we’ve 97 cr voters, highest in the world: EC crore Male voters kozhikode l saturday l February 10, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION 48,044 Third gender voters 47.15 crore Female voters People with disability: 88.35 lakh 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 49.72 1.5 cr 1.56 cr 1.24 cr 1.34 cr 1.32 cr 1.85 cr First time voters in the 18-19 age group About 96.88 crore people have registered to vote in the LS elections, making it the largest electorate in the world 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 highest civilian award Rao, Charan, MSS added to the Bharat Ratna basket R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi Charan Singh P V Narasimha Rao M S Swaminathan Buzz on Badal, Biju Other names that are doing the rounds for the Bharat Ratna are Bal Thackeray, Biju Patnaik, Anna Hazare, Manmohan Singh, Parkash Singh Badal and N T Rama Rao. “Don’t be surprised if Amitabh Bachchan gets the award. Ramanand Sagar and Arun Govil (Ramayan serial) also deserve it,” remarked a BJP functionary The season for Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award, appears to be in full bloom with the Centre on Friday adding three more distinguished personalities to the list — former prime ministers P V Narasimha Rao and Chaudhary Charan Singh, and celebrated agricultural scientist Dr M S Swaminathan. The year began with veteran Bihar socialist leader and former chief minister Karpoori Thakur being conferred the award (posthumously), followed by BJP veteran and former deputy prime minister L K Advani. The awards came ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, and the payback was already visible with Charan Singh’s grandson Jayant Singh indicating his Rashtriya Lok Dal could switch from the opposition INDIA bloc to the NDA. By adding Rao to the list, the BJP possibly hopes to wrest the legacy of the leader the Congress almost disowned in the Telugu heartland. Announcing the awards on his X handle, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Delighted to share that our former Prime Minister Shri PV Narasimha Rao Garu, will be honoured with the Bharat Ratna. As a distinguished scholar and statesman, Narasimha Rao Garu served India extensively in various capacities.” Rao was the country’s first and only full-term Pm from the South. In the next post, Modi announced the Bharat Ratna for Jat icon and former PM Charan Singh. Jayant Singh has the ability to swing Jat votes in western UP . Modi’s third post announced the award for Dr Swaminathan. Both Rao and Swaminathan hail from the South where except for Karnataka, the BJP is yet to make its mark in electoral politics. In all, 53 stalwarts have been honoured with the Bharat Ratna so far. They include the five announced this year. Pak stares at hung House as Imran loyalists win big PTI claims to have numbers; horse-trading fears as Sharif eyes coalition govt AGENCIES PAKISTAN appeared headed towards a hung Parliament with no clear winner in the general elections after results of 224 out of the 265 seats contested were called on Friday night. With the delayed results still trickling in more than 24 hours after the close of the polls marred by allegations of rigging, independent candidates backed by jailed former Pak PM Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) seemed to have an edge with 92 seats, followed by Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and Pakistan People’s Party contenders at 63 and 50, respectively. Smaller parties bagged 19 seats. As of now, no party seems to be in a position to form government on its own as they are way short of the magic number of 133. Overall, 169 seats are needed to secure a simple majority out of a total of 336 in the National Assembly (lower House), which include reserved slots for women and minorities. PTI supporters protest outside the office of a returning pfficer in Quetta alleging rigging in Pakistan’s national elections | afp Former PM Nawaz Sharif, who was widely considered the top contender for the top job, said his party PML-N is the single largest and hence will try to form a coalition government with the support of other parties. Meanwhile, PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Khan has ruled out forging any alliance with the PPP express read HC seeks action against mahouts using bullhooks to control jumbos Kochi: Taking serious note of the torture of two jumbos at the elephant camp in Guruvayur, the Kerala High Court on Friday called for strict action against mahouts using bullhooks to control the animals. Meanwhile, Ernakulam division flying squad DFO Manu Sathyan inspected the Guruvayur elephant camp on Friday. The HC has directed the DFO to submit a report by February 13 on the abuse of the elephants. P7 Chief minister rattled by central investigation, says V D Satheesan Kasaragod: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who had stated in the assembly that his hands were clean, is now trying to flee from the probe launched by Central agencies, said Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan. Speaking to reporters in Kanhangad in connection with ‘Samaragni,’ the statewide march organised by KPCC, he said the CM who had welcomed any probe regarding the payment to Exalogic Solutions is now rushing to court to stop the investigation. P4 and PML-N, claiming the Imran Khan-founded party will be in a position to form a federal government on its own. He claimed the party’s tally has crossed 150 though the full results are not officially announced. “We are not intending to form a coalition government with PPP and PML-N,” he said, adding: “We will form the government at the Centre.” In a statement on X from the PTI official handle, the party stated that it won more than 150 NA seats out of 265 open for contest as per the data received in Form 45s, which are the primary source of election results at the lowest level and show the votes for each candidate at each polling station. Imran Khan, 71, is behind bars and barred from contesting. PTI candidates ran as independents after they were not allowed to use the party symbol cricket bat. With both Nawaz Sharif ’s PMLN and Imran’s PTI vying for power, experts flag the prospects of horse trading as independent candidates will be up for grabs. open to talks With Ukraine, says putin President Putin in an interview to former Fox News star Tucker Carlson asked the US to persuade Kyiv to sit down for talks. Zelenskyy has been refusing talks, Putin said | P11 Charred remains of vehicles after locals set fire to them following the demolition of an unauthorised madrasa in Haldwani in Uttarakhand on Thursday night | PTI 5 dead, 250 injured in U’khand violence, CM calls it planned attack n are n d ra seth i @ Dehradun FIVE persons were killed and over 250 injured in Haldwani as violence broke out following a drive to demolish an unauthorised madrasa and a prayer site on a government property . Violence broke out on Thursday night after the drive in the Banbhulpura locality of Uttarakhand, Inspector General Nilesh Anand Bharne told this newspaper. Four paramilitary units will deployed in the riothit area on Saturday . Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami termed the violence a planned attack, pointing to the stockpiling of arms, stones and petrol bombs. The police identified 18 individuals responsible for rioting and stone pelting after scanning CCTV footage. All of them are in custody, sources said. The injured include the police Internet suspended Internet services in Haldwani were suspended to prevent rumours, officials said. Schools have been ordered closed for now and journalists. Banbhulpura continues to be under curfew. “In compliance with the high court’s orders, rigorous actions have been taken against encroachments in Haldwani,” District Magistrate Vandana said. “Notices and opportunities for hearings were extended to all parties. Some individuals sought recourse through the HC, while others were granted additional time. In instances where time extensions were not granted, the Public Works Department and the municipal corporation proceeded with the demolition,” she added.