VOTE SHARE RJD 23.1  4.7 Cong 9.5  2.8 BJP 19.4 BIHAR 5 JD(U) 15.4  1.4 LJP 5.7  0.9 AIMIM 1.2 Nota 1.7 CHENNAI  WEDNESDAY  NOVEMBER 11, 2020  `7.00  PAGES 18  LATE CITY EDITION 1  0.8 Others 24   Percentage change compared to 2015 elections Source: ECI (As of 1 am Wednesday) Sisters and daughters of Bihar have voted this time in record numbers to show how big their role is in self-sufficient Bihar. We are satisfied that NDA got an opportunity to give new confidence to the mother power of Bihar in the past years. This confidence will give us strength in advancing Bihar If Nitish Kumar becomes Bihar chief minister, despite winning less number of seats (as compared to the BJP), he should thank the Shiv Sena for it Our strike rate in Bihar is 80% and if we had been given more seats, we would have contributed more to the MGB tally A sinister campaign was run against Nitish Kumar as part of a conspiracy. Our own also harmed us along with the outsiders I would be able to answer (on whether to extend support to Mahagathbandhan) once the final results are out. Why should I speculate now? Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena MP Sitaram Yechury, CPM leader K C Tyagi, JD(U) spokesperson Asaduddin Owaisi, AIMIM chief CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI RJD has highest vote share, is single largest party, but alliance flounders Oppn momentum falters as Cong fails to match even its score in 2015 Owaisi eats into Oppn’s Muslim vote share in Seemanchal, gets 5 seats SE A T @ Patna/New Delhi IF ever there was a cliffhanger of an election, with the pendulum swinging wildly by the hour, this was it. Till late evening, the day belonged to the alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal (United), prompting the BJP to prepare for a grand victory celebration at the central party office in the heart of Delhi. But the ladoos, firecrackers and dhols had to be put on hold as the Rashtriya Janata Dal-led mahagathbandhan closed in, turning the Bihar election 2020 into an edge of the seat thriller. Till midnight the ruling alliance was still marginally ahead, with leads/wins in 122 out of the 243 seats while the mahagathbandhan had 114. But the results/trends also exposed the fault lines between the BJP and the JD (U). This was because the JD (U) was the biggest loser, relegated to a distant third at 43 seats, down nearly 30 from its 2015 tally. For this, it openly blamed Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party . While the LJP just won a single seat, it ate up 5.7% of the vote share, cutting into the JD(U)’s base. More significantly, Chirag had openly worked against chief minister Nitish Kumar during the campaign AL F-WA 243 122 BJP: 74 ■ JDU: 43 ■ VIP: 4 ■ HAM: 4 RAJESH THAKUR & MANISH ANAND H M ARK ■ L TA Y 125 NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE TO NDA ASCENDANT IN SEESAW S WINS/LEADS BJP does better than Nitish’s JD(U); focus now on naming the new CM BIHAR MAHAGATH BANDHAN ■ while praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi. With such a close race not witnessed in a long time and throwing up many possibilities, BJP leaders Sushil Modi, Bhupendra Yadav, Ntiyanand Rai and Sanjay Jaiswal rushed to Nitish’s residence, remaining closeted till late at night and reassuring the chief minister that he was their leader. Union home minister Amit Shah also called Nitish. But whatever be Nitish’s grudge against Chirag, the election results only underlined his waning appeal. The mass mood was that he had become arrogant in the last five years, ruling the state through an unpopular and inaccessible bureaucracy. So even if he becomes the first Bihar CM to rule for a fourth straight BIHAR 2020 term, his position is bound to be much weaker. In 27 seats the margins were so thin that the Rashtriya Janata Dal smelt a rat. Party leader Tejashwi Yadav filed a written complaint with the Election Commission in Patna, complaining of being robbed of at least seven seats. But addressing the media past 10 pm, EC officials in New Delhi denied the charge. The election result was also a story of what might have been for the young Tejashwi. Throughout the campaign he drew large crowds and created a huge hype around the unemployment problem in the state. 110 CPM: 2 ■ CPI: 2 ■ CPIML: 12 ■ Cong: 19 ■ RJD: 75 EXPRESS READ India second in world in Covid-19 testing Modi delivers stern message to China at SCO summit New Delhi: India has conducted the second highest number of tests for detection of Covid-19 cases in the world at 11.96 crore with rapid antigen tests comprising 49% and RT-PCR 46% of the total tests done till Tuesday morning, the Union health ministry said New Delhi: Coming face-to-face with Chinese president Xi Jinping for the first time since the border row began in early May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the virtual SCO summit on Tuesday that there should be respect for territorial integrity among nations | P10 MADHYA PRADESH (28) BJP 19 | Cong 9 GUJARAT (8) BJP 8 UTTAR PRADESH (7) BJP 6 | SP 1 MANIPUR-5 BJP 4 Independent 1 BJP activists exult as the NDA does well in the Bihar Assembly polls, in Patna on Tuesday | PTI But that didn’t translate into votes. The uniform view for this failure was that Tejashwi was unable to shake off the widespread feeling among the people that if the RJD came to power, it would mean the return of the jungle raj. This fear of a return to lawlessness was repeatedly stressed by Modi and Nitish at rallies and on the face of it, jungle raj trumped unemployment. “The NDA campaign on the return of the jungle raj created a kind of fear psychosis among the voters,” said R K Verma, a political analyst. The numbers also signalled a deeper churning in state politics, with sub-regional factors playing out. While the NDA did exceedingly well in the Seemanchal, Mithila, Champaran and Ang regions, the mahagathbandhan performed better in the Bhojpur, Magadh and central parts of Bihar. The election also saw the emergence of Asaduddin Owaisi’s All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen as a force in some Muslim-dominated areas, harming the RJD. The AIMIM benefited from its alliance with Mandalite parties such as the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party and helped itself by winning five seats, up from one it held in the outgoing assembly . HOW is the BJP conducting a rally despite permission being denied for it by the State government? wondered the Madras High Court on Tuesday, while asking the police department to take uniform action against everyone violating orders. The court was continuing its hearing of arguments on a petition filed by a BJP leader, challenging a Government Order that prevents religious congregations till November 15 as part of Covid precautions. It then asked the State government to file a counter on the matter. When the two-member bench, comprising justices M Sathyanarayanan and R Hemalatha, sought details on representations made by the BJP seeking permission for the Vetrivel Yatra, advocate general Vijay Narayan said permission was denied for the same, and a communication was sent to the BJP party office about it. In his report, the DGP confirmed that BJP’s State chief L Murugan had carried on with the Yatra, in over 100 vehicles, despite permission being denied. “It was not a temple visit but a political rally said the advo,” cate general, adding that the BJP should have behaved responsibly. “There were about 2,000 BJP cadre and they misbehaved with the police.” The BJP counsel contended this submission by stating that the State government was taking a dual stand when it came to political congregations. “The BJP is being singled out,” claimed the counsel. The Bench then directed the State to respond to the challenges posed to the GO. T he plea has been adjourned to December 2. TN GETS CLOSER TO USA Yet another Tamil woman in Biden’s close circles C H A N D H I N I R @ Erode THE change of power in the United States of America seems to have a deeper connection with India, in general, and with Tamil Nadu, in particular. While Thulasendrapuram has been in the news for the longest time, thanks to the connection it has to Kamala Harris, the US Vice Presidentelect, that is not all about which the State can be proud. Forty three-year-old Dr Celine Gounder, a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, has been appointed member of the Covid-19 advisory board by the US President-elect, Joe Biden. As a member of Covid-19 task force, she would be guiding the President and the Vice President of the US, in combating the pandemic. Celine was born in the US to a AIMIM: 5 BSP: 1 ■ IND: 1 LJP: 1 Wins + leads in 59 seats across 11 states E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai Mumbai Indians clinched their fifth IPL crown in Dubai on Tuesday by beating Delhi Capitals in the final by five wickets. They are the second team after Chennai Super Kings to defend the title | SPOTZPICS | P13 ■ ■ ■ BYPOLL OUTCOME ‘How is BJP yatra going on without permission?’ MI-DAS TOUCH 8 OTHER PARTIES Tamil father Raj Natarajan Gounder, a native of Perumapalayam village in Erode. He moved to the US in the late 1960s and worked at The Boeing Company. Her mother, Nicole Gounder, a homemaker, was also an immigrant who moved to the US from France in 1972. Celine has two sisters, Sabine and Stephanie, and lives with her husband Grant Wahl, in New York. Celine’s connection with Perumapalayam Celine had visited her ancestral village several times in the memory of her father, who spent his childhood days here. In 2018, she also established a charity on her father’s name – Raj Gounder Foundation – to support children’s education and help uplift the Modakurichi Boys Higher Secondary School, where her faCONTINUED ON: P4 ther studied. KARNATAKA (2) BJP 2 JHARKHAND (2) Cong 1 | JMM 1 ODISHA (2) BJD 2 CHHATTISGARH (1) Cong 1 NAGALAND (2) NDPP 1 Independent 1 TELANGANA (1) BJP 1 HARYANA (1) Cong 1 BJP sweeps bypolls in MP, UP, Gujarat; wrests Dubbaka seat from TRS M A N I S H A N A N D @ New Delhi IF the bypoll verdict on Tuesday is any indicator, Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to be popular, as the BJP bagged or was leading in as many as 40 on 59 Assembly seats across 11 states where the by-elections were held. The biggest gainers were Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his Manipur counterpart N Biren Singh, as they were assured of stability on the back of the BJP’s sweeping victories in both the states. Barring Haryana and Telangana, ruling dispensations managed to control the bypoll narrative elsewhere. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath further consolidated his hold, winning six of the seven Assembly by-election seats at stake. Chief ministers B S Yediyurappa (Karnataka), Naveen Patnaik (Odisha) and Hemant Soren’s alliance (Jharkhand) bagged two seats each in their respective states. In Gujarat, the BJP government led by Vijay Rupani won all eight Assembly bypoll seats. The big surprise came from Telangana as the BJP bagged the Dubbaka Assembly seat with a slender margin. Its nominee M Raghunandan Rao trounced TRS’s Solipeta Sujatha by 1,118 votes. By wresting the seat, the party got bragging rights for taking its Mission South agenda forward. The BJP’s performance came despite its national leadership staying away from the campaigns, focus as it did on the Bihar Assembly polls instead. The party’s state leaders demonstrated their dominance over the Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, while denying opportunity to the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh to make a comeback. Defector Jyotiraditya Scindia delivered on his promise as the BJP shrugged off a spirited Kamal Nath-led Congress campaign to win 19 of the total 27 Assembly seats. In Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Manipur, the BJP’s fortunes rode on imports from the Congress in recent times. As for the big picture, BJP leaders sought to read in the outcome a vote of confidence of the people in the leadership of the prime minister amid the Covid-19 pandemic. INSIDE TEJASHWI’S SOCIAL ENGINEERING FAILS | P9 SCINDIA PROVES HIS CLOUT | P10