SELF-STRENGTHENING SOLE ANTIDOTE TO TRUMP 2.0 24 NOVEMBER 2024 YOGI'S SLOGAN WORKS WONDERS IN UP BY-ELECTIONS JAISWAL, RAHUL HAND INDIA FIRM CONTROL OF PERTH TEST www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 PAGE 12 PAGE 5 PAGE 7 INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 PAGES 12 |` 5.00|LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR WEATHER SMOG/SHALLOW TO MODERATE FOG IS LIKELY IN THE MORNING. MAINLY CLEAR SKY. SMOG/SHALLOW FOG IS LIKELY IN THE EVENING/NIGHT. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 28 AND 12 DEGREE CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY RAINFALL: Nil RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 100 % TEMPERATURE Min. 36 % Max: 29.4 °C (3) SUN RISES 06:52 hrs MOON RISES 01:30 hrs Min: 11.4 °C (0) SUN SETS 17:25 hrs MOON SETS 11:34 hrs THUMBNAILS Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president JP Nadda wave at supporters at the party headquarters in the Capital on Saturday. Subrata Dutta Gautam Adani, nephew Sagar summoned by US market regulator SEC: The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued summons to Adani group founder and chairman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar to explain their stand on the allegation of paying 2,000 crore rupees or USD 265 million to Indian officials in bribes to secure lucrative solar power contracts. Summons have been sent to Adani's and his nephew Sagar's residences in Ahmedabad, and told to reply to the SEC within 21 days. Mahayuti trounces MVA to win Maha BJP alone is poised to win over 125 seats while the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena is expected to win more than 50 seats ASHOK TUTEJA PM Modi hails Mahayuti’s win in Maharashtra NEW DELHI, 23 NOVEMBER T he BJP-led Mahayuti on Saturday crushed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to retain power in Maharashtra while Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, cashing in on the sympathy due to his imprisonment on money laundering charges, led the JMMheaded-INDIA bloc to power in the tribal state for a second consecutive term. The handsome victory for the Mahayuti in Maharashtra clearly suggests that the Narendra Modi magic continues to work for the NDA which trounced the Opposition alliance that was clearly a frontrunner in the battle at the hustings for the Lok Sabha in India's wealthiest state just five months back. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were the star campaigners for the BJP led alliance. It was also Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's “Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana”, launched in June that turned the tide in favour of the three-party ruling dispensation. Women came out in large numbers to cast ballots in the state, apparently helping the Mahayuti to register a landslide. The Mahayuti's victory in Maharashtra, coming close on the heels of the BJP's win in the STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 23 NOVEMBER Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, Deputy CMs Ajit Pawar & Devendra Fadnavis, attend a press conference at Varsha Bungalow in Mumbai on Saturday, as the Mahayuti is set to form the government in the state. nANI Haryana Assembly elections, has come as a morale-booster for the BJP's rank and file which was dejected to an extent after the saffron party failed to secure a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha elections. The victory has again put a seal of approval on Home Minister Shah's rating as a "modern-day Chanakya and master strategist". The BJP alone is poised to win over 125 seats in Maharashtra, making it the largest party in the legislature wing of Mahayuti while the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena is expected to win more than 50 seats. The Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has also done exceedingly well. The MVA has performed so badly that it will be difficult for any of its constituents to even claim the post of the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assem- bly. The poll outcome has not only been a jolt for the Congress but also for the Udhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP. Eknath Shinde's supporters have already gone to town to claim that their leader has inherited the legacy of Bal Thackeray and this is reflected in the poll outcome. However, it seems to be the end of the road for the Maratha strongman and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, who has been decisively defeated by his nephew Ajit Pawar. But the million dollar question that arises in Maharashtra now is who will be the chief minister of the state. Will Eknath Shinde continue to be the CM or will his deputy and BJP's Devendra Fadnavis, who played a pivotal role in ensuring the saffron party's resounding win, get the coveted position again? NDA puts up impressive show in Rajasthan, UP, Bihar and Assam Assembly by-elections NIKHIL VYAS NEW DELHI, 23 NOVEMBER In another electoral battle between the NDA and the INDIA bloc, the NDA has put up an impressive show in the Assembly by-elections held in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Assam. The counting of votes for by-polls which were held for 48 Assembly and two Lok Sabha seats across 15 states were held Saturday. The bypolls were held on 13 and 20 November. BJP dominated the Uttar Pradesh bypolls by winning six of the nine Assembly seats with ally RLD winning the seventh, while the Samajwadi Party won two seats. In Rajasthan bypolls, the BJP won five Assembly seats while the Congress has won one, BAP has retained Chorasi while RLP has lost in its bastion in Khimsar. The saffron party registered victory in Ramgarh, Deoli Uniara, Khinvsar, Jhunjhunu and Salumber, while Congress has won Dausa and the BAP has retained its Chorasi seat. The ruling NDA has achieved a sweeping victory in the by-elections for all four Assembly seats in Bihar. The polling for the by-elections on 13 November for the four Assembly seats in Bihar registered an average voter turnout of 52.84 per cent. In the Tarari Assembly constituency, BJP candidate Vishal Prashant emerged victorious. The party’s Ashok Kumar Singh too secured the Ramgarh seat by a margin of 1,362 votes after 12 rounds of counting. Deepa Kumari, the daughter-in-law of Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular chief Jitan Ram Manjhi, won the tightly-contested Imamganj Assembly seat. In Belaganj, JD(U) candidate Manorma Devi claimed victory. The ruling BJP-led NDA alliance registered a remarkable victory in Assam bypolls by winning all the five seats in the state. The BJP won three constituencies ~ Dholai, Behali and Samaguri seat. BJP’s ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) won the Bongaigaon Assembly seat. Another ally, United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) registered a win in the Sidli Assembly seat. By-polls were held for nine Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, seven seats in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, five seats in Assam, four each in Bihar and Punjab, three seats in Karnataka, two each in Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Sikkim. Assembly bypolls were also held on one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Meghalaya and Uttarakhand. By-elections were conducted for Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala and Nanded Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra. Priyanka joins mother Sonia, brother Rahul in Parliament STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 23 NOVEMBER With Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's victory in the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll, three members of the Nehru-Gandhi family will now be in Parliament. While Ms Vadra, who made her electoral debut, joins brother Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha, their mother Sonia is a member of the Rajya Sabha. Ms Vadra contested from Wayanad after Mr Gandhi vacated the seat, having won the Rae Bareli seat also in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year. Ms Vadra’s victory from Wayanad was a foregone conclusion once she joined the electoral battle since the constituency is considered a Congress stronghold. The only question was whether she would surpass Mr Gandhi’s victory margin of 4.30 lakh votes in the 2019 Lok JMM-Cong combine set to form govt in Jharkhand Sabha elections. Although she fell slightly short, Ms Vadra still achieved a remarkable win, securing the seat with a margin of over 4.10 lakh votes. That was also higher than her brother’s victory margin of 3.65 lakh in this year’s Lok Sabha polls. Incidentally, eyebrows were raised when the poll percentage on 13 November fell from around 73.57 per cent in April 2024 to 64.22 per cent, which caused concern in some quarters that Ms Vadra’s victory margin would not be as high as expected. But when the counting of votes began, Priyanka Gandhi raced ahead from the start and never looked back. Sonia Gandhi, the Chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party, is a member of the Upper House from Rajasthan. The 77-year-old leader did not contest the Lok Sabha elections apparently due to health issues. (See Page 8) Hailing the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance win in Maharashtra assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the state has witnessed the triumph of development, good governance, and genuine social justice. “Today, development, good governance and true social justice has won in Maharashtra. At the same time, today lies, deceit and fraud have been badly defeated in Maharashtra. Divisive forces have been defeated, negative politics has been defeated, today nepotism has been defeated," Mr Modi said. “Today, the forces of deception, divisive politics, and family dynasty have been defeated! Today, Maharashtra has strengthened its resolve for a developed India. I congratulate and applaud all BJP and NDA workers across the country," the Prime Minister said while addressing party workers and leaders at the BJP headquarters here after the results of Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and bypolls were announced. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 23 NOVEMBER The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-Congress alliance on Saturday retained the mineral-rich state with a comfortable margin over its rival BJP. The ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MM alone has won 34 seats, while its allies are poised to win 22 more seats - Congress 16, RJD 4 and CPI(ML) two. Chief Minister Hemant Soren retained the Barhait seat defeating BJP's Gamliyel Hembrom by a margin of 39,791 votes, according to the Election Commission. Mr Soren secured 95,612 votes, while Mr Hembrom got 55,821 votes. Mr Soren is now set to return as Chief Minister of Jharkhand at the helm of the JMM-led alliance. His wife, Kalpana, was leading in Gandey constituency with over 8,000 votes till 18th round, according to the Election Commission of India website. Former CM and now BJP candidate from Seraikela, Champai Soren, was also leading as was BJP's state president Babu Lal Marandi from Dhanwar. The state's elections were held in two phases on 13 and 20 November, for all 81 Assembly seats. The state saw a voter turnout of 67.74 per cent across both phases, with the second phase seeing a turnout of 68.95 per cent. Prominent candidates included Chief Minister Hemant Soren, BJP’s Babulal Marandi and AJSU’s Sudesh Mahto. Marandi has predicted over 51 seats for the NDA, while CongressleaderandJharkhand in-charge Ghulam Ahmad Mir said the JMM alliance will win over 50 per cent of seats.