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Whats App WhatsApp clones and software tools that cost as little as Rs 1,000 are helping Indian digital marketers and political activists bypass anti-spam restrictions set up by the world’s most popular messaging app, Reuters has found. The activities highlight the challenges WhatsApp , owned by Facebook, faces in preventing abuse in India, its biggest market with more than 200 million users. With fervent campaigning in staggered general elections, which concludes on May 19, the demand for such tools has surged, according to digital companies and sources in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its main rival, the Congress party. After false messages on WhatsApp last year sparked mob lynchings, the company restricted forwarding of a message to only five users. The software tools appear to overcome those restrictions, allowing users to reach thousands o...

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its first list of 184 candidates for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls on Thursday. It said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will contest from his sitting seat of Varanasi, while party chief Amit Shah will make his Lok Sabha electoral debut, contesting from Gandhinagar in Gujarat. Other highlights were BJP announcing 28 candidates in Uttar Pradesh, replacing six sitting MPs, four of whom were on seats reserved for Scheduled Castes, which reflected the party’s concerns at the Samajwadi Party–Bahujan Samaj Party–Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance. In 2014, the BJP had won 71 of UP’s 80 seats, with ally Apna Dal winning two. In Chhattisgarh, the party declared candidates on five seats, replacing all five sitting MPs. It has already announced that it will replace all 11 candidates in Chhattisgarh. In 2014, the BJP had won 10 of Chhattisgarh’s 11 seats. The BJP has been disinclined to fielding leaders above 75 years of age. Senior leader L K Advani, the inc...