A ss e mb ly E l e ct i on R e su 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 gets its Maha mantra right, Cong loses more mojo BJP: +0.59% SHSUBT: -6.76% Cong: -4.50% 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 S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai 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 Message to the bjp, says Cong Jharkhand M UKE S H RAN J AN @ 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 press Intake Mixed bag for kin of 7 former CMs in Jharkhand | P8 Voters give clear mandate, reject smaller parties | P8 None with documents will be evicted, CM assures Munambam residents E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ T’Puram/Kochi WITH THIS ISSUE India’s Scamdemic PLUS 12 PAGES Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the state government aims to resolve the land issue at Munambam without evicting the residents there. He made the assurance during an online meeting with representatives of the Munambam Land Protection Committee and other stakeholders. Pinarayi said the government wants a permanent solution to the land issue. “People with proper documents will not be evicted,” he said at the meeting, which was attended by Revenue Minister K Rajan, Law Minister P Rajeeve, Waqf Minister V Abdurahiman, and other stakeholders. Following the chief minister’s assurance, the Munambam Land Protection Committee decided to refrain from holding protests planned earlier, such as secretariat march, collectorate picketing etc, for the next three months. “We will, however, continue our relay hunger strike and prayers at Munambam,” said Joseph Benny Kuruppassery, coordi- The state government wants a permanent solution to the Munambam issue. People with documents will not be evicted — Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister nator of the committee. He said the committee will wait for the report of the Justice C N Ramachandran Nair commission consituted by the government, to decide on the future course of action. The commission will submit its report in three months. About 610 families have been affected in Munambam where the Waqf Board has claimed rights over the land. “The government has requested the Waqf Board not to take further steps like issuing notice to the residents. The board has agreed to this. Residents will be given the opportunity to present their version JMM Spectacular gain for JMM, BJP loses hold and grievances before the commission. The government will inform its stand to the High Court,” said a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s office. “The government stands to protect the interests of the residents at any cost. The government will back the residents in the High Court case and will join as a party. Steps will be taken to vacate the stay on land tax payment of the properties at Munambam,” it said. The government will raise people’s concer ns before the High Court. The CM also sought the complete support of the residents to the judicial commission. Chief secretary Sarada Muraleedharan, Ernakulam District Collector N S K Umesh, Vy p e e n M L A K N U n nikrishnan, Varapuzha Archbishop Joseph Kalathiparambil, Kottappuram Bishop Ambrose Puthenveettil, Munambam Land Protection committee chairman Joseph Sebastian, convenor Benny Joseph, SNDP representative Murukan and local resident P J Joseph, also attended the online meeting. Hemant Soren won the Barhait seat by 39,791 votes, defeating BJP’s Gamliyel Hembrom 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 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l Sunday l november 24, 2024 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l 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 ■ Others Swing factor BJP: -11.42% Cong: -3.63% JMM: 8.84% 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. No surprises, Kerala spurns BJP in bypolls ANI L S @ T’Puram Everything, barring Congress candidate Rahul Mamkootathil’s thumping margin in Palakkad, was on expected lines in by-elections in Kerala. The state maintained its electoral status quo. However, there were enough pointers to the direction political Kerala is taking, leaving ample scope for predictions. With hardly a year remaining for local-body polls, it’s a much needed bitter pill for the ruling LDF, morale booster for opposition UDF and a wake-up call for an electorally emerging BJP . In two closely fought assembly by-elections that witnessed triangular contests and lastminute migrations, the UDF and the LDF retained respective seats, while in Wayanad LS seat, Gandhi scion Priyanka Gandhi Vadra recorded a predictably massive victory of over 4 lakh votes. In Palakkad, state Youth Congress chief Rahul Mamkootathil won with a massive majority of 18,840 votes. U R Pradeep retained Chelakkara for the CPM with a decent margin of 12,201 votes. The BJP drew a blank. While the authentic victories have come as a confidence booster for UDF, the LDF can counter charges of anti-incumbency with its Chelakkara win and improved performance in Palakkad. The BJP with a substantial dip in vote share in its strongholds has ended up the loser. The bypolls could well be a pointer to the political transformation that the state has been going through. Palakkad, which has been the centre of attention, witnessed the emergence of two prominent turncoats, in addition to a slew of UDF activists carry Rahul Mamkootathil on their shoulders as they celebrate his victory in the Palakkad assembly by-election on Saturday | express POLL PICTURE C Krishnakumar 39,549 (28.63%) P Sarin 37,293 (27%) Palakkad 18,840 Victory margin Rahul Mamkootathil 58,389 (42.27%) Ramya Haridas 52,626 (33.64 %) Priyanka Gandhi Vadra flashes victory sign as she leaves after meeting Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, following her victory in the Wayanad LS bypoll, in New Delhi on Saturday | PTI twists and turns, right from candidate selection to political strategy . While the Left strategy of fielding former Congressman P Sarin seemed to have a minor positive impact, with the LDF improving its vote share from 25.64% to 27%, the cash-for-vote scam, handling of the Sandeep Varier episode and newspaper advertisement on the eve of polls, seemed to have backfired on the ruling front. ● More on P5 K Balakrishnan 33,609 (21.49%) Chelakkara 12,201 Victory margin U R Pradeep 64,827 (41.44%) Sathyan Mokeri 2,11,407 (22.08 %) Navya Haridas 1,09,939 (11.48 %) Wayanad LS constituency 4,10,931 Victory margin Priyanka Gandhi Vadra 6,22,338 (64.99%) LDF UDF BJP Ruling parties star in state by-elections E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ New Delhi The Congress won byelections to all three assembly seats in Karnataka, wresting one each from the BJP and JD(S). Bypolls were also held for several assembly constituencies in over a dozen states, including Uttar Pradesh, which witnessed polling in nine seats. The ruling BJP retained its five constituencies and wrested two from the Samajwadi Party . In West Bengal, the ruling Trinamool Congress 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 ended up losing the Barnala seat to the grand old party .