KOCHI l wednesday l june 22, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE city EDITION Assam flood situation grim, nearly 50 lakh people hit NDRF rushed to worst-affected areas Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Tuesday that four units of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were rushed from Bhubaneswar to Silchar to carry out rescue operations as the flood situation in Karimganj and Cachar districts worsened due to the rising waters of Barak and Kushiyara rivers following heavy rains Incessant rains since last week have inundated 32 out of 36 districts in the north-eastern state, throwing lives in disarray Over 2 lakh people in relief camps ■ ■ The calamity, which has become an annual feature in Assam, has hit 5,424 villages forcing 2,31,819 to take shelter in 810 camps According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority, a total crop area of 1,13,485 hectares and 33,84,326 animals have been affected while 5,232 animals have been swept away 44 people lost their lives in floods and landslides in Assam since June 14 CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Uddhav faces rebellion from within Sena minister Eknath Shinde leads revolt; wants party to go back as junior ally of the BJP 55 5 31 288 Total seats Simple majority BJP has support of  BJP  Shiv Sena  NCP  Cong  Others + Independents Uddhav Thackeray Eknath Shinde six Ind Eknath Shinde claims the support of 30-35 MLAs. Needs 37 to escape anti-defection law As things stand, Uddhav loyalists have been reduced to a minority within his party For, . at a meeting he called in Mumbai, only 18 are learnt to have turned up, though Sena’s Sanjay Raut put the figure at 30. Earlier in the day Shinde and , his supporters checked into the Le Meridian hotel in Surat. BJP is the single largest party with 105 MLAs and support of six Independents. It needs 40 more to reach the half-way mark to return to power (see box). In State govt disowns its social security pension firm, withdraws support fiscal support to the company which would act as a special In what could turn out to be purpose vehicle for prompt disa big blow to the welfare fund tribution of welfare pensions. distribution system, the state In 2019-20, the KSSP had borgovernment has distanced it- rowed `6,843 crore. The CAG self from the Kerala State So- report on state finances tabled cial Security Pension (KSSP) in the assembly in November, Limited. The government has 2021 had pulled up KSSP along , withdrawn all monwith KIIFB, for boretary support promrowings outside the Govt promise ised to the company purview of the state The KSSP was at the time of its forbudget. mation four years formed in June 2018 Senior officials of as a company fully ago. the finance departowned by the state ment were tightThe KSSP raises government. The fund through borlipped when asked GO on the firm’s row i n g s fo r t h e about the sudden formation had monthly payment of provocation for the promised fiscal `1,600 each as social revised GO. However, support to it. security pension to sources hinted that 52.27 lakh beneficithe decision to witharies in the state. The KSSP draw the government support was formed in June 2018 as a was taken in the wake of criticompany wholly owned by the cism by CAG and the Central state government . government on using the KIIFB The government order (GO) and KSSP as off-budget borrow● More on P4 on its formation had promised ing tools.  M S V i d ya n a n d a n @ T’Puram 145 53 44 Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s government faced its biggest existential crisis on Tuesday with Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde revolting along with 3035 party MLAs and Independents, and asking the former to form a new government with BJP in the state. To escape disqualification under the antidefection law, Shinde needs the support of 37 party MLAs. Shinde first shepherded his flock to Surat in Gujarat from where the buzz was they would be airlifted to Assam. Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress are part of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi. Shinde wants the Sena to go back to its former ally and be part of a new government led by former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. The erosion put a question mark over Uddhav’s leadership, too, more so because Shinde was known to be close to him. Party positions 10 S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai the Rajya Sabha elections, the BJP got support from 123 and in the subsequent MLC polls, its votes ballooned to 134, apparently through cross-voting. Sources said after Sena’s poor performance in the MLC polls, Uddhav was upset with Shinde for not delivering despite being given weighty portfolios of urban development and PWD, and a free hand in the government and the party . Shinde has since been stripped of his position as the Sena’s group leader in the Assembly . BJP sources said Shinde was in touch with its leadership for the past six months. “He supported us in the Rajya Sabha elections and the legislative council polls...We provided logistical support to Shinde upon his revolt. The rooms at Le Meridian were booked by us,” the leader said seeking anonymity . Uddhav tried to reach out to Shinde by sending his personal assistant Milind Narvekar to Surat. During the 30-minute meeting Narvekar had with Shinde, the latter spoke to Uddhav and his spouse Rashmi Thackeray over phone but he did not promise to return to Sena. Most of the MLAs with Shinde are from rural areas. “They were never entertained by Uddhav and his coterie. Shinde tapped this space to his advantage. He was also apprehensive about the rise of Aditya Thackeray in the party said ,” a person close to Shinde. 83.87% success rate in Higher Secondary exams The pass percentage this year was 4.07 lower than that of the previous year Stream-wise success rate 3,61,091 students appeared for exams 3,02,865 passed Science: 86.14% Humanities: 75.61% Commerce: 85.69% VHSE 78.26% success rate Girls 1,69,095 (89.29%) Boys 1,34,871 (77.82%) 28,450 bagged A+ in all subjects (48,383 in 2021) Students appeared: 29,711 Students passed: 23,521 No of A+ holders in all subjects - 178 (239 in 2021) kerala university First in state to bag A++ grade T’Puram: The University of Kerala has been re-accredited with A++ grade by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, making it the only varsity in the state to clinch the highest grade. The varsity secured the grade with a Cumulative Grade Point Average of 3.67. The grade will enable KU to secure more funds from central agencies and attract a large number of students from outside the state and abroad. P2 16 pages, including 4 pages of KOCHI Express Casteist slur at AG’s office: Panel steps in E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kochi The Kerala State Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes on Tuesday initiated suo motu proceedings in the incident in which two senior staff members of the Advocate General’s office in Kochi allegedly assaulted and hurled casteist slurs at an ST colleague in the office. Commission chairman B S Mapress voji took Impact t h e a c t i o n based on a report appeared in TNIE on Tuesday. The panel asked the AG’s office and Kochi city police commissioner to file a report within a week, said a release. Nandu K, an office attendant, was verbally abused and assaulted by two officers on May 21. Though a case was registered based on his complaint, Nandu was forced to retract his statement reportedly at the insistence of the accused. press Intake Samastha snaps ties with CIC; courses to be hit in 90 colleges | P4 Cong summons all MLAs to Delhi | P5 P r e sid e n t ial p o ll Murmu is nda pick R a je s h K u m a r T h a k u r @ New Delhi FORMER Jharkhand governor Draupadi Murmu is all set to become the first tribal woman to hold the highest office of the Republic, as the 64-year-old emerged the consensus Presidential candidate of the BJP-led NDA late on Tuesday evening. This paper was the first to report on June 10 that she was leading the Presidential race in the NDA. Sharing the news after deliberations at the BJP parliamentary board, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers Amit Who is Shah, Rajnath Singh and NiDraupadi tin Gadkari and other leadMurmu? ers, BJP national president An arts graduate J P Nadda said, “We wanted from Ramadevi to take a woman candidate Women’s College from east India, especially in Bhubaneswar, from the tribal community . she worked as an After consultation with alasst professor in lies and others, we have deSri Aurobindo cided to field Murmu.” Integral Education Nadda said Murmu’s life & Research Centre, has been dedicated to the Rairangpur. She service of the nation and upjoined BJP in 1997 lift of the downtrodden. Preference has been given to a woman tribal candidate for the first time. “She has rich administrative experience and had an outstanding gubernatorial tenure. I am confident she will be a great President of our nation,” he added. Soon after Murmu was named as the NDA's presidential candidate, Prime Minister Modi expressed confidence that she will be a "great President". Yashwant Sinha is Opposition choice E x p r e ss N e ws Se r v i c e @ New Delhi OPPOSITION leaders on Tuesday decided to field for mer Union minister Yashwant Sinha as their joint candidate for Presidential polls. Sinha’s name came up after NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, former Jammu & Kashmir chief minis5 regional ter Farooq Abdullah and parties skip ex-West Bengal governor meeting Gopalkrishna Gandhi deCongress, NCP, clined the Opposition’s inTMC, CPI, CPI-M, vite to run for President. SP, NC, AIMIM, RJD “We are happy to anand AIUDF nounce that we have unaniattended the meet mously chosen Yashwant on Tuesday. Five Sinha as the common candiregional parties — date of the opposition parTRS, BJD. AAP, SAD ties for the presidential and YSRCP — election, which will take stayed away from place on July 18, 2022,” Conthe meeting gress leader Jairam Ramesh said while reading out a joint statement after the meeting. “We regret Modi government made no serious effort to have consensus on a presidential candidate,” said Ramesh. Indicating that his name was finalised with his consent, Sinha tweeted, “Now time has come when for a larger national cause I must step aside from the party to work for greater opposition unity .”