Varanasi, Mar 24 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Murli Manohar Joshi on Tuesday filed his nomination from the Varanasi constituency for the upcoming general elections.

Joshi handed over his papers to the District Electoral Officer and District Magistrate of Varanasi Ajay Kumar Upadhyay.

The BJP leader thanked people for their support and said he would work to regain the old glory of the city.

He is the first candidate to file nomination papers from the constituency.

The polls in Varanasi will be held in the first phase on April 16.

Amethi, Mar 24 : Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the daughter of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, on Tuesday said she had no plans to contest elections or enter politics but would continue campaigning for the Congress.

Talking to the reporters here, Priyanka said, "Like previous years, I will oversee campaigning in Amethi and Rae Bareli. I have no intentions to enter politics or to contest elections."

Priyanka is on a two-day tour of Amethi and Rae Bareli-constituencies represented by brother Rahul Gandhi and mother Sonia Gandhi respectively.

Ghaziabad, Mar 23 : Army Major Mohit Sharma, who lost his life while fighting terrorists in Kupwara, was cremated here with full military honours on Monday.

Sharma was killed along with three other soldiers on Sunday in an encounter with the terrorists.

Major Sharma's body was taken to Ghaziabad, where hundreds of his relatives, friends and other admirers paid their last tribute.

NOIDA (UP), Mar. 23 : Ramon Magsaysay Awardee and former Indian Police Service officer Dr. Kiran Bedi has expressed her concern over the status quo being perpetuated in the legal and judiciary systems of the country, and called on students pursuing law to be agents of change.

"We are still resisting change in the judicial and legal framework of the country. We can achieve meaningful democracy only when we keep on evolving and stop being stagnant," she said.

Kanpur, Mar 23 : Devoid of electricity, villagers in Uttar Pradesh have now threatened to boycott the upcoming general elections.

Even after 60 years of India''s independence, villages like Sultanpur Tera Jor, Hathiyapur, Kundal, Gahana of Kanpur district don''t have basic amenities.

Miffed with politicians and their false hopes, enraged villagers have threatened to boycott the polls unless their villages are electrified.

Lucknow, Mar 23 : The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) spokesperson for Uttar Pradesh Rajkumar Ojha on Monday said that his party could field 15 candidates in the state for the upcoming general elections.

"The party has decided to field 15 candidates in the state and has already declared its candidates from five Lok Sabha constituencies," Ojha said.

Ojha further said that there is a possibility to fight the elections under the banner of the National Dalit Front (NDF).