitary and armed police personnel, have been deployed to ensure smooth voting. The voter turnout was robust in the earlier phases, with 61.38% participation recorded in the first phase on September 18 and 57.31% in the second phase on September 26.
The Union Territory, where elections were held after a decade and for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370, voted in three phases on September 18, 25 and October 1. The counting of votes will take place on October 8.
(3) Iran fires missiles at Israel
Iran fired a salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday (Oct. 1, 2024) in retaliation for Israel’s campaign against Tehran’s Hezbollah allies in Lebanon.
Alarms sounded across Israel and explosions could be heard in Jerusalem and the Jordan River Valley after Israelis piled into bomb shelters. Reporters on state television lay flat on the ground during live broadcasts.
Reuters journalists saw missiles intercepted in the airspace of neighbouring Jordan. The Israeli military said Iran fired around 180 missiles. “IDF (Israeli Army) systems have identified approximately 180 missiles fired towards Israeli territory from Iran,” it said.
Tel Aviv has claimed that its air defense system intercepted the “majority” of Iranian missiles, including the supersonic ones.
Israeli Air Defence system has been successfully thwarting enemy rockets, missiles, drones, and other projectiles ever since the crisis started almost a year ago on October 7, 2023. Israel has a three-tier air defence system.
The firing of missiles came after Israel said its troops had launched ground raids into Lebanon, though it described the forays as limited. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards threatened to carry out “crushing attacks” against Israel if it retaliated for the missile attack.
(4) Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut
A huge fireball lit up the night sky and plumes of smoke rose over south Beirut early Sunday (October 6, 2024) as Israel unleashed intense air strikes targeting Hezbollah, nearly a year since the Gaza war erupted.
Israeli forces were on high alert ahead of Monday’s anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 attack, which sparked the war.
After a devastating year-long conflict in Gaza, Israel has now shifted its focus to northwards to Hezbollah, Hamas’s Iran-backed ally in Lebanon.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency said the Hezbollah stronghold in south Beirut was hit by more than 30 strikes, which were heard across the city. Targets included a petrol station.
Last year’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian militants resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity. One year later, Israel’s war in Gaza against Hamas continues despite having shifted its focus to Lebanon and Hezbollah.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,825 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry and described as reliable by the UN.
(5) Shigeru Ishiba takes over as Prime Minister of Japan
Shigeru Ishiba, head of the governing Liberal Democratic Party, on Tuesday (Oct. 1, 2024) took over as the Prime Minister of Japan and unveiled his Cabinet.
Mr. Ishiba was chosen as the party’s leader on Friday (September 27, 2024) to replace Fumio Kishida, who then stepped down earlier on Tuesday to pave the way. Mr. Ishiba, a former defence minister, had previously sought party leadership four times. Now, in his fifth time, he has finally won the premiership.
Mr. Kishida took office in 2021 but is leaving so his party can have a fresh leader after his government was dogged by scandals.
Mr.Ishiba was set to have a challenging tenure anyway, but now that will be more challenging as he faces an election later this month. He called the snap election more than two years before the election was due.
Ishiba has to quell the public anger against his party and the government and see the party through the election this month. He also has to address issues related to cost-of-living crisis in the country.
Published - October 07, 2024 01:37 pm IST