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 ■ ■ Thiruvananthapuram l wednesday l December 06, 2023 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE city EDITION Revanth Reddy to take oath as Telangana CM tomorrow Congress failed to grasp concept of I.N.D.I.A: Pinarayi E xpress N ews S ervice @ Hyderabad RAJESH ABRAHAM It’s official. A Revanth Reddy will be sworn in as the next chief minister of Telangana on December 7. The Congress high command announced Revanth’s name following daylong deliberations with the AICC observers and the other two contenders for the post — Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and N Uttam Kumar Reddy . AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said that the AICC observers D K Shivakumar and Telangana in-charge Manikrao Thakre gave a detailed report on their observations about the CLP meeting. “After considering the report, and following discussions, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has decided to go with Revanth Reddy, TPCC president, as the new CLP of Telangana,” Venugopal said. Vikramarka and Uttam had thrown their hats in the CM ring. However, on Tuesday morning, party leader Rahul Gandhi called on Kharge at his residence in Delhi to take the final call. Kharge then informed AICC observers that their choice was Revanth. Following this, the AICC observers spoke to Vikramarka and Uttam, assuring them of key positions in party and government. 16 pages, including 4 pages of Thiruvananthapuram Express (On board the CM’s special bus) Congress’ refusal to accommodate other non-BJP parties during seat sharing was the prime reason for its poll debacle in the Hindi heartland, said Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. In an exclusive interview to TNIE on board the special bus carrying the CM and h i s c ab i n e t c o l leagues for the Nava Kerala Sadas, Pinarayi said INDIA was a broad alliance of like-minded parties created with the prime objective of defeating the BJP. “It was created by all the parties that oppose BJP to defeat the saffron party The . aim was to protect secularism, and to safeguard the Constitution. However, Congress failed to recongnise this,” he said. The Congress tried to replicate the BJP strategy of Hindutva politics, which proved to be a disaster. “The BJP can’t be beaten in its Hindutva game, and the ideal strategy was to channel all anti-BJP votes into one basket,” he said, pointing out that all the antiBJP votes in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chattisg arh outnumbered the votes BJP secured. However, all is not yet lost for the secular bloc. “ We b e l i e ve there’s enough time to formulate a winning strategy against the BJP,” Pinarayi said. During the 40-minute journey, the CM also answered a range of questions, including Rahul Gandhi contesting from Wayanad, his government’s development plans, the speculation of the IUML’s entry to the LDF - which he outrightly ruled out - and the tussle with Governor Arif Mohammed Khan. iNTERVIEW: P4  EXPRESS READ Four Malayalis die in accident in Kashmir Palakkad: Four persons from Chittur, who were part of a 13-member group on a trip to Jammu & Kashmir, died after their vehicle fell into a gorge at Zojila Pass on Srinagar-Leh highway. P4 INDIA partners to skip today’s meeting New Delhi: The meeting of the INDIA bloc scheduled to be held on Wednesday will go ahead as planned. However, many alliance partners will not be participating in the meeting. P7 A two-wheeler rider, who was stranded on a flooded road, being rescued using a crane in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, on Tuesday | Express Michaung toll rises to 17, TN seeks L5,000 cr from Centre Rain eases but Chennai & neighbouring dists continue to face waterlogging, power outages Heavy rain lashes AP as cyclone makes landfall E xpress N ews S ervice @ Vijayawada Rescue personnel come to the aid of people stranded in the flood at Mudichur in Chennai on Tuesday | P Ravikumar E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai 66K people in camps The death toll due to Cyclone Michaung rose to 17 in Chennai even as many parts of the city and its neighbouring districts faced waterlogging and power outages on Tuesday . Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said the state government is seeking `5,000 crore urgently from the Centre for immediate relief, rescue and restoration work. Addressing reporters later, the CM’s secretary N Muruganandam said the state has sought `5,000 crore from the Union government and asked that a central team be sent to TN to assess the damage caused by the rains. The state government also announced that schools As many as 61,666 people have been sheltered in relief camps in nine districts and 11 lakh food packets have been distributed among the affected people Patchy network Mobile connectivity remained limited as 30% of mobile towers were not operational due to power outages and colleges will remain closed in the capital, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu on Wednesday as well. Addressing reporters, Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena said 80% of power supply and 70% of mobile networks had been restored. Even as arterial roads were largely cleared of waterlogging by Tuesday morning, many parts of north and south Chennai and nearby areas remained waist-deep in water, with residents making their way to safer ground with their children, pets and belongings. Parts of Velachery, Madipakkam, Saidapet, Adyar, Pallikaranai and Karapakkam continued to be severely inundated, although rains eased from Monday night. Meanwhile, Chennai airport resumed its operations more than 24 hours after it wound down on Monday due to inundation, heavy rain and gusty wind. Heavy rain lashed Tirupati, Nellore, Prakasam, West Godavari and Konaseema districts as the severe cyclonic storm Michaung made landfall near Bapatla between 12.30 pm and 2.30 pm on Tuesday. After reaching the Nellore coast in the early hours of the day, the storm moved northwards parallel to the coastline, before making landfall near Bapatla. Suryalanka witnessed rough seas with two-metre-high waves hitting the coast. The sea also surged by a few metres in the coastal areas of Bapatla, Repalle and Nizampatnam. In YSR district, a 45-year-old police constable died after a tree collapsed on him near the Bhakrapet checkpost. According to IMD, the intensity of the cyclone decreased after the landfall. It is expected to move northwards and dissipate completely by Wednesday afternoon. Managing director of the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority Dr B R Ambedkar said 58 mandals in seven districts were adversely affected by the cyclone. As a precautionary measure, 204 relief camps were set up and 15,173 people living in lowlying areas were rehabilitated.  P5