DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 2024, LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES Days after his attack on BJP, Mayawati sacks nephew Akash as heir, coordinator `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 ELECTION COMMISSION ESTIMATES AT 11.40 PM 64.4% turnout in Phase 3, 2.9-pc point dip over 2019 SPEAKING AFTER SATARA RALLY Untilheattainsmaturity,saysBSPchief EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE LUCKNOW, MAY 7 BSPleaderMayawatiannounced Tuesday she was removing her nephew Akash Anand as her political heirand thepartynational coordinator“untilheattainsmaturity”. He had been named her successorbarely six monthsago. 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 Representationof thePeopleAct. In a video of his address at an election rally, Akash was heard calling the BJP government “gaddaron ki sarkar” (a government of traitors) and urging people to hit representatives of other parties seeking votes with shoes and slippers. After the case was filed on April28,AkashreturnedtoDelhi NCP(SP)chief SharadPawarvotesinBaramati.Hisdaughter SupriyaSuleisseekingafourthtermfromtheseat. Arul Horizon and all his upcoming rallies in different constituencies were cancelled. InherpostTuesday,Mayawati said, “It is known that the BSP, apart from being a party, is also a movement for self-respect and self-esteem of Baba Saheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and social change for which Honourable ShriKanshiRamJiandIhavededicated our entire lives and a new generationisalsobeingprepared to give it momentum.” “In this direction, along with promoting other people in the party, I had declared Shri Akash Anand as the National Coordinator and my successor, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DECISION 2024 ● Cong responds to EC: BJP complaint bid to limit sphere of criticising PM ● In Srinagar, PDP youth leader strikes a chord ● Lalu for Muslim quota; JDU, BJP remind him of Mandal report Many regional parties will move closer to Cong, some may merge: Pawar Mayawati said Akash Anand was being divested of power in ‘larger interest of party’ ●PawanKalyan’s‘Power Star’shinesbrightinseat, withprominentgroups inhisorbit PHASE 3 TURNOUT At a polling booth in Guwahati on Tuesday. PTI Lowest voting recorded in UP, Assam highest at 81.61% EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, MAY 7 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. In the first phase, when 102 constituencies went to polls, the final turnout was 66.14 per cent, a drop of just under 4 percentage points as compared to 2019. Inthesecondphase,inwhich 88 seats voted, the final turnout was 66.71 per cent, a drop of about 3 percentage points from 2019. In a statement, the Election Commission (EC) said polling was peaceful. An EC official said it was peaceful in West Bengal too, which often sees poll-related violence. According to the EC’s Voter Turnout app, Assam, where four seats went to polls, reported the highestturnoutat81.61percent. The lowest turnout of 57.34 per cent was recorded in Uttar Pradesh (10 constituencies). In 2019, thesameconstituencies in UttarPradeshsaw60.01percent polling. Bihar, where five constituencieswenttopolls,recorded58.18 per cent. Gujarat, where 25 of its total 26 constituencies voted (the BJP won Surat unopposed), saw 58.98 per cent polling. In 2019, Gujarat had recorded 64.5 per cent turnout. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 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 won Surat unopposed; Figures at 11.40 pm On whether this applied to his party: No difference between Cong and us NEERJA CHOWDHURY SATARA, MAY 7 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 coupleof years,severalregionalparties will associate more closely with the Congress. Or they may look at the option of merging with the Congress if they believe that is the best for their party.” Asked whether that applied to his own party, the NCP, the chief of the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) said, “I don’t see any difference between the Congress and us…. Ideologically, we belong to the Gandhi, Nehru line of thinking.” Then he promptly added: “I am not saying anything now… Without consulting colleagues, I shouldn’t say anything. Ideologically, we are close to them (the Congress) — any decisiononstrategyorthenextsteps willbetakencollectively.Itisdifficult to adjust (with) or digest (Narendra ) Modi.” TheIndianExpressspokewith Pawar in Satara on the night of May 4 after he had addressed a mammothrallyforhiscandidate Shashikant Shindewhoistaking on Udayanraje Bhosale, once CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PAGES 3, 6 & 7 Modi: Need 400 to stop Cong from placing Babri lock on Ram Mandir Cong hits back: We always said court decision final, BJP kept changing stand 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 had not attributed a reason in the run-up to the polls, after the first phase, he had said he needed to cross thisfigure so the Congress cannot steal the reservationof Dalits,tribalsandOBCs. Speaking in Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone and Dhar CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SUKHBIR SIWACH CHANDIGARH, MAY 7 Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Home Minister Amit Shah in Ahmedabad. Nirmal Harindran You cannot perform CM duties if we grant you interim bail: SC to Kejriwal BUSINESS AS USUAL ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, MAY 7 BY UNNY 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 3 Independents cross sides, Haryana BJP govt teeters in LS poll season questionof grantinghiminterim bail for campaigning in the elections,JusticeSanjiv Khanna,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.” Thebenchdidnotsaywhenit will pronounce an order on it. At the end of the day’s hearing on Kejriwal’spetitionchallenginghis arrest by the ED on March 21, the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 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 majoritymark is 45.Technically,the BJP government has the support of 43 MLAs now, although it claimed on Tuesday that four Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) MLAs toomayoffer“tacticalassistance 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 Congress gives 101 seats to allies, will contest in 328, its lowest Lok Sabha tally MANOJ C G NEW DELHI, MAY 7 FOR THE first time, the Congress iscontestinginlessthan400Lok Sabhaseats in ageneral election. It is contesting in 328 seats, 93 lower than the number it had contested in 2019. Coalition imperatives are one key 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 party is contesting in all 28 seats this time as compared to 21 in 2019. Its then ally JD(S) had contested in the rest of the seats. In Odisha, it is contesting in 20 seats compared to 18 in 2019. ● Thepartywouldhave contested in 330 seats, but for the rejection of the nomination of its candidate in Surat and withdrawal of its candidate EXPLAINED E THEBIGDIP Seats Cong contested State 2019 2024 UP 67 17 West Bengal 40 14 Maharashtra 25 17 in Indore. In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections,theCongresshadcontested in 417 seats, which was then the lowest. It contested 440 seats in 2009, 464 in 2014 and 421 in 2019. Thistime,thepartyiscontestinginalessernumberof seats compared to 2019 in as many as 12 states across the country. Considerthekeystateswhere it has given seats to its allies. The biggest dip is in Uttar PradeshwheretheCongresshad been in political wilderness for overthreeandahalfdecades.The party did not have any major alliesinthestatein2019.Upagainst the BJP and SP-BSP alliance, the partycontestedin67ofthestate’s 80 seats but could win only one: Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Lucknow
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