DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2024, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 22 PAGES `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 BJP gets post-240 booster shot CONGRESS GROPES FOR ANSWER AFTER DEFEAT IN HARYANA, OMAR SET TO BE J&K CM AT HEAD OF NC-CONG ALLIANCE JAMMU AND KASHMIR: In first Assembly election since the end of erstwhile HARYANA: A record third consecutive term for the BJP govt, upsetting Cong state’s special status, NC-led coalition set to form govt; BJP emerges as main Opp expectations and calculations; Modi hails Haryana victory as Saini returns Leg-up for BJP ahead of PM: Slap to Cong plot to divide Maharashtra, Jharkhand; over caste, will echo elsewhere task cut out for Congress VIKAS PATHAK MANOJ C G & LIZ MATHEW NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 8 IF A week is a long time in politics,evenadaycanshapeperceptions — and larger political narratives.Tuesdaywassuch a day for the BJP: four months after it suffered a setback in the Lok Sabha elections losing seats in several north Indian states, falling to 240 from 303, andpromptingtheCongressand the Opposition to celebrate, the ruling party created history in Haryana registering a resound- ing victory that would give it a third term in power there. It also improved its tally in Jammu and Kashmir and, more importantly, its government at the Centre claimed credit for ensuring that elections were held and that an elected UT Assembly was in place — its powers severely limited — for the first time ● since the state was split and its special status abrogated. The verdict holds multiple messages. TheCongresshopedavictory EXPLAINED E HARYANA BJP 48 (40) JAMMU & KASHMIR INLD Others INC 2 3 37 (1) CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 (8) (31) NC INC BJP PDP Others 42 6 29 3 10 (15) (12) (25) (28) (7) 2014 seats in parentheses VOTE SHARE IN % (2024) VOTE SHARE IN % (2024) 39.94 23.4 12 25.6 20.97 HAILING HIS party’s victory in Haryana as the “people’s answer” to a Congress “conspiracy todividethecountryongrounds of caste” and “defame Indian democracy and its institutions”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday also slammed the Congress for refusing to accept theHaryanapollresults,sayingit had questioned the neutrality of the Election Commission even during the Lok Sabha elections. Addressing BJP workers at the party headquarters in New CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EVM battery charge absurd: EC sources ASAD REHMAN & DAMINI NATH NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 8 Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president J P Nadda at the party headquarters in New Delhi, Tuesday. Tashi Tobgyal From anti-Jat consolidation to tickets: Behind BJP’s Haryana victory map LIZ MATHEW & MANRAJ GREWAL SHARMA NEW DELHI, CHANDIGARH, OCTOBER 8 2019 seats in parentheses 39.09 NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 8 39 WITH A historic third win in Haryana, the BJP has got just the boost it needed after finishing short of a majority in the Lok Sabha polls — and ahead of the Stalwarts admit defeat, Cong doesn’t accept Haryana results, faults EVMs Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini after his victory from Ladwa, on Tuesday. PTI coming Assembly elections. Facing huge anti-incumbency in Haryana, farmer and wrestler anger over long-lasting protests and discontent over the Agniveerscheme,theBJPspread out its bets in the state. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched in with big rallies, though he addressed just four against 10 in 2019, there was CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ITS ELECTORAL expectations gone wrong in Haryana, the Congress Tuesday took the unprecedented step of declaring thatitwillnotaccepttheverdict, allegingtherewasa“conspiracy” hatchedthrough“manipulation” of Electronic Voting Machines. TheCongressallegation—itis CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY National Conference leader Omar Abdullah greets supporters after winning from Budgam on Tuesday. AP Back in J&K with hands tied, Omar says vote for statehood, development NAVEED IQBAL SRINAGAR, OCTOBER 8 ONE OF THE most evocative images in the Assembly electionsis thatof formerJ&KChief Minister Omar Abdullah holding out his signaturesoznicapinhishandat a campaign event in Ganderbal. Speaking in Kashmiri, Omar, humbledbytheLokSabhadefeat in the Baramulla seat, urged voters for “a chance to serve them”. On Tuesday, Omar secured decisivevictoriesinboththecentral Kashmir constituencies — Budgam and Ganderbal — from THE EDITORIAL PAGE TWODECISIVE WINS,ONESORE LOSER PAGE 12 DECODINGTHE VERDICT PAGES 9, 10, 11 & 19 where he contested. Thanking the voters after the results, he said,“After2018,ademocraticset CONTINUED ON PAGE 2