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% SSUBT: -6.75 Cong: -4.52% SS: -0.58% Biggest blow for Shiv Sena (UBT) Eknath Shinde won KopriPachpakhadi seat by 1.2L 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% — 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 the leader of Opposi, tion. 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 its 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 UK E SH RA 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 and 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 A new low-pressure area that has formed over East Equatorial Indian Ocean and adjoining Southeast Bay of Bengal on Saturday morning is expected to bring rain to delta region, Chennai and surrounding districts and southern districts from November 25 to 28. The weather system formed under the influence of upper air circulation prevailing in the area since Friday is expected to move west-northwestwards and intensify into a depression over central parts of South Bay of Bengal around November 25. Heavy rain is likely in Chennai on November 27 and 28 when the depression is expected to move closer to the Tamil Nadu-Sri Lanka coast, the Regional Meteorological Centre said on Saturday . The RMC has issued an orange alert forecasting heavy to very heavy rainfall (11.5cm to 20.4cm) in isolated places for delta districts and Chennai’s surrounding districts from November 25 to 28. Orange alert has been HC orders cbi probe into illegal sale of church land E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Madurai WITH THIS ISSUE India’s Scamdemic PLUS 12 PAGES The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court has ordered the CBI to file a case against Church of South India Trust Association (CSITA), Church of South India (CSI) Madurai-Ramnad Diocese, unnamed government officials, and private individuals to probe into the alleged illegal sale of 31.10 acres of government land worth crores of rupees at Tallakulam in Madurai city by these entities. Justice KK Ramakrishnan passed the order based on a PIL filed by D Devasahayam, president of Christian Minorities Unit. The petitioner claimed that land given to Christian institutions for establishing industrial home and other purposes by the government in 1921 has been sold illegally . The PIL said that 31.10 acres of land at Tallakulam was provided by the government to American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) (later known as United Church Board for World Ministries) for the purpose of establishing an industrial home for needy women.  P5 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 E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ 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 byelections to all three assembly seats in Karnataka, wresting one Priyanka Gandhi Vadra flashes the victory sign in New Delhi Rain likely in Chennai, delta from Nov 25-28 E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Chennai 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 TIRUCHY l sunday l november 24, 2024 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 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 ■ issued for Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, and Karaikal region on November 25 and 26. Pudukkottai is also likely to experience very heavy rain on November 26. For November 27 and 28, heavy to very heavy rainfall is predicted for Villupuram and Cuddalore districts. This apart, an orange alert has been issued for Mayiladuthurai, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Puducherry and Karaikal on November 27, , and for Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Mayiladuthurai, and Puducherry on November 28.  P5 e x p r ess r e a d ‘Decide on reservation for transpersons in 6 weeks’ Chennai: Accepting its plea seeking time to respond, the Madras HC has given the state government six weeks to arrive at a decision regarding 1% reservation for transgender persons in education and employment | P4 25 panchayats pass motion against tungsten mining Madurai: Over 25 panchayat unions in Madurai district passed a resolution against the mining of tungsten by a Vedanta-group company in 10 blocks of Melur taluk, during the grama sabha meeting held on Saturday | P4 each from 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 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 .