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A Village Burnt Overnight: Tears, Loss and Survival in Dhamangaon Blaze

  Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...

20,000 service and postal ballots distributed for assembly polls

By Dheeraj Fartode
District Election Commission had distributed around 20,000 postal and service ballot for the assembly election. The ballots would be major factor in deciding fate of MLA in 12 constituencies of city and district. Postal ballot are meant for those on polling duty during the time of election while service ballot are meant for personnel working in armed forces.

Ajay Ramteke, Deputy District Returning Officer told ‘The Hitavada’ that after receiving applications for service ballots from Regiment Headquarters, the district election commission had dispatched 3,312 service ballots. Total 28,000 government employees including 5,000 policemen were deployed for the election process in entire Nagpur District. Out of them, total 16,436 government employees had filled form no 12, a must for casting vote through postal ballot. 

It means that 19,748 service/postal ballots would play a decisive role in outcome of the 12 assembly constituencies. A political observer said that in the multi cornered fight, the postal ballot could play important role.  Margin of victory would be very less and hence the postal ballots may change the equation of constituency. 

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