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 Mainly clear sky. Maximum and Minimum Temperature most likely to be around 28˚C and 18˚C respectively. Mahayuti trounces MVA to win Maha The 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 RAINFALL: 0.0 mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 91% PM Modi hails Mahayuti’s win in Maharashtra NEW DELHI, 23 NOVEMBER T TEMPERATURE Min. 44% Max: 28.0˚C (-1.2) Min: 18.8˚C (+0.5) SUN RISES SUN SETS 05:55 hrs 16:51 hrs MOON RISES MOON SETS 23:57 hrs 12:14 hrs New Moon on 1 December THUMBNAILS Sadhus take part in the Dharam Dhwaja Puja ceremony of Panch Dasnam Aagni Akhara ahead of Kumbh Mela 2025, in Prayagraj on Saturday. nANI Gautam Adani, nephew Sagar summoned by US markets 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. 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 with Deputy CMs Ajit Pawar & Devendra Fadnavis address 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? Trinamul sweeps bypolls, winning all six Assembly seats; snatches Madarihat from BJP SUBHENDU MAITI KOLKATA, 23 NOVEMBER The ruling Trinamul Congress led by Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal made a clean sweep in the bypolls in six Assembly constituencies including Madarihat (S) that had gone to the opposition BJP in the Assembly elections in 2021 and 2016. The Madarihat win in particular deals a major blow to the saffron camp in north Bengal ahead of the Assembly polls in the state scheduled to be held in 2026. On Saturday, with the announcements of phenomenal victories one after another for the Trinamul Congress at the counting centres for the six constituencies, the jubilant ruling party workers started celebrations. Chief minister and Trinamul Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee in a social media post expressed her gratitude to the people of the state for their continued support to the party, saying, “I would like to thank and congratulate ‘Maa, Mati, and Manush’ from the bottom of my heart. Your blessing will help us work for the people in the coming days.” Abhishek Banerjee, national general secretary of the Trinamul Congress, congrat- ulates all six candidates of the party for their victories, claiming they had ‘defied the narratives created by zaminders, the media, and a section of Calcutta High Court to defame Bengal for their own vested interests (sic).” The bypolls were necessitated after the sitting MLAs in the six constituencies ~ Sitai, Madarihat (S), Medinipur, Taldangra, Haroa and Naihati in Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, East Midnapore, Bankura and North 24 Parganas districts, respectively, resigned to contest the Lok Sabha elections and won. The bypolls were held in these seats on 13 November. Five of the six constituencies are located in south Bengal, a strong citadel of the Trinamul Congress, while Madarihat (S) is in north Bengal where the BJP has its strong political base. The bypolls in the six constituencies were crucial for the contesting political parties particularly for the Trinamul Congress, against the backdrop of the R G Kar hospital rape and murder incident and the outrage that it had provoked. Today’s results saw that the ruling party continuing its winning streak from the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in the JMM-Cong combine set to form govt in Jharkhand state in which it increased the number of seats in Parliament by bagging 29 out of a total of 42 in the state. In the 2019 LS polls, Trinamul Congress had won only 22 seats while the BJP had bagged 18. Rabiul Islam of Trinamul Congress won in Harao with a margin of more than 1,30,000 votes while the BJP has come down to third position. The saffron party also lost its deposit in the constituency. In Sitai (SC), Trinamul Congress’ Sangita Roy won by a record margin of 1,30,636 votes over her nearest BJP candidate Dipak Kumar Roy who garnered only 35,348 votes. The Trinamul Congress’ vote share shot up to 76 per cent, as compared to around 50 per cent in the 2021 Assembly elections. BJP suffered a major setback, garnering only 16 per cent vote share as compared with 45 per cent in the last elections in 2021. In Madarihat (S), a tea garden belt area in north Bengal, Trinamul Congress for the first time got the taste of victory. Since 1977, the Left Front partner RSP used to win from the seat in a row till the 2016 Assembly polls when the BJP defeated the party’s candidate. Jayprakash Toppo of the ruling party won with a margin of around 28,100 votes against his nearest rival, BJP candidate Rahul Lohar. In Naihati, Trinamul congress candidate Sanat Dey won with 78,772 votes, defeating BJP’s Rupak Mitra by 49,270 votes. In Medinipur, Sujoy Hazra of the Trinamul Congress won with 115,104 votes, a margin of 33,996 votes against nearest contestant Subhajit Roy of BJP who secured 81,108 votes. In Taldangra of Bankura district, Trinamul Congressnominated candidate Falguni Singhababu won by 98,926 votes against his BJP rival Ananya Roy Chakraborty. In 2021, the ruling party in the state had more than 50 per cent votes in Naihati, Haroa and Medinipur seats while it was around 45 percent in Sitai and Taldangra constituencies in 2021 assembly polls. It saw a phenomenal rise in its vote share this time around with around 54 per cent in the bypolls. In Madarihat, it had around 37 per cent votes. In the last bypolls to four Assemblies ~ Raniganj, Ranaghat Dakshmin, Bagda and Maniktala ~ held in July, the Trinamul Congress had also bagged all. The CPI-M-led Left Front, which had hoped to cash in on the R G Kar Hospital protests to revive its political presence in the state, faced a crushing defeat, even losing its deposit in Sitai and Madarihat (S). Similarly, its ally, CPI-M(L) also lost its deposit in Naihati. The Left Frontbacked Indian Secular Front (ISF) candidate Piyarul Islam also lost his deposit in Haroa, though his party secured the second position after the Trinamul Congress. The Congress, breaking its earlier electoral alliance with the Left Front, had fielded its candidates in the six Assembly seats but also lost deposits in all six. 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.