FRIDAY 24 MAY 2024 www.thestatesman.com Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC Twitter.com/thestatesman Facebook.com/thestatesman INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR INDIA NEEDS A STRONG GOVT, DEFINITIVE VISION: PM MODI POLL BUGLE P6 SENSEX 75,418.041,196.98 WEATHER Partly cloudy sky. Rain/thundershower likely to occur in some areas.Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 35 °C and 28 °C respectively. RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 98 % TEMPERATURE DEVE GOWDA ISSUES WARNING TO ABSCONDING PRAJWAL P8 NIFTY 22,967.65369.85 P4 GOLD 73,4201,090 ` vs $ 83.37 Campaigning ends for 6th phase of polls A total of 889 candidates are in the fray in this phase for 58 LS seats Min. 55 % Max: 34.8°C (-0.6) Min: 26.4°C (-0.5) SUN RISES SUN SETS 04:54 hrs 18:13 hrs MOON RISES MOON SETS 18:12 hrs 04:20 hrs New Moon on 06 June THUMBNAILS Lord Buddha's statue is seen during a procession on the occasion of Buddha Purnima, in Leh on Thursday. ANI 8 killed after explosions, fire in Thane factory: At least eight persons died and 64 others were injured after three powerful explosions followed by a massive fire engulfed a chemical factory inside an industrial complex at Dombivali in Thane district on Thursday afternoon. The incident occurred in the premises of the Amudan Chemicals Pvt. Ltd around 1.30 p.m. Rescue efforts went on into the night amid fears that some people may still be trapped inside the factory premises. SUNRISERS’ ULTRA-AGGRESSIVE BATTING A WORRY P12 SILVER 92,5003,300 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 82.820.91 India needs vision, not confusion: PM STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 23 MAY he high-pitched campaigning for the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha polls ended on Thursday, with party heavyweights of all political parties reaching out to voters across 58 parliamentary constituencies in eight states and Union territories. On the last day of campaigning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally in Haryana’s Bhiwani, Defence minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi’s Dwarka, and Union minister Piyush Goyal held a road show in Najafgarh area of the national capital in support of BJP candidates. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed a rally in support of the party candidate from North East Delhi parliamentary seat and later held ‘MahilaVicharVimarsh’ in Mangolpuri here, while party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra held a road show in Haryana’s Sirsa. Stakes are high for BJP as also for Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and other T (L) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi embraces a woman during a discussion with the public in New Delhi on Thursday; (R) Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami during a roadshow in New Delhi on Thursday. ANI constituents of INDIA bloc in this phase. Key seats at stake include the seven seats in the national capital and Sultanpur and Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh. Polling for the sixth phase will be held on 25 May. These 58 Lok Sabha seats include 14 in Uttar Pradesh, 10 in Haryana, eight each in Bihar and West Bengal, seven in Delhi, six in Odisha, four in Jharkhand, and one in Jammu and Kashmir. A total of 889 candidates are in the fray in the sixth phase of the general elections. Key candidates from the Bharatiya Jana- ta Party (BJP) are Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan (Sambalpur, Odisha), former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar (Karnal), Manoj Tiwari (North East Delhi) and Bansuri Swaraj (New Delhi); those from the Congress include Kumari Selja (Hisar, Haryana), Deepender Singh Hooda (Rohtak, Haryana), J P Agarwal (Chandni Chowk), and Kanhaiya Kumar (North East Delhi). Another prominent candidate is senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Somnath Bharti (New Delhi). The Lok Sabha elections are being held in seven phases between 19 April and 1 June. The first phase of polling was held on 19 April, second phase on 26 April, third phase on 7 May, fourth phase on 13 May and fifth phase on 20 May. The first phase recorded 66.14 percent voter turnout, second 66.71 per cent, third 65.68 per cent, fourth 69.16 per cent and fifth phase 62.2 per cent. The sixth phase of voting is scheduled for 25 May and the seventh and final phase on 1 June. The results will be declared on 4 June. ‘Modi magic has failed, that’s why he is resorting to divisive politics’ STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 23 MAY Trinamul Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday that the Modi magic is not creating any impact and so PM Narendra Modi has taken recourse to divisive politics. She was addressing a gathering at the Bank Of India crossing on BB Ganguly Street this afternoon (photo). The area falls under Kolkata North constituency where the TMC’s nominee is three-time MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay. The election in North Kolkata Lok Sabha seat will be held on 1 June.The BJP has fieldedTapas Roy, former Trinamul MLA who left the TMC and joined the saffron party shortly before the announcement of election dates. Miss Banerjee said unable to face people, Mr Modi has created a narrative against the Muslims. “He is saying that the Muslims will eat into the reservations of the Scheduled Caste people. Is this possible? The Constitution has given the rights which no one can take away. He is trying to pit the SC communities against the Muslims,” she said, and urged peo- ple not to fall into the trap of the BJP . She said from time immemorial Bengal has accepted people from different communities, faiths and religions. “This is our culture and tradition. I take part in Durga Puja, participate in the Eid prayers and attend Christmas Mass. Religion is personal and festival is for all. BJP is trying to vitiate this inclusiveness. They are planning to engineer riots just to disturb peace of the state,” she said. She alleged that the Election Commission of India has planned a seven-phase election just to allow Mr Modi to take part in all phases of the polls. “After introduction of the Model Code of Conduct, all development work has been stalled.This does not affect the BJP as it does not believe in development. It believes only in division,” she said. Miss Banerjee reiterated that the INDIA bloc is coming to power in the country and Bengal will play a major role in consolidating the victory.“We want to increase the number of seats as that will help to consolidate the INDIA bloc in Delhi,” she said. “ We are getting information that in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, BJP will not do well. The party has realised it and so is putting up advertisements which are full of lies. I have never seen a party in my life where the leaders from the top to the bottom speak so many lies,” she said. Miss Banerjee said if the BJP comes to power, “it will destroy the Indian Constitution and take away reservations”. “By introducing the Uniform Civil Code it will take away the rights of different groups and communities which are guaranteed by the Constitution,” she said. Miss Banerjee also came down heavily onTapas Roy, who left the TMC to join the saffron party and is the BJP candidate from Kolkata North seat, and said he left the party following pressure from the ED and the Income Tax authorities. Sensex, Nifty touch all-time high as PM predicts historic win AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 23 MAY The consistent bull run in Indian stock indices - Sensex and Nifty ~ continued through Thursday, and touched fresh highs yet again, reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's assertion that BJP-led alliance is on track to form the government for a record third term. The prime minister also predicted that the margin of victory would be even broader. In an interview with a business newspaper, PM Modi said his party's election outcome will result in a record running streak on the country's stock exchange market. “I can say with confidence that on June 4, as the BJP hits record numbers, the stock market will also hit new record highs," Mr Modi said in the interview. Mr Modi told the daily that the Sensex has rallied from 25,000 points to 75,000 in the past decade, noting that it highlighted that the investors have shown confidence in his government. “Recently, we reached a whopping USD 5 Mr Modi told the daily that the Sensex has rallied from 25,000 points to 75,000 in the past decade, noting that it highlighted that the investors have shown confidence in his government. trillion market cap for the first time ever," the PM said, referring to BSE's m-cap feat that happened earlier this week. In early April, the BSE market map had touched USD 4 trillion, and it took a month and a fortnight to add another trillion. Market capitalisation or market cap is the total value of a company's stock, derived at by multiplying the stock price by the number of its outstanding shares. Barring a little volatility, Indian stock indices have been firm over the past several sessions, supported by strong support from a majority of sectoral indices. With the five phases of elections now behind us, it is widely expected by investors that the Narendra Modi-led government will come back to office with a comfortable margin for his third term. For RCB fans the wait gets longer… TRIDIB BAPARNASH NEW DELHI, 23 MAY Dead and buried with a solitary win from their first eight games, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) made a superb late resurgence by winning the next six on the trot and raised hopes of doing an encore of their women’s counterparts who lifted this year’s Women’s Premier League (WPL) crown only to run out of gas against the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League Eliminator in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. It has once again been a case of so near yet so far for RCB, one of the only three franchises, along with Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings, yet to lift the title despite being in the tournament ever since its inception in 2008. “Idhu RCB ya hosa adhyaya” (This is RCB’s new chapter), that was the message when the team’s last name was rechristened to a more vernacular term with Bengaluru replacing Bangalore. But the change of name had little impact on the team’s per- formance, at least in the first half of the tournament in April, that led to a brainstorming meet among the leadership group, comprising Director of Cricket Mo Bobat, Head Coach Andy Flower and captain Faf du Plessis and what followed was an impressive turnaround in May. The only consistent performer despite all the shortcomings was Virat Kohli, although there were question marks raised about his strikerate and his vulnerability against quality spin. However, after the honest introspection, all such things seemed to be of the past, as Kohli batted faster and began slog sweeping the spinners, Cameroon Green lit up the field with his all-round masterclass, Rajat Patidar reinvented his form, and Will Jacks announced his arrival as Glenn Maxwell’s replacement with a jaw-dropping century in Ahmedabad. In contrast, earlier, the RCB had to solely bank on the starts from Kohli and the late order heroics from Dinesh Karthik and Mahipal Lomror. Things changed, and changed for the better post the 1run heartbreak to the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens. The only handicap that remained during their campaign was Maxwell’s form with the bat, which paved Jacks’ way into the Playing XI. One of the most animated characters on the field, Virat Kohli has been with the RCB ever since the inaugural edition, and as the wait for a silverware got longer on Wednesday evening, the disappointment was vividly visible on his face. After all, he has been the Orange Cap holder right through the tournament, with a mountain of 741 runs at an average of 61.75 and a strike rate of 154.69.
The Statesman is one of India's oldest English newspapers. It was founded in Kolkata in 1875 and is directly descended from The Friend of India (founded 1818). The Englishman (founded 1821) was merged with The Statesman in 1934. The Delhi edition of The Statesman began publication in 1931. The Statesman Weekly is a compendium of news and views from the Kolkata and Delhi editions. Printed on airmail paper, it is popular with readers outside India. The Statesman (average weekday circulation approximately 180,000) is a leading English newspaper in West Bengal. The Sunday Statesman has a circulation of 230,000.
