A S S E M B LY E L E C T I O N R E S U LT MAHARASHTRA 288 TOTAL BJP CONG NCPSP SHIV SENA SHSUBT NCP OTH BJP POLLS 2024 SWING FACTOR MASSIVE SLIDE IN VOTE SHARES OF UDDHAV’S SHIV SENA, CONGRESS JHARKHAND VICTORY CONSOLATION PRIZE FOR ANTI-BJP INDIA BLOC BJP: +0.59% BJP GETS ITS MAHA MANTRA RIGHT, CONG LOSES MORE MOJO SHSUBT: -6.76% Cong: -4.50% SHS: SHS: -0.58% Biggest blow for Shiv Sena (UBT) EKNATH SHINDE won KopriPachpakhadi seat by 1.2 lakh votes Electoral mood changed dramatically compared to the 2024 LS polls. BJP gained both vote share and seats while the Shiv Sena (UBT) suffered the most losing 6.75% vote share, followed by the Congress *Swing Factor refers to the vote share gain/ loss compared to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls JHARKHAND BJP CONG JMM OTH Shiv Sena NCP SHSUBT NCPSP Others 81 TOTAL BJP 21(-4) 16 34(+4) 10 Congress Prime Minister Narendra Modi at BJP HQ in New Delhi on Saturday | SHEKHAR YADAV At 85%, BJP’s strike rate highest in state DIVISIVE FORCES LOST: PM MAHARASHTRA S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai THE closely-fought Maharashtra assembly elections on Saturday decisively swung in favour of the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, routing the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi that had gained a psychological advantage by its sterling performance in the Lok Sabha polls six months ago. The BJP emerged the single largest party with 132 seats, surpassing its last two scores of 122 in 2014 and 105 in 2019. This is the peak BJP performance in Maharashtra with a strike rate of more than 85% — the highest among all alliance partners as well as the Opposition. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena contested 79 seats and won 57, with a vote share of 12.38%. Shinde ensured that the MLAs who revolted along with him against Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership got elected. In contrast, the Uddhav-led Sena could manage just 20 seats. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar-led NCP won 41 of the total 59 seats it contested with a 9.01% vote share as against Sharad Pawar’s NCP-SP getting 11.28% votes but only 10 seats. As for the Congress, it had won 13 seats in the Lok Sabha polls but squandered the advantage within six months. It managed to pick up just 16 seats in the assembly polls despite contesting from 101 (12.24% vote share). The debacle meant that for the first time in the history of the state assembly there will be no leader of Opposition. , For, no Opposition party got even 10% of total strength of the 288 of the House. As for the BJP after the surprise victory in the , Haryana polls, the party appears to have picked up momentum. Its welfare schemes like the Ladli Behna struck a chord, evidenced by high polling of women. Local leaders and the RSS did the hard yards rather than big-time parachuting of national leaders to sway the electorate. In contrast, prominent Congress leaders like Rahul Gandhi were hardly visible on the ground in both Maharashtra and Jharkhand. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the Maharashtra mandate as a victory of development, good governance and social justice. Speaking at the party headquarters in Delhi, Modi said, “Divisive forces have been defeated.” He alleged that India faces the challenge of urban Naxals of the Congress whose remote control is abroad | P7 Biggest message from Maharashtra after Haryana polls is unity. Ek hain to safe hain has become country’s mahamantra Narendra Modi, prime minister Hemant Soren with Kalpana Soren and sons at Ranchi airport on Saturday | PTI Soren storms back to power with record win JMM Spectacular gain for JMM, BJP loses hold MESSAGE TO THE BJP, SAYS CONG JHARKHAND M U K E S H R A N J A N @ Ranchi DISPROVING exit polls that gave the BJP-led NDA an edge in the Jharkhand Assembly polls, Hemant Soren’s JMM-led alliance on Saturday stormed back to power for the second consecutive term, winning a comfortable majority in the 81-member assembly . Soren, riding on the immense popularity of his better half Kalpana and welfare schemes like Mukhyamantri Maiyan Samman Yojana, scored the best ever performance by any party or leader since the formation of Jharkhand. The BJP had deployed master strategists including Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and also plugged the loopholes that had led to ouster of the Raghubar Das government in 2019, but it failed to regain the trust of the people, particularly tribals, in Jharkhand. According to political analysts, the financial assistance of `1,000 (which was later increased to `2,500) under Mukhyamantri Maiyan Samman Yojana was a big hit as it helped JMM mobilize women voters in Jharkhand. Talking to this newspaper ahead of the Assembly polls, Kalpana had termed the programme as a revolutionary step. “`1,000 is a big amount for the women living in the rural areas as most of them are housewives and are mostly dependent on their husbands due to lack of livelihood opportunities for them. With the amount received in their bank accounts regularly, they felt empowered and hence voted enthusiastically in favour of INDIA bloc,” said political analyst Professor V P Sharan. According to Sharan, Kalpana’s entry into active politics in the absence of her husband also helped as women voters instantly connected with her. As per ECI data, women voters outnumbered male voters by 5,51,797 across the state during the two-phase polling. The Congress hailed the poll results in Jharkhand, saying the people of the state have rejected the “politics of polarisation” peddled by BJP BACKWARD TAG TO GO In a video message shared after the win, Soren said he will try to remove Jharkhand’s ‘backward’ tag and make it a developed state powered by selfgovernance HEMANT SOREN won the Barhait seat by 39,791 votes, defeating BJP’s Gamliyel Hembrom @ Hyderabad AS part of the one-year celebration of Congress rule, the state government has decided to organise a “Rythu Sadassu” (farmers conference) in Mahbubnagar on November 30. On Saturday Chief Minis, ter A Revanth Reddy held a meeting with officials and discussed the arrangements for the event. He emphasised that the conference should focus on creating awareness among the farming community about various schemes being implemented for their welfare and should not be treated as a public meeting He directed the officials to ensure proper arrangements and participation of a large number of farmers in the conference. Stalls will be set up by the agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry departments showcasing advanced farming methods and new technologies in agriculture. These stalls will also 1-MONTH-OLD KIDNAPPED FROM NILOUFER TRACED IN KURNOOL E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Hyderabad WITH THIS ISSUE INDIA’S SCAMDEMIC PLUS 12 PAGES A one-month-old baby boy who was , reportedly kidnapped from Niloufer hospital by a woman on Saturday evening, was traced by the police near Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh in the night, said the Nampally police. The police teams were bringing the baby and the woman back to Hyderabad. The police told TNIE that Hasina Begum and her husband Gafar, parents of the infant, both from Zaheerabad, had brought their baby to the hospital for treatment of jaundice. The baby, born on October 23, had been admitted to the hospital for over three weeks after doctors in their hometown advised them to seek further treatment in Hyderabad. “On Saturday, after the baby was discharged, the family was at the reception counter when an unknown woman took the baby from the mother and disappeared,” Dr Ravi Kumar, hospital superintendent told TNIE. When the woman did not return, the parents searched the hospital and its vicinity but could not find the baby . They subsequently filed a complaint with the Nampally police and a case was registered under BNS 137 (kidnapping). Others SWING FACTOR BJP: -11.42% Cong: -3.63% JMM: 8.84% S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai AFTER the thumping victory of the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra Assembly elections, the million dollar question now is who would be the state’s next chief minister. Would the BJP let Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde retain the chief minister’s post as Mahayuti fought the elections under his leadership, or would it choose to put its own person in the CM’s chair, now that it’s the largest party in the alliance? BJP leader and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said there is no dispute in Mahayuti over who would be the next CM. He claimed one of the two—Shinde or Ajit Pawar— would be chosen as the next CM. He pointed to party leader Amit Shah’s statement that leaders of the three Mahayuti parties will sit together and take a call. However, members of both the Sena and the BJP camps are confident of their party getting the CM’s post. “It will be interesting to see whether the BJP top brass will decide to do what it did in Bihar (making Nitish Kumar the CM) by choosing Shinde as the CM so as to send a message that it respects its allies even when it has the numbers to claim CM’s chair, or would it put its own person in the CM’s chair,” a political observer said. Priyanka betters Rahul victory margin EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi CONGRESS general secretary Priyanka Vadra Gandhi made her electoral debut with a bang with a massive victory in the bypoll for the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala, vacated by brother Rahul Gandhi. Her margin of victory - by over 4.1 lakh votes - bettered Rahul’s 3.6 lakh vote margin. The party also won bypolls to all three assembly seats in Karnataka, wresting one each from Priyanka Gandhi Vadra flashes the victory sign in New Delhi Govt to hold Rythu Sadassu on Nov 30 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE The Hemant Soren-led party gained nearly 9% vote share in the Assembly elections compared to the recently held Lok Sabha polls, while the BJP share slipped significantly. In all, the coalition comprising the JMM, Congress, RJD, and CPIM(L) Liberation won 56 out of the 81 seats up for grabs ■ 132(+27) 16(-28) 57 Will BJP do a Bihar in Maha 41 on CM choice? 20 10 12 Congress HYDERABAD  SUNDAY  NOVEMBER 24, 2024  `12.00  PAGES 24  LATE CITY EDITION 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 ■ feature new crop varieties developed by the agriculture university, innovations from palm oil firms, and products launched by various companies, along with their benefits to farmers. Advanced equipment such as electric tractors and drones will also be showcased at the meeting. All the stalls will be open from November 28. Revanth Reddy stressed that the event should not be limited to a one-day visit by farmers on November 30, but should be part of a three-day awareness campaign. CONTINUE ON P4 EXPRESS READ AIMIM wins 1 seat in Maha Hyderabad: AIMIM candidate Mohd Ismail Abdul Khalique won by a slender margin of 162 votes, in Maharashtra Assembly elections, over his nearest rival Asif Shaikh Rasheed of the Indian Secular Largest Assembly of Maharashtra (ISLAM) | P4 SC judge launches N-Step Hyderabad: SC judge, Justice Bhushan Ramakrishna Gavai, on Saturday, launched the National Service and Tracking of Electronic Process (N-Step) in Telangana. He urged judicial officers to prioritise delivering timely verdicts, particularly in criminal cases | P4 the BJP and JD(S), while retained Palakkad in Kerala. Bypolls were also held for several assembly constituencies in over a dozen states, including UP, which witnessed polling in nine seats. The ruling BJP retaining its five constituencies and wrested two from the Samajwadi Party . In West Bengal, the ruling TMC won all the six assembly constituencies that witnessed by-elections, including Madarihat it wrested from the BJP . The ruing NDA in Bihar pocketed all four seats — Belaganj, Imamganj, Tarari and Ramgarh. The NDA swept the bypolls to eight Assembly seats in the Northeast. In Rajasthan, the BJP won five of seven seats while the Congress secured a win in Dausa. The ruling AAP in Punjab wrested Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak and Chabbewal from the Congress but lost Barnala to the grand old party . Maha drubbing wake-up call for Congress | P7