DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 2024, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES SC stays HC order scrapping 25,753 Bengal school jobs Unfair to set aside all appointments if tainted ones can be segregated: Bench EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, MAY 7 THESUPREMECourtonTuesday stayed the order of the Calcutta High Court order invalidating appointment of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff made by the 2016 West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) in the state-run and state-aided schools, saying “it would be unfair to set aside all the appointments if the tainted and untainted ones can be segregated”. The top court, however, made it clear that the teachers and non-teaching staff, whose appointmentswerecancelledby the High Court, will have to refund their salaries and other emoluments if it reaches the conclusion that their recruitment was illegal. A three-judge bench, presided by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and comprising justices J B Pardiwala and ManojMisra,said,“Weareof the ELECTION COMMISSION ESTIMATES AT 11.40 PM 64.4% turnout in Phase 3, 2.9-pc point dip over 2019 NCP(SP)chief SharadPawarvotesinBaramati.Hisdaughter SupriyaSuleisseekingafourthtermfromtheseat. Arul Horizon MAMATA WELCOMES ORDER, BJP SAYS CULPRITS MUST BE ARRESTED Many regional parties will move closer to Cong, some may merge: Pawar PAGE 3 view that an expeditious and early disposal of these proceedings would be in the interest of justice and accordingly direct thattheproceedingsbelistedfor finalhearinganddisposalonJuly 16, 2024.” The bench, while hearing a batch of pleas including the one filed by the West Bengal government,said,“Inthemeantime,we areinclinedtocontinuetheadinterim protection, which was grantedbythiscourtintheorder datedNovember9,2023,subject totheexpressstipulationthatany personwhoisfoundtohavebeen appointed illegally and has continued as a consequence of the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DECISION BY UNNY 2024 ● Lalu for Muslim quota; JDU, BJP remind him of Mandal report PAGES 7, 12 & 13 At a polling booth in Murshidabad on Tuesday. Chayan Majumder PHASE 3 TURNOUT Lowest voting recorded in UP, Assam highest at 81.61% Turnout (%) in 93 seats EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, MAY 7 LIKE THE first two phases, the thirdphaseoftheLokSabhaelectionsonTuesday,covering93constituencies across 11 states and Union Territories, also recorded a dip in voter turnout as compared to2019,asperearlyestimates.The voter turnout was 64.4 per cent, according to the figures available at 11.40 pm. In 2019, these constituencieshadrecordedaturnout of 67.33 per cent. While the official time for voting to end was 6 pm, polling was extended in some areas to allowthosewhohadenteredthe Modi: Need 400 to stop Cong from placing Babri lock on Ram Mandir Cong hits back: We always said court decision final, BJP kept changing stand BHOPAL, MAY 7 CLAIMINGTHATtheCongressintends to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision on Ram Mandir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday said he needs 400 Lok Sabhaseatssothattheopposition partycannotsucceedinitsplanto putthe“Babrilock”onthetemple in Ayodhya or bring back Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. This is a departure from the Prime Minister’s earlier framing of the 400-seat mark — while he had not attributed a reason in the run-up to the polls, after the first phase, he had said he needed to cross this figure so the Congress cannot steal the reservationof Dalits,tribalsandOBCs. Speaking in Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone and Dhar Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Home Minister Amit Shah in Ahmedabad. Nirmal Harindran Days after his attack on BJP, Maya sacks nephew as heir, coordinator LUCKNOW, MAY 7 Mayawati said Akash Anand was being divested of power in ‘larger interest of party’ party leaders, was booked by Sitapur police in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly promoting hatred According to the EC’s Voter Turnout app, Assam, where four seats went to polls, reported the highestturnoutat81.61percent. The lowest turnout of 57.34 per cent was recorded in Uttar Pradesh (10 constituencies). In 2019, the same constituencies in UttarPradeshsaw60.01percent polling. Bihar, where five constituencieswenttopolls,recorded58.18 per cent. Gujarat, where 25 of its total 26 constituencies voted (the BJP won Surat unopposed), saw 58.98 per cent polling. In 2019, Gujarat had recorded 64.5 per cent turnout. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 67.3% 64.4% Stateswherepolling endedinPhase3 2019 2024 Assam* (4seats) 85.15 81.61 Chhattisgarh 70.87 71.06 (7seats) Goa (2 seats) 75.14 75.20 Gujarat (26 seats)** 64.51 58.98 Karnataka 71.7 (14seats) 70.41 *Some seats changed post delimitation; **BJP won Surat unopposed; Figures at 11.40 pm NEERJA CHOWDHURY SATARA, MAY 7 SUGGESTING A possible reshaping of Opposition politics after the2024elections,SharadPawar hassaidthatregionalpartieswill move closer or, in some cases, even merge with the Congress. Among the tallest leaders in theOppositiontoday,theformer UnionMinisterandMaharashtra Chief Minister Pawar told The Indian Express: “In the next coupleof years,severalregionalparties will associate more closely with the Congress. Or they may look at the option of merging with the Congress if they believe that is the best for their party.” Asked whether that applied to his own party, the NCP, the chief of the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) said, “I don’t see any difference between the Congress and us…. Ideologically, we belong to the Gandhi, Nehru line of thinking.” Then he promptly added: “I am not saying anything now… Without consulting colleagues, I shouldn’t say anything. Ideologically, we are close to them (the Congress) — any decisiononstrategyorthenextsteps willbetakencollectively.Itisdifficult to adjust (with) or digest (Narendra ) Modi.” TheIndianExpressspokewith Pawar in Satara on the night of May 4 after he had addressed a mammothrallyforhiscandidate ShashikantShindewhoistaking on Udayanraje Bhosale, once CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 3 Independents cross sides, Haryana BJP govt teeters in LS poll season CHANDIGARH, MAY 7 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE polling station by then to cast their votes. With reports still coming in, the final turnout could rise. In the first phase, when 102 constituencies went to polls, the final turnout was 66.14 per cent, a drop of just under 4 percentage points as compared to 2019. Inthesecondphase,inwhich 88 seats voted, the final turnout was 66.71 per cent, a drop of about 3 percentage points from 2019. In a statement, the Election Commission (EC) said polling was peaceful. An EC official said it was peaceful in West Bengal too, which often sees poll-related violence. 2019 2024 On whether this applied to his party: No difference between Cong and us SUKHBIR SIWACH UNTIL HE ATTAINS MATURITY, SAYS BSP CHIEF BSPleaderMayawatiannounced Tuesday she was removing her nephew Akash Anand as her politicalheirandthepartynational coordinator“untilheattainsmaturity”. He had been named her successorbarelysixmonthsago. Mayawati announced her decision in a post on X, 10 days after Akash, along with other SPEAKING AFTER SATARA RALLY INSIDE BUSINESS AS USUAL ANAND MOHAN J `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES & ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 and enmity, among other charges under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Representationof thePeopleAct. In a video of his address at an election rally, Akash was heard callingtheBJPgovernment“gaddaron ki sarkar” (a government of traitors) and urging people to hit representatives of other partiesseekingvoteswithshoesand slippers. After the case was filed on CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 JUST OVER a fortnight to go for the Lok Sabha elections in Haryana, three Independent MLAs withdrew their support to the BJP government in the state and extended “outside” support to the Congress. This leaves the BJP, with 40 MLAs, tentatively placed in the Assembly. With the House strength reduced to 88, the majoritymarkis45.Technically,the BJP government has the support of 43 MLAs now, although it claimed on Tuesday that four Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) MLAs toomayoffer“tacticalassistance to the government if needed”, taking its strength to 47. ThethreeIndependentMLAs who switched sides Tuesday — DharampalGondher(Nilokheri), Randhir Golan (Pundri) and Sombir Sangwan (Dadri) — announced their decision in the presence of former Congress chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in Rohtak. Soon after, Hooda said: “This governmentshouldresignkeepinginviewthesentimentsof the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Congress gives 101 seats to allies, will contest in 328, its lowest Lok Sabha tally MANOJ C G NEW DELHI, MAY 7 FOR THE first time, the Congress iscontestinginlessthan400Lok Sabha seats in a general election. It is contesting in 328 seats, 93 lower than the number it had contested in 2019. Coalition imperatives are one key reason: the party has given away as many as 101 seats it had contested in 2019 to its INDIA bloc partners this time. It is contesting more seats only in Karnataka and Odisha. In Mizoram, it is contesting the lone seat this time — in 2019, it had backed an Independent. In Karnataka, the party is contesting in all 28 seats this time as compared to 21 in 2019. Its then ally JD(S) had contested in the rest of the seats. In Odisha, it is contesting in 20 seats compared to 18 in 2019. ● Thepartywouldhave contested in 330 seats, but for the rejection of the nomination of its candidate in Surat and withdrawal of its candidate EXPLAINED E THEBIGDIP Seats Cong contested State 2019 2024 UP 67 17 West Bengal 40 14 Maharashtra 25 17 in Indore. In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections,theCongresshadcontested in 417 seats, which was then the lowest. It contested 440 seats in 2009, 464 in 2014 and 421 in 2019. Thistime,thepartyiscontestinginalessernumberofseats compared to 2019 in as many as 12 states across the country. Considerthekeystateswhere it has given seats to its allies. The biggest dip is in Uttar PradeshwheretheCongresshad been in political wilderness for overthreeandahalfdecades.The party did not have any major alliesinthestatein2019.Upagainst the BJP and SP-BSP alliance, the partycontestedin67ofthestate’s 80 seats but could win only one: Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kolkata