CMYK FRIDAY www.thestatesman.com 09 DECEMBER 2022 FIND US ONLINE Scan this with your smartphone twitter.com/TheStatesmanLtd facebook.com/thestatesman1875 Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR FM & 4 INDIANS ON FORBES’ 100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN LIST OLAF’S OVERTURE P6 Partly cloudy sky very likely.Temperature likely to be in the range of 25-16 degrees Celsius. RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY TEMPERATURE Max: 25.8 °C (-2) SUN RISES 06:04 hrs MOON RISES 16:56 hrs P8 P11 'WARNER WAS MADE A SCAPEGOAT' P12 Record-breaking victory for the BJP as the party headed to an all-time high tally in the Gujarat Assembly since its inception in 1960 WEATHER Max.86% PUTIN SAYS UKRAINE FIGHT IS TAKING LONGER THAN EXPECTED Lotus blooms for 7th time in Gujarat BJP gets 156 of 182 seats, with a vote share of more than 52 pc; Cong distant second with a tally of 17 seats Min. 45% Gujarat results proved common man’s yearning for a developed India : PM Min: 16.0 °C (0)) SUN SETS 16:52 hrs MOON SETS 06:04 hrs Third Quarter on 16 December “The message is clear that whenever there is a challenge before the country, people show their faith in BJP the Prime Minister observed. ,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday, said that people of Gujarat have broken all records by giving the biggest mandate to the BJP in the history of the state in the Assembly polls. “I had told the people of Gujarat that this time Narendra's record should be broken. I promised that Narendra will work hard so that Bhupendra (chief minister of the state) can break Narendra's record. Gujarat has broken all records by giving the biggest mandate to BJP in the history of Gujarat,” he said while addressing BJP workers at the party's headquarters . He said the results of Gujarat have proven how strong the desire of the common man for a developed India is.” The message is clear that whenever there is a challenge before the country, people show their faith in BJP the Prime Minister contended. He ," said the last few elections should be analysed on a big canvas. “Those who call themselves neutral, who need to be neutral, where they stand, when and how they change colours? And how they play the game, it is very important for the country to know this,” he said, taking a dig at the OppoSNS sition. THUMBNAILS Pak Rangers capture, release BSF jawan who crossed border by mistake: Pakistani Rangers captured and later released an Indian Border Security Force (BSF) jawan who accidentally crossed the border during patrolling.The incident took place in Abohar sector of Punjab on Wednesday. BJP workers celebrate at BJP headquarters, in the Capital on Thursday.  SUBRATA DUTTA RATHIN DAS AHMEDABAD, 8 DECEMBER rime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday led the ruling BJP to a record-breaking victory in his native state as the party headed to an all-time high tally in the Gujarat Assembly since its inception in 1960. With a vote share of more than 52 per cent, the BJP is set to win about 156 of the 182 seats in the state assembly. The vote share of the Congress remains around 27 per cent, with a tally of 17 seats ~ a drop of 60 seats from the 77 the party P There is pro-incumbency in Gujarat. We are creating a new record in Gujarat as the people of the state have immense faith in PM Narendra Modi The people of Gujarat have rejected those who make false promises, and play 'revdi and appeasement' politics and voted for the BJP of Narendra Modi which works for the development and people's welfare HOME MINISTER AMIT SHAH DEFENCE MINISTER RAJNATH SINGH won in 2017. The BJP not only registered its victory in Gujarat for the seventh time in a row since 1995, but the party also surpassed the 1985 record set by then chief minister Madhavsinh Solanki who had won 149 of the 182 seats in the state assembly.The BJP’s previous record victory was set in 2002 when the party won 127 seats in the wake of a statewide communal polarisation after the riots following the killing of 58 passengers in the Sabarmati Express fire on 27 February that year. The BJP’s tally thereafter continued to decline, touching the lowest at 99 in 2017, the first Assembly election after Mr Modi moved to Delhi. Though the fledgling Aam The results of Gujarat elections are quite clear. People have made up their minds to further continue with the journey of development in Gujarat. CHIEF MINISTER BHUPENDRA PATEL Aadmi Party (AAP) was initially seen as the spoilsport in the largely bipolar Gujarat politics, a scrutiny of the voting figures indicate that victory of the BJP is the result of a decisive electorate irrespective of the entry of the new party in the polls arena.The antiincumbency votes attracted by the AAP were far less than the margin by which Congress nominees have lost in several constituencies, an indication that the new entrant cannot be blamed for ensuring a thumping majority for the ruling BJP . Nevertheless, a vote share of nearly 13 per cent polled by the AAP is certainly impressive for a party trying to get a foothold in a state swayed by the saffron wave since the Somnath to Ayodhya rath yatra by BJP stalwart L K Advani and now under the spell of Mr Modi. The voters of Gujarat have collectively sent a message that nothing matters to them more than the charisma of ‘son of the soil’ Narendra Modi who has now become synonymous with the BJP and Gujarat. Mr Modi had himself cashed in on this sentiment while responding to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge likening him with tenheaded Ravan. Predictably enough, Mr Modi had quickly turned the Ravan jibe into an insult of ‘a son of Gujarat’, a move that kindled the ‘asmita’ (pride) of the state. Modi magic in Guj; Cong focus on Himachal chooses to go with tradition of voting out local issues pays dividends in HP incumbent; Cong returns to power, wins 40 seats ASHOK TUTEJA NEW DELHI, 8 DECEMBER The Narendra Modi magic worked wonders for the BJP as it shattered all previous records to retain power in Gujarat for a seventh consecutive term today but the saffron party failed to buck the anti-incumbency trend in Himachal Pradesh where the Congress returned to power after a gap of five years. The BJP's performance was so impressive in the Prime Minister's home state of Gujarat that it was close to winning 156 seats in the 182-member Assembly, breaking the electoral record of 149 seats achieved by the Madhav Sinh Solanki-led Congress in 1985. The Congress finished a poor second while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was third. The election outcome in Gujarat is seen as a shot in the arm for the BJP as the saffron party gears up for the Assembly elections in nine states next year and the Lok Sabha polls in 2024. Mr Modi yet again proved that he is the biggest mascot for the BJP and that anti-incumbency is not a factor in his home state as long as he leads the saffron outfit. Even though Mr Modi left Gujarat after becoming Prime Minister in 2014, he continues to exercise his sway on the state. This time around, the presence of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the poll fray in the state also helped the BJP to almost eliminate the Congress which had performed quite well in the last Assembly polls. The AAP largely cut into the Congress vote bank, thus benefitting the BJP . Political observers say the poll outcome may lead to an exodus of Congress members to the BJP or AAP which now poses a formidable challenge to the grand old party in the state. Mr Modi and the BJP left no stone unturned in the election, fully conscious of the fact that an upset in the state could have a bearing on national politics. For the second phase of voting, Mr Modi even undertook a 50-km roadshow covering 13 Assembly constituencies in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. The AAP’s aggressive campaign, led by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, obviously did not work while the Congress never looked like it was putting up a fight to return to power in the state after 27 years in the wilderness. Another factor that went against the Congress was that the party was not united. The people of Himachal Pradesh again voted for change in the hill state by bringing the Congress back to power. Political observers in the hill state say the Congress campaign was focused largely on local issues and the “failures” of the Jai Ram Thakur government. The grand old party was fully aware that highlighting national issues and targeting Mr Modi would be counter-productive given the PM's mass appeal and the party might have to face defeat again. The BJP's last-ditch effort to use Mr Modi's face during the campaign does not seem to have paid off.There was clearly a strong yearning for change in the state which has never voted an incumbent government back to power. BHAWANI NEGI My heartfelt thanks to the people of HP for this decisive victory. Heartiest congratulations to all Congress workers and leaders. Your hard work and dedication truly deserve the best wishes for this victory. I assure you again, we will fulfill every promise made to the public as soon as possible SHIMLA, 8 DECEMBER The people of Himachal Pradesh chose to go with the tradition of voting out the incumbent as on Thursday Congress returned to power in a tight contest with 40 seats in a House of 68. For a majority, a party needs 35 seats. TheBJP bagged 25 seats in the state with Independents emerging victorious in three seats.Chief minister Jai Ram Thakur tendered his resignation to the governor soon after it became clear that the Congress would get a majority.The vote share of Congress at 43.90 per cent was just 0.90 per cent more than the saffron party’s share (43 percent), while Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was decimated with 1.10 vote share. In 2017, the BJP had 44 seats while Congress had won 21 seats. In 2022, the Congress kept former party president Rahul Gandhi away from cam- Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with the supporters while taking part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, in Kota on Thursday. ANI paigning while roping in his sister and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi. In a strategic move, the grand old party tried to keep PM Modi factor in check by focussing more on local issues of Old Pension Scheme (OPS), inflation and unemployment and its promise of Rs 1,500 per month for all women of age group 18-60. As many as eight BJP ministers out of 11 who were in the fray bit the dust including social justice and empower- ment minister Sarveen Choudhary (Shahpur), health and family welfare minister Rajiv Saizal (Kasauli), education minister Govind Singh (Manali), food and civil supplies minister Rajinder Garg (Ghumarwin), forest minister Rakesh Pathania (Fatehpur), urban development minister Suresh Bhardwaj (Kasumpti), technical education minister Ram Lal Markanda (Lahaul and Spiti), and rural development and Panchayati Raj minister Virender Kanwar (Kutlehar). Jal Shakti Minister Mahender Singh vacated the Dharampur seat for his son Rajat Thakur, who also lost. Only outgoing CM Jai Ram Thakur, industries minister Bikram Singh and power minister Sukh Ram Chaudhary could retain their seats. Mr Thakur won from Seraj seat by a margin of 38,183 votes. Leader of Opposition and CM contender from Congress Mukesh Agnihotri retained Haroli seat in the Una district for the fifth time in a row. He won by a margin of 9,148 votes. Another CM contender in the party, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, emerged victorious from Nadaun by a margin of 3,363 votes. Virbhadra Singh’s sonVikramaditya Singh won Shimla (rural), for the second time by a margin of 13,860 votes. RS Bali, son of former Congress minister GS Bali, defeated his nearest rival by 15,892 votes.However, Congress heavyweight Kaul SinghThakur lost again from Darang by 618 votes. He had represented Darang eight times in the past. The margin of defeat of another veteran Asha Kumari, who is a six-time MLA, from Dalhousie was 9,918 votes. Bypolls: SP retains Mainpuri, BJP wrests Rampur ‘Making remarks on SC collegium is not very well taken’ STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE SNS & AGENCIES LUCKNOW, 8 DECEMBER While the ruling BJP sprang a surprise in Rampur by wresting the Assembly seat from the SP the Samajwadi Party has , retained the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh in the bypolls held last week. However, the BJP suffered a setback when they lost the assembly seat Khatauli to the RLD.All eyes were on the Mainpuri Lok Sabha bypolls, a dynasty seat of theYadav clan, after the demise of the party founder Mulayam SinghYadav. Mulayam had represented Mainpuri five times and it was represented twice by his family members. In the Mainpuri bypolls, SP candidate Dimple Yadav, wife of party president Akhilesh Yadav, contested on the sympathy wave of the death of her father-in-law to defeat BJP's SP candidate Dimple Yadav with her husband and party president Akhilesh Yadav shows the ‘certificate of election’ after her victory , in Mainpuri on Thursday.  ANI Raghuraj Shakya by a record margin of 2,88,461 votes. Earlier Ms Yadav was elected MP from Kannauj in 2014 but lost to BJP in 2019. Meanwhile, in a new development in the Yadav clan, Pragatsheel Samajwadi Party Lohia (PSPL) led by Shivpal Singh Yadav was merged with Samajwadi Party on Thursday. Shivpal had parted with Akhilesh in 2016 and had formed the PSPL. But both uncle and nephew reunited for the Mainpuri Lok Sabha bypolls. In Rampur assembly seat, the BJP wrested it from the SP , whose candidate Asim Raza lost by 34,136 votes to BJP's Akash Saxena.The Rampur bypolls was held after the disqualification of SP leader Mohammad Azam Khan after his conviction in a criminal case.On the other hand, Madan Bhaiyya of the RLD, an alliance partner of SP won the Khatauli , assembly seat by 22,143 votes against BJP candidate Rajkumari Saini. The bypoll was necessitated after sitting BJP member Vikram Saini was disqualified after his conviction in a criminal case. With this bypoll results,RLD’ s strength in UP assembly has gone up to 9 while SP has lost one and its number is now at 109. The ruling BJP’s strength remains at 254. Separately, in Bihar, the BJP snatched the Kurhani Assembly seat with the saffron party's Kedar Prasad Gupta defeating the JDU’s Manoj Kushwaha by a margin of over 3,600 votes. The bypoll was necessitated after the disqualification of RJD MLA Anil Kumar Sahani.In Chhattisgarh, the Congress retained the Bhanupratappur Assembly bypoll. The ruling Congress in Rajasthan is also set to win the Sardarshahar assembly bypoll with its candidate Anil Sharma taking a 26,000-plus vote lead over his nearest rival.In Odisha’s Padampur Assembly seat, the Biju Janata Dal is set for a landslide victory with party candidate Barsha Singh Bariha sprinting far ahead of her BJP rival Pradeep Purohit. NEW DELHI, 8 DECEMBER Amidst the ongoing friction between the Centre and the judiciary on the issue of the appointment of judges, the Supreme Court on Thursday told the Centre that the collegium system is the “law of the land”, which should be followed. And, referring to government functionaries' remarks against the collegium, the top court said: “Making comments on the Supreme Court collegium is not very well taken”. It told the Attorney General (AG) R.Venkataramani, representing the Centre, “you tell them to control...” A Bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and Vikram Nath told the AG that just because there are some sections of society who express CMYK No proposal to reintroduce NJAC, says Kiren Rijiju: Union Minister of Law Kiren Rijiju on Thursday said that there is no such proposal to reintroduce the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) with suitable modifications. While responding to the several questions raised by politicians Mallikarjun Kharge and Dr John Bittas in Parliament, Law and Justice Minister said, the appointment of the Judges of the Constitutional Courts is a continuous, integrated and collaborative process between the Executive and the Judiciary. Rijiju also said that the appointments of judges require consultation and approval from various constitutional authorities both at the state and central levels. Government appoints only those persons as Judges of High Courts who are recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium. ANI a view against the collegium system, it will not cease to be the law of the land. The Bench added that the apex court judgment, which formulated the collegium system for judges' appointment must be adhered to. Justice Kaul told the AG, "There are sections in society who do not agree with the laws made by the Parliament... should the court stop enforcing such laws on that ground?” The Bench further added that if everyone in society decides which law to follow and which law not to follow, then there would be a breakdown.Senior advocate Vikas Singh, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), cited recent statements made by the law minister and the vice president about the collegium system. Justice Kaul said tomorrow people will say the basic structure is also not a part of the Constitution! Justice Nath told the AG: “Mr Singh is referring to speeches...which is not very good for...making comments on the Supreme Court collegium is not very well taken. You have to tell them to control...,” Justice Vikram Nath told the AG. The AG said that there are two instances where the apex court collegium itself dropped the reiterated names which were sent back by the Centre and this gave rise to a perception that the reiterations might not be conclusive.