DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2022, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 22 PAGES `6.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM VANDITA MISHRA NEW DELHI, MARCH 10 THE WHEELS of Mandal turn slower and slower. One of the key takeaways from the BJP’s victo- ries in four states, and particularly in the crucial battleground of Uttar Pradesh, is this: Of the two ambitious political projects that were launched almost simulta- neously in the politically turbu- lent 1990s, Mandal and Mandir, while the second is on its way to- wards achieving its aim of forg- ing a national community that transcends faultlines of caste, class and region, the first has frag- mented, its egalitarian charge more and more dissipated. Mandal politics had helped parties like the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party to carveoutspacesandcome into their own. More broadly, it had held out a larger promise in a society of rag- ing inequalities. “Social justice” was to be far more radical and transformative than mere alter- nation of castes in power, or even the replacement of upper caste dominance by that of backward castes, or of a particularbackwardcaste. The idea and politics of social justice was in- tended to forge larger empathies and solidari- ties based on the constitutional promise of equality. That Mandal politics is now seen, in large sec- tions of even its homeground, UP, as casteist and divisive, is proof not just of the BJP’s narra- tive dominance, but of the many critical failures of Mandal’s own flagbearers. They allowed the platform to shrink to family rule, caste arith- metic and formulas of social en- gineering. Self-defeatingly, they used the same majoritarian ar- guments in caste that Hindutva CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SINCE 1932 Adityanath creates history, says he will stick to winning formula LALMANI VERMA LUCKNOW, MARCH 10 “THE BJP is going to create his- tory in UP.” That was Yogi Adityanath on the way forward — after he and his party had already created history in UP. On Thursday, Adityanath became the first Chief Minister to return to power in the state after completing a five-year term. And the BJP be- came the first party to retain power in the state since 1985. In his speech after wrapping up the mandate, Adityanath also underscored the key theme be- hind his party's repeat win. “The BJP’s double engine government, in the past five years, created an atmosphere of security and gave respect to faith,” he said. It was also a tumultuous reign marked by controversial encounter deaths, the anti-con- version law, the so-called CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Landslide for AAP sweeps aside stalwarts, shifts ground: ‘We changed the system’ PUNJAB UTTAR PRADESH Hope pundits have courage to say 2022 has decided 2024: PM LIZ MATHEW, KRISHN KAUSHIK & ABHINAYA HARIGOVIND NEW DELHI, MARCH 10 IN A resounding endorsement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies and his party's "double- engine" electoral plank amid criticism of the handling of the pandemic and job losses, espe- cially in main battleground UP where Yogi Adityanath was seeking a second term, four of five states that went to polls re- turned the BJP to power Thursday. The AAP swept Punjab, packing off stalwarts and uprooting rival parties to change the political landscape. Elated over the BJP’s 4/5 score, Modi, addressing party workers in New Delhi, said he hoped “political pundits, who did not think much of the party's 2019 (Lok Sabha) win saying it had already been decided by the 2017 UP results, will now have the courage to say that the 2022 (UP) results have decided the 2024 (Lok Sabha) results." With the BJP set to form gov- ernments again in UP, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, Modi said: "A hill state adjacent CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MANOJ C G NEW DELHI, MARCH 10 THE CONGRESS, its footprint shrunk to just two states, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, from the nine it had when Narendra Modi took charge in May 2014, was once again staring at a crisis of credibility and leadership. This crisis isn’t new — the party has won just five of the 45 elections held since 2014. But what struck a different note this time was that even the familiar refrain of the need to re-invent was absent. Instead, there is a sense of despair and a foreboding of impending internal upheaval. Congress president Sonia Gandhi signalled that the meet- ing of the party's Working Committee will be called soon to discuss the way ahead but CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONG SHRINKING My heart is bleeding, says Azad; some of G-23 meet at his home today TORA AGARWALA GUWAHATI, MARCH 10 THE BJP is all set to return to power in Manipur for a second straight term, hitting the major- ity mark as results of the Assembly elections came in on Thursday. The Congress, on the other hand, has been decimated in its once-bastion — from being the single-largest party with 27 seats in 2017, the party managed to win a mere five seats. The BJP’s victory, won on the planks of ‘peace and develop- ment’, signals that it has been able to successfully hold its own in the often fickle electoral land- scape of Manipur. While in 2017, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MANIPUR Biren takes BJP past magic figure, Cong is trounced AVANEESH MISHRA & LIZ MATHEW DEHRADUN, NEW DELHI, MARCH 10 BEATING ANTI-INCUMBENCY, the BJP became the first ruling party to be voted back to power in Uttarakhand on Thursday, winning 47 seats. However, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami lost the election from Khatima, where Congress candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri won by a margin of over 6,500 votes. The Congress won 18 seats and was leading in one more in the 70-seat Assembly. According to the Election Commission data, BJP got 44.3 per cent of the votes, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 UTTARAKHAND GOA BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Next on party’s radar: Gujarat and Himachal SOURAV ROY BARMAN & MALLICA JOSHI NEW DELHI, MARCH 10 OVER THE years, this line has fig- ured in almost every speech by Arvind Kejriwal: “Mujhe rajneeti karni nahi hai aati, ji (I don't know how to do politics).” But the line that comes immediately after captures the essence of AAP's political appeal: “Par mujhe school banana aata hai, aspatal banana aata hai (But I know how to build schools, hospitals).” FollowingThursday'sspectac- ular win in Punjab, which pitch- forkedthepartyontothenational stage, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh now figure prominently onAAP’sradar,seniorleaderstold The Indian Express. In Gujarat, where elections are expected this year-end, the party is already on campaign mode as it seeks to capitalise on its moment in history by filling the space vacated by a diminish- ing Congress. Next month, Kejriwal and Punjab’s Chief Minister-designate Bhagwant Mann are expected to travel to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Dhami loses but party beats anti-incumbency MAYURA JANWALKAR PANAJI, MARCH 10 THE BJP is set to form the govern- ment in Goa for the third consec- utive time, winning 20 of the to- tal 40 seats in the Assembly on Thursday. With its former ally, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (two seats), which was in a pre-poll alliance with the Trinamool Congress (TMC), ex- tending support to the BJP after the results were announced, and three Independent candidates also backing it, the BJP was well over the halfway mark. The TMC drew a blank, while the AAP made an entry into the Goa Assembly with two seats. The youth-driven Revolutionary Goans also won a seat. The Congress won 11 seats, while ally Goa Forward Party (GFP) got just one seat. While the BJP had won 13 seats in 2017, its strength in the House went up to 27 after the de- fections in 2019. The Congress hadwon17,butitsnumberswere down to 5 in the outgoing House. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BJP set for third term with support, Cong blames split in votes AAP CM face Bhagwant Mann celebrates in Sangrur. PTI MAN AMAN SINGH CHHINA & SOURAV ROY BARMAN CHANDIGARH, NEW DELHI, MARCH 10 ON JUNE 22, 2017, during the first major Vidhan Sabha session in Punjab after the state polls, several AAP legislators were dragged out of the House on the Speaker's orders, their turbans getting dislodged in the melee. It was a clear message from the Congress to the “upstart” party, which had emerged as the main Opposition, on who was the boss in Punjab. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the BJP office in New Delhi on Thursday with party chief JP Nadda. Tashi Tobgyal ‘Nationalism, development, governance model led to win’ BY ENSURING OUR VICTORY, PEOPLE HAVE BURIED THE POLITICS OF CASTE AND RELIGION — YOGI ADITYANATH, UTTAR PRADESH CHIEF MINISTER THE REVOLUTION CAME TO DELHI FIRST, THEN PUNJAB, NOW IT WILL SPREAD TO ENTIRE COUNTRY —ARVIND KEJRIWAL, AAP LEADER AND DELHI CM SUN SETTING ON DYNASTIC POLITICS: Modi in his victory speech after 4-1 THRONES HAVE BEEN SHAKEN: Kejriwal after AAP’s stunning Punjab win CONGRESS SLIDE CONTINUES: Loses Punjab, fails as challenger in three states Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia at the AAP headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday. Amit Mehra Yogi Adityanath at the BJP office in Lucknow on Thursday. Vishal Srivastav BJP, AAP, BJP, BJP, BJP Divided Congress is voted out, Badals and Captain among giants who fall THE TRIUMPH BJP’s success consolidates its position as the primary pole of national politics THE EDITORIAL PAGE PAGES 7-11, 12, 13, 15 REVOLUTION MARCHES ON ■ PRATAP BHANU MEHTA PAGE 12 THIS BJP-LED POLITY ■ SUHAS PALSHIKAR PAGE 13 THE EDITORIAL PAGE &THEIDEASPAGE Chief Minister Pramod Sawant in Panaji. PTI TWINNING OF MODI, YOGI AAP surge defines its challenge; regional parties edge Congress out Mandal is falling stock, Mandir-plus a blue chip VERDICT 2022 UTTAR PRADESH (403) BJP+: 326 (42%); SP: 47 (21.82%) BSP: 17 (22.23%); Cong: 7 (6.25%); Others: 6 (7.7%) In 2017, Cong and SP were in alliance BJP+ Above 42% (274) SP+ Above 35% (124) Others 4.91% (2) Cong* 2.34% (2) BSP 12.87% (1) 2017 PUNJAB (117) AAP: 20 (23.7%); Cong: 77 (38.5%); BJP: 3 (5.4%); SAD: 15 (25.2%); Others: 2 (1.2%) AAP 42% (92) Cong 23% (18) SAD 18.4% (3) Others 10% (2) BJP 6.6% (2) 2017 GOA (40) BJP: 13 (32.5%); Cong: 17 (28.4%); MGP: 3 (11.3%); Others: 7 (27.8%) After 2019 defections: BJP 27, Cong 5, MGP 1, GFP 3, NCP 1, Ind 3 2017 MANIPUR (60) BJP: 21 (36.3%); Cong: 28 (35.1%); NPF: 4 (7.2%); Others: 7 (21.4%) Figures as per ECI website BJP 37.8% (32) Cong 16.8% (5) NPP 17.29% (7) Others 28.11% (18) 2017 UTTARAKHAND (70) BJP: 57 (46.5%); Congress: 11 (33.5%); Others: 2 (17 %) BJP 44.34% (47) Others 12.98% (2) BSP 4.82% (2) Cong 38% (19) 2017 VOTE SHARE BJP 33.3% (20) Cong 23.4% (11) AAP 6.77% (2) TMC 5.21% (0) Others 23.72% (5) MGP 7.6% (2) 2022 Verdict New Delhi
Transcript
DA ILY FROM: AHMEDABAD , CHAND IGARH , DELH I , JA IPUR , KOLKATA , LUCKNOW, MUMBAI , NAGPUR , PUNE , VADODARA
FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2022, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 22 PAGES `6.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
VANDITAMISHRANEWDELHI,MARCH10
THE WHEELS of Mandal turnslowerandslower.Oneofthekeytakeaways from the BJP’s victo-riesinfourstates,andparticularlyin the crucial battleground of
UttarPradesh, is this:Of thetwoambitiouspolitical projects thatwere launched almost simulta-neously in the politically turbu-lent 1990s,Mandal andMandir,whilethesecondisonitswayto-wards achieving its aimof forg-ing a national community thattranscends faultlines of caste,
classandregion,thefirsthasfrag-mented, its egalitarian chargemoreandmoredissipated.Mandal politics had
helped parties like theSamajwadi Party and theBahujan Samaj Party tocarveoutspacesandcomeinto their own. Morebroadly, it hadheld out alargerpromiseinasocietyofrag-ing inequalities. “Social justice”was to be farmore radical and
transformative thanmere alter-nationofcastesinpower,oreventhe replacement of upper caste
dominance by that ofbackward castes, or of aparticularbackwardcaste.The idea and politics
of social justice was in-tended to forge largerempathies and solidari-
ties based on the constitutionalpromiseofequality.ThatMandalpoliticsisnowseen, inlargesec-
tions of even its homeground,UP, as casteist and divisive, isproof not justof theBJP’snarra-tivedominance,butof themanycritical failuresofMandal’sownflagbearers.Theyallowedtheplatformto
shrinktofamilyrule,castearith-meticandformulasof socialen-gineering.Self-defeatingly, theyused the samemajoritarian ar-guments in caste thatHindutva
CONTINUEDONPAGE2
JOURNALISM OF COURAGESINCE 1932
Adityanath creates history, sayshe will stick to winning formula
LALMANIVERMALUCKNOW,MARCH10
“THE BJP is going to create his-tory inUP.”ThatwasYogiAdityanathon
theway forward—after he andhis party had already createdhistory in UP. On Thursday,Adityanath became the firstChiefMinistertoreturntopowerin the state after completing afive-year term. And the BJP be-came the first party to retainpower in thestate since1985.Inhis speechafterwrapping
upthemandate,Adityanathalsounderscored the key themebe-hindhisparty'srepeatwin.“TheBJP’sdoubleenginegovernment,
in thepast fiveyears, createdanatmosphereofsecurityandgaverespect to faith,”hesaid.It was also a tumultuous
reignmarked by controversialencounterdeaths, theanti-con-version law, the so-called
CONTINUEDONPAGE2
Landslide for AAP sweeps aside stalwarts,shifts ground: ‘We changed the system’
PUNJABUTTARPRADESH
Hope punditshave courageto say 2022has decided2024: PMLIZMATHEW,KRISHNKAUSHIK&ABHINAYAHARIGOVINDNEWDELHI,MARCH10
INAresoundingendorsementofPrimeMinisterNarendraModi’spoliciesandhisparty's"double-engine" electoral plank amidcriticism of the handling of thepandemic and job losses, espe-cially inmain battleground UPwhere Yogi Adityanath wasseeking a second term, four offive states thatwent to polls re-turned the BJP to powerThursday. The AAP sweptPunjab,packingoffstalwartsanduprootingrivalpartiestochangethepolitical landscape.Elated over the BJP’s 4/5
score, Modi, addressing partyworkers in New Delhi, said hehoped “political pundits, whodidnotthinkmuchoftheparty's2019 (Lok Sabha) win saying ithadalreadybeendecidedbythe2017 UP results, will now havethecouragetosaythat the2022(UP) results have decided the2024(LokSabha) results."WiththeBJPsettoformgov-
ernments again in UP,Uttarakhand,GoaandManipur,Modi said: "Ahill state adjacent
CONTINUEDONPAGE2
MANOJCGNEWDELHI,MARCH10
THE CONGRESS, its footprintshrunk to just two states,RajasthanandChhattisgarh,fromthe nine it hadwhenNarendraModi took charge inMay 2014,wasonceagainstaringatacrisisof credibilityandleadership.This crisis isn’t new — the
party haswon just five of the 45elections held since 2014. Butwhat struck a different note thistimewas that even the familiarrefrain of the need to re-inventwas absent. Instead, there is asenseofdespairandaforebodingof impendinginternalupheaval.Congress president Sonia
Gandhisignalledthat themeet-ing of the party's WorkingCommitteewillbecalledsoontodiscuss the way ahead but
CONTINUEDONPAGE2
CONGSHRINKING
My heart isbleeding, saysAzad; some ofG-23 meet athis home today
TORAAGARWALAGUWAHATI,MARCH10
THE BJP is all set to return topower inManipur for a secondstraightterm,hittingthemajor-ity mark as results of theAssembly elections came in onThursday. The Congress, on theotherhand,hasbeendecimated
initsonce-bastion—frombeingthe single-largest partywith 27seatsin2017,thepartymanagedtowinamere five seats.TheBJP’svictory,wononthe
planks of ‘peace and develop-ment’, signals that it has beenabletosuccessfullyholditsownintheoftenfickleelectoral land-scapeofManipur.Whilein2017,
CONTINUEDONPAGE2
MANIPUR
Biren takes BJP past magicfigure, Cong is trounced
AVANEESHMISHRA&LIZMATHEWDEHRADUN,NEWDELHI,MARCH10
BEATING ANTI-INCUMBENCY,the BJP became the first rulingparty tobevotedback topowerin Uttarakhand on Thursday,winning47seats.However,Chief
Minister Pushkar Singh Dhamilost the election fromKhatima,where Congress candidateBhuwanChandraKapriwonbyamarginof over6,500votes.The Congress won 18 seats
andwas leading in onemore inthe70-seatAssembly.AccordingtotheElectionCommissiondata,BJPgot44.3percentofthevotes,
CONTINUEDONPAGE2
UTTARAKHANDGOA
BUSINESS AS USUAL
BYUNNY
Next on party’s radar:Gujarat and HimachalSOURAVROYBARMAN&MALLICAJOSHINEWDELHI,MARCH10
OVERTHEyears,thislinehasfig-ured in almost every speech byArvindKejriwal:“Mujherajneetikarninahihaiaati, ji(Idon'tknowhowtodopolitics).”But the linethat comes immediately aftercaptures the essence of AAP'spolitical appeal: “Par mujheschool banana aata hai, aspatalbananaaatahai(ButIknowhowtobuild schools, hospitals).”FollowingThursday'sspectac-
ularwin inPunjab,whichpitch-forkedthepartyontothenationalstage, Gujarat and HimachalPradeshnowfigureprominentlyonAAP’sradar,seniorleaderstoldTheIndianExpress.In Gujarat, where elections
are expected this year-end, theparty is already on campaignmodeas it seeks tocapitaliseonitsmoment in history by fillingthespacevacatedbyadiminish-ing Congress. Next month,Kejriwal and Punjab’s ChiefMinister-designate BhagwantMann are expected to travel to
CONTINUEDONPAGE2
Dhami loses but partybeats anti-incumbency
MAYURAJANWALKARPANAJI,MARCH10
THEBJPissettoformthegovern-mentinGoaforthethirdconsec-utivetime,winning20of theto-tal 40 seats in the Assembly onThursday.With its former ally,theMaharashtrawadiGomantakParty (two seats), whichwas ina pre-poll alliance with theTrinamool Congress (TMC), ex-tending support to the BJP aftertheresultswereannounced,andthree Independent candidatesalso backing it, theBJPwaswellover thehalfwaymark.TheTMCdrewablank,while
theAAPmade an entry into theGoa Assembly with two seats.Theyouth-drivenRevolutionaryGoans also won a seat. TheCongresswon11seats,whileallyGoaForwardParty(GFP)gotjustoneseat.While the BJP had won 13
seats in 2017, its strength in theHousewentupto27afterthede-fections in 2019. The Congresshadwon17,butitsnumbersweredownto5intheoutgoingHouse.
CONTINUEDONPAGE2
BJP set for third termwith support, Congblames split in votes
ON JUNE 22, 2017, during thefirstmajorVidhanSabhasessionin Punjab after the state polls,several AAP legislators weredraggedoutof theHouseontheSpeaker's orders, their turbansgetting dislodged in themelee.Itwas a clearmessage from theCongress to the “upstart” party,whichhademergedasthemainOpposition,onwhowasthebossinPunjab.
PMtotheborder,acoastalstate,astatewith special blessings ofMotherGanga and a state on the north-eastern border, the BJP has re-ceivedblessings fromall fourdi-rections.""Thechallengesofthesestates
aredifferent,thepathoftheirde-velopment journey is different,butwhat is common,weavingthem in the same thread, is thetrustinBJP,intheBJP'spolicies,in-tentionsanddecisions,"hesaid.If the verdictwas a stampof
approval for the BJP in electionsconsideredatestfortheLokSabhapolls still two years away, it hadthe Congress flailing again, thepartystockslidingfurtherdespitea high-octane campaign byGandhi siblings Priyanka andRahul.VotedoutofPunjab,itwasleading only on two seats inUPwhereitsvotesharehaddroppedtoalittleover2percent.FortheBJP,thetasteofvictory
was sweeter in UPwhere YogiAdityanathbroke the comebackjinx of almost four decades. Notonlydidhestaveoffthechallengefrom theAkhileshYadav-led SP,buteclipsedallothers in the fray,reducing the Congress, BSP andOtherstosingledigits.In Lucknow,Adityanath said
peoplehave"buriedthepoliticsofcasteandreligion"byensuringthevictoryof BJP and its alliesunderModi's leadership. "Themam-mothvictoryof thepartyprovesthat thepolitics of developmentand good governance has beenblessedby the people of UP.Wewill take forward our pledge ofSabkaSaath,SabkaVikas."AAP leader and Delhi Chief
MinisterArvindKejriwal,whoseparty got a stunningmandate inPunjab,said:"PehleDillimeinin-quilabhua, phir Punjabmein in-quilabhua,abyehinquilabpooredeshkeandarphailega(Therevo-lution came to Delhi first, thenPunjab, now itwill spread to theentirecountry)."As his party spokespersons
pitched the AAP as a "replace-ment" for theCongress, Kejriwalsaid:"Badibadikursiyaanhilgayihain Punjab ke andar (throneshave been shaken in Punjab).SukhbirSinghBadal lost,CaptainSaheb lost, Channi Saheb lost,Parkash SinghBadal Saheb lost,Navjot Singh Sidhu lost, VikramSingh Majithia lost. People ofPunjab haveworkedwonders,andthisisabigrevolution."Prime Minister Modi de-
scribedthemandatefortheBJPas“pro-poorandproactive”.Hesaidthepoorwere “tiredof knockingongovernmentdoorsforbasicfa-cilities”andhadtopaybribesear-lierforbasicfacilitieslikeelectric-ity andphones. "For them, goodgovernanceanddeliveryareveryimportant.BJPunderstandsthis.”Mentioning his ownexperi-
enceofover20yearsasanadmin-istrator,includinghisstintasChiefMinisterofGujarat,Modisaidheunderstandshowmucheffort ittakes to ensure that schemesreach the last person. “We im-provedgovernancedelivery sys-tems, andbrought transparencyin the entire process. BJP giveshopetothepoor,thatgovernmentschemeswill reach every poor.And Iwillnotsiteasy till I get thepoor their rights.Wewill reacheverypoor person... 100percentbeneficiaries.”He praised women voters
who “showeredmuch love andblessings” on the party.“Wheneverwomenhave votedmore than men, BJP has got abumper victory,” he said, addingthatwomenhave become “thedriversofBJP'svictory”and"theyhave faith that the governmentunderstands their smallestneeds”.AttackingtheOpposition, the
PrimeMinister said: “I am notagainst any family, I care aboutdemocracy.”Dynasticpolitics,hesaid, “has hurt their states andtakenthembackward.Iamhappythat votershaveunderstoodandvoted to strengthendemocracy.This continuousdebate isneces-saryinademocracylikeIndia.”Hesaidhewasconfidentthat“therewillbeadaywhenpeoplewillen-surethesunsetsondynasticpol-iticsinthecountry”andthesere-sultsshow"whatistocome”.
accusedtheOppositionoffanning“conspiracies” and “fake propa-ganda”,andwasclearaboutwhatpulledhimthrough:“UPpublic’sblessingsforthemodelofnation-alism, development and goodgovernance.”“Andwe accept their bless-
ings,” he said. “Wewill have totakeforwardthemantraofsabkasaath,sabkavikas,sabkavishwasandsabkaprayas.”Thanking Prime Minister
dynasty and nepotism”. “Onceagain,weneed to continuewiththeissuesofnationalism,security,development and good gover-nance, whichmade the peoplegiveus this hugemandate and itis our responsibility tomeet theexpectationsofpeople...BJPisgo-ingtocreatehistoryinUP,”hesaid.In 2017, theBJPhadwon312
seatsonitsown,withAdityanathemergingasasurprisepicktoleadthegovernment. This time, it fellwell short of that numberwith254 seats of its own, includingthreewhere thepartywas lead-ing late onThursday, in the403-memberAssembly.But it stillmanaged to short-
circuitthe“socialengineering”ofSamajwadiParty(SP),whichhadtiedupwithsmalleroutfitsinabidtoaddnon-YadavOBCs to its tra-ditionalbaseofYadavandMuslimvoters. Somuch so that theBJP’svote share increased from39.67percentin2017to41.3percent.As Adityanath stressed after
thewin,theonefactorthatdom-inated the BJP's campaign andworkedinitsfavourwastheissueof lawandorderwith voters ac-knowledging a sense of “surak-sha” (safety)under its rulewhencompared to the previous SPregime.Themasterstroke, however,
wasthedistributionoffreerationto the poor, which helped thepartydent theDalit votebankoftheBSPandundercuttheSP'sout-reachtoOBCs.AnotherCentralscheme--PM
KisanSammanNidhi--helpedre-buildtrustamongfarmersdespitetheyear-longagitationagainstthefarm laws and the LakhimpurKheri incident inwhich UnionMoS AjayMishra's sonwas ac-cused in thekillingof four farm-ers and a journalist. The SP’spromiseoffinancialhelpforeachfarmerkilledduringtheanti-farmprotestsdidnotwork.The state government also
worked onmega infrastructureprojects, including expresswaysandmedicalcolleges,evenastheruling party carried forward itsideologyofHindutva.AdityanathcelebratedDeepotsavonagrandscalein“newAyodhya”,andgavethetempletownanumberofma-jor infrastructureprojects.WhatalsohelpedwasModi laying thefoundationstoneoftheRamtem-ple in 2020 and completing theexpansion of the KashiVishwanathcorridorinVaranasi.TheBJP'sorganisationalwork
on the ground played a crucialrole,too.Thepartystartedadoor-to-door outreach amid Covidcurbs evenasOppositionpartiesstayed back. Over the past sixmonths, theBJP’s top leaders, in-cluding Adityanath and seniorministers, toured variousAssemblyseatstoinauguratede-velopment projects and lay thefoundationof infrastructural ini-tiatives.Apartfromsettingupelection
coordinationcommitteesineachseat,thepartyalsoorganisedsam-melansforrepresentativesofvar-iouscommunitiesinanoutreachtoOBCsandSCs.With a three-layer organisa-
tional structure, theparty got itsUnionministersandCentrallead-ers to cover all constituencies. Infact,beforetheannouncementofpolls,Adityanathhimselfvisitedatleast250constituencies,includingover 40 in a couple of months.Taken together, party leaders ad-dressedover399publicmeetings,nukkad sabhas and road showsduringitssix“JanVishwas”yatrasfromDecember19,2021,tillearlyJanuary.Thepartyalsodevelopedits ownnetwork system toholdvirtual rallies for amaximumof50,000peopleatatime.OnThursday,astheresultsre-
inforced the effort, Adityanathplayedholiwithotherpartylead-ers andworkers at theBJP officein Lucknow. “Humein josh kesaath-saath hosh ko banayerakhnahai (Wemust showpas-sionwhileretainingoursenses),”hesaid.
AAP’s winNearlyfiveyearslater,AAPhas
bounced back from infighting,massdesertionandlossesineverysubsequentpoll inthestatesincethen,toclaimthelargestmandatein recent years and trounce theCongress aswell as SAD. Itwas aclearmessage fromAAPonwhowasthenewbossinPunjab.Today,overeightyearsafterit
first emerged as a formidableforce inDelhi, AAPhasmarkedatectonic shift innational politics,winning92of117seatsinPunjabwithavoteshareof42.1percent,upfrom20seatsandavoteshareof23.7percentlasttime.AndbyequallingtheCongress
tally of two chiefministers, it isnowthethirdpoliticalpoleinthecountry at a timewhen regionalleadersarejockeyingtoemergeastheOpposition'sfaceforthe2024generalelections.On Thursday, the massive
marginsbywhichsomeofAAP'scandidateswon -- over 50,000
votesinnineseats--signalledthatPunjab's votershadoverwhelm-inglydecidedtooptforchange.ItalsoshowedthatAAP's line
of “Ik mauka Kejriwal nu, ikmaukaBhagwantMannnu”(onechance for Kejriwal, one chancefor BhagwantMann) had foundresonance with voters disen-chantedwiththetraditionaltwo-partypoliticsofCongressandSAD.“PehleDillimeininquilabhua,
phirPunjabmeininquilabhua,abyehinquilabpooredeshkeandarphailega(TherevolutioncametoDelhifirst,thenPunjab,nowitwillspread to the entire country),”ArvindKejriwal, AAP's nationalconvenor and Delhi ChiefMinister,said.Referring to allegations lev-
elledagainsthimduringthecam-paign, Kejriwal said: “Everybodycame together against AAP andsaid Kejriwal is a terrorist. Thepeople of the country have saidthatKejirwalisnotaterrorist,heistherealdeshbhakt(patriot).”EstablishedonNovember26,
2012, AAP first tasted success inPunjabbywinningfourseatswitha 24.4 per cent vote share in the2014 Lok Sabhapolls. In 2015, itreturnedtopower inDelhi, deci-mating theCongress and theBJPand triggeringhopes of replicat-ing its success in Punjabwhichwasheadedtopolls intwoyears.But thatwasnot tobe, as the
partyfinishedadistantsecondbe-hindtheCongress,whichwon77seats led by Captain AmarinderSingh.Subsequently,AAP'sdismalrecord in the 2019 general elec-tions,whenitsvotesharedroppedfrom23.7percentin2017to7.38percent,andthefailuretoputupadecentperformanceinby-pollsandlocalbodieselections,didnotinspireconfidence.Untilthemid-dle of 2021, no political punditwouldhavebeenconfidentof anAAPvictoryin2022.However,evenas itstruggled
toputitshouseinorderinPunjab,AAP had brought in some keystrategic changes in theway itfunctions.Aftersufferingadebacleinthe
2019 Lok Sabha polls in Delhi,whereallsevenseatswenttotheBJP,Kejriwaldialleddownhisag-gressivepublicutterancesagainstPrimeMinister NarendraModiand theBJP’s brandofmuscularnationalism. Instead, he focusedonAAP’sachievements ingover-nance,whiletakingstandsonhotbuttonissuesinlinewiththepub-lic mood and not shying awayfrompublicdisplaysofreligiosity.Thestrategypaiddividendsin
the formof a spectacular victoryinthe2020Delhiassemblypolls,which once again fuelled theparty’s desire to expand its foot-print inPunjab.Comparedtotheeuphoria of 2017,when the en-thusiasmof votersdidnot trans-late into votes, AAP took its timetorebuilditsgrassrootscadreandselectcandidates.Atthesametime,theCongress
infighting that broke out, withNavjotSighSidhu’schallengecul-minating in the sacking ofAmarinder as chief minister inSeptember2021,cameasaboon.Kejriwal didnot lose any time incapitalising on the situation,knowing that the SAD, too,wascompromised due to its initialpro-farmlawsstance.Withinamonthof the instal-
lation of Charanjit SinghChanniasthenewchiefminister,KejriwalwasinPunjabtomakethefirstofhis “guarantees” -- Rs 1,000 permonth as allowance forwomenandfreepowerupto300unitspermonth.Soon,AAPstartedlookinglikeaviablealternative,ridingthewave of Kejriwal’s promiseswhich by 2021-end includedtransformationof school educa-tionand freemedical treatment,or“padhai-dawai”(educationandmedicine).Even as AAP consolidated at
the ground level, itwas not freefrom internal turmoil. ItsmostpopularfaceinPunjab,BhagwantMann,startedgettinghissupport-erstogatherathishouseandde-mandthathebemadeitsCMface.Thepartyleadershiprelented.But what really worked for
AAPwasthetriedandtested“aamaadmi”approach--itsraisond’e-tre. Around noon on Thursday,some of AAP's winning candi-dates reachedMann’s house in-side a colony in Sangrur. But thepolicemen at the barricadeswouldnot let thempassbecausethey could not recognise them.OneofthosecandidateswasLabhSingh,amobilerepairshopownerfromUgoke village in Barnala --he had just defeated the ChiefMinisterofPunjab.
wewill surelywinGujarat. Butsomething has changed in thestateafterModi'selevation,whichmanifested in the form of thePatidar agitation, Una agitationandCongress'impressiveshowin
2017. But now, theCongress hascapitulated,leavingthefieldopenfor theAAP. TheAAPhas alreadymadesomedentsinthePatelbeltofSuratbywinning27seatsinthecivic body polls... the party hasgained a foothold in theSaurashtra belt,” a party func-tionarysaid.InDelhi, itwas the Congress
voter that shifted to AAP.WhenevertheCongressperformsrelativelywell,asitdidinthemu-nicipalpolls in2017, theAAPsuf-fers. This iswhyAAP sees awin-dowinHimachalPradesh,whichgoestovotebeforeGujarat.“The win in Punjab opens
doors for us in other states. In astate likeHimachal Pradesh,wesee anopeningas thePunjab re-sultsmake our campaignmorecredible. However, a lot ofworkremainstobedoneontheground.The politics of the hill state is acomplexmixofcasteandregionalmathematics,”saidapartyleader.On the party's immediate
agenda, is theRajyaSabhanomi-nations fromPunjab. Its choicesfor theUpperHouse inDelhi in2018--businessmanSushilGuptaand chartered accountant NDGupta--hadfacedbacklashoverthepreferencefor“outsiders”overseniorpartyleaders.“Aheadofthe2019LokSabha
polls,thepartyhostedjointralliesof theOpposition. But over time,wehaverealisedthatmostpartiesjustwanttodefeattheBJP.Webe-lievethatwillnothappenuntilanalternativevisionisofferedtothepeople. Coming together for thesakeofdefeating theBJPwithnoreal visionwill notwork.Our fo-cuswill primarily be onofferingthat vision,” said a senior AAPleader.AAP’snationalambitionisnot
new.Monthsafteritwon28seatsinDelhiin2013,itdecidedtocon-test from 400 seats in the LokSabha polls of 2014. It hadwonfourseats--alloftheminPunjab.Thepartythenrecalibrateditsex-pectations anddecided to focuson Delhi, where it won with athumpingmajority in 2015. In2019,itfieldedjust100LokSabhacandidates.“Withthe2014polls,wemade
ournationalambitionclear,butitwasnotbackedbyperformance.Thedifferencebetweenthenandnowisthatwenowhaveproofofconcept.Wehaveshownthepeo-ple that AAP canwin andwork.The Punjab verdict is proof thatpeoplearenowreadytotrustus,”saidaseniorpartyleader."Clean,efficient,withaproven
track record in governance, yetquintessentialoutsiderstakingonthecombinedmightoftheestab-lishment”--partyleaderssaythatit is this formulation that willmakeAAPstandout.
BJP in Goa"Wehad said this before and
wearesayingthisagain,thatevenifwegetfullmajority,wewilltakesomepeoplewith us. TheMGPhas given us a letter of support.Two of their MLAs and threeIndependents will be with us.Someothersmayalsojoinus,theBJP will form the governmentwithacomfortablemajority,"saidtheparty'sGoaelectionin-chargeDevendraFadnavis.ChiefMinisterPramodSawant
seemed set to return to the toppost, pulling off awinunder hisleadershipthatpartyleaderssaidwasbetterthanexpected."Inthelastthreeyears,thepartygavemetheopportunitytolead.Inthispe-riod,manyschemesoftheCentreandthestatewereimplemented,andIwasalsogiventheopportu-nityto leadtheelection.Wewon20 seats without an alliance. Ithank thepeopleof Goaandourcentralandstateleaders.Ourcen-tral observers of the parliamen-taryboardare expected toarrivetomorrow, afterwhichwewillstake claim to form the govern-ment,"SawanttoldmediapersonsonThursday.P Chidambaram, the
Congress's special election ob-server forGoa, said: "Weaccepttheverdictof thepeopleofGoa...Inseveralconstituencies,wehavelost by very smallmargins. Thewinningparty,theBJP,gotonly33per cent of the votes. The over-whelmingmajorityvotedagainsttheBJP, but their voteswere splitamongmanyparties,whichgavetheBJPtheopportunitytowin20seats".Intherun-uptothepolls,GFP
leaderVijaiSardesaiandtheTMChad given calls for a unitedOpposition,buttheCongressandAAP were unenthused. OnThursday, Chidambaram said:"Certainly,itwouldhavebeenbet-ter if a non-BJP front had beenforged... Therewere several diffi-cultiesinforginganon-BJPfront."TheMGP, whichwon three
seats in2017,wontwothis time;theGFP,whichhadalsowonthreein2017,wononly in Fatorda, theseatofitspresidentVijaiSardesai.Both thedeputy chiefminis-
ters in theoutgoinggovernmentlost their seats. Manohar
Ajgaonkar,whomoved fromtheMGP to the BJP in 2019, lost toCongress's Digambar Kamat inMargao; Chandrakant Kavlekar,whomoved to the BJP from theCongressin2019,losthisQuepemseat.Former CM and political
heavyweight Churchill Alemao,who was among the TMC's"winnable"candidates,losttotheAAP'sVenzyViegas inBenaulim.HehadwonfromBenaulimonanNCPticketin2017.BJP's Atanasio 'Babush'
Monserratewon the Panaji seatby716votes.UtpalParrikar,sonoflateDefenceMinisterandformerGoaCMManohar Parrikar,whocontested as an Independent af-tertheBJPchoseMonserrateoverhim,finishedsecond.Anothersignificantwinforthe
BJPwasinPoriem,aseat that theCongress has held for 45 years.Former Goa CM Pratap SinghRane'sexit fromthepoll fraycosttheCongressasRane'sdaughter-in-law,DeviyaRane,madeherpo-liticaldebut,winningtheseat forthe BJPwith the highest victorymarginof13,943.AmongthethreeIndependent
candidateswhobacked the BJPwasAleixoReginaldo Lourenco,who was earlier elected fromCurtorimconstituencythriceonaCongressticket..The Revolutionary Goans,
Uttarakhandwhile the Congress got 37.9 percent.In 2017, the BJP hadwon 57
seats, Congress 11, andIndependents2.TheBJP,whichhadfacedcrit-
icismforchangingthechiefmin-ister thrice in the last five years,hadannouncedDhamias itsCMface. But his defeat has now leftthefieldopen.BJPsourcesinDelhisaidwhileDhamienjoysthecon-fidenceof theparty's top leader-ship, including PrimeMinisterNarendraModi, he is unlikely tobenamedforthetoppostnow."ThePrimeMinisterhasavery
positive opinion about Dhami.But, inthepast,hehasexpressedhisobjectiontorenominatingde-feated leaders for key posts. Sotheremay be a change," said apartysourcefamiliarwiththede-velopment.Among the names that are
now doing the rounds areBansidhar Bhagat, amulti-termMLAand former state presidentof theBJP,DhanSinghRawat, anoutgoingstateminister,andSatpalMaharaj,alsoaministerintheout-goinggovernment."A decisionwill be taken by
thetopleadershipoftheBJPinthenational capital.Nodecisionwillbe taken before theirmeeting,"saidthesource.PartysourcessaidBJPgeneral
secretaryKailashVijayvargiya,sta-tionedinUttarakhandevenbeforecountingday,isexpectedtoarriveinDelhionFriday tomeet seniorpartyleaders.In Dehradun, asked who
would be the next CM,Vijayvargiya said on Thursday:"Wehaveinternaldemocracy.Wewill choose a legislature partyleader,hisnamewillbesenttotheparliamentary boardwhichwilltake the final decision. Nobodycan say at this pointwhowill bethenextCM,buttheBJPisformingthegovernment.Dhamijiisaveryimportant leader, not just of thestate,butof thecountry."VijayvargiyasaidDhami'sde-
feat remindedhimof aquote byShivaji on the death of his armychief -- "gad aala pan singh gela(wewonthefortbutlostalion)".Speaking tomediapersons at
the party office in Dehradun,Dhami said the BJP had buckedthe trend of alternate govern-ments in thehill state, andwrit-tennewhistory.Hesaidhisprom-ise to set up a committee ofexperts to formulate a draftUniform Civil Code (UCC) forUttarakhandwould be imple-mentedsoonaftertheBJPgovern-menttakesoath inthestate.Thiswasapromisehemadeonthelastdayof thepollcampaign.Meanwhile, former Chief
Minister Harish Rawat, whoheadedtheCongresscampaigninthestate,alsolosttoBJPcandidateMohanSinghBishtbyover17,000votesinLalkuwa.In the poll run-up, the
Congresshadfocusedonlocal is-sues like cheaper cylinders, jobs,monetary allowance to 5 lakhfamilies, better health facilities,and40percentquotaforwomenin government jobs. The BJP, ontheotherhand,hadraised issuesofnationalsecurity,armywelfare,and religious tourism, andhigh-lighted thework of its govern-mentsattheCentreandstate.TheAssembly elections held
on February 14 saw a voterturnoutof62.5percent.
ManipurtheBJP,whichwon21seats,wentallouttocobbleupalast-minutealliance,with thehelpof smallerparties such as the NationalPeople’s Party (NPP), NagaPeople’s Front (NPF) and a fewIndependents,thistime,thepartywillnotrequireanyhelp.TheBJPhasbeenabletodrive
hometherelativepeaceofthelastfive years in conflict-riddenManipur, a stark contrast to the15-year tumultuous Congressregime under the Okram IbobiSingh government, whichwasmarked by bandhs, blockades,and a sharp rise in extra judicialkillings. Besides, it is likely thatManipur,likeothersmallstatesoftheNortheast region, gravitatedto thepartywhich is inpowerattheCentre.As of 10 PM, the Election
Commission of India’s websitesaidtheBJPhadwon32seats.Themajoritymark for the 60-mem-berManipurAssemblyis31.Incumbent Chief Minister
Biren SinghwonHeingang, theseat that he has been holdingsince 2002, by a bigmargin of18,271 votes. Singh said, “Theremayhavebeen shortcomings inthepast fewyearsbutweassureyouthatthistimewewilldoubleoureffortstoclosethegaps...suchasdisparityindevelopmentinru-ralareasandhilldistricts.WewillalsopresstheCentralgovernmentto removeAFSPA fromManipurand also focus on creating em-ploymentopportunities,”the61-year-oldsaid.CMSinghhinted that theBJP
will have no truck with ally-turned-rival National People’sParty (NPP). Relations betweenConradSangma’sNPPandtheBJPsoured intherun-upto the2022elections.While theBJPmaynotneedtheNPP'ssupport,theparty,which leads the government inneighbouring Meghalaya, hasperformedconsiderablywell.Accordingtothetallyat10pm,
theNPP,whichpitched itself asastrong,regionalalternativetotheBJPandtheCongress,hadwoninsix seats andwas leading in 1—threemore than its tally in the2017elections–thoughitfacedabig upset with Deputy ChiefMinisterN Joykumar, the face ofNPPinManipur,losingtoBJPcan-didateKhRaghumaniinUripok.Reacting to the defeat,
ManipurCongressvicepresidentandspokesperson,KhDevabrataSingh told The Indian Express,“Weconcededefeatandwehon-ourtheverdict.Forus,itistimetointrospect.Weareobviouslylack-ingsomewhere;wherewedonotknow,butitistimeforustointro-spect,restructure,”hesaid.Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar’s
JD-U opened its account in thestate,winningsixseats.TheNagaPeople’s Front (NPF), the Nagapartypopular in thehill districts,hasmanagedtogetfiveseats.But among themost surpris-
ing developmentswas the per-formanceofthehomegrownKukiPeople Alliance (KPA), whichopened its account inManipur.Recognisedasapoliticalpartyjusttwomonths ago and formed torepresenttheinterestsoftheKukitribe inManipur, the partywonboth the seats it contested:SinghatinChurachandpurdistrictandSaikulinKangpokpidistrict.
Someyounger leaders, referringto the landslide AAP victory inPunjab,didarguethatthe“oldandjaded”needtomakewayforfreshblood.Many veterans, represented
by theG-23, said thiswas awe-told-you-so moment. “I amshocked,myheart is bleeding toseeourdefeatinstateafterstate,”saidCWCmemberGhulamNabiAzad. “Wegaveour entire youthand life to the party…I am surethat the party's leadershipwilltake note of allweaknesses andshortcomings which my col-leagues and I had been talkingaboutforquitesometime.”Party leader Shashi Tharoor,
meanwhile, reiteratedhiscall forleadershipreform.“Allofuswhobelieve in@INCIndia arehurtingfromthe results of the recent as-semblyelections.Itistimetoreaf-firm the idea of India that theCongress has stood for and thepositiveagendaitoffersthenation— and to reform our organisa-tionalleadershipinamannerthatwill reignite those ideas and in-spirethepeople.Onethingisclear-Changeisunavoidableifweneedtosucceed,”hetweeted.SourcessaidsomeG-23lead-
erswillmeet atAzad's residencetomorrow to chalk out the nextcourseofaction.The immediate concern,
sources said, is to keep thepartyunitedamidconcernsoverdefec-tionsandevenasplit.“We can’t keep arguing that
the BJP has won playing theHindu-Muslimcardor polarisa-tion.Wewill be deluding our-selves if we keep thinking so.WhereareMuslimsinPunjab?Or,for that matter Uttarakhand,ManipurorGoa?Itismuchmorethan that. Our leadership lackscredibility.Wehavetoacceptthatfact. But how canwe, given ourpartystructure,”ayoungCongressleadertoldTheIndianExpress.“PriyankaGandhi Vadra ad-
dressed209ralliesandroadshowsinUttar Pradesh alone. She andRahul Gandhiwent toHathras,raisedtheLakhimpurKherikillingof farmerstothehilt.Butnothinghasworked.We could not havedonemuch inUPgiven thecasteand religious polarisation. Thewomen-centric campaign camefromthatrealisation.Butitdidnottouchanychord.Itisasadrealisa-tion thatweandour leaders lackcredibilitywhichmakesitdifficultto convey our message,” oneleadersaid.“I am just completely foxed,”
said senior Congress leaderSalmanKhurshid.After Punjab, the challenge
comesfromtheAAPinHimachalPradesh, a leadersaid. “Therearemany seats there borderingPunjab. Therewill be an impact.Many of our leaders, includingMLAs,couldleavetheparty.Istheleadership aware of this chal-lenge? If theyare, are theydoingsomething? I really don't know,”hesaid.“Whileitishighlydisappoint-
ingandfrustrating,thedefeatwasnotunexpected.Thewaytheelec-tionwashandled....itwasnotun-expected,” formerMaharashtraChiefMinister Prithviraj Chavantold The Indian Express.“Everythingwentwrong. Therewasno intention to contest seri-ously...We should have foughtwith full strength likeNarendraModi andAmit Shah. Therewasconfusion in the organisation inPunjab by changing leadership.Our innings is almost coming toan end. But the future of young-sters in Congress is at stake,” headded.Many leadersquestioned the
leadership forwhat they calledthe “fiasco” in Punjab: thewayaCMwasremovedandthemannerinwhichNavjotSinghSidhukeptunderminingtheparty'sgovern-mentwith“nointervention”fromtheleadership.Accepting the defeat, Rahul
Gandhitweeted:“Humblyacceptthepeople’s verdict. Bestwishestothosewhohavewontheman-date.MygratitudetoallCongressworkers andvolunteers for theirhardwork and dedication.Wewill learn from this and keepworking for the interests of the
peopleof India.”Officially, thepartysaidithad
expected better results inUttarakhand, Punjab and Goa.Party spokesperson RandeepSurjewala earlier in the dayclaimed“emotionalissues”over-took “fundamental issues affect-ingthelivesofpeople”.Surjewalahadamessage forhis colleaguestoo. "If we break the branch onwhichwearesitting,thenthetree,the branch and the leaderswillalsofallashasbeenevidenttodayinsomestates,"hesaid.
INPUTSFROMYOGESHNAIK
Mandal, Mandirusedtomuchmorepowerfulef-fect using religion. They failed toconnectMandal to an agendaofgovernance.TheMandir project, on the
otherhand,hasaddedlayerstoit-self and grownmore expansive,intoHindutvaplus.Intheprocess,successfully drawing attentionawayfromitsownin-builtandes-sential divisiveness – theminor-ity's relegation and its exclusionfromstructuresofpowerandrep-resentation.Andtheforce-fittingof a diminished idea ofMuslimcitizenship -- inwhich they areseennot as bearers of rights butonlyasequalrecipientsofgovern-mentschemes.In awhole of many synced
parts,HinduassertionistheothersideofHinduinsecurity,Hindutvaishitchedtonationalismandna-tional security, and a “labharthi”politics that harnesses the ad-vances of governance and tech-nology to convert citizens intobeneficiaries,isaddedtothemix.The end result, as the BJP's
great success inUPdespite ram-pantberozgari(unemployment),ragingmehengai(pricerise),andunprecedented pandemic-in-duced distress shows, has beenthis:Hindutvacanliftitselfoffthegroundonthebackof “desh(na-tion)”and“dharma(religion)”ifaschememissesthetarget,apolicygoeswrong,andthegroundreal-ity becomes inconvenient andmessy.On the other side, its oppo-
nents remain grounded, scram-bling toput themselves togetherin bits andpieces. They lack thetranscendenceof the larger ideaorwhole.MandalandMandirarepolit-
icalprojectswithapast.Butnew-bie Aam Aadmi Party's break-through success in Punjab, itsbecomingthefaceoftheyearningforanalternativeinastateofgath-ering crises and congealed cyni-cisms, has affirmed that the im-pulse for changewill find away,onceitacquirescritical force.The AAP's journey has been
spectacular–itssuccesshascomeinaterrificallycompressedtime-frame.InitsveryfirstoutinginthePunjabAssemblyelectionof2017,it made a bipolar polity into athree-corneredone. Initssecondelection now, it has swept topower– inspiteof the fact that itlacksfeetontheground,hasmadevirtuallynoinroadsintheruralar-chitecture of power in compari-son to its entrenched rivals in apredominantlyruralstateandhasborrowed fromother older par-tiesmanyof itscandidates.TheAAP's success, fornow, is
intheair,anditschallengewillbeto build backwards – it has ac-quiredpowerfirst,andmustcon-struct anorganisation that takesitall thewaytothegroundlater.Lastly,theCongress.In2014,it
ruledninestates,it’snowreducedto only two – Rajasthan andChhattisgarh.TheCongress'scon-tinuingdiminishingwill reshapethepoliticalcontestatthenationallevel–it isnowtheBJPversusre-gionalforces,likethoseheadedbyMamataBanerjee,MKStalin.AndArvindKejriwal.Ifademocracydefinesitselfas
asystemthatcanthrowuparid-dle and spring a surprise, theCongress's uncheckedwaning,theBJP's second conquest of UP,andthetwinningoftheYogiphe-nomenonwithModi–afirstforapartywhichhassofarrevelledinpaintingModiaslarger-than-rest–may just havemade democ-racy'swork aheadof 2024morechallenging.
In thisepisode,wetalkabout thesanctionsonRussiaandGoaCongressopeninguptocoalitionsbeforetheAssemblyresults.Wealsobringyouthe latest fromUkraine’sSumy
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3THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MARCH11, 2022
THECITYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Outstanding contribution to the promotion of Social-Understanding and Upliftment of weakersections of Society.A published work or a mass movement, widely recognized and acclaimed, which has madeconsiderable impact on the quality of life of theweaker sections of society.Efforts towards integratingWeaker Sections into themainstreamof IndianSociety,working fortheir socio-economic and educational upliftment.
Government of IndiaMinistry of Social Justice andEmpowerment,
Dr. Ambedkar National Award 2022
THE AWARD IS GIVEN FOR
Dr.Ambedkar FoundationMinistry of Social Justice andEmpowerment, Government of India
Nominations can bemade byMinistries of the Govt of IndiaState Governments / Union Territory AdministrationsMembers of ParliamentPast recipient of the AwardFormer JuryMembers of the AwardVice-Chancellors of UniversitiesSocial Organisations andNon-Government Organisations
Nominationsmust be sent in the prescribed format either inHindi or English only.(Nominations received in other than prescribed proformawill not be entertained)Nomination form is available on thewebsite of the Foundation http://daic.gov.in/and https://socialjustice.nic.in/Hard copy of the application formduly recommended is to be sent to Director, Dr.Ambedkar Foundation, 9th Floor, Jeevan Prakash Building, 25, KGMarg, ConnaughtPlace, NewDelhi, Delhi 110001Soft Copy of the application formduly recommended is to be emailed [email protected] date for receipt of nominations – 27March 2022
Director
Dr. Ambedkar Foundation
There are threeAwards one eachunder the categories ofWomen,Man&
Institution/Organization, each carrying a cash prize ofRs. 10 lakhs and aCitation
Davp
38112/12/0006/2122
Nominations must be sent in the prescribed formateither in Hindi or English only. (Nominationsreceived in other than prescribed proforma will notbe entertained)Nomination form is available on the website of theFoundation http://daic.gov.in/ andhttps://socialjustice.nic.in/Hard copy of the application form dulyrecommended is to be sent to Director, Dr.Ambedkar Foundation, 9th Floor, Jeevan Prakashbuilding, 25, KG Marg, Connaught Place, NewDelhi, Delhi 110001Soft Copy of the application form dulyrecommended is to be emailed [email protected] date for receipt of nominations – 27th March2022
Government of IndiaMinistry of Social Justice andEmpowerment,
Members of Parliament of India, former recipients of Dr. Ambedkar International Award,former Members of the Jury, Speaker / Presiding Officer of National Legislature of othercountries, Bar Association of Supreme Court of India and High Court of each State / UT,Presidents and Vice-Chancellors of Universities, Professors of Political Sciences, History, Law,Economics, Sociology, Philosophy andNatural Sciences andHeads of IndianMissions abroad.
Dr. Ambedkar International Award 2022
WHO CAN MAKE NOMINATIONS
Dr.Ambedkar FoundationMinistry of Social Justice andEmpowerment, Government of India
Only recent work(s) shall be consideredWaging anexemplary fightagainst inequalityand injustice;Resolutely espousingthe cause of theexploited andunderprivileged;Contributingsignificantly to socialchange; andBringing aboutreconciliationamong conflictingsocial groups andserving the ideal ofsocial harmony andhuman dignity.
Director
Dr. Ambedkar Foundation
TheAward carries a cashprize ofRs. 1.5million (INR fifteen lakh) and a citation
THE DELHI State ElectionCommission (SEC) has sought legaladviceon if it canstill holdelectionsforthethreemunicipalcorporations.It was scheduled to announce theelection scheduleWednesday butdeferred it following a communica-tion from the Centre on the unifica-tionof the civicbodies.The Centrewill have tomake an
amendment to the DelhiMunicipalCorporation (DMC) Act to unify thethreemunicipalities— South, NorthandEastMCDs.
An official Thursday said the SEChadtimetoconducttheelectionsbe-forethetermoftheHouseofthelocal
bodies ends onMay 18, but wouldneedtoseeklegalopinion.Newmem-bershavetobeelectedbeforethisdate.“This is a completely unprece-
dented situation andwe have littleideawhat to do. That’s whywe aretrying to figure outhow todealwiththeentire situation, and ifweshouldconduct the polls. The electionprocesswilltakeabout30days,sowehavetoholdthepollsbyApril18.Butthere is also no point in holding it ifthe bill for reunification is passed inthemeantimesincetheelectionswillbecomeinfructuousthen,”hesaid.“Wehaveapproachedlegalexperts
way announcing a little bit ahead oftime, sowehave these extra days totakelegalopinionnow...,”hesaid.On Wednesday, State Election
CommissionerSKSrivastavahadtoldTheIndianExpresstheelectionswouldnotbepostponed:“TheCentreraiseda few issues that are yet to be legallyexamined by us, andwe cannot an-nounceMCDelectiondatesasofnow.Wewill take somemore days. Wehave to conduct the elections beforeMay18...Wearenotpostponingelec-tions. Ifatallunificationofmunicipalcorporations takes place beforeMay18,thenwehavetoexaminethesitu-ation. That’swhyweneed timeas ofnowtoseek legalopinion.”
DAYAFTERCENTREMOOTSUNIFICATION
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MARCH10
AFTER THREE patients withheart blockage died at RajivGandhi Super Speciality hospi-tal Monday, the Delhi govern-menthas setupa four-membercommitteetolookintothemat-ter.Thecommitteemembersin-
cludeDrMAGeelani, professorof cardiothoracic and vascularsurgery at GB Pant hospital; DrRanjit Kumar Nath, head of thedepartment of cardiology at DrRamManoharLohiahospital;DrGirishMP, professor of cardiol-ogy at GB Pant hospital; andDrAnkitBansal,assistantprofessorofcardiologyatGBPanthospital.Thecommitteeisyettomeet,ac-cordingtooneof themembers.RajivGandhiSuperSpeciality
hospital isoneof thethreeDelhi
government-run hospitals thatoffer cardiac care surgeries.Although the patients’ familieshad alleged that the hospitalused faulty stents, doctors fromthehospitalsaiditisnotpossiblesince two of the three patientswereverycriticalanddiedbeforethestentscouldbe implanted.“Theonlycommongroundis
that all the three patientsweretaken to the cath labof thehos-pital. Two of them succumbedevenbeforetheprocedurecouldbe performed,” said a doctorfrom the hospital, on conditionof anonymity.Stenting is a procedure
whereacylindricalhollowmeshis put inside the blocked vesseltoopen itup.Whendoneinanemergency
situation—likewhenapatientishaving aheart attack— thedoc-tors try to reduce the door toneedle time because the longerthe blockage remains themoretheheartmusclegetsdamaged.Twoofthethreepatientswho
died onMondayweremen be-tweentheagesof30and40years,whereas the third patientwas awoman above60yearsofage.Another doctor from the
hospital said, “This is just a po-litical gimmick now that themunicipalcorporationpollsareapproaching. The hospital hasbeen doing the procedure for afew years now and there havebeen no issues. It’s unfortunatethat three people died on thesame day so the inquiry hasbeenordered.”
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MARCH10
ONTHE39thdayof theirprotestinfrontoftheChiefMinister’sres-idence,demandinganincreaseintheir honorarium among otherthings, anganwadiworkershavesaid they are suspending theirindefinite strike for the timebe-ing after the Essential ServicesMaintenanceAct(ESMA)wasin-vokedagainstthembytheL-G.Delhi State Anganwadi
WorkersandHelpersUnionpres-identShivanisaid, “Despite theirrelentlessefforts,theBJPgovern-mentattheCentreandAAPgov-ernment inDelhi failed to sabo-tagethestrike.Finally, it is inthispanic that they havemutuallyagreedtoputasix-monthhalttothis unprecedented andhistoricstrike of anganwadiworkers us-
ingESMAwithhelpof theL-G.”ESMA is invoked to prohibit
strikingemployeesfromrefusingtoworkincertainessential serv-ices that are deemednecessaryformaintenanceofnormal life.Meanwhile, WCDMinister
Rajendra Pal Gautam wasdivested of his portfolioWednesday. TransportMinisterKailash Gahlot has been givenchargeofthedepartmentinstead.The decision was taken by
CMArvindKejriwalandgivenfi-nal approval by the L-G. In atweetWednesday, Gahlot said,“After taking over as theMinister of Women and ChildDevelopment, held a meetingwith the officers of the depart-menttoday.Iappealtoallangan-wadiworkersthatforthefuturebuildingandsocialdevelopmentof thechildrenofDelhi, letusallworkshoulder toshoulder.”
Govt sets up panel to review threedeaths of heart patients at hospital
2heldforscamminghundredsonpretextofgivingjobsNewDelhi: Two personshavebeenarrestedforal-legedlyposingasrecruit-ment agents and swin-dlingjobaspirantsonthepretext of providing em-ployment at different of-fices and institutes inDelhi.Policesaidtheyrana fake call centre for thisandevenhadanoffice atNetaji SubhashPlace.
PayDAMEPLbyMay31:HCtoDelhiMetroNewDelhi:TheDelhiHighCourt Thursday directedthe Delhi Metro RailCorporation (DMRC) topaythemoney itowestoReliance Infrastructure-promoted Delhi AirportMetro Express Pvt Ltd(DAMEPL) byMay 31 incompliance with the2017 arbitral award,which pertains to theDelhi Airport MetroExpressLine.
Woman’schainsnatchedGurgaon: Two unidenti-fied men allegedlysnatched a gold chainfromawomanwhile shewas returning to herhouse in Sector 40 onWednesday afternoon.Police said the incidenttook place around 1.40pmandtheyarecheckingCCTVs to trace the ac-cusedmen.ENS
BRIEFLY
New Delhi: Police arrested fivepersonsforallegedlyrobbingRs1.1 crore at Civil Lines. The ac-cusedhadallegedlytargetedtwoemployees of a businessman,andhit their scooterbeforerob-bing thematgunpoint.Nearly aweek after the inci-
dent,policearrestedthefiveafteridentifyingthemwiththehelpofCCTVsnearChandniChowkmar-ket.Aseniorpoliceofficersaidtheaccused had also donated Rs 1lakh of the robbed amount at atemplebutwereidentifiedusingtechnicalevidence.ENS
5 rob Rs 1.1 cr at gunpoint, held
0-50 Good
ANANDVIHARPoor
0 500
208AQIPM10
SIRIFORTModerate
0 500
SHADIPURModerate
0 500 500
51-100 Satisfactory 101-200 Moderate 201-300 Poor 301-400 VeryPoor 401-500 Severe
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Arabic Persian Research Institute, Tonk, Government ofRajasthan invites online bids for SUPPLY FOR FUMIGATION CHAMBER fromreputed agencies from 03.03.2022 to 14.03.2022. The detailed tender documentmay be downloaded from the following websites: https://sppp.rajasthan.nic.in,http://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in and http:maapritonk.nic.in.
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Details Description
1 Name & Address Name : DirectorAddress: Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Arabic PersianResearch Institute, Tonk, Rajasthan
2 Subject Matter ofProcurement
SUPPLY FOR FUMIGATION CHAMBER
3 Estimated ProcurementCost (EPC)
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4 Bid Security Rs.48,000/- (Rs. Forty Eight Thousand only) i.e. 2%of Estimated Procurement Cost DD in favour ofDirector, MAAPRI, Tonk.
5 Period of download ofBid Document
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Maulana Abul Kalam AzadArabic Persian Research Institute,
Tonk, Rajasthan
4THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MARCH11, 2022
THECITYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
WHATNEXTAFTERLANDSLIDEWINFORAAMAADMIPARTY
Taking the ‘Delhimodel’ to PunjabSUKRITABARUAHNEWDELHI,MARCH10
CONSULTATIONSWITH educa-torsandschooladministratorsinPunjab will be among the firstthingsontheagendafortheAAPgovernment in the state, as itlooks to replicate the ‘Delhimodel’ there.“Thefirstbigstepwillbecon-
sultations with stakeholdersthere to understand from themwhataspectsofDelhi’smodelareneededandcanbeimplementedinthestate.In2015,whenDelhi’snew government had come topower, CMArvind Kejriwal haddiscussionswithheadsofschoolsto understand from themwhatis to be done, and a similar con-sultative processwill take placeinPunjab.Themodelistherebutits adaptability in Punjab’s con-textwill have to be seen,” said asenior government functionaryworkingoneducation.Tobesure, thetaskathandis
onalargerscale—whileinDelhi,the government operates 1,067schools,inPunjabthereare19,144runbythestategovernment’sde-partmentofeducation.Butsomekeyschemesarelikelytoberepli-cated in the state — from con-structing new classrooms andintroducingthe‘mindset’curricu-lumtostartingresource-richspe-cialisationschools.Reformsineducationhavear-
guably beenAAP’smost signifi-cant poll plank, and all eyeswillbe on its performance in Punjabif ithopestoreplicateitselectoralsuccess inmorestates.In November, Kejriwal had
tweeted: “Punjab’s educationministerissayingthattheschoolsin the state are the best in thecountry and teachers are quitehappy.ThosewhoarehappywithPunjab’s schoolsandthecurrent
educationsystemcanvotefortheCongress.Thosewhowantabril-lianteducationsysteminPunjab,justlikeDelhi,shouldvoteforus.”Among the party’s biggest
achievementsinthefieldofedu-cation,severalDelhiAAPleaderssay, is “naye classroom banaana(creating new classrooms)”. In2015, thegovernmentschool in-frastructureinDelhiconsistedofaround24,000classrooms,whilean additional 20,000 have beenbuilt inthelast fiveyears.Thein-auguration of these classroomshave always been politicallychargedevents—whenKejriwalinaugurated 12,430 new ‘smartclassrooms’ lastmonth, he an-nounced,“Themanthesecorruptleaders call a terrorist has built12,430 classrooms today; he isfulfillingthedreamsofBabasaheband Bhagat Singh. These politi-cians can continue to call me aterrorist and Iwill continue ter-rorising their sleep by buildingworld-classschoolsandhospitalsfor the poor.” His commentscame in lightof allegations frompolitical rivals that he supportsseparatists inPunjab.AnareawheretheDelhigov-
ernment has struggled, though,ismaking teacher recruitmentsatthesamepaceasitsinfrastruc-tural expansion. For instance, of
33,087allocatedpostsforTrainedGraduateTeachers in its schools,17,271arevacant.Alargearmyofaround22,000guestteachersoc-cupiesaround1/3rdof thesanc-tioned teachingposts ingovern-mentschools.Infact,thisbecamea political flashpoint in the run-up to the Punjab polls whenKejriwal promised contractualteachers in Punjab that theywouldberegularisedincaseofanAAPvictory.ThisledtoaprotestinDelhibyguest teachers,whosaytheyhavebeenwaitingforregu-larisation since the AAPmadethemthatpromisein2017.In terms of the government
schools’shareof totalenrolmentofstudents,Delhifollowsthena-tional trend of increasing enrol-mentinprivateschools.Theshareof private schools in total enrol-mentof students inDelhihas in-creased from 30.52% in 2014-2015to42.65%in2019-2020.TheAAPgovernmentinDelhi
also frequently highlighted thatit’s been producing better passpercentagesinClass12Boardex-ams in its government schoolsthanprivate schools. As of 2021,Delhi government schools regis-tered a better pass percentagethanprivateschoolsinClass12forthe sixth year in a row. In 2021,with a historic high in pass per-centages across the countryow-ingtotheCBSE’salternateassess-mentscheme,Delhigovernmentschoolshad seenapasspercent-ageof99.96%,whileDelhi’sover-all pass percentage for the gradewas 99.84%. In 2020, privateschools hadapasspercentageof91.69%inDelhiEastand92.12%inDelhiWest, while governmentschools recorded97.68% inDelhiEastand97.91%inDelhiWest.However, the same has not
been true of its Class 10 resultsanditsstudentshave longstrug-gledwithmathematics and sci-
ence,resultinginlowerpassper-centages. In 2020, the class 10pass percentage increaseddras-tically to 82.61% from the previ-ousyear’s71.58%,ajumpthatwaslargely enabled by the fact that77% of government school stu-dents had opted for the board’snewoptionof‘basicmaths’asop-posedto ‘standardmaths’.Some of AAP’s most publi-
cisedandtalkedaboutinitiativesareits“reforms”initsschools.Thefirst of these was its ChunautischemeandMissionBuniyaadin2016,with a goal to strengthenfoundational learning at thepri-marylevel,afteritwasfoundthata very low number of childrenwho joingovernment schools atClass6couldreadtheirtextbooks.After targeted interventions, thenumber of children betweenclasses 3-5 inDelhi governmentschoolswhocoulddodivisionattheir grade level saw a jump ofnearly 35 percentage points,whilethesameincreasedbyover20percentagepointsforchildrenbetween classes 6-8. Readingabilityofchildrenalsosawajumpof20percentagepoints.But itsmost talked about in-
terventionhasbeenits‘HappinessCurriculum’, a social and emo-tional learning programme forprimary andmiddle school stu-dents,practisedinthefirstperiodeveryday.Thiswasintroducedin2018. Following this, thegovern-ment introduced twomorenewprogrammes—anEntrepreneur-ship Mindset Curriculum forclasses 9 to 12, andDeshbhaktiCurriculumforallgrades.Its newest foray has been in
setting up its own independentschool board, Delhi Board ofSchoolEducation,in2021,whichit started implementing via 31‘SchoolsofSpecialisedExcellence’forwhich it has tiedupwith theInternationalBaccalaureate.
SisodiahasoverseenabulkofeducationreformsinDelhi
New govt to meet school heads, assesshow key edu schemes can be replicated
ANONNADUTTNEWDELHI,MARCH10
FROMITS flagshipmohalla clin-ics to free tests and surgeries atprivatesectorfacilities,theDelhigovernment has invested heav-ily in the healthcare sector. Thehealthcare budget increasedfroman outlay of Rs 2,164 crorein 2014-15 to Rs 9,934 crore in2021-22, accounting for 14% ofthe total outlay for the year.Nationally, healthcare accountsfor less than2%of theGDP.The partywill hope to repli-
cate its successes once it formsthe government in Punjab,though tackling a significantlylargerstate is likelytobringwithitnewerchallenges.Thepartyhadmade twokey
promisesonthehealthcarefrontforthe2015elections—opening900newprimaryhealthcentresanddoublingthebedstrengthinDelhi government hospitals byadding10,000beds.Thegovern-ment,initsfirsttermitself,cameupwith the innovative conceptofmohallaclinicstoofferconsul-tation,medicines, and over 200labtests for free.The government planned to
setup1,000mohallaclinicsinthecity,sothatpatientscouldaccesshealthcarewithina1-kmradiusof their homes anddidnotneedtoqueueupinbiggerhospitals.Frommakingclinicsoncurb-
sides,underflyovers,andeveninshippingcontainers, thegovern-menthassofaropened500suchclinicswherethedoctorsareen-gagedonapay-per-patientbasis.These clinicshavebeenappreci-ated by the likes of former UNSecretary-General Kofi Annanand former director general ofWorld Health Organisation DrGroHarlemBrundtland.Butitshealthcarejourneyhas
notbeenwithout speedbumps.Thegovernmenthasmissedsev-eral deadlines for opening the1,000mohalla clinics, with theproject justmanaging to reachhalfway there so far. There stillexist pockets, especially inNortheastDelhi,wheretherearenogovernmentclinics.When it comes to doubling
the bed strength, by 2020, thegovernment was able to addabout2,000insteadofthenearly10,000promised. By2022,withthreemore hospitals becomingoperationalduringtheCovid-19crisis, another 2,200 beds havebeenadded.Thebiggest crisisDelhi faced
wasduringthepandemic,partic-ularly during the secondwavewhen sceneswerewitnessed ofpatients unable to get beds anddyingfor lackofoxygen.With the pandemic seem-
inglyinitsrear-viewmirrornow,the partywill hope to ensure asmooth rollout of its initiativesonceitentersPunjab.“Mohalla clinics is, of course,
the flagship healthcare pro-gramme of the AAP. But inPunjab, there is an urgent needtofocusontertiarycareaswell. Iwas in Ludhiana recently, and itissuchabigcity,butthereisonlyoneCivilhospital.Eventhatisnotwell stocked, no facilities areavailable. The population is de-pendent on the private sectorandthatisafailureofthegovern-ment. The situation is the same
almost all over Punjab,” said DrArunGupta, national convenor,Doctors forAAP,anorganisationofdoctorsthathasbeensupport-ingthepartyinDelhiandPunjab.Dr S S Deepti, professor of
community medicine fromGovernmentMedical College,Amritsar,said,“WehavegiventheAAP government a chance, let’sseewhathappens.”“Nearly70%ofthepopulation
in Punjab —nowmaybe a littleless as people are moving to-wards urban centres — lives intheruralareaandshouldbeabletogethealthcarebenefitsattheirdoorstep so that preventivemeasures can be taken, espe-ciallyfornon-communicabledis-easeslikediabetesandhyperten-sion.Nowwhetheritisamohallaclinicorasubcentreoraprimaryhealth centre, the services havetobeavailable.”
Free tests, freesurgeries, traumacareNot only primary care, the
Delhi government also focusedon improving access to tertiarycare inthecity.HospitalssuchasRajiv Gandhi Super SpecialityHospital,Tahirpur,andJanakpuriSuperSpecialityHospitalthathadbeenconstructedyearsagowereoperationalised by theAAPgov-ernmentwithinayearofcomingto power. Three new hospitalswereconstructedduringthetwotermsof theAAPgovernment inBurari, Ambedkar Nagar andDwarka, andopened theirdoorsto patients during the Covid-19crisis.Theywill soonstartseeing
up a free surgery scheme,wherein1,016surgical,123oncol-ogyand10neonatalprocedures,andsixmedicalpackagesthatareeitherunavailableatitshospitalsor have awaiting period of overonemonth canbedoneat listedprivate centres after a referralfromatreatingdoctor.The cost of the treatment is
borne by theDelhi governmentfrom its corpus, Delhi ArogyaKosh. After the second wave,when cases of the opportunisticfungal infectionmucormycosissurged in the city, the govern-ment included surgery for it un-derthescheme.Similarly, the Delhi govern-
ment set up a scheme for testslikeMRI and PET scans that arenot available readily in govern-ment sector hospitals, where areferral from a governmentclinic or hospital is needed forpeople to get it for free at listedprivate centres.The drawback, however, has
beenthatthegovernmenthasnotbeenable toupgrade its own fa-cilities,with largehospitals suchasGuruTegBahadurstilloperat-ingwithoutanMRImachine.The government has also set
up a scheme to pay for emer-gency treatment of victims ofroadaccident,fire,andacidattackat anyprivatehospital, providedthe incident took place inDelhi.Thiswasdonetoensurethatpeo-plereceivetimelytreatmentanddonothavetoreachgovernment
hospitals farther away just be-cause they cannot pay for thetreatmentataprivateone.
Ambulance services,health cardsThe AAP government has
also increased the ambulancefleet by 110, including 10 ad-vancedlifesupportambulances,and modernised the controlroomanddispatchsystemwithvehicles as well as vitals of pa-tients being tracked on a tabletin theambulance.Thegovernmentalsoopened
uptheambulanceserviceforanyemergency;earlier itwasmeantonlyforaccidentandpregnancy-relatedhospitalvisits.The government has also
madeheadway,alongsideapushby the Central government, todigitise health records of Delhiresidentssothattheyjustneedtotakeacardtoanyhospital ratherthanbulkyfiles.Thegovernmenthas already floated a tender forthesame.The cardswill first integrate
theDelhi government hospitals,then all government hospitals,andtheneventheprivatesector.Thecloud-basedhealthmanage-ment systemwill also help intracking logistics such as real-timeavailabilityofbeds.The Delhi government al-
ready created a version of thesame for Covid-19 beds duringthe pandemic. However, therehave been reports of the dash-boardnot reallybeing real-time,leading to patients not gettingbedsattheheightof thecrisis.
ABHINAVRAJPUTNEWDELHI,MARCH10
THEBJPhas swept eight seats inthe National Capital Region ofUttar Pradesh —Noida, Dadri,Jewar,Loni,Muradnagar,Sahiba-bad,Ghaziabad,andModiNagar.In six of the eight seats, BJP
candidates secured over 50%votes, signifying a clearwave insupportof theparty inNCR.TheSamajwadi Party-Rashtriya LokDal alliance failed togarner suf-ficientvotesandcamesecondinall eight seats.In Noida, Union Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh’s sonPankaj Singh won by a recordmargin — polling 70% of the
votes (2,44,319) in his favour—and defeating SP’s SunilChoudhary,whosecured62,806votes. Congress candidatePankhuri Pathak cameadistantthirdwith13,494votes.PankajSinghsaidthe“win is
dedicated to the people ofNoida”. “My goal has alwaysbeen,andwillbe,toworkforde-velopment and good gover-nance.Peoplehavevotedforde-velopmentandthetransparencyofYogiji’sgovernment.Thistime,wewillmakeUPaperfectstate.”InGhaziabad,BJP’sAtulGarg
secured close to 60% votes anddefeatedSP’sVishalVermawhopolledaround20%votes.InJewar,wheretheupcoming
Nagar Lok Sabha constituency—Dadri, JewarandNoida—andGhaziabad—Loni,Muradnagar,Sahibabad, Ghaziabad andModi Nagar — were held onFebruary10.OntheBJP’svictory,Noidares-
ident Parineeta Bajpai said thatwhile there were some issuessuch as problems in registrationof flats in the area, the over-whelming sentiment is that the
dent of Ghaziabad, said, “TherearedifferentreasonswhypeoplesupportedtheBJP.Theconstruc-tionof theNH-24, improvementofelectricityandsecurityworkedfor themiddle class while thepoor were attracted by rationschemes.Localcadrealsoformedaconnectwiththepeople.”JewarresidentLakmanChand
saidmanyinthevillagewereun-happyovernotgettingadequatecompensation for the land theygave in2018 for theairportproj-ect.“Butmanyalsosupportedtheparty over the sameproject as itwill lead to an increase in landpricesandboostemployment intheregion,”headded.
Noida to Jewar — in eight Uttar Pradeshseats falling in NCR, a BJP clean sweep
THERAILWAYSMinistryhasan-nouncedtoacceptthedemandsof job aspirants who hadprotested against recruitmentrulesearlier thisyear.It said the Railways would
shortlist unique candidates 20times the number of vacanciesinthenon-technicalpopularcat-egories (NTPC). Thiswould takethe total number of shortlistedcandidatestoaround7lakhfromthe current 3.84 lakh. Earlier,graduateswere also shortlistedfor jobs that needed Class 12 asminimum qualification alongwithbeingmarked for jobs thatrequired at least graduation asthe criterion. This had led towidespread protests amongthosewithloweracademicqual-ifications. They said thosewithhigherqualificationwereeatinginto their chance of landing aRailways job.Additionally, the Railways
alsoreverseditsearliernotifica-tion and decided that recruit-mentofLevel-1orGroup-Dem-ployeeswould happen throughonlyonecomputer-basedexaminsteadofatwo-stageexamina-tionprocess.The recruitment drive for
35,281 vacant posts in variouscategories ranging from juniorclerk,trainassistant,guard,time-keeper to stationmasterwas atthe centre of widespreadprotests in Bihar, Uttar Pradeshand Jharkhand earlier thismonth.The aspirants alleged that
while over seven lakh “applica-tions”were shortlisted, the ac-tual number of candidateswasaround 3.84 lakh, as the samepersonmight have been short-listed formore thanonepost.
The Railways also said thecandidates already announcedqualifiedwould continue to re-mainqualifiedandthelistof theadditional candidates gettingshortlistedwould benotified ateachpay level.It said the revised results of
all pay levelswouldbedeclaredbythefirstweekofApril,thesec-ond-stage computer-based test(CBT) for pay level 6 would beheld in May and the second-stage CBT for the other pay lev-els would be conducted after areasonablegap.In January, Railways
MinisterAshwiniVaishnawhadsuspended the recruitmentdrive as protests and violencespreadtovariouspartsofNorthIndia,notablypoll-boundUttarPradesh. A committee of offi-cials was formed to review thewhole process in consultationwithprotestingstudentstogivethem a patient hearing. Thecommittee had received overthree lakhsuggestionsandrep-resentations.After the announcement,
severalonlinetutorialchannels,which prepare job aspirants forsuch kinds of recruitmentprocesses,welcomedthemove."It has been decided to fol-
low revisedmethodologywithspecial conditions for conductof computer-based test forLevel-1 due to elimination of2nd stage CBT etc. This will in-volve mobilising of additionalinfrastructure and logistics toconduct CBT for Level-1 withsignificant increase in per shiftrequirement. Efforts will bemade to have the exam con-ductingagencyonboardtocon-ducttheCBTforLevel-1asearlyas possible. Hence, CBT forLevel-1 is planned to be heldtentatively from July 2022 on-wards,” theRailwayBoardsaid.
5THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MARCH11, 2022
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
GOVT& POLITICS
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MARCH10
CHIEF JUSTICE of India NVRamana on Thursday said thatoutofatotalof37womencandi-dates recommended by theSupreme Court Collegium forappointment as high courtjudges, only 17 have been ap-pointed so far, while the rest ofthenamesarependingwiththecentral government.“Forthehighcourts,wehave
recommendedsofar192candi-dates.Outof these, 37, that is 19per cent, were women. This iscertainly an improvement overthe percentage of incumbentwomen judges in high courts,which stands at 11.8 per cent.Unfortunately, so far only 17 of
the37womenrecommendedtohigh courts were appointed.Othersarestillpendingwiththegovernment,” the CJI said in hisaddress at an online event tomarkthefirst-ever'InternationalDayofWomenJudges'.Underliningtheneedformore
womenrepresentationinthepro-fession, theCJI called for reserva-tionof girls in legal education. “Iamastrongproponentofaffirma-tive action. To enrich thepool of
talent,Istronglyproposereserva-tionforgirlsinlegaleducation.Thedataproves suchaprovisionhasyieldedencouragingresultsinap-pointingwomen judicial officersatthedistrict level.”The United Nations General
Assembly had, on April 28 lastyear, resolvedtomarkMarch10of every year as InternationalDayofWomenJudges.Indiawasamong the nations that spon-soredtheresolution,whichwasmovedbyQatar.JusticeRamanasaid,“Thele-
galprofessionstillremainsmaledominated, with severe under-representation of women.” Headded that the recognition ofMarch10asInternationalDayofWomenJudges“isanimportantstep to create awareness andmobilisepoliticalwill”.
TheCJIsaidheis“whollycon-sciousofthesystemicprejudiceswomenhavebeenfacing,partic-ularly in Indian society” andpointedoutthat“oneofthemainreason for the continuing battleof women in spite of acquiringsufficientskillsandknowledgeisthelackofadequaterepresenta-tionat thehelmofaffairs”.JusticeRamanasaid that “the
presenceofwomenasjudgesandlawyers,willsubstantiallyimprovethe justice delivery system. ThepresenceofwomenontheBenchand in the Bar hasmore than asymbolic importance.Theybringtothelawadifferentperspective,one that isbuiltupon their expe-rience.Theyalsohaveamorenu-ancedunderstandingofthediffer-ingimpactsthatcertainlawsmayhaveonmenandwomen”.
KRISHNKAUSHIKNEWDELHI,MARCH10
PAKISTAN THURSDAY claimedan unarmed Indian supersonicmissile took off from Sirsa andlandedataplace124kmwithinPakistani territory onWednesday evening. Themis-sile, itsaid,wascruisingatanal-titudeof40,000feetandendan-gered passenger flights in bothIndian and Pakistani airspace,and also civilians and propertyontheground.Therewasno response from
eithertheIndianAirForceortheMinistry of Defence on thePakistanclaim.At a press conference
Thursdayevening,MajorGeneralBabar Iftikhar, Director General,Inter-Services Public Relations(ISPR)ofPakistaniArmedForcessaidat1843hoursonMarch9,“ahigh-speed flying object waspickedupinsideIndianflyingter-ritorybyAirDefenceOperationsCentreof thePakistaniAirForce.Fromits initial course theobjectsuddenlymaneuvered towardsPakistani territory and violatedPakistan's airspace ultimatelyfallingnearMiaChannu.”Therewere nohuman casu-
alties.While therewerenosen-sitive installations in the areawhere it landed, a wall did fall,thePakistanmilitarysaid.According to a 2005 agree-
mentbetweenIndiaandPakistan
onpre-notificationof flight test-ing of ballistic missiles, eachcountryhastonotifytheotheratleastthreedaysinadvanceoftheflight test itwants to undertakewhethersurface-to-surface,landorsealaunchedmissiles.Itfurtherstatesthatlaunchsitesshouldnotfallwithin40kmfromeithertheInternational Boundary or theLine of Control and the plannedimpactareashouldnotfallwithin75km.Pakistani Air Force, Major
General Iftikhar said has “initi-ated requisite tactical actions inaccordance”with the StandardOperatingProcedures.“Whatever caused this inci-
dent to happen, it is for theIndians to explain,” he said.
Pakistan “strongly protests thisflagrant violation and cautionsagainst recurrence of any suchincident in future”,hesaid.SpokespersonforPakistanAir
Force Tariq Zia the object “waspicked up at a high-altitude of40,000 feet andwas travelingata speeding axis ofMach2.5 andultimatelyMach 3.” He said thetotal distance it travelled insidePakistanwas 124 km, and fromthe total flight time of 6minute46 seconds till it hit the ground,itwas inPakistani territory for3minutesand44seconds.“While we have recovered
the debris…we can so far de-duceitwasasupersonicmissile,an unarmedmissile. Details areyet tocome,”hesaid.
After protests, Rlysmakes changes inrecruitment process
Pak claims unarmed Indianmissile landed on its soil
CJI for greater women share in judiciary
DELHICONFIDENTIAL
LOOKING AHEADONAdaytheBJPwonbiginfourofthefiveAssemblyelections,thegrandestvictorywas inUttarPradesh,where theparty re-tainedpowerwithaclearmajority. Inhisvictoryspeech,UttarPradeshChiefMinisterYogiAdityanaththankedPrimeMinisterNarendraModiseveraltimes.However,inhis45-minutespeechat theparty's headquarters inDelhi, thePrimeMinister spokeabout several topics, and even said how itwould lead to theparty's victory in the2024general elections. ButModididnothighlightanyofthechiefministersof thefourstateswherethepartywon,beatinganti-incumbency.
FACING HEATAFTERCONGRESS'SdisastrousperformanceintheAssemblyelections,many of the central leaders have come under at-tack. Some like the party's Lok SabhaMP Jasbir Bill have ar-gued that AjayMaken, whowas the head of the screeningcommittee topick candidates in Punjab, andAICC in chargeof thestateHarishChaudhary,willhavetodoalotofexplain-ing for theparty's rout. Someother leaders arepointing fin-gers at AICC general secretary in charge of organisation K CVenugopal, considered one of the keymembers of RahulGandhi's core team.Someof the leadersof theG23, too, feelhis head should be the first to roll. AICC in charge ofUttarakhandDevenderYadav isanother targetof attack.
ONLINE CELEBRATIONSAS SOONas it became clear that the partywas on course toscripthistorybywinningPunjabwithastupendousmajority,theAAP'ssocialmediateamstartedchurningoutmemesandreelsacrosssocialmediaplatforms.Settotrendingsongsandtunes, such as “kehndi hundi si” and “kancha badam”, theposts, featuring party supremoArvind Kejriwal and PunjabCMdesignateBhagwantMann,garneredthousandsofviewsand likeswithinhours.
New Delhi
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MARCH10
WHAT DOES the BJP’s win inUttar Pradesh signify?Will theAAP now qualify as a nationalparty after winning in Punjab?How will the results impactGoa?The results of the Assembly
election in five states — UttarPradesh, Punjab, Goa, ManipurandUttarakhand—havethrownopen the door for bigger ques-tions on governance, electionstrategies andwhat lies aheadfor the people and the partiestheyhaveelected.Howwill the results change
the dynamics on the ground—for both thewinning and losingsides?What do theymean for2024, when India votes in thegeneral elections?What do theresultsmeanfortheBJPgovern-mentattheCentre?Will itmarka shift inhowelections arewonand lost?What will be the im-pactof these resultson thenext
setofAssemblyelections?Tointerprettheresultsandto
answersomeofthesequestions,there are fewbetter than SuhasPalshikar,oneof India'sforemostpolitical scientists and a regularcontributor to The IndianExpress'sOpinion section. Chiefeditor of 'Studies in IndianPolitics', he taught political sci-ence at Savitribai Phule PuneUniversity.He is also co-director of
Lokniti Programme onComparativeDemocracy,Centrefor Studies in DevelopingSocieties. Palshikar, who has, inrecentdays,writtenabouthowaunitarianpoliticalvisionposesathreattothefederalcharacterofIndia,hasauniqueabilitytocon-textualise day-to-day politicaldevelopments and governanceissues and situate them in thebroad canvas of India's compli-catedpoliticalhistory.On Friday, hewill be in con-
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E-auction Sale Notice for Sale of Immovable Assets under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement ofSecurity Interest Act, 2002 read with proviso to Rule 8(6) of the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002.
Notice is hereby given to the public in general and in particular to the Borrower(s) and Guarantor(s) that the below described immovable property mortgaged/charged to the Secured Creditor, the CONSTRUCTIVE/PHYSICAL POSSESSION of which have been taken by the Authorised Officer of State Bank ofIndia, the Secured Creditor, will be sold on “As is Where is”, As is What is” and “Whatever there is” basis on 29.03.2022 (Tuesday). Other detials of thee-auction are as under:
2nd Floor, Patna Main Branch Building, West Gandhi Maidan, Patna- 800001Ph. No. (Office): 0612-2219043, 2219385, Fax: 0612-2219385, E-mail: [email protected]
STRESSED ASSETS RECOVERY BRANCH
AUTHORISED OFFICERSTATE BANK OF INDIA, SARB, PATNA
Date : 10.03.2022Place : Patna
Sl.No.
Name ofBorrower(s)
Amount ofDemand (asper SARFAESI
notice) Description of the property
Name ofMortgagor/Guarantor
Date of13(2)Date of13(4)under
SARFAESIAct
Reserve Pricebelow whichthe propertywill not be sold
EMDBid IncrementAmount
1. Sri PramodSingh S/o SriBadri Singh
` 15,52,772.00as on 19.05.2020with further Interestfrom 20.05.2020plus other charges,
costs etc.
Equitable Mortgage of all that plot of land vide Deed No.4892dated 12.04.2010 measuring 9 Decimal in the name ofSri Pramod Singh S/o Badri Singh under Mauza-Kajhaon,Pargana & sub-Registry Office-Sasaram, Thana No.336,Halka No.08, Khata No.34, Plot No.115, Thana-Shivsagar,Distt-Rohtas. Boundary: North: Niz Vikreta, South-Chhawar,East-Dharm Singh, West-Kanhaiya Singh.
Sri PramodSingh S/oBadri Singh(Mortgagor)
19.05.202006.10.2021
`4,97,000/-`49,700/-`10,000/-
2. Smt. PoonamDevi W/oSri ChhathuRam and SriChhathu RamS/o Sri NarayanRam
` 26,31,728.00as on 16.01.2021with further Interestfrom 17.01.2021plus other charges,
costs etc.
Equitable Mortgage of all that part and parcel of the property inthe name of Smt. Poonam Devi W/o Chhathu Ram vide SaleDeed No.7157 dated 28.05.2014 situated at Mauza-Makrain,Khata No.13, Plot No.837, Ward No.09/11, PS-Dehri (146),Anchal-Dehri, District-Rohtas, Sub-Registry Office-SasaramArea-10 Dhur (1.5625 Decimal). Boundary: North-Baiju Ram,South-Rasta 6' then Ramjanam Mahto, East-Niz, West-Krishna Prasad.
Smt. PoonamDevi W/oChhathu Ram(Mortgagor)
21.01.202125.06.2021
`19,50,000/-`1,95,000/-`10,000/-
E-AUCTION SALE NOTICE FOR SALE OF IMMOVABLE PROPERTIES
E-auction Terms and Condition1. Date & Time of e-auction: 29.03.2022 (Tuesday); Time: From 01:00 P.M. to 04:00 P.M. with unlimited extension of 10 Minutes each.2. The auction sale will be "online through e-auction". The intending Bidders/Purchasers are required to participate in the e-Auction process at e-AuctionService Provider's website https://mstcecommerce.com/auctionhome/ibapi/index.jsp.
3. The Detailed Terms and Conditions of e-auction sale is available on the website: https://sbi.co.in/web/sbi-in-the-news/auction-notices/sarfaesi-and-others.This publication is also a 15 days notice to all the borrower/guarantors require under Rule 8(6) of Security Interest Enforcement Rules, 2002.
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THEMINISTRY of External Affairs(MEA) on Thursday told the DelhiHigh Court that it would facilitatefresh postmortemof India’s envoyto PalestineMukul Arya,who diedin Ramallah on Sunday, in accor-dancewiththewishesofhisfamily.Hisfamilyhadearlierapproached
the court, seeking inquiry into the“suspicious circumstances” underwhichhediedandprayedforconsti-
tutionof apanelof doctorsatAIIMSforhispostmortemonarrivalinIndia.During the hearing of the case,
the counsel representing the fam-ily told the court that theywouldnot be pressing for inquiry at thisstage andwould be satisfied if thepostmortemwasvideo-graphed.In the order, Justice Rajnish
Bhatnagarsaid:“Lookingatthefactsand circumstances… let the post-mortembevideo-graphedand thesamebemadepartof the record.”In a petition before the court,
Arya’smotherRoshanLalAryasaid
she disputed the PalestinianMinistryof Justice’sreportinwhichthecauseofthedeathofhersonhadbeencitedas‘myocardialinfarction”.Arya, 37, had joined the Indian
ForeignService in2008and startedserving as India’s representative atRamallah inApril 2017. Hehad lastvisitedhis family in India in Januarythis year and spoken to them onvideocallfromPalestineonMarch3.According to the petition, there
was no contact between Arya andhisfamilyinIndiabetweenMarch3andMarch 6, the date hewas de-
clareddead.Followingthedeath,thepetitionstatedthefamilymademul-tiplerepresentationstothegovern-ment agencies alleging “foul play”butdidnotreceiveanyresponse.“The deceased’s body is due to
arrive in India from Ramallah atPalestine. Ithasalreadybeenoveraweek from the death of the de-ceased.Itisimperativethatasecondpostmortem is conduct(ed) at theearliest inorder toascertain theac-tualcauseofdeathof thedeceased,before the body decomposes anyfurther,”arguedthepetition.
External Affairs Minister SJaishankar on Sunday tweeted:“Deeplyshockedtolearnaboutthepassing away of India’sRepresentative at Ramallah, ShriMukulArya.Hewasabrightandtal-ented officerwith somuch beforehim.Myheartgoesouttohisfamilyand lovedones.OmShanti.”MEAspokesmanArindamBagchi
said: "Wehave seensome irrespon-sible comments on the death ofMukulArya.Hediedofnaturalcauses.Weurge that thedemiseof ayoungdiplomatbetreatedwithrespect.”
Suhas Palshikar toexplain results today
Will get fresh autopsy done, MEA tells HC
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,MARCH10
A DAY after a picture ofMuhammad Ali Jinnah, thefounder of Pakistan, was seenamongthepicturesof200“em-inent persons” (vyakti vishesh)withrootsinGujarat, featuredatan exhibition organised by theRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS) at the venue of its annualthree-daymeet, itwasremovedonThursday.The Sangh’s annualmeet is
scheduled to be held at ShreeNishkalanki NarayanTirthdhamPrernapith inPirañavillage of Ahmedabad fromMarch 11 to March 13. RSSchief Mohan Bhagwat and BJPchief JP Nadda are among thetop leaders attending theclosed-door event.Ahead of the meet, the RSS
Gujarat Prant on Thursday in-auguratedanexhibitiondepict-ing the culture and history ofGujarat toa cquaint the 1,248representatives of the Sanghwhoarrived fromall over Indiawith the culture and history ofthe state.The Indian Express on
Thursdayreportedthatapictureof Jinnah, whose family be-longed toMoti Paneli village inRajkot,wasamong200eminentpersonsfromGujarat.However,the picture was removed fromthe exhibition on Thursday atthe timeof its inauguration.
THERETURNofYogiAdityanathasChiefMinisterinUttarPradeshafterafullfive-yeartermnotonlymarksawatershed in thestate’spolitical history but, alongwiththe BJP’s victory in three otherstates, upends the party’s na-tionaltrendof lossesinstatesaf-terNarendraModitookchargeattheCentre in2014.In effect, it secures for the
party the pole position in na-tionalpoliticsbasedonelectoralaffirmation for its governancerecord.Since2014,theBJPhaslostits
incumbent governments inMadhya Pradesh, Rajasthan,Chhattisgarh,Maharashtra andJharkhand while scrapingthroughinHaryana.ItdidcobbleupnumbersinMadhyaPradesh,overturningtheKamalNath-ledCongressgovernment in2020.“We have broken that jinx
now,” saidasenior leader, “thatwe cannot retain power in thestates under the new politicalscenario.”“Uttar Pradesh has given a
mandatetotheBJPin2014,2017,and2019.It ishistoricsince1985and the thread we can weaveintothisisthevictoryof thenewnarrative of development,wel-fare,youthopportunitywithoutdiscrimination,safetyandsecu-rityand lawandorder. Itprovesthe trust the party has built-inwhich forced the pro-incum-bency wave,” said RajeevChandrasekhar,whowaspartofthe BJP's campaign strategyscheme.Karnataka Chief Minister
Basavaraj Bommai saw theout-comeas settinganewcourse innational politics, whichwouldmake the “India concept” ofPrimeMinister Modi a reality.“The pro-incumbency factorcomeswhen the people under-standtheleaderandtheyfeelthehonesty of the government.What we saw today is a pan-Indiamandate–fromGoainthedeep south to central UttarPradesh toManipur in the easttoUttarakhandinthehills. Italsogiveshintsonwhat iscomingin2024,” Bommai told The IndianExpress. “It has a positive bear-ing on us in the Karnataka unitandwewill work hard to reachthe people's programmes tothemat theground.”SaidaseniorCabinetminis-
ter: “Wehaverecognisedanewvotebank – women and lab-harthis (beneficiaries) to sup-port us. They have taken thiselection beyond caste and reli-gious lines. The BJP president,even in a meetingWednesdayevening, had reiterated that ifthe partywins, it would be thedawnofanewpolitics in Indianelectoral history.”According to Bhupender
Yadav,Unionministerandasen-ior BJP leader, the pro-incum-bency factor came into play be-cause the people wanted tocontinuethepro-poorpoliciesoftheModi government. “Peoplewanted double-engine govern-ments so that they can benefitthemaximumout of them. It isanapprovalof thepoliciesof theModi government that it had inthepast sevenyears,”hesaid.Ahead of the elections, the
BJP mobilised and conductedseveralroundsofmeetingswithbeneficiaries from the boothlevel to the district level – a po-tential 25-crore support base atthe national level, according totheparty.UnderthePMGareebKalyan
Anna Yojna, started during theCovid-19 pandemic, there areabout 150million beneficiarieswho receive free ration everymonth, party leaders said. Theparty also reached out with itsdigital campaign to 5.5 crore oftheestimatedtotalInternetpen-etrationof8.3crorepeopleinUP,sources said.The victory inUttar Pradesh
could reshape the power equa-tions inside the party. “It is thefirst time a Chief Minister isemergingsopowerful intheBJPinitsnewform.Yogiisreturningtopowerinthebiggeststateandthe vote share has gone up bytwo percentage points (from39.67 % to 41.6 % ) which willmake him a very powerfulleader, elevating him to a na-tional level. Hewill be themostsought-after campaigner now,”admittedaseniorparty leader.Although resentment and
anger over joblessness amongthe youthwas palpable on theground in Uttar Pradesh, theAkhilesh Yadav-led SP did notappear to enjoy the trust of thevoters as an alternative to YogiAdityanath.Nordid the SPhavethe partymachinery or organi-sationnetworktocashinonandtransformit intovotes.WhiletheBJPcadrewasmo-
bilised andmotivated by seniorpartyleaderandHomeMinisterAmit Shahwho has a consider-able hold over theorganisation,ModiandYogicashedinontheirpublic connectandpopularity.According to a party leader,
theOpposition's failure inmo-bilising people on the groundalsomadeBJP'svictorieseasier.“While the Opposition madepolitics an electoral affair, theBJP is on the ground24X7X365,” said the leaderwho has been in charge of BJPin a number of states.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MARCH11, 2022
7 VERDICT 2022U T T A R P R A D E S H ● P U N J A B ● U T T A R A K H A N D ● G O A ● M A N I P U R
Yogi createshistory for BJPas Congress, BSPflunk poll math
AMILBHATNAGARLUCKNOW,MARCH10
EVEN AS the Samajwadi Party(SP) only came in second to theBJP in the Uttar PradeshAssemblyelection,theSP'swest-ernUPally,theRashtriyaLokDal(RLD), emerged with a crucialperformance.RLDfieldedcandi-datesin33seats inalliancewithSP, and managed to win eightseats. As per ElectionCommission (EC) figures till 8pm, the RLD had nearly 3 percent vote share. It has alsoemerged as the fourth largestparty in the state ahead ofCongressandBSP.In the 2007 UP Assembly
elections, RLD hadmanaged towin10 seats, and followed it upwithnineseatsinthe2012elec-tions. Since then, however, RLDhas suffered crushing blows,with the lateAjit Singh—fatherofcurrentpartypresidentJayant
Chaudhary — losing in parlia-mentary elections held follow-ingtheMuzaffarnagarriots.Theriotspavedthewayforrisingdif-ferences between Jats andMuslimsintheregion,andwest-ernUPresidentssayJatcommu-nities and khaps remained an-gry with Ajit Singh since then,which further impacted thepartyasawhole.Thepartywasreducedtojust
one seat in the 2017 Assembly
elections,gettingavoteshareofjust around1.5percent.In May last year, Ajit Singh
died after testing positive forCovid-19, and Jayant was ap-pointed party president. Jayantthen heldmeetingswith votersand leaders inwesternUP in anattempt to gain lost groundaheadoftheAssemblyelections.The SP-RLD alliance was an-nounced inDecember lastyear.However, from 2020 itself,
Jayant's position as a leader ofthe RLD was on the rise. Thatstartedwith his visit toHathrastomeetthevictimofagangrape.Hewas lathi-charged by policeduringhisvisit,andimagesfromthe incidentmobilised supportwithinRLDcadres.When the farmers’ protests
beganattheDelhiborder, Jayantraised the issue aggressively inwesternUP.Massive rallies andmahapanchayats were organ-ised in support of the farmers,primarily Jats, in which he at-tacked the government on theissues of farm laws and sugar-canedues.Thousandsofpeopletook part in gatherings organ-isedbytheRLD,andmanycametoviewJayantasthespittingim-age of his grandfather,Chaudhary Charan Singh, whowas one of themost influentialfarmer leaders in the country.Withthecentralgovernment
going back on the farm laws,Jayant claimedmoral victory,
further cementing his image asfarmers’ leader.AstheSP-RLDalliancebegan
campaigning in western UP,crowds gathered in large num-bers to see Jayant alongside SPleaderAkhileshYadav.When the results came out
onThursday,RLD’sAshrafAlide-featedstate sugarcanedevelop-ment minister Suresh Rana inThana Bhawan constituency.RLDalsomanagedtowinShamliandthreeseatsinMuzaffarnagardistrict—Puraqazi(SC),BudhanaandMeerapur —which have asignificant Jat population, hint-ingatvoteconsolidation.The party also benefitted
from Muslim support, asGhulam Mohammad, an SPleaderwhofoughtonRLDticket,won from Siwalkhas, the con-stituency of Chaudhary CharanSingh. This is the same regionwheredifferencesintheallianceemergedaftertheticketwasnotgiven toa localRLDcandidate.
SHYAMLALYADAVNEWDELHI,MARCH9
YOGI ADITYANATH is the firsteverchiefministerinthehistoryof Uttar Pradesh's electoral pol-itics to win a consecutive termforhispartyaftercompletingfullfiveyears inoffice.Though the Congress-led
governments had repeatedthemselves in the past but nochief minister got it after fulltermasthepartyreplacedthembefore the elections — GB Pantwas replaced by DrSampurnanand in 1957; CBGupta replaced DrSampurnanand in 1962; HNBahuguna took the baton fromKamlapati Tripathi after a briefperiod of President's rule in1974; and ND Tewari replacedSripati Mishra in 1985. Two oftheYogi'spredecessorsAkhileshYadav (SP, 2012-17) andMayawati (BSP, 2007-12) hadalsocompletedtheirfulltenure-sas chief ministers, but theycouldn't bring their respectiveparties to power again.Mayawati was the first chiefminister in the state to havecompleted full term.It looks plausible that a cer-
tain percentage of BSP votesshifted towards the BJP thatbagged 41.45 per cent votes —highestevervoteshare forapo-liticalpartyintheAssemblypollssince1993.The slide of the Congress
continuedas ithasgotonly twoseatswithitsvoteshare(2.33percent)remainedlowerthaneventhe Rashtriya Lok Dal (2.87 percent). The party (Congress) hadbagged 6.25 per cent votes in2017,11.63percentin2012,8.61percentin2007,8.96percentin2002,8.30percent in1996,and15.08 per cent in 1993. TheCongress fought the 2022 as-sembly polls under the leader-ship of party general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi but all her ef-forts seemtohavewent invain.BSP chief Mayawati was
vowingtorepeathermuch-cel-ebrated social engineering of2007, but her party ended up
bagging one of the lowest voteshare figures (12.88 per cent)ever, and also the lowest num-berof seats (1). Shekept chang-inghercandidatesandthewideperceptionwasthatshewasdo-ing it to help the BJP candidatesin somesegments.Poll pundits feel that theBJP
did eat into the votes of the BSPandtheCongress, buta sizeablechunkoftheBSPvotesalsowentto the SP that improved its pollpercentagefrom21.82in2017to32.03 this time.Since1989,whentheUPpol-
iticsopenedupforamulti-partysystem, the 2022 results haveonce again bracketed the battleof the ballot to a bipolar one. In1989, JanataDalwon208of the425 seats, Congress bagged 94,BJP (57)andBSP (13).When the SP and the BSP
formed an alliance in 1993, BJPemerged as the party with thelargest seats (176), the SP hadwon 108 and the BSP (68). TheSP-BSPcombineformedthegov-ernment, but it didn't work outfor long andMayawati joinedhandswith the BJP to form thegovernment.The1996Assemblyelections threw up a hung ver-dict, in which the BJP got 174seats as against theSP's 110andtheBSP's67inthe425-memberHouse. After a short spell ofPresident'srule,thegovernmentwas formed onlywhen the BJPand the BSP joined hands andthegovernmentofKalyanSinghcontinuedonlywhenagroupofBSP and Congress legislaturesdefectedandjoinedtheBJPgov-ernment.The 2002 polls again saw a
hungAssembly,withtheBJPget-ting88seats, theBSP98andtheSP 143. After another spell ofPresident'srule,thegovernmentwaspossibleonlywhenBSPandthe BJP joined hands again andafter that the SP governmentwas formedwith thesupportofsmallerparties.However, since 2007 the
state has beenwitnessing deci-sive verdicts. In 2007, itwas theBSP, followed by SamajwadiPartyin2012,andtheBJPin2017.ItsBJPagain in2022.
‘A man for all occasions’: HowSP’s Pradhan edged past SomAMITSHARMAMEERUT,MARCH10
DEFYING THE underlying sup-port for the BJP inmost parts ofUttar Pradesh, Meerut districtwith seven assembly seatsbucked the trend. The saffronparty's tally dropped to threefromitsearlier countof six.BJP'sfirebrandleaderSangeet
Som,whohadwontheSardhanaseat twice in a row,was amongthemost prominent loser fromthedistrict.SP'sAtulPradhande-feated Som by nearly 16,000votes in a tight race. The SP'sposterboyinMeeruthadfailedtowintheseat in2012and2017.“I have crumbled the citadel
of Som,who thoughthimself tobe invincible in Sardhana. I at-tributemyvictorytoallsectionsof the society as all havehelpedmecrushingSom's vanity,” saida jubilant Pradhan outside a
countingcentre inMeerut.WhathasendearedPradhan,
according to voters, to the peo-plewashisconstantpresenceatfunerals, marriages and hospi-talsduringtheCovidpandemic.Pradhan,agraduate, is facing38criminal cases, including twodozens filed under the YogiAdityanathgovernment,againsthim. Pradhan's wife, Seema, isthepradhanof avillage.Som,whohopedtoretainhis
MLApost fora third timeonthespin,saidhisdefeatpalesagainstBJP's landslide.“Mydefeatismeaninglessas
mypartyhaswonwithathump-ing majority in the state. In ademocracy, a leader has to re-main stoic in victory or defeat. Ihave been defeated but a smallmargin. But the people ofSardhana have not rejectedmewhich iswhy I have got around1 lakhvotes,” saidSom.BesideSom,SatyaveerTyagi,
asittingBJPMLA,losttheKithoreseat toSP'sShahidManzoor.AtMeerut City, sittingMLA
and SP-RLD candidate RafiqAnsaridefeatedBJP'sKamalduttSharmaby26,282votes.At Sivalkhas, alliance candi-
date Ghulam MohammedtrouncedhisBJP rivalManinderPalby9,495votes.The BJP could retain only
three seats — MeerutCantonment , Hastinapur andMeerutSouth.InMeerutCantonmnet,BJP's
AmitAgarwalregisteredacom-fortablevictorybypollingmorethan1 lakhvotesAtMeerut Southwhere the
countingwentdowntothewire,BJPMLASomendraTomaredgedaheadofSP'sAadilChaudharyinthefinaltworoundsofcounting.At Hastinapur, minister
Dinesh Khatiq was re-elected,defeatinghisrivalYogeshVermabymore than10,000votes.
E●EXPLAINED
WithUPwin,BJPbreakstrendof statelossesafter ’14
At theAICCoffice inNewDelhionThursday.Anil Sharma
Amid disappointment for SP, RLD makes presence feltSoonaftertakingoveraspartypresident,Jayantheldmeetingswithvotersandleaders inwesternUPinanattempttogain lostground. File
LALMANIVERMALUCKNOW,MARCH10
AS THE BJPwonUttar Pradesh,YogiAdityanathwasset tomakehistoryasthefirstChiefMinistertoreturntopowerinthestateaf-ter a five-year term. It is also thefirst time aparty has comebacktopowerinUPsince1985.His influence restricted to a
small region around theGorakhpurMutt,ofwhichhewasthe head priest, apart fromhimbeing a five-timeMP from theGorakhpurseat,Adityanathwasasurprise pick as CM by the BJPcentralleadershipfiveyearsback.The circumstances of his
crowning, amid talk of the BJPhandbeing forced, arenow longforgotten.Today,Adityanath,just49, is themost-talked-aboutCMin the country, one of the BJP’sprime campaigners beyondUP,andaleaderwhohasrisenabovetheparty in the state to cast it inhisimage.Manyofthecontrover-sialdecisionstakenbyhisgovern-mentwent on to be adopted byother states, likehis anti-conver-sionlaw.OthersuchdecisionstheAdityanathgovernmentpressedonwith,despitecontroversywerethe crackdownon illegal slaugh-terhouses, introduction of anti-Romeosquads,actionagainstlandmafia,andrecoverynoticesissuedtoanti-CAAprotesters.Improvement of lawandor-
derwas one issue onwhich theAdityanathgovernmentseemedtohave themost support on theground,with the BJP repeatedlytalkingofitscrackdownonmafia,andtheOpposition's criticismofthestate's“thokoneeti(encounterpolicy)”cuttingnoice.The fear that the Adityanath
government was perceived aspro-Thakur, andwould end upturningoff theotheruppercasteof Brahmins, seems to have nothurt the BJPmuch. Before thepolls, the BJP constituted a four-membercommitteetodrawupastrategyandprogrammestowootheBrahmincommunity.
Acomfortablewinalsosettlesany remaining doubts aboutAdityanath's leadership of thestate BJP. There has often beentalk about his brusque style,propensitytostrikeoutonown.However,intherun-uptothe
polls, the central BJP sent a clearmessage that Adityanath wastheirman.ApartfrombothUnionHomeMinister Amit Shah andPrimeMinister NarendraModiasking people to vote for him,AdityanathoccupiedaprominentplaceattheBJPNationalExecutivein November in NewDelhi last
year,wherehe tabled theparty’s18-pointpoliticalresolution,evenas CMsof other BJP-ruled statesjoinedthemeetingvirtually.Adityanath,the‘HinduHridya
Samrat’ashissupporterscallhim,is a science graduate fromGarhwal University inUttarakhand.Hecreditshispolit-ical grooming tohismentor, for-merBJPMPMahantAvaidyanath,who took himunder hiswingsand announced that Adityanathwould succeed him as head ofGorakhnath Mandir inGorakhpur.ThatwasonFebruary
15,1994,andYogiwasthen22.Born in Panchur area of
Garhwal district of present dayUttarakhandin1972.Adityanathhad, in his affidavit for the 2014Lok Sabha and 2017 Assemblyelections, written MahantAvaidyanath’s name in the col-umnforfather’sname.AssociatedwiththeABVPdur-
inghisuniversitydays,Adityanathenteredmainstreampolitics in1998whenAvaidyanathvacatedhisparliamentaryseatforhim.Hewouldgoontowinfiveconsecu-tive elections fromGorakhpur –from1998 to 2014. Adityanathhad in March 2007 burst intotears in Parliamentwhenhebe-gandescribingthe“politicalcon-spiracy’’ that led to his arrest inGorakhpur.TheBJPMPhadspent11 days in detention after beingarrested in January for violatingprohibitoryordersinthecommu-nallysensitiveeasternUPtown.Inhisfirstparliamentaryelec-
tionthistime,Adityanathwonhisseat bymore than 1 lakh seatsoverhisSPrival.Deeply involved in the run-
ning of theGorakhnathMandir,Adityanathremainsactiveat theMutt,whichhevisitsatleastonceevery fortnight. His associationwiththeMuttisbelievedtohaveincreased its footfallmanifold inthepast fiveyears.Therewasatimebefore2017
thatduetohiscloutinGorakhpur,Adityanath’s supporterswould-n’tdisplay theregistrationnum-bers on their vehicles, insteadtheir number plates read ‘YogiSevak’.AfterAdityanathtookover,volunteers of his Hindu YuvaVahinihavekeptalowprofile.TheonlysetbackAdityanath
received personally in his termasCMwasthedefeatofBJPcan-didate Upendra Dutt ShuklaagainsttheOpposition’salliancein the 2018 Lok Sabha by-pollsnecessitatedfollowinghisresig-nation fromhis Lok Sabha seat.Shukla’s widow contested theAssembly election againstAdityanath from GorakhpurUrbanasanSPcandidate.
First womanDalit CM,Maya stares atlowest pointMAULSHREESETHLUCKNOW,MARCH10
THE FIRST Dalit woman ChiefMinister of the country,Mayawati, is lookingatleadingapartywith all of oneMLA in theUttar Pradesh Assembly. It isnowthesmallestofallpartiesintheHouse in termsof numbers,even tinier than Raja Bhaiyya'snewly floated Jansatta DalLoktantrik.Itsvoteshareof12.84%isjust
a shade higher than its lowestever, in 1993, of 11.12% of thevotes, nine years into its forma-tion. The 2022 results alsomarked the end of the oft-quotedtruismthatwithorwith-outMayawatimakingmuchef-fort, shecouldcommanda loyal20%-plusvoteshare.In 2007, when the BSP had
formed the government with206 seats, it had got 30.43%votes. It hadcontinued to retain26%votesharein2012,andevengot22.33%votesin2017,whenitwon19seats.The only seat that the BSP
might win is Rasara in Ballia,eastern UP. Its candidate here,UmaShankarSingh,isthesittingBSPMLA,havingwontheseatin2012aswellas in2017.Hehadalead of about 6,000 votes byThursdaynight.Throughoutthecurrentcon-
test,Mayawatiwardedoffaccu-sations of being the B-party oftheBJP.Withnoother star facesintheBSP,Mayawatiheldmerely20-oddrallies.What fanned allegations of
an understandingwith the BJPwasUnionHomeMinisterAmitShah's unusual praise for her inthemidst of the campaign, fol-lowed byMayawati's generousacknowledgmentof it.Her choice of candidates, in-
cludingMuslim leaders on seatswheretheSPhadfieldedone,alsoledmanytoask if her sole intentwastodefeattheSP.Incidentally,while theBSPvoteshare fellbyahugepercentage,boththeBJPandSPsawtheirsrise.
DEEPTIMANTIWARYNEWDELHI,MARCH10
FOLLOWING ITS stupendousperformance in the 2007 UttarPradeshAssemblypollswhenitformed the government on itsown, the Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) was seen as a beacon ofhopeforDalitpoliticsonthena-tionalstageanditwasevenspec-ulated that party presidentMayawati would one day be-come the PrimeMinister. Theparty, which has been consis-tently putting up a poor showsince2012,managedtowinonlyone seat in the 403-memberAssemblyonThursday.Not only has the party been
reducedtojustoneseatina403-seatstateassembly,itsvotesharestandsatamiserable12.8%.Thepartycontestedonall403seats.Notably, in1993,whenthepartybeganitspoliticalinnings,itwon67out164seatsitcontestedanditsvotesharestoodat11.2%.Even at its worst, party has
never got less than 19% votes inthe state. In the 2014 Lok Sabhapolls, when not a single candi-dateofthepartycouldwininthestate, BSP had a vote share of19.77%. In the 2017 Assemblypolls,when itwon just 19 seats,it had a vote share of 22.23%. Itcontinuedtoremaininthatzonewhen it tiedupwith the SP andcontested the 2019 Lok Sabhapollswinning10seats.Interestingly, in the current
Assembly election results, it isdifficult tomiss the fact that theparty’s vote share is close to ex-actly what the share of Jatavvotes inUP are said to be. Dalitsmake for 21% of all votes in UPand Jatavs (the Dalit sub-castethatMayawatibelongsto)aloneaccount for13%.Sanjay Kumar from Centre
for the Study of DevelopingSocieties(CSDS)saysoneshouldnot conclude that just becausethevotesharesmatch,onlyJatavshavevotedfortheBSP.He,how-ever, says it is clear other castesand sub-castes have desertedtheparty.“Weused to think that 2014
was itsworstwhen it could notwinasingleseat.Butnowweseeanewworstbeingcreated.IthasgottenreducedtoapartyofonlyJatavsnow. Ithas failedtoretainthe support of non-Jatav Dalits,who were part of her support
base. There is no point of dis-cussing any other caste group,whenthepartyhasgotonlyover12%votes,”Kumarsaid.According to Kumar, most
crucially, this could be the firstelectionwhenevenMuslims--akey component of the BahujanpoliticalideapropoundedbyBSPfounderKanshiram--havecom-pletelydesertedMayawati.“BSP was never the first
choiceof theminorities.But theparty has always got 20-23%Muslim votes. In these polls,however,MuslimsupportfortheBSP is even less thanwhat BJPhasgot fromthecommunity.Aspersurveyestimates,BSPisget-ting 3-4%Muslim votes, whileBJP has attracted 7-8% of thecommunityvotes.Sincethiswasa bipolar contest andMuslimsdid not seeMayawati as a chal-lenger, they did not want towaste theirvotes,”Kumarsaid.WhileBSPspokespersonde-
clined to comment on the polldebacle,apartyleadersaid,“Wecontinue to hold on to our coresupportbase.Becauseofapolar-ized atmosphere, some voteshave shifted away from us.Perhaps, we could not canvasswellenoughtoconvincethevot-erswewerecrediblechallengersto theBJP.”While BSPwas never big on
rallies and roadshows, depend-ingmore ondoor-to-door cam-paigns and community meet-ings for canvassing,Mayawati’svisibility in these electionswasunusually low. While YogiAdityanath held 203 rallies androadshows in the run up to thepolls, Priyanka Gandhi 209 andAkhilesh Yadav over 130,Mayawatiheld just18rallies.
ASADREHMANLUCKNOW,MARCH10
IN THE end, Samajwadi Partychief Akhilesh Yadav did notproveuptowhatwasalwaysgo-ing tobeaHerculean task.However, the 48-year-old,
whotookoverthemantlefromSPpatron and his fatherMulayamSinghYadav,putuptheonlychal-lengetotheBJP,drawingcrowds,shutting out in-house familysquabbling contenders, andput-tingsomedistancebetweenhim-selfandthe“goondaism”baggageofhislastgovernment.Pittedinahead-onfightwith
theBJP, the SP increased its seattally and its vote share by 11%,butfellwayshortofthehalf-waymark of 202. In 2017, when itfought in alliance with theCongress, the SP had won 47seats,withavoteshareof21.28%.This time, it was set towin 111,withavoteshareof 32%.Till late intheevening, there
was no reaction from Akhileshtothepollresults. Inatweet, theofficial handle of the SP, whichhasbeenallegingpoll irregular-
ities, asked why the ElectionCommission was not handingits candidates their victory cer-tificates.One of the biggest decisions
taken by Akhilesh, after the de-feat in the 2017 Assembly and2019 Lok Sabha elections, wasnottoalignwithformerpartnersCongress and BSP. This time,Akhileshmademorestrategical-liances,withpartiessmallerthanthe SP, bringing to his table co-hesive, calculatedvotebanks.These included OmPrakash
Rajbhar’sSBSP,MahanDalledbyKeshav Dev Maurya, JanwadiParty (Socialist) led by SanjaySingh Chauhan, Shivpal Yadav’sPragatisheel Samajwadi Party(Lohia), Apna Dal-KamerawadiledbyUnionMinisterAnupriyaPatel’smotherKrishnaPatel,andmost importantly the RLD inwesternUP.With the RLD's Jayant
Chaudhary, a young leaderemerging from a political andfamily crucible similar toAkhilesh's,theSPchiefappeared
bring to the SP fold the non-Yadav OBC votes it was hopingfor, including in theRLDstrong-hold ofwesternUP. The SP sup-portbaseseemedtobeconfinedtoMuslimsandYadavs.Itwasthesupportofthenon-
YadavOBCsthathadwontheBJPUP in2017.Akhilesh's other success, in
weaningawayahostofbiglead-ers from the BJP, includingCabinetminister Swami PrasadMaurya, ahead of the polls, alsoflopped. Swami Prasad himselflost, fromFazilnagar.AnSP leader said that as CM,
Akhileshhadworkedhardtoproj-ect a pro-development image,putting in place work forLucknow'sfirstMetro,andgivingthe state the Agra-LucknowExpressway. “In the 2017 elec-tions,oursloganwas‘kaamboltahai (work talks)’. Butwe lost andrealisedthatapartfromdevelop-mentweneedtogetourcastecal-culationsspoton,”theleadersaid.The SP promise of filling up
11lakhvacantgovernmentpostsin thestatedidnotwork.
AMILBHATNAGARLUCKNOW,MARCH10
EVEN AS the BJP returned topower in Uttar Pradesh with athumping win, the party lostsomeof itsbignames, includingitsDeputyChiefMinisterKeshavPrasadMauryaandsomepromi-nentministers.Maurya lost to Pallavi Patel,
the Apna Dal (Kamerawadi)leader who fought on an SPticket, inSirathu.Helostby7,337votes.Sirathu,whichcomesun-der the Phulpur Lok Sabha con-stituency, was once by SonelalPatel, Pallavi's father.Maurya, an important OBC
faceoftheparty,hasbeenclosely
associatedwiththeRSS.Hewonhis first Assembly elections in2012andwentontobecomeanMP fromPhoolpur andaminis-ter in theUnionCabinet.SURESHRANASittingMLA and Sugarcane
Minister Suresh Rana lost theelections to RLD's Ashraf Ali inThanaBhawan.Theconstituency,whichhasamixofJat,GurjarandMuslimpopulation,favouredthealliancecandidatewithamarginofmore than13,000votes. Ranafaced anti-incumbency senti-ment while looking to repeatMLA term for the third time.Hewas also one of the accused inMuzaffarnagarriots.Localsintheareaallegedthat
the ruling party did not deliver
paymentofsugarcaneduesinthemanner whichwas promised.SeveralpeopleheldRanarespon-sible for pending payments andexploitativeactionsoflocalmills.AshrafAlicameclosetowinningin 2012whenhe lost bymerely265votestoRana.SANGEETSOMA close contest for several
rounds, BJP MLA Sangeet Someventually lost to SP’s AtulPradhan bymore than 15,000votes in Sardhana constituency.ThiswasSangeet’sthirdelectionafter havingwon the seat twiceinarow.Somwasoneof theac-cused inMuzaffarnagar riots.A known local leader who
fought in pradhan elections andtwoAssembly polls, unsuccess-
fully,managedtosecureavictory.Hewaspreviously thepresidentof the state student unit ofSamajwadiParty. Itisacrucialvic-tory for the alliance since SPhasneverwonanelectiononthisseat.AJAYKUMARLALLUCongressstatepresidentAjay
KumarLallufellshortofahattrickafter losing toBJP’s AsimKumarinTamkuhiRajconstituency.Ajayhasbeen leadingCongress cam-paignsinthestateforseveralyearsnow, has facedmultiple cases inconnectionwithorganisedagita-tions and is themost visible faceforthepartyinthestate.With Congress reduced to
twoseats in thestate,Ajay’s losswill deal a huge blow to theparty’spoliticalprospects.
SWAMIPRASADMAURYAIn Kushinagar's Fazilanagar,
turncoat SwamiMaurya lost toBJP's Surendra Khushwaha bymorethan30,000votes.Swami,spentacareertakingontheSP—for twodecadesasamemberofthe Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)and the last five years in theBharatiyaJanataParty(BJP),asaCabinet minister in the YogiAdityanath-ledgovernment.He was once a close confi-
dantof BSPchiefMayawatiwasmadeministerthriceduringBSPrule and was also Leader ofOpposition every time the BSPwas out of power. Hewas evenmade BSP national general sec-retary. Maurya later joined theBJP, justbefore the2017polls.
Crashing hopes: Akhilesh makesstrides, but falls short of a leap
Cong plunges to lowest tally, vote share in UP
SHIVNARAYANRAJPUROHITBADALPUR(NOIDA),MARCH10
AROUND9am,agroupofyoungandoldweregluedtotheTV,threehouses away from BSP chiefMayawati’snativehomeatDadri’sBadalpurvillageinGautamBuddhNagar district. The curiosity toknowabouttheBSPperformancesoongavewaytodespair.Atickeron the TV screen read: BJP+, 54;SP+,45;BSP,4andCong,2.The youths from the Jatav
communityfeltthattheBSP’spollcampaignleftmuchtobedesired.“Maybe,theAAPcouldbeanop-tion,”ayouthhalf-heartedlysaid,buoyed by the Arvind Kejriwal-ledparty’s landslideinPunjab.As the BJP started running
awaywith the lead, the groupfounda few fall guys. “First, (BSPleaders) Satish Mishra andShamsuddinRain should be ex-pelled. Theparty shouldbring inyoung leaders like Jai PrakashSingh(formerBSPvice-presidentwhowasexpelledfromthepartyin 2018). Thoughhe is no longerwiththeBSP,hestillcampaignedfor it. Let Akash Anand(Mayawati’s nephew) campaignthroughouttheyearandreachoutto everyone,” said Sanju Jatav, anarts graduate preparing for gov-ernmentjobexaminations.An unscheduled power cut
did not rile the group. “What’sthepointofwatchingTV?Itnowgivesme a headache as the re-sultsseemone-sided,”saidRavi,whoworksataGhaziabadmall.A reference to Azad Samaj
PartychiefChandrashekharAzad,whowastrailingatthefourthpo-sitionfromtheGorakhpurUrbanseat,wassnubbed.“Atthemoment,Mayawati is
an undisputed leader of theBhaujan samaj. Chandrashekharwasheadinga(non-political)san-gathan.Nobodyhadanissuewithit.Butbyfloatingapoliticalparty,hemay have hurt BSP’s votes,”Sunil,aconstructionworker,saidasheenquiredifhewaswinning.Discontentwasalsosimmer-
ing against Mayawati in theGurjar-dominated villagewithsome600householdsoverlookedby the dome of her expansivebungalow. “One can’twin elec-tionswithlimitedcampaigninginthe last one and a half months.TherewasatimewhenallbutfourvoteswenttotheBSP.Thosedaysareover.Tostayrelevantoratleastchallenge the BJP and the SP,Behenji has to start now,” saidGyan Nagar, whose wife,Maheshwati,thevillagepradhan.Around 5 pm, the BSP was
leadingonlyononeseatatRasrainBalliadistrict,withitstotalvoteshareat12.7%.In2017,ithadwon19 seats with a vote share of22.23%;80seats(25.91%)in2012;and206seats(30.43%) in2007.TheBJPwaslookingtoretain
allthreeseats—Noida,DadriandJewar—inGautamBuddhNagardistrict while the BSPwas trail-ingat the thirdposition there.
MAULSHREESETHLUCKNOW,MARCH10
THECONGRESSpartywasdeci-mated in the Uttar PradeshAssembly polls, with its tallyplunging to just 2 out of the to-tal 403 seats. The party's voteshareplummetedto2.3percentof thevotespolled in thestate.Thiswasthegrandoldparty's
high-voltageCongresscampaigncentred onwomen and youths,with the party coming upwithseparatemanifestos for them.In the run-up to the polls,
Priyankahadalsotakentheinitia-
tive to give 40 per cent of partytickets towomen,with thepartyfielding159womencandidatesofitstotal403nomineesinthepolls.The Congress, which has
been in political wilderness inUP for over three decades, hadgarnered7seatswitha6.25percent vote share in the 2017
Assemblyelections,whenithadformed an alliance with theSamajwadiParty (SP).In the current polls, Priyanka
hadaddressedover160ralliesanddoneover40roadsshows,cover-ingalltheregionsof thestate.EvenUP Congress president
Ajay Kumar Lallu lost the elec-
tion from his Tamkuhi Raj seat,whichhehadbeenwiningsince2012againstall odds.WhileacceptingtheUPelec-
tion outcome, PriyankaThursday also admitted theCongress's failure to “convertparty workers' hard work intovotes”. Inherreactionpostedonsocialmedia,shesaid:“Thever-dict of people inademocracy isacceptable to everyone. Ourworkers and leaders workedhard, built the organisation,raised public issues, but wecouldnotsucceedinturningourhardwork intovotes.”She also pledged that the
party will continue with itsstruggle in UPwhile sticking tothe“agendaof positivity”.ThetwoCongresscandidates
whomanaged towin this timeinclude AradhanaMishra, whoretained her seat fromRampur
Khas in Pratapgarh district, andVirendra Chaudhary, whowonfrom Pharendra seat inMaharajganjdistrict.The 47-year-old Congress
Legislature Party leader in theoutgoing Assembly, AradhanaMishra, had accompaniedPriyankaacross the state onherwomen-centred campaign,called “Larki hun, lar sakti hun (Iamagirl, and I can fight)”.VirendraChaudharyisasen-
iorUPCongress leader,whohasbeen contesting from thePharendra Assembly con-stituencysince2012.Inthe2017polls, he was defeated by BJPcandidate Bajarang BahadurSingh by a slendermargin. Thistime too, they had been lockedinaneck-and-neckfightthroughthe counting, with Virendra fi-nallyovercominghisincumbentrival toclinch theseat.
MOSTOF the candidates of theAll India Majlis-e-IttehadulMuslimeen (AIMIM) have notbeen able to cross the 5,000-mark in the Uttar PradeshAssemblyelections.The vote share of the
AsaddudinOwaisi-ledpartywasjust around 0.43 per cent of thetotalvotespolledacrossthe403Assembly seats in the state, theElection Commission websiteshowed.The All India Majlis-e-
Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM)hadclaimedtohavefieldedcan-didatesin100seatsfortheUPas-semblyelections,withafocusonthe constituencies where theMuslimcommunityis inmajor-ity. In the 2017 Assembly elec-tions,thepartyhadcontested38seats and in 37 seats its candi-dates forfeited theirdeposits.AIMIM candidates Qamar
Kamal in Azamgarh got 1,368votes, UmairMadni inDeoband3,145,AbhayrajinJaunpur1,340,andMoinuddin inKanpurCantt754,thewebsiteshowedat4pm.
New Delhi
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MARCH11, 2022
9 VERDICT 2022U T T A R P R A D E S H ● P U N J A B ● U T T A R A K H A N D ● G O A ● M A N I P U R
Inquilab first in Delhi, nowPunjab,nextwhole of India, says KejriwalInvictoryspeech,AAPchief saysdreamofBabasahebAmbedkar,BhagatSinghnowcomingtrue
ABHINAYAHARIGOVINDNEWDELHI,MARCH10
“PEHLE DILLI mein inquilab hua,phirPunjabmeininquilabhua,abyeh inquilabpoore desh ke andarphailega(therevolutioncametoDelhi first, then Punjab, now itwill spread to the entire coun-try),” Delhi Chief Minister andAam Aadmi Party (AAP) chiefArvind Kejriwal said while ad-dressing a crowd of ecstaticpartyworkers at the party's of-ficeinDelhionThursdayfollow-ingtheparty’smassivemandateinPunjab.“Badi badi kursiyaan hil gayi
hainPunjabkeandar(bigleadershave bit the dust in Punjab),”Kejriwal said. “Sukhbir SinghBadal lost, Captain (Amarinder)saheb lost, (CM) Channi saheblost, Prakash Singh Badal saheblost, Navjot Singh Sidhu lost,Bikram SinghMajithia lost. Thepeople of Punjab haveworkedwonders, and this is a big revo-lution,”hesaid.TheAAPchiefsaidthedream
of Babasaheb Ambedkar andBhagat Singh is now comingtrue: “Bhagat Singh had said
once that after gettingIndependence, if we don’tchangethesystem,thennothingwill happen. It is sad that in thepast 75 years, these parties andpoliticians have kept theBritishsystem. They were looting thecountry.Noschoolsorhospitalswere constructed. Peopleweredeliberately kept poor. AAP haschanged this system in the lastsevenyears.Webeganpoliticsofintegrity.”Maintaining that conspira-
cieswereplannedinPunjab,and
everyone gathered against AAP,Kejriwalsaid,“TheysaidKejriwalis a terrorist. Today, throughtheseresults,peopleofthecoun-tryhavesaidthatKejriwal isnotaterrorist—Kejriwalisthecoun-try’struesonanddeshbhakt(pa-triot).”He also spoke of taking an
“oath to make a new Bharat”where everyone “loves eachother; therewill be noplace forhate;nobodywillsleephungry;ourmothers and sisters will besafe;childrenof therichandthe
poorwill get the samegooded-ucation.”He said: “Seventy-five years
afterIndependence,ourchildrenare going to Ukraine to studymedicine.WewillmakeaBharatwhere lots of medical colleges,engineering colleges will beopened.”Referring to AAP candidates
whodefeatedSidhuandChanni,hesaid,“Thereisalotofstrengthin the aam aadmi (commonman). Don’t challenge the aamaadmi. Revolutions will cometheday theystandup.”Theparty’spoliticsshouldbe
of loveandservice,hetoldpartyworkers.Deputy Chief Minister
Manish Sisodia said the peopleof Punjab have not just voted,they have given AAP a chance:“What has happened in Punjaband Goa is the sign of a bigchange. Kejriwal will fulfill thedreams of Bhagat Singh andBabasaheb.ThepeopleofPunjabhave given this alternative achance…they have given theAAPmodelachance.”The party office, decked up
with balloons and flowers, wasquiet early on Thursdaymorn-
ing but quickly turned celebra-torybynoon,astheparty’sposi-tion in Punjab became clearer.Several large screens had beenset up at the office towatch theresults as the votes werecounted.Thecrowd,whichgrewto becomemore jubilant by af-ternoon,dancedtowhathadbe-come AAP’s anthem for theircampaigninPunjab:“EkmaukaKejriwalnu,ekmaukaBhagwantMann nu (one chance toKejriwal,onechancetoMann).”WhenAAPbegantoestablish
anearlyleadonThursdaymorn-ing, party's Delhi MLA DilipPandeysaid this isan indicationthat people want a change.“They want to give ArvindKejriwal’smodelofgovernanceachance,”hesaid.Rahul Tomar, businessman
and party worker fromMayurVihar in east Delhi, brought histhree-year-old son Avyan,dressed to look like a combina-tionofKejriwalandMann—inamuffler and a yellow turban.Whilethechildposedforphoto-graphs with party members,Tomar'swifeMeenakshisaid,“Itfeels very good to see that theAamAadmiParty isgrowing.”
IFTHEAmritsarEastcontestwasamicrocosmofwhatPunjabpol-iticslookedlike,itsresultsignifieshowthe same lookspost-Thurs-day. In theno-holds-barred fightbetween titans Navjot SinghSidhuoftheCongressandBikramSinghMajithiaoftheAkaliDal,thewinnerfromAmritsarEastturnedout tobeacandidatenoonehadpaid any attention to: the AamAadmi Party's Jeevan Jyot Kaur,betterknownasthe‘Padwoman’,for promoting reusable sanitarynapkins.
Itwas Kaur's first-ever elec-toral battle—andwin—againsttwo candidateswho had nevertasteddefeatbefore.Shesecured39,520 votes against 32,807 forSidhuand25,112forMajithia.On Thursday, Kaur, 50, said
thatwhilefewgaveherachance,she knew the voterswerewithher.Her campaignwas low-key,focused on going door-to-dooranddrewlittlecrowds.However,Kaursaid:“AfterImetpeoplefol-lowingtheannouncementofmyticketonDecember30, Igotverypositivefeedback.PeopletoldmeImighthave come to themnow,but that theyhadmadeup theirmind tovote forAAPsixmonths
ago... They toldme to go home,rest.”Other AAP contenders too
knocked down big names inPunjab,punchingwayabovetheirweight. They included the twowho defeated Chief MinisterCharanjit Singh Channi on boththe seats he contested from—LabhSinghUgoke,amobilerepairshopowner,whodefeatedChanniin Bhadaur by37,220 votes; andCharanjitSingh,adoctorwhohadcontested in 2017 too on AAPticket, who defeated him inChamkaurSahibby7,833votes.Jagdeep Kamboj, the presi-
dent of AAP backward classeswing,defeatedAkaliDalpresident
and formerDeputy CMSukhbirSinghBadalbymorethan30,374votes. Even veteran leader and
five-timeCMParkashSinghBadalwas not spared, losing to AAP'sGurmeet Singh Khudian from
Lambi by 11,396 votes. KhudianusedtobeearlierintheCongress,buthisvictorywasremarkableasBadal Sr, 94,was consideredvir-tually invincible in Punjab andwascontestinginalllikelihoodhislastelection.CongressDeputyCMandfive-
time MLA O P Soni lost fromAmritsarCentraltoAAP'svirtuallyunknownAjay Gupta bymorethan14,000votes. InPatialaCity,formerAkaliDalmayorandAAPcandidateAjitPalSinghKohlibeatanother veteran, AmarinderSingh, by19,873votes. CongressministerVijayInderSingla losttofirst-timerNarinderKaurBharajby35,859votes.
Before AAP spotted her andbrought her into politics, Kaur, amother of two, was known forS.H.E Society, a non-profit, non-political, voluntaryorganization,she founded in1995-96. Theor-ganisationworkedwiththepooranddisadvantaged,particularlyinrural areas, to promote sustain-ableandself-reliantcommunities.One of these programmes in-cluded tying up with a Swiss-based company to providereusablesanitarynapkins,whichher organisation promotedamonggovernmentschoolsinru-ralareasandwomeninslums.KaurgotassociatedwithAAP
in2014.Shewasthecampaignin-
chargeofMajithaconstituencyin2017andwas later appointed itsdistrictpresidentinAmritsar.Kaur saidhervictorywas the
victoryof “theDelhiModel”, andthatherprioritywouldbework-ingonpeople's problems. “IwasrepeatedlytoldthatAmritsarEastis themostunderdevelopedandunhygienic constituency... At ev-erymeeting I foundwomenwh-osefamilymembersweresuffer-ingfromdrugaddiction,”shesaid.His longbattle tobeCMend-
ingindefeat,Sidhutweeted:“Thevoiceof thepeople is thevoiceofGod…Humbly accept theman-date of the people of Punjab…CongratulationstoAap!!!”
S H O WS I D E
NAVJEEVANGOPALCHANDIGARH,MARCH10
THE AAM Aadmi Party stormmade the Congress, ShiromaniAkali Dal and Bharatiya JanataParty hit one of the lowest ebbsin their electoral history ofPunjabsinceitwascarvedoutasaseparatestate in1966.In the worst-ever electoral
performance in the 13 PunjabVidhanSabhaelectionsheldafterthe reorganisation in 1966, 100-year-old Shiromani Akali Dalcouldnotgettodoubledigitmark,hittinganotherlowthistimewin-ningonly three seats comparedwith 15 it hadwon in the 117-member Vidhan Sabha in 2017elections. The only SAD candi-
dates who won were BikramSinghMajithia’s wife GanieveKaur (fromMajitha),ManpreetSingh Ayali fromDakha andDrSukhwinder Singh Sukhi fromBanga. SADwon a seat each inMajha,MalwaandDoabaregions.The February 20 elections in
PunjabprovedtheirWaterlooforthemajority of the big guns, in-cluding chief ministerial candi-datesofCongressandShiromaniAkali,astheywereroutedbyAAPnominees. They included 94-year-old Akali patron and five-timechiefministerParkashSinghBadal,whountilthiselectionhadthe distinction of not losing anypoll. He lost to Gurmeet SinghKhudianofAAPfromLambibyamarginof11,396votes.Suchwasthe scale of AAPwave that SAD
president Sukhbir Singh BadalalsolostbadlyfromhisbastionofJalalabad to AAP candidateJagdeepKambojby30,930votes.ChiefMinisterCharanjitSingh
ChannilostbothfromChamkaurSahibandBhadaur, thetwocon-stituencies he contested from.
Channi lost to LabhSinghUgokeofAAPby37,558votesinBhadaurand by 7,942 votes to his name-sakeCharanjitSinghofAAPfromChamkaurSahib.FormerCMCaptainAmarinder
Singh,whohadformedPunjabLokCongress afterparting company
Congress Committee (PPCC)Navjot Singh Sidhu and Akalileader Bikram SinghMajithia,who were locked in a contestfromAmritsarEast,losttoJeevanJyot Kaur of AAP. Kaur defeatedrunner-upSidhuby6,750votes.Congress leader and Punjab
FinanceMinisterManpreetSinghBadallosttoJagroopSinghGillofAAP from Bathinda Urban by amassivemarginof63,581votes.There was a sharp slide in
Congress tally from 77 seats in2017to18intheseelections,oneseat more than it had won in1977 elections, when the num-berofAssemblysegmentsinthe
ing a huge defeat, by winningonly two seats, with state BJPpresidentAshwaniSharmawin-ning from Pathankot and JangiLalMahajan registering victoryfromMukerian.SAD’s ally BSP, which had
contested 20 seats, could winonly one seat. The biggest set-back,however,was for theSAD.Since2012elections,whenSADchief led the party to an un-precedented consecutive vic-tory in the state, therehasbeena constant decline in the num-ber of seats the party has beenmanaging towin. In 2012, theSADhadwonon56seatsanditsthenallyBJP12 seats.
AAPocalypse: Cong, SAD, BJP register worst-ever performance
Malwa
Majha Doaba
Voters reject farmers’front, only one SSMcandidate managesto save depositRAAKHIJAGGABARNALA, MARCH10
AAPWASnottheonlyoneprom-ising “badlaav” in Punjab. Ridinghighon thewaveof the success-fulDelhimorcha,farmersunions’promisedthesamethroughtheirpolitical front— Sanyukt SamajMorcha (SSM). But the farmers’front toowas decimated in theAAPwavewith 93 out of its 94candidates,whoenteredthefrayas Independents, lost their secu-rity deposit. SSM chief BalbirSinghRajewal(79),whowasSKMcoordinatorplayingkeyroleinthefarmers’ agitation, was alsoamongthecontestantswhocouldnotsavehissecuritydepositashelost thepoll battle fromSamrala.Rajewal got only 4,676 votes—3.5% of the total votes polled.Lakhbir SinghLakhaSidhana, anaccused in theRed Fort violencecase,wastheonlywonwhosavedhissecuritydepositashefinishedsecond in Maur after getting28,091votes (20.64%of the totalvotes polled). The seat, mean-while, was won by AAP’sSukhveer Singh Maiserkhanawhopolled63,099votes.SKM’slegalcellconvenorand
president of the All India KisanSabha Federation, Prem SinghBhangu,wasinfrayfromPatiala'sGhanaurseatandmanagedtogetonly1,681votes.After spending a year at the
Tikriborderprovidingmedicalaidto farmers, Dr SukhmandeepSinghDhillon,gaveuphisdreamofdoingMDintheUStofightpollsfromTarn Taran, but could onlyget 1,315 votes. Gurpreet SinghKotli, a teacher and amarginalfarmerwhocoveredkisanagita-
tion through his Facebook livefeeds,managed to get 880votesfromGidderbahaconstituency.FromMoga,liquorcontractor,
NavdeepSangha, leftAAP to joinSSM but got only 1,887 votes,while DU college professorAnuroopKaur Sandhu’s securitydepositwas also forfeited fromMuktsaraspolledonly909votes.FromLudhianaWest,industrial-
therapist fromJaitu, losthis secu-rity deposit as he got only 1,150votes. TheSSMwasfloatedby22out of 32 farmer unions fromPunjabonDecember25,2021afterfarmagitationatDelhibordershadendedafterrepealofthefarmlaws.Later, theconstituentsof this
Bhangusaid: “Peoplewere look-ing for changeand they sawthischange inAAP. SSM’s entry intopoliticswas lateandperhaps thiswasthereasonthatwecouldnotget it translated into votes...InMaur,LakhaSidhanawasinafightwith anAAP candidate. But youcan see that the top two candi-datesofMaurwerechosenbypeo-ple over traditional parties. Thiswasourfirstattempt.Ourfightforfarming issueswill remainas it isandthis isnottheendof theroadfor us. Farm-related issues arefought by farmunions only andournextSKMmeetingisonMarch14atDelhioverfarmissues.”
AAP’s ‘padwoman’ who felled titans Sidhu and Majithia
CharanjitSinghChanni SukhbirSinghBadal
New Delhi
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MARCH11, 2022
10 VERDICT 2022U T T A R P R A D E S H ● P U N J A B ● U T T A R A K H A N D ● G O A ● M A N I P U R
MAYURAJANWALKARPANAJI,MARCH10
DESPITE A high-decibel cam-paign, apre-poll allianceand themight of poll strategist PrashantKishor’s iPAC, the TrinamoolCongress (TMC)was completelyrejected by the Goan voter. Itendedwith no seats in the 40-member Assembly and a voteshareof5.21percent.ContestingfromTMC,former
GoaCMChurchillAlemao,afive-time MLA who has won fromBenaulimseat ondifferentpartytickets, lost toAamAadmi PartydebutantVenzyViegas.In Navelim, also in Salcete
muchpompandfaretowardstheendof September last year. Thatitsentrywaslateforaseriouscon-tenderwas something thepartydenied consistently. WhileBanerjeemade two trips to thestatebeforetheelections,shedidnotcometothestatetocampaignfortheparty’scandidates.The party had put up hun-
dreds of hoardings across thecoastal state, bearing theWestBengal chief minister's face.Missingfromthehoardingsweremembers of itsGoaunit and thepartycandidates.Battlingthe“outsider”tagthat
weighsheavilyontheGoanvoter,Banerjeehadsaidduringhervis-itsthatGoanswillgovernGoa.TheGoans in theparty, how-
sues related to the state.Moitraraised issues in Goa, includingdeath of awomanwhose bodywas found onCalangute beach,andtheallegedlyillegalstructurein Old Goa, and accused ChiefMinister PramodSawantof pur-chasinga“mine”thatwasdispro-portionatetohisincome.TMCalsoannouncedahostof
holy”, TMCandGoa’s oldest re-gional party,MaharashtrawadiGomantakParty,formalisedapre-poll alliance in December.Banerjee shared the stagewithMGP leaders Ramkrishna aliasSudinDhavalikarandPandurangaliasDeepakDhavalikar. Pande-ring toMGP’s saffron vote bank,sheassertedherBrahminidentity.UntilWednesday,Dhavalikar,
whohopedtowinuptofiveseats,said thedecision to support anyother partywould be taken to-getherwith TMC. On Thursday,TMC drew a blank, whileMGP,whichwon two seats, pledgedsupporttoBJP.Leaderswhojoinedtheparty
also started to leave before theelection.WhileformerMLALavooMamledarleftforCongress,AleixoReginaldoLourencoleftTMC,con-testedasanIndependent,wonhisseat,andofferedsupporttoBJP.TMC leaders remained un-
available for a comment onThursday.Nearly 200members of iPAC
werestationedinthestateforfivemonths and senior TMC MPs,MoitraandRajyaSabhaMPDerekO’Brien and SushmitaDev, alsostayed put until polling onFebruary14.
Trinamool drawsa blank afterhigh-decibel entry
MAYURAJANWALKARPANAJI,MARCH10
MONTHS AHEAD of elections,theRevolutionaryGoans(RG),apolitical outfit led by TukaramaliasManoj Parad, waited to beregisteredasapoliticalparty.Butlong before that, youths clad inblackwalked the streets of Goa,accosted "migrants" engaged in"illegalactivities",andpostedvi-doesonsocialmediainwhichitsmembers took themto task.The RGwas later registered
asapartyandassignedthefoot-ball symbol. It contested 38seats, defeated the BJP in StAndreby76votes,andisnowsetto send its firstMLA to the GoaAssembly.ApartyofyoungGoans,aged
between25and35years,mostly
from the state's Bahujan Samaj,theRGsprangasurprise,notjustbecauseitwonaseat,butalsobe-causeitgarneredover3,000votesinsomeotherconstituenciestoo.Its candidates cut into the votesof not just the BJP, but also theCongress andMaharashtrawadiGomantakParty(MGP).Playing the insider-outsider
card, the party had advocated aBill forpersonsofGoanorigin intherun-uptothepolls.Thepartynowpromises tobe thevoiceofGoa'syouth in theAssembly."Wehavewonthisseatwith
nomoney power, unlike otherparties.Thisisaverygoodbegin-ningforus,"saidtheparty'scan-didate from Saligaon, RohanKalangutkar.Outside the counting centre
in Panaji's Altinho on Sunday,young men carried Viresh
Borkar,theparty'swinningcan-didate from St Andre, wavedparty flags bearing the football,andshouted "Uzzo" -- their slo-gan that means "fire". OnThursday, the party held a vic-tory lap forBorkar.Among the winners on
Goa’s youth party, which playedinsider-outsider card, wins 1 seat
TORAAGARWALAGUWAHATI,MARCH10
ASMUCH as Thursday’s man-date was about the BJP hittingthemajoritymark in a historicwin inManipur, italsosignalledemergence of a strong regionalparty intheNortheast:NationalPeople’sParty (NPP).Theregionalpartythat leads
a coalition government underConradSangmainneighbouringMeghalaya transitioned frombeing‘kingmaker’ in2017tothesecond largest party in 2022,evenaheadof theCongress.Accordingtothetallyat8pm,
the NPP, which pitched itself asa strong regional alternative tothe BJP and the Congress, hadwon seven seats, three morethan its tally in the 2017 elec-tions.
A communique from theparty’s Media andCommunications Cell onThursday evening said: “Withconcertedeffort,hardworkandastrongfight,wehaveemergedas the second largest party inManipur.”Sangma tweeted: “The per-
formanceofNPPinManipurhasincreasedmanifoldcomparedtothe 2017 elections. We are de-lighted that our vote share hasincreased, indicating that theelectoratehasshowntrustintheNPPideologytoprotectthepolit-ical-socio-economicinterestsoftheNEstates.”WiththeBJPgetting32seats,
itmaynotrequiretheNPP’shelp,buttheparty’sperformancethiselection is certainly somethingto takenoteof, as it increases itsfootprint in theNortheast.Thecampaignwasnotewor-
thy,especiallythemannerittookonitsally(inMeghalaya),theBJP,and contested 38 seats on itsown.Presentingitselfasanalter-nativetothenationalparties,theNPP projected itself as an inde-pendent,pan-Northeastparty(ithassomepresenceinArunachalPradesh, too). It took a stand onissues concerning the region,suchasthecontroversialArmedForces Special Powers Act (AF-SPA) or the Citizenship(Amendment)Act (CAA).Though it faced a big upset
with Deputy Chief Minister NJoykumar, party's face inManipur, losingtoBJPcandidateKHRaghumanifromUripok,theNPP managed wins in con-stituencies such as Wangoi,Oinam,Moirang, andKakching,sending heavyweight sittingMLAspacking.While Manipur Chief
Minister N Biren Singh hintedthat they may drop the NPPfrom its coalition, it remains tobe seenwhat the nextmove ofthe NPP will be, especially be-cause it shared a strained rela-tionshipwith the BJP at the fagendof thegovernment.Butwiththe defeat of Deputy CMJoykumar—whomtheBJP sawas the troublemaker— theNPPmayalsokeep its optionsopen.Apart from the NPP, Nitish
Kumar’s JD-U opened its ac-count in the state after twodecades, winning six seats, in-cluding Wangkhei, Lilong,Tipaimukh andChurachandpur.Whatworkedintheparty’s favourwastheBJPrebels who embraced JD(U).Often described as the “B-team” of the BJP, the JD(U) islikely tosupport theBJP ingov-ernment formation.
InManipur,NPPbetters its tallytoemergeas2nd largestparty TORAAGARWALA
IMPHAL,MARCH 10
THE HOMEGROWN KukiPeople’s Alliance (KPA) hasopened its account inManipur,withboththeircandidateswin-ning in their respective con-stituencies,While in Saikul, Kimneo
Haokip Hangshing, won by amargin of 1,200-odd votes,Chinlunthang beat his nearestrival, BJP’sGinsuanhauZou, by1,919 votes. Its 100% strike ratecomes as a surprise, especiallytaking into account the diktatfrom the outlawed KukiNational Organisation andUnitedPeople'sFronttovotefortheBJP.With the KPA contesting
only two seats (Saikul inKangpokpi district andSinghatinChurachandpurdistrict), it isunlikely to have an impact ontheresults,but itsvictory isstilla significant is a significantde-velopment inManipur’s politi-
cal landscape, where tribal as-pirations play amajor role.Distinct from the Meitei-
dominated valley, the hills ofManipur are home to twoma-jortribalgroups–theNagasandKuki-Zomi-Paite tribes.The lat-ter isprimarily concentrated inChurachandpurdistricts,aswellas Kongpokpi, Tengnoupal andPherzawl, amongothers.While in Singhat in
Churachandpurdistrict, theKPAfielded lawyer Chinlunthang,Saikul had the youngHangshing as its candidate, af-ter she was denied a ticket bytheBJP.The BJP had instead fielded
Yamthong Haokip, a formerCongress leader who is cur-rentlyontheNIAradarafterbe-ing accused in an armsrobbery case.The wife of the self-styled
chairmanof theoutlawedKukiRevolutionary Army (KRA),Kimneo said her main focuswas “safeguarding tribalrights”.
Counting for Singhat is inthe early stages.While the KPA’s main poll
planks are what the state’stribal communities have de-mandedfor long(arepealof theAFSPA, a push for the‘Autonomous District CouncilBill2021’,aswellasstrengthen-ingofArticle371-C,whichsafe-guards the rights of the hills ofManipur), theotherpushfortheparty comes from insecurityabout theNagas.The twohill tribes havehad
astrainedrelationshipsincethe1990s, which saw bloodyclashes over imagined territo-rial homelands.The Kukis feel the Nagas
haveanupperhandastheNagaPeople’sFront (NPF) isanallyofthe BJP government inthe state.Analysts say the KPA may
eventuallyallywiththeBJP,butits performance as a party,formed as recently as January,suggests that it is certainlysomething to takenote of.
THE NEW Goa Assembly willhave three pairs of husbandand wife among its 40 mem-bers.VishwajitRane,healthmin-
ister in the outgoing BJP gov-ernment, and his wife Diviyawoncomfortablyonparty tick-ets from Valpoi and PoriemAssembly seats,respectively.Vishwajit won by a margin
of 8,085 votes, while Diviyaoutdid him by defeating hernearest rival by 13,943 votes.Congress' Michael Lobo
won from his traditional as-sembly constituencyCalangute, while wife Delilahwon from Siolim, also on
Congress ticket.BJP's Atanasio Monserratte
wonfromPanaji,whilehiswifeJeniffer won from Taleigao onBJP ticket.But the Kandolkars were
not so lucky, nor were the fa-ther-daughterduoof ChurchillAlemao andValanka.Kavita Kandolkar and her
husband Kiran who contestedfrom Thivim and Aldona as-sembly seats as TrinamoolCongress candidates, lost.Kavita lost to sitting BJP
MLA Nilkant Halarnkar andKiran to Congress' CarloseFereira.Two other TMC candidates
Rawat back in the party, theCongress seemed to have as-sumed that they were evenlymatched in Garhwal, and fo-cussedmoreonKumaon.ButtheresultsonThursdayshowedthatalthoughitstallyintheregionfellto 29, theBJP continued to scorebig in the region, setting up astrong foundation for its overallvictory.TheCongresswoneightseats
inGarhwal, up fromsix in 2017.TheBSP and Independentswontwoseatseach.Of total 29 seats in Kumaon
earlier, Congress leader HarishRawathadsaidthathedecidedto
contest fromLalkuan (he lost toBJPcandidateMohanSinghBishtby 17,527 votes) in Nainital be-cause "the seat is the heart ofKumaon". Prime MinisterNarendraModihadevenaccusedtheOppositionof tryingtocreateawedge betweenGarhwal andKumaon.Sources in the BJP said the
Congress'sfocusonKumaonwasoneof the reasonswhy it pickedPushkarSinghDhami,atwo-termMLA from the region, as chiefminister to replace Tirath SinghRawat. Itwas amove to counterHarish Rawat, they said. BothTirathSinghandhispredecessorTrivendraSinghRawatwerefromGarhwal.Of the total 13districts in the
state,sixare inKumaon(Nainitalis zonal headquarters), whileseven are in Garhwal (PauriGarhwal is zonal headquarters).In thepast, sixof the state's chiefministers were fromGarhwal,while fourwere fromKumaon.Yet, it is Kumaoni leaderswhohavemostly dominatedpoliticshere,evenbeforeUttarakhandbe-cameastate.UttarPradesh'sfirstchiefmin-
AFTERTHEBJPonThursdaywonAssemblyelections in fouroutoffivestatesincludingUttarPradesh,the Trinamool Congress (TMC)onceagaintargetedtheCongress,sayingthatthepartyhas“failedintakingontheBJPnationally”.TMCleaders added that theCongressshouldmergewith theTMCandcalled upon its leaders to joinhandsundertheleadershipof itschairpersonMamata Banerjee,whoisthe“onlyonewhocande-featBJP.”TMC leader and State
Transport and UrbanDevelopment Minister FirhadHakimsaid, “Idonotunderstandwhy such an old party like theCongressisdisappearing.Wewerealsopartofthisparty.TheCongressshouldmergewiththeTMC.Thisis the right time. Thennationallyon the principles of MahatmaGandhi and Subhash ChandraBosewecanfightagainsttheprin-ciplesof(Nathuram)Godse.”TMC’s spokesperson Kunal
Ghosh also echoed Hakim. Hesaid,“Wehavesaidforalongtimethat the Congress cannot fightagainstaforceliketheBJP.Tofightagainst theBJP,weneeda leaderlike Mamata Banerjee. TheCongressshouldunderstandthis.”Earlier, theTMCmouthpiece,
‘JagoBangla’,hadonmultipleocca-sions accused the Congress of“confiningitselftoTwitterinsteadofbuildingapowerfulcoalitionofOppositionforcesagainsttheBJP.”Thepaper,inaneditorial,said,“Wewantanalternative to theBJP, anallianceagainst theBJP.Wehavesaidthatanumberof times,eventotheCongress.However,itseemsto be least bothered. Our leader
(MamataBanerjee)has sought aframeworkforanalliance,asteer-ingcommittee,apolicyandalineof action to this end. However,nothinghasbeendone. It seemsthattheCongressishappyconfin-ingitself toTwitter.”TheTMCalsodealt a blow to
theCongressinthecoastalstateofGoabydrawingseniorleaderandformer chief minister LuizinhoFaleirointoitsfold.However, the TMC failed to
putupagoodshowinGoaanddidnotgetasingleseat.Theirelectionally,MaharashtraGomantakParty(MGP),won two seats andhavesaidthattheywillsupporttheBJP.This has also left the TMC red-faced. Kunal Ghosh said, “WefoughtanelectionforthefirsttimeinGoa andweare satisfiedwiththevotesharewegot.But,wecan-not comment onwhat theMGPdecided.Wehaveno clue aboutthatdecision.”Meanwhile, Bengal Congress
president Adhir RanjanChowdhuryreactedsharplytotheTMC’sproposal,saying,“TheTMCis the biggest agent of the BJP. Ifthey are serious about fightingagainsttheBJP,theyshouldmergewiththeCongress.”TheBJP leadership, however,
tookajibeattheTMC’sperform-ance in theGoaAssembly elec-tion. BJP statepresident SukantaMajumder said, “In thenext LokSabha elections (in 2024),NarendraModiwillbeourPrimeMinisterialface.FromThursday'sAssembly election results, it isclearthatthereisnoTMCoutsideWest Bengal. On theotherhand,[DelhiCM]ArvindKejriwal'sparty[AAP]willnowformthegovern-mentinPunjabaswell.Asaresult,nowtheyshoulddecidewhowillbe the face of the opposition,MamataorKejriwal.”
How mediaabroadreacted toBJP victories
PRESSTRUSTOFINDIAWASHINGTON/LONDON,MAR10
WITH ITS thumping victory inUttarPradesh,theBJPhasshownthatitretainspopularsupporttoovercome criticism of its stew-ardshipof theeconomy—andisthefavouritetowinthenationalelection in 2024 — TheWashingtonPost reported.While PMNarendraModi's
party has sometimes struggledagainst strong regional parties,consolidatinganyof themintoaproper opposition to challengehis grip on India would not beeasyorquick.AndCongresshasappeared increasingly vulnera-ble,TheNewYorkTimes said.Holding onto Uttar Pradesh,
India's most politically impor-tant state, would boost Modi'shopesofwinningathirdstraightterm office in the 2024 generalelectionandbolsterhisimageasthe country's most popularpolitician in decades, DailyTelegraph, London, reported.The BBC reported that the
day clearly belongs to the twomenwhocreatedhistoryintheirrespective states — incumbentUttarPradeshchiefministerYogiAdityanath and future PunjabCM BhagwantMann.
THE BRIEF political history ofUttarakhand suggests that thehill statehasneverbeenkindtothose who occupy the chiefministerialchair.Nosittingchiefminister in the state could everdefendhisownseat,andthelastfivechiefministershavebeenona political slide after vacatingthe chair.The trend continued in the
Thursday results of theAssemblyelectionsassittingCMPushkar Singh Dhami and for-mer CMHarish Rawat couldn'twin their respective seats. Thegiant killers — Congress candi-date Bhuwan Chandra Kapriwho defeated Dhami, andMohanSinghBishtwhogotbet-ter of Rawat — registered theirfirst victory in a Vidhan Sabhaelection.Kapri,YouthCongressleader
whoisconsideredclosetoRahulGandhi, defeated Dhami by6,579 votes fromKhatima seat.Known to be a good organiser,Kaprilostthe2017polltoDhamiby a narrow margin of 2,709votes. At present, Kapri is theworking president ofUttarakhandCongress.
From Lalkuan seat, HarishRawat faceddefeatat thehandsofBJP'sfirst-timerMohanSinghBisht (53) by 17,527 votes. Bishthad joined the BJP only inJanuarythisyearevenashewasa Zila Panchayatmember fromBachchidharma in Haldwani asan Independent. A transporter,Bisht had also remained thepresident of Dev Singh BishtDegree College in Haldwani.Accordingtolocals,themainfac-tor that worked for Bisht’s washis intensivedoor-to-doorcam-paigning and personal rapportwiththevoters.“Fromdayone,Iwas sure of winning this seat,”hesaid.Afterthe2017electoraldrub-
bingwhenRawat had lost fromtwo seats (Haridwar Rural andKichha), this electionwas verycrucial fortheformerchiefmin-ister. InaconversationwithTheIndian Express before the elec-tions, Rawat admitted that the2017 results had disheartenedhim, and put in a little extra fo-cusonhisownseat this time.Meanwhile, many in the
partythinkthatthismightbetheend of the road for 73-year-oldRawat. Talking to themedia onThursday, Rawat accepted theverdict of the people and con-gratulated thewinners.
LIZMATHEWNEWDELHI,MARCH10
THE AAMAadmi Party (AAP)’sstunning victory in PunjabAssembly polls does notmeanthat theparty isa “threat toBJP”at the national level, said BJPleaders.For the AAP to emerge as an
alternative to the saffron party,theBJPleaderssaid,itshouldwin"at least100LokSabhaseats".AAP’s growth as a party --
winning two state assemblieswith splendidmandate -- will
alsomeanthattheanti-BJPvoteswill get further divided, the BJPleaderssaid.“Inthenext20years, likethe
Congress has taken the centrestageasastablenationalpartyinthepast,theBJPwillbethere.Theanti-BJPspaceisopeningupandwith the Congress’ ability to re-tain its relevance as a bindingforce for the opposition beingdoubtful, it (AAP) can be in thatspace.However, toemergeasanalternative to the BJP and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, itshouldwin at least 100 seats intheLokSabha,”saidPMuralidhar
Rao, seniorBJP leader.However,atleasttwoleaders
The Indian Express spoke topointed out that the AAP’s“strategies and itsmethods” aresimilar to that of the BJP in itspursuit tobecomea“partywithadevelopmentagenda”.“TheAAPindulgesinthewel-
farepoliticsandisrallyingbehindastrongandcharismaticleader.Italsoattractstheweakersections,the voters from these sectionshave shown trust in him. So inthe long run it is not going to begood news for us. But certainly,wecannotpredictwhatwillhap-
pen in between,” said an office-bearerof theBJP.However, theBJP leadersad-
mittedthatAAP’s increasingap-peal among the women andweaker sections couldmake it aformidable force, if theypersist.The leaders also pointed out
that after making history inPunjab, the Arvind Kejriwal-ledparty couldmove to HimachalPradesh and Gujaratwhich aregoing to polls later this year.“With its governments in Delhiand Punjab, itwill try its luck inneighbouring Haryana andHimachal Pradesh also,” said a
partyMP.“TheAAPalsotriestowoothe
voterswithwelfare politics buttheBJPhasmasteredit.Wehavemobilised the beneficiaries andenjoy their trust in the party. SoAAPcannotbeathreattotheBJPin it,” said Anil Jain, BJP’s RajyaSabhaMP.BJPleadersarguedthattobe-
come a stable alternative to theBJP, theAAPshould startwithatleast50seats.“Mamata Banerjee or M K
Stalincanemerge,becausetheirstateshave41and39(LokSabhaseats respectively). But both
Punjab and Delhi put together,thereareonly20seats.Attheendof the day, it's all arithmetics. Atthemost you can be a (formerPrime Ministers) H D DeveGowdaor IKGujral,” said Jain.The BJP leaders also said the
emergenceofa“newstar”intheopposition space would “sta-bilise” theBJPmoreas the“anti-BJP voteswould have onemoreclaimantandwouldgetdivided”.“OppositiontoBJPhasanew
formidablestarrisingtocompetewith others. It’s not against theBJP,hisraceisamongtheopposi-tion leaders,”Raosaid.
Congress leaderHarishRawat inDehradunonThursday, PTI
For BJP, AAP’s rise ‘not a threat to party’ at national level
EC ready to holdsimultaneouselections oncein 5 years: CEC
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MARCH10
CHIEF ELECTIONCommissionerSushil Chandra on Thursday saidthepollpanelwasreadytoholdsi-multaneous elections in linewithPrimeMinisterNarendraModi’scall for ‘Onenation, one election’.InaninterviewtonewsagencyANI,Chandraaddedthattoimplementthe‘Onenation,oneelection’con-cept, an amendment in theConstitutionisrequired.“AccordingtotheConstitution,
all theelectionsshouldbeheldsi-multaneously. First three parlia-mentary elections after theIndependencewereheldsimulta-neously. It is only later that theschedulegotdisturbedduetosnappolls.‘Onenation,oneelection’isagood suggestionbut tomake thathappen theConstitutionneeds tobeamended.”“ItistobedecidedinParliament, but the election com-missioniscapableofholdingalltheelections simultaneously,” headded.OntheallegationsofEVMtam-
pering inUttar Pradesh, Chandrasaid the EVM movement inVaranasiwaspartofatraining.“TheADM’smistakewasthathedidnotinformpolitical parties about themovement of EVMs as per thestandardoperatingprocedure.”Thepoll bodyalso announced
the suspension of three poll offi-cials in Uttar Pradesh, includingVaranasiADMNKSingh.The EC on Thursday lifted its
earlierbanimposedonvictorypro-cessions in the five stateswhereelectionswereheld.Inastatement,the EC said keeping inmind thecurrentstatusofCovid-19inthesestates, it has “decided to relax theguidelines onvictoryprocessionsduringandafter thecountingandhaswithdrawntheblanketbanonvictoryprocession”.
JANATA DAL (United) nationalspokespersonKC Tyagi has saidthat the BJP's victory in UttarPradesh was “an extension ofBiharmodelof governance”.When asked if JD(U) would
nowbeunder pressure from itssenioralliancepartnerBJP,Tyagisaid: “We are not under any
pressure. It is a victory of theNDA.It istruethatwecontestedindependentlyinUPandlostbutwe had little stake there. ButwithourgoodshowinManipur,we are on course to become anationalparty soon.”Bihar CMNitishKumar con-
gratulated theBJP for its victoryin fourstates. “Mywishes toBJPforitsvictoryinUP,Uttarakhand,Goa and Manipur Assemblypolls. People have reposed faith
intheleadershipofPMNarendraModi Ji,” he tweeted.Nitishalsocongratulatedhisownparty forthe good show inManipur, andAAP chief Arvind Kejriwal forPunjabwin.Meanwhile, Bihar BJP legis-
BJP’s UP victory an extension of Biharmodel of governance, says JD(U)Dehradun: TwoCongress turn-
coats emerged victoriouswhilethedaughtersoftwoformerchiefministers avenged the defeat oftheir fathers in thepolls. FormerUttarakhandCongresspresidentKishore Upadhyay and formerpradeshmahila Congress presi-dentSaritaAryawontheirrespec-tiveseatsofTehriandNainital.Sarita Arya defeated promi-
nentDalit leader fromKumaonregionYashpalArya'ssonandsit-ting CongressMLA Sanjiv AryafromNainitalwhileUpadhyayde-feated Dinesh Dhanai of the
Congress.Upadhyay had joinedtheBJPafterhewasdeniedaticketbytheCongress.ThoughCongresspollcampaignheadHarishRawathimself lost from Lakuwa, hisdaughter AnupamaRawatwontheHaridwarruralseatbydefeat-ing cabinet ministerYatishwaranandby4,472votes.Former CM and BJP leader
Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri’sdaughterRituKhanduriBhushanavengedher father’shumiliationin Kotdwar as she defeatedSurendra Singh Negi of theCongressby3,687votes. PTI
Daughters avenge defeatof two former CMs
New Delhi
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THE TRIUMPHBJP’s success inUPandthreeotherstatesconsolidates itspositionas theprimarypoleofnationalpolitics
THESCOREBOARDAFTER the latest roundof assemblyelections is confirma-tion, if morewas needed, that the BJP is the primary pole of this country'spolitics.Atonetime, itnowseemsverylongago, India'spolitywasdescribedas a one-party dominant system,with a Congresswhichwasmore a coali-
tionthanaparty,itscentrepiece.Thattimeislonggone,theCongressisinexorablybecom-ing apaler andmore shrunken shadowof itself. AndaBJP that got new lifewith the as-cent of NarendraModi at its top in 2014, is notching up achievements.With this roundof elections, ithasallbutupendedoneof the last fewcaveats to itsspectacularsuccess–theparty is yet to conquer the country's south, barringKarnataka, it is pointedout, andevenelsewhere, itsperformance inthestatesdoesnotmatchupto itsdominanceof theCentre.WhilethesouthremainsachallengeforModi'sparty, itsdecisivevictoriesinfouroutofthefivejust-concludedassemblyelections,includingandespeciallyUP,have,atleastfornow,putpaidtothe lattercriticism. InpoliticallycrucialUP, theYogiAdityanathgov-ernmenthasbecomethefirsttogetaconsecutivesecondterminmorethanthreedecades.
TheBJP's formidableelectoralsuccessesarearesultof largerchangesonthegroundand they also serve to deepen the new currents and transitions. In UP, fighting as an in-cumbent, ithadetched itspitchandappealclearly:One,apromiseof “suraksha(safety)”thatmeldsthepromiseofstricterlawandorderatthelocallevelwiththepledgeofamoreself-consciousnationalismandhardernational security, bothbackedby theredefinitionof thestateasa less forgiving,moreretributiveentity.Two, thestateastheproviderofdi-recttransfersandschemestothecitizenaslabharthiorbeneficiary–inUP,thefreerationschemehadtouched largesections ina timeof severeeconomicdistressexacerbatedbyapublichealthemergency,buttherewereotherschemestoothathadreachedthosewhohadnot felt touchedbythestatebefore, fromUjjwalagascylinders toPMKisanSammanNidhitotoilets.Andthree,aHindutvabothmoreassertiveandinsecure. InUP,theBJPhasstokedaculturalandreligiousconsciousnessthatfeels itwaslongdenieditsdueineche-lonsofpowerandinpublicspacesandfeels that itsmomenthas finallycome.TheBJP's political opponentsdonothaveananswer that is either coherentor credi-
bletoanyofthestrandsof itsmulti-vocalappeal.Thatis,ofcourse,achallengeforthecoun-try'sOpposition.Butinademocracythatis largeanddiverse, inthismomentof triumph,there is also the victor's challenge: To respect voices that oppose and disagree. To givethenon-electedandcountervailinginstitutions,thechecksandbalances,theirduespaceandhearing.Toincludesectionsof theelectoratethatdonotfeelrepresentedinitsspec-tacularvictory.Thehard-foughtelectioncampaignwastheparty's,but thegovernmentis, always, of thepeople.
THE PARTY OF CHANGEAAP’s ‘Delhimodel’has led it to itsPunjabvictory. Itmustnow
constructa ‘Punjabmodel’ inamorecomplexstate
ALITTLE LESS than a decade after it was formed, the AamAadmi Party haswon the election in a state that has had an entrenched bipolar polity fordecades andwas the epicentre of a large farmers’ movement in the yearprecedingthepolls.TheAAP,ArvindKejriwalandChiefMinister-designate
BhagwantManndeservecredit for their spectacularPunjabvictory.After the jubilation,theywill need to focuson thechallenge—toaddress themultiple, structural crises thatafflict thestateas it struggles to transition fromapolitical economythatwasbasedonaGreenRevolution thatplateaued longago.Thatithas,insuchashortperiodafteritsentryonthepoliticallandscape,wonofficeina
full-fledgedstatedisplaystheAAP'sabilitytolearnfromsetbacksandcourse-correct.DuringitsfirststintinofficeinDelhiin2013,thepartythathademergedfromtheAnnamovementappearedtorelymoreonapoliticsofconfrontationandprotestvisavistheCentre—aves-tigeofitsrootsintheanti-corruptioncampaign–ratherthanthehardlabourofgovernance.Then, in its last attemptat capturingpower inPunjab in2017, theAAP'sprospects seemeddentedbythefactthatitdidnothaveachiefministerialcandidate,wasaccusedofflirtingwithKhalistanielementsandits“highcommand”wasseentobemicro-managingthestateunitfromDelhi.Clearly, theparty leadership tookcognisanceof theseshortcomings, runningacampaignthathighlighteditsachievementsinhealthandeducationinDelhi,namingaCMcandidateandsteeringclearofcontroversialorpolarisingissues.ThepoliticsofsolutionismthatithasshowcasedinDelhimaynotbeenough,however,
toaddressthecomplexissuesplaguingthestate.Agriculturehasbecomeeconomicallyun-viableandecologicallyunsustainableandthestatehasbeenunabletotakeadvantageoftheITorservicessectorboom.BothindustryandtheyoungarefleeingPunjabanddrugaddic-tioncontinuestoincrease.Tensionsaroundallegedactsofsacrilegecomplicatethedynam-ics in the border statewherememories of the decade lost to terrorismhaven't faded. Tobuild on its victory, theAAPmust nowconstruct a “Punjabmodel” that responds to thestrongdesireforchangethathaspropelledit topowerwithsuchalargemandate.
THE FAMILY MUST GOCongressneedsanewleadership if itwants to
avoidelectoralandpoliticaloblivion
THEVERDICT IS unambiguous: The electorate does not see the Congress as apartyofgovernanceanymoreandtheparty'sfirstfamilycannolongerescapetheblame.TheGandhis,RahulandPriyankainfront, ledtheparty'scampaigninall fivestates thatwent topollsandthepartywasrejectedbyvotersevery-
where.Theyshouldnowaccepttherealityandvacatetheirpositionsof leadership,formalandinformal, if thepartyhastosurviveandreinvent itself tobattle theBJP juggernaut.TheCongresshasbeeninafreefallsince2014,whentheNarendraModi-ledBJPwon
a decisive majority in the Lok Sabha, the first time a party had done so since 1984.Thereafter, the Congress has ceded space to the BJP almost all over India. Take the fivestates thathavenowemphatically rejectedtheCongress: InUP,wherePriyankaGandhiVadra ledthecampaign, thepartypolled justa littleover2percentvotes; inPunjab, theparty has received a drubbing— outgoing Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, andstate chief, Navjot Singh Sidhu, have failed towin their own seats. Former CM and theparty'schief campaigner inUttarakhand,HarishRawat,alsodidnotgetelected,arepeatofhis2017performance. InManipur,wheretheCongressheldoffice for threetermsbe-tween2002and2017,thepartyispoisedtofinishbehindtheJanataDal(United)andtherisingregionalforce,theNationalPeople'sParty(NPP).GoawasseenasanelectionfortheCongress to lose, and it has lost it. Unlike in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in 2018, theCongresslocal leadershipinthesestatescouldnotchecktheBJP’s“double-engine”cam-paign, ledbyPMModiandCMYogiandbackedbyanenergeticpartymachinery.Thewritinghasbeenonthewall forsometime,andmanyintheCongresshaveread it.
Someleftwhattheyfeltwasasinkingshipwhereasothers—forinstance,theG-23–stillho-pedtomaketheleadershipaddressthecrisis.Thefact is thefamilyhasoutliveditspoliticalutilityandisnowaburdenfortheCongress:Itscontinuanceattheparty’shelmreflectsase-nseofentitlementthatalienatesayoungandaspirationalelectorate,andgivesthepartyajadedlook.ThevotershavemovedonfromtheNehru-Gandhifamily, it'stimethepartydidtoo.
Pratap BhanuMehta
AnoopNautiyal
Assemblyelectionresults reveal theBJPhasnorealcompetition.This is sobering
IN HIMALAYAS, SAFFRON PEAKBJP's electoralmachine isnowa formidable, dominant force inUttarakhand
THERESULTSOFthefiveassemblyelectionsare a further consolidation of themomen-tous changes in Indianpolitics over the lastdecade. The results in UP are a spectacularwin for theBJP, consolidating itspowerandideological hegemony over Indian politics.Itsendsaplainandsimplemessage:Politics,in the end, is a game of competitive credi-bilityandtheBJPsimplyhasnocompetition.The BJP has transformed the nature of
politics inwaystowhichtheOppositionhasno answer. The first is a commitment to agenerativeconceptionofpolitics.ThesensethattheBJPhasadeepsocialbase,especiallyamongst women and lower castes, and aspectacular geographic reach as Manipurhas demonstrated, completely belies theidentity determinism that has for so longcharacterised Indianpolitics. Theprojectofnowopposinganynationalpartyontheba-sis of a coalition of fragmented identities isdead.Nopoliticalpartycanbeaverse toso-cial calculations. But every party at play inthis election other than AAP and BJPwere,in the final analysis, relyingonakindof so-cial arithmetic. To reducepolitics to simplythe social—as theSP, BSP, Congresshad forsolongdone—wastoalreadygivethegameaway.Tocontinueto thinkthatpeoplesim-ply voted their caste or that the BJP repre-senteduppercastehegemonywastotakeastarting point thatwas at best a product ofselectionbias,atworstarefusaltoacknowl-edge voters driven by the spell of an idea.Socialengineeringormeredescriptiverep-resentationmakes politics sound trivial, itseemstorobvotersof theiragencyandtheyrespondwith revulsion.Second, is the weariness with old, cor-
rupt, doddering, ancien regimes trying toreinventthemselves.Thatthereissocialdis-content is palpable. Akhilesh Yadav ran anenergetic campaign. But at the end of theday, it was hard for him to overcome thetaint of his ownpast.Manypeople saw theprospect of the SP’s return as, in the end, areturntoanoldcorruptmafia riddenorder.Most of these parties, especially theCongress, come across as the Bourbonmonarchy trying to reinvent itself after theFrench Revolution has taken place. Even awhiff of theoldregimeorbaggagefromthe
past, whether it comes as PriyankaGandhi(whodida largenumberof rallies inUP)orevenareformedAkhileshwillbeenoughtokill itschances. InPunjab,theCongresstrieda new social engineering by selectingCharanjitSinghChanni,butsooverwhelm-ing is theshadowof theparty’s culture thatno amount of that worked. The sense thattheModi-Yogicombineisstill intheprocessof upending the old order whether in cul-tureorinstyleofgovernanceisstillpalpable.It isnotanaccidentthatsince2014,itwas
the BJP andAAP thatwere seen as possiblealternatives--bothtakingIndia intoaplacethatwasnot the tiredentitlementof anoldregime that had already imploded. Bothspoke a new ideological; both were nottaintedwiththat“oldregime”tag;bothpre-sented a politics that went beyond the so-cial arithmetic. TheAAP’s victory in Punjabhas given it newwings as a leader in theOppositionspace.Thesearetheplaintruthsof politics. Thequestion for India now is nolongerthereconstructionof theCongressorthe future of Rahul Gandhi. It is finding anewOppositionalmost fromscratch.Thethirdis justtheabilitytothinkpolit-
ically. The BJP’s handling of the farmersmovement was going to make retrievingPunjabdifficult.Bydefusingapotentialtimebomb,evenif thatmeantdoingaU-turnonamuch trumpeted policy reform, the BJPperhaps came across as responsive. Eatinghumblepiesfromapositionof strengthcanbe, if usedwell, endearing,especiallywhenthe alternative is trumpeting entitlementfrom a position of non-achievement andweakness.The fourth is the importance of leader-
ship.Whetherwe like itornot, thisvote re-iterates trust, inmost states, in the leader-ship of Narendra Modi. Again, it is anacademic debate whether the vote is forModiorYogi.Thepointofasuccessful leaderis that they create the conditions wherethere is no division in the party, and in thefinal analysis, an ability towork together. Ithas beenanobvious fact about theBJP thatits constituent parts are marching to thesame tune. But this is not just a commandand control performance;mere commandfrom the top can at best produce a sullen
compliance. It is creating anorganisationalculturethatalwayshasitseyesonthebiggerprize. The Opposition, in contrast, canscreamall itwants that there is an existen-tialcrisisofdemocracy.But if itsconduct, itsinternal battles convey nominimal abilityto work together in a crisis, there is nogroundtostandon. If in the faceof thisevil,you could not get your act together, whyshouldIeventrustyourdiagnosis, seemstobe the refrain.Finally, there is thequestionof ideology.
Therewill be another time to discuss howmuchofYogi’s triumphinUPhastodowithgovernanceanddelivery.This isempiricallya complicated matter. This is in no smallpart becausewhat a regime gets credit foris asmuch amatter of prior trust as it is offacts. Certainly Yogi’s new welfarism, orcrackdown on certain kinds of corrupt in-termediaries may contribute to the BJP’spopularity. But the idea that all of thatwasenoughtowipeouttheeffectsof theCovid-19 devastation, unprecedented inflation, adip in consumer spending and a real jobscrisis requires more explanation. Perhapsthe angriest and the most devastated nolonger feel politics is the conduit for solv-ing theirproblems.Yourprotestwill beex-pressedmoreassocialpathology,notaspo-litical revolt.But here is one simple thing Indian
democracy will have to think about afterthese elections. The fact that a politics thathasvenom,hate,prejudice,violence,repres-sionanddeceit isnot adeal breaker for vot-ersissomethingtothinkabout.Thisroadal-waysendsincatastrophe.Thesomewhatlessdisquietinganswer is that this isareflectionof the depth of incompetence towhich theOpposition has sunk. Themore disquietingansweristhatthelossofourmoralcompassonfundamentalvalues is irretrievable.Onlytimewilltell.Butfornowthesovereignpeo-ple have spoken, and all other tongueswillhave to fall silent. In any case there is nopowertoopposetheBJP;onecanonlyhopeglimmersof amoralconsciencecansurvivethisundoubted featof politicalmastery.
Thewriter is contributing editor,The IndianExpress
AS UTTARAKHAND’S FIFTH state assemblyelections wind down, let us take a look atsome of the key factors that determined itsoutcomeandhowthemajorplayers fared.Havingthusfarbeenanelectorallybipo-
larstate, thiselectionmarksthefirst timeinthe state’s history that the ruling party hasnot lost theelection. Somemaysee this asatestament to the BJP’s sway over theHimalayan statewhereas othersmay feel itmore noteworthy to point out the ineffec-tivenessof theoppositionparties. It is fair tosaythattheresultwasimpactedbyboththeformerandthe latter.However,what is cer-tainisthatthe2017Modiwaveisstillsweep-ingacrossUttarakhand.Despitethepoliticalbaggagethatcomes
withhaving appointed threedifferent chiefministers over the past year, the “Modimagic” remains intact. In other words, aslongasNarendraModiholdsthereinsattheCentre,thedisorderinUttarakhand’sBJPunitwillcontinuetobeoverlookedbythestate’svoters. Further, Modi’s public affection forUttarakhand--which includeshispersonalinvolvement in the Kedarnath restorationand Badrinath redevelopment plans -- hascatapultedhimtoanalmostunassailablesta-tus in theeyesofmany.That being said, the current chiefminis-
ter, Pushkar Singh Dhami, who came topower approximately sixmonths ago, hasalsohelpedtosteadytheBJPship.AlthoughDhami has not measurably impacted thestateyet,thefactthathehasavoidedthekindof controversies thathauntedhispredeces-sorshas served theBJPwell.Ananalysisof thiselectionindicatesthat
womenturnedout inhugenumbers for theBJP. In an unprecedented turn of events,womenvotersoutnumberedmalevoters in38of the70assembly seats. Thevotingpat-terns appear to suggest that thedouble-en-ginephilosophyhasshapedupratheragree-ablyfortheBJP.TheBJP’swell-oiledelectoralmachinery--consistingofmanpower,man-agerialefficiencyandunlimitedresources–hasbecomeformidable inUttarakhand.Oneparty’ssuccessisanother’sundoing.
TheCongress isstaringatableakfuture. It isnosecretthatthepartyhasbeenfalteringatthe state aswell as thenational level. Its in-ability to takeadvantageof theanti-incum-bency sentiment -- aswas the case in priorelections–isamarkerof itsdecline.Asthingsstand, itappearsunabletochallengetheBJPinDevbhoomi.The74-year-oldCongressveteranHarish
Rawatwas insisting that the party declarehim as the chief ministerial candidate.
However,thepartydecidedtogoaheadwitha collective leadership model. Ironically,Rawat has failed to win in his own con-stituencyof Lalkuan,anotherdisappointingresulttofollowuponhisequallydismalper-formanceinthe2017electionswhenhehadlost fromHaridwar Gramin and Kichha. Allsigns suggest this could be the end of theroad for Rawat. Going ahead, whether it isRawatoranewleaderthattheCongressap-points,thereisnodenyingthatthepartyhasto rise from the ashes, revamp its strategyandrebuild itsorganisation fromscratch.Lastly, it turned out to be an under-
whelmingresultfortheAamAadmiPartyintheir Uttarakhand state assembly electiondebut. Chief ministerial candidate ColonelAjayKothiyalfaredpoorlyfromtheGangotriassemblyseat.TheAAPfailedtowinasingleseat.Unlike theCongress,however, theAAPcandrawinspiration fromits emphaticwinin Punjab, and use thatmomentum in theupcomingurbanlocalbodyelectionsin2023and the next Uttarakhand state assemblyelections.IntheeventthattheAAPdoeswellin Punjab in the next five years, it will be aforce tobereckonedwith in2027.
Thewriter isa socialworkerandthe founderofDehradunbasedSDCFoundation
Here is one simple thingIndian democracy will haveto think about after theseelections. The fact that apolitics that has venom,hate, prejudice, violence,repression and deceit is not adeal breaker for voters issomething to think about.This road always ends incatastrophe. The somewhatless disquieting answer isthat this is a reflection ofthe depth of incompetenceto which the Oppositionhas sunk.
One party’s success isanother’s undoing. TheCongress is staring at a bleakfuture. It is no secret that theparty has been faltering atthe state as well as thenational level. Its inability totake advantage of anti-incumbency sentiment — aswas the case in priorelections — is a marker of itsdecline. As things stand, itappears unable to challengethe BJP in Devbhoomi.
FOUNDED BY
RAMNATH GOENKA
B E C A U S E T H E T R U T H I N V O L V E S U S A L L
§ §
THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MARCH11, 2022 WORDLYWISEAvote is like a rifle: its usefulness depends
upon the character of the user.— THEODORE ROOSEVELTTHEEDITORIALPAGE
ARSON IN KASHMIRINAMAJORoutbreakofviolence,anti-liquoragitators indulging in looting clashedwiththepoliceonTuesdayinAnantnagtown,50kmfromSrinagarleavingatleast65personsinjuredincludingamagistrateandsomesen-ior police officers. The police fired severalroundsintheairtodisperseunrulysupport-ersof thepro-PakistanPeople’sLeaguewhotook to the street for the second day andforced shopkeepers to down their shutters.The police swung into actionwith firearmsafter lathichargehadlittleeffectonthemobdemandingabanonsaleof liquor.Infuriatedby the police action to re-open the closed
shops, threw liquor bottles on the roadsideandstonedpolicepersonnel intheroadside
ANTULAY’S DEALANALLEGATIONTHATformerMaharashtraChiefMinisterARAntulay tookRs1.6 crorefromabrewerywasbroughttotheattentionoftheRajyaSabha.Inreturn,thebrewerygotan allocation of 2million litres of molassesfromtheMaharashtragovernment,accord-ing toAGKulkarni (CongressS).
MP’S IRREGULARITIESCHARANJIT SINGH, KNOWNas the Campa
ColaMP,haslandedhimself inanotherscan-dal. His Pure Drinks company that is con-structing a hotel inWindsor Place in Delhihas,inadditiontothebungalowlandallottedto theNDMC,madeotherencroachments.
HOLI BONFIRESASHOLIREVELERS inDelhipreparedtocel-ebrate, it seemedthatwinterwasnot readytodepart.Somepartsofthecityweregreetedwitha thunder in theeveningonMarch9.
‘‘A culmination of various worrying factors seems to put Nepal in a precariousposition that is bound to end in an economic meltdown. With a fast-depreciatingcurrency and the country primarily reliant on imports, the current crisis doesn’tbode well for the Himalayan republic.’’ —KATHMANDUPOSTTHE IDEASPAGE
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Anti-BJP politics now facestwo alternatives. Anambitious and long-termalternative, which almostseems impossible at themoment, is for anti-BJPparties (and there is adifference between non-BJPparties and anti-BJP parties)to reshape the consensussketched above; it involvesseeking to change the middleground that the BJP has setas the framework ofcompetitive politics. Thisroute is not easy to take and,clearly, there are no takers.
PUNJABWAS in the throes of aneconomic,sociological and environmentalmeltdownwhen the state assembly elections turnedintoapoliticaltornado.TheAamAadmiPartyuprootednot only awhole forest of leadersfromParkashSinghBadaltoAmarinderSinghbutpossiblytheCongresspartyfromthena-tionalmantlepieceaswell.The trajectory of the decimation of the
traditionalpartiesisnotdifficulttomap.TheShiromani Akali Dal (SAD)was identifiedwith and supported by the Sikhs and thefarmers. The sacrilege charges had alreadyeroded its identityasaparty for theSikhs. Itblunderedfurtherbyinitiallysupportingthefarm laws, thus losing the faithof the farm-ers. Beingdisconnected from themasses isnottheexclusivedomainof theCongress.If demonising the Badals hadprovided
Amarinder Singhwith the licence topowerin2017,hisconsortingwiththesameBadalsafter hebecame theChiefMinister becamehis nemesis. Itwas his bonhomiewith theBadals thatmade Punjabhold him in con-tempt and eventually forced the Congresshighcommandtoshowhimthedoor.Theoc-casionprovidedtheopportunity forchangethatthepeoplewereseekingfromthestran-gleholdof thetwofamilieswhohadbeenatthehelmofaffairsforoveraquarterofacen-tury.Ofthe79CongressMLAswhoseopinion
was sought, other than Charanjit SinghChanni himself, only one otherMLAoptedforhim.StilltheCongresshighcommandputChanniatthehelm.Nottoforget,NavjotSinghSidhu,apersonwhohasdelusionsofhavingdaily conversationswith thegods andwhohadbeenearlier imposedas the statepartypresident on thehapless PunjabCongress,wasacceptable toonly fourCongressMLAs.Consequently, thepartywas laughedoutofpower.Itwas no surprise that the Congress in
Punjab,apartywithraginginternecinefeuds,couldnotcapitaliseonthesocialengineeringof appointing a lower caste chiefminister,whichwasseenasaploytobeattheanti-in-cumbencyfactor.Butinitshubrisofappoint-ingalowercasteCM,thepartygrosslymiscal-culated the backlash fromother sections.Hindus in Punjab felt slightedwhen a fewseniorpartyleadersobjectedtoaHinduCMandthepartyhighcommandbuckled. ThattheblatantindisciplineofCMChanniinsup-portinghis brother as an independent can-didate against a Congress candidatewentuncheckedisatellingsignoftheterminalde-cay in theCongress leadership. To top it all,January18, 2022, became the tippingpointoftheelectioncampaign,whenthefamilyofthe CM was raided by the EnforcementDirectorate.UnaccountedcashamountingtoRs 10 crorewas recovered from theopera-
ityofdrugs,rampantcorruption,illegalsandmining, liquor lobby pay-outs, lack of em-ployment opportunities had people frus-tratedandclamouringforchange.IftheAkaliDalistoblameforinitiatingthecynicism,theCongress is largely at fault for allowing thewoundstofester.Otherthantheobviouscri-sisofleadership,theCongressfacesadeepercrisisofpurpose.Indeed,theonlyrealloserintheelections
is the Congress party. Amarinder Singh, inspiteofhisloss,hasexactedhissweetrevengeforthehumiliationseeminglysanctionedbytheCongresshighcommand.Thelevelofdejectionwiththetraditional
partieswasso largethatpeopledidnotcaretonotice that like theseparties, theAAP toohas ahigh command that sits inDelhi, that51per cent of its candidates have criminalrecords and over a fourth of its candidateswere turncoats fromotherpolitical parties.Desperately seeking a change, the peopleconcludedthattheAAPwouldprovideit.TheAAP did not need to be intelligent; it justneeded to be seen as being different. As apartyunencumberedbythepastandwithouta legacy todrag it down, theAAP thuswondecisively.The BJP’s gambit achieved two advan-
tages.One,aclearAAPvictoryinPunjabmud-dles the chances of oppositionunity at thenational level in the run-up to 2024parlia-mentaryelectionsasAAPbecomesthe“go-to national party”. Next, with the help ofAmarinder Singh, some farmunion leaderswereincentivisedtoformtheSanyuktSamajMorcha to contest thepolls. Apart fromtheexpected thorough rout of theMorcha, itsleaders lost the trust of the people and thechanceof a farmers’ protest effectively tar-geting theBJP again in the future has beenneutralised.Looking ahead, theAAPwill quickly re-
alise that it is easier tomakepoll promisesthantodeliveronthem.After theGSTcom-pensationcomestoanendinthreemonths,theappallinggapbetweenrevenuereceiptsandthecommittedexpenditurewillbe im-possible to plug. This shortfall does not ac-countforthehumongouscostoffulfillingtheelectionpromises. There is little doubt thataftertheelections,thereal“aamaadmi”willfeelshort-changedbythelonglistofpromisesandexpectations that simplycannotbe ful-filled.TheAAPisalsodifferentbecauseitsstate
leadershipiswithoutadministrativeexperi-ence, devoid of ideology and aparty struc-ture for checks and balances. This and thehighnumber ofMLAs (manyof them first-time)willmakeitverytrickyforthepartytogovern a state where expectations havepeakedandemotionsalwaysrunhigh.Timewill tell if BhagwantMannasthechiefmin-ister canwield power as a statesman. Thatwilldecidethefateof theAAPastheroadtoIndia’scapital leadsthroughPunjab.
Thewriter is chairman,BharatKrishakSamaj
ITMIGHT TAKE time for any analysis to ap-proachasemblanceofbeingcomprehensive,butnothingcanhidethecomprehensivenessof the BJP’s success— and of the Congress’scomplete failure — in the results of the as-semblyelectionsinfivestates.Asimilarcom-prehensivenessalsomarkstheAAP’ssuccessinPunjab. In thedays to come, therewill beasearchformultiplefactors,whichmayhaveinfluencedvotersfromdifferentsocialback-grounds,andstate-wiseexplanationsof theoutcometocompletethejigsawpuzzlethatelectionoutcomesoftenare.Results from the five statesmay be ex-
plainedby twostandard templates. It couldbe said that the electoratewas “misled” ormisguidedbytheBJP,barringinPunjab.ThiswouldinvolveacritiqueoftheBJPcampaign.On the other hand, it could be said that theBJPwonridingon itsgovernancerecord, in-cludingitswelfaremeasures.ThisargumentwouldignoreboththeideologicalassaultbytheBJP and themany limitations of its gov-ernancemodel. Both these argumentswillsurely possess an element of truth and yetmiss the larger dimensions of these out-comes.The dramatic victory of the AAP in
Punjab, the dismal performance of theCongressandthedecentshowingbytheBJPindicate that over and above complex tem-platesofanalysis,thereissomethingsimplerthat needs to be stated and re-stated: Interms of structure of competition, India’spolity is deep into the frameworkof single-partydominance. Such is thedominanceoftheBJPthatitspoliticsofmisguidingtheelec-torate resonateswith thevotersand its lim-itedachievementsinthefieldofwelfarepro-visioning constitute the centrepiece of itsgovernance record.To grasp the significance of these out-
comes, it is necessary to keep at a distancethese temptingly plausible explanations.Theysurelyhaveacertainexplanatoryvalue.But the larger point which should not bemissed is about the fundamental shift thattheBJPhasbeenable tobringabout. As thiswriterhasbeenrepeatedlyarguing, theriseof the BJP in 2014marked the rise of a newpolitical culture inthemaking.Withalmostevery election and every political contro-versy,thisnewcultureismoreclearlyondis-play. No interpretation of an electoral out-come,therefore,wouldbecompletewithouttaking into consideration this newpoliticalculture.Thereareatleastthreekeyaspectsofthis
shift inthepoliticalcultureofcontemporaryIndia.One,theaverageHinduvotertodayap-pearsmore favourably inclinedthanever tobecome part of a politicallymobilised pro-Hindutvamass of voters. The BJP, over thepast decade, has repeatedly displayed itsability to shape effective voter polarisationonthebasisof religious identity. If onewerenot to be carried away by campaign claimsaboutgoodgovernanceandinsteadtrackthecontinuous and low-volume communalrhetoricappealingtoHindustopoliticallyor-ganise as Hindus, particularly againstMuslims,itwouldbeclearthatinmoststates,alargechunkof thevoterswouldbeswayedbyHindutva.Two,votersarewilling toconsider lead-
ership and personality as themost impor-tant factors inmakingtheirpoliticalchoicesand determining their opinions on con-tentiousissues.TheBJPhastakentheleader-ship factor or the personality cult to a newlevel.Votersaremost likelynowtoperceivegovernmental authority in the form of theleader.Since2014, theemphasisonperson-ality and the audacious claim of “Modi haitohmumkinhai(AnythingispossibleifModiisthere)”hasmeantthateverythingthegov-ernmentsachieveorclaimtohaveachievedis invariably linked to the persona of Modi.While this is not the first time thatwehaveseen such politics, the extent of the currentclaimsandtheirdurabilitysurpassesnotjuststate-levelpersonalitycultsbutalsopushesinto insignificance the efforts of IndiraGandhitoprojectherselfasthesaviourofthepoor.AswecontinuetowitnessthemarvelsofModi’spersonalitycult,amoresystematicstudy of personalised authority under himis yet to happen. As such, the extraordinaryshiftthishasbroughttothegameofelectoralcompetition can only be imagined for thetimebeing.Both these factors have helped the BJP
in overcoming the many shortcomings,particularly its monumental mishandlingof the pandemic during the second wave.Oncetheelectorate isdeeplydividedonre-ligious basis and once the voters are con-vinced of the extraordinary powers andsincerityof TheLeader,governance failurescanbeeasilyoverlooked—in fact, theiroc-currence can be simply rejected as oppo-sition canard. It is no wonder then thatwhether in UP or in Uttarakhand, voterschosenot tobeconcernedaboutwhathap-pened during the pandemic or during anaturaldisaster.Hindutvamobilisationandpersonalised imaginationof authority thusoperate as an insurance againstmisgover-nance.Three, increasingly, voters arewilling to
endorse a proactive police state as protect-ing the national interest rather than de-mandinganinstitutionallymoderatedexer-
cise of state powers. During the past eightyears,themeaningsofgovernanceandstate-craft have been entirely transformed.Extensive and consistent use of the repres-sivearmof thestatehavemarkedthepolity.A truly hard and harsh state has been un-leashed.Whatismoresignificantisthatpub-licopinionhasuncriticallyupheldthisavatarof the state. This point particularly helps usunderstand why the many accusationsagainst the UP CM of being high-handednevercutmuch icewith thepublic.Seeninthecontextof thisthree-pronged
shift,which,of course,hasnotbeenamagi-cal outcome that emerged in 2014 but hasbeen inthemaking forquitesometime, thevictoryof theBJP inthestateassemblyelec-tionsposescomplicatedchoicesforotherpo-litical players. Anti-BJP politics, in the back-dropof the kindof single-party dominancethat the BJP has shaped, faces two alterna-tives. An ambitious and long-term alterna-tive, which almost seems impossible at themoment, is foranti-BJPparties (andthere isa difference between non-BJP parties andanti-BJP parties) to reshape the consensussketchedabove;itinvolvesseekingtochangethemiddlegroundthattheBJPhassetastheframeworkofcompetitivepolitics.Thisrouteis not easy to take and, clearly, there are notakers.Theotheralternative, a tameone, is that
anti-BJPpartieschoosetooperatewithinthespace set by the BJP. Thus, for instance, theAAPor theTMCharpsonpersonalisationofauthority,theTRSdoesnotbotheraboutthehardstatemechanisms it adoptsor theAAPdoes not bother about themobilisation ofHindus on the basis of Hindutva. The victo-ries of the BJP, including in the key state ofUP, only reiterate and alert non-BJP playersto this bind: An impossible route or a routethatwill only strengthen theBJP in the longrun.
Thewriter, based inPune, taughtpoliticalscienceand is currentlyChief Editorof
Studies in IndianPolitics
In Punjab, a clearwind for change
CHINA RISINGTHISREFERSTOtheeditorial, ‘Balancingact’ (IE,March 10). China hasmade nobones about its intentions to be theworld's foremost superpower andhasopenlyandefficientlymadealliances intheCentralAsiaregion.FromsupportingtheTalibanandprovidingcriticalsupporttoAfghanistan to helpingRussia find amarket for its goods and supporting itwithpayment systems, Chinahas goneonanall-outdiplomaticandstrategicof-fensive.ThosewhothinkthatChina'sac-tionsareviewedasirresponsibleproba-blymissthefactthatthedragondoesnotcareforworldopinion.Itopenlychangesfactsandquestionsmediaoutletsacrosstheglobewithutterdisregard.
GauravGupta,Gurguram
THISREFERSTOtheeditorial, ‘Balancingact’ (IE,March10).Sofar,Chinahasbeenplaying abalancing act betweenRussiaand theWest. China’s foreignministertoldseniorEuropeanofficials thatwhileBeijing respects every country’s sover-eignty, includingUkraine’s, Russia’s se-curitydemandsshouldalsobeaddressedproperly. Putin going to the BeijingOlympicsandmeetingChina’sXiJinpingmade India wary of Sino-Russia ties.China is an imminent threat to India, soDelhiwon’twant tohumourRussia inawaythatwouldthreaten itsnational in-terests.
SSPaul,Nadia
THISREFERSTOtheeditorial,‘Balancingact’(IE,March10). China leavingno stoneun-turnedtoimproveitsstatureamidstUkraineconflictisalessonworthemulatingforIndia.ThisisacrucialmomentinhistoryforIndia
toleverageitssoftpowerforthebettermentofglobalcohesion.Diplomatictoolsneedtobeefficiently leveraged tobetter trade tieswithEuropeandtheWestwhilenotdesert-ing the all-weather friend,Moscow. Indiahas faredwell in thisbalancingact for longandwillbebetteroff thanBeijing,given itsgoodwillandhistoryofmagnanimity.
AnjaliBhavana,Thiruvananthapurm
LEARNING DEFICITTHISREFERSTOtheeditorial, 'Capturingthe slide' (IE,March 10). The proposedsurveybytheCentre toassess learninglossonaccountof thepandemicisonlylikely toconfirmourworst fears. Itwilltakealottomakeupforthelostyearsofschooling, but this is an urgentmatterandmustbe takenuponawar footingin the interestsof equityandthecoun-try'sfuture. Itmustalsoberealisedthate-learningandotherpedagogies,whichwere used during the pandemic andwere not very effective, cannotreplace teachers but only supplementthem.
HemantContractor,Pune
THIS REFERS TO the editorial,‘Measuringtheslide’(IE,March10).Thesurvey is awelcomestepas itwill pro-videinsightsintothedeterioratingqual-ityofeducation.Elementaryeducationwasnotfaringwellevenbeforethepan-demic struck. The transition to onlinelearningwouldhaveonlyservedtoex-acerbatethisissue.Comprehensivedatacollectionwill aid policies directed atamelioratingthesyllabusaswellas in-stitutional infrastructure.
ShreyaSingh,Mumbai
LETTERS TO THEEDITOR
THEELECTIONresultsinGoahavecomeasashocktomany.Thesingle-partymandateinfavourof theBJP,amidsta fracturedopposi-tionandcontrarytoexpectations,makesthiselectiondistinctfromtherest.Thenail-bitingmoments during the counting finally re-sultedintheBJPinchingclosertothemajor-ity, with 20 seats in the 40-memberAssembly.With the aid of three independ-ents, the BJP is on itsway to forming apop-ular government for the third consecutivetime in thestate.The Congress euphoria has died down,
withthepartymanagingameagre12seats,includingoneseat for theiralliancepartner,Goa Forward Party (GFP). The prospects ofthe relatively new entrant in the state, theTrinamoolCongress(TMC),havebeenrazed,and the hope of the MaharastrawadiGomantakParty(MGP)thatitwillturnouttobe the kingmaker has been shattered. Thepainstakinggroundworkof theAamAadmiParty(AAP)hashelpedittoopenitsaccountin the coastal statewith two seats. Againsttheexpectationsoftheexitpollsters,therad-icalregionaloutfit, theRevolutionaryGoans(RG), has amaiden victory, althoughwith aslendermargin.TheelectoralcontestinGoathistimehas
beenacloseand five-cornered.Politicalop-
ticswerehazy,asthelimitedpoliticalspace,with an average of 30,000-35,000 voters ineachconstituency,wascrowdedwithmoreorganisedandresource-richplayersliketheTMCandAAP,alongsidethetraditionalpar-ties, the BJP and the Congress, and regionaloutfits like theMGP,GFPandRG.The BJP, with its battery of astute ob-
serversfromtheCentre,tooknochancesandwasquicktoadapt.Afterall, ithadtodefendits 10 years in government, with four chiefministers in the last two terms. For theCongress, it was an existential battle. Frombeing the single-largest partywith 17 seatsandyetfailingtoelectitsleaderandformthegovernmentin2017,thegrandoldpartywasreduced to just two legislators in 2022.Defections gave a big blow to the rank andfile of the party. With one former CM,Luizinho Faleiro, joining the TMC, and an-otherformerCM,PratapsinghRane,backingoutfromthecontest, itwastheotherformerCM,DigambarKamat,whosingle-handedlyhad to lead thedilapidatedCongress.TheBJP'sorganisationalstrengthhasde-
liveredinitsfavour.Despitethedoubleanti-incumbency, it was able to retain its voteshare at 33 per cent. The party had securedjust13seatswiththesamevoteshareduringthe last assembly election in 2017. Its com-
prehensivevictory seemssignificant as thisparty faced a lot of internal bickering in therun-uptothepresentelections.Thespatbe-tween CM Pramod Sawant and VishwajitRane, a heavyweight leaderwho switchedfrom the Congress, the Covid crisis, allegedrecruitmentscams,afinancialdebacleinthestate and the closure of mining for over adecade, presented the BJPwith tough chal-lenges.Moreover, thiswas the first electiontheBJPwas facingwithout its tallest leader,ManoharParrikar.The resultsmean that theBJP's intrinsic
vote share remains intact. The narrative oftheprincipaloppositionparty,theCongress,that it now represents a “NewCongress”, isstumped by the BJP's “seat-by-seat microplans”.The BJP got an edge due to its offensive
strategyofmassive“take-oversandacquisi-tions”. Itofferedtickets toasmanyas12de-fectors and in the run-up to the pollsman-aged to poach as many as five winnablecandidatesfromotherpartiesinthe33seatsthat it seriouslycontested.Muchofthecreditforthewingoestothose
helpedtheBJPretainitsdecisiveelectoralpo-sition inGoa’s politics. Among the36 candi-datesthattheBJPfielded,threewerefreshfaces(allwon)andfivewereformerlegislatorswhohad lost in2017. Four among these fivewereabletogainvoters'confidencethistime.Ofthe12defectorsfromCongressfieldedbytheBJP,fivelost,andyettheywereabletotransfertheirmassivevotebankstotheBJPkitty.Thenarrative of the “NewCongress” got
no electoral sympathy, as therewas no at-tempttoconsolidatetheoppositionvote.TheCongress failedtoreachout to theMGP,nei-ther did it pay any heed to the TMC's over-tures for an alliance. The GFP's call to cometogetherandstrategisewasheardonlyatthelastminute. The Congress's overconfidenceaboutbipolarity in thecontest led to its self-destruction. The five per cent dip in theCongressvoteshareledtothelossofsixseats.TheabsenceofanystrategytoformacredibleunitedoppositionhasledtheCongresstothegreatestdebacleof thiselectionseason.It is hoped that the currentmandate in
favour of the BJP will do its best to moveGoansawayfromtheworstpoliticalexperi-ence theyhavehad in the last fiveyears.
Executive Engineer PMGSY Division Jammu on behalf of The Government ofJammu & Kashmir, invites e-tenders on %age Above/Excess (+) OR %ageBelow/ Less (-) basis (i.e. on Percentage-Rate Basis) from approved and eligibleContractors registered with J&K State Govt, CPWD, Railways or equivalent andother State Government upto 5.00 PM on 28-03-2022 for the following workincluding Defect Liability & Maintenance Period five years for Stage-II after con-struction.
GOVERNMENT OF JAMMU AND KASHMIROFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER PMGSY DIVISION JAMMU.
Providing And Laying OfRenewal Coat On Road FromGurgani To Dhoon, PackageNo-JK05-95 Block Purmandal,District Samba, Length-6.00kmsAdv. Cost excluding mainte-nance but inclusive of GST -Rs. 203.10 Lacs
Providing And Laying OfRenewal Coat On Road FromJabta To Challani, Package No.JK05-97 Block PurmandalDistrict Samba Length-5.00kmsAdv. Cost excluding mainte-nance but inclusive of GST -Rs. 209.72Lacs
Providing and Laying ofRenewal coat on road fromJamotia to Pail via. BadePail,PackageNo.JK05-80,BlockBhalwal Brahmana DistrictJammu Length = 8.525kmsAdv. Cost excluding mainte-nance but inclusive of GST -Rs. 166.18 Lacs
Providing and Laying ofRenewal coat on road from Kuffito Godhan,Package No. JK05-72 Block Maira Mandrian,District Jammu Length = 5.750km Adv. Cost excludingmaintenance but inclusive ofGST –Rs. 158.75 Lacs
Providing and Laying ofRenewal Coat of road fromDagair to Panaya, Package No.JK05-62, Block Khour, DistrictJammu Length-4.50 KmsAdv. Cost excluding mainte-nance but inclusive of GST -Rs. 139.65 Lacs
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1.(a)The Bidding documents can be downloaded from the website http://pmgsy-tendersjk.gov.in from 06.55 P.M On10-03-2022 to28-03-2022 (5.00PM).
Sd/-Executive Engineer PMGSY Division Jammu
For and on behalf of The Governmentof Jammu and Kashmir
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No:-EE/PMGSY/J/6526-96Dated:-07-03-2022DIPJ-14009
NOTICENotice is hereby given to all the ‘A’ Class Members (OrdinaryMembers) of Lokmanya Multipurpose Co- operative Society Ltd.,That General Body Meeting of Society will be held on 26th March2022 at 5.00 p.m. at Society Regional Office. 30/2A/1, BhagyaNagar, Tilakwadi, Belgaum 590006, Karnataka to transact thefollowing business.AGENDA
To read and confirm the proceeding of last General BodyMeeting.Detailed list of eligible ‘A’ Class members / Ordinary Membersand election programme is available on the notice board of thesociety’s Head Office at Belgaum.Calendar of events for the election of Board of Directors ofLokmanya Multipurpose Co- operative Society Ltd., for theperiod 01/04/2022 to 31/03/2027.Shri .Ravindra Patil, Assistant Registrar of Co-operative SocietiesBelgavi is appointed as Returning Officer for the said election.Number of Vacancies to be filled in 20.The area of operation is state of Maharashta , Karnataka. Goaand Delhi.Nomination forms are available with Chief Executive Officer/Co-Ordinator at Head office CTS No.195/A, Nasco RoyalBuilding, Guruwar peth, Tilakwadi, Belgaum from 14th March2022 to 15th March 2022 between 10.00 am to 2.00 pm.Date of filling of Nomination is 18/03/2022 between 10.00am to2.00 pm in the Head office.Scrutiny of Nomination papers by Returning Officer on19/03/2022 at 12.00 pm at Head officeWithdrawal of Nomination form on 20/03/2022 at 10.00am to3.00pm.Final list of Eligible Candidates will be displayed on Notice Boardat 5:30 pm at Head office on 20/03/2022.Election to be held on 26/03/2022 at all the Regional offices ofthe Society from 10.00am to 3.00pm.Declaration of Result on 26/03/2022 at 5.00pm at BelgaumRegional Office 30/2A/1, Bhagya Nagar, Tilakwadi, Belgaum-.
For Lokmanya Multipurpose co- operative society Ltd.Sd/-
Place : Belgaum Abhijit A. DixitDate : 10/03/2022 Chief Executive Officer
e-procurement notice No. SS-16021/50/2021-CMO SEC-SSA, Dt.10.03.2022 Samagra Shiksha, Andhra Pradesh is inviting Request ForProposal for procurement and supply of (i) a pair of shoes and two pairsof socks to (approximately 47.88 lakhs in number) studying classes I toX. (ii) Notebooks to (approximately 21.81 lakhs in number) studyingclasses VI to X in Government management schools in the State ofAndhra Pradesh during the year 2022-23 under the scheme of“Jagananna Vidya Kanuka”. For details please visithttps://tender.apeprocurement.gov.in from 11.03.2022. Tender/RFPform can be downloaded from website. Eligible firms shall upload theprescribed format as per the schedules given in the above said site.Contact No. 0866-2428599.
Sd/- State Project DirectorSamagra Shiksha, Andhra PradeshR.O.No.737PP/CL/ADVT/1/1/2021-22
Request for Proposal
GOVERNMENT OF ANDHRA PRADESHSAMAGRA SHIKSHA
STATE PROJECT OFFICE, KBC BOYS HIGH SCHOOL CAMPUS,OPP. RAITHU BAZAR, PATAMATA, VIJAYWADA, ANDHRA PRADESH
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICESRINAGAR,MARCH10
THREEMILITANTSwerekilledintwo separate gunfights in theValleyonThursday.While two militants were
killedinsouthKashmir,thethirdwas killed in a brief shootout inSrinagar. Two Army personnelwere also injured in the southKashmirgunfight.OnThursday, a joint teamof
the J&K Police, Army and para-military forces cordoned offNaina Bataora village in southKashmir'sPulwamaafterreceiv-inginputsaboutthepresenceofmilitants in thevillage.Asthejointteamofforcesze-
roed inon the target, thehidingmilitants opened fire and triedtobreakthesecuritycordon.Thejointteamofforcesretaliatedthefire, leading toanencounter.Thepolicesaidtwomilitants
were killed and two Army per-sonnel injured in the gunfightthatlastedseveralhours.“Asthepresence of militants holed upinaseparatestructurenearalo-calmosquegotascertained,theyweregivenampleopportunitiesto surrender and repeated ap-peals were made to them.Instead, they fired indiscrimi-nately at the joint search party,leading to an encounter.Keeping in view the sanctity ofthemosque, the joint team ex-ercised maximum restraint toensurenodamage to it andtwoArmy personnel sustainedsplinter injuries during the en-
counter," thepolice said.“In the ensuing encounter,
twoterroristsaffiliatedtoterroroutfit LeTwere killed and theirbodieswererecoveredfromtheencounter site,” theyadded.Theslainmilitantshavebeen
identified as Shahid AhmadKhan of Batapora village inPulwama and Fayaz AhmadSheikh of Ganderbal in centralKashmir.Thepolicesaidthecon-dition of the injured Army per-sonnelwasstable.In a separate incident in the
evening,a"foreignmilitant"waskilled in a brief shootout atHazratbalinSrinagar.ThepolicesaidthemilitantwasaPakistaninationalandanassociateofslainTRFcommanderMehran.“SrinagarPoliceneutralised
a foreign terrorist affiliatedwith proscribed terror outfitLeT (TRF) in a brief shootout inHazratbal area. He has beenidentifiedasManzoor@Haider@Hamzah, a Pakistani na-tional,” the police said."The killed terrorist, along
with two other terrorists whomanaged to escape, were on amissiontosnatchweaponsfromthe police personnel guardingtheHazratbalshrine...Effortsareontotracktheother twoterror-ists,” theyadded.Meanwhile, ina separate in-
cident, suspectedmilitantsshotat and injured a bank guard insouth Kashmir's Pulwama. Thepolice said they fired at AbdulHameed Wani of Tahab atMurranChowk,whowasrushedtoahospital.
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MARCH10
THESUPREMECourtonThursdayissuednoticeonaplea challeng-ingthenon-renewalofthebroad-cast licence of Malayalam TVchannelMediaOne.A bench of Justices D Y
Chandrachud, Suyra Kant andVikramNath issued the noticeon the appeal filed byMadhyamam BroadcastingLimited,whichrunsthechannel,againsttheKeralaHighCourtor-
derupholdingtheCentre’sdeci-sion tonot renewthe licence.The court also issued notice
on the channel’s interimprayerto allow it to resumeoperationsandfixedMarch15asthedatetohearthematter.Thebenchaskedthe Centre to produce the filesthatwererelieduponbythehighcourt toarriveat itsdecision.“Issue notice returnable on
March 15, 2022…The respon-dents shall produce all the rele-vant files on which reliance isplaced by theHigh Court in theimpugnedjudgmentonthenext
Information and BroadcastingMinistryaftertheUnionMinistryof HomeAffairs refused to giveclearance to the channel, citing“securityreasons”.OnFebruary9,asingle-judge
benchof the high court hadup-heldthebanonthechannel.Adi-visionbenchofthehighcourttooupheld thebanonMarch2, dis-missingappealsfiledbytheman-agementandjournalistswhohadchallengedthesingle-judgeorder.Kerala High Court division
benchofChiefJusticeSManikumarandJusticeShajiPChaliobservedthatwhencertain issueswithre-specttosecurityoftheStatearecon-cerned,thegovernmentisatlibertytodeclinetorenewthepermissiongrantedwithoutdisclosingall thereasons for thenon-renewal.Thebench had observed that in thefiles produced before it, therewere certain aspects affectingpublic order, or the security oftheState, on thebasisof reportsby the Intelligence Bureau andother investigatingagencies.Itsaidthat“certainaspectsre-
latingtothesecurityof theStatearementioned to the effect thatMadhyamam BroadcastingLimited has some linkageswithcertainundesirableforces,whichisstatedtobeasecurity threat”.Appealingagainst this in the
SupremeCourt,senioradvocateMukulRohatgi,appearingforthechannel'spromoters,contendedthatsecurityclearance isnotre-quired for renewalof licence.He also submitted that the
Kerala High Court had sum-moned the files after the judg-mentwas reserved, anddidnot
indicate anywhere in the orderwhat theexact reasonwas.“Ihavehundredsofemploy-
ees. I haveoperated for10yearsandnowacompleteshutdown,”Rohatgi saidwhile seeking per-mission for the channel to re-sumeoperations.“We are completely closed...
Wehave2.5 crore viewers everyday... There is nothing against usandweseekaninterimorder.Letsusstart.HowwillIfeedtheseem-ployees? Howwill I feed theirfamilies? We are a smallMalayalamchannel,”saidRohatgi.
SC notice on MediaOne plea challenging non-renewal of licence
BASHAARATMASOODSRINAGAR,MARCH10
THREEDAYS after an Army sol-dier wentmissing from his na-tiveLokiporavillageinBudgam’sKhag area, his bodywas recov-eredonThursday.Policesaidin-vestigations are on to find outwhether hewas killed bymili-tantsevenasnobulletinjurywasfoundonthebody.Police foundSameerAhmad
Malla’sbodyfromLabranvillageinKhagarea.“Preliminaryinves-tigation suggests no firearm in-jury.Investigationtofindoutthecircumstances leading to hisdeath is on,” police said in astatement.Malla, a soldier with the
Jammu and Kashmir LightInfantry (JAKLI) posted inJammu,wason leave tobewithhis familyat thebirthof his sec-ondchildaweekago.Malla's uncle Habibullah
Malik told The Indian Expressthathehadleftthehousearound1.30pmonMondaytovisitafel-lowvillagerbutdidn’treturnand
hisphonewasswitchedoff.Whilethefamilyhadnoleads
aboutMalla'swhereabouts, ap-prehensionwas that militantsmighthaveabductedhim.Malla first came in thenews
in 2018 when an army officer,MajorLeetulGogoi,alongwithalocalwoman,wasdetainedfroma Srinagar hotel. Gogoi and thewoman were reportedlydroppedat thehotelbyMalla inhis personal car and he had analtercationwithhotelstaffwhenthemanagerof thehoteldeniedthem booking, finding that thegirlwasa local resident.Major Gogoi, who had ear-
lier tiedavillager to thebonnetof his jeep and paraded himthroughvillagesonelectiondayin 2017, was indicted by theArmyforallegedly“fraternisingwith a localwoman”.
AFTERNAVEENSGwaskilledinshelling in the Ukrainian city ofKharkiv onMarch 1, his friendSuman Sridhar, whowas in thesamecity at the time, askedau-thorities if he could go and seethebody.“Buttheysaidwecan-not give assurance that youwillreturnalive," Sumansaid.OnWednesday.afterspend-
ingseveralharrowingdaysinthewarzone, Suman and AmitVaishyar— another of Naveen'sfriends — got back home toChalageri village in Karnataka’sHaveridistrict.Naveen,whobe-camethe first IndiancasualtyoftheRussianinvasionofUkraine,alsohailed fromChalageri.On Thursday, at least 15 of
Naveen'sfriendswereinthevil-lage tomeet his parents and at-tendrituals.Amit,afourth-yearstudentof
medicine, shared a bunkerwithNaveen,whowaskilledwhenhesteppedouttobuygroceries.“We were out of food and
us, and he went early in themorningtobringfood.Itwashisconcerntowardsusthattookhislife. Usually, twopeople used togo,butonMarch1,onlyhewentto thesupermarket,”Amit said.“IstillrememberonFebruary
24,Sumanwassupposedtocel-ebrate his birthday andNaveenhad taken all the responsibilityandhadbookedalake-sidetent.Wewere supposed to go there,but by then, curfew was im-posed. Thosemoments whichwe stayed in bunkers and themoment I heard his death willcontinuetohauntmeformyen-
tire life,”hesaid.Suman,a final-yearstudentof
medicine,hopesthatNaveen'sbodywillbroughtbacktothevillage.Speaking about the day of
Naveen's death, Suman said:“Whentheincidenttookplace, Iwasafewkilometresawayfromthe spot andwanted to go. But Iwas given responsibility to pro-tectanumberof Indianstudentswho were in university'sbunkers. His (Naveen's) bodywasshiftedtoahospitalandwaskept inmortuary.”“AfterthedeathofNaveen,we
allwereinfear,andIhadnochoicebuttostarttravellingtowardstheborderswithoutwaiting for anyhelp.WewenttoKharkivrailwaystation,butwecouldnotget intothe train as it was reserved forUkrainenationals.Wewalkedfor12kilometresholding the IndianflagtoreachPisochyn.Therewerebombings, and tanksweremov-ingalongthesameroadonwhichwewerewalking. Itwas anight-mare,”Sumansaid.“After reaching India, we
havemade a request to UnionMinister Pralhad Joshi to bringback the mortal remains ofNaveen,”Sumanadded.
It was his concern towards us that tookhis life: Naveen’s friends remember ordeal
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEBENGALURU,MARCH10
THEASSOCIATIONofalldeemeduniversitiesofKarnatakahasde-cided to accommodate allUkraine-returned students intheirmedical institutionsasperinstructions of the governmentandregulatorybodies.Prabhakar Kore, Chairman,
Consortium of DeemedUniversities in Karnataka(CODEUNIK)andalsoChairmanof KLE Society, said: “As part ofthe nation-building efforts andhelpmedical students who re-turned fromUkraine continuetheir studies, the deemed uni-versities of Karnataka have de-cided toaccommodate them.”He said: “The Russia-
Ukraine war presented un-precedented challenges to theIndian students who were inUkraine for higher studies.”
Karnatakauniversities lookat absorbingreturnees
AISHWARYAMOHANTYBHUBANESWAR,MARCH10
THEARCHAEOLOGICALSurveyof India(ASI)haswritten to the Odisha government earlier thismonthwarningitofpotentialthreatsof thePuriHeritageCorridorprojecttothestructuralsafetyof the Puri Jagannath Temple. The letter camedaysafterASIdirectorgeneralVVidyavathivis-ited the temple in the lastweek of February tomonitortheongoingprojectwork.TheASIisthecustodianof thePuri JagannathTemple.“During the visit, we found discrepancies.
Therewere giant earth-movingmachines andexcavators,whicharebeingusedfordiggingac-tivities close to the temple. The scale at whichthe process is underway, can pose potentialthreatstothetemple’sstructure.Wehavewrit-tentothePuriDistrictCollectorandtheOdishaBridgeandConstructionCorporationLtd(OBCC)andhave sought their replies to thepurpose ofthemassivediggingactivities,”ArunMalik, su-perintending archaeologist,ASI Bhubaneswarcircle, toldThe IndianExpressonThursday.TheworkontheprojectstartedsoonafterChief
MinisterNaveenPatnaiklaidthefoundationstoneinJanuarythisyear.TheprojectisbeingundertakenatanestimatedcostofRs3,200crore.Atotalof22projectswillbeexecutedinaphasedmanner.Under the The Ancient Monuments and
Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR)Act, any new constructionwithin 100metresof a temple are prohibited. But for the Puri
Heritage Corridor project, theNational Monument Authorityhas issued a No ObjectionCertificate (NOC) to the stategovernment for the construc-tion of a cloakroom, a shelterpavilion, threetoilets, anelectri-cal roomandapavementwithinthe prohibited 75-metre zone.The ASI has, however, con-
tended that it has not issued anNOC to the Odisha governmentallowing construction workwithin 100meter of the shrine.“We can issue anNOC only afterthegovernmentprovidesuswithaheritageimpactassessmentre-port," anASIofficial said.PuriDistrictCollectorSamarth
Verma said there is no violationofnormsandalltheconstructionwillbecarriedoutincoordinationwith theASI.
TheASI is thecustodianof thePuriJagannathTemple. File
Assam Society for Comprehensive Financial Management System(AS-CFMS)
World Bank financed Assam State Public Finance InstitutionalReforms (ASPIRe) Project Management Unit (PMU)
Ground Floor, F-Block, Janata Bhawan, Dispur, Guwahati-781006 (Assam, India)No. ASPIRe/128/2021/309Assam Society for Comprehensive Financial Management System invites Bid forEngagement of an agency to Supply & Install Building Management and other alliedSystems and Provide Data Center Service for the Existing Data Center at KarBhawan, Guwahati, Assam as detailed below:RFB Ref No- IN-AS-CFMS-196778-NC-RFBApproximate Value: INR 12 CroreThe detailed notice and bid will be available at www.assamtenders.gov.in from09.03.2022. The deadline for submission of Bid is 11.04.2022. Bid shall be submittedthrough the e-procurement portal only.
UPChiefMinisterYogiAdityanath,whosesignaturewasvisible throughout theelections, celebrateswithotherBJP leaders inLucknowonThursday.Vishal Srivastav
5 STATES, 5 TAKEAWAYSEACH
BHUPENDRAPANDEYLUCKNOW,MARCH10
BIPOLARFIGHT: Itwasclear fromthebe-ginningthattheelectionwouldbebetweentheBJPandtheSamajwadiParty,withPrimeMinisterNarendraModiandChiefMinisterYogi Adityanath targeting the SP andAkhileshYadavbyreferringto“mafiawaad”,“gundagardi by laal topi-walahs”,and“appeasementofone community” (Muslims).As theresults show,voters toomadetheirchoicebetweentheBJPandtheSP(ortheirrespec-tiveallies), largelyignoringtheBSPandtheCongress.
SECURITY & HINDUTVA:Many voterswere convinced that it was necessary tobring the incumbent government back topowersolelyon the issueof lawandorder,their argument being that no governmentcanremoveproblemslikeinflationandun-employment completely. Adityanath’scomments like “garmi thanda kar doonga”or“bulldozerchalega”werewidelyseenas
references tooperationsoncriminals.
YOGI’S STATURE: If the 2017 electionswerewonsolelyonModi’simage,the2022pollswere focused onAdityanath’s gover-nance in the last five years. In all their ral-lies,ModiandAmitShahspokeabouthowAdityanath’sgovernmenteithersentcrim-inals behind bars or got them eliminated,ensuringastate freeof crime.
HIT TO SP RESURGENCEHOPES: Akhilesh Yadav andhis partyworkers were hop-ing that returning to powerwouldrejuvenate theorgani-sation. Now, taking up issuesagainst the government andat the same timekeeping the
party alivewill be a challenge forAkhileshandtheSP.
BSP’SLOW:TheBSP’svotesharehasfallento12%from22%in2017,theworstperform-ance for theparty thathadwonwithama-jorityin2007.TheBSPseemstohavelostitsholdonitskeyvote-bankofJatavs,whohavegonetoBJP likemanyotherDalitcastes.
TORAAGARWALAGUWAHATI,MARCH10
GROWTHOFBJP: From21seats in2017,when itwasbehind theCongress (27)andneededtocobbleupanalliancewithsmallerparties to formthegovernment, theBJP isset todosoby itself now. Itspollplanks forpeace,development,stability—astarkcon-trast to the tumultuous15-year CongressregimeundertheOkramIbobiSingh,whichwasmarked bybandhs, blockades and asharp rise inextra-judicial killings—seemtohavestruckachordwithvoters.
POWER AT THE CENTRE: Like othersmall states of the Northeast region,Manipuroftenvotesforthepartythatisinpower at the Centre.With the BJP at thehelm inNewDelhi and commanding re-sources,voterssawthepartyasaneasierandsaferbet in2022.
DECIMATION OF CONGRESS: Since2017,when itwas the single largest partywith 27 seats, the Congress has gonethroughadifficultfiveyearsasitsMLAbaseprogressivelyerodedto13.Marredbythesedefectionsandalackofleadership,itwasaparticularlyweakenedCongressthatcon-testedin2022,andwonjust fiveseats.
RISE OF NPP: From four seats in 2017,MeghalayaCMConradSangma’sNationalPeople’s Party (NPP) haswon seven thistime to emerge as a dark horse. It con-testedindependentlyoftheBJP,itspartnerinthegovernment,pitchingitselfasapan-Northeast party that is an alternative totheBJPandtheCongress.
KUKI VOICE EMERGES: The home-grownKuki PeopleAlliance—recognisedasapoliticalpartyjusttwomonthsago,andformed to represent the interests of theKuki tribe—has a surprising 100% strikerate, winning both seats it contested:Singhat and Saikul. Despite a diktat fromtheoutlawedKNOandUPFtovote for theBJP,thelittle-knownKPAmanagedtoholditsown.Itsvictoryisasignificantdevelop-ment inManipur’s political landscape,wheretribalaspirationsplayamajorrole.
5SeatswonbyCongress,downfrom27in2017
MANIPUR
Growing BJPholds its own
UTTARPRADESH
Yogi prevails in bipolar contest
AVANEESHMISHRADEHRADUN,MARCH10
ISSUESTHATCOUNTED: TheCongresselectionmanifestohadpromisedtokeepthe price of LPG cylinders belowRs 500,jobs,monetaryallowanceto5 lakh fami-lies,betterhealthfacilities,and40%reser-vation for women in government jobs.Voters chose the BJP, whose promisesaboutnationalsecurity,Armywelfare,andreligious tourism apparently matteredmore to them.
NOTENOUGHBYCONG:Although theCongress appeared to have ticked all therightboxesintermsofmanaginginfight-ingwithin the party andmaking soundelectoralpromises,itsdwindlingpresenceat the national level may have workedagainst it inUttarakhand. Thedefeat in astate where the Congress was themosthopeful has also put a questionmark onits futureoverall.
NATIONAL VS LOCAL: In Uttarakhand,theBJPhasbeenabletobreakthepercep-tion that voting takes place on hyper-lo-cal issues.Also,theimageof theBJPbeinga pro-Army party and one that can pro-mote religious tourismappeared tohavehelpedit inthestate,whichhashighpar-ticipation in the Indian Army, and is de-pendentonreligious tourism.
QUESTION MARK OVER RAWAT:Followinghisdefeatin2017intwodiffer-entseats,andagainfromLalkuanthisyearafterachangeofseatsatthelastmoment,formerchiefministerHarishRawat,now73, may have a questionmark hangingoverhis future. Rawatwas spearheadingtheelectioncampaign for theCongress.
DHAMI'SDEFEAT:WhiletheBJPhadan-nounced incumbent Pushkar SinghDhami as their CM face, his defeat fromKhatima raises a questionmark over hisfuture too. The BJP, which has alreadybeen facing criticism for changing threeCMsinthelastfiveyears,maywellhavetoconsider yet another new CM followingitsmassivevictory in thestate.
BJP CHOICES: The BJP’s emphasis onwinnability of candidates seems to haveworked.Itfacedcriticismforgivingticketstotwocouples,choosingdefectorsoveritsloyalcadre,butemergedasthesinglelargestparty.
DIVIDED OPPOSITION: The oppositionwasmore of a crowd and less of a group,whichreflects intheresults.Congress lead-ers acknowledged that opposition votes
AAP ENTRY: After burning its fingers in2017,AAPspentthelastfiveyearscontestinglocal body elections and working on theground. This election, it hasmade an entryinto theAssemblywinning twoseats.
PEOPLEOVERPARTIES:Despitehismis-adventurebetweentheTrinamoolCongressand the Congress, Aleixo ReginaldoLourenco won for the fourth time from
Curtorim,thistimeasanindependent.Withthe exit of Pratapsingh Rane, the Congresslost Poriem, a seat it had held for 45 years,witharecordmarginofnearly14,000votes.Meanwhile, two-time independent RohanKhaunte,nowwiththeBJP,pulledoffacom-fortablevictory inPorvorim.
REJECTION OF TRINAMOOL: NeitherPrashant Kishor’s wizardry nor MamataBanerjee's persona made an impact asGoans rejected the Trinamool Congress,which had arrived just fourmonths beforetheelection, claiming itwas inGoa towin.
666CMPramodSawant’smarginagainst
DharmeshSaglani (Congress)
MANRAJGREWALCHANDIGARH,MARCH10
AAPSWEEP:TheAamAadmiParty(AAP),which had first entered the Punjab pollarenainthe2012LokSabhaelections,wentontobecomethemainoppositionafterthe2017 Assembly elections and has nowswept the statewith a record 92 seats, thebesteverperformancebyanypartyafter the reorganisationofPunjabin1966.Itsignifiesashiftawayfromthetwotradi-tional rivals, Congress andShiromani Akali Dal.Increasingly, people had be-gun to see them as having letthestatedrift.
VOTE FOR DEVELOPMENT: Punjab,which has been seing a decline in its percapita income over the last two decades,largely voted for theDelhimodel of devel-opment promised by AAP. The discerningvoter nowwants a party that can promisehimqualityeducation,healthandemploy-ment,notmere freebies.
DRUBBINGFORSAD:Voters sent a sternmessagetotheoldestpartyofPunjab,SAD,which celebrated 100 years in 2020. Themessage is clear: shapeupor perish. Onceacadre-drivenpartyknownforitsmorchasand agitations for the people, SAD hadturnedintoafamilypartypresidedoverbytheBadals, bothofwhomlost.
NODALITCONSOLIDATION:Muchofthepollnarrativewascentred on Dalits, who form32% of Punjab’s population. ItwassaidtheCongressdecisionto choose a Dalit CM inCharanjitSinghChanniwouldconsolidate their votes. ButChannilostbothhisseats.And
Dalitsdidnotvoteenmasse.
NOTOPOLITICSOFRELIGION:For long,Punjabvoterswere influencedbyderasandgodmen. Althoughpolitical partieswooedderasthistimetoo,theirwritdidnotrun.Theissueof sacrilege,whichheldmuchswayin2017, did not cut any ice either. Punjab vot-ersdidnot letreligioninfluencethem.
PUNJAB
Shift from traditional parties
65Numberof seatswonbyAAPinMalwa,outof 69
In its worst crisis ever, wheredoes Congress go from here?MANOJCGNEWDELHI,MARCH10
IT IS premature towrite the epitaph of apartyasoldastheCongress,whichstillhasapan-Indianfootprint.ButtheresoundingrejectionofthepartyintheAssemblyelec-tionsposestheworstcrisisithaseverfaced,aswell as the big question:where does itgo fromhere?TheCongresswasinpowerinjustthree
states – Madhya Pradesh, Odisha andMizoram–when Sonia Gandhi took overasCongresspresidentin1998.Fromthere,itwonstateafterstate, returningtopowerat the Centre in 2004. In 2014, it was inpower in nine states. Today, the Congressisworseoff than itwas24yearsago—it isruling in only two states, Rajasthan andChhattisgarh.InthesevenyearssinceNarendraModi
became PrimeMinister, the Congress hasbeen able to form only five state govern-ments—theUnionTerritoryofPuducherryin 2016, Punjab in 2017, and MadhyaPradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in2018—while facing rejection40times.
rowinthequiverof theanti-RahulGandhicamptoseekdemocratisationintheparty.Therewillbecallsforputtinginplaceacol-lective leadershipmodel, a relativelyalienconcept for the Congress, to undercut thesupremacy of theGandhis. It is to be seenwhether any leaderother than thosewhoare part of the G-23 would have thecourage tospeakuponthis.Whilealargesectionofthepartywants
Rahul to return to the helm—hemaynotfacemuch resistance if hemakes up hismindand fileshisnomination—there isagrowingrealisationthatstatusquo, inotherwordsthepreeminenceoftheGandhifam-ily, is proving to be a albatross around itsneck. In this crisis of leadership, theGandhiswill have to address the internalblood-letting first. Then there is a seriouspossibilityof anexodusorasplit.The Congress’s humiliation in Uttar
Pradesh has also knocked down the lastgreat hope— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Formany, she was the trump card. She hadcomeacropper in theLokSabhaelectionsof2019.SinceshewasappointedAICCgen-eral secretary in charge of UP only inJanuary,manyhadgivenherthebenefitofthe doubt, but the hammering in UP hasknockeddownbrandPriyanka.The party has refused to make any
meaningful introspection all these years,andremainsbereftof freshideasorapow-erful narrative to hard-sell itself. Anotherinternalcrisisistheabsenceof“votecatch-ers” in thestates.
…and externalThefreshchallengehasnowcomefrom
the Aam Aadmi Party. The AAP showedvoters in Punjab the dream of a Delhimodel. The Congress, in contrast, has notbeen able to develop a “model” state gov-ernmentitcanshowcaseinanyotherstate.Theriseofotherparties,particularlyAAP
andtheTrinamoolCongress,will continueto challenge the Congress’s claim to beingthecentralpoleof theoppositionbloc.AlthoughtheTrinamoolCongress’sGoa
dashcameacropper,manyparties, includ-ingallies suchas theNCPandfriendssuchas the RJD, feel that the anti-BJP groupingneeds a new form in style, substance andleadership.LiketheSamjawadiParty,manyregional parties now appear reluctant toeventieupwiththeCongressastheyseeitasbaggage.West Bengal CMMamataBanerjeehas
signalledher intention to convene ameet-ingofOppositionleaders.Therefrainthusfarfrom Congress leaders was towait untilMarch10.Therealityhasnowdawned.
BJP reads signals for 2024, looksat areas, strategies to work onLIZMATHEWNEWDELHI,MARCH10
EMBOLDENED BY its victories in UttarPradesh,UttarakhandandManipur,theBJPhas begun strategising for the next elec-tions, claiming that it starts planning forthenextonthesamenightthattheresultsforonecomeout.OnThursday,PrimeMinisterNarendra
Modi said indirectly that the results ofThursdaywouldleadtoaBJPvictoryinthenextgeneralelection.Recallinghowsomeexperts had described the Uttar Pradeshelection result of 2017 as having decidedthe2019 Lok Sabha election,Modi said: “Ibelievethistimealsotheywillsaythattheresultsof 2022havedecidedtheresultsof2024.”With the results beingwidely seen as
an endorsement to the BJP’swelfare poli-tics—variousschemesandaneffectivede-livery system, cutting across caste and re-ligious lines — party sources said theywouldfocusonconsolidatingitsnew“votebank”of“womenandbeneficiariesofwel-fareschemes”toconsolidatethemfurther.
LeaderswithinInternally, the emergence of Yogi
Adityanath as a leaderwho “managed toblend his Hindutva image into the cham-pion of development and good gover-nance”andgota“strongmandateforhim-self” could alter power equations in theparty.Askedwhatwouldbetheimpactonthe internal party system, a senior partyleadersaid:“YoucannotignoreYogiatanypoint now. You cannot overlook the factthathegotapowerfulmandateforhimselfinthemostcrucialstate.HehasemergedasaleaderwhoisequalorjustsecondonlytoModi. None of the top leaders other thanModigot suchamandate.”Party leaders indicated that the BJP
would soon start work on addressing is-sues in its state units, especially those hitby internal feuds includingRajasthan andKarnataka,at theorganisation level.Workwill also begin to ensure that candidateshandpickedbyitsleadershipwinthepres-idential and vice presidential electionscomingupinafewmonths.Withthenum-bers in its favour, the only taskwould bezeroing in on the “right candidate” as putbyaparty leader.TheBJP also sees the results as a refer-
endumon PMModi’s popularity and theparty’sgovernancerecord.Havingrefusedduringthecampaigntoaccepttheelectionsas a referendum onModi or the Centre,
manyleadersnowclaimedtheresultswerean approval toModi’s policies in the lastsevenyears.
Opposition vote-banksWith the Samajwadi Party bagging a
significantnumberofseatsandvoteshare,up from22% to 32% the BJP faces an areaof concern andwill look towin back sup-portgroupsthatappeartohavegonewiththe SP. During the campaign, HomeMinister Amit Shah had worked to winbacktheJats–acommunitythatgotmiffedwiththeBJPoverthefarmeragitation–andhadextendedaninvitationtotheRashtriyaLok Dal; party sources indicated it couldworktowardsgettingtheRLDintotheNDAfold. The partywill also focus onwinningback non-Yadav OBC communities, sec-tionsofwhomcouldhavebackedtheSPinthiselection, thesources said.BJP leaders claim its “development
agenda”hasworkedmarvelouslyinallthefourstates , except inPunjabwhere it saysitdidnothavemuchstake.Thedemolitionof of theBSPwouldbe
another area onwhich the BJPwould un-leash fresh strategies. The party could betaking initiatives both at the organisationand the government levels to consolidateitsDalit supportbaseacross thecountry.
2022VERDICT
NATIONAL IMPLICATIONS ROADAHEAD
New Delhi
16THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,MARCH11, 2022
THEWORLDWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
MEANWHILE
USCOLLEGESCUTPARTNERSHIPSWITHRUSSIAColleges across the U.S. are pulling students from study abroad programs in Russia, end-ing research partnerships and cutting financial ties as part of a global wave of condemna-tion over the invasion of Ukraine. At the same time, colleges have promised to supportRussian students on their campuses, opposing calls from a few in Congress to removethem from the country as a sanction against their homeland.
ChinaiseasinggovernmentexchangeratecontrolstolettheRussianRublefall faster invalueagainsttheChineseyuanandhelpinsulateBeijingfromeconomicsanctionsonMoscow.Themarginbywhichtheruble isallowedtofluctuateagainsttheYuaninstate-controlleddailytradingwillbedoubledinsizeto10%aboveorbelowtheday’sopeningpricestartingFriday, theChinaForeignExchangeTradeSystemannounced.TheRublehaslostabout40%of itsvaluesinceWesterngovernmentscutoff someRussianbanksfromtheinternationalSWIFTpaymentsysteminretaliationforPresidentVladimirPutin’sdecisiontoinvadeUkraine. AP
INBRIEF
Harris embraces call for warcrimes probe against Russia
China eases control to let Rublefall faster against Yuan
We must prevent any attack onRussia from rear: Belarus leader
ELSEWHERE INTHEWORLD
EVGENIYMALOLETKA&MSTYSLAVCHERNOVMARIUPOL,MARCH10
A RUSSIAN airstrike on aMariupolmaternityhospitalthatkilled threepeoplebroughtcon-demnationdownonMoscowonThursday, with Ukrainian andWestern officials branding it awar crime, while the highest-leveltalksyetyieldednoprogressinstoppingthefighting.Emergencyworkersrenewed
efforts to get food andmedicalsupplies intobesiegedcitiesandget traumatisedciviliansout.Ukrainian authorities said a
child was among the dead inWednesday’sairstrikeinthevitalsouthernportofMariupol.Inad-ditiontothedead,17peoplewerewounded, including womenwaitingtogivebirth,doctors,andchildrenburiedintherubble.Ukrainian President
VolodymyrZelenskyytoldRussianleadersthattheinvasionwillback-fire on themas their economy isstrangled.Westernsanctionshavealreadydealtasevereblowtotheeconomy, causing the ruble toplunge, foreignbusinesses to fleeandpricestorisesharply.“Youwill definitely beprose-
cuted for complicity in warcrimes,”hesaidinavideoaddress.“And then, itwill definitely hap-pen,youwillbehatedbyRussiancitizens—everyonewhomyouhave beendeceiving constantly,daily, for many years in a row,whentheyfeeltheconsequencesofyourliesintheirwallets,intheirshrinking possibilities, in thestolenfutureofRussianchildren.”Russian Foreign Minister
SergeyLavrovdismissedconcernsabout civilian casualties as “pa-theticshrieks”fromRussia’sene-mies.Heclaimedwithoutprovid-ing evidence that theMariupolhospital had been seized by far-rightradicalfighterswhowereus-ing it as abase—despite the factthatphotographs fromtheafter-math showedpregnantwomenandchildrenatthesite.Several rounds of talks have
not stopped the fighting, and ameeting in a TurkishMediterranean resort betweenLavrov and his Ukrainian coun-terpart,DmytroKuleba, failedtofindmuchcommonground.Intheirhighest-leveltalkssince
thewarbegan, the twosidesdis-cusseda24-hourceasefirebutdidnotmakeprogress,Kulebasaid.He
saidRussiawasstill seeking“sur-renderfromUkraine.”LavrovsaidRussiawasreadyformorenegoti-ationsbutshowednosignofsoft-eningMoscow’sdemands.Russia has alleged that
Western-looking, US-backed
Ukraineposesathreattoitssecu-rity. Western officials suspectRussianPresidentVladimirPutinwants to install a governmentfriendlytoMoscowinKyivaspartof an effort to draw the formerSovietstatebackintoitsorbit.AP
PRESIDENTVLADIMIRPutinsaidon Thursday that sanctions im-posed against Russiawould re-boundagainst theWest, includ-ing in the form of higher foodandenergyprices, andMoscowwould solve its problems andemergestronger.Putin said therehadbeenno
alternativetowhatRussiacallsitsspecial military operation inUkraineandthatRussiawasnotacountrythatcouldacceptcompro-mising its sovereignty for somesortofshort-termeconomicgain.
“Thesesanctionswouldhavebeen imposed inanycase,”Putintoldameetingof theRussiangov-ernment. “Thereare someques-tions,problemsanddifficultiesbutinthepastwehaveovercomethemandwewillovercomethemnow.“In the end, this will all lead
to an increase in our independ-ence, self-sufficiency and oursovereignty,” he told a televisedgovernmentmeeting.
HiscommentsweredesignedtoportrayWestern sanctions asself-defeating and reassureRussiansthatthecountrycanwith-standwhatMoscowis callingan“economicwar”againstitsbanks,businessesandbusinessoligarchs.PutinsaidMoscow—amajor
energy producer that supplies athird of Europe’s gas —wouldcontinue tomeet its contractualobligations even though it hasbeenslammedwithcomprehen-sive sanctions. “Oil prices in USare high, inflation has reachedhistorichighs.Theyare trying toblame the results of their ownmistakes on us,” he said. “Wehavenothingtodowith it”.
Lviv:Russianforceshaveencircledandarelayingsiegetotheancientcity of Chernihiv in northernUkraine, themayor said, addingthat critical infrastructure for its300,000 residents was rapidlyfailingasitcameunderrepeatedbombardment. “We are sur-rounded,” themayor, VladyslavAtroshenko,said.WhileUkrainianforces are battling to keep someroadsinandoutopen,themayorsaid, Russian forces are trying totightenacordonaroundthecity.Theentirecityiswithoutgasfor
dents touse their remaininggassuppliestokeepthelightson.Thatgassupplyisexpectedtorunoutin24hours,themayorsaid.Russian forces have already
besieged the southern city ofMariupolforoveraweek,wherethesituationhasgrownincreas-inglydire.Peopletherearebeingburied incommunalgraves.Themayor of Chernihiv, in a
message posted online onWednesday,saidhiscityhasrunoutof roomtobury itsdead.“This is the first time inmy
lifewhen I have to excavate thegraves to bury five coffins to-gether,” themayor said. He hasposted urgent pleas for help onthe local government websiteoverthepastcoupleofdays.NYT
Russian forces laying siege,Chernihiv surrounded: Mayor RAFALNIEDZIELSKI
PRZEMYSL,MARCH10
AS MORE than two millionrefugees fromUkraine begin toscatter throughout Europe andbeyond,somearecarryingvalu-ablewitnessevidencetobuildacase forwarcrimes.More andmore, the people
who are turning up at bordercrossingsaresurvivorswhohavefledsomeofthecitieshardesthitbyRussian forces.“Itwas very eerie,” said Ihor
Diekov, one of themanypeoplewho crossed the Irpin river out-sideKyivontheslipperywoodenplanksofamakeshiftbridgeafterUkrainiansblewuptheconcretespantoslowtheRussianadvance.Heheardgunshotsashecrossedandsawcorpsesalongtheroad.
“The Russians promised toprovidea(humanitarian)corridor
which theydidnotcomplywith.Theywereshootingcivilians,”he
said.“That’sabsolutelytrue.Iwit-nessedit.Peoplewerescared.”Such testimonies will in-
creasingly reach the world inthe coming days as more peo-ple flow along fragile humani-tarian corridors. UkrainianPresident VolodymyrZelenskyy onWednesday saidthree such corridors were op-erating frombombardedareas.People left Sumy, in the north-east near the Russian border;suburbsofKyiv;andEnerhodar,the southern town whereRussian forces tookovera largenuclear plant. In all, about35,000 people got out, he said.More evacuations were an-
nouncedforThursdayasdesper-ate residents sought to leavecitieswhere food, water, medi-cines and other essentialswererunningout.Atleastonemillion
people have been displacedwithinUkraineinadditiontothegrowing number of refugees,International Organization forMigration director generalAntonioVitorino told reporters.The scale of the humanitariancrisis is so extreme that the“worst case scenario” in theIOM’scontingencyplanninghasalreadybeensurpassed,hesaid.Russian and Ukrainian-
speaking trained psychologistsare badly needed, Vitorino said,asmore traumatisedwitnessesjoin those fleeing.“I am afraid,” said Anna
Potapola, amother of twowhoarrivedinPolandfromthecityofDnipro. “Whenwe had to leaveUkrainemy children askedme,‘Will we survive?’ I am veryafraid and scared for thepeopleleftbehind.” AP
Refugees saw abuses: ‘They were shooting civilians’
Peoplearrivebyferryat the Isaccea-Orlivkabordercrossing,Romania,onThursday.Reuters
US House clears $13.6 billionfor Ukraine in spending billWashington:TheHouseapproveda massive spending bill onWednesdaynightthatwouldrush$13.6billioninUSaidtobatteredUkraineanditsEuropeanallies,af-tertopDemocratswereforcedtoabruptlydroptheirplantoincludefreshfundstobattleCovid-19.Passage of the Ukraine aid
andthe$1.5trilliongovernment-wide legislation carrying it letboth parties lay claim to elec-tion-year victories for their pri-orities. Democrats won treas-ured domestic initiatives,Republicans achieved defenceboosts, and both got their im-print on funds to counterRussia’s brutal invasion of its
western neighbour. Senate ap-proval was assured by week’sendorperhapsslightly longer.Hoursearlier,HouseSpeaker
Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had toabandonthebill’s$15.6billionforcombatingthepandemic,adeci-sion she called “heartbreaking”and that spelled defeat for a toppriority of President Joe Bidenand party leaders. ThemoneywasmostlytobolsterUSsuppliesofvaccines,treatmentsandtestsandbattlethediseasearoundtheworld, but a Democratic revoltover Republican-demandedstate aid cuts to cover the newinitiatives’ costs forced her toscrapthatspending. AP
ASSOCIATEDPRESSPARIS,MARCH10
FRENCHPRESIDENTEmmanuelMacronandGermanChancellorOlafScholzhavecalledforanim-mediate ceasefire in Ukraine ina phone call with RussianPresidentVladimirPutin.Astatement fromtheFrench
presidency Thursday said thatanysolutiontothecrisismustbenegotiated between Russia andUkraine.Thethreeleadersagreedto stay in close contact in thecomingdays,thestatementsaid.Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
is themain issue at a summit ofEU heads of states and govern-ment at theVersailles Palace, inFranceonThursdayandFriday.
France, Germanycall for immediateUkraine ceasefire
JOSHSMITHANDHYONHEESHINSEOUL,MARCH10
CONSERVATIVE SOUTHKoreanoppositioncandidateYoonSuk-yeol rode to victory in a tightpresidential election on awaveofdiscontentovereconomicpol-icy, scandals and gender wars,reshaping thepolitical future ofAsia's fourth-largesteconomy.His victory inWednesday's
bitterly fought electionmarks astunning turnaround for themain conservative bloc, nowknown as the People PowerParty,whichhasregroupedsincethe 2017 snap election after theimpeachmentandousterofthenPresidentParkGeun-hye.
Yoon isa formerprosecutor-generalinvolvedwithPark'scasewho fell out with outgoingPresidentMoon Jae-in after be-ing appointed by him, gaining
notoriety for his investigationsof toppresidential aides."The people put me here
withhopeinmyconvictionthatI have not yielded to any powerfor fairness and justice for 26years," Yoon said in a speech ofhis careerasaprosecutor.Yoonhaspledgedtostampout
graft, foster justice and create amoreleveleconomicplayingfield,whileseekinga"reset"withChinaand a tougher stance towardsreclusiveNorthKorea,whichhaslaunchedarecordnumberofmis-siletestsinrecentmonthsHe faces the challenge of
uniting a country of 52millionrivenbygenderandgenerationaldivisions, growing inequalityandsurginghomeprices.REUTERS
South Korea elects a conservativeoutsider, Yoon, as President
PRESSTRUSTOFINDIAPESHAWAR,MARCH10
PAKISTANI SECURITY forceshave shot dead the “main han-dler” of the deadly suicidebombing at a Shia mosque inPeshawar and his two accom-plices,whowerereportedlyalsobehindthekillingofaSikhmed-icine practitioner in the north-westerncity, according toame-dia reportonThursday.
At least 64 people werekilled andnearly 200 others in-juredinthesuicidebombingin-sidethemosqueinQissaKhwanibazaar in Peshawar duringFriday prayers lastweek,whichwas claimed by the Islamic
Counter-TerrorismDepartment,policeand intelligenceagenciesraided a house in the Ghu-rezaareaof JamrudtehsilonTuesdaynight. Theysaida terroristpres-entinsidethehouseopenedfireon lawenforcementpersonnel.Muhammad Tariq alias
Khalid - the “main handler” ofthe bombing at the KoochaRisaldarmosque -AbdulWajid,andMuzaffar Shahwere killedinthereturnfire,Dawnnewspa-perreported,quotinganofficial.“In the exchange of fire, the
threeterroristswerekilledwhilefour others, including two han-dlers, managed to escape,” theofficial said.
Peshawar mosque attack‘main handler’ amongthree killed in Pakistan ADITIKHANNA
LONDON,MARCH10
A BA.2 sub-lineage of theOmicron variant of Covid-19,nameda“stealthvariant”byex-perts due to the absence of cer-taingeneticchangesthatcandis-tinguish thisvarianteasily fromothers, remains at a high leveleven as coronavirus infectionsdecline across England, a lateststudyreportsonThursday.Expertsbehindthelong-run-
ning Real-time Assessment ofCommunity Transmission (RE-ACT-1)studyintheUKwarnthatOmicron is keeping infectionrates still high and the possibil-ity that they are rising in olderadultsmaybecauseforconcern.The analysis by Imperial
CollegeLondonandIpsosMORI,based on around 95,000 swabtests taken between February 8andMarch 1, showed that thehighestratesofBA.2werefoundinLondon.“It’s encouraging that infec-
tions have been falling acrossEngland, but they are still veryhighandthepossibilitythattheyare rising inolderadultsmaybecauseforconcern,”saidProfessorPaulElliott,directoroftheREACTprogramme from Imperial'sSchoolof PublicHealth."Thegoodnewsisthatthisisa
highlyvaccinatedgroup,howeverahighnumber of infectionswillleadtomorepeoplebecomingill,soit'simportantthatpeoplecon-tinuetofollowpublichealthguid-ance to avoid fuelling furtherspreadof thevirus,”hesaid. PTI
Omicron stealth variantstill at high level: UK study
SHIRISHBPRADHANKATHMANDU,MARCH10
THEGOVERNMENTof JapanonThursdayannouncedagrantas-sistance of Rs 2.7 billion ($22.5million) to develop a drinkingwater project in southeasternNepal’sBiratnagarcity.Ambassador of Japan to
Nepal, Kikuta Yutaka andNepalese Ministry of Finance,Secretary, Madhu KumarMarasinisignedthedocuments.Theprojectaimstoenhance
thelivingstandardof thepeopleof Biratnagar Metropolitan byrenovating and expanding thewater supply facilities, therebybroadening the water supplyareaeasternNepal. PTI
Hospital attack draws outrage as talks stall
NORTHERNCITYSHELLED
$22.5 mn Japanaid to Nepal forwater project
VladimirPutin
Putin: Russia will emerge stronger,sanctions to rebound on West
DOMESTICBENCHMARKindicesonThursdayralliedby1.5percenton thebackof strongglobal cuesandstateelectionresults.Despitehigh crudeoil prices, the Sensexjumped another 817 points to55,464.39, taking thegain in thelast threedays to2,622points, ornearly5percent.TheNSENiftyin-dex rose250points to16,594.90onhecticbuyingbyretailinvestors.Market capitalisation, or the
marketvalueofall listedcompa-nies,jumpedbyoverRs10.8lakhcrore to Rs 251.9 lakh crore asstocks extended their risingstreak for the third consecutivesession on Thursday. Retail in-vestorswerebuyersinlargecapsandotherbluechipswhichwerebeatendowninthelasttendays,
saidananalyst.Therupeegainedby19paise
tocloseat76.43againstthedollaronThursday,aidedbystrongdo-mesticequitiesandtrendsinstateelectionresults.VinodNair, head of research
atGeojitFinancialServices,said,“Hopesofprogressinhigh-leveltalks between Russia andUkraineandasurgeintheAsian
market, the Indian marketstartedwithastronggap-up.Theoutperformancewassupportedbypositivestateelectionresultsbeing in linewith expectations.However, aweakwesternmar-ketaheadofECBandUSCPIdataand rise in crude prices addedvolatilityinbetween.”FPIsellingalsocamedowntoRs1,981croreonThursday.
Positiveglobalsentimentandeasing crudeoil prices led to thegap-up opening in the bench-mark.Asthedayprogressed,sen-timentsboostedasthestateelec-tions outcome so far indicated aclearmajority to the BJP in fourstatesoutof five, showingpoliti-cal stability, according to AjitMishra, VP-research, ReligareBroking.Among the sectors, healthy
buying in sectors such as realty,PSUbanksandFMCGsupportedtherally.Thebroadermarketstooended in thepositive rangeof 1-1.4 per cent. All the sectoral in-dicesendedinthegreen.However, sustainability of
the recoverywould depend onhow the geopolitical situationandits impactoncrude.FurtherescalationintheRussia-Ukraineconflict will hit the sentiment,analysts said.
RUPEEGAINS19PAISETOCLOSEAT76.43AGAINSTDOLLAR
ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,MARCH10
RELIANCERETAIL, a subsidiaryofRelianceRetail Ventures (RRVL),has issued notices to terminatesub-leasesof 947FutureGroup’sstores. The companyplans to re-openthemafterreconcilingstockand inventory position and re-brandingthem.Reliance had taken over the
stores lastmonth as theyweresub-leasedby it to Futurewhichhaddefaultedonrentalpayments.Now, all such stores have beenclosedbyReliance.Oncethe rec-oncilingofstockandinventorypo-sitionsisover,thestoreswouldberebranded across categories asRelianceDigital, Reliance SmartandRelianceFresh(groceries),andReliance Trends. The storesmaystartreopeningaftermaybeafort-night.SourcessaidtalksbetweenFutureGroupandAmazontoex-
plore thepossibilityof anout-of-court settlementover the formerselling its retail assets toRelianceRetailmayextendbeyondMarch15,theSupremeCourtdeadline.FutureRetail said ina regula-
tory filingonThursdaythat ithasreceived terminationnotices for342largeformatretail(LFR)stores.Future Lifestyle Fashions said
THEEUROPEANCentralBankhasno intention of raising interestratesuntil sometimeafter it hasendeditsbondbuyingattheendofthethirdquarter,ECBpresidentChristine Lagarde said onThursday.“Any adjustment to the key
ECB interest rateswill takeplacesometimeaftertheendofournetpurchases under theAPP (AssetPurchaseProgramme)andwillbegradual,”Lagardetoldanewscon-ference.“ThepathforthekeyECBinterest rates continues tobede-termined by the GoverningCouncil’sforwardguidanceandbyits strategic commitment to sta-bilise inflation at 2per cent overthemediumterm.“ThebanksaidonThursdayit
planstoendassetpurchasesinthethirdquarter, accelerating its exit
fromextraordinary stimulus inasurprisemove,assoaringinflationoutweighs concerns aroundRussia’sshockinvasionofUkraine.Marketsarenowpricinginaround43basispoints’worthof interestrate hikes this year, up fromaround30basispointspredictedbeforethemeeting.OnWednesday,moneymar-
nus0.2percent fromthecurrentminus0.5percent. InvestorshavescaledbacktheirbetsonratehikessinceRussiabegan its invasionofUkraineonFebruary24.Thecon-flictontheeurozone’seasternbor-derisexpectedtoslowgrowthandmake the ECB more cautiousabout tightening its policy. “TheGoverningCouncilexpectsthekeyECBratestoremainattheirpresentleveluntilitseesinflationreaching2percentwellaheadoftheendofits projection horizon - anddurably for therestof theprojec-tionhorizon,”Lagardesaid.TheECBpresidenthadeffec-
tivelyopenedthedoortoratehikesat a February2newsconferencebyrefusingtorepeatherlong-heldviewthat suchamovewas “veryunlikely”thisyear.TheECBpusheditsdepositratebelowzeroin2014,oneofseveralaggressivemeasurestaken to revivewhatwas thensluggishprice growth in the19-countryeurozone.
$10-BILLIONSHAREBUYBACK
REUTERSBENGALURU,MARCH10
SHARES OF Amazon.com Incjumped5percentintra-dayafterthee-commercegiant’smassiveshare split and buyback drewmoreinvestorstoastockthathasseen itsprice skyrocket sincego-ingpublic25yearsago.Thecompany’s20-for-1stock
split is its firstsince1999andisinadditiontoa$10billionsharebuy-back.Italsocomesontheheelsofa similar split announced byAlphabetIncearlierthisyear.“Amazon’s management is
lookingtoinstillfreshconfidence,”
AJ Bell InvestmentDirectorRussMould said, adding thebuybackwasthecompany’sfirstdirectdis-tributionsofcashbacktoitsshare-holderssinceitsmarketdebut.
The company’s stock hadclosed near a two-year low at$2,785.58onWednesdayafterrid-ing apandemic-induced rally intechsharesthatbroughtitwithinstrikingdistanceofa$2trillionval-uationmark.OnThursday, as of12:30 pm ET, it was trading at$2,929.03, up 5.1 per cent. Thecompanywentpublic in1997atanIPOpriceof$18,or$1.50whenadjusted for stock splits that oc-curredin1998and1999.Amazon’s stock split “just
makes inexperienced investorsand traders feel better”, saidPerriDong,aChina-basedport-folio manager at RedwoodWinslowLLC.
ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,MARCH10
THE SECURITIES and ExchangeBoardofIndia(Sebi)onThursdayconductedsearchandseizureop-erations at premises linked tosevenindividualsandonecorpo-rate entity in Ahmedabad andBhavnagar inGujarat, NeemuchinMadhya Pradesh, Delhi, and
Mumbai, in connectionwith itsprobe into unsolicited stock tipsand investment advice to smallinvestors through socialmediaplatforms.The market regulator said
saidscrips,therebycreatingartifi-cial volume and price rise. Thisprovided opportunity to theirlinked entities to offload theirsharesathigherpricesandmakesignificantprofitsatthecostofun-suspectingretailinvestors,”saidastatementbytheregulator.Sebi said it has seized docu-
bySebionindividualsandentitiesusing socialmedia to giveunso-licitedstocktips.InDecember 2021, Sebi had
searched few individuals whowererunningasimilaroperationthrough Telegram. In January2022, theregulatorpassedanor-der against theseentities forvio-lationof itsnorms.
REUTERSNEWYORK,MARCH10
USCONSUMERprices surged inFebruary, culminating in thelargestannualincreasein40years.In the 12 months through
February, theCPI shotup7.9percent, thebiggestyear-on-year in-creasesinceJanuary1982.Thatfol-lowed a 7.5 per cent jump inJanuary.At 1:42pmET, theDowJonesfell330.61points,or0.99per
cent, to32,955 whiletheNasdaqdropped245.39points,or1.85percentto13,010.16.Theyieldon10-yearTreasurynoteswasup4.9ba-sispointsto1.997percentafterhit-ting2.013per cent. Brent futuresweredown$0.37,or0.33percent,to$110.77abarrelby1:30pmET.A separate report from the
MORGAN STANLEY has cutIndia’sGDPgrowthestimateby 50 basis points to 7.9 percent and raised the retail(CPI) inflation forecast to6per cent.It also expects the cur-
rentaccountdeficit towidento a 10-year high of 3 percent of GDP in FY23. “Thekey channel of impact forthe economywill be highercost-push inflation, feedingintobroaderpricepressures,whichwillweighonalleco-nomicagents—households,business and the govern-ment,”MorganStanley saidin a report.The risk would stem
fromafurthersustainedriseinoilprices, leadingtoquickdeterioration in macro sta-bility and currency volatil-ity, Morgan Stanley said. Inthe wake of continuedgeopolitical tensions, thesurge inoilprices is likely tobe sustained, which wouldlead to deterioration in thecurrentaccountdeficit fromahigheroil importbill. “Oursensitivity analysis showsthat a 10 per cent rise in oilprices would widen India’scurrent account deficit by30-35bpsof GDP,” it said.“Further, we expect the
balanceofpaymentstobein
deficitof approximately0.5-1 per cent of GDP becausecapital flows are likely to belower than the current ac-countdeficit,” itsaid.Theex-tentofvulnerabilitytofund-ing risks will be cushionedby the large forex reserves,which along with forwardbook stand at $681billion.Morgan Stanley expects
the April policy tomark theprocessofpolicynormalisa-tionwithareversereporatehike. However, if the RBIweretodelay itsnormaliza-tion process, the risk of dis-ruptive policy rate hikeswould rise. “We see lessroomfor fiscalpolicystimu-lus to support growth givenhigh deficit and debt levels– we see a possibility of amodest fuel tax cut and re-liance on the national ruralemploymentprogramasanautomaticstabiliser,” it said.
MACROWATCHCRUDEPRESSURE
ECB won’t hike rates until afterbond buying ends, says Lagarde
CHRISTINE LAGARDEPresident, European Central Bank AP file
BRIEFLYTDSATonTraiNew Delhi: The TelecomDisputes Settlement andAppellateTribunal (TDSAT)onThursday ruled that theTelecomRegulatoryAutho-rityof India’s directive thatenabledusers toportoutoftheir network via SMS re-quest,regardlessofthevalueof their tariff plans“requiresnointerference”.
NFRAchiefNewDelhi:Thegovernmenthas appointed ex- financesecretary Ajay BhushanPandey chairman of theNationalFinancialReportingAuthority for a period ofthreeyears.
Roles in shipping/marine (9 per cent) and production and manufacturing (9 per cent) alsowitnessed a surge due to the renewed focus given to employment generation
‘Hiring activity witnesses 3%uptick with end of 3rd wave’Hiring activity sawa3%uptick sequentially in February asalmost all industries showcased strong growthwith the endof the thirdwave, as per theMonster Employment Index
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I, K.MKHUSHBOO,W/O.MUSHARRAFALI KHAN,ADD-32-33,AGALINO-1NEWBRIJPURINEAR-JAGATPURIPOLICE-STATIONKRISHNA-NAGAREASTDELHI-110051.Changedmyname toKHUSHBURANA 0040605955-9
IItt is for general information thatI,SairaBegum,W/oLate SharifAhmad,R/oH.No.1209,Gali.No-39/4,Jafrabad,Delhi-110053declare that nameofmysonMohammadShuaibhasbeenwrongly-writtenas ShuaibMohd inhis PassportNo.-J0507574.Theactual-nameofmyson isMohammadShuaibrespectivelywhichmaybeamendedaccordingly.
0040605994-2
IItt is for general information thatI,KAJALD/o-SurenderKumarR/oD-1/521,Gali.no-4/13Ashok-nagarDelhi-93,declarethat nameofmymother hasbeenwrongly-writtenasRaniinmy10th class-certificate andmarksheet-Record theactual-nameofmymother isVinodRani.whichmaybeamendedaccordingly. 0040605960-10
IItt is for general information thatI,MONIKABAJAJD/oShri B.L.Bajaj, R/oG-151, Kalkaji, NewDelhi-110019declare that nameofminehasbeenwronglywrittenasMONIKAMADAN inmyvoter CardNo.ARE1932548&BirthCertificates ofmydaughters SMERAMADAAN&SHRIAMADAAN. Theactualnameofmine isMONIKABAJAJ,whichmaybeamendedaccordingly 0040605934-1
II,,SShheerryyaa SharmaD/o-BhanuPrakash,R/oH.No.777, Sector-15,Vasundhra, Ghaziabad,declare that thenameofmyfather andmother namehasbeenwronglywrittenasBhanuPrakashSharmaandPoornimainmyEducational anddocuments.Theactual-nameofmy father andmymother isBhanuPrakashandPoornimaSharma respectively,whichmaybeamendedaccordingly.
0040605994-3
II,, NimishMalik S/oSh. GirdhariLalMalik R/o 15A/41,WestPunjabi Bagh, Delhi 110026, dohereby solemnly affirm&declare thatmynamehasbeenspelledwrongly. The correctname isNimishMalik andnotNimeshMalik for all futurepurposes videAffidavit dated07.03.2022. 0040605881-1
II,,VanikaMalikW/oSh.NimishMalik R/o 15A/41,West PunjabiBagh, Delhi 110026,doherebysolemnly affirm&declare thatmynamehasbeen spelledwrongly. The correct name isVanikaMalik andnotVamikaMalik for all futurepurposesvideAffidavit dated 07.03.2022.
II,,MonicaChhabraD/oMr. SunilKumarAggarwal, residingat2202, Pacific Tower, UrbtechXaviers, Sector-168, Noida, UP-201304,have changedmynamefromMonicaChhabra toMonicaAggarwal for all futurepurposes. 0040605886-1
II,,Gurmeet SinghKocharR/o FlatNo 101, 42AHauzKhasVillageNewDelhi 110016havechangedmyminor son’s namefromSidakKochar to SidakSinghKochar for all purposes.
0040605999-7
II,,GaganKumarRusia, S/oAshokKumarRusia, R/oA203,Block-A, 2nd Floor, GalaxyVegaGH08CTechzone-IV, GreaterNoidaWest, have changedmyminorDaughter name fromHimani Rusia toManyaRusiafor all futurepurposes.
IIGirjeshSharmaS/oSh.OmPrakashSharmaR/oH.No.16,TagoreRoad, RamlilaMaidan,Kewal Park, AzadPur, ShanjarPur, N.S.Mandi, NorthWestDelhi, Delhi-110033havechangedmyname toBirjeshKaushik for all purposes.
II Iti Tyagi alias Sonakshi TyagiD/oSh. PradeepTyagi R/o F-2,RashmiApartments, HarshVihar, Pitampura, NorthWestDelhi, Delhi-110034havechangedmyname toSonakshiTyagi for all purposes.
0040605922-5
IIDarshanKumari BagoriaW/O,JagdishPrasadBagoria R/oA-768, 2nd Floor , Sushant Lok -1 ,Gurgaon - 122002havechangedmyname toDarshnaBagoria for all purposes.
II,,MMiitttthhuu Lal S/o-Manejar R/o.A-517,Wazirpur Indl. Area,Delhi-110052,have changedmynametoMithai Lal for all purposes.
0040605979-7
PUBLIC NOTICEKNOW ALL MEN that my clients Sh.Satish Kumar Malhotra S/o Late Sh.Pishori Lal Malhotra and Smt. AnitaMalhotra W/o Sh. Satish KumarMalhotra both R/o House No.: 1697, (IIndFloor), Multani Mohalla, (Near FountainChowk), Delhi- 110034 have severed alltheir relations with his son Sh. AbhishekMalhotra and his wife Smt. Nitti MalhotraD/o Late Sh. Narender Dua because of theunwarrantable behaviour of Smt. NittiMalhotra and have debarred them bothfrom all their movable and immovableproperties. Any one dealing with them inany way or manner whatsoever shall bedoing at his own risks and consequences.
Sd/- (J.S. KALRA) ADVOCATEChamber: 296, Western Wing,
Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi- 110054
PUBLIC NOTICEBe it known to all that my Client SMT. SUDESHYADAV W/O LATE SH. RAJENDER YADAV, R/OWZ-632, MADI PUR, NEW DELHI-110063, havesevered all her relations and connections with herson MR. LALIT YADAV and his so-called wifename unknown reported to be having children fromher previous married husband, have debarred anddisowned them from all her movable & ancestralimmovable properties, with immediate effect, dueto his immoral act, acting beyond control,disobedient, unfamiliar & irresponsible attitudetowards my client.whomsoever deals with them in monetary form orin any other nature shall do so at her/his own cost,risk and responsibility.
Sd/-JAI VEER SINGH
AdvocateEnl. D-1036/1992
CH. NO 213-A,2nd FLOOR SERVICEINDUSTRIES BLDG. DISTT CENTRE,JANAK PURI NEW DELHI-110058
PUBLIC NOTICEMY CLIENT INTENDS TOPURCHASE SHOP NO. 119,GROUND FLOOR, (AREA 20.40 SQ.MTRS.) PART OF PROPERTY NO.XIV/117 TO 123 & 124, CROCKERYMARKET, SADAR BAZAAR, DELHI-110006 FROM SMT. RAJNI TULI &SMT. NALINI TULI, WHO CLAIM TOBE LEGAL OWNERS OF ABOVESAID PROPERTY. ANYONEHAVING OBJECTION OR CLAIM ISREQUESTED TO CONTACT AT9871164000 WITHIN 07 DAYS,WITH DOCUMENTED SUPPORTOF THEIR OBJECTION OR CLAIM.
SACHIN KUMAR (Advocate)EnrI.No. D/2092/08.
PUBLIC NOTICENotified that my client Sh. Ramesh aliasRamesh Chand S/o Sh. Chaman Lal R/oH. No. F-12, Rajendra Park, Gurugram,Haryana, Who is the legal owner and inphysical possession of property no.373/31, area measuring 43 Sq. Yds.Property ID No 39C3280U383, underKhasra No. 10282/32-33, situated atSiwana Mauja, Gurgaon, Haryana, underabadi Rajendra Park, under NagarNigam, Gurugram, Haryana, has lostoriginal sale deed dated 05.07.1996,bearing document No. 4842, SRO-Gurugram, executed by Sh. Mehar Ramin favour of Sh. Ramesh alias RameshChand of the said property, he haslodged NCR for lost of documents/saledeed vide NCR No. 23 dated 13.08.1996P.S. City Gurugram, Haryana. If anybodyfinds the said property documents/saledeed please inform him at the above saidaddress and if any other claimant hasany right in the aforesaid property,he/she should contact/raised objectionbefore me (Mukesh Sharma. Advocate),within 7 days from the date of issue ofthis notice.
General Publ ic is herebyinformed that (1) Sh. NavneetDawar S/o Shri Sant Ram R/oE-72 Lajpat Nagar-1 NewDelhi-110024, (2) Sh. UpkarMani S/o Sh. Brijesh Mani R/o0-59, Lajpat Nagar-II NewDelhi-110024, (3) Anil NarangS/o Sh. L.D Narang, R/o M-22Greater Kailash-II New Delhi-110048 joint owner of propertybearing no. CB-373, VillageNaraina, Main Ring Road,Delhi Cantt, New Delhi-110010h a v e r e q u e s t e d D e l h iC a n t o n m e n t B o a r d f o rrecording their name in theHouse Tax Register in respectof property bearing no. CB-373.Village Naraina, Main RingRoad, Delhi Cantt, New Delhi110010 being the joint ownerof the said property. The saidproperty is in thei r jo intpossession. If any person hasobjection to the recording oftheir name in respect of thesaid property, they may filehis/her objection within 30 daysof the publication of this noticeto the Chief Executive Officerof Delhi Cantonment Boardfailing which the matter forrecording of the name in theHouse Tax Register qua thes a i d p r o p e r t y s h a l l b econsidered by the CompetentAuthority in accordance with law.For and on behalf of (1) Sh.Navneet Dawar S/o Shri SantRam (2) Sh. Upkar Mani S/oSh. Brijesh Mani (3) Anil NarangS/o Sh. L.D Narang joint ownersof property bearing No. CB-373,Village Naraina, Main RingRoad, Delhi Cantt, New Delhi-110010
RAGHAV CHADHA(ADVOCATE)
A-1, Lajpat Nagar III,New Delhi - 110024
Contact No. 9811444365
PUBLIC NOTICE
Regarding the Home LoanDocuments of Home Loan of myclient Shilpi Mittal, PF 5634008Details of the property: House No.86, First Floor, Pkt- E1, Sec 11,Rohini Delhi 85 My Client wish tocreate charge viz, mortgage orotherwise, on the said property for aloan/credit facility from State Bank ofIndia, Branch - RACPC- Rohini,Branch Code- 15653. Details oforiginal title deeds lost: 1. DemandLetter issued by Delhi DevelopmentAuthority in the name of Shri JagrupChand Katech s/o Shri K.C Katech,Dated 09.01.1991 2. Dated13.01.1991 Allotment Letter issuedby Delhi Development Authority inthe name of Shri Jagrup ChandKatech s/o Shri K.C Katech, Dated13.01.1991 3. NOC for electric andwater connection issued by DelhiDevelopment Authority in the nameof Shri Jagrup Chand Katech s/oShri K.CKatech,Dated 10.04.19914. Possession Slip issued by DelhiDevelopment Authority in the nameof Shri Jagrup Chand Katech s/oShri K.CKatech 5. General Power ofAttorney executed by Shri DarshanLal s/o Shri Desh Raj in favour of ShriRamesh Kumar s/o Shri Ved PalRathi, vide Reg no 15706, inAddibook No IV, Volume no 4397, onPages 82 to 83, onDated 01.07.19976. Will executed by Shri Darshan Lals/o Shri Desh Raj in favour of ShriRamesh Kumar s/o Shri Ved PalRathi, vide Reg no 15899, inAddbook No III, Volume no 2891, onPages 159 , on Dated 01.07.1997Details of FIR lodge with the policeFIR vide NCR No 235722009 Dated3.12.2009 for lost of OriginalAllotment Letter, Possession Letter,Possession Slip, NOC FIR vide NCRNo 173261/2022 Dated 28-2-2022for lost of GPA,Will In case any partyhas any claim towards the saidrelevant property, the same shouldbe lodged with the intending partyand also with the above statedBranch of State Bank of India, within15 days from publication of thisnotice.
SIMI DUAADVOCATEChamber : Y-19, Civil Wing,
Tis hazari Courts, Delhi-110054Mob. 8130365115
PUBLIC NOTICE
PUBLIC NOTICEMy Client POONAM W/oBALESHWAR R/o KHASRA. NO.376, GALI NO 3, BLOCK-J,KUSHAK ROAD, SWAROOPNAGAR, LIBASPUR, NORTH WESTDELHI-110042 has disowned/debarred her daughter LATA W/OVINOD KUMAR from her moveable,immovable property and severed allconnections due to her misbehavior/out of control. Anybody dealing withher. My client will not responsibleany acts/deeds.
I, Lalit KumarGuptaR/o Flatno.116, SecondFloor, SatyamParadiseGarhi Chaukhandi,Sector-121, NoidaGautamBudhNagar, have changed thenameofMyminor daughter's fromSanvi to SanviGupta for allfuturepurposes. 0040606034-1
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New Delhi
TENDER NOTICEGOVERNMENT OF JAMMU & KASHMIR
OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER QUALITY CONTROL &PROCUREMENT DIVISION, HMT, SRINAGAR
For and on behalf of the Lt. Governor of Jammu and Kashmir UT, e-Tenders are invited on item rate basis in two covers (details recorded in tenderdocument) from Registered Original Manufacturers (holding valid B.I.S. licenses for manufacturing of tendered item) or their Sole Authorized dealer/DistributersSUBJECT OF Supply: Supply of 1200 Metric Tons of ISI Marked Stable Bleaching Powder Grade-I Conforming to IS 1065 (Part 2):2019. (with upto dateamendments), as per specifications/details enclosed in Section “IV” to the e-NIT, from Registered Original Manufacturers (holding valid B.I.S. licenses formanufacturing of tendered item) or their Sole Authorized dealer/Distributers.BROAD BAND INFORMATION
General
Client Name Chief Engineer, Kashmir PHE, Jal Shakti Deptt. Srinagar.
Circle Superintending Engineer, PHE Mechanical, Jal Shakti Department, Circle South, Srinagar.
The tenders of qualifying/eligibility criteria, consisting of general and commercial terms and conditions of contract and other details can be seen/downloaded from
the website www.jktenders.gov.in
The bids shall be submitted in electronic format on the website www.jktenders.gov.in.The bids uploaded on the website up to due date and time, will be opened
on the time and date (given in the broadband information), in the office of the Chief Engineer Jal Shakti Kashmir PHE Deptt. Srinagar in presence of the bidders
who wish to be present. In case offices happen to be closed due to a holiday, or any other reason/s, on the schedule date of opening - the bids will be opened on
the next working day at the scheduled time and venue or on any day convenient/feasible to the tender opening committee/authority of the Department.(As per J&K Finance Department Order No: - A/24(2017)-651, Dated: - 07-06-2018, furnishing of hard copies of bids immediately aftersubmission of e-tenders is dispensed with. Hence hardcopies need not to be submitted. The hardcopies along with EMD shall be obtained fromthe bidder who is declared as L1(Lowest Bidder) for each of the item on tender as per BOQ evaluation after opening of Financial bids).POSITION OF FUNDS: - THE AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS SHALL BE ENSURED BEFORE PLACEMENT OF SUPPLY ORDER.
Tender Notice No. BPUT/IV//Exam/586/22/1506 Date: 09.03.2022TENDER CALL NOTICE FOR PRINTING AND SUPPLY OF QR CODED
ANSWER BOOKLET INCLUDING RE-STITCHINGSealed tenders (two bid system) are invited from the reputed and experienced agencies/ Firms forPrinting and Supply of QR coded Answer Booklet including Re-stitching for examination of BPUT. Thedetail Tender available in the website i.e www.bput.ac.in. University reserves right to reject anyTender without assigning any reason thereof. The last date and time of receiving of sealed Tender bySpeed Post/ Registered Post addressing to the “Registrar, Biju Patnaik University of Technology,Chhend, Rourkela- 769015 is 11.04.2022 up to 5.00 pm. The tender received beyond the due dateand time shall be rejected summarily. Sd/-
REGISTRAROIPR-44003/11/0015/2122
KK-219
BIJU PATNAIK UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, ODISHAROURKELA
GUJARAT MEDICAL SERVICES CORPORATION LIMITED(A Government of Gujarat Undertaking)
Tenders are invited online from reputed Manufacturers / formulators/ directimportersfor purchaseofTablet,Capsute&MiscellaneousItemsonRatecontract basis and details of specificatlon, quantity is available on,https://grnscl.guiarat.gov.in All tender docurnents can be downloaded freeon the website: https://gmsci.nprocure.com Interested bidders arerequested to submit the tender through e-tender process.Duration of downloading of tender document (online)09/03/2022 to 30/03/2022 up to 18.00 HrsLast date for Submission (online) :30/03/2022 up to 18.00 HRSLastdateforsubmissionofphysicaldocument : 31/03/2022upto18:00HRSOpening ofTechnical Bid Date (online) 04/04/2022 At 15.00 HRS
Pre-Consultation meeting (Pre-Bid)Interested Manufactures/formulatons/ Direct Importers are requested toremain present for pre- Consultation meeting to be held on 16/03/2022 at11.00 am at Committee room at above mentioned address. Only onerepresenatve from each Manufacturer carrying authority letter would beallowed to partieipate in the pre-bid.INF / 3374/21-22 MANAGING DIRECTOR
GUJARAT MEDICAL SERVICES CORPORATION LIMITED(A Government of Gujarat Undertaking)
Tenders are invited online from reputed Manufacturers / formulators/ directimporters for purchase of Vitam in B12 syrup on Quanlity contract basisand details of specificatlon, quantity is available on,https://grnscl.guiarat.gov.in All tender docurnents can be downloaded freeon the website: https://gmsci.nprocure.com Interested bidders arerequested to submit the tender through e-tender process.Duration of downloading of tender document (online)09/03/2022 to 30/03/2022 up to 18.00 HrsLast date for Submission (online) :30/03/2022 up to 18.00 HRSLastdateforsubmissionofphysicaldocument : 31/03/2022upto18:00HRSOpening ofTechnical Bid Date (online) 04/04/2022 At 15.00 HRS
Pre-Consultation meeting (Pre-Bid)Interested Manufactures/formulatons/ Direct Importers are requested toremain present for pre- Consultation meeting to be held on 16/03/2022 at15.00HrsatCommitteeroomatmentionedaddress.Onlyonerepresenatvefrom each Manufacturer carrying authority letter would be allowed topartieipate in the pre-bid.INF / 3373/21-22 MANAGING DIRECTOR
''IMPORTANT''Whilst care is taken prior toacceptance of advertisingcopy, it isnotpossible toverifyits contents. The IndianExpress (P) Limited cannot beheld responsible for suchcontents, nor for any loss ordamage incurredasaresultoftransactions with companies,associations or individualsadvertising in its newspapersor Publications. We thereforerecommend that readersmake necessary inquiriesbefore sending any monies orentering into any agreementswith advertisers or otherwiseacting on an advertisement inany manner whatsoever.
(Refer e-Procurement Notice no. TC/NDTRD/PMGSY/2491-5011. The Executive Engineer, PWRD, Nalbari District Territorial Road Division, Nalbarion behalf of Governor of Assam invites the
item rate bids in electronic tendering system for construction of roads under PradhanMantri Gram SadakYojana for each ofthe following works including their maintenance for five years from approved and eligible contractors registered with AssamPublic Works Department (Roads) or contractors registered with other State/Central Government Departments. Non-registered bidders may submit bids; however, the successful bidders must get registered in appropriate class with thedepartment before signing the contract
Package wise details are
2. Maintenance Period is five years from the completion date:
11. Cost of Bid Form : as stated in the list against the package (non-refundable) only through online payment whilesubmitting the bid through e-tendering system.
12. Availability of Bid Document and mode of submission : The bid document is available online and bid should besubmitted online on website https://pmgsytendersasm.gov.in/. The bidder would be required to register in the web-sitewhich is free of cost. For submission of bids, the bidder is required to have valid Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) fromone of the authorized Certifying Authorities (CA). “Aspiring bidders who have not obtained the user ID and password forparticipating in e-tendering in PMGSY may obtain the same from the website: https://pmgsytendersasm.gov.in/
Digital signature is mandatory to participate in the e-tendering. Bidders already possessing the valid digital signature issuedfrom authorized CAs can use the same in this tender.
13. Submission of Original Documents : The bidders are required to submit original affidavit regarding correctness ofinformation furnished with bid document as per provisions of Clause 4.4B (a) (ii) of ITB with Executive Engineer PWRD,Nalbari District Territorial Road Division, Nalbari, on 24.03.2022 Time upto 16:00 Hours either by registered post or by hand.
14. Last Date/ Time for receipt of bids through e-tendering : 24.03.2022, 14:00 hours.
15. The site for the work is available.
16. Only online submission of bids is permitted, therefore, bids must be submitted online on websitehttps://pmgsytendersasm.gov.in/. The technical qualification part of the bids will be opened online at 10:00 hours on25.03.2022 by the authorized officers. If the office happens to be closed on the date of opening of the bids as specified thebids will be opened online on the next working day.
17. While quoting rates, the GST component shall not be added in rates, while all other duties, taxes, royalties and otherlevies payable by the contractor under the contract, or for any other cause, shall be included in the rates, prices and totalbid price submitted by the bidder.
18. The bidder is not required to quote his rate for routine maintenance. The rates to be paid for routine maintenance areindicated in the Bill of Quantities. Further, the payment for routine maintenance to the contractor shall be regulated basedon his performance of maintenance activities.
19. The bids for the work shall remain valid for acceptance for a period not less than 90 (ninety) days after the deadline datefor bid submission.
20. Bidders may bid for any one or more of the works mentioned in the Table above. To qualify for a package of contracts madeup of this and other contracts for which bids are invited in the same NIT, the bidder must demonstrate having experienceand resources sufficient to meet the aggregate of the qualifying criteria for the individual contracts.
21. Other details can be seen in the bidding documents. The Employer shall not be held liable for any delays due to systemfailure beyond its control. Even though the system will attempt to notify the bidders of any bid updates, the Employer shallnot be liable for any information not received by the bidder. It is the bidders’ responsibility to verify the website for the latestinformation related to the tender.
Sd/-Executive Engineer, PWRD,
Nalbari District Territorial Road Division, Nalbari
SI.No
District Pkg. No. Road Name RoadLength(Km)
Estimted Cost ExcludingGST (Rs. in Lakhs)
EstimatedCost (in
Rs.)
BidSecurity(in Rs.)
Costof Bid
(in Rs.)
Compl-etlon
PeriodConstr-uction
Mainte-nance
Total
1 Nalbari AS20181 MRL09- MathurashalaRoad to Uttarkatalkuchi toRaimadha Road
2 Nalbari AS20202 RL01-Nalbari ChowkBazar to Bahjani PubKalakuchi via Charia
3.540 242.09 23.32 265.41 26541000 531000 8000 9
3. Date of Issue of Notice Inviting Tender : 09-03-2022.
4. Date of release of Invitation for Bids through e-procurement : 18-03-2022, 10:00 Hours.
5. Period of availability of Bidding Documents on websitehttps://pmgsytendersasm.gov.in/
: From 18-03-2022, 10:00 Hours to24-03-2022. Time upto 14:00 Hours.
6. Deadline for Receiving Bids online, Including online payment of bid Securityand cost of bid document from a scheduled Commercial bank and scannedcopy of Affidavit. The online payment of bid security and cost of bid documentIs to be done on e-tendering website along with submission of bid.
: 24-03-2022 Time upto 14:00 Hours.
7. Date of Submission of original affidavit regarding correctness of informationfurnished with bid document as per provisions of Clause 4.4 B (a) (ii) of ITB(this date should be same working day after the submission of TechnicalQualification Part of the bid)
: 24-03-2022 Time upto 16:00 Hours.
8. Opening of Bids. The Bids will be opened online by the authorized officer at the specified time.
8.1 Time and Date for opening of Part-I of the Bid (The Technical Qualification Part) 25.03.2022 (Time 10.00 Hours
8.2 Time and Date of opening of Part-II of the Bid (The Technical Financial Part) of theBidders who Qualify in Part I of the Bid
Shall be notified at a later date
9 Last Date of Bid Validity 23.06.2022
10 Last Date of Bid Validity Executive Engineer, PWRD, Nalbari District,Territorial Road Division, Nalbari
Janasanyog /CF/3677/21
Chhattisgarh Rural Roads Development AgencyVIKASH BHAVAN, CIVIL LINES, RAIPUR (C.G.)
NIT No. 733 /TC-T/CGRRDA/2022, Dated: 09/03/2022Chief Engineer (Tender Cell), CGRRDA, Raipur on behalf of Governor of Chhattisgarh invites package wise bids
in electronic tendering system for Renewal Maintenance, sanctioned for different districts of the state as per B.O.Q. from theeligible contractors / Firms registered with unified registration system (e-registration) for the works mentioned below. Dateof release of Invitation for Bids through e-procurement:
S.No NIT No Work Name Amount (Rs. in Lakhs) Districts Rate invited
Availability of Bid Documents and mode of submission: The bid document is available online and should be submittedonline in https://eproc.cgstate.gov.in. The bidder would be required to register in the web-site which is free of cost. For sub-mission of the bids, the bidder is required to have a valid Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) from one of the authorizedCertifying Authorities.
Detailed NIT and other details can be viewed on our website https://eproc.cgstate.gov.in from 11.03.2022from 5:00 PM & onwards. In future any related corrigendum, would be seen in the notice section of this website.
Sd/-Chief Engineer (Tender Cell)
Chhattisgarh Rural Road Development AgencyCivil Lines, Raipur (C.G.)
(i) No EMD is required as per O.M.No. 18281 Dt. 31.12.2021 of Works Department, Govt of Odisha. But Bid Securitydeclaration should be furnished by the bidders as mentioned in the DTCN.
(ii) Non-submission of the information/documents through online by the bidder as per the items mentioned in the eligiblecriteria of the DTCN will also liable for rejection of his tender.
Further details & Corrigendum if any can be seen from the website: - www.tendersodisha.gov.inSd/-
Sealed tenders are invited from reputed firms forComprehensive Annual Maintenance Contract of 03 Nos.photocopier machines situated at Chhattisgarh Bhawan, 7S.P. Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, ChhattisgarhSadan, 8-12 Factory Road, Safdarjung, New Delhi and 3rd
Floor, Chanakya Bhawan, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. Thetender documents may be obtained from 3rd Floor,Chanakya Bhawan, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi-110021 onpayment of Rs. 100/- (non-refundable) in cash on orbefore 15.03.2022 between 11.00 AM to 05.00 PM on allworking days. Tender documents can be downloaded fromwww.rcchhattisgarh.gov.in. Last date of receipt oftender is 24.03.2022 upto 02.30 PM.
E-tenders under two bid system are invited for the supply ofapproximately ‘2068 No.’ Merino–Cross/ Rambouillet–cross rams onF.O.R. basis anywhere in H.P. including Tribal areas and/or as per the supplyroute chart to be provided by the indenting officers. against rate contract tobe kept valid for one year from the date of contract. The interested partiesmay download the Tender Document containing the Technical Specifications,Terms and Conditions, Timelines, Application Form and other details etc.from the official portal https://hptenders.gov.in w.e.f 14.03.2022 (effective3.00 PM) to 07.04.2022 (up till 5.00 PM). The cost of the tender documentis ` 5900/- including GST.
All the future notifications/ corrigendum/s, memorandum/s etc. inconnection with this tender, if any, will be published only on the official portalhttps://hptenders.gov.in and will not be conveyed individually or published innewspapers etc.
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On behalf of Governor of Rajasthan E-NIT no.NHP/SPMU/RAJ/NCB/03/2021-22 is invited from eligible bidder forFurniture and furnishing work for State Water resourcesInformatics Centre under National Hydrology Project Rajasthan.Interested bidders can participate in tendering under e-procurementprocedure.All the relevant details are available on following website:1) http:/water.rajasthan.gov.in2) https://sppp.rajasthan.gov.in3) http:/eproc.rajasthan.gov.in
NOTICEBOARD CORPORATE ASSOCIATE DIARY A P P O I N T M E N T S , M O V E M E N T S , C E L E B R A T I O N S , H O N O U R S
E V E N T S , A N N O U N C E M E N T S , L A U N C H E S , C S R I N I T I A T I V E S , A P P O I N T M E N T S , M O V E M E N T S , C E L E B R A T I O N S
NTPC In a bid to enhance women representation, NTPC hadlaunched a special recruitment drive only for womenexecutives across its areas of operations. NTPC has alreadyrecruited an all women Engineering Executive Trainees' (EETs)batch. Soon, the company plans to have an all women shift atone of its Power Station where the entire power plantoperation will be managed by women engineers.
EdCIL celebrated International Women’s Day where theprogramme was inaugurated by Manoj Kumar, CMD,EdCIL, Dr. B Chandrasekar, ED (Corporate Planning) andDr.SanjuSingh,MotivationalSpeaker alongwithall EdCILwomen employees.
To spread the awareness about the theme for InternationalWomen’s Day, “Gender equality today for a sustainable to-morrow”, Food Corporation of India organized a function,where B.K. Singh, ED (Personnal) was the Chief Guest.
FUNCTION - FCI
CRPF RCWA(RegionalCRPFFamilyWelfareAssociation)GC, CRPF Langjing, Imphal, celebrated InternationalWomen’s Day with great enthusiasm and devotion.
NHPC V Shukla, CMD, EIL, presenting cheque of Rs50,000/- to A. Nalini, Sr. Manager (Fin.), NHPC awardedby NHPC in due recognition of her outstanding perfor-mance in para sports at both National and InternationalLevel during International Women’s Day celebrations.
DFCCIL InternationalWomen’sDaywascelebratedat theDFC Corporate Office where RK Jain, MD, DFC ad-dressed women employees and staff and exhorted themto achieve greater heights.
BHEL has won 8 'National Safety Awards' for out-standing achievements in terms of the longest acci-dent-free period and lowest accident frequencyrate at its works.
AWARD - BHELPFC has signed a MoA with Artificial Limbs Manufactur-ing Corporation of India (ALIMCO) for distribution of Motor-ized Tricycles to Orthopedically Impaired Persons with Dis-abilities (Divyangjans) under its CSR initiative.
CSR - PFCTata Power Delhi Distribution Limited recently celebratedthe second edition of Lineman Diwas to appreciate the self-less service of linemen across the country.
LINEMAN DIWAS – TPDDL
Recently, SAIL employees made a great impression du-ring the ceremony of Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar(VRP) given for the performance year 2018. UnionMinister Bhupender Yadav gave away the awards.
CEREMONY - SAIL
The Embassy recently celebrated the 126th anniversary ofthe Victory of Adwa. The event was graced by former FirstLady of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia H.E. Ro-man Tesfaye, along with other dignitaries. Adwa still standsto be Ethiopia's unfading source of pride and witness to one ofthe proudest moments in the African history. “For Ethiopians,the Adwa victory is an expression of freedom, honor and whatdefines Ethiopians as a people” H.E Amb Tizita Mulugeta saidin her remarks. Mahlet Tesfaye, Diplomat at the Embassyspoke on a brief historical overview of the Battle of Adwa,touching upon crucial historical events, and its significancein inspiring resistance movements in the Americas.
THE VICTORY OF ADWA - EMBASSY OF ETHIOPIA
Purushottam Agrawal, Chairman, Samta Group, India,Founder, Ajanta Pharma Ltd, India was honoured with ABLFBusiness Excellence Award at Expo 2020 Dubai. He waspresented with a diamond-studded ABLF Awards trophy.
FELICITATION - SAMTA FOUNDATIONMuthoot Finance recently paid a literary tribute to formerChairman M. G. George Muthoot by releasing a book, titledM.G. George Muthoot - Remembering a Prodigy of Leade-rship, Entrepreneurship & Humanity, to honour him.
LITERARY TRIBUTE - MUTHOOT FINANCE
PNB On International Women's Day, PNB organized a fe-licitationceremonyand launchedwomen-centrichealth in-surance policies. The occasion was graced by Guest ofHonorDr.SadhnaShankar,PrincipalDirectorGeneral of In-come Tax (New Delhi).GoI under the EoDB has initiated to get the layout plans of
Delhi digitized & developed a web-portal to upload the ap-proved layout plans. The portal was inaugurated by ViceChairman, DDA.
INITIATIVE - DDA
IndianOil has tied-up with DavaIndia Generic PharmacyLtd. for opening its “Company - Outlets” at IndianOil Retailoutlets in Delhi&HR.Kapil Dev inaugurated DavaIndia’s 1stCompany Outlet at IndianOil Retail outlet, Saket, ND.
INITIATIVE - INDIANOIL
In a historic first for any Corporate in India, IndianOil hasinducted 9 players of the Indian Women's Hockey Teamonto its rolls under its new sports policy, which pro-motes Women's Hockey.
INDUCTION - INDIANOIL
NBT, India’sAmritsarBookFair 2022organised inassociationwith Khalsa College, Amritsar was inaugurated by the Hon’bleGovernor of Punjab Banwarilal Purohit in the august pres-ence of Yuvraj Malik, Director NBT.
AMRITSAR BOOK FAIR 2022 - NBT, INDIA
In presence of CVO, Secretary, HODs & other officials, ShriDharmendra, Chairman, NDMC, reviewed the pendencyreport on various vigilance cases & issued directions toHODs to resolve the pending references in a timely manner.
MEETING - NDMC
V.K.Singh,Dir (Personnel),POWERGRIDandNishantKumarDeputyCommissioner, Gurugramsigned an MoU for provid-ing financial assistance for installation and operationaliza-tion of 480 smart class rooms in Haryana.
MoU - POWERGRID
THDCIL in collaboration with office of Deputy CLC (C),Dehradun, organized 1-day awareness & sensitizationprogramme on the theme “Workers’ Rights and Employ-ers’ Responsibilities under labour Laws” at Rishikesh.
ARIES (Mar21 -Apr20)One importantindication todaymaynotbe felt forweeks to come.A
veryunusual development isabout to takeplace inyourwork, or in apartner'swork.Athreatenedupheavalmaybeavertedat the lastmoment,thanks inpart to someslipperyfoot-work.
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decidewhere topursuethingsnow.What is absolutelycertain is that it is up toyou to take the initiative, sonocowering in corners,please. You'll benefit fromagenerous andopen-heartedapproach.
CANCER (June22 - July23)If I coulddrawyourattention to thelong-termpatternfor a change, I'd like
topoint out that althoughyouseemtobegoingnowherefast at themoment, conditionswill improvebefore long. Inotherwords, you can sit itout andwait untilcircumstances alter.
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gracingyouwith its generousand sensitive gifts. Yet, unlessyou institute a routinewhich isboth regular anddesigned tosuit your veryparticularneeds, youwill experienceexhaustion.
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inyour stride. Ironically itcouldbeyou, even thoughyou'renormally so efficient,who isnowresponsible for allthosemanyminormisunderstandings.Tread carefully.
SCORPIO (Oct24 -Nov22)Youareright tomaintainhighstandards, if onlybecauseyouhavea
better ideathanmostpeopleofwhatneeds tobedone.Butdon't stickrigidly to inflexibleideals if they'renotappropriate.You'vegot toseekout thebest,andthatmightmeanchangingsomeof yourcherished ideas.
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don'twant to, youhaveachance to experiment. If youwish, thenyoumay take adeepbreath, jump inat thedeependandencounter awholenewworld. Butwill you likewhatyou find?Timewill tell.
peoplewhomaysuddenlyrememberpastgrudgesorresentments. It is,however,goodthatsuchmemoriesbedealtwithnow.Thesooneryouget togripswithsuchquestions,thebetteroff you'llbe.
AQUARIUS (Jan21- Feb19)If youwant to stayon the right sideofpartners, domake itclear that you're
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WARNE’SBODYARRIVES INMELBOURNELate Australian spin legend Shane Warne’s body arrived at his home cityMelbourne from Bangkok in a private jet on Thursday, almost a week afterhis shock death due to a suspected heart attack. Warne’s body was flown toMelbourne in a coffin wrapped in the Australian flag. The private jet landedat around 8:30pm local time. He will be given a state funeral on March 30 atthe Melbourne Cricket Ground. PTI
ASSOCIATEDPRESSPARIS,MARCH10
LIONELMESSI stood frozen, stunned in theSantiagoBernabéu.Hisrighthandwasonhiship.Hislefthandwasholdinghishead.Hiseyeswereclosed.Itlookedlikehewantedthefieldtoswallowhimup.WatchingthecelebrationswasthelastthingMessiwantedtodoasParisSaint-GermaincapitulatedtoRealMadrid.EspeciallygiventhewayKarimBenzema
had just completedahat-trick in17minutesto shift the Champions League last-16 gameinMadrid'sfavorforthefirsttime.Itsummedup PSG's implosion that thewinner camestraightfromthekickoffafterBenzemascoredhis second. PSG gave the ball away, gifting arapid homeattack that endedwithViníciusJúnior cutting into the penalty area, a feebleattempted clearance fromMarquinhos andBenzemaflickingtheballintothebottomcor-ner. “Wepaid dearly for ourmistakes at theend,”Marquinhossaid.“It'stoughtoexplain.”It seemedharder to tossawaya looming
place in the quarterfinals when KylianMbappéhad scored amemorable latewin-nerinthefirstlegandproducedanothermo-mentofmagnificence—createdbyNeymar'spass—toscore in the firsthalf inMadrid.TheupstartsofEuropeanfootballwerestill
of all time came to PSG. Nor why somuchwas invested in linking the 34-year-old ge-niusupwithNeymarandMbappé.ThewaitforafirstChampionsLeaguetitlegoesonforPSG after 11 years of Qatari ownership andmore than$1billion in transfers.Whichevermanagerscomeandgo—and
Pochettino will be fighting to remain inchargenextseason—PSGtoooftenlookslikeagroupof playersmasqueradingasa team.
All themoney and talent can't achievesuccess where it is cravedmost. This wasmeant to be the seasonwhen everythingcame together, with Messi arriving fromBarcelona. But still only one European finalhasbeenreached,losingtoBayernMunichin2020.Onlyoneothersemifinalhasbeencon-tested, losingtoManchesterCitylastseason.No wonder there were reports of PSG
President Nasser Al-Khelaifi becomingheatedinthesearchtoblamethematchoffi-cialsafterthelatestexit.Therewillberecrim-inationsatPSG.TherewillberecriminationsatPSG.WinningtheFrenchtitle is theeasypartoftheyear.Takeawaylastseason'saberrationwhenLillewascrownedchampion,PSGisnowcoastingtoaneighthtitleinnineseasons.It's the EuropeanCupwhich PSG's lead-
ershipwants to parade in Paris—andDoha— for a clubwhere collecting trophies canseemmoreaboutprojectingsportingpowerfor theEmir of Qatar thandelivering for theParcdePrinces regulars.
Qatar-owned PSG fall short once again intheir quest for Champions League glory
REUTERSLONDON,MARCH10
EUROPEAN FOOTBALL champions ChelseaarenoweffectivelycontrolledbytheBritishgovernment after sanctionswere imposedagainst Russian owner RomanAbramovichonThursday.Abramovich,whohadbeenun-der scrutiny following Russia's invasion ofUkraine, had announced hewas selling thePremierLeagueclub lastweek.That process is nowonhold, leaving the
west London club, ranked by Forbes as theseventhmostvaluableinworldsoccerat$3.2billion, inastateof limbo,operatingunderaspecial government licence.TheRussian bought the club in 2003 for
areported140millionpounds($184million)andhisinvestmentresultedinthemostsuc-cessful era in their history as theywon fivePremier League titles, five FA Cups and theChampionsLeague twice.Hispurchaseoftheclubhelpedtransform
thelandscapeofEnglishfootballwithChelseabreaking the stranglehold of ManchesterUnited, Arsenal and Liverpool. Abramovichhad fundedChelseavia1.5billionpounds intotalloansthroughFordstamLimited,theen-tity throughwhichheownstheclub.In their most recent accounts in
December, Chelsea, who reported post-taxlossesof145.6millionpounds($191.93mil-lion) for the year ended June 30 2021, said
theywere "reliant on Fordstam Limited forits continued financial support".
QuestionmarkYet now there is a huge questionmark
over theclub's future.Chelsea, thePremierLeagueandaspokespersonforAbramovichdid not immediately respond to requestsfor comment.A number of potential new owners had
emergedinthepastweek, includingseveral
Americansportsexecutives,butthereisnowa block on any sale. A spokesperson forBritain' PrimeMinister Boris Johnson saidthatblock couldbe lifted in the future if an-other licence isagreed to."Wewouldhavetograntafurtherlicence.
I thinkit is fair tosaythegovernment isopentothesaleoftheclub,but...currently,itwouldrequireanotherlicenceandthatwouldrequirea further conversationwith the Treasury (fi-nanceministry),"hetoldreporters."The principle has been tomitigate the
impact on fans ..., thesemeasures are de-signed to punish those close to (RussianPresidentVladimir)Putin.”A sourceclose toChelsea toldReuterson
Wednesdaythat theexpectationwithintheclubwas that adealwouldbedone"soonerratherthanlater".NewYorkinvestmentbankRainehasbeenhandlingthesaleandpoten-tial buyers will now have to wait to seewhether a licenceallowinga sale is grantedand how any eventual legal action fromAbramovichproceeds.Chelsea are nowoperating under a spe-
cialgovernment licence,whichallowssomeexemptionstotheassetfreezerestrictions,inorder toallowtheclubto fulfil their fixtures.Chelseawill be able to play their games
andpaytheirplayerswhilebroadcasterswillbepermittedtoshowtheirmatchesontele-vision. Only fans who have already pur-chasedticketsorwhohaveseasonticketswillbeallowedtoattendmatches.
PRATYUSHRAJNEWDELHI,MARCH10
EARLIERTHISweek, thebowlershelpedpa-peroverthecracksof thebatterswhenIndiaWomen beat PakistanWomen. But againstahigh-qualityNewZealandattack, thebat-tersnotonlystruggledtogetclosetothetar-getof261buttheyalsoapproachedthechaselike thematchwashappening inapreviousera.Thelossby62runsintheirsecondgameof theWorld Cupwill give the think-tankplenty toponderoverbefore thenextgameagainst theWest IndiesonSaturday.Chasing261,Indiafellto50for3inthe20
overs.Whathurtthemwerethe85dotballsin the first 120 deliveries.When theywerebowledoutin46.4overs,thenumberofdotswas 153. Though the required ratewas justover five runs an over, the high percentageof dots reflected the struggle of the Indianbatters to rotate thestrike.The turnaround time betweenmatches
is too short for the team to adopt a pedal tometalapproach.Butthereneedstobeanun-shackling of theminds of the batters and a
smarter approach the next time they are inthemiddle.NewZealandbattersnotonlyro-tatedthestrikeverywell,buttheyalsoscored29boundaries intheir innings.Ontheotherend, India scored15.India hit three sixes, but it didn’t really
matter because two of them were byHarmanpreet Kaur after she crossed 50 bywhichtimethegamewasslippingawayandthethirdbyJhulanGoswamibattingatNo.9.The silver lining of the game was
ond-highest scorer. Her 31 came at a strikerate of 55.35. In both games, she lost herwicketwhentrying toattack.AgainstPakistan,shegaveleft-armspin-
nerNashraSandhuachargebuttheballbal-looned toDianaBaig,whowaspatrollingatpoint.Todayshewentdownthetrackagainstleg-spinner Amelia Kerr but changed hermindatthelastmoment.ShetriedtosweepbutmissedtheballandNewZealand'keeperKateyMartinmadenomistake.ButIndiahadalready lost themomentum in the first 10overs, losing twowickets for26runs.
The Indian teammanagement decidedto drop a struggling Shafali Verma and in-cludeYastikaBhatia.WithYastikacomingin,Indiahadthreeleft-handersinthetopthree.NewZealandskipperSophieDevinestartedwith off-spinner Frances Mackay, whochokedtherun flow.Smriti Mandhana (6 off 21 balls) suc-
cumbedtothemountingpressure,followedby Deepti Sharma (5 off 13 balls). Yastika,playing her first match in theWorld Cup,labouredduringher28off 59balls.
Athertacticalbest,Devinebroughtinleg-gie Amelia Kerr in the 26th over. With allthree of India's left-handed batters back inthe hut, Amelia bagged twowickets in asmany balls in her third over to leave Indiareelingat101 for5.If Mithali threw herwicket away, Richa
failedtoreadthegoogly,whichrammedintoher off stump. The youngster stood therehelplessly beforemaking a slowwalk backtothepavilion.LeaTahuhu,theleaderof thepaceattack,wasexceptionalasshereturnedwithexcellentfiguresof1/17in10overs.Shewas ably supported by Kerr (3/56) andHayley Jensen (2/30).
accountingforthedewfactorlaterintheday.New Zealand posted 52 for 1 in the first 10overscompared to India's26 for2.India had an early breakthrough as Suzi
Bates (5) was run out, courtesy Vastrakar'sdirect hit at the wicket-keeper’s end fromcover.Devine (35off 30balls;7x4)andKerr(50off 64balls5x4) stitchedaquick45-runstandforthesecondwicket.Thereafter,Amy
Satterthwaite (75 off 84 balls; 9x4) joinedKerrinthemiddle,andtheduoputonavalu-able67-runstand for the thirdwicket.Afterlosingtheiropeningmatchbythree
runs toWest Indies, theWhite Ferns havemade a comebackwith back-to-back victo-riesagainstBangladeshand India.Afterherheroicswith thebat in the first
gameagainstPakistan,PoojaVastrakarmadeanimpactwiththeball.Vastrakar'slatebursthelpedIndiastopNewZealandfrompostinga280-plusscore.After40overs,NewZealandwere 211 for 4 but Vastrakar (4/34),made aspirited comeback in the final ten overs.Vastrakar's3/19inherlastsixoversreducedNewZealand'srunflow.Theall-rounderwasonahat-trickafterhertwopinpointYorkerscleanedupLeaTahuhuandJessKerr.Thehat-trick ball was also in the blockhole butFrancesMackaymanagedtodig itout.India’s next challengewill be theWest
Indies,whoareridingawaveaftertwobigwins.BRIEF SCORES:New Zealand 260 for 9 in50overs(Satterthwaite75,Kerr50'Vastrakar4/34,Gayakwad2/46)beat India198all outin46.4overs(Harmanpreet71;Tahuhu3/17,Kerr3/56)
Dot ball by dot ball, India’s chase unravels in 62-run loss to NZ women
CRIMSONDUSKcrawled in, shading thesil-very skies above Bangalore. The floodlightsquivered into life, addingvariedhues to thepalette of colours spreadacross the sprawl-ingskies. Inthevicinityof theChinnaswamyStadium, lights from stray sky-risers beganto flicker likedistant stars. Itwasnotdark, itwasnotbrighteither.Itwasnotuntil theskiesslipped intothe
twilight that the cream of Indian batsmenbegan to bat. Until then, theywere contentplayingfootballandrondowithatennisball.Thenoneafter theother, theyslowlyhit thenets, rightunder the floodlights.FirstwereMayankAgarwalandShubman
Gill, bothkeenon theback-foot, driving andcutting enthusiastically. Shreyas Iyer, whotookover afterGillwas tired,was in amoodfor violence, stepping down to the seamersandspinners,areflectionofthegoldentouch.BythenHanumaViharihadbeguntoex-
udehiscompactness,bluntingdeliveriesfromJasprit Bumrah toVirat Kohli. In the nets ontheothercornerof theground,RishabhPantwasbeltingthethrow-downspeltedathim.Anhourlater,Kohlistrodeinandimperi-
ously lofted-droveAxarPatel.Of late,hehasbeen troubled by the lefties—Ajaz Patel forexample—but here he was emphatic inthwarting them.Allwassmoothuntil theyheadedfor the
slip catching session, where the ball flewfinelyandspeedilytotheclosely-spacedcor-don.Agarwal,manningthethirdslip,wastherepeat culprit, often late to judge or react. Afew times, the ball popped out of RohitSharma’s palms too. Just as howmuch thepinkballswungorspun,thevelocityandtra-jectory of the edgeswere closelywatched.From how it looks to how it feels, it takessomegettingusedto.Thus, itwasjustanotherroutine,serious
nets.Atvariouspointsof time,theydweltonthemysteriesof thesky,peeringdeeplyintoit like philosophers lost in a heavy thought.Someofthemhurledthepinkballaroundto
feel it—thoughof thesameweight, it tendsto feel heavier, like a hockey ball, Kohli hadonce observed. As the sessionwore on, thegradientsof theballseemedtochange,frombrightpinktoblazingpinkandthen,asman-made light became more pronounced asmudgeoffluorescencethatseemedtodrawpatterns in the path it traced, aswhen youlookatsomethingdazzling.Thepinkballwasan object of much attention. It’s still an ac-quaintance,notyeta friend.Though Day and Night Tests with the
pinkball havebecomemainstream,a senseofmysterystill lurks.Theseareearlydaystosketchconclusivepatterns,or that therearenodiscerniblepatterns, apart fromthecon-sensus that they are bowler friendlier thanthe traditionalwine-redcherry.Notasingleofthe18matcheshaveended
in a draw; just a half of it has extended be-yond the fourth day. Two digits scores areaplenty, sub-150 totals in abundance. Indiahavefeaturedinthree,losinginAdelaideandwinning twiceathome.
Contrasting victoriesTwo victories were starkly contrasting,
apart from the general theme that bothcombined lasted a mere four-and-half-a-days. Pacers blew Bangladesh away at theEden Gardens, as Ishant Sharma,MohammedShamiandUmeshYadavalliedtopickall thewickets.Seamers purchased extravagantmove-
ment and bounce, beat their edges andpingedtheirheads,fourdifferentBangladeshbatsmenwere struck on their helmets. Asmanyasnine—that isone thirdof thewick-ets—fellwithbothteamsfacingthenewballinthemiddlesessionwhilebattingwascom-paratively stress-free in the late sessions,thanks to dew and the shorter duration ofthe twilightperiod inKolkata inNovember.Playersmadecarefulobservations.Sharma
said even the semi-newball swung;Umeshcarpedaboutthelackof reverseswing.The roles reversed in Ahmedabad.
11 and Joe Root snared a rare five-for in agamethatwaswrappedupin140overs.Forspinners, some balls turned outrageously,mostlythosethatlandedontheseam;someskidded straight,mostlywhen it landed ontheglossypartof theball.“Whenyoutriedtoputalotofrevs,itprob-
ablywasn'trotatingasmuchontheseamasIthoughttheredballwasrotating.Thebalanceoftheballseemedverydifferenttothatoftheredball,”RaviAshwinhadobserved.So what does Bangalore hold? Aid for
spinners or assistance for seamers? A lot ofvariablesareinplay.Forinstance,thenatureof the soil; Motera’s ismore clayey red soilthat abets low-slow turners, EdenGardens'sandierblacksoilengineersmoreswingandconsistentbounce.Chinnaswamyhasredla-teritesoilthatholdsupthesurfaceandhelpsmaintain consistent bounce and a hint ofswing in themorning session. But the pre-summerheatcouldmeanthepitchcoulddryupandcrumble.Therewouldnotbeanydeweither,unlikeinEdenGardens,implyingthatbattingunder lightswouldbedifficult.Asofnow,thesurfacelookedbrownwith
a tinge of grass here and there. But like theskies, it could quickly change its gradients.The Chinnaswamy has seen all sorts—fromswingers to square turners, anddeadwick-ets too. But usually, batsmen tend to enjoythe first couple days. All these factorsmakethe third pink ball Test in the country en-grossing.Andanotherlayerofpink-ballmys-teryshall beunravelled.
A difference like day and nightASSOCIATEDPRESSMARCH10
NOVAK DJOKOVIC said that he will not beable to compete at the hard-court tennistournaments in IndianWells, California, orMiamibecauseheisunvaccinatedandcan'ttravel to theUnitedStates.The 20-time Grand Slam champion
tweetedWednesday that the Centers forDiseaseControl “confirmed the regulationswon't bechanging so Iwon't beable toplayin theU.S.”Djokovic,whorecentlydroppedto No. 2 in the ATP rankings, has played inonlyonetournamentsofar in2022becausehe has not received any shots to protectagainst COVID-19. He was deported fromAustralia in January andwasnot allowed totry todefendhis title atMelbournePark.Rafael Nadal wound up winning the
Australian Open for his 21stmajor trophy,breaking a tie with Djokovic and RogerFedererforthemostclaimedbyamaninthehistory of tennis. Djokovic is a 34-year-oldfrom Serbia who said in April 2020, as thecoronaviruspandemicraged,thathewasop-posed toneeding tobevaccinated to travel.HisnamewasputinthedrawfortheBNP
ParibasOpen inCaliforniaonTuesday, eventhough his statuswas up in the air becausetheU.S.hasbeenrequiringforeignvisitorstobe vaccinated to enter the country. In addi-tion, the tournament had previously an-nounced that everyone on-site at IndianWellswouldneedtobe fully inoculated.“While I was automatically listed in the
@BNPPARIBASOPEN and @MiamiOpendraw,”DjokovicwroteWednesday, “I knewitwouldbeunlikely I'dbeable to travel.”IndianWells isunderwaythisweek;the
MiamiOpenstartsonMarch21.
While Iwas automatically listed inthe@BNPPARIBASOPENand@MiamiOpendraw I knew itwouldbeunlikely I'd be able to travel.”
NOVAKDJOKOVIC, ONTWITTER
UnvaccinatedDjokovic outof US tourneys
BRIEFLYSrikanthwins;Sindhu,SainaloseMuelheim An Der Ruhr: KidambiSrikanthprogressedtothemen'ssin-glesquarterfinalsoftheGermanOpenSuper 300 badminton tournament,beating China's Lu Guang Zu 21-16,21-23,21-18 in thesecondround.HewillnextfaceOlympicchampionandtop seedViktorAxelsenof Denmark.PVSindhusufferedashock14-21,21-15, 14-21 loss against China's ZhangYi Man while Saina Nehwal lost toRatchanok Intanon10-21,15-21.
PujaratoplayforSussexincountyHove: Out-of-favour India batterCheteshwarPujarawillbeplayingforSussex in the upcoming Englishcounty season replacingAustralia in-ternational Travis Head, the club an-nounced on Thursday. Pujara willcompete in both first-class and List AgamesforSussex.TheEnglishcountyseasonwillstartonApril7andSussexwill play their firstmatch fromApril14againstDerbyshire.Theseasoncon-tinuestill Septemberacross formats.
Pindipitchrated‘belowaverage’Rawalpindi:ThePindiCricketStadiumpitchforthefirsttestbetweenPakistanandAustralia has been rated "belowaverage" by the International CricketCouncil (ICC) and given one demeritpointafterthefirsttestendedinadraw.Pakistan scored 476/4 declared and252/0 in their two innings whileAustralia scored 459 in their only in-ningsona flat trackwhich resulted injust14wicketsoverfivedays.
ISL:JamshedpurtakeonKeralaMargao:Amaiden League Shield ti-tle already in its grasp, JamshedpurFC,oneof theconsistentteamsinthetournament, will look to take a stepcloser to their first Indian SuperLeague (ISL) crownwhen they faceKerala Blasters FC in the first leg oftheir semifinal at the PJN StadiumhereonFriday.Makingtheir firstap-pearance in the last-four of the ISL,JamshedpurFCare instunning formunder head coachOwenCoyle, hav-ingwonsevenconsecutivematches.
Krrish,RavienterfinalsofAsianboxingNewDelhi: Indian boxers Krrish Pal(46kg) and Ravi Saini (48kg) pro-gressed to the junior boys' finalswithcontrastingvictoriesattheAsianYouthand Junior Boxing Championships inAmman, Jordan.While Krrish domi-natedThailand'sKangpiBokhunthod,winning comfortably by unanimousdecision,Sainiworkedhardforaclose3-2win over Kazakhstan's BexultanBoranbek.Inthefinals,KrrishandRaviwill take on Tajikistan's AnushervonFazylov and Ilkhomjon Ergashev ofUzbekistanrespectively.
