kannur l wednesday l march 27, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION FIVE chinese nationals killed in Suicide attack in NorthWest paK A vehicle loaded with explosives rammed into a bus carrying the Chinese nationals in Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. Its driver too died No outfit claims responsibility for attack Militants target Naval base in Baloch The vehicle carrying the Chinese engineers fell into a gorge after the bast and caught fire. Rescue workers reached the spot and put out the fire. The bodies of the Chinese nationals — four men and a woman — were being taken to Islamabad. The foreigners were working on the Dasu hydropower project. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack till now ■ ■ Pakistan security forces on Monday night foiled an attack at a naval air base in Turbat district of Balochistan, killing at least four militants. In the exchange of fire, one security personnel was killed Militants attacked one of the biggest naval air bases from 3 sides, but their attempts were foiled by Pakistan’s security forces | P11 dozen blasts were heard in Turbat town during the attack on Naval base CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI 2 A large ship hit the Francis Scott Key bridge in the port of Baltimore at 1:27 am on Tuesday, causing it to collapse, sending cars and people plunging into the Patapsco River As candidates intensify their campaigining, Biju E Paul, our special correspondent in Alappuzha, tours the Chalakudy Lok Sabha constituency to gauge the public mood, and takes a look at the issues in focus this election | P5 Antony yet to make up his mind T’Puram: CWC leader A K Antony has reiterated that if he is healthy, he will travel to Pathanamthitta to campaign for UDF candidate Anto Antony. Incidentally, Antony’s elder son, Anil, is the BJP’s pick for the Lok Sabha seat | P5 CPM bickering in P’thitta Pathanamthitta/Kochi: The CPM on Tuesday resorted to fire-fighting mode in Pathanamthitta following reports of altercations between senior leaders during a meeting to discuss campaign shortcomings. T M Thomas Isaac is the LDF candidate for the seat | P6 minimally to the off – who contributed the communists – trying to score political points Caa freedom struggle the [Central] government’s the uproar against and dishonest rules is most disgraceful 30 Shashi Tharoor, Congress MP and candidate in T’Puram days to go Wednesday 04 27 3 2024 l l @T KS SrEEJiTH Poll question Quote of the day KottayaM ’PurAm T Back-to-Back Bang-Bang! vote percentage 8% -0 25.38% n 3% in the gulf the UDF candidate Shafi Parambil, among the Keralites in Congress leader Qatar to campaign and the LDF Vadakara, is in League leader the UAE the country. Former K S Hamsa will leave for return to voters to candidate in Ponnani Besides encouraging intended to canvas within two days. visits are is polling, these funds, of course, Kerala during home. Raising relatives back votes of their say sources. another reason, tid the day histo ry Brus h With near Veli in Thiruvananthapu ram | amid hectic work the club Welcome to of 18 and 19 between the ages About 3.11 lakh youth state’s electoral roll over the to the Commission have been added according to Election past five months, data . rahuL gandhi: Illegal construction Bridging monday’s Results for voters in important issue What is the most this election? 33% Price rise 11% 43% CAA Corruption 13% Man-animal conflict Son of former Total- 99/140 picture of Readers can register their votes by visiting X @XpressKerala on ers family matt nda UdF 39.47% 1% % .6 4 CPM Seats- 62/75 CPI- 17/23 KEC(M)- 5/12 JD(S) - 2/4 NCP - 2/3 LJD - 1/3 INL - 1/3 Cong (S) - 1/1 (-2.55%) (+0.66%) BJP - 0/15 vote vote percentagepercentage - 13% Seats won- 41/140 Seats won Congress vote -0/140 percentage - 25.12% Seats won - 21/93 2 .4 15 19/20 CPM voting percentage - Total 0/20 L d F 3 6. 29 % 1.95%) ( ( 2.6%) BJP - 0/15 vote percentage - 13% ( 3.38%) Alliance partners UdF biggest day troLL of the the CPM over A meme mocking party would what symbol the national contest in if it loses leader status. CPM cautioned A K Balan had recentlywould have cadre that the party such as to contest on symbols ‘neerali’ or ‘enampechi’ (pangolin) to secure a (octopus) if it fails percentage certain vote Kerala’s electoral politics vote percentage LdF + 47.48% 36.29% 15.64% CPM 1/14 (25.97%) CPI - 0 Total 1/20 Prakash Javadekar, BJP Kerala prabhari 41% 45.43% 39.47% 12. + nda LdF Here’s a recap of two recent public verdicts that shook the predictability element in 2021 assembly election 2019 parliament election Who is the Ldf’s croWd-puLLer? a) Pinarayi Vijayan b) M V Govindan c) K K Shailaja d) Thomas Isaac Kerala CM asked whether BJP will Mata chant Bharat ki Jai slogan after a knowing that Muslim poet had coined the slogan? Mr Pinarayi, we don’t see society of from the prism caste, creed, or religion. We will chant... Will you? a1 nd elections Wo recent stood out distinctively political in Kerala’s dynamhistory for the that ic voting patterns the deviated fromwe r e ey nor m. th ‘wave’ elections. when the After the 1980s, formed, in were UDF and LDF a belligerent elections, the After two years, the asmost Lok Sabha an edge, exon the LDF in May had as- UDF took UDF always held in in the case of be sembly election cept in 2004. UdF appeared to the pendulum 2021. the LDF the sensationsembly elections, a given. Shocking on the backfoot. smuggling via system was . a rarity over gold the landslides were 2019 April par- al case channels and (+ 5.50%) however, the and the 2021 diplomatic arrest of Chief consequent liament election Congress won Pinarayi Vijayan’s election, Kerala 15 seats out state assembly a c k - t o - b a c k Minister secretary M Sivasb the principal of 16 witnessed ED had left ankar by the contested stunners. elections 2019 general the cen- LDF shaken. the (37.46%) other scandals flood of Add to that, came after the some pinned and allegations over mismantury in 2018. While govIUML - 2 2018 flood relief the then LDF agement of the age-old the blame on RSP - 1 lauded it for and the pandemic. the factor’ ernment, others KCM - 1 the crisis. i n c u m b e n cy the the way it managed president ‘ a n t i on the boil. Total seemed to be Former Congress easy walkover. candidature UDF eyed an Rahul Gandhi’s LDF surprised along with the however, the the from Wayanad, impressive created about at poll pundits with an impression to power in the local self-govCongress returning balance in comebackelections, held soon tilted the ernment the the Centre, the general election. r e UDF’s favour. the then after a n d t h e B J P we UDF then, of course, s stand on the LDF government’ verdict on dismayed. banked its the UDF still Supreme Court the Sabar‘pendulum factor’ into hopes on the Kerala, women’s entry led to polarisa- in electoral politics of imala temple two mainstream votes against where the in altertion of the hindu to power fronts came the Left. that, however, after the NiFor the first time 1982, the nate intervals. case. in not be the s Covid lakkal protest which led a would the LDF government’ with Sangh Parivar, , along against the state management strong protest haste in imple- crisis of free ration ’s a the distribution retain voter government SC verdict, saw seemed to menting the . But its kits, With the anti-inconfidence. out, golden opportunity factor fizzling reby hopes were dashed. a Congress cumbency of created history the possibility Centre drove the LDF power for a consecutive the in taining comeback at by any governChristian votes i second term Muslim and UDF. Upsetting – except the Congress-CP favour of the a large ment led by C Achutha the BJP’s calculations, also government the LDF was of hindu votes Menon in 1977. of the total of it chunk with 99 favour, helping swayed in its 20 parliament reelected – up by 8 from its 2016 seats win 19 of the ed sweep 140 . tally seats. An unprecedent in Kerala. da The BJP on Tuesday named six disqualified Congress MLAs as candidates for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly bypolls, triggering a rebellion by party leaders who expected tickets. Former HP minister and BJP leader from Lahaul and Spiti assembly constituency, Ram Lal Markanda, quit the party to protest the fielding of Congress rebel Ravi Thakur who had defeated him in the constituency in the last assembly elections. react to the US comment. “We encourage a fair, transparent, and timely legal process for Chief Minister Kejriwal,” said a US State Department spokesperson on Monday to an email query by Reuters. The US Embassy in Delhi, too, has not reacted to the remark. A few days ago, a German foreign ministry official said Ke- chalakudy longs for progress 4 BJP fields Turncoats in Himachal, Guj bypoll The 948-ft ‘Dali’ container ship’s crew issued a ‘Mayday’ call before the accident, helping officials to slow traffic flow and prevent more vehicles from falling into the cold river Pollscape 5. Efforts to stitch up an alliance between the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Punjab for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections broke down on Tuesday with the saffron party announcing its decision to go it alone. There was a similar collapse of talks in Odisha between the BJP and the ruling BJD a few days ago. The breakdown in Punjab was not about the seat-sharing ratio. The BJP wanted six of the 13 Lok Sabha seats while the SAD was willing to part with five. But an agreement was around the corner. The sticking points instead were the SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal’s insistence that the BJP offer some assurance to the protesting farmers so as to help his Akali party sell the alliance to its rural voter base. The SAD had snapped its alliance with the BJP in September 2020 after three farm laws were rammed through in Par- liament, which triggered a massive nationwide agitation. The other demand was for some commitment on the release of Sikh political prisoners (Bandi Singhs). But the BJP refused to yield on both the hot button issues. Announcing his party’s decision, Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar said, “The decision has been taken in the interest of a safe and secure border state. I am sure people will support the BJP in the June 1 election.’’ Badal hit back, saying the “Shiromani Akali Dal is not just a political party driven by number games, unlike some national parties. We are a 103-year-old movement with a clear vision and we have always stood by and for principles. That will continue to be our goal.” When the alliance talks were on, both Jakhar and former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh who is a national executive committee member of the BJP, had said building a SADBJP bond was the emotion of the people of Punjab. The US on Tuesday became the second country after Germany to ‘encourage a fair legal process’ following the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21. While the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had described the German foreign office spokesperson Sebastian Fischer as an interference in India’s internal affairs, it is yet F4 H a r p r e e t B a j w a @ Chandigarh y e s h i s e l i @ New Delhi F4 7.4 Demand for assurance on farmers and Sikh political prisoners were the sticking points 3 vincEnT PulicKAl aran: K MuraLeedh former chief minister K Son of n is a Muraleedhara Karunakaran, MLA. and two-time four-time MP in has fielded him He The Congress home turf. Thrissur, his father’s from an MP was elected as and Vadakara 1989, 1991, 1999, state assembly Kozhikode in elected to the in 2019. He was in 2011 and 2016. from Vattiyoorkavu Back-to-back bang-bang Revisit recent public verdicts that shook predictability element in state politics | P4 prime minister and hibi eden: Rajiv Gandhi former Congress Congress veteran Son of the late president Sonia Eden, Hibi was is and MP George 2019 Gandhi, Rahul Lok Sabha in elected to the contesting for representing while he was He replaced the second time the state assembly. and is now in Wayanad. In Ernakulam in minister K V Thomas, from former Union the 2019 general term in Parliament election, he seeking a second contested from Ernakulam. Amethi, his then Francis francis george: Congress sitting seat, and Kerala He lost George, son of Wayanad. has been of founder K M George, from Idukki. to Smriti Irani as MP the BJP in elected twice his Amethi, a In 2020, he merged Congress, Kerala of Janadhipathya traditional fief Kerala faction of the the Gandhi with the P J Joseph seeking a mandate in is now family, but won Congress. He the UDF. a candidate of in Wayanad with Kottayam as a record margin. n, a former MP aVan: Vijayaraghavathe husband of is a Vijayaragh of the CPM politburo, Having previously and member Minister R Bindu. vying (1989), he is Higher Education in parliament in 2019. represented Palakkadseat, which the party lost to reclaim the y: thushar VeLLappaLLson of is the Thushar Vellappally general aniL antony: Vellappally Natesan, Yogam. Anil Antony, son of the SNDP secretary in the of former chief Thushar is contestinga candidate minister and seat as Kottayam LS is the veteran Congress K Antony, is of the NDA. Thushar of BDJS and leader A president vicea BJP candidate serves as the contesting as ta Lok in the Pathanamthit president of the he Sabha constituency. SNDP. In 2019, a leader of the from Previously contested he joined the Wayanad. Congress IT cell, BJP last year. Violations galore, Varkala Cliff under threat bitz A political graffiti artist quenches his thirst Gen Z goes zzz over poll-vau lt polls & politics on campuses a families.” there’s also “According he adds that pects, says Aravind. among the s, many general disdain wins electo student organisation might not that whoever about of these students franchise,” youth only worry their do tions would even exercise own pocket and s filling one’s the counhe adds. opportunitie nothing for “Lack of job try’s welfare. lure of behere, and the t u r e s Are any efforts stuas greener p ing made to make also makabroad are dents more politically apolitical. a lot of ing students won’t be In this very limited aware? “Yes, it’s as if: ‘We I awareness campaigns period of time, bother?’” in colhere, so why out anhave to learn are being held Neha points says Vaidyenglish, learn the ban of leges,” S, first-year other factor: by technical terms anathan on campus politics science in that student at St colleges. have B.Com College autonomous language and case. the past, to cover the entire J o s e p h ’s i couldn’t have in “Unlike in the elections except Devagir of higher time for a mamost campuses, o n e s, syllabus CBse come at a worse who Kozhikode. t secondary young voters, of stug ove r n m e n jor chunk of stu“the leaders on their curriculum of ns don’t have active she are now laser-focused in the interacting with students dent organisatio Unlike Rajeev Chandrasekhar dent politics,” Brindha Devi, A semester exams. have been campaignused to be ram LS constituency has clear-cut says. parent student Thiruvananthapu past, when elections “the first group Neha, ing for their have NDA candidate in political parties, discussion among Agreeing with . in Nadapuram, (right) hot topics of affiliations to on the parties. they college campuses, hibi constituency Congress and S, a fourth-year votes based at TIM Training College students on , students on time. Shylaja Teachers and Congress’s K the second profile, and, finally Sarin student at SaintMeanwhile, is a lull this also been training their Btech obser- drashekar understood this LDF leaders such as hibi, there clearly have of students, nakulam, echoes similar Ragha- candidate’s don’t delve much gits College of Engineering the process of exercising actively Eden and are striving to at- Muraleedharan, M K “the new crop and its importance.” K those who says. s) in Kottayam, first-time voters, vations. “Besides those trend, are beKareem and politics,” he announc(Autonomou on studies, and franchise especially the says student politics, tract young voters by and con- van, Elamaram been visiting into poll forms the is Awareness campaignsadminapolitical,” involved in “the last group seem to be has says, “Focus not politically disinterested ing new-gen projects by the district K Shailaja have . engaging direct- majority Moreover, nobody a personal Valsaraj, a second-year others are largely our ing held as well, says Neha. students are says. Neha them on politics at Pazhassi campuses and students on activities,” he necting with necesto think about aware. Ask that istration BA English student Mattannur, in political to take a survey level. stu- any time ly with students. you will find or “however, this doesn’t in “if we were political campus, and attract students Raja NSS College due to exams.” the numbers Sivaram, a second-year translate to vote for a party that bothers in a move to on the campus, curUnion Minis- dent at Ernakulam Governthe only thing students are most would instructed by their sarily Kannur. or regionillustrate the student the tech sector, as the the ar, ‘apolitical’ “Whether national stir them. would clearly the majority are in pros- candidate can these ment Law College, not ter Rajeev Chandrasekh and career on campuses in thiruvananal, politics doesis as if all the rent scenario. prefer to remain their marks NDA candidate promised to set communityinto three groups. students who their attitude doesn’t afthapuram, has in the be divided neutral.” hullabaloo around ht candidates up Ai labs in 10 colleges heavyweig Chanfect them.0”. S, a third-year such as BJP’s Rajeev Aravind K Erat Cusat in MSc student l l A @Kochi Anu Kuruvi s controversie With the recent politics in Kerala, over campus the majority one might expect in the state of college students heat and in the to be caught action. Well, the dust of election seem to be that does not S h a i n u M o h a n @T’Puram Rampant violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms, coupled with overcrowding and sea erosion, are posing a threat to Varkala Cliff, the 6.1-km-long laterite cliff, which is set to be declared a geo-heritage site. A majority of the nearly 180 structures on the cliff, including resorts and commercial establishments, have been built close to the cliff, violating CRZ guidelines. Various agencies, including the Varkala municipality, Kerala State Coastal Zone Management Authority (KSCZMA), tourism department, and District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), have been unable to rein in such violations. As a result, the cliff is collapsing and shrinking rapidly posing a threat to visitors and residents alike. Just recently, another illegal construction came to light at Black Beach in Varkala. The construction encroached the seawall built by the ma- 4 All 22 Indian crew members of the Maersk-operated ship are safe. The ship’s owner is Singaporebased Synergy Marine Pte Ltd, founded by Capt Rajesh Unni | P11 Govt mum as US does a Germany, says it encourages fair legal process on Kejriwal Ud Talks with SAD fail, BJP to go it alone in Punjab 8 workers fixing potholes on the 2.57-km long bridge and several cars fell into the frigid river below, at 80C. Two were pulled out; one seriously hurt. Search on for the rest Ld 1 At least 6 missing after ship smashes u.s. bridge An illegally-constructed eatery on Varkala Cliff. Mushrooming of such structures is threatening the ecologically-fragile tourist spot | B P Deepu jor irrigation department, raising serious concerns about its effect on the ecologically-fragile spot. “We took prompt action after receiving complaint about the construction at Thiruvambadi beach. A stop memo was issued and workers deployed to remove the structure. A temporary shed had been set up at the location and the construction was be- ing carried out under its cover. We seized all the construction equipment and took action against the violators,” said a Varkala municipality official. However, violators often move court and get stay orders, stalling action by the local body said officials. , “As many as 25 people, all of whom clearly violated norms, moved court. Speedy disposal of cases is crucial for timely action,” said the official. However, environmentalists alleged corruption, claiming that the violations were taking place right under the municipality’s nose. “The violators are demolishing the cliff and carrying out hard construction. In the recent violation at Thiruvambadi beach, the violators encroached even the seawall,” alleged Sanjeev S J of Environment Protection and Research Council (EPRC), which had alerted authorities of the violation. Varakala municipal chairman K M Laji said strict action will be taken ● More on P6 against the violators. jriwal is entitled to a fair and an impartial trial and can make use of all the existing legal remedies without restriction. The response of MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal was caustic. “We see such remarks as interfering in our judicial process and undermining the independence of our judiciary he said. ,” Biased assumptions made on this account are most unwarranted, Jaiswal added. Cash-hit Cong plans crowdfunding route to manage campaign C y n t h i a C h a n d r a n @T’Puram Its national unit strapped for cash after the Income Tax department froze the party’s bank accounts over non-payment of dues, the Congress leadership in Kerala is mulling alternatives, including crowdfunding, to raise money to manage its campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls in the state. Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday that they have been forced to go for crowdfunding in view of the dearth of funds. The move comes after the AICC — which had termed the I-T department’s action as the BJP-led Union government’s attempt to deny the grand old party a level-playing field in the polls — expressed its inability to make available funds to its state units for campaigning. Interestingly, a few young Congress leaders in the fray have kick-started crowdfunding without waiting for an official word from the state unit. Veteran candidates are expected to follow suit to sustain electioneering for the general elections 200 speakers to blaze Cong’s campaign trail Kochi: In this digital age, the persuasive power of oratory in electioneering remains unmatched. Realising this, Congress has lined up 200 speakers to spice up the campaigning across all 20 LS constituencies in Kerala | P5 spread across 42 days. Shafi Parambil, the UDF candidate in Vadakara, took a break from campaigning and flew to Dubai and Doha to meet Keralites. The Palakkad MLA was accorded a reception by Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre under the aegis of IUML and Indian Cultural and Arts Society, a cultural movement of Congress in the UAE, in Sharjah on Tuesday . This is neither Shafi’s first crowdfunding drive — he had sought the support of Non-Resident Keralites in the 2021 assembly elections too — nor is he the lone UDF candidate to do so. Remya Haridas, the UDF pick for Alathur, has also sought people’s support to raise ● More on P6 money .
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