CHENNAKESHAVA SWAMY TEMPLE 02 JUNE 2024 www.thestatesman.com Twitter.com/TheStatesmanLtd Facebook.com/thestatesman KOLKATA'S HAND-PULLED RICKSHAWS PAGE 15 BUMRAH PREFERS TO KEEP THINGS SIMPLE PAGE 12 PAGE 13 India’s National Newspaper since 1818 PAGES 16 | `5.00 | LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR WEATHER Generally cloudy sky. Rain / thundershower very likely to occur towards evening/night.Maximum and Minimum Temperature most likely be around 33°C and 25°C respectively. RAINFALL: 0.0 mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 98% TEMPERATURE Max:27.5°C (-8.3) SUN RISES 04:52 hrs MOON RISES 00:48 hrs Min:26.2°C (-1.6) SUN SETS 18:17 hrs MOON SETS 13:5 hrs New Moon on 06 June THUMBNAILS Voters travel to a polling booth by boat to cast their vote for the last phases of the Lok Sabha and Odisha Assembly polls, in Kendrapara on Saturday.  ANI Bomb threat on Indigo flight from Chennai to Mumbai, aircraft taken to isolation bay: A Mumbai-bound IndiGo flight operating from Chennai made an emergency landing in Mumbai on Saturday after it received a bomb threat, the airline said in a press statement. Upon landing in Mumbai, the crew of the flight 6E 5314 followed protocol, and the aircraft was taken to an isolation bay as per security agency guidelines. All passengers safely disembarked the aircraft. This is the second time in one week that the airline received a bomb threat. MUMBAI, 1 JUNE Navi Mumbai Police on Saturday arrested four members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang who were planning to attack actor Salman Khan's car in Panvel. For this, police said, there was a plan to order weapons from a Pakistani arms supplier. An FIR has been registered against more than 17 people including Lawrence Bishnoi, Anmol Bishnoi, Sampat Nehra and Goldy Brar. Further investigation is underway, as per Navi Mumbai Police. According to police, they had received information that jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, along with his Canadabased brother Anmol Bishnoi and partner Goldie Brar, had conspired to kill actor Salman Khan by purchasing AK-47, M16 and AK-92 and other sophisticated weapons from a Pakistani arms dealer. According to the information, their objective in this plan was to stop Salman Khan's car or raid the farmhouse. Police also said that the gang had made this plan a month before the arrest of two shooters for firing outside actor Salman Khan's house. The arrested accused have been identified as Dhananjay alias Ajay Kashyap, Gaurav Bhatia alias Nahvi,Waspi Khan alias Wasim Chikna and Rizwan Khan alias Javed Khan, according to police. The accused had conducted a recce of Salman Khan's house and farmhouse. Accused Ajay Kashyap contacted a person named Dogar in Pakistan through a video call and weapons like AK-47 were ordered from Pakistan to attack Salman Khan. The police said they got the information that about 60 to 70 members of Lawrence Bishnoi and Sampat Nehra's gang had arrived from Mumbai, Raigad, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Pune and Gujarat and were keeping an eye on Salman AGENCIES Khan. Most exit polls see NDA winning close to 350 seats, INDIA bloc around 150 STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 1 JUNE Min.86% 4 Bishnoi gang members held for planning attack on Salman Khan Over 59 pc polling in final Exit polls indicate BJP phase of Lok Sabha elections emerging a clear winner xit Polls for the 2024 Lok Sabha election showed on Saturday the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA emerging an easy winner, widening its social base and making inroads in southern States like Tamil Nadu and Kerala while winning big in Karnataka. Most exit polls published after the seventh and the last phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls ended indicated that the NDA may end up winning close to 350 seats. On the other hand, the INDIA bloc is projected to win about 150 seats. Prime Minister Narendra Modi exuded confidence that people have voted in record numbers to re-elect the NDA government and said the “opportunistic INDI Alliance” failed to strike a chord with the voters who rejected their “regressive politics”. Dismissing the exit polls results, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh in a post on X wrote: “The man whose exit is certain on June 4th has had these exit polls orchestrated. The INDIA Janbandhan will definitely get a minimum of 295 seats.” As per India Today’s Axis My India Exit Survey, out of Tamil Nadu’s 39 seats, DMK E POLL PREDICTIONS AGENCIES NDA Republic TV-P MARQ 359 I.N.D.I.A. Others 154 30 ABP C-Voter 339-396 123-167 20-34 Dainik Bhaskar 285-350 145-201 33-49 News 24-Today’s Chanakya Jan Ki Baat 400 107 36 362-392 141-161 10-20 India Today-Axis My India 361-401 131-166 Poll of Polls (NDTV) 365 146 8-20 32 Women voters show their identity cards as they wait in a queue to cast their votes for the Lok Sabha elections, at Karakat in Rohtas on Saturday.  ANI is likely to get 20-22 seats, the BJP one to three seats and the Congress six to eight. In Kerala, the survey gives the BJP 27 per cent vote share, and getting two to three seats out of the state’s 20 seats. The Congress-led UDF may get 17-18, while the LDF may get one seat. Out of Karnataka’s 28 seats, the BJP could get 20-22, while its ally the JD (S) may get three and the Congress 3-5.In Bihar, out of the total 40 seats; the survey gives the NDA 29-33 seats, while INDIA may get 7-10. Out of Jharkhand’s 14 total, INDIA is likely to get 4-6 seats; and the BJP 8-10. The same survey sees the BJP sweeping Madhya Pradesh’s 29 seats. In Rajasthan, the BJP may get 16-19 seats and the Congress 5-7 out of a total 25 seats. The ABP C-Voter Survey gives the BJP-led NDA 13 seats in Kerala, while the UDF may get 17-18. In Tamil Nadu, the NDA may get two, while INDIA may get 37-39. Out of Telangana’s 17 seats, the BJP and Congress are expected to get 7-9 seats each. In Karnataka, according to the C-Voter Survey, the NDA may get 2325 seats and INDIA 3-5. In Andhra Pradesh NDA may get 21-25 out of the state’s 25 seats.The survey gives the BJP 21-23 seats and the INDIA 2-4 in Rajasthan. The BJP is also predicted to sweep Gujarat’s 26 seats. The CNN News18’s Mega Exit Polls showed that the NDA may get 23-26 seats in Karnataka; and the Congress 3-7. In Maharashtra with 48 seats, NDA may get 32-35, while INDIA may get 15-18. Of Andhra Pradesh’s 25 seats, 19-22 may go to NDA while the YSRCP may get 58. InTelangana, the BRS may get just between 2-5 seats, while the Congress may get 5-8 and the BJP 7-10. In Assam with 14 seats, the Congress is likely to get 25 seats while the NDA will get between 10 and-13 seats. Out of Punjab’s 13 seats, 24 seats are predicted for BJP , while the Congress may get 8 to10 seats and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) just one. In Delhi with seven seats, the BJP may get 5-7, according to the survey. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 1 JUNE More than 59 per cent of voters exercised their franchise in 57 parliamentary constituencies in eight States and Union Territories in the seventh and final phase of the 18th Lok Sabha elections on Saturday, bringing the curtain down on the largest electoral exercise in the world. The polling was reported to be by and large peaceful. Of the 57 parliamentary seats in the seventh phase, 13 each were in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, nine in West Bengal, eight in Bihar, six in Odisha, four in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand and one in Chandigarh. According to the data issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on its voter turnout app, the polling percentage was recorded at 59.45 per cent at the end of polling hours. West Bengal recorded the highest turnout at 69.89 per cent, followed by Jharkhand at 69.59 per cent and Himachal Pradesh at 67.53 per cent. Chandigarh registered 62.80 per cent turnout and Uttar Pradesh 55.60 per cent, as per the data. The fates of 904 candidates were sealed in the EVMs. Prominent candidates from the BJP are Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Varanasi, UP), Union min- Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee flashes a victory sign after casting her vote during the 7th phase of the Lok Sabha elections, in Kolkata on Saturday. SNS ister Anurag Thakur (Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh), Ravi Shankar Prasad (Patna Sahib, Bihar) and Kangana Ranaut (Mandi, Himachal Pradesh); while those from the Congress included Manish Tewari (Chandigarh), Vikramaditya Singh (Mandi) and Ajay Rai (Varanasi). Other prominent candidates were Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Misa Bharti (Pataliputra, Bihar) and Trinamul Congress ( TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee (Diamond Harbour, West Bengal). Elections also took place simultaneously with polling for the Lok Sabha seats for the 42 Assembly constituencies in the fourth and last phase of the Odisha Assembly. As per the data Bengal recorded the highest turnout at 69.89 per cent, followed by Jharkhand at 69.59 per cent and Himachal Pradesh at 67.53 pc of the poll panel, Odisha recorded 63.18 per cent turnout. The Lok Sabha elections were held in seven phases between 19th April and 1st 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, fifth phase on 20 May and sixth phase on 25 May. The first phase recorded 66.14 per cent voter turnout, second 66.71 per cent, third 65.68 per cent, fourth 69.16 per cent, fifth phase 62.2 percent and sixth phase 63.37 per cent. Counting of votes will take place on 4 June. ‘INDIA bloc to win over 295 seats’ Arvind Kejriwal’s bail period expires, STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 1 JUNE Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday claimed that the INDIA bloc will win more than 295 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, after a two-and-a-half hour meeting of the Opposition alliance. The meeting convened by Mr Kharge at his residence was attended by Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and party leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and KC Venugopal, SP president Akhilesh Yadav, NCP-SP president Sharad Pawar, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, Jharkhand CM and JMM leader Champai Soren and party leader Kalpana Soren, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, J&K NC president Farooq Abdhullah, CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury and INDIA bloc leaders at the residence of Mallikarjun Kharge, in New Delhi on Saturday. SUBRATA DUTTA CPI leader D Raja, among others. During the meeting, they deliberated on a wide range of issues, particularly taking stock of their preparations for the counting day on 4 June. Addressing the media, the Congress president said: “The meeting of the INDIA bloc lasted for about two and a half hours. We discussed various issues, especially what strategy we should adopt on the day of counting of votes.” Exuding confidence in the Opposition's victory in the general elections, he said: “INDIA alliance will win more than 295 seats, not less than that. After asking all our leaders (Opposition), this is the data we got. This is not a government survey, but a public survey. Public gave the information to our leaders and on the basis of that we are telling this.” He also informed that the INDIA bloc sought time to meet the Election Commission on Sunday to raise their issues and urge the poll panel to take cognisance of these issues and make improvements at the earliest. In response to a question, Mr Kharge said: “INDIA bloc will get the absolute majority. We are united. We will remain united.” Later, talking to reporters, CPI-M leader SitaramYechury, after being asked whether there was any discussion on the PM's face, said: “The PM face will be decided when that situation comes.This is an issue that is not an agenda now for the INDIA. It will only be after the counting is over.” CPI leader D Raja said: “We must be very alert during the counting process. So, we must alert our counting agents who will go to the counting stations, how they should be vigilant. This is what we discussed.”SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said: “In Uttar Pradesh, INDI alliance will win the maximum seats.” to surrender to Tihar authorities today STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 1 JUNE Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is scheduled to surrender to the Tihar jail authorities on Sunday as his 21-day interim bail in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam granted by the Supreme Court expired on Saturday. A Delhi court on Saturday reserved its order on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor’s plea for an extension of the bail on medical grounds. The concerned judge reserved the verdict on the bail plea for 5 June. On the last day of his interim bail, Mr Kejriwal attended the INDIA bloc's meeting held at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's residence, towards the end of the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024. PM ends meditation at Vivekananda Memorial, says every moment of his life dedicated to nation's service STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 1 JUNE Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday, concluded his 45-hour meditation at the Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari, coinciding with the conclusion of polling for the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha elections. After the conclusion of his meditation, the Prime Minister penned a message in Hindi in the visitors' book at the Memorial in which he wrote that he experienced a "divine and extraordinary energy" upon visiting the Vivekananda Rock Memorial and every moment of his life would be dedicated to the service of India. Calling Swami Vivekananda his inspiration, the Prime Minister wrote: “It is my good fortune that today, after so many years, as Swami Vivekananda's values and ideals are shaping the India of his dreams, I have also been given the opportunity to practice at this sacred place." He said his experience at the Memorial was one of the “most incredible moments” of his life. “Sitting at the feet of Maa Bharti, today I once again reiterate my resolve that every moment of my life and every particle of my body will always be dedicated to the service of the nation. With a prayer for the nation's progress and the welfare of its people, I bow countless times to Mother India,” Mr Modi wrote in his message. “At this memorial (Vivekananda Rock Memorial), Goddess Parvati and Swami Vivekananda undertook their penance. Later, Eknath Ranade brought Swami Vivekananda's ideas to life by establishing this place as a memorial,” the Prime Minister wrote. Before leaving Kanyakumari, he paid floral tributes at the statue of Thiruvalluvar, a saint and Tamil cultural icon near the Vivekananda memorial. Heavy security was put in place for the PM at the memorial by the Special Protection Group and the Coast Guard. During the spiritual visit to Kanyakumari, Mr Modi meditated at the Dhyan Mandapam, the place where revered Hindu philosopher Swami Vivekananda is believed to have had a divine vision about 'Bharat Mata'. The PM’s 45-hour meditation, at Vivekananda Rock Memorial, had commenced on 30 May evening after his arrival in Kanyakumari on Thursday. Legend has it that Goddess Parvati meditated on one foot at the same place waiting for Lord Shiva. It is the southernmost tip of India and the place where India's Eastern and Western coastlines meet. It is also the meeting point of the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal, and the Arabian Sea. PM Modi arrived in Kanyakumari on Thursday after finishing a high-voltage campaign for the Lok Sabha elections. On reaching Kanyakumari, he first offered special prayers at Sri Bhagavathi Amman Temple on the seashore in the district before praying at the statue of Thiruvalluvar, Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Maa Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda. Earlier, the AAP said Mr Kejriwal needs to undergo certain medical tests as prescribed by his doctor which include a PET-CT scan as he runs the risk of a serious disease and that he lost around seven kg of weight during his incarceration. The Delhi chief minister had also filed an application before the apex court requesting an extension of his interim bail by seven days so that he could get the medical examinations done. However, the court registry on Wednesday refused to list for an urgent hearing of his application, noting that the “plea is not maintainable”. Refusing to list Mr Kejriwal’s plea for an urgent hearing, the top court registry had said: “Since the chief minister was given liberty to move to the trial court for regular bail, the plea is not maintainable.” On Friday, in an emotional appeal to the people of Delhi, Mr Kejriwal said he was proud to go to jail in the fight against dictatorship, and urged everyone to take care of his old parents and pray for their health and wellbeing, while he is behind the bars, as he added that it was not known till when he will remain in jail for now. He also told the people not to worry as the works of the city won’t be hampered but will be carried out smoothly in his absence. Porsche crash: Pune Police nab mother of accused minor in blood sample swap case AGENCIES PUNE, 1 JUNE Pune Police have arrested Shivani Vishal Agarwal, the mother of the accused minor involved in the 19 May Porsche crash that killed two techies, here on Saturday. Ms Agarwal has been arrested in connection with the case about the alleged swapping of blood samples at the Sassoon General Hospital which recently emerged in the police probe. Police suspect that the original blood sample of the 17-year-old boy was replaced by the hospital medicos with a new blood sample ostensibly of Shivani Agarwal, to help get the boy off the hook. She was reportedly out of bounds the past few days and will be produced before Police suspect that the original blood sample of the 17-year-old boy was replaced by the hospital medicos with a new blood sample ostensibly of Shivani Agarwal, to help get the boy off the hook. a Pune court later. Earlier, the boy's father Vishal S. Agarwal and grandfather Surendrakumar B. Agarwal were also arrested under different aspects of the same incident that created a nationwide uproar.