Brief on Indian Polls

Dead candidate can be declared winner!
Tnn, Hyderabad

In perhaps a first in the country, a political party is set to campaign for a candidate who is no more and the electorate is likely to cast votes in favour of the dead candidate. The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday cleared the confusion surrounding the Allagadda Assembly constituency in Kurnool district where YSR Congress nominee Bhuma Shobha Nagi Reddy was killed in a road accident on April 23. The ECI ruled that Shobha will remain in the fray and if she polls the maximum votes, will be declared the winner. However, the election would be countermanded and a bypoll will be held, it was clarified.

Gang-raped for campaigning!
Afp, Patna

A Muslim woman in eastern India has alleged she was gang-raped by more than a dozen men because of her work helping the Hindu nationalist opposition in ongoing elections, police said yesterday. The woman from Jharkhand state has filed a complaint with police that a mob attacked her in her home on Monday and also assaulted her 13-year-old daughter. Her husband was allegedly handcuffed during the attack.  The victim, in her 30s, was part of a so-called "minority" wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) designed to attract Muslim voters to the party, which is expected to sweep the ongoing polls.