THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l MONday l may 13, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l LATE city EDITION With a neighbour like China, India must learn to compete: Jaishankar Boosting domestic manufacturing will help India grow its influence and compete with China, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said ‘Diplomacy is a work of patience’ Speaking to PTI on the border dispute, he reiterated that there cannot be a normal relationship between India and China, as long as there is no peace and tranquillity at the border. “If somebody is at your front door in an unfriendly manner, you are not going to go out there and act as though everything is normal,” he said, adding that diplomacy is a work of patience ■ 12.87% adding muscle to India’s foreign policy ■ On boosting domestic manufacturing, Jaishankar said building strength at home will allow India to pursue a strong foreign policy “If I can build up my manufacturing... I think you are going to find the foreign policy has much more resources and much more tools in its toolkit to actually influence the world,” the external affairs minister explained Average yearly growth of India-China bilateral trade between 2015 and 2022 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 Close contests expected in Bihar’s Begusarai and Ujiyarpur, and Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj R A J E SH KUMA R THAKU R Phase 4 factoids Sabha seats going 96 Lokpolls in 10 States/UTs to 17.7 crore 1,717 eligible topeople vote, @ New Delhi The electoral fate of Union minister Giriraj Singh, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi, and TMC’s firebrand leader Mohua Moitra will be decided on Monday as the fourth phase of Lok Sabha polls will be held across 10 states and Union territories. This phase of polling is keenly watched because a number of political heavyweights, including four Union ministers, are seeking re-election. Giriraj Singh and MoS Home Affairs Nityanand Rai are fighting from Bihar’s Begusarai and Ujiyarpur, respectively, while MoS Ajay Mishra Teni, whose son is an accused in the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, is eyeing a hat-trick from the Uttar Pradesh constituency. Another Union minister, Arjun Munda, is looking to keep his seat from Jharkhand’s Khunti. Nityanand Rai, considered to be right-hand of top BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, is pitted against RJD candidate Alok Kumar Mehta in the Kushwaha-Yadav-dominated Ujiyarpur LS seat in Bihar for a third consecutive term. Among the other prominent candidates are actor-turned politician Shatrughan Sinha (TMC), who is contesting from West Bengal’s Asansol, Asadud- candidates of which 8.73cr in the fray are women All 25 seats in Andhra, 17 in Telangana, 13 in UP, 11 in Maharashtra, 8 each in MP and West Bengal, 5 in Bihar, 4 in Jharkhand, 4 in Odisha, and 1 in Jammu & Kashmir going to polls Andhra Assembly polls Voting to take place for all 175 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, which is facing a triangular contest involving YSRC, Congress-led INDIA bloc, and the NDA comprising BJP, TDP, and Jana Sena Party. Twenty-eight Assembly seats of Odisha are also going to polls din Owaisi who is pitted against BJP’s Madhavi Latha in Hyderabad, and Andhra Congress chief Y S Sharmila (Kadapa). Akhilesh Yadav, who entered the fray at the last minute by replacing his nephew Tej Pratap, is seeking to wrest SP family bastion Kannauj from the BJP TMC’s Mahua Moitra, . who was expelled from the Lok Sabha over the cash-for-query allegations, is seeking re-election from Krishnanagar. The fifth phase of polls will be held on May 20. RMP leader’s ‘porn speech’ lands UDF in trouble, front begins damage control E x p re s s N e w s Ser v i c e @Kozhikode Sensing trouble after RMP leader K S Hariharan’s sexist remarks against former health minister K K Shailaja and actor Manju War rier evoked strong criticism from all quarters, the UDF leadership swung into damage-control mode on Sunday . “Will anyone make a porn video of the teacher (Shailaja)? If it’s of Manju Warrier, one could understand it,” Hariharan had said in the presence of Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan and UDF Vadakara candidate Shafi Parambil on Saturday He was ad. dressing an anti-communal rally organised by the opposition front. After drawing widespread flak, Hariharan expressed regret in a Facebook post last evening. However, the UDF leadership realised by Sunday morning that a mere expression of remorse would not be enough to douse the flames of rage sparked by the remark, and front leaders one by one de- Hariharan’s house attacked Kozhikode: An explosive device was thrown at K S Hariharan’s house near Calicut University, triggering panic. The police said the preliminary probe indicated that the explosive was similar to firecrackers. Witnesses reported seeing two people on bikes near the spot before the explosion. The exact motive behind the alleged attack is not known. nounced Hariharan’s statement. Terming the remark as “completely wrong”, Satheesan said the UDF ● More on P4 does not endorse it.  Pawar vs Vikhe Patil clan joust in Ahmednagar SUDHI R SU R YAWA N SHI @ Mumbai When Maharashtra revenue minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil’s son Sujay failed to get the Congress ticket for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he joined the BJP and won the Ahmednagar seat by 2,77,597 votes against the NCP’s Sangram Jagtap. This time, Jagtap is on Sujay’s side since the former is part of the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP Yet, . Sujay is facing a tough contest as his challenger is Nilesh Lanke of Sharad Pawar's NCP. Lanke resigned as NCP MLA from Parner and joined the Sharad Pawar faction to enter the poll fray . The Ahmednagar LS seat has been a BJP bastion for the past 20 years. For the first time, it has been challenged by someone who is well connected at the grassroots level. Known for his simplicity, Lanke is just a phone call away for not just party workers but the common citizen as well. Although the contest is between Sujay and Lanke, its roots lie in a decades-old feud between Sharad Pawar and the Vikhe Patil clan spanning three generations. Sujay’s grandfather Balasaheb Vikhe Patil and Sharad Pawar were locked in a tussle over controlling co-operative sugar factories in the region. In 1991, the then Congress leader Sharad Pawar denied Balasaheb the Ahmednagar ticket. Ahead of 2019 polls, Radhakrishna—who was then with the Congress—had lobbied hard for Sujay’s nomination from Ahmednagar. But Pawar refused to let the constituency go to the Congress and fielded Jagtap. Both Sujay and Radhakrishna then defected to the BJP . Sujay has a powerful family legacy His father is a minister, as was . his grandfather. His great grandfather Vithalrao started Asia’s first co-operative sugar factory at Illustration: Mandar Pardikar Poll fate of four ministers to be decided today Nilesh Lanke (left) and Sujay Vikhe Patil Pravaranagar in Ahmednagar district. Besides, Sujay has a vast network of medical and engineering colleges in the district. The Ahmednagar Lok Sabha constituency has six assembly segments, two of which elected BJP MLAs, one is held by Ajit Pawar’s NCP and the rest by the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP . For Sujay, his father Radhakrishna’s constituency Rahat falling in the Shirdi Lok Sabha seat is a disadvantage. He also committed the blunder of mocking Lanke’s lack of fluency in English and Hindi. It was seen as an affront by the Marathi speaking masses. Lanke craftily turned it into a rich versus common citizen narrative. Besides, Lanke’s free Covid relief centres at Parner have good recall value. Sujay is banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s charisma, the party’s electoral machinery and his own network for his reelection. When the poll verdict is announced on June 4, the Ahmednagar outcome would be keenly watched. Ahmednagar goes to polls on May 13. express read Viral hepatitis kills one more Malappuram: The health department confirmed one more death in Malappuram due to viral hepatitis, taking the district’s toll to seven. Ithikkal Sakeer, a native of Pothukkal, died while undergoing treatment in Kozhikode three days ago. P5 Boy suffers severe burns Kannur: A five-yearold boy with speech impairment suffered severe burns after being made to drink hot milk at an anganwadi in Pinarayi, Kannur. The incident took place last Tuesday. The police have registered a case against anganwadi helper V Sheeba. P4 Nurse ensures dignified end for man 5 months after death Surabhi Mohan, 53, had not known Salim, 54, for long. The Kollam District Hospital, where Surabhi is a senior staff nurse, and where Salim was admitted last December, was the sole link between them. Yet, when Salim passed away in January and his body remained the ICU, he passed away in Januunclaimed for five months, Surab- ary. The body was shifted to the hi came forward and gave mortuary, where it lay for him a dignified farewell. months with none coming Her reason for doing it: forward to claim the mortal Duty . remains. On April 28, folSalim was admitted to lowing a health department the hospital on December directive, arrangements 12, 2023, with respiratory iswere made to shift his body sues. After three weeks in Surabhi Mohan to the Kollam Medicity Hos- pital where it would be used for anatomical study. That’s when Surabhi stepped forward. “On April 28, on receiving orders to shift Salim’s body, I felt a sense of duty towards him. Having cared for him in his final days, I couldn’t bear the thought of him departing to anonymity Surabhi ,” ● More on P4 told TNIE.  Was not kidnapped, says alleged victim in H D Revanna case E XP R E SS N E WS S E R VIC E @ Mysuru In a major twist in the sexual assault case in which JDS MLA H D Revanna was arrested, a video clip has surfaced on social media, in which a woman, said to be the victim, says was not kidnapped and Revanna and his son Prajwal Revanna are innocent. The woman was a domestic help at Revanna’s residence when she was allegedly sexually assaulted. The video comes as Revanna’s bail plea is set to be heard by a special court on Monday In the short clip, the woman . says she had visited her relative’s house in Hunsur for a few days. But when she saw the news on TV channels that her son Raju had filed a police complaint against Revanna, his close aide Satish Babu and Prajwal, she was shocked. She claimed. “I was worried why my son had filed a complaint when I was not kidnapped. I want to clarify that Revanna, Prajwal Revanna and Babanna (Satish Babu) did not harm me. H D Revanna They have looked after me very well. I have no connection to the video (sleaze video of Prajwal Revanna) . Nobody harmed me. I have not done anything wrong. I was shocked after news was aired regarding my son filing the police complaint,” she said. The woman also assured the family members she is fine and will return home soon. JDS MLC K T Srikantegowda told TNIE that false charges have been framed against Revanna. “The woman’s daughter and son-in-law have stated the woman was not kidnapped. Why should kidnap charges continue against Revanna,” he asked. When TNIE contacted the police, they were tightlipped. They only said the SIT is probing the case and they have no further knowledge of it. P5 Available on Scan the QR code for further details *Basis lab test in controlled environment on protein damaged hair after five washes R a h u l R @Kollam