HIGHLIGHTS NORTH 8.30 PM

These are the top stories from the northern region at 8.30 pm ELN401-UP-RESULT-VARANASI PM

Modi retains Varanasi seat with 4.80 Lakh margin Varanasi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday won the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat defeating his nearest rival Shalini Yadav of Samajwadi Party by a margin of nearly 4.80 lakh votes.

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Rahul a fine leader, Cong will bounce back: Amarinder Singh Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Thursday trashed criticism of the Congress president after the party's Lok Sabha defeat, saying he has worked closely with Rahul Gandhi and found him to be a "fine leader".

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Will approach party high command against Sidhu: Amarinder Singh Chandigarh: Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Thursday said he would approach the Congress high command over his cabinet colleague Navjot Singh Sidhu's remarks on the sacrilege issue during electioneering.

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Kangra Cong candidate claims 'EVM tampering' Dharamshala: Kangra Congress candidate Pawan Kajal Thursday claimed that "EVM tampering" was the reason for his defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.

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Former Hry CM Bhupinder Hooda loses from Sonipat Chandigarh: Former Haryana chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda was on Thursday defeated by BJP's Ramesh Chander Kaushik from the Sonipat Lok Sabha seat.

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Farooq Abdullah wins Srinagar seat by over 70,000 votes Srinagar: Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah Thursday won the election to the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency by trouncing his nearest rival by over 70,000 votes, entering the lower house of Parliament for the fourth time.

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BJP's Brijendra Singh defeats Dushyant Chautala in Hisar Chandigarh: BJP candidate Brijendra Singh won the Hisar parliamentary seat defeating his nearest rival and incumbent MP Dushyant Chautala of the JJP by a margin of 3,14,068 votes. DEL29-JK-ENCOUNTER Encounter breaks out in J-K's Pulwama Srinagar: An encounter broke out between militants and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday, police said.