DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 2024, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES ED says bail will send out very wrong message, bench points to elections ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, MAY 7 THE SUPREME Court said Tuesday it would not want Arvind Kejriwal, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the Delhi excise policy case, to perform his officialdutiesasChief Ministereven if it were to grant him interim bail in view of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections since “it may have cascading effects”. Hearing arguments on the questionof grantinghiminterim bail for campaigning in the elections,JusticeSanjivKhanna,presiding over a bench also comprising Justice Dipankar Datta, said, “We are very clear… If at all we grant interim bail, we don’t want you to be performing your official duties… It may have cascading effects.” The bench did not say when it will pronounce an order on it. At the end of the day’s hearing BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY ELECTION COMMISSION ESTIMATES AT 11.40 PM 64.4% turnout in Phase 3, 2.9-pc point dip over 2019 Lowest voting of 57.34% recorded in UP, Assam turnout highest at 81.61% EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, MAY 7 on Kejriwal’s petition challenginghisarrestbytheEDonMarch 21,thebenchsaiditwillcontinue tohearitThursdayornextweek. OnMay3,thebenchhadsaid itwouldconsiderthequestionof interim bail to Kejriwal because the hearing on the arrest challenge was not likely to be over soon. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 LIKE THE first two phases, the thirdphaseoftheLokSabhaelectionsonTuesday,covering93constituencies across 11 states and Union Territories, also recorded a dip in voter turnout as compared to2019,asperearlyestimates.The voter turnout was 64.4 per cent, according to the figures available at 11.40 pm. In 2019, these constituencieshadrecordedaturnout of 67.33 per cent. While the official time for voting to end was 6 pm, polling was extended in some areas to allowthosewhohadenteredthe polling station by then to cast their votes. With reports still coming in, the final turnout could rise. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 3 Independents cross sides, Haryana BJP govt teeters in LS poll season SUKHBIR SIWACH CHANDIGARH, MAY 7 JUST OVER a fortnight to go for the Lok Sabha elections in Haryana, three Independent MLAs withdrew their support to the BJP government in the state and extended “outside” support to the Congress. This leaves the BJP, with 40 MLAs, tentatively placed in the Assembly. With the House strength reduced to 88, the majoritymarkis45.Technically,the BJP government has the support of 43 MLAs now, although it claimed on Tuesday that four Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) MLAs toomayoffer“tactical assistance to the government if needed”, taking its strength to 47. ThethreeIndependentMLAs who switched sides Tuesday — DharampalGondher(Nilokheri), Randhir Golan (Pundri) and Sombir Sangwan (Dadri) — announced their decision in the presence of former Congress chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in Rohtak. Soon after, Hooda said: “This governmentshouldresignkeepinginviewthesentimentsof the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PHASE 3 TURNOUT Turnout (%) in 93 seats 2019 2024 67.3% 64.4% Stateswherepolling endedinPhase3 2019 2024 Assam* (4seats) 85.15 81.61 Chhattisgarh 70.87 71.06 (7seats) Goa (2 seats) 75.14 75.20 Gujarat (26 seats)** 64.51 58.98 Karnataka 71.7 (14seats) 70.41 *Some seats changed post delimitation; **BJP wonSurat unopposed; Figures at 11.40 pm Need 400 to stop Cong from placing Babri lock Pawar: Many regional on Ram Mandir: Modi parties will get closer to Cong hits back: We always said court Cong, some may merge decision final, BJP kept changing stand Sharad Pawar,Supriya SuleinBaramationTuesday. Arul Horizon On whether this applied to his party: No difference between Cong and us ANAND MOHAN J BHOPAL, MAY 7 CLAIMINGTHATtheCongressintends to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision on Ram Mandir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday said he needs 400 Lok Sabhaseatssothattheopposition partycannotsucceedinitsplanto putthe“Babrilock”onthetemple in Ayodhya or bring back Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. This is a departure from the Prime Minister’s earlier framing of the 400-seat mark — while he NEERJA CHOWDHURY SATARA, MAY 7 PM Narendra Modi with Home Minister Amit Shah in Ahmedabad. Nirmal Harindran had not attributed a reason in the run-up to the polls, after the first phase, he had said he CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SUGGESTING A possiblereshaping of Opposition politics after the2024elections,SharadPawar hassaidthatregionalpartieswill move closer or, in some cases, even merge with the Congress. Among the tallest leaders in theOppositiontoday,theformer UnionMinisterandMaharashtra Chief Minister Pawar told The Indian Express: “In the next couple of years, sevDECISION eralregionalpar2024 tieswillassociate more closely with the Congress. Or they may look at the option of merging withtheCongressif theybelieve that is the best for their party.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Congress gives 101 seats to allies, will After his attack on BJP, Maya contest in 328, its lowest Lok Sabha tally sacks nephew as her heir BSP CHIEF QUESTIONS HIS ‘MATURITY’ EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE LUCKNOW, MAY 7 BSP LEADER Mayawati announced Tuesday she was removing her nephew Akash Anand as her political heir and the party national coordinator “until he attains maturity”. He had been named her successor barely six months ago. Mayawati announced her decision in a post on X, 10 days after Akash, along with other party leaders, was booked by Sitapur police in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly promoting hatred and enmity, among other charges under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MANOJ C G NEW DELHI, MAY 7 reason: the party has given away as many as 101 seats it had contested in 2019 to its INDIA bloc partners this time. It is contesting more seats only in Karnataka and Odisha. In Mizoram, it is contesting the lone ● seat this time — in 2019, it had backed an Independent. In Karnataka, the E FOR THE first time, the Congress is contesting in less than 400 Lok Sabha seatsinageneralelection. It is contesting in 328 seats, 93 lower than the numberithadcontestedin2019. Coalitionimperativesareonekey EXPLAINED SC to Kejriwal: Can’t perform CM duties if interim bail granted `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THEBIGDIP Seats contested by the Cong in Lok Sabha polls State 2019 2024 UP 67 17 West Bengal 40 14 Maharashtra 25 17
Indian Express Limited is an Indian news media publishing company. It publishes several widely circulated dailies, including The Indian Express and The Financial Express in English, the Loksatta in Marathi and the Jansatta in Hindi.