THURSDAY 06 JUNE 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 SHASTRI’S TASKS EARLY SIGNS OF A FUTURE LEADER P7 SENSEX 74,382.242,303.20 WEATHER Partly cloudy sky with Rain/Thundershower likely. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 35 °C and 28 °C respectively. RAINFALL: 0.1 mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY P4 GOLD 72,650220 ` vs $ 83.24 Min. 56 % Max: 36.0°C (+0.8) SUN RISES 04:51 hrs MOON RISES 03:25 hrs Min: 27.2°C (0.0) SUN SETS 18:19 hrs MOON SETS 17:17 hrs New Moon on 06 June THUMBNAILS Children paint their faces green on the occasion of World Environment Day, in Barmer on Wednesday.  ANI Delhi court dismisses Kejriwal's interim bail plea, extends judicial custody till 19 June: The Rouse Avenue Court on Wednesday dismissed the interim bail plea moved by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal seeking 7 days’ bail citing medical reasons in excise policy money laundering case.While dismissing the plea, the court directed the Tihar Jail Authorities to conduct all required medical tests and avail treatment for Mr Kejriwal. BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 76.580.33 NDA meet clears decks for Modi govt formation NIKHIL VYAS NEW DELHI, 5 JUNE Modi to take oath for his 3rd term as PM on 8 June he National Democratic Alliance (NDA) onWednesday formally elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the leader of the alliance at a meeting attended among others by JD-U leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu. The Prime Minister and 20 senior leaders of the BJPled NDA attended the crucial meeting at Mr Modi’s residence, which came the day after the Lok Sabha results were announced The meeting was attended by BJP president JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP's allies including Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde, Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy, Janasena Party chief Pawan Kalyan, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan, Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) leader STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 5 JUNE T After his unanimous election as leader of the NDA on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to stake his claim to form a new government at the Centre soon after the constitution of the 18th Lok Sabha. According to political circles, Mr Modi is all set to be sworn in for his third consecutive term as Prime Minister on Saturday, 8 June. The Election Commission of India has announced the results of the General Elections for the 18th Lok Sabha and Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar is expected to submit them to the President for constitution of the new Lok Praful Patel, Jitan Ram Manjhi (HAM) among others. After the meeting, the NDA unanimously adopted a resolution electing Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister Narendra Modi posing for a group picture with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Telugu Desam chief N Chandrababu Naidu and other NDA leaders during a meeting at his residence, 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, in New Delhi on Wednesday.  ANI Sabha. Mr Modi met President Droupadi Murmu early in the day and tendered his resignation along with that of the Council of Ministers. The President accepted the resignation and requested Mr Modi and the Council of Ministers to continue till the new Government assumes office. The Union Cabinet met under the chairmanship of the prime minister earlier and advised the President to dissolve the 17th Lok Sabha with immediate effect. alliance's leader. The resolution highlights “the impactful development witnessed by 1.4 billion Indian citizens across the nation through the NDA government's public welfare schemes under PM Modi's leadership over the past decade”. It acknowledges “the nation's choice of robust leadership for the third consecutive term”. The resolution “proudly emphasises the unity showcased by the NDA during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections under PM Modi's guidance, resulting in a victorious outcome”. It declares “the unanimous election of Narendra Modi as the leader, affirming the commitment of the NDA government, under his leadership, to serve the underprivileged segments of society, including the poor, women, youth, farmers and marginalised communities". Furthermore, it pledges the NDA government's dedication to fostering multifaceted development while safeguarding India's rich heritage. According to sources, during the meeting, all leaders congratulated the PM for his leadership and the strides our nation has made under him. They appreciated the PM’s hard work and efforts in nation building. They also lauded the PM’s role in increasing India’s pride in the world. Patnaik submits resignation, misses INDIA vows to continue fighting BJP record of India’s longest-serving CM STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 5 JUNE MANOJ KAR Mr Patnaik said on Wednesday that his government did good work in agriculture, health and education, and he was not ashamed of the 24 years of the BJD government’s rule. BHUBANESWAR, 5 JUNE A day after the BJD was voted out of power, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik submitted his resignation to Governor Raghubar Das with the charismatic regional satrap narrowly missing breaking the record of longest tenure as CM held by Pawan Kumar Chamling, former CM of Sikkim. The BJD, the party which he headed, lost to the BJP in both the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls. Mr Patnaik, who never eyed a pan-India expansion of the party, failed to check the BJP’s electoral juggernaut. It was an end of Mr Patnaik’s 24-year-long eventful and largely clean stint at the helm of governance in Odisha. The party was completely wiped out in the Lok Sabha polls, winning none of the 21 seats it fought. In the 147-seat assembly polls, it fared better with 51 seats, but which was not enough to prevent BJP with 78 seats, , from forming its maiden government in the State. P12 SILVER 91,7002,300 NDA party leaders formally elect Narendra Modi as leader of the alliance Max. 88 % TEMPERATURE P6 NIFTY 22,620.35735.85 ROHIT WANTS TO LEAVE A MARK ON NEXT GENERATION LS POLL RESULTS A BIG BLOW TO BOTH BJP AND LDF: VIJAYAN Mr Patnaik, widely regarded for upright governance, ruled the state since 2000 and maintained his invincibility in electoral politics, never losing an election. But this time, he lost to a relatively unknown BJP candidate by over 16,000 votes in Kantabanji seat while winning his traditional Hinjili seat by a narrow margin. The defeat has stopped Mr Patnaik, a shrewd politician and master strategist, from becoming CM for a record 6th term. Mr Patnaik surpassed Bengal CM Jyoti Basu last year as the second longest-serving Chief Minister in India. He would have achieved a rare distinction in India’s electoral political history if he had come back to power. He was 74 days away from entering into the record book as longest-serving CM, held by Pawan Kumar Chamling, the former CM of Sikkim. Chamling ruled Sikkim for 24 years and 166 days. Meanwhile, Odisha BJP President, Manmohan Samal, said on Wednesday that the party's Parliamentary Board would soon decide regarding the state's chief minister. Mr Samal also reiterated the BJP’s poll promise that only an Odia would be made the chief minister of Odisha. Leaders of the INDIA bloc on Wednesday unanimously decided that the Opposition alliance will continue to fight against the “fascist” rule of the BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The decision was taken at a meeting of the INDIA bloc convened by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence here, in the wake of Lok Sabha polls . The meeting was attended by Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and party leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and KC Venugopal, SP president Akhilesh Yadav, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief MK Stalin, Jharkhand CM and JMM leader Champai Soren and party leader Kalpana Soren, TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, NCP-SP president Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, AAP leader Sanjay Singh, J&KNC leader Omar Abdullah, CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury and CPI leader D Raja, among others. Addresing the media after the meeting, the Congress chief said: “We sat together for around two hours and discussed the political situation. We received several suggestions and the outcome was that we all together, in one voice agreed that INDIA bloc will continue to fight against the fascist rule of the BJP led by Modi. We will take appropriate steps at the appropriate time to realise the people’s desire not to be ruled by the BJP’s government.” “The people’s mandate has given befitting reply to the BJP and their politics of hate, corruption and deprivation. This is mandate in defence of the Constitution of India and against price rise, unemployment, crony capitalism and also to save democracy,” he said. The Congress chief further said: “The contstiuents of INDIA bloc thank the people of India for the overwhelming support received by our alliance.” Earlier in his opening remarks in the meeting, the Congress chief reiterated that the mandate was against Narendra Modi. Referring to the INDIA bloc performance in the Lok Sabha elections, Mr Kharge said: “We fought well, fought unitedly, fought resolutely.” Dy CM Fadnavis offers to resign over BJP’s poor showing in Maha STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE MUMBAI, 5 JUNE Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday offered to resign from his post of deputy chief minister of Maharashtra after the saffron party fared badly in the state in the Lok Sabha polls. The BJP's tally in Maharashtra dropped drastically from 23 seats in 2019 to just nine this year. The vote share stood at 26.18 per cent. Mr Fadnavis, who has been a key figure in the state's BJP leadership, took full responsibility for the party's electoral setback. “I want to work at the organisational level to improve the performance of the party in the ensuing assembly elections. I want to devote my full time to strengthening the organisation. I am going to request my central leadership to free me from the responsibility of the post in the state government,” he told a press conference after a review meeting on the Lok Sabha results. Talking about his party’s performance, he noted: “Farmers' issues played a dominant role in some seats. Also, the false propaganda that the Constitution would be altered impacted some voters. The outright votes of Muslims and the Maratha movement also had an impact.” Mr Fadnavis also congratulated Narendra Modi for winning his third term. “I thank the people of the country who allowed Modiji (PM Narendra Modi) to take oath as the Prime Minister for the third time. The NDA performed well in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh as well. I thank people for that,” he said. Taking a swipe at the INDIA bloc, he added: "The BJP I want to work at the organisational level to improve the performance of the party in the ensuing assembly elections. I want to devote my full time to strengthening the organisation. I am going to request my central leadership to free me from the responsibility of the post in the state government DEVENDRA FADNAVIS MAHARASTRA DEPUTY CM alone has gained more seats than the INDIA bloc. The propaganda that the Constitution would be changed was disseminated by them. We needed to curb it which we could not.” The meeting was attended by top BJP leaders, including state unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule. The opposition MahaVikas Aghadi (MVA) comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) put up a good show. The MVA collectively won 30 seats, marking a substantial gain for the alliance. The Congress saw a remarkable increase too, winning 13 seats compared to just one in 2019. Shiv Sena (UBT) secured nine seats, while the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) secured eight. SP reaches new heights in national politics Rahul registers historic victory in Rae Bareli, breaks STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE LUCKNOW, 5 JUNE Shedding the shadow of his father and founder of Samajwadi Party, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav has taken the party to new heights, emerging as the third largest party in the 18th Lok Sabha elections. According to the poll results announced by the Election Commission of India in Uttar Pradesh, the SP has turned in its best performance so far in the Lok Sabha elections by winning 37 seats. In 2004, the SP had won 35 Lok Sabha seats, which was the highest ever before the 2024 tally of 37 seats. Political analysts say that SP got this success due to the strategy of caste mobilisation instead of religious issues and lower emphasis on Yadavs and Muslims. The SP had fought the last Lok Sabha elections of 2019 in alliance with BSP. Then, they won only five seats. This time, SP president Akhilesh Yadav led the Opposition's campaign in politically important UP and contested elections in 62 seats under the alliance. It gave 17 seats to Congress and one seat to Trinamul Congress. This strategy of seat-sharing apparently proved quite effective. It is believed that due to this partnership, the SP was successful in giving a psychological message to the voters that there is an alternative to the BJP at the national level. In the 2019 elections, former cabinet minister Shivpal Singh was the only one who broke away from the SP, but this time a positive message was also sent by the unity of the family. The SP took full care of its PDA formula (‘Pichde’ -backward classes or OBCs, Dalits, ‘Alpasankhyak’ - minorities) while deciding the candidates. More candidates from the Kurmi community were fielded than the Yadavs and Muslims, who are considered the SP’s vote base. General caste candidates including Brahmins and Thakurs were also given representation. Political analysts claim that this move of Akhilesh Yadav was absolutely correct and yielded unexpected success. Mr Yadav also kept himself and the party away from the controversial statements made by Swami Prasad Maurya. Mr Yadav did not give any direct reaction to the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Not only this, he started the construction of a huge temple in Etawah. Due to this, the BJP did not get a chance to corner him on religious issues, political observers claim. record of his grandmother and father in LS elections MANOJ BHADRA RAE BARELI, 5 JUNE By registering a historic victory from Rae Bareli parliamentary seat in the 2024 general elections, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi broke the election-winning records of his grandmother Indira Gandhi and father Rajiv Gandhi. But the tally of the number of elections won by Rahul and his mother Sonia Gandhi is equal ~ six times. On 18 May, two days before voting, Sonia Gandhi had made an emotional appeal to the people of Rae Bareli at the ITI grounds. “I am handing over my son. Adopt Rahul the way you accepted me. Whether I am there or not, Rahul will never disappoint you," she had said. Responding to this appeal of Sonia, voters gave a historic mandate CMYK Newly elected Congress MP KL Sharma meets with party leader Rahul Gandhi after his victory in the LS elections, at the latter's residence in New Delhi on Wednesday.  ANI to Rahul Gandhi. Mr Gandhi has also achieved a record of winning six Lok Sabha elections this time. He has also saved his mother's legacy in Rae Bareli. Rahul Gandhi also won the elections by getting the most votes compared to his mother, grandmother and father. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had won from Rae Bareli seat in 1967, 1971 and 1980 while Late Rajiv Gandhi won the election from Amethi parliamentary seat four times between 1981 and 1991. Sonia Gandhi became MP six times from Rae Bareli seat. After becoming a Rajya Sabha member in 2024, Sonia handed over her legacy seat to son Rahul. Rahul Gandhi contested his first election from Amethi in 2004. After this, he became MP from Amethi in 2009 and 2014. Rahul Gandhi, who lost from Amethi in 2019, won from Wayanad in Kerala. The Gandhi scion, who had previously won four Lok Sabha elections, has registered a record victory from Rae Bareli and Wayanad seats in 2024. He has the record of getting the highest number of votes in his family ~ 7,06,369 from Wayanad seat in 2019. However, Rahul Gandhi failed to break Sonia Gandhi's record of winning the Rae Bareli parliamentary seat by securing the most votes. In the by-election held in 2006, Sonia had won by a margin of 4,17,888 votes. Sonia had also won the 2009 elections by a margin of 3,72,165 votes. This time round, Rahul Gandhi won in Rae Bareli by a margin of 3,90,030 votes. The voters of Rae Bareli accepted Sonia's appeal, but now it is Rahul Gandhi's turn. Sonia also said that Rahul will not disappoint her. Perhaps this was the reason why voters blindly supported Congress once again.