tadepalligudem l monday l november 23, 2020 l `7.00 l PAGES 28 l city EDITION judge throws out trump suit on Pennsylvania loss A Pennsylvania judge on Saturday dismissed Trump campaign’s lawsuit seeking to invalidate millions of mail-in votes state can now certify biden as winner Helpful verdict, claims Trump team Judge Matthew Brann ruled that the Trump campaign “presented strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations unsupported by evidence”. Donald Trump had claimed some Pennsylvania counties contacted and let voters to fix mistakes in their mail ballot declarations. The path is now clear for the state to certify Joe Biden as the winner ■ ■ Trump’s legal team cast the ruling in a positive light, saying it helps their strategy to get the case expeditiously to the US Supreme Court, where a majority of judges are conservative The case will now go to the 3rd circuit of the US Court of Appeals, which, the Trump campaign hopes, will pass a quick verdict | P9 81,000 votes is biden’s lead over trump in Pennsylvania 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 Experts see building of a second Covid wave in India s u m i s u k a n ya d u t ta @ New Delhi After recording just 28,609 fresh Covid-19 cases on November 16—the lowest in four months—India has recorded between 38,000 and 46,000 fresh Covid cases daily in the last four days, raising concerns that the country is facing a second wave of the deadly infection. After recording 96,860 new infections in a day on September 16, there had been a steady decline in the number of new cases reported daily . But, in recent days, states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, and Delhi have seen a sharp rise in daily new cases, pushing the national tally up. “We are definitely seeing early signs of a second wave at the national level,” health economist Rijo M John said. The mortality rate, too, is rising in several states including Kerala, Odisha, Bihar, Assam, Jharkhand, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, John pointed out. Experts warned that the states that did well in containing the first wave may see a higher caseload this time Barring a few exceptions, the fact that fewer Muslim MLAs were elected in the recent Bihar Assembly elections falls into a pattern witnessed in recent years. Wherever and whenever the Bharatiya Janata Party and its alliance partners have performed strongly, coming to power in most cases, the number of elected Muslim representatives has gone down, like in Bihar where it dropped from 24 to 19. Conversely, where non-BJP parties have done well, Muslim representation in the elected houses has generally increased, an analysis by this newspaper found. Take, for instance, the Karnataka elections in 2018 and Uttar Pradesh in 2017. In both states, the BJP did well and the number of Muslim MLAs dived. The steepest fall was in UP where the BJP stormed to power with a crushing threefourths mandate. In the outgoing Assembly where the Samajwadi Party was in power, the state had 68 Muslim MLAs; that figure dropped to 24. Percentage wise, it dipped from 17% of the total strength of the Assem- Cow cabinet mulls cess to raise funds E x p r e s s N e w s Se r vi c e @ Bhopal The first of its kind gau (cow) cabinet meeting on Sunday convened by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan explored the possibility of levying a cess to raise funds for the welfare of cows in Madhya Pradesh. “There was a time when every individual offered the first roti of the meal to a cow and the last roti to dogs, but now it doesn’t happen. Maybe we’ll make the people contribute financially but it will , be ensured that they aren’t pained by it,” Chauhan said. The gau cabinet, which met virtually also decided to set up over 2,000 cowsheds in the state for the protection of the cows. “We won’t let any cow remain shelterless. We’ve targeted 2,000 gaushalas to be managed by gover nment along with self-help groups.” WITH THIS ISSUE THE ESSENTIAL CAMPUS DIGEST 28 PAGES, INCLUDING 16 OF edex (TABLOID) YOUR LIFE COACH bly to 6%. In Karnataka, the number of Muslim MLAs fell from 11 to seven. Contrast them with the elections in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh in late 2018, Odisha in mid-2019, Maharashtra and Jharkhand in late 2019, and Delhi in February this year. In all these states, the Congress and regional parties upended the BJP and the Muslim MLA count grew, even if marginally in some cases. The biggest increase was in Rajasthan — from two to eight — where the Congress wrested power from the BJP. In Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, where the Congress ended 15 years of continuous BJP rule, Muslim MLA numbers went up from nil to one and one to two, respectively . Maharashtra and Jharkhand are also interesting, as the BJP lost power, and the number of Muslim MLAs increased. Exceptions to the trend were Gujarat, Assam and Tripura, where Muslim representation went up though they are ruled by the BJP On the flip side, the . Muslim MLA count dropped in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Punjab, where the BJP has negligible electoral presence.  Continued on: P7 rive and a second wave by end November or early December is highly likely,” he added. Understandably, the sudden rise in new cases has forced worried state governments to re-impose some of the restrictions that were dialed back. Haryana and Manipur, for instance, have shut schools again while many districts in Rajasthan and Gujarat are under full or partial lockdowns. India on Sunday reported 45,209 fresh cases, taking total P7 tally to 90.95 lakh.  PM likely to hold virtual meet with Cms Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to hold virtual meetings with chief ministers and other representatives of states and union territories on Tuesday to review the Covid-19 situation BJP show tied to muslim MLas S a n a S h a k i l @ New Delhi around if they let the guard down. “In those states, since seroprevalence and infection-induced immunity are low, people venturing out would mean high daily cases,” said public health researcher Oommen C Kurian. “India will have multiple peaks before vaccines ar- Figure it out How they stack up  Percentage in population  % of Muslim MLAs at present  Number of Muslim MLAs  Number of MLAs in the last Assembly Jammu & Kashmir 68.31% 68.9% 60 60 Himachal Pradesh 2.18% 00 0 Punjab 1.93% 0.85% 1 2 Haryana 7.03% 3.33% 3 3 Delhi 12.78% 7.14% 5 4 Uttarakhand 13.95% 2.85% 2 2 Uttar Pradesh 19.3% 5.9% 24 68 Arunachal Pradesh 1.9% 0 0 0 Assam Bihar 34.22% 23% 16.9% 7.81% 29 28 19 24 Meghalaya 4.39% Sikkim 1.6% 0 1.66% 1 1 0 0 Nagaland 2.4% 0 0 0 Manipur Rajasthan 9.1% 4% 8 2 Gujarat 9.6% 1.64% 3 2 Madhya Pradesh 6.57% 0.86% 2 1 Maharashtra 11.54% 3.47% 10 9 Goa 8.33% 0 0 0 8.40% 5% 3 3 West Bengal 27.01% 18% 59 59 Tripura 8.60% 3.33% 2 1 Mizoram 1.3% 0 0 0 Jharkhand 14.5% 4.87% 4 2 Odisha 7.08% 0.68% 1 0 Chhattisgarh 2.02% 1.1% 1 0 Telangana 12.7% 6.72% 8 8 Andhra Pradesh 9% 1.71% 3 4 Karnataka 12.9% 3.12% 7 11 Nine states where the number of Muslim legislators has remained the same as compared to the last Assembly elections are Haryana, Telangana, Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Puducherry and J&K Six states where the Muslim MLA count dropped as compared to the last Assembly elections are Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Punjab Six states that do not have a single Muslim MLA are Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Mizoram, Nagaland, Goa and Himachal Pradesh Puducherry 4.97% 3% 1 1 Kerala 26.56% 22.85% 32 36 Ten states where the number of Muslim legislators went up as compared to the last Assembly elections are Delhi, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Assam and Tripura Tamil Nadu 5.86% 2.13% 5 5 BJP chief’s ABC Plan for 120-day tour from Dec 5 Party-ruled states have been categorised as A, while those by the Oppn are on the B list workers in the course of his state visits, which will commence from Uttarakhand. BeTo get a head start for the 2024 sides the ABC states, Nadda Lok Sabha elections, the BJP will also travel to the states has put in place an ‘ABC Plan’ where Assembly elections will that will see party be held next year. chief J P Nadda emThe BJP has said bark on a 120-day tour Nadda’s travel plans of states from Decemwill follow all Covid-19 ber 5 to gear up the orguidelines, with arganisation for the big rangements being electoral challenge. made for checking Nadda will head out temperatures, masks to the A, B and C cateand santisation. gories of states, with “The plan of action Strategy in the first two compris- Oppn-ruled for the travel of the ing party and opposiBJP chief across the states tion ruled states, recountry includes In Oppositionspectively The smaller . building a positive imruled states, states have been placed age in the party-ruled Nadda will in the C basket. states, team spirit, strategise to BJP national generstrategy for the 2024 build campaigns al secretary Arun Lok Sabha elections, against the Singh on Sunday told besides stress on clarreporters that the 120- ruling parties by ity of the party ideoltaking up day long tour would be ogy said Singh. ,” various ssues utilised for building Given the imporforcefully dialogue, strategies tance of social media, and team spirit in the Nadda will hold meetcadre. “The BJP chief will be ings with digital volunteers spending three days each in during his state visits. Another large states and two days each important feature will be meetin the smaller states,” he said. ings allies in the states. “The BJP national general secretary BJP will endeavour during the Tarun Chug will coordinate meetings to strategise on winNadda’s travel plans. ning those Lok Sabha seats the Singh said the BJP chief will party could not in 2019,” said connect with booth level party Singh. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r vi c e @ New Delhi Shah Discusses strategy with BJP & RSS leaders The Home Minister left Chennai on Sunday, after meetings with the core committee of the state BJP unit and RSS leaders Motorists suffer as Prakasam RTOs not issuing licences, RCs when travelling to other districts or States. S Srinivas, a second-year B Adding to their worries is Tech student, got a new two- the recent increase in penalwheeler from his uncle on his ties for failing to produce docbirthday in May He registered uments such as RC, DL, Pollu. the vehicle and got a learner’s tion Under Control (PUC) licence from the transport certificate and vehicle department. Later, he apinsurance. plied for and passed the Official sources said test to obtain a permaabout 40,000 new vehinent driver’s licence cles were brought by (DL). However, he has people in the district not yet received the veafter the lockdown. hicle registration cerThe owners complettificate (RC) and the ed the registration High fines DL, and has already process, and about to pay too been penalised by the 20,000 of them are The recent a u t h o r i t i e s t h re e awaiting DLs. Those increase in times for not being who don’t have RCs penalties for able to produce the and DLs are being failing to documents. fined by the police. produce This is not an isoThe RTOs at Chirala, documents — lated incident, as Darsi and Kandukur such as RC and thousands of new vehave not been issuing hicle owners and DL DL — has added RCs. to the troubles applicants in PraWhen asked about of new vehicle kasam district face this, Deputy Transowners the same problem. port Commissioner Since the lockdown (DTC) Dr B Krishnavewas lifted, nearly 40,000 new ni said, “Printing of RC cards vehicles were bought in the and DLs was halted due to the district. But the owners have lockdown and subsequent isnot yet received RCs, as the sues. The problem will be redistrict transport department solved soon. Though we have a said there is a shortage of RC shortage of cards, we sent a cards. Due to this, owners of few RC cards to vehicle owners the vehicles face problems by post.” Probe continues CBI questions advocate over online posts E x p r e s s N e w s Se r vi c e @ Vijayawada I V N P P r a s a d B a b u @ Ongole Pious procession Vishveshaprasanna Teertha Swamiji, Peetadhipathi of Sri Pejavara Mutt, Udupi, offers prayers at the hill temple of Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala on Sunday. Additional EO AV Dharma Reddy and priests welcomed the pontiff | Express express read Azad roasts ‘five-star culture’ of Congress New Delhi: Congress veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad on Saunday lashed out at the party leadership saying there’s a huge disconnect between people and Congress leaders and “five-star culture” has crept into the party that is costing it elections | P8 BSF detects border tunnel in J&K Employment scarce, UP migrants leave home Srinagar: Three days after four Pakistani terrorists of Jaish-eMohammad were killed in Nagrota, Jammu, the BSF on Sunday detected a tunnel on the border in Samba district, which is suspected to have been used by the terrorists Lucknow: Bundelkhand and Gorakhpur regions are witnessing yet another story of the people being wooed back by their employers hundreds of miles away from their native places where they returned during the Covid-induced lockdown | P8 As part of its investigation into social media posts against the Judiciary, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has questioned advocate VV Lakshminarayana, based on whose letter the AP High Court ordered for a CBI probe into the alleged derogatory posts. A team of CBI officials, who arrived in Vijayawada from Visakhapatnam, reportedly questioned Lakshminarayana for more than one-and-a-half hours on the source of the social media posts. “The CBI officials also sought to know the antecedents of the case and the genuineness of the posts,” Lakshminarayana said. He added that he urged the CBI officials to probe the role of some ruling party leaders, including MPs and MLCs, who not just put up social media posts but also made similar remarks on television. Following the directions of the High Court, the CBI had filed an FIR against more than 16 people, allegedly supporters of the ruling YSRC Party , under various sections of the IPC and IT Act, for posting derogatory social media messages against the Judiciary .