HIGHLIGHTS

Following are the top stories at 1700 hours:

DEL16 PM-2NDLD KEDARNATH PM offers prayers at Kedarnath, to visit Badrinath Sunday

Kedarnath (U'khand): Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday offered prayers at the Himalayan shrine of Kedarnath, a day after campaigning for the general election came to a close.

NAIDU-2NDLD OPPN LEADERS Oppn leaders step up coalition talks, TDP chief Naidu meets Rahul, others

New Delhi/Lucknow: TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu held a flurry of meetings with opposition leaders, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi, BSP's Mayawati and SP leader Akhilesh Yadav, in an apparent bid to rally support for a non-BJP government at the Centre.

ELN17 EC-ARORA LD DISSENT Members of EC not supposed to be 'clones' of each other, divergence of views natural: CEC

New Delhi: Against the backdrop of Commissioner Ashok Lavasa recusing himself from model code violation cases till his dissents are recorded on orders, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora Saturday said members of the panel are not supposed to be "clones" of each other and divergence of views was natural.

DEL11 CONG-LD LAVASA Cong demands inquiry into issues raised by Lavasa, accuses Modi Govt of pressuring EC

New Delhi: Demanding a probe into charges made by Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa, the Congress on Saturday alleged that eroding institutional integrity has been the hallmark of Modi government and asked whether the poll panel has become “Election Omission” and a “puppet” in the PM's hands.

DEL21 DEF-NAVYCHIEF-LD CHALLENGE Defence Ministry rejects Bimal Verma's petition challenging appointment of Navy Chief

New Delhi: The Defence Ministry has rejected Vice Admiral Bimal Verma's petition challenging the appointment of his junior, Vice Admiral Karambir Singh, as the next Navy Chief, holding that seniority is not the sole criteria for selection.

DEL7 JK-3RDLD ENCOUNTER Terrorist who killed army jawan Aurangzeb eliminated with 2 Hizbul colleagues: Police

Srinagar: Three Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) militants, including the one involved in the killing last year of Army jawan Aurangzeb, were Saturday killed in a pre-dawn operation by security forces in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

DEL13 KEJRIWAL-LD INDIRA GANDHI I will be assassinated like Indira Gandhi, BJP after my life: Kejriwal

New Delhi: Alleging that the BJP was after his life, Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal Saturday claimed that he will be assassinated like former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by his personal security officer.

DEL20 DL-KEJRIWAL-BJP BJP slams Kejriwal over remarks on his security

New Delhi: The Delhi BJP on Saturday accused Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of playing politics over the "serious" matter of security and making false allegations against it for "cheap popularity", after he claimed that there was threat to this life from the saffron party.

ELN25 WB-LD EC MAMATA Mamata writes to EC hours before the final phase of polling

Kolkata: Hours before the final phase of Lok Sabha polling, Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister wrote to the Election Commission Saturday in to ensure "peaceful and impartial" elections in the state without the interference of the BJP.

DEL9 RJ-LD RAPES Three minors raped in Rajasthan; chargesheet filed in Alwar gangrape case

Jaipur: Three minor girls were raped in different parts of Rajasthan, including in Alwar where the victim's family lynched one of the three accused, the police said on Saturday.

DEL19 RJ-GANGRAPE-LD CHARGESHEET Chargesheet filed in Alwar gangrape case

Alwar: Police on Saturday filed a chargesheet against the six accused in the Alwar gangrape case in a SC/ST Court here.

DEL15 OPPN-MODI Oppn takes swipes at PM for not taking questions at press conference

New Delhi: Opposition leaders on Saturday took swipes at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not taking any questions at a press conference on Friday and diverting them to BJP chief Amit Shah.

DEL18 AIR-POLL RESULTS-PROGRAMME AIR to broadcast special programme on results of LS, assembly polls

New Delhi: The All India Radio will continuously broadcast a special programme on results of the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in four states for 40 hours.

FOREIGN: FGN15 UK-MAYOR-LD INDIA

Pak-origin London Mayor calls for preferential norms for Indian businesses, students London: Pakistani-origin London Mayor Sadiq Khan has called for similar preferential norms for Indian companies and students as those offered to China in order to boost foreign direct investment (FDI) from India into the British capital. By Aditi Khanna PTI KJ