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 ■ ■ thrissur l tuesday l December 06, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION ‘HP race tight, BJP sweep in Gujarat’ Gujarat P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Simple majority: 92 Total seats: 182 Poll BJP CONG+NCP AAP OTH Aaj Tak-Axis My India 129-151 16-30 9-21 2-6 ABP News-CVoter 128-140 31-43 3-11 2-6 India TV-Matrize 112-121 51-61 4-7 1-3 News 24-Today’s Chanakya 150 19 11 2 Poll of exit polls 132 38 8 4 Present position 111 63 00 Himachal Simple majority: 35 Total seats: 68 Poll BJP CONG AAP OTH Aaj Tak-Axis My India 24-34 30-40 0 4-8 ABP News-CVoter 33-41 24-32 0 0-4 India TV-Matrize 35-40 26-31 0 0-3 News 24-Today’s Chanakya 33 33 0 2 Poll of exit polls 35 30 0 3 Present position 44 21 0 The BJP appears headed for a record victory in the Gujarat Assembly elections while the race in Himachal Pradesh could be unexpectedly tight, if the poll of exit polls is any indicator. Exit poll results came out in the evening after the last phase Gujarat Assembly elections ended on Monday . Pollsters were unanimous in predicting a clean sweep for the BJP in Gujarat, with the Congress finishing a distant second. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) could consider itself lucky if it crosses single digits. If the BJP wins, it would be a record seventh successive term for it in Gujarat. However, the Congress appears to have given the BJP a run for its money in Himachal Pradesh, exit polls suggest. Counting of votes will take place on December 8. The poll of exit polls gave 132 seats to the BJP in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly with the Congress and its allies trailing at 38. If the projection holds, it would be a huge blow for the Congress, which secured 77 seats in the 2017 Assembly elections. Its lacklustre performance could affect its morale at a time when it is looking to build up some steam ahead of the 2024 general elections. Congress leaders had claimed the party it will win despite its low key campaign in the state. As for the AAP its high volt, age campaign may not have commensurate results on the ground in Gujarat, with BJP being the big beneficiary . In Himachal Pradesh, the BJP could get to retain power, through with a razor thin margin, as the poll of polls gave it 35 seats, the majority mark in the 68-member Assembly . The Congress could end up with 30 seats while it will be a no-show for the AAP. However, two exit polls showed a dead heat between the BJP and the Congress in the state, where results could go either way. According to the Chanakya exit poll, it will be a cliffhanger as both the BJP and the Congress may secure 33 seats each. The India-Today Axis poll gave the Congress an edge with 30-40 seats. No change in Russian oil buy, says Centre England’s Jordan Henderson (right) celebrates scoring the opening goal against Senegal with teammate Jude Bellingham on Sunday | AP Three lions roar Y e s h i S e l i @ New Delhi England cruise past Senegal with a 3-0 win to enter the last 8 late on Sunday night. A look... Nervous start before flourish Gareth Southgate’s side survived a nervous start before Jordan Henderson and Harry Kane put Senegal to the sword before halftime. Bukayo Saka scored the third, but it was Bellingham’s work-rate and burgeoning quality in possession that allowed them to turn the tide Bellingham, the hero Just 19, Bellingham has emerged as England’s driving force. He is the first teenager to assist in a WC knockout since 1966. Just two years after he was playing in the English second tier with Birmingham, the teenager was totally unfazed against Senegal in the biggest game of his life Croatia beat japan in penalty shootout In another last 16 clash on Monday, Croatia beat Japan 4-2 in penalty shootout after both teams were level at 1-1 after extra time. Daezan Maeda opened Japan’s account in the 43rd minute before Ivan Perisic equalled for Croatia in the 55th | P11 On a day the G7-European Union price cap of $60 a barrel of Russian oil moving by sea kicked in, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar indicated India was firm in its policy on sourcing oil from Russia. Jaishankar pointed out that since February 24 — the day the Ukraine war began — till November 17, the European Union had imported more fossil fuel from Russia than the next 10 countries combined. “We need to establish the fact that the oil imports of EU are six times that of what India imports,” Jaishankar said on Monday . Compromise on Vizhinjam’s horizon as Musician Lucky Ali alleges land grab by IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri’s family cabinet panel meets protesters today K S Sreejith & Unnikrishnan S @T’Puram Women to head assembly In a first, all-women panel to manage assembly session in absence of speaker, dy speaker | P4 The standoff at Vizhinjam appears to be heading towards a happy ending after over four months of protests. The mediation by Cardinal Mar Baselios Cleemis, the Major Archbishop of Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, has succeeded in breaking the deadlock. With both the government and anti-seaport protesters softening their stance, the cabinet sub committee, on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s directive, will hold talks with the Latin Catholic Churchled agitators at 5pm on Tuesday . In a major breakthrough, the government was able to shift the focus of talks to rehabilitation, from the seemingly unrealistic demand of stopping the port construction. The progress came in the form of setting up of a monitoring team to evaluate the day-to-day progress of the rehabilitation work of fisherfolk who lost houses and land to coastal erosion. A threemember panel led by the chief secretary will be formed. The cardinal had floated the proposal during his meeting with Pinarayi on Saturday and the CM agreed. Trust deficit over rehabilitation had been one of the major issues before agitators. “The Latin Archdiocese has sought time to discuss the proposals,” Cleemis told TNIE. “The government is willing to cooperate. Some minor issues remain now and within two or three days, both parties can reach an agreement,” he said. Earlier in the day, the CM had held discussions with the cabinet sub-committee to talk to the protesters. However, a meeting with the agitators did not ● More on P4 materialise.  E X P RE SS NEWS S ER V ICE @ Bengaluru Madhusudan illegally entered my property with 35 people and a bulldozer and threatened my family recently. While the police assured they would help, they did not Lucky Ali on Facebook Singer Lucky Ali has alleged that his property at Kenchenahalli near Yelahanka in Bengaluru is being encroached upon by land mafia, and has dragged the name of IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri and her family However, the IAS offic. er’s brother-in-law Madhusudan Reddy has rebutted the allegations, claiming that the property belongs to him. The dispute is related to a three-acre land located at Kenchenahalli, which Lucky Ali, son of late Bollywood actor Mehmood Ali, claims is owned by a Trust, while Madhusudan says the property was purchased from Lucky Ali’s brother Mansoor M Ali in 2012. On Sunday night, Lucky Ali posted on Facebook that he had filed a complaint with the Director General & Inspector General of Police Praveen Sood. Stating that he is currently in Dubai for work and hence it was urgent, the singer said his farm, a Trust property was , being encroached upon by Sudhir and his brother Madhusudan, calling them part of “the Bangalore Land Mafia”.