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 ■ ■ tirupati l friday l december 9, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l anantapur EDITION Gujarat 52.50% BJP VOTE SHARE 27.28% 12.92% 7.3% Cong AAP Others 43% BJP 43.9% Cong hIMACHAL 1.10% AAP 12% Others 2017 BJP 48.8% Cong 41.7% Gujarat 25 BJP 2017 BJP 49.1% Cong 41.4% W H I C H PA R T Y G O T W H AT Himachal Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his colleagues being garlanded during the BJP’s victory celebrations, at the party office in New Delhi on Thursday | PTI 156 BJP 40 Cong 3 Ind Total: 68 seats 17 Cong 5 AAP 4 Others Total: 182 seats Mother of all Modi mandates in GUjarat Gujarat BJP equals Left Front’s Bengal record of seven consecutive terms  Cong wrests HP  AAP qualifies for national party status S h a h i d F a r i d i @ New Delhi Brand Modi registered a historic victory in the Gujarat elections where it shattered all previous records and confined the opposition Congress to its worst-ever tally which is insuf, ficient to even claim the post of leader of opposition in the state Assembly. To get the post, the Congress needs a minimum of 19 seats in the 182-member House, but has only 17. The BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who addressed 31 rallies in the state, won 156 seats and is set to form a government for the seventh consecutive term, equaling the Left Front record in West Bengal. The party also surpassed its previous best performance of winning 127 seats in the state in 2002, and bettered Madhavsinh Solanki’s all-time record of winning 149 seats for the Congress in 1985. Such was the popularity of the BJP in this election that it swept the tribal and minority seats, which were considered Congress strongholds before this election. The Congress citadel of Saurashtra, which helped bring the party within striking distance of power in the 2017 election, also came crumbling down under the BJP’s onslaught. As celebrations broke out, the party’s Gujarat president C R Patil announced that Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will take a fresh oath of office on December 12. The ceremony will be attended by the prime minister, home minister Amit Shah and national president J P Nadda, besides a number of Union ministers and chief ministers. Addressing par ty workers at the BJP’s Delhi headquarters, Modi termed the Gujarat victory as the beginning of the golden period for new India. He said the BJP will deliver a developed India to the youth of the country by 2047. Nadda attributed the landslide to the prime minister’s credibility and people’s trust in his leadership. Amit Shah termed the victory as a rejection of those who do politics of hollow promises, freebies and appeasement. He said it shows the “unwavering faith of the public in Narendra Modi’s development model”. The other state that went to polls — Himachal Pradesh — saw the Congress wresting power from the BJP The grand . old party won 40 seats against the BJP’s 25. Unpopularity of Chief Minister Jairam Thakur and the Congress party’s election promises of restoring the old pension scheme, free 300 units of power and `1,500 allowance to women saw the state continuing the decades-old tradition of not re-electing a sitting government. The Congress frontrunner for the post of Himachal chief minister, Kaul Singh Thakur, lost the election just like BJP’s Prem Kumar Dhumal did while his party won the last election. Another senior Congress leader, Asha Kumari, who was also in the running for CMship, lost. The top contenders for the post now are state party president Pratibha Singh, senior MLA Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, state working president Rajendra Rana, who had defeated Dhumal in the last election, former state president Kuldip Rathore, and leader of opposition in the outgoing House Mukesh Agnihotri. In Gujarat, the AAP garnered nearly 13% votes, bringing down the Congress share from 40% in the last election to 27%. The AAP’s vote share catapulted the party to the status of being a national party . BJP is people’s first choice for growth: Modi Will fix flaws and work hard, say Rahul, Kharge RA J E S H K UMAR T HA K UR @ New Delhi P r eet h a N a i r @ New Delhi ELATED at the grand landslide victory of the BJP in his home state Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday pitched for making India a developed nation by 2047. Speaking to party workers at the BJP headquarters here on Thursday, Modi said the Gujarat election results have proved that the common man aspires to seeing India as a developed nation. “Put India first, demolish the faultiness and make the country a developed nation by 2024,” Modi said, adding that youngsters have rejected divisive politics and voted for the BJP “Whenever people . want their aspirations fulfilled, the BJP comes as their first choice,” he said, adding, “There is a clear message from the Gujarat result that only the politics of development will continue for the next 25 years, nothing else.” As for the Himachal Pradesh results, where the saffron party lost to the Congress, Modi said the Central government will continue to support the hill state as the BJP wants development in the state even as it will act as a constructive opposition party . AFTER its crushing defeat in the Gujarat Assembly elections, the Congress on Thursday said that it has accepted the mandate and “will rectify its shortcomings”. Though the grand old party suffered a humiliating loss in Gujarat, its win in Himachal Pradesh came as a huge relief. On the Gujarat debacle, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, “Victory and defeat happen in a democracy and it is not permanent. We’ll continue to fight our battle. It is our ideological fight. It’s a long journey and we’ll rectify our shortcomings.” On the Himachal win, Kharge said the Bharat Jodo Yatra has contributed to its victory He also . credited Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Sonia Gandhi for the victory in the hill state. Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, who is leading the Bharat Jodo Yatra, said the party will continue to fight for the ideals of the country as well as the rights of the people of the state. “We humbly accept the mandate of the people of Gujarat. We will reorganise and work hard,” he said. Alert in 4 districts as Mandous to make landfall between Sriharikota and Pondi E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i ce @ Tirupati Cyclonic storm Mandous is likely to make landfall between Puducherry and Sriharikota near Mahabalipuram on the midnight of December 9. At the time of landfall, its wind speed is expected to be 65-75 kmph gusting to 85 kmph. According to the IMD bulletin, the cyclonic storm moved nearly west-northwestwards at a speed of 13 kmph and intensified into a severe cyclonic storm by 5.30 pm. “It is very likely to maintain its intensity till early morning of December 9 and then weaken gradually into a cyclonic storm by fore- noon of December 9,” the Met department said. Following IMD’s predictions, district administrations of Nellore, Tirupati and Chittoor have asked people residing in coastal areas to be alert for the next three days. South coastal areas in Andhra Pradesh, including Nellore, Tirupati and Prakasam districts, are likely to witness moderate rainfall from late Thursday . Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy reviewed the situation on Thursday and directed collectors of districts that are likely to be affected to be vigilant. He directed officials to take adequate precautions and monitor the impact of the storm regularly . Officials informed Jagan that Nellore, Tirupati, Chittoor and other districts are likely to P4 receive heavy rains.  Andhra braces for cyclone  Five NDRF teams at Prakasam, Nellore, Tirupati & Chittoor  Fishermen asked not to venture into the sea for next 3 days  Control rooms set up at municipal corporations  Nellore: 1077, 1800 425 1113, 0861 2301541  Chittoor: 08572 232745 sc cross Centre’s initiative helps bring At ministers’ jibe down pollution in six cities at collegium The Supreme Court on Thursday asked Attorney General R Venkataramani to advise Union ministers to exercise some control over their public statements against the collegium system | P8 express read YSRC set to appoint 5.20 lakh village chiefs Vijayawada: In a move to further strengthen the party, YSRC president and Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday directed party leaders to appoint 5.20 lakh village chiefs to take government welfare measures to people’s doorstep Student rescued at Duvvada station dies Visakhapatnam: A first-year MCA student Sasikala, who was rescued on Wednesday after she got stuck between the platform and a railway compartment while alighting from a train at the Duvvada station succumbed to her injuries on Thursday | P3 S r i K r i s h n a K u m m a r a @ Tirupati The annual average concentration of fine Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM 2.5) and coarse Particulate Matter 10 (PM 10), two major pollutants, has come down across 11 major cities in Andhra Pradesh. The pollution levels witnessed a downward trend due to the initiatives taken under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), Union minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) Ashwini Kumar Choubey said in response to a question raised by MP Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy in Rajya Sabha on Thursday . The MoEFCC had launched NCAP in 2019 to reduce pollution levels caused by PM 2.5 and PM 10 by 20 to 30% by 2024. The ministry used 2017 as the base year to identify pollution levels in 131 cities, including 11 most polluted cities in Andhra Pradesh. The Centre identified Anantapur, Chittoor, Eluru, Guntur, Kadapa, Kurnool, Nellore, Ongole, Rajamahendravaram, Vijayawada and Vizianagaram as the 11 most polluted cities and Improvement in PM 10 levels City FY 21-22 Anantapur 52 FY 17-18 78 Chittoor 49 70 Eluru 65 72 66 Guntur 58 Kadapa 54 75 Kurnool 61 79 Nellore 55 64 Ongole 52 65 85 R’varam 68 Vijayawada 67 91 Vizianagaram 71 72 launched the programme to reduce concentration levels of the pollutants. Levels of PM10 improved in Anantapur, Chittoor, Guntur, Kadapa, Nellore, and Ongole with concentration levels being within the prescribed National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) of 60 μg/m3 in FY 2021-22 as against FY 2017-18. However, PM10 levels continued to hover above prescribed levels in five major cities, Vijayawada, Rajamahendravaram, Kurnool, Vizianagaram and Eluru. 15% drop in PM10 must under NCAP Under NCAP, cities are required to show at least a 15% drop in annual average PM10 concentration and at least 200 good air days starting 202021. If not, the funding given to cities was to be deducted Levels of PM 2.5 drop in all 11 cities The annual average concentration of fine Particulate Matter 2.5 was registered below the prescribed National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) (40 μg/m3) levels in all 11 cities Gujarat is considered a BJP stronghold. This time, we breached the fortress. Next time, we will win it Arvind Kejriwal, AAP convenor and Delhi CM The Gujarat results don’t reflect the mood of the country. The results of the civic polls in Delhi and Himachal Assembly, where the BJP was defeated, prove that Sharad Pawar, NCP patron Himachal and Delhi results have exposed the vulnerability of the BJP... The limits of the much-touted Modi factor have also come to the fore CPM Polit Bureau