COIMBATORE l wednesday l may 08, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l LATE CITY EDITION Xi appoints senior diplomat Xu Feihong as new envoy to India The appointment comes after a long delay of 18 months amid frozen relations between the two countries over the military standoff in Ladakh To take charge before poll results come While there is no official announcement yet, the Chinese foreign ministry has confirmed that Xu, former Chinese ambassador to Afghanistan and Romania, has been appointed as China’s new envoy in India, PTI reported on Tuesday. Reports indicate that Xu, 60, will travel to New Delhi soon and will assume charge before the Lok Sabha election results are declared 1976 Post lying vacant since October 2022 ■ Xu will succeed veteran Chinese diplomat Sun Weidong, who completed his tenure in India in October 2022. Sun, who was China’s envoy to Pakistan before his India stint, is currently China’s vice-minister for foreign affairs ■ A posting to New Delhi is considered prestigious and highly sought after among Chinese diplomats because it could lead to faster career progression The last time there was such a long gap in the posting of a Chinese envoy in India 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 Average voter 3 Inds exit, Haryana govt in a minority turnout again in third phase H a r p r e e t B a j w a @ Chandigarh Overall voting percentage 63.53%, says EC The Nayab Singh Saini-led Haryana government was on Tuesday reduced to a minority as three Independent lawmakers withdrew their support amid the Lok Sabha elections, triggering a major political crisis in the state. Technically the government , will not fall immediately since there has to be a gap of six months between confidence votes. The last trust vote was on March 12 after Saini replaced Manohar Lal Khattar as the chief minister. However, the Congress went for the BJP’s jugular, demanded President’s rule in the state. The three Independents are Sombir Sangwan (Dadri), Randhir Gollen (Pundri) and Dharampal Gonder (Nilokheri). They said they will extend support to the Congress during the general elections. flood and drought Plan on to link 200 waterbodies to save Chennai S GURUVANMI K ANATHAN @ Chennai Prime Minister Narendra Modi shows his ink-marked finger after casting his vote for the third phase of Lok Sabha elections, in Ahmedabad on Tuesday | PTI P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Marking another dip in voter turnout, the third phase of the Lok Sabha election on Tuesday recorded average polling of 63.53% across 93 seats in 11 states and Union territories. The same 93 seats had polled 67.33% in 2019. While Assam had the highest voter turnout at 77.06%, Goa came second at 75.13% and West Bengal at 73.96%. UP witnessed the lowest at 57.34%, while Bihar polled 58.16% Gujarat 57.62%, Maharashtra 61.44%, Chhattisgarh 7 0 . 0 5 % , K a r n at a k a 69.65% and MP 66.05%. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were among those who exercised their franchise in Gujarat. In the third phase, stakes are high for the ruling BJP as it had won 71 of the 93 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. While the BJP is looking to repeat its stunning performance in the 2019 elections, the states in focus will be Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat. All 26 seats in Gujarat, 14 seats in Karnataka and 11 seats in Maharashtra are up for grabs express read Four killed as car rams stationary truck in TN Ariyalur: Four people from Thanjavur returning from a temple event in Perambalur in a car died after the vehicle rammed into a stationary truck on the Ariyalur-Thanjavur national highway near Thirumanur in Ariyalur district on Tuesday evening. The deceased were identified as G Eswaran (24), B Bhuvanesh Krishnasamy (19), D Selva (17) and V Sanmugam (23). The bodies of the victims have been sent to Government Thanjavur Medical College Hospital for autopsy | P2 Maya removes nephew Akash as successor Lucknow: BSP chief Mayawati on Tuesday night said she is divesting her nephew Akash Anand of his responsibilities as the party’s national co-ordinator and her successor, barely five months after she had anointed him. She said she took the decision in the interest of the party and till the time Anand gains “full maturity”. in the third phase. The BJP is facing a crucial test in Karnataka, where it won 27 of 28 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019. However, the party lost the assembly elections in 2023. As the BJP is facing heat over the alleged sex scandal involving Prajwal Revanna, the Hassan Lok Sabha candidate of the BJP-JD(S) alliance, the contest in 14 seats is being keenly watched to see if the controversy will impact the BJP . While the BJP-led NDA won seven of the 11 seats in Maharashtra in the 2019 elections, analysts say that the split in NCP and Shiv Sena camp in the last two years may not augur well for the NDA alliance. In its stronghold in Gujarat too, the saffron party is facing challenges from within its ranks and file — the Rajputs and Kshatriyas. At 66.14%, the first phase saw a drop of just under 4 percentage points compared to 2019, while the second phase turnout at 66.71% saw a difference of under 3 percentage points. With polling in more than half of the 543 LS seats done and dusted, how the below average turnout would translate into seats is anybody’s guess. To prevent flooding in Chennai and surrounding areas and to improve the city’s water storage capacity the state water resources , department (WRD) has prepared a plan to link 200 tanks spread across the Adyar and Kovalam river Water table basins. According to WRD offiTanks cials, the initiative is aimed earmarked for at preventing flooding during interlinking in monsoon in Chennai, partic- Adyar basin: ularly in the southern re- 134, Kovalam gions of the city such as Tam- basin: 66 b a r a m , M u d i c h u r, a n d Chennai’s Mannivakkam. A senior annual water WRD official also said about need: 22 tmcft 90% of rainwater received by Storage the city flows into the sea due capacity of to lack of adequate storage Chennai’s structures, and linking of drinking water waterbodies will help ad- reservoirs: dress this issue. 13.2 tmcft Another official said 134 of Capacity 196 tanks in the Adyar basin augmentation and 66 of 120 tanks in the Koexpected through valam basin have been iden- interlinking: t i f i e d f o r i n t e rl i n k i n g 3.5 to 4 tmcft through ‘cut and cover’ method based on a survey of the two river basins spread across Chennai, Kancheepuram, and Chengalpattu districts. Under the ‘cut and cover’ method, instead of acquiring land for building open channels or to restore encroached canals, covered structure will be built below the ground level to carry excess water from one tank to another. Under this system, since the structure would be covered, the possibility of encroachment of water channels would be eliminated. This would also help reduce the cost and speedy implementation of the project, sources said.  The trio made the announcement at Rohtak in the presence of the Leader of Opposition and former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Haryana Congress president Udai Bhan. “We took the decision because of various issues, including those related to farmers. Till Khattar was the CM, we had supported the BJP Sadly he is not in pow. , er anymore,” Gonder said. Sangwan claimed that an- other Inde pendent MLA, Rakesh Daultabad (Badshahpur), was also expected to join them but was unable to reach the venue in time. The four Independents were disgruntled after being denied berths in the Saini cabinet. The 90-member assembly now has an effective strength is 88 as Khattar and Independent MLA Ranjit Chautala resigned after the BJP gave them the Karnal and Hisar LS tickets. Total seats 90 88 Effective strength 45 Simple majority Ruling coalition 40 BJP 2 Independents with BJP 1 Haryana Lokhit Party HARYANA Opposition 30 Congress 1 INLD 10 JJP 4 Independents Maratha stir to upset calculations in Beed SUDHIR SURYAWANSHI @ Mumbai the contest in Maharashtra’s Beed Lok Sabha constituency, the bastion of the Munde family, is all set to go down to the wire on May 13 as a confluence of factors is threatening to upset the conservative electoral calculations. Beed has been represented by the Munde family since 2009. This time, the BJP has denied ticket to sitting MP Pritam Munde, the daughter of late popular leader Gopinath Munde, and instead fielded her sister Pankaja Munde, who is facing tough challenge from Sharad Pawarled NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar)’s candidate Bajrang Sonwane. Illustration: Mandar Pardikar Pankaja Munde vs Bajrang Sonwane Pankaja was a minister in BJP-led government in Maharashtra from 2014 to 2019, but she lost the 2019 assembly elections to her cousin Dhananjay Munde, who is now a minister in the NCP (Ajit Pawar) government in Maharashtra. Inter- estingly Dhananjay is Pankaja’s star , campaigner in 2024. As for Sonwane, he had contested the last Lok Sabha elections in 2019 but lost to Pritam Munde by over 1.5 lakh votes. He is trying his luck for the second time but is hopeful that he has better chances as the Maratha quota issue is fast emerging as a major deciding factor in the polls. The Maratha voters are said to be backing Sonwane while Pankaja has a better connect with the OBCs. “Maratha voters’ polarisation was always an issue but the fragmentation helped Munde family by triggering consolidation of OBC communities. But in 2024, the scenario is different,” said a local journalist. Expressing similar views, a political observer said the challenges before Pankaja are formidable.