WEDNESDAY 05 JUNE 2024 www.thestatesman.com Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC X.com/thestatesmanltd Fb/thestatesman 1875 INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR Others 175* BJP 240* 30 12 BJP: 12 TMC: 29 Oth: 00 INC: 01 00 07 TMC: 29 SENSEX 72,079.054,389.73 NIFTY 21,884.501,379.40 ` vs $ 83.59 GOLD 72,870760 BJP: 07 AAP:00 Oth: 00 INC: 00 INC: 99* SILVER 94,0001,200 01 19 BJP: 19 Oth:00 36 01 INC: 01 BJD:01 Oth:00 43 00 BJP: 33 SP: 37 BSP:00 Oth: 03 INC: 06 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 76.081.25 NDA wins but Opp on revival path Election outcome clearly shows Opp has successfully made big holes in the BJP's vote bank in key states like UP, Maha & Bengal Will write new chapter of big decisions in NDA govt’s third term, says PM Modi Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi during a press conference at the party headquarters, in the Capital on Tuesday. SUBRATA DUTTA ASHOK TUTEJA NEW DELHI, 4 JUNE N obody ever thought the race in the Lok Sabha elections would be as tight as it turned out to be. The electorate's message to the BJP is loud and clear: A strong Opposition is essential for the functioning of a vibrant and accountable democracy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have won a third term for the BJP and its NDA allies, but the revival of the Congress-led Opposition is the biggest takeaway from the election. It is indeed a healthy sign for the country and its democratic institutions. The election outcome clearly shows that while Mr Modi is still the biggest political figure in the country, the Opposition has successfully made big holes in the BJP's vote bank in key states like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal. The results also reflect that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has come into his own after years of hard labour and the BJP's relentless campaign against him. A much improved per- formance by Congress has finally given him legitimacy and put a seal of approval on his leadership of the grand old party. The Congress will also now get the main Opposition status in the House, a privilege the party did not enjoy during the past decade. Another big winner of the elections is Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav whose party proved all political pundits wrong to bag a substantial number of seats in Uttar Pradesh, electorally the most important state in the country. The construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, which was projected by the BJP government as one of its main achievements, does not seem to have electorally benefited the saffron outfit. It is now anybody's guess whether Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will continue to enjoy the party leadership's confidence for long. The BJP will now have to carry its NDA allies along in the day-to-day running of administration since it has not been able to cross the magical mark of 272 on its own, unlike in the 2019 elections when it had won 303 seats. NIKHIL VYAS NEW DELHI, 4 JUNE Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said people have reposed faith in the BJP and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) adding that in the NDA government third term, the country will write a new chapter of big decisions. “I would like to reiterate that I will work for 18 hours if you work for 10 hours. We Indians will take the country forward. In the third term, the country will write a chapter of big decisions, and it's Modi's Guarantee," the Prime Minister said while addressTDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar are wellknown for their mercurial behaviour in politics. The Opposition succeeded in building a narrative that the BJP will amend the Constitution if it attains a twothirds majority in the House. The BJP's failure to realise its dream of “Abki Baar, 400 Paar” also means it will have to bury its “One Nation, One ing party workers and leaders at the BJP headquarters here. "Our Constitution is our guiding light. This year will mark 70 years of our Constitution. We will work with all states and work hard towards becoming 'Viksit Bharat'," Mr Modi said. He said the BJPled NDA will form its third successive government and it is the victory of resolve of Viksit Bharat, of 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas' and of strong faith of people in India's Constitution. Mr Modi further mentioned that it was the first time after 1962 that a government that completed two full tenures has got a third successive term in office. The Election” plan and many other dream projects. Contrary to exit polls which gave an edge to the BJP in West Bengal, the Trinamul Congress of Mamata Banerjee has done exceedingly well, defying anti-incumbency. Prime Minister Modi's intensive campaign and the large crowds witnessed at his rallies in the state have not paid the expected dividends to his party. BJD’s 24-yr-old fortress crumbles in Odisha STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE BHUBANESWAR, 4 JUNE A BJP wave demolished the 24-year-old fortress of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), led by party president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, creating history and blowing away Mr Patnaik’s hopes of become the longest serving chief minister in the country. The saffron sway accounted for 19 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats with the BJD and Congress leading in one seat each. But as per latest reports the final tally is likely to end up with 20 seats for the BJP and one for the Congress, leaving the BJD with no representation in the Lok Sabha. Celebrations erupted at the BJP party office, with leaders describing the results as historic and unprecedented. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, along with central leaders Bhupender Singh Yadav and Narendra Singh Tomar, rejoiced and distributed sweets. In stark contrast, the BJD party office was deserted. The BJD, which had not lost an election since 2000, faced a crushing defeat both in the Lok Sabha and Assembly . This debacle dashed Naveen Patnaik's hopes of scripting history by winning a sixth successive term and becoming the longest-serving chief minister in the country. Congress's Saptagiri Ulaka was the lone victor who withstood the BJP onslaught. The BJD’s LS candidates fell like ninepins. In the outgoing Lok Sabha, the BJD had 12 MPs, the BJP had eight, and the Congress had one. In the Assembly elections, the BJP won 70 seats and was leading in eight as against the magic number of 72 needed to form the government in the state. It is a significant rise from the 23 seats they held in 2019. The BJD has won 46 and is leading in 5 seats, down from 112 in 2019. The Congress, which had only nine seats in 2019, bagged 14 seats while the CPM won one and three Independent candidates ( all BJP rebels) have won. It turned out to be an election of records. It is the first time the BJP is set to form a government in Odisha. Seats that had never voted for the BJP, such as Kendrapara, Jajpur, and most of the coastal belt, did so this time. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Juel Oram, Bhartruhari Mahtab, Aparajita Sarangi, Baijayant Panda, Sangeeta Singh Deo, and Pratap Sarangi established comfortable margins over their rivals and were certain to win their respective Lok Sabha seats. Naidu to be next CM of Andhra Pradesh STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE HYDERABAD, 4 JUNE TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu is all set to be sworn in for the fourth time as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh as the TDP-JSP-BJP alliance decimated the YSRCP in both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections held simultaneously with TDP surpassing the majority mark of 88 on its own. Mr Naidu, who was languishing in jail for 52 days as an accused in the skill development scam case will also be at the helm of national politics after two decades with TDP winning 16 LS seats out of the 17 it contested. Out of a total 25 LS seats YSRCP managed to hold on to 4, BJP won 3 and JSP secured 2. The Congress under YS Sharmila failed to open an account in this election too. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “Andhra Pradesh has given exceptional mandate to NDA. I thank the people of the state for their blessings... We will work for the all round progress of AP and ensure the state prospers in the times to come.” The Prime Minister and Union home minister Amit Shah also spoke to Mr Naidu after the trends became clear and the Congress too reminded that it has promised special status to AP if it comes to power. Mr Naidu is likely to take oath on 9 June. Turning the elections bipolar, like Tamil Nadu and Kerala the electorate in Andhra Pradesh punished the YSRCP mercilessly restricting it to just 12 Assembly seats from 151 seats (2019) and it may even fail to get recognised as the main Opposition party. TDP won 134 of the 144 seats it contested in the Assembly as the electorate was unhappy by the lack of infrastructure and employment opportunities which Naidu had ensured in his past tenures particularly between 1995 and 2004. Jana Sena won all the 21 seats it contested and BJP won 8. Most of the YSRCP ministers were trailing right from the beginning of the counting. YSRCP’s finance minister B Rajendranath Reddy lost to TDP’s Kotla Surya Prakash Reddy in Dhone among one of the major upsets. Incumbent chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy won from his Pulivendula seat but his majority was reduced. Clearly, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s much publicised social engineering and dropping and swapping of candidates to beat anti incumbency did not work. His excessive reliance on welfare schemes also let him down as did the absence of rule of law. A visibly befuddled YS Jagan Mohan Reddy admitted,“I never thought people would give such a mandate in the elections despite receiving welfare from the YSRCP government. I don’t know what happened. Still they (the NDA) failed to reduce my 40 per cent vote bank.” He congratulated the TDP chief and his alliance partners. Prime Minister said "new history" has been created after six decades. "After 1962, it was the first time that a government came into power after completing its two terms. The NDA secured a grand victory in the state elections. Be it Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha or Sikkim. In these states, the Congress party has been wiped out. Apparently, their deposits have been forfeited," Mr Modi said.The PM made a special reference to BJP's performance on the outcome of results of Odisha Assembly polls where the saffron party is poised to form a government for the first time."In Odisha, the BJP is going to form a government, and in the Lok Sabha elections, too, Odisha has performed excellently," the Prime Minister said. "On this sacred day, it is confirmed that the NDA is forming the government for the third time. We are grateful to the people, they reposed full faith in the BJP, NDA, he said. Bengal keeps faith in TMC STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 4 JUNE The people of Bengal kept their faith in the Trinamul Congress in the general elections whose results were announced on Sunday, thereby dealing a body blow to the BJP-led NDA’s hopes of a strong performance in the state. In the process, combined with the reverses it suffered in states like Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra, the BJP has been restricted to around 240 seats, although the NDA alliance has secured a total of around 291 seats, enough to form the government. In Bengal, the Trinamul Congress got 29 seats, and the BJP 12 seats ~ six less than what they got in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections ~ while Congress won a single seat. WINNERS GANDHINAGAR KANNAUJ RAE BARELI Amit Shah Akhilesh Yadav Rahul Gandhi I express my gratitude to all the BJP party workers and supporters, those who have worked in the service of the constituency and the party with dedication and loyalty - SMRITI IRANI BAHARAMPUR LOSERS AMETHI Smriti Irani Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury
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