DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA ED says bail will send out very wrong message, bench points to elections ANANTHAKRISHNAN G BUSINESS AS USUAL NEW DELHI, MAY 7 THE SUPREME Court said Tuesday it would not want Arvind Kejriwal, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the Delhi excise policy case, to perform his officialdutiesasChief Ministereven if it were to grant him interim bail in view of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections since “it may have cascading effects”. Hearing arguments on the questionof grantinghiminterim bail for campaigning in the elections,JusticeSanjivKhanna,presiding over a bench also comprising Justice Dipankar Datta, said, “We are very clear… If at all we grant interim bail, we don’t want you to be performing your official duties… It may have cascading effects.” The bench did not say when it will pronounce an order on it. At the end of the day’s hearing on Kejriwal’s petition challeng- BY UNNY inghisarrestbytheEDonMarch 21,thebenchsaiditwillcontinue tohearitThursdayornextweek. OnMay3,thebenchhadsaid itwouldconsiderthequestionof interim bail to Kejriwal because the hearing on the arrest challenge was not likely to be over soon. On Tuesday, the ED opposed the suggestion for interim relief CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DECISION 2024 ● Cong responds to EC: BJP complaint bid to limit sphere of criticising PM ● In Srinagar, PDP youth leader strikes a chord ● Lalu for Muslim quota; JDU, BJP remind him of Mandal report ●PawanKalyan’s‘Power Star’shinesbrightinseat, withprominentgroups inhisorbit POSTAL REGN. NO. JAIPUR CITY/001/2024-26 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 2024, JAIPUR, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES You cannot perform official duties as CM if we grant you interim bail, SC tells Kejriwal ● `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 UNTIL NOW, 283 LOK SABHA CONSTITUENCIES HAVE VOTED Phase 3 no different: Dip again, 63.8% Gujarat, UP record lowest voting of 57.34%, Assam highest at 76.68% EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NCP(SP)chief SharadPawarvotesinBaramati.Hisdaughter SupriyaSuleisseekingafourthtermfromtheseat. Arul Horizon 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 voterturnoutwas63.82percent, according to the figures available at 11 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 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. In the second phase, in which 88 seatsvoted,thefinalturnoutwas 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. According to the EC’s Voter Turnout app, Assam, where four seats went to polls, reported the highestturnoutat76.68percent. The lowest turnout was seen in Gujarat, where 25 of its total Many regional parties will move closer to Cong, some may merge: Pawar NEW DELHI, MAY 7 On whether this applied to his party: No difference between Cong and us NEERJA CHOWDHURY At a polling booth in Guwahati on Tuesday. PTI 26 constituencies voted (the BJP won Surat unopposed), and Uttar Pradesh (10 constituencies) — both the states saw 57.34 per cent polling. In 2019, Gujarat had recorded 64.5 per cent turnout, while the same constituencies in Uttar Pradesh saw 60.01 per cent polling. Bihar (5 constituencies) did slightly better at 57.96 per cent, while Maharashtra (11 constituencies) recorded 60.33 per cent polling. Prime Minister Narendra CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SATARA, MAY 7 PHASE 3 TURNOUT (%) Overall turnout 2019 (93 seats) 2024 67.3% 63.8% States where polling ended in Phase 3 (in %) 2019 2024 Assam (4seats) 85.15* 76.68 Chhattisgarh (7seats) 70.87 68.62 Goa (2seats) 75.14 74.52 Gujarat (26seats)** 64.5 57.34 Karnataka (14seats) 71.7 69.44 Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu (2seats) 77.05 65.23 **BJP candidate elected unopposed from Surat *2019 turnout for same seats but boundaries of Assam seats have changed due to delimitation in 2023, Note: Figures until 11 pm Phase 4 MAY13 PAGES 5, 6 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 ANAND MOHAN J 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 neededto crossthisfigure sothe Congress cannot steal the reservationof Dalits,tribalsandOBCs. Speaking in Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone and Dhar CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CHANDIGARH, MAY 7 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 BSPleaderMayawatiannounced Tuesday she was removing her nephew Akash Anand as her politicalheirand thepartynational coordinator“untilheattainsmaturity”. He had been named her successorbarelysixmonthsago. Mayawati announced her decision in a post on X, 10 days after Akash, along with other 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 3 Independents cross sides, Haryana BJP govt teeters in LS poll season SUKHBIR SIWACH UNTIL HE ATTAINS MATURITY, SAYS BSP CHIEF EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE 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 Sabhaseats ina general election. It is contesting in 328 seats, 93 lower than the number it had contested in2019.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 SPEAKING AFTER SATARA RALLY 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 Jaipur SUGGESTING A possiblereshaping 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