Sonia Gandhi leads in Rae Bareli; BJP's Dinesh Pratap Singh trails

News Network

May 23, 2019

New Delhi, May 23: UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi is leading against BJP's Dinesh Pratap Singh in the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency, early trends during vote counting indicate.

In this election, the seat holds significance because Sonia Gandhi is no longer involved in active party politics and has handed over reins of the party to her son and Congress President Rahul Gandhi. Rae Bareli seat is the traditional stronghold for Congress party. Gandhi is seeking re-election from Rae Bareli for the fifth time in a row. Sonia Gandhi had won the seat in 2004, 2006 (bypolls), 2009 and 2014. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi held the seat between 1967 and 1977.

Sonia Gandhi filed her nomination papers for the 2019 Lok Sabha Polls on April 11. Voting on the seat was held on May 6 during the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

Her rival Dinesh Pratap Singh was elected to the state legislative council for the second time in 2016 and left the Congress last year to join the BJP.

In 2014, Rae Bareli and Amethi were the only two seats the Congress managed to win in UP.

Mahagathbandhan, the grand-alliance of the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal has not fielded its candidate from Rae Bareli to avoid division of votes in the opposition camp.

During Lok Sabha elections in 2014, Rae Bareli had 1,594,954 registered voters-- 857,875 of them male and 737,079 female.

The constituency saw a 51.73% voter turnout in 2014 elections. Male voter turnout in Rae Bareli stood at 51.03% and 52.56% female voters turned out for voting.

In 2014, Sonia Gandhi beat Ajay Agrawal of BJP by receiving 63.80% per cent of the votes cast in this constituency. The victory margin in terms of number of votes stood at 352,713. Votes were cast on 1,659 polling booths in Rae Bareli.

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

Elusive bamboo shrimp resurfaces in Mangaluru estuary after 70 years

News Network

December 7,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 7: A rare bamboo shrimp has been rediscovered on mainland India more than 70 years after it was last reported, confirming for the first time the presence of Atyopsis spinipes in the country. The find was made by researchers from the Centre for Climate Change Studies at Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, during surveys in Karnataka and Odisha.

The team — shrimp expert Dr S Prakash, PhD scholar K Kunjulakshmi, and Mangaluru-based researcher Maclean Antony Santos — combined field surveys, ecological assessments and DNA analysis to identify the elusive species. Their findings, published in Zootaxa, resolve decades of taxonomic confusion stemming from a 1951 report that misidentified the species as Atyopsis moluccensis without strong evidence.

The shrimp has now been confirmed at two locations: the Mulki–Pavanje estuary near Mangaluru and the Kuakhai River in Bhubaneswar. Historical specimens from the Andaman Islands, previously labelled as A. moluccensis, were also found to be misidentified and actually belong to A. spinipes.

The rediscovery began after an aquarium hobbyist in Odisha spotted a shrimp in 2022, prompting systematic surveys across Udupi, Karwar and Mangaluru. Four female specimens were collected in Mulki and one in Odisha, all genetically matching.

Researchers warn the species may exist in very small, vulnerable populations as freshwater habitats face increasing pressure from pollution, sand mining and infrastructure development. All verified specimens have been deposited with the Zoological Survey of India for future reference.

Comments