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National, Politics

Modi sworn in as India’s Prime Minister for third consecutive term

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the first Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to have a third term in the post

Vasudha Mukherjee, Business Standard, New Delhi,  Jun 09 2024 : Narendra Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister for a third term on Sunday evening, marking a historic moment in Indian politics. The swearing-in ceremony took place at the presidential palace in New Delhi at 7:15 PM, attended by over 9,000 guests, including heads of state from neighbouring countries and the Indian Ocean region.
At 73, Narendra Modi becomes the first Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to have a third term in the post. India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, won the post in 1952, 1957 and 1962 General Elections.
President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office in a grand ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Who attended PM Modi’s oath-taking ceremony?
Notable foreign leaders in attendance included Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Maldives’ President Mohamed Muizzu, Seychelles’ Vice President Ahmed Afif, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, and Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay.
Special invitees included workers who contributed to the construction of the New Parliament House and other key projects. Surekha Yadav, the first woman loco-pilot of the Vande Bharat Express, was among the 10 loco-pilots invited. Representatives of the transgender community and beneficiaries of various central government welfare schemes were also likely to attend.
Ahead of the ceremony, Modi visited Rajghat to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi. At 73, Modi has equalled the record of India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who won the 1952, 1957, and 1962 general elections.
BJP coalition government: Who will be on the Cabinet?  
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Modi, formed the government alongside its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners after failing to secure a majority in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP won 240 seats, falling 32 short of the required majority in the 543-member lower house of parliament, marking its weakest performance in a decade.
Alongside the Prime Minister, Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, BJP President J P Nadda, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Shivraj Chauhan also took their oaths as Union Cabinet Ministers.
Coalition members, especially larger parties, are expected to have demanded concessions from Modi, including ministerial posts in the cabinet. Leaders of the 15-member coalition, such as Andhra Pradesh chief minister-designate N Chandrababu Naidu and Bihar’s political leader Nitish Kumar, began negotiations in New Delhi earlier this week to provide the necessary numbers for Modi to govern for a third five-year term.

PTI, New Delhi, 09.06.24 : Banners of Prime Minister-Designate Narendra Modi are put up ahead of his swearing-in ceremony as PM for the third consecutive term, in New Delhi, Sunday, June 9, 2024.
Prior to the swearing-in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held discussions with a group of NDA leaders, many of whom are likely to be appointed as ministers in the central government. During the meeting, prominent figures from the BJP and leaders of NDA coalition partners were seated in the front row as the Prime Minister addressed the gathering
Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi is set to take oath on Sunday for a third straight term, equalling the feat of first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, as the head of a coalition government after two full tenures in which the BJP enjoyed a majority on its own.

Hectic parleys involving BJP leadership and allies were on over the share of berths of different constituents of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the new government.

Senior BJP leaders such as Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh besides party president J P Nadda have been consulting the allies, including Telugu Desam Party’s N Chandrababu Naidu, JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar and Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde, to finalise their share of representation in the government.

There is a view that heavyweight portfolios like home, finance, defence and external affairs besides education and culture, two ministries with strong ideological hues, will be kept by the BJP, while its allies can get anywhere between five to eight cabinet berths.

While leaders like Shah and Singh are seen within the party as a certainty in the new Cabinet, former chief ministers who have won the Lok Sabha polls like Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Basavaraj Bommai, Manohar Lal Khattar and Sarbananda Sonowal are strong contenders for joining the government.

Ram Mohan Naidu of the TDP, Lalan Singh, Sanjay Jha and Ram Nath Thakur of the JD(U), and Chirag Paswan of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) are among the allies who may be a part of the new government, sources said, adding that either Singh or Jha will be accommodated from the JD(U) quota.

Maharashtra, where the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP alliance has fared poorly, and Bihar, where the opposition has shown signs of revival, may be in the focus during the government-formation exercise.

Assembly polls are due in the western state in October, while polls will be held in Bihar next year.

Impending changes within the BJP’s organisation will also be on the mind of its brain trust in finalising the names of ministers from the party.

Nadda’s term was extended due to the Lok Sabha polls, and organisational imperatives will be an important consideration for the party as the poll results have sent signals that all may not be well within its vast machinery.

This opens the possibility of some seasoned hand being sent to the party and Nadda being given a berth in the government, the sources said.

The desertion by a section of voters, especially from the Scheduled Castes and other deprived sections of society, may also be a guiding factor in government formation even though Modi had made a point to increase their relative representation in his outgoing term.

Nehru is the only prime minister who held the post after three consecutive elections after independence.

The BJP is keen to send out a message of continuity and ward off any impression of political vulnerability following its surprising below-par show in the Lok Sabha polls as its seat tally fell to 240 from 303, considerably short of the majority mark of 272.

The government has announced that leaders of several neighbouring countries, including from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Mauritius, will be attending the swearing-in ceremony slated to take place at 7:15 PM on Sunday at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Crime, West Bengal

‘Free phone recharge’: Cops warn of fake alert

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 ‘Beware of the website http://westbengalfreerecharge. blogspot.com claiming free mobile recharges. This is a Cyber Fraud’

TT, Calcutta, 08.06.24: Kolkata Police have issued an advisory against a fake link that says chief minister Mamata Banerjee has initiated a scheme of free mobile recharge of ₹239.

In reality, the link leads those who click on it into a gaming site.

The police have alerted citizens through their social media handles mentioning that it is a cyber fraud. “Beware of the website http://westbengalfreerecharge. blogspot.com claiming free mobile recharges. This is a Cyber Fraud. Do not click on the link or you might face financial loss. Stay vigilant! Legal action is being taken against miscreants circulating such messages.”

The fake free-charge offer was circulated through WhatsApp and text messages. It mentioned that under the initiative of Mamata Banerjee, one can get a phone recharge of ₹239 for 28 days free by clicking on a link.

A senior police officer in Lalbazar said they came across several people who received these messages.

“We don’t yet know of anyone who has been cheated or defrauded through it till now. We wanted everyone to know that this is a fraud link and one must not click on it,” said the officer.

Another officer said by clicking on the link, a new screen appears and on clicking “OK” the screen is diverted to a page which ultimately leads to a gaming site.

“We have not come across anyone who has clicked on the gaming site or incurred any loss. But it is certainly not a mobile recharge site,” said the second officer.

A probe has been launched to find out the creators of the link and those who circulated it on social media.

A cyber crime cell officer said it was never advisable to click on unknown links even if they offered a discount or freebie.
Politics, West Bengal

Hint at bid by five BJP MPs to join TMC ahead of swearing-in ceremony for 18th Lok Sabha

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Besides the victors, there are ‘many’ among 30 defeated BJP candidates in Bengal who have been attempting back-channel parleys for induction into Trinamool, said the sources

Meghdeep Bhattacharyya, TT, Calcutta, 08.06.24 : The supreme leadership of the Trinamool Congress, according to sources, is considering the prudence in allowing in two or three of “at least five” of the BJP’s 12 MPs from Bengal, who are in touch with Mamata Banerjee’s party with hopes of switching sides before any of those elected to the 18th Lok Sabha is sworn in.

Besides the victors, there are “many” among 30 defeated BJP candidates in Bengal who have been attempting back-channel parleys for induction into Trinamool, said the sources.

“Two, if not three, of the BJP’s 12 Lok Sabha members from Bengal might actually be allowed in even before anybody is sworn in as an MP this time,” said a source in the senior leadership of Trinamool, aware of deliberations currently underway in the topmost tiers of Bengal’s ruling party.

The swearing-in is likely to take place by mid-June, which is in about a week.

“There are at least five of the 12 who want to jump ship, but a couple of them are waiting to see if they are offered Union cabinet berths by their national leadership, in order to keep them from leaving,” the source added.

If Mamata and Abhishek Banerjee ultimately allow it, the BJP’s national tally would sink to the 230s, from the current 240, and make Narendra Modi — about to be sworn in as a much weakened Prime Minister for his third term — even more dependent on unreliable allies of the NDA to stay ahead of the majority mark of 272 in the Lower House.

Nitish Kumar’s JDU (12 MPs) and N. Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP (16 MPs) are constituents of the NDA whose current tally is 293. The JDU and the TDP had left the NDA before.

“Mind you, there are more than 10 MPs of NDA allies who are already in touch with various INDIA partners in several other states, similarly exploring possibilities of defection,” said a source in Trinamool aware of discussions within the INDIA space in Delhi over the past 72 hours.

“Trinamool is confident of winning bypolls, if necessary. But not everyone is. Such MPs are looking to make use of a grey area in the defection rules, which leave scope for convoluted litigation instead of immediate resignation if the defections take place between the election victory and the swearing-in,” the source said.

With 29 of Bengal’s 42 Lok Sabha members, Trinamool is already the third-largest force in INDIA, after the Congress and the SP which has 37 MPs.

“Kalighat (home of the aunt and the nephew) is considering this only for the sake of the further weakening of the BJP, and not just nationally. In Bengal, they are in the very real danger of slipping to nine or seven MPs even before the monsoon is able to arrive properly,” said a reelected Trinamool MP.

He said there was no reliable indication yet on what would be done with the defeated BJP candidates who wanted to defect, but a handful of them might be accepted on the basis of their usefulness. “Because the top two are looking to strengthen our position ahead of 2026 (the Bengal Assembly elections), and some of them will change equations locally, for Assembly seats,” added the MP.

The BJP state leadership responded with sarcasm to the reports on the possibility of the party’s MPs defecting to Trinamool.

“Trinamool got the number wrong. Instead of saying two or three, they should have said all BJP MPs are yearning to switch to Trinamool,” said BJP’s chief spokesperson for Bengal, Samik Bhattacharya, also a Rajya Sabha member currently in Delhi.
Politics, West Bengal

TMC glare on underperformers, meeting today on accountability with eye on 2026 Assembly polls

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A source said the meeting, scheduled at 3pm at Mamata Banerjee’s residence, 30B Harish Chatterjee Street, will take place in the presence of the party’s national general secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee

Snehamoy Chakraborty, TT, Calcutta, 08.06.24 : Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee will meet the party’s 42 Lok Sabha candidates — both victorious and vanquished — and district presidents and coordinators at her Kalighat residence on Saturday to brief them on the party’s strategies inside and outside Parliament.

A source said the meeting, scheduled at 3pm at Mamata’s residence, 30B Harish Chatterjee Street, will take place in the presence of the party’s national general secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee.

Abhishek has begun playing a larger role at the all-India level after the Lok Sabha polls in which Trinamool bagged 29 of the 42 parliamentary seats in Bengal.

“Apart from congratulating the new MPs and complimenting the defeated candidates for putting up a good fight, Didi and Abhishek are likely to give directions to the party leaders for the future course of action. As the party will begin preparations for the next Assembly elections without wasting time, the meeting will be very important,” said a TMC source.

A senior TMC leader said that Abhishek wants to change the existing practice of political activism by the TMC leadership only ahead of the polls.

Abhishek considers that the battle with the BJP, which has a robust election machinery, cannot be won unless a system is put in place in which Trinamool leaders remain active 24/7 through the year.

“The party wants to keep its leaders active throughout the year…. Political activities will certainly increase during the election period, but there will be no leisure window,” the leader said.

Sources in the TMC’s election management team said that the party has already taken note of the detailed poll outcome, which has revealed that it was ahead in 192 Assembly segments, which was 21 less than the actual number of Assembly seats it had bagged in the 2021 polls.

A senior TMC leader said that though the party is in a celebratory mood after the June 4 results, its leadership is not taking this statistic — the lower number of leads in Assembly segments — lightly.

Abhishek, who met with leaders in most districts before this crucial Lok Sabha election, had warned that if they failed to give a lead to the Lok Sabha nominees from their areas, they would lose their posts.

He had also mentioned in a few review meetings of the election committees that those MLAs who do not manage to give a lead from their constituency, would not be given poll tickets in the 2026 Assembly polls.

He proposed the same strategy for public representatives in rural and civic bodies.

“In Purulia, the Trinamool candidate, Santiram Mahato, was defeated by a margin of 17,000 votes. In Purulia town, Trinamool trailed by over 20,000 votes. The chairman of the Purulia municipality has to accept responsibility for this defeat,” a TMC leader explained.

Amid the buzz on whether the party would take action against its leaders for failing to provide leads in their respective segments, some heads have already begun rolling.

On Friday, the chief and deputy chiefs of four gram panchayats in Hooghly’s Chinsurah submitted their resignations to the local BDO, a party source said.
Crime, National

Police outpost torched in Manipur by Militants, set several houses on fire in Jiribam district

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The gunmen suspected to be hill-based militants also launched multiple attacks taking advantage of the darkness at Lamtai khunou, Modhupur area

PTI, Imphal, 08.06.24 : Suspected militants torched a police outpost and set several houses on fire in Manipur’s Jiribam district on Saturday, officials said.


The militants torched the Jiri police outpost located in Chotobekra area on the banks of the Barak river at around 12.30 am, they said.

The gunmen suspected to be hill-based militants also launched multiple attacks taking advantage of the darkness at Lamtai khunou, Modhupur area of the district located nearly 220 km from the state capital Imphal.

Several houses have been burnt, mostly in the outlying areas of Jiribam district though the exact number cannot be confirmed, a district official based in Jiribam told PTI.

A commando contingent of Manipur Police has been airlifted to Jiribam on Saturday morning from Imphal to assist in the security operations against the militants, police said.

Meanwhile, newly elected Congress MP from the Inner Manipur Lok Sabha seat Angomcha Bimol Akoijam has urged the state government to protect the lives and properties of the people of Jiribam district.

Akoijam told reporters at a press conference here that, “I have talked with district officials of Jiribam. They said some reinforcements have reached. While those in the town are being provided security, those in peripheral areas are not being provided security.” Nearly 239 people mostly women and children have been evacuated from their villages in the Jiribam district and are taking shelter at the sports complex in Jiri town after violence broke out following the killing of a man allegedly by militants, officials said Saturday.

On June 6, the Jiribam district administration had clamped an indefinite curfew in the district following the killing of a 59-year-old man belonging to one communtiy allegedly by militants belonging to another community.

The killing triggered fresh ethnic flare-up in the district which had remained unaffected by the violence.

Jiribam, which has a diverse ethnic composition comprising Meiteis, Muslims, Nagas, Kukis and non-Manipuris, had so far remained unaffected by the ethnic strife which has been raging in Manipur since May last year.

The ethnic conflict between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and hills-based Kukis has led to the deaths of over 200 people and rendered thousands of people homeless. 
Economy, Regional

DHR Darjeeling-NJP passenger service to resume from Sunday

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Amitava Banerjee, MP, 7 June 2024, Darjeeling: There are good tidings for the Railway enthusiasts visiting Darjeeling. 

The popular New Jalpaiguri-Darjeeling passenger is all set to roll from Sunday, after being temporarily suspended owing to track repairs. However, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) joyrides were plying. 
The World Heritage DHR is one of the main tourist attractions of Darjeeling. With the ongoing tourist rush most of the services, especially the joyrides are packed to capacity. 
Missing out on the joyrides many avail the Darjeeling-NJP passenger service to get an experience of the DHR. “We had to suspend the services from June 4 owing to damage to the side formation wall between Ghayabari and Mahanadi. 
Repair work on this and maintenance of tracks is underway. The service will resume on June 9,” stated Priyansh, Director, DHR talking to the Millennium Post. 
To cater to the ongoing rush the Northeast Frontier Service has introduced an additional diesel locomotive DHR joyride service, starting from Thursday. 
“This service has been introduced keeping in mind the ongoing rush as all the joy rides are running to capacity. This service will run till June 30,” added the Director. This service departs from Darjeeling station at 3:30 pm and reaches Ghoom, 8km away at 4:15 pm. 
After a break of 20 minutes at the picturesque Ghoom railway station, the highest railway station in India, it departs for Darjeeling at 4:35 pm. It is scheduled to reach Darjeeling at 5:05 pm. 
The train has 3 first-class chair cars with a combined capacity of accommodating 89 passengers. 
At present, there are 11 joyride services, including 4 steam. The earnings of the DHR last year had smashed all previous records. Sabyasachi De, the Chief Public Relations officer of NFR said that the DHRs earnings between April and December 2023 was Rs 17.3 crore. 
During this period 1,45,872 passengers had boarded the DHR trains. In 1879 work first started on the DHR, then called the Darjeeling Steam Tramways. The name of the rail company was then changed to Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Company in 1881. 
Courtesy & source- Millennium Post
https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/dhr-darjeeling-njp-passenger-service-to-resume-from-sunday-567050
Crime, Politics, West Bengal

Cal HC allows affected people to submit poll violence plaints with DGP

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MP, 7 June 2024, Kolkata: Expressing concern over alleged post-poll violence in certain areas of Bengal following the conclusion of the Lok Sabha elections, the Calcutta High Court on Thursday issued a directive allowing affected people to submit complaints to the state’s Director General of Police (DGP) via e-mail. 

The order came following a petition in the high court seeking direction to police to ensure protection to opposition party workers in the wake of alleged post-poll violence in some places of the state following the elections. 
The court cautioned that if the state machinery fails to protect the lives and property of the citizens, appropriate orders will be passed on the next date of hearing.
The division bench presided by Justice Kausik Chanda said the matter will be taken up for hearing again after 10 days. 
The bench, also directed that complaints can be e-mailed to the DGP by persons allegedly affected by incidents of post-poll violence, apart from the normal process under the CrPC. 
It directed that in the event the complaints disclose any cognizable offence, the DGP will immediately direct the police station concerned to register an FIR under relevant provisions of law. 
https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/cal-hc-allows-affected-people-to-submit-poll-violence-plaints-with-dgp-567065
Crime, Regional

Report of unnatural death: Lawyer found hanging in Siliguri

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EOI, SILIGURI, JUNE 7, 2024 : The body of Keya Dutta (26), a lawyer from the Siliguri Court, has been found hanging in her room in the Sanghati More area of Ward No. 38 in Siliguri. 

She was the niece of Dulal Dutta, Member of Mayor in Council of Health and Water department of Siliguri Municipal Corporation. Keya lived with her mother in an apartment in Sanghati More. 
On the night of the incident, Keya had returned home after a routine day.
Later at night, her mother attempted to call her, only to receive no response. 
Alarmed, Keya’s mother asked the neighbours for help. Upon breaking down the door to Kaya’s room, she was found hanging. 
Dulal Dutta said on Friday that his niece had a calm personality and that there were no domestic issues that might have prompted her to take the drastic step. 
National, Politics

Kangana airport incident: Farmer outfits throw their weight behind CISF woman constable

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PTI, Chandigarh, Jun 7, 2024 :  Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar Friday termed the alleged attack on actor and BJP MP-elect Kangana Ranaut by CISF woman constable “most unfortunate” and said any form of violence as a means of expressing dissent was unacceptable.

     
“What is even more concerning is that a person wearing a security uniform indulged in such an unlawful violent act,” he said.

Ranaut, in a video message on Thursday, said she was hit in the face and abused by the constable during a security check at the Chandigarh airport.

Another video circulating on social media had shown the agitated constable talking to people presumably after the incident.

“Kangana made a statement (earlier) that farmers were protesting in Delhi because they were paid Rs 100 or Rs 200. At the time, my mother was one of the protesters,” she said in the purported video.

Some farmer outfits on Friday threw their weight behind the woman constable, saying the entire sequence leading to the incident needs to be properly investigated.

“The statement was made by Kangana Ranault three years ago on protesting farmers. Her statement may be insensitive and not in good taste but a security staffer resorting to physical assault by slapping the MP in resentment of the hurt she felt sets a wrong precedent,” Jakhar said in a statement

Such acts tend to defame Punjab and its people, he said.

Jakhar not only questioned the timing of the incident but also the outpouring of support from certain quarters for a person who took law in her hands.

He said the statement was made three years ago by Ranaut and its aftereffect surfaced now in the form of an attack on the BJP parliamentarian.

“The timing makes the incident curious. It comes at a time when Punjab is undergoing an undercurrent of overt radical posturing. The narrative of support being played out in support of the security staffer, instead of being condemned, endangers the social order.

“It may have far reaching consequences. Such discourse is potent enough to incite hotheaded minds to resort to more similar acts in future endangering harmony and lives,” Jakhar said.
Health, National

May heat wave in India 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than previous extremes

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PTI, New Delhi, Jun 7, 2024 :  Heatwaves like those experienced in India this May are nearly 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than the country’s previously recorded hottest heatwaves, according to a new rapid attribution study by an independent group of climate scientists and researchers.


The analysts at ClimaMeter said the intense and prolonged heat wave India endured in May was a result of the naturally occurring El Nino phenomenon — unusual warming of the ocean surface in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean — and the rapidly increasing concentration of greenhouse gases — primarily carbon dioxide and methane — in the atmosphere.

The researchers analyzed how events similar to the high temperatures in India’s May heatwave changed in the present (2001-2023) compared to the past (1979-2001).

“The temperature changes show that similar events produce temperatures in the present climate at least 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than what they would have been in the past over a large area of the region analyzed. The precipitation changes do not show any significant variations,” the analysis read.

ClimaMeter’s findings underscore that heatwaves in India are reaching unbearable temperature thresholds because of fossil fuels burning, said Davide Faranda of French National Centre for Scientific Research.

“There are no technological solutions for temperatures approaching 50 degrees Celsius. We should all act now to reduce CO2 emissions and avoid exceeding vital temperature thresholds in large areas of the subtropics,” he said.

Gianmarco Mengaldo of National University of Singapore said the findings show the complex interplay between natural variability and climate change, with the latter playing an important role in critical synoptic-weather-pattern changes in tropical and subtropical regions that may significantly aggravate heatwaves in the near future.

The world is witnessing weather extremes under a combined effect of the 2023-24 El Nino and human-caused climate change.

This May was the warmest May ever and the last 12 consecutive months — June 2023 to May 2024 — have broken temperature records for each corresponding month, according to the European climate agency Copernicus.

Northwest India and parts of the central region reeled under a punishing heatwave in May which tested India’s disaster preparedness, with several states reporting heat-related deaths.

There are concerns that heat waves in April and May have played a role in the lower-than-usual voter turnout during the seven-phase general elections in India that began on April 19 and ended on June 1, the second longest after the 1951-52 parliamentary elections.

According to the Central Water Commission, water storage in 150 major reservoirs in India dropped to just 22 per cent of their live storage this week, exacerbating water shortages in many states and significantly affecting hydropower generation.

The intense heat has already driven India’s power demand to a record 246 gigawatts, with air conditioners and coolers in homes and offices running at full capacity.
    
India recorded nearly 25,000 suspected heat stroke cases and 56 deaths due to heat-related illnesses from March to May, PTI reported earlier, citing data from the health ministry.

According to data compiled by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), 46 of these deaths were recorded in May alone (till May 30). Between May 1 and 30, 19,189 suspected heat stroke cases were reported in the country, it said.
    
The data does not include deaths from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Delhi, and the final numbers are expected to be higher, a source said.

Severe heat waves have impacted a large number of people in parts of India for three consecutive years, affecting health, water availability, agriculture, power generation, and other sectors of the economy.

The heatwave in May saw several places across the country, including Assam, Himachal Pradesh, and Arunachal Pradesh, recording their all-time high temperatures.    Parts of India saw record-breaking maximum temperatures in April as well.

Similar heatwaves could occur once every 30 years, and these have already become about 45 times more likely due to climate change, ‘World Weather Attribution’, a group of leading climate scientists, said last month.

Experts say those working outdoors, the elderly, and children are at higher risk of heat exhaustion and heatstroke.

According to a World Bank report, India could account for 34 million of the projected 80 million global job losses from heat stress-associated productivity decline by 2030.

In the absence of adequate cold-chain infrastructure, extreme heat can cause major damage to fresh produce. Studies show India faces food losses worth USD 13 billion a year, with only four percent of fresh produce covered by cold chain facilities.
Politics, West Bengal

Daggers drawn in Bengal BJP after poll debacle as seniors allege inexperienced leaders calling shots

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PTI, Kolkata, Jun 6, 2024 :  Several West Bengal BJP leaders have blamed the dismal performance of the party in the Lok Sabha polls in the state on “inexperienced leaders” ruling the roost and hinted at “conspiracy” behind the loss of seats where winning chances were high.


The Trinamool Congress led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee swept the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal, winning 29 of the 42 seats in the state. The BJP’s tally, on the other hand, dropped to 12 from 18 in 2019.

The outcome has raised questions regarding the party’s campaign strategy, organisational effectiveness, and narrative coherence.

“When those without any proper political experience of fighting elections call the shots in the organisation, this is the result that you get. There has to be some sort of accountability of the state leaders who decided everything in this election,” newly elected BJP MP Saumitra Khan told reporters.

Khan managed to hold on to his Bishnupur seat by a slender margin. The state unit also struggled to reach double digits, winning several seats by narrow margins.

Former state BJP president Dilip Ghosh, who lost from the Bardhaman-Durgapur seat to TMC’s Kirti Azad by nearly 1.38 lakh votes, hinted at a “conspiracy” to ensure his defeat.

“A conspiracy was hatched to ensure that I got defeated or why else would I be sent to Bardhaman-Durgapur. It seems the party had sent me to Bardhaman-Durgapur from Medinipur to ensure that I lost the elections,” he said.

Ghosh, while speaking to a Bengali news channel, said there has been no proper introspection in the party after the 2021 assembly poll debacle.

“No one was held accountable for the loss in 2021. If there is no course correction or introspection even now, this debacle will be repeated in 2026. In the last few years, the party did not have any growth in West Bengal; rather its support base has eroded in the last five years,” he said.

Ghosh, former MP from the Medinipur constituency, was relocated to Bardhaman-Durgapur, a seat where the battle against TMC was perceptively tough, where he replaced outgoing MP SS Ahluwalia.

The latter, in turn, was moved to Asansol. The party’s sitting MLA from Asansol Dakshin, Agnimitra Paul, replaced Ghosh at Medinipur. All three BJP candidates were trounced by their TMC counterparts in the recently concluded polls.

Former BJP MP from Hooghly Locket Chatterjee, who failed to win the seat for the second consecutive time, sought a proper introspection in the party.

West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar, although agreed that there is a need for introspection, said the party has increased its vote share by one per cent as compared to the 2021 assembly polls.

“It is not that the party is not moving ahead. Our vote share has increased when compared to the 2021 assembly elections, although it has gone down when compared to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls,” he said.

The Trinamool Congress registered a 45.77 per cent vote share in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal, up by more than two per cent from the 43.7 per cent vote share it received in 2019.

The BJP, on the other hand, registered a vote share of 38.73 per cent in the state this time which, unlike what the pollsters had predicted, was down by over two per cent as compared to the 40.6 per cent votes it received five years ago.

The TMC alleged that the saffron camp has realised that it could not fight the Mamata Banerjee-led party in the state.

“It is good that they have at least realised that they can never fight Mamata Banerjee in the state. I hope they will convey this message to their central leadership,” TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said.
Crime, National, Politics

Rahul granted bail in defamation case filed by BJP

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 The court accepted Rahul’s apology and granted him bail on a surety of Rs 75 lakh. Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar were also present in the court along with the Congress leader. 

PTI, 07 June 2024 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday was granted bail by a special court here in connection with a case filed by the BJP’s Karnataka unit for issuing “defamatory” advertisements in mainstream newspapers.


As reported by PTI, the advertisement ahead of Assembly polls last year accused the then BJP government in the state of indulging in large-scale corruption during its 2019-2023 rule.

The court had on June one granted bail to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also the State Congress chief, after they appeared before it in connection with the defamation case, PTI reported.

Judge K N Shivakumar had directed Gandhi to appear before the court on June seven without fail.

In February, the Congress leader attended court proceedings related to the defamation case and was granted bail.

The complaint against Gandhi was lodged by BJP leader Vijay Mishra. Last December, a warrant was issued against Gandhi, prompting him to suspend his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Amethi and appear in court on February 20, where he obtained bail.

The complaint stemmed from remarks Gandhi made during a press conference in Bengaluru in May 2018, during the Karnataka elections. Gandhi’s comments referred to the BJP’s claim of upholding honest politics despite having a party president who was accused in a murder case.

Amit Shah was the BJP president at the time of Gandhi’s statement.

Four years before Gandhi’s remarks, Shah was acquitted by a special CBI court in Mumbai in connection with a 2005 fake encounter case during his tenure as Minister of State for Home in Gujarat.

Gandhi apologised to the court on Friday for seeking exemption from personal appearance in the last two hearings. The court accepted his apology and granted him bail on a surety of Rs 75 lakh.

Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar were also present in the court along with Gandhi.

The BJP had in its complaint filed in June 2023 alleged that false and reckless allegations were made in the advertisements issued by the accused persons on May 5, 2023 in all the mainstream newspapers in Karnataka during campaigning for the Assembly polls, under the title “Corruption rate card”, and “40 per cent Commission Sarkara (government)”.

It was alleged in the complaint that the advertisements were issued by the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee through Shivakumar, in his capacity as its president and by Siddaramaiah, as the then Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly.

Gandhi had put up a post of this “defamatory advertisement” on his social media ‘X’ account, it pointed out.

In a post on ‘X’ after Gandhi personally appeared before the court, the BJP said: “Accused out on bail in the National Herald case, Mr. @RahulGandhi, you are welcome to Namma Bengaluru. We also invite you to experience the consequences of Indian laws for all the misleading and defamatory advertisements you used against our leaders here in Karnataka, which you have failed to prove till today.”
National, Politics

Tharoor bats for Rahul as LoP; says he was ‘man of match’ of LS polls

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Shashi Tharoor said the message of the mandate was that the electorate has given a ‘comeuppance’ to the BJP’s ‘overweening arrogance’

PTI,  New Delhi, Jun 07 2024 : Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday hailed Rahul Gandhi as “the man of the match” of the Lok Sabha polls and said it would only be fitting that he takes on the mantle of the Leader of Opposition in the house.
In an interview with PTI after his fourth-straight Lok Sabha polls victory, Tharoor said the message of the mandate was that the electorate have given a “comeuppance” to the BJP’s “overweening arrogance” and its “my way or the high way attitude”.
“It will be a challenge for Mr (Narendra) Modi and Amit Shah who have not been used to consulting very much in running their government and I think this is going to test their ability to change their way of functioning and be more accommodative and more conciliatory within the government and also I hope with the opposition,” Tharoor said on the incoming coalition government of the NDA.
The former Union minister said this time the Modi-led NDA government could prove to be a ‘majboor sarkaar’ (helpless government) on some issues because the parties that are part of the NDA will have to agree on everything.
“Already we have questions being raised by one party on the Agniveer scheme, saying that it needs to be reviewed and they have been supported by a second party namely the JD(U) and Chirag Paswan. Both in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, there are leaders who have demanded special category status for their states which the BJP government had hitherto refused to grant, that will have to be re-examined,” he said.
Tharoor said suddenly now there will have to be a more consensual model governance coming up.
He accused the Modi government of treating Parliament like a notice board in the last 10 years and expecting it to be a rubber stamp for all their decisions which, he said, was not viable now with a robust opposition of more than 230 MPs.
Batting for Rahul Gandhi to take on the mantle of the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Tharoor said the former Congress president was unquestionably the star of this Lok Sabha performance.
“He and Congress president (Mallikarjun) Kharge campaigned extensively throughout the country, but Mr Kharge is in the Rajya Sabha where he leads the Opposition and it would only be fitting that Rahul Gandhi does the same in the Lok Sabha. I have certainly conveyed my view both publicly and privately in that regard,” Tharoor said.
“I think we have a strong number now to stand up to the government and it (Leader of Opposition) should be a leader who is undoubtedly the most popular in the party,” he said, referring to Gandhi.
Using cricketing analogies, Tharoor further said Gandhi was “unquestionably, indeed the man of the match” of the polls and in a number of places the Congress “hit the ball out of the park”.
“In some places we had a tight finish. In my case there was a super over at the end of the T20 in my constituency. Lot of cricketing analogies all over the place but as we are seeing in the World T20, there are some concerns about the pitch we had to bat on and I would say that we had no choice but to play on the pitch we were given but it could certainly have been a far more level playing field than it was,” he said.
In Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram, Tharoor beat Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar by over 16,077 votes.
Asked about the close fight and if the Left made it difficult for him, Tharoor said the CPI candidate Pannyan Raveendran took two and a half lakh votes.
“But the other is the three areas that are represented by the CPI(M), the CPI candidate came last and the BJP candidate came first. There are some legitimate questions being asked as to how exactly and why exactly that happened. But you know at the end of the day, a victory is a victory and we are savouring it as sweet,” Tharoor said.
Talking about the message of the 2024 mandate, Tharoor said the message is very clearly that the Indian voter will not allow democracy to be taken for granted in this way.
“We’ve seen everything from the demonetisation, that was declared without the cabinet even been consulted or informed, to the stringent lockdown that came with a few hours’ notice, with not even the state chief ministers consulted. All of which suggest to me that we are looking at an end to a kind of autocratic rule that had brought discredit to our democracy, not just at home but internationally,” Tharoor said, adding that is the biggest take away.
The government is now a coalition and the prime minister will have to consult alliance partners before major decisions, failing which the government may not survive, the Congress leader said.
Hailing the gains made by the Congress that improved its tally to 99 in the Lok Sabha, Tharoor said it was a very good performance and the leaders were very pleased that the numbers showed up according to “what we saw on the ground”.
“As for what we can improve, there is always room for improvement. Certainly we did not expect to lose every seat in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. Those are areas where there would need to be certain introspection within those state units as to what went wrong and headquarters will have to weigh-in as well,” he said.
“On the other hand, we have done well in most other places and if you look at the number of states we have improved our performance, we have vastly outstripped the number of states we remained stagnant in or we’ve gone down,” he said.
Tharoor also credited Gandhi’s two Bharat Jodo Yatras and its alliance strategies for the party’s performance.
National, Politics

Balance regional aspirations, national interests: TDP chief at NDA parliamentary party meet

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PTI, New Delhi, Jun 7, 2024 : Key BJP allies — TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar — on Friday endorsed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the leader of the National Democratic Alliance with a message to balance regional aspirations and national interests.

    
Speaking at the NDA Parliamentary Party meeting here, BJP allies JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy, Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde, NCP chief Ajit Pawar, HAM(S) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi among others supported the proposal moved by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to elect Modi as the leader of the NDA.
    
The meeting in the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan, the old Parliament House, saw a lot of bonhomie as well as lighter moments among the leaders with Shinde describing the alliance as a “Fevicol bond”, Kumar trying to touch the feet of Modi, who stopped him midway and the prime minister patting Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on his shoulder.
    
LJP(Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan, who repeatedly referred to Modi as ‘Sir’ while supporting the resolution, received a warm embrace from the prime minister. Jana Sena Party Pawan Kalyan received a special mention in Modi’s speech when he said that “Pawan was not wind but a storm”.
    
Paswan credited Modi for the NDA victory, while Kalyan asserted that India would not bow down before anyone as long as Modi was the prime minister.
    
At the outset, as soon as Modi entered the Central Hall for the NDA meeting, he bowed before a copy of the Constitution placed there, and lifted it to his forehead reverentially.
    
Another ally, RLD chief Jayant Singh, who was seated in the audience with other leaders, later posted on X: “NDA (New – Developed – Aspirational India) has chosen our Prime Minister for a historic third term, Shri Narendra Modi ji!”
    
NDA coalition partners Kumar and Naidu wholeheartedly praised Modi for his leadership and also reminded him not to ignore the development of states.
    
“Balancing regional aspirations and national interests must run parallelly while ensuring holistic development for all strata of society,” Naidu said.
    
Naidu said Modi’s rallies in Andhra Pradesh helped the TDP win 16 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
    
“Today, India is having the right leader at the right time, that is Narendra Modi. This is a very good opportunity for India. If you miss now, you will miss forever. That is why we are having a wonderful opportunity today,” Naidu said.
    Kumar expressed confidence that Modi will develop India in a big way and also pay attenti
on to Bihar.
    
“We are confident that Modi will develop India and we will wholeheartedly support him every passing day,” Kumar said.
    
“All the pending works of Bihar will be done. It is a very good thing that all of us have come together and we will all work together with you. … we will all work under your leadership,” he said.
    
The Bihar chief minister slammed the opposition and expressed confidence that they will be defeated in the next Lok Sabha elections.    
    
“I have noticed that a few people have won (Lok Sabha elections) here and there by saying useless things. They haven’t done any work and never served the country. Next time when you win, they all will be defeated,” Kumar said.
    
Shinde said Shiv Sena and BJP were ideologically similar. “The Shiv Sena-BJP coalition forged under the leadership of Balasaheb Thackeray is a ‘fevicol bond’ which will not break,” he said.
National, Politics

NDA dispensation is strongest alliance govt opposition worked to erode faith in democracy :PM Modi

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PTI, New Delhi, Jun 7, 2024 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday accused the opposition of seeking to erode people’s trust in democracy and casting a shadow of defeat over the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s poll win, asserting that the ruling bloc scored a grand victory in the Lok Sabha elections.

    
“If you see in the context of alliances and statistics, then this is the strongest alliance government,” Modi said while addressing newly-elected MPs and leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) from across the country following his election as leader of the ruling bloc ahead of his government’s swearing-in on Sunday.

He flayed opposition INDIA bloc leaders for casting suspicions on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and the Election Commission throughout the poll process, alleging that they wanted to stoke fire across the country if the results did not suit them.

However, the EVMs silenced them by June 4 evening, he said in an apparent reference to the opposition’s better-than-expected showing.

Modi said the world will also be drawn towards appreciating the diversity and expansiveness of Indian democracy following these results.

The prime minister projected the results as a nationwide popular endorsement of his government’s agenda, moving to quell any sense of pessimism among his own party members after the BJP fell short of a majority.

He cited people’s increased support to the alliance in south India and Odisha, where the BJP is also set to form its maiden government, to laud its performance.

“The Congress has not got as many seats in three Lok Sabha polls since 2014 as we have got in these elections. It has not been able to touch even the 100 mark this time,” he said.

“People know that we had not lost and have not lost,” he said, adding that even a child would tell that it is the NDA that was in power before the polls and which is in power after the polls. “Where did we lose? The NDA was there yesterday, is there today and will be there tomorrow.”

By every parameter, the world recognises that the results reflect the NDA’s grand victory, he said.

At the ceremony held in the Central Hall of the Parliament complex, it was NDA all the way in optics as well as substance as nine leaders of as many allies flanked Modi, besides three BJP leaders on the dais.

It was the NDA that Modi repeatedly mentioned while highlighting his government’s policies and programmes, and how its different members, including the Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) N Chandrababu Naidu and JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar, have ushered in development in their respective states.

After Modi’s election, leaders of different parties met President Droupadi Murmu to submit to her their letters of support to him.

In his speech, the prime minister claimed that attempts were made to not accept the NDA’s win and overshadow it with a sense of defeat.

Buoyed with its tally of 234 seats, the opposition alliance has projected the results as a defeat for Modi. The NDA tally stands at 293, comfortably above the majority mark of 272.

“I can see clearly, though the INDI Alliance does not know. They were earlier sinking slowly but are now hurtling down the abyss,” he claimed.

Modi said he asked someone on June 4 when the results were being announced if the EVM is “still alive or dead”.

These people (opposition) had made up their minds to ensure that people’s trust in Indian democracy is broken, he claimed.

“I thought they would take out a funeral procession for EVMs. However, as the results were declared by June 4 evening, they were silenced. This is the strength of Indian democracy, its objectivity, and the election system. I hope questions will not be raised on EVMs for five years. Probably, they may make a fuss again in 2029,” Modi said.

Opposition parties tried to obstruct the Election Commission’s work by filing many petitions in the Supreme Court, he said, adding that it showed how despondent they were in the electoral field.

They conspired to defame India globally, he said. “The country will never forgive them.”

Modi said the opposition parties belong to the last century in their mindset as they are opposed to any technological intervention, be it UPI or Aadhaar. “The INDI Alliance is fundamentally opposed to progress, modernity and technology.”

While he is beating the drum about India being the “mother of democracy”, the opposition is telling the world that there is no democracy in India, Modi added.

He accused his rivals of making comments between the last day of polling on June 1 and the counting day on June 4 as part of a conspiracy to stoke violence.

Attempts were made to mislead and divide people, he claimed. 
Health

Prolonged use of AC may raise risk of dry skin, asthma attacks: Doctors

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 While air conditioning (AC) provides much-needed respite in the scorching summers when mercury is soaring high, its prolonged use may also raise several health risks including skin and respiratory problems, warned doctors on Sunday.
IANS | New Delhi | June 5, 2024 : While air conditioning (AC) provides much-needed respite in the scorching summers when mercury is soaring high, its prolonged use may also raise several health risks including skin and respiratory problems, warned doctors on Sunday.

With the advent of rapidly growing urban regions and income growth, more people are using ACs to protect from high heat exposures. It usually works on the principle of cooling air by reducing the humidity following condensation of the water vapour.

“Prolonged exposure can cause a lot of health hazards ranging from dry, flaky and stretched skin to headaches, dry cough, dizziness and nausea, trouble concentrating, fatigue, and sensitivity to odours,” Suhas H S, Consultant Pulmonologist, Manipal Hospital, Bengaluru told IANS.

It may also worsen respiratory diseases such as allergic rhinitis and asthma, and raise the risk of infections if AC is not maintained adequately, added the doctor.

The health experts advised to avoid prolonged exposure to the cold.

“The medical problem associated with air conditioning is that they do not have proper filtration, the ideal HEPA filters which are recommended or they’re in very few branded good company air conditioners. Lack of this chokes the filters due to pollution, and increases the risks for infection,” M Wali, Senior Consultant, Department of Medicine, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, told IANS.

“The risk is more in commercial Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) set up than home AC setups. Though not much data is available regarding home AC cooling systems and bacterial contamination, certain bacteria do form biofilm on the cooling coils and may lead to infections in humans exposed to AC for more than 90 per cent of time,” added Satish Koul, Senior Director & Unit Head, Internal Medicine, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram.

An example may be legionnaires disease — a severe form of pneumonia. Legionnaires disease was discovered based on the contamination of water in the HVAC system and consequent aerosol mist leading to the spread of the atypical bacteria, Satish told IANS.

Further, suddenly walking into a cold AC room from exposure to severe heat, may cause bronchoconstriction — narrowing of the airways, said Wali. This may be more prominent in people with asthma.

The experts suggested proper cleaning of AC filters and switching off ACs every two hours.
National, Politics

Did BJP strike rate improve after Modi’s ‘anti-Muslim’ rhetoric? Here’s how it fared in all 7 phases

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 Overall, BJP won 240 of 440 seats it contested in 2024 Lok Sabha elections. This meant a cumulative strike rate at 54.5 percent.

AMOGH ROHMETRA, The Print, 06 June, 2024: New Delhi: BJP’s strike rate in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls held in seven phases over 44 days ranged from 35 to 70 percent, declining between the third and seventh phase, an analysis by ThePrint shows.

The Opposition attributed this decline to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “anti-Muslim” rhetoric and the BJP’s showing in the 77 seats it contested in the first phase. Of these 77, the BJP won 30 — a strike rate of 39 percent.

Also important to note is that Tamil Nadu, where the BJP has been a marginal player, was among the states where all seats went to the polls in the first phase. If one were to discount the 39 seats in Tamil Nadu, of which it contested 23, BJP’s strike rate in the first phase was 55 per cent. 

Referring to the speech Modi made in Rajasthan’s Banswara on 21 April, two days after the conclusion of the first phase, the Opposition claimed then that Modi’s “anti-Muslim” rhetoric was prompted by low voter turnout and the BJP’s “poor” performance in the first phase.
As ThePrint reported earlier, there was also a decline in the mention of BJP’s “400 paar” slogan in Modi’s speeches after the first phase.

In the second phase, the BJP’s strike rate increased by 35 percentage points to 67 percent — it won 47 of the 70 seats it contested in this phase. This included all 20 seats in Kerala, of which the BJP secured one.

In the third phase, the BJP improved its strike rate further to 70 percent. This was highest for the BJP among all seven phases. Its strike rate in this phase can also be largely attributed to Gujarat, where it won 25 of 26 seats.

However, from the fourth phase onwards, the BJP’s strike rate began to decline — barring one exception. In the fourth phase, the BJP’s strike rate declined, by 15 percentage points from the previous phase, to 55 percent.

This decline continued in the fifth phase, where its strike rate was only 45 per cent. Of the 40 BJP candidates in the fray in this phase, only 18 won.

The sixth phase was where the party managed to stage a revival of sorts by winning 31 of the 51 seats it contested in this phase — a strike rate of 61 percent.

But it could not keep up the momentum in the seventh phase where its strike rate declined, by 26 percentage points from the previous phase, to 35 percent. It won only 18 of the 52 seats it contested in this phase.

Overall, the BJP won 240 (including Surat) of the 440 seats it contested in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections — a cumulative strike rate of 54.5 percent.

(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)