SPECIAL COVERAGE
CHANDIGARH

LUDHIANA

DELHI



THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
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N A T I O N


BJP survives ‘broom’ attack, Cong swept under carpet

New Delhi, December 8
Aam Aadmi Party supporters celebrate the party’s excellent show in New Delhi on Sunday While the BJP-SAD alliance emerged as the single largest party in the Delhi Assembly, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made a stunning debut in electoral politics denying the saffron party a majority besides toppling the three-time Congress.
Aam Aadmi Party supporters celebrate the party’s excellent show in New Delhi on Sunday. PTI

With no clear-cut winner, hung House in Delhi
New Delhi, December 8
The spectacular performance by rookie Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has thrown up a peculiar problem in the 70-member Delhi Legislative Assembly with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerging as the single largest party with 31 seats plus support of one ally in the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).



EARLIER STORIES



‘Insignificant’ AAP stuns all
New Delhi, December 8
Contrary to anticipation, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) phenomenon swept Delhi with its breathtaking debut in the fifth Assembly elections, giving a clear message to the entire political class and in particular the Congress and the BJP that they better not dismiss it as "insignificant".

profile: arvind kejriwal
The IIT engineer who set the cat among political pigeons
New Delhi, December 8
Giant-killer Arvind Kejriwal, who defeated three-time Chief Minister and Congress stalwart Sheila Dikshit in the New Delhi constituency, is nothing short of a political sensation, and his personal victory can be compared to the maverick Raj Narain's electoral win over Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the historic 1977 General Election. The bespectacled Kejriwal, 45, an IIT engineer by training and a revenue officer by profession, was not only able to effectively present his one-year-old political party as an alternative to the two big national parties who have ruled the national capital in the past but, with a modest and affable personality that identified very much with the common man, fired the imagination of the youth and the marginalised who came out in large numbers to vote for his party.

Harsh Vardhan, the man who brought BJP factions together
New Delhi, December 8
Harsh Vardhan, anointed BJP’s chief ministerial nominee less than a month before the Delhi Assembly polls after a bitter internal squabble, steadfastly united various factions to bring enthusiasm among workers to keep the party on course to regain power from Congress after 15 years.

Three cheers for Shiromani Akali Dal
New Delhi, December 8
Harsimrat Kaur Badal with SAD winners and supporters in New Delhi on Sunday The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has made history in the Delhi Legislative Assembly by winning three seats out of four it contested. SAD had alliance with the BJP that has emerged as the single largest party.


Harsimrat Kaur Badal with SAD winners and supporters in New Delhi on Sunday. Tribune photo: Manas Ranjan Bhui

Delhi to have youngest Assembly
New Delhi, December 8
Delhi has emerged as the youngest assembly in terms of age of elected legislators from the four states, with an estimated average age of about 43 years for MLAs elected in the national capital.

Anti-incumbency, anti-Centre sentiment hit Cong in R’sthan
New Delhi, December 8
BJP supporters celebrate the party’s win in Bikaner on Sunday Victory for the Vasundhara Raje-led BJP in the desert state of Rajasthan was speculated but the fact that the Congress would be decimated to a level never seen before came as a surprise. Known for voting the Opposition to power every time over the past few Assembly elections, the voters in Rajasthan have clearly expressed their mandate against the Congress on the whole while giving a landslide victory to the BJP, which itself would be surprised by the turn of the tide in their favour with such a vast majority.
BJP supporters celebrate the party’s win in Bikaner on Sunday. PTI 

BJP owes it to Chouhan in Madhya Pradesh
New Delhi, December 8
Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Bhopal on Sunday The BJP today registered third consecutive win in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections. It won 165 out of 230 seats, which is 22 more than its 2008 tally of 143. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s 10 ministers, including Anoop Mishra (former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s nephew) lost, thus proving that for this particular win, the party only had Chouhan to thank for, and, of course, the very strong presence of the RSS-the party’s ideological fountainhead-in the state.

Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Bhopal on Sunday. PTI

With assets of Rs 6.27 cr, Shivraj Chouhan to be wealthiest CM
New Delhi, December 8
With assets worth more than Rs 6.27 crore, Madhya Pradesh's Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the richest among those set to be appointed Chief Ministers in the four states. While this would be Chouhan's third consecutive term as Chief Minister, his party colleague and Delhi's chief ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan comes last in terms of assets among the new possible heads for the four states.

Raman pulls off hat-trick in nail-biting finish
New Delhi, December 8
After nail-biting suspense through the day, the BJP romped home to victory for the third consecutive term in Chhattisgarh with Raman Singh set to reclaim the mantle of Chief Minister. In an exciting, neck-and-neck contest, the BJP finally emerged the winner garnering a comfortable edge with 49 out of 90 Assembly seats in the state.

Few women make it to assemblies
New Delhi, December 8
Only a few women leaders have managed to secure a place in the four state assemblies, the results for which were declared today, with the number of female MLAs remaining in single-digits for three states.

what they say

Additional charges slapped on Tejpal
Panjim, December 8
In what can spell further trouble for Tehelka founder editor Tarun Tejpal, accused of sexually assaulting a woman colleague, the Goa Crime branch has pressed additional charges against him.

HC notice to SRK in gender-test case
Mumbai, December 8
The Bombay High Court has issued notices to Shahrukh Khan and his wife Gauri on a petition filed by a social activist, challenging a magistrate’s order refusing her application for documents pertaining to the couple’s child born through surrogacy.

Prez to lead delegation at Mandela’s memorial
New Delhi, December 8
President Pranab Mukherjee will lead a five-member delegation to the memorial service of former South African President Nelson Mandela on Tuesday.

 





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BJP survives ‘broom’ attack, Cong swept under carpet
Syed Ali Ahmed
Tribune News Service
top losers
Health and Family Welfare Minister AK Walia (Cong)
Health and Family Welfare Minister AK Walia (Cong)
Education Minister Prof Kiran Walia (Cong)
Education Minister Prof Kiran Walia (Cong)
PWD Minister Rajkumar Chouhan (Cong)
PWD Minister Rajkumar Chouhan (Cong)
Transport Minister Ramakant Goswami (Cong)
Transport Minister Ramakant Goswami (Cong)
Vijender Gupta (BJP)
Vijender Gupta (BJP)

New Delhi, December 8
While the BJP-SAD alliance emerged as the single largest party in the Delhi Assembly, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made a stunning debut in electoral politics denying the saffron party a majority besides toppling the three-time Congress regime of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

In a first for Delhi, nine Sikh MLAs made it to the state Assembly.

In the first-ever triangular fight for the Delhi Assembly, the BJP-SAD alliance secured 32 seats but fell short of four to reach 36 needed to form a government in the 70-member House. The AAP bagged 28, Congress eight, JDU one and others one. The AAP has already announced it will not support any party to form a government.

Even if the BJP takes the support of the JDU and others, it still cannot form a government, leaving it a hung Assembly.

The elections saw many heavyweights, including three-time Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and four-time MLA AK Walia of the Congress, and senior BJP Vijender Gupta of the BJP, bite the dust. Dikshit and Gupta lost to debutant Arvind Kejriwal from the New Delhi seat.

Kejriwal won the high-profile New Delhi constituency defeating Dikshit by more than 25,000 votes, while Gupta had to content with the third place. While Kejriwal polled 44,269 votes, Dikshit fetched 18,405 and Gupta finished with 17,952. One of the prominent losers in these elections remained Education Minister in Dikshit’s Cabinet Prof Kiran Walia.

Walia finished a humiliating third in the Malviya Nagar constituency.

The seat was won by Somnath Bharti of the AAP with 32,258 votes.

Health and Family Welfare Minister AK Walia, too, lost to Vinod Kumar Binny of the AAP from the Laxmi Nagar seat by 8,000 votes, while the BJP candidate finished third. Another Congress veteran to face defeat was four-time MLA and PWD Minister Rajkumar Chouhan. He lost to AAP’s Rakhi Birla (26) by 10,585 votes, while BJP’s Ram Kishor Navariya finished third.

Transport Minister Ramakant Goswami also finished third from Rajinder Nagar constituency which was won by RP Singh of the BJP. He defeated Virender Garg Vyas of the AAP by 1,796 votes. Only two ministers in the Dikshit Cabinet — Arvinder Singh Lovely and Haroon Yusuf - were able to save their forts amid the Congress rout.

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With no clear-cut winner, hung House in Delhi
KV Prasad
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 8
The spectacular performance by rookie Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has thrown up a peculiar problem in the 70-member Delhi Legislative Assembly with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerging as the single largest party with 31 seats plus support of one ally in the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

But the number 32 still falls four short of a simple majority of 36 leaving the BJP with the option of exploring support from others which includes 28 MLAs of the AAP, eight of the Congress, one each belonging to the Janata Dal (United) and an Independent.

The AAP will be committing a political hara-kiri if it agrees to support the BJP or better still take the support of the Congress, whose policies it is opposed to, and take a shot at power.

The BJP has made it clear it is not going to elicit support from any party, but rather wait.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung can hold a round of consultations with the three parties — BJP, AAP and Congress — to explore which of these can form the next government or choose to invite the single-largest one to do so setting a time frame for it to prove its majority on the floor of the House.

Eventually, it is for the Congress-led UPA take the call whether it should allow a BJP-led minority government to work just as the PV Narasimha Rao government was allowed to run one at the Centre in 1991 by the BJP.

The other option before the Lieutenant Governor is to recommend Central rule for six months to allow political dynamics take run their course as the General Election is just some five months away.

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‘Insignificant’ AAP stuns all
Ananya Panda
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 8
Contrary to anticipation, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) phenomenon swept Delhi with its breathtaking debut in the fifth Assembly elections, giving a clear message to the entire political class and in particular the Congress and the BJP that they better not dismiss it as "insignificant".

Both the Congress and the BJP had chosen to reject the party until today.

As the one-year old party, with roots in an anti-corruption movement led by Anna Hazare who sang praises for AAP mascot Arvind Kejriwal this morning, went on to create history and is now going to sit in the Opposition in the Assembly, the euphoria among the party supporters was obvious as seen outside the party's office at 41 Hanuman Road.

Though volunteers and supporters had started celebrating since morning, the mood reached crescendo with the jubilant crowd's cheers and slogans when the results for the hot-seat New Delhi Assembly constituency was declared. Kejriwal beat Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit with a thumping margin of 25,864 votes.

Making a brief appearance for the first time during the day, Arvind said, "This is not my victory, it is victory of democracy." Later addressing the media in the evening, he said, "For the first time, the people of India have fought elections for honesty." Refusing to team up with any other political party, he noted, "We are ready to sit in the opposition."

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profile: arvind kejriwal
The IIT engineer who set the cat among political pigeons

New Delhi, December 8
Giant-killer Arvind Kejriwal, who defeated three-time Chief Minister and Congress stalwart Sheila Dikshit in the New Delhi constituency, is nothing short of a political sensation, and his personal victory can be compared to the maverick Raj Narain's electoral win over Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the historic 1977 General Election.

The bespectacled Kejriwal, 45, an IIT engineer by training and a revenue officer by profession, was not only able to effectively present his one-year-old political party as an alternative to the two big national parties who have ruled the national capital in the past but, with a modest and affable personality that identified very much with the common man, fired the imagination of the youth and the marginalised who came out in large numbers to vote for his party.

Kejriwal, who came into the limelight as one of the main spokesmen and a close lieutenant of anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare during his highly publicised movement in 2011, later parted ways with his mentor to start a political outfit -- much against Hazare's wishes who wanted to keep his movement non-political -- in November last year.

Dismissed by the BJP and the Congress as political upstarts who would not be able to match their popularity or influence, the unheralded AAP was able to catch popular imagination by offering transparency in governance and people-friendly policies to the city residents hit hard by price rise, corruption and insensitive bureaucracy.

Kejriwal, who has studied at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, created a sizeable fan following in the slums and working class areas of Delhi while also attracting youths. — IANS

What worked for him

  • The youth and sections of the middle class saw Kejriwal as a "hero" who had "unmasked" corrupt politicians and sported their AAP emblazoned white side caps (akin to the Gandhi cap) with aplomb
  • Eager to sound neutral before he plunged into politics, the 45-year-old spared no one. He levelled charges against Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra and then Law Minister Salman Khurshid of illegal land deals and fund embezzlement
  • He also targeted then BJP chief Nitin Gadkari, accusing him of grabbing farmers' land and corruption in collusion with the NCP's tainted Ajit Pawar
  • His ideas and promises appeared to have convinced people to give the rank outsiders a chance over established parties

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Harsh Vardhan, the man who brought BJP factions together

New Delhi, December 8
Harsh Vardhan, anointed BJP’s chief ministerial nominee less than a month before the Delhi Assembly polls after a bitter internal squabble, steadfastly united various factions to bring enthusiasm among workers to keep the party on course to regain power from Congress after 15 years.

An RSS member since his younger days, 59-year-old Vardhan, a practising ENT surgeon known for his disarming simplicity, successfully connected with the voters while leading a high-voltage campaign from the front despite undercurrents of friction in the Delhi party unit.

People close to him said Vardhan's easy-going attitude and disarming smile were his greatest assets because of which the party drew support from various quarters, some of them unexpected.

Vardhan had entered the political fray in 1993 when he successfully contested the Assembly polls from Krishna Nagar constituency in East Delhi in 1993. He went on to retain the seat in the 1998, 2003 and 2008 assembly elections.

Fondly called “Doctor Saab” by supporters and opponents alike, Vardhan is known for his efforts in eradicating polio in Delhi when he was the Health Minister.

He is known to share a cordial relationship with RSS and people close to him say he still retains the Swayamsevak’s tendency to downplay the “Swayam” (self) giving precedence to “seva” (service).

Senior Delhi BJP leaders said his anointment to the top post has helped the party give a tough fight to both the greenhorn Aam Admi Party and the Congress.

In the campaigning, Vardhan attacked the Congress on a range of issues, including price rise, corruption, rising power tariff, scarcity of water and unemployment. He also promised to slash by 30 per cent the power tariff, an emotive issue for Delhiites.

During his ministership in the Delhi government (1993-98), people had found him remarkably accessible and officials respected him for his hands-on style of functioning.

“He joined politics with the laudable objective of using his considerable medical knowledge and experience for serving the common man,” former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had said once about Vardhan.

Apart from being an effective minister, he also proved his organisational capabilities by rebuilding the BJP’s operations in Delhi, virtually from scratch, after the party’s defeat in the 2003 assembly election. In late 2003, he was appointed as president of Delhi BJP. He is credited with rebuilding the party at the grassroot level after the party's defeat in the assembly polls that year. — PTI

Jumped into political fray in 1993

  • Vardhan had entered the political fray in 1993 when he successfully contested the Assembly polls from Krishna Nagar constituency in East Delhi
  • He retained the seat in the 1998, 2003 and 2008 assembly elections.
  • Supporters, opponents fondly call him "Doctor Saab"
  • 59-year-old Vardhan is a practising ENT surgeon
  • Vardhan is known for his efforts in eradicating polio in Delhi when he was the Health Minister
  • Recognising his leadership qualities, he was given presidentship of Delhi BJP for three terms between 2003 and 2008

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Three cheers for Shiromani Akali Dal
Syed Ali Ahmed
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 8
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has made history in the Delhi Legislative Assembly by winning three seats out of four it contested. SAD had alliance with the BJP that has emerged as the single largest party.

SAD candidate Manjinder Singh Sirsa who contested on party symbol (scale) won the seat with a margin of 10, 984 votes, defeating his nearest rival Dhanwanti Chandela of the Congress. Sirsa secured 41, 721votes.

SAD candidate Harmit Singh Kalka won with a margin of 2044 votes, defeating his nearest rival Dharmbir Singh of AAP. He bagged 30, 683 votes. Congress candidate Subhash Chopra, considered a party stalwart, came third.

SAD candidate Jatinder Singh Shanty emerged victorious in the Shahdra Assembly constituency defeating his nearest rival Narendra Nath of the Congress with a margin of 15,117 votes. Shanty secured 45,364 votes. The SAD, however, lost the Hari Nagar seat.

Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal said the party won three seats in the Delhi Assembly elections with the grace of God. It was a good beginning. This became possible only due to the joint efforts of Akali and BJP workers. This was a victory of Sikhs and Punjabis, she said.

She said she expected a change in the national politics in 2014 with Narendra Modi being elected the next Prime Minister of the country. As for the SAD, “first we won the Punjab Assembly election and then the SGPC and the DSGMC elections. Now we have also done well in the Delhi Assembly election”, she said.

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Delhi to have youngest Assembly

New Delhi, December 8
Delhi has emerged as the youngest assembly in terms of age of elected legislators from the four states, with an estimated average age of about 43 years for MLAs elected in the national capital.

In comparison, the average age of MLAs elected in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are estimated at 47 years and 48 years respectively, although a large number of leaders aged 60 and above have been voted in all the four states. The average age of elected MLAs in Chhattisgarh is also nearly 48 years.

However, it is Madhya Pradesh which may have the youngest Chief Minister among the four states. While Shivraj Singh Chouhan is aged 56, BJP's chief ministerial candidate in Delhi Harsh Vardhan is aged 58 years, while Rajasthan's Vasundhara Raje Scindia as also Chhattishgarh's Raman Singh are aged 61 years each, as per their election affidavits.

Among the main leaders in contention for chief ministerial positions in four states, the youngest, however, happens to be Aam Aadmi Party's Arvind Kejriwal at 45. — PTI

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Anti-incumbency, anti-Centre sentiment hit Cong in R’sthan
Girja Shankar Kaura
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 8
Victory for the Vasundhara Raje-led BJP in the desert state of Rajasthan was speculated but the fact that the Congress would be decimated to a level never seen before came as a surprise.

Known for voting the Opposition to power every time over the past few Assembly elections, the voters in Rajasthan have clearly expressed their mandate against the Congress on the whole while giving a landslide victory to the BJP, which itself would be surprised by the turn of the tide in their favour with such a vast majority.

Not just the anti-incumbency against the Ashok Gehlot government, but a huge anti-Centre (where the Congress-led UPA is in power) sentiment has resulted in the worst-ever performance for the party, which had managed to run the government in Rajasthan for the past five years with the support of six BSP members.

High inflation, rising cost of living, high crime rate and fuel prices, besides the large number of scams which have hit the Congress-led UPA at the Centre over the past year, had a clear impact on the voting pattern in Rajasthan.

Voters were not impressed with the performance of the Manmohan Singh-led government and least of all by the promises being made by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.

The simple question being asked was: what has the Congress-led government done at the Centre for the past 10 years and what has it done in Rajasthan to deserve another chance.

Clearly, the Rahul Gandhi factor failed to work for the party in Rajasthan and it was visible at the large number of rallies which the Congress vice-president addressed in the state. Although local party workers did manage to bring in the crowds, the Congress vice-president was unable to hold them back due his lack of vision.

On the other hand, the Narendra Modi factor worked tremendously for the BJP. His ability to connect with the people cutting across caste and communities brought huge masses to listen to him and which eventually also converted into votes for Vasundhara Raje.

BJP’s chief ministerial candidate also used this Modi factor to the hilt. Her adoration for Modi not only led to her following the Gujarat pattern in ticket distribution, but helped her put up a much stronger show, assuring a clean and strong administration.

Being gracious in victory, Raje did not forget to give credit to Modi for the win. She gave all credit for the party's fortunes to BJP prime ministerial candidate Modi and said, "The people of Rajasthan wanted the same development as in Gujarat".

“This is just the semifinal and the trend would hold in the General Election,” she added. And Modi was generous enough to immediately hail Raje’s victory and said that it was her hard work that had brought such stupendous results.

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BJP owes it to Chouhan in Madhya Pradesh
Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 8
The BJP today registered third consecutive win in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections. It won 165 out of 230 seats, which is 22 more than its 2008 tally of 143.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s 10 ministers, including Anoop Mishra (former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s nephew) lost, thus proving that for this particular win, the party only had Chouhan to thank for, and, of course, the very strong presence of the RSS-the party’s ideological fountainhead-in the state.

On personal front, by achieving this feat Chouhan has managed to position himself adjacent to his Gujarat counterpart Narandra Modi-the saffron party’s PM nominee for 2014.

Speaking to the media, Chouhan chose to give entire credit of this spectacular win to the organisation and workers.

“Shivraj is an ordinary worker. It is the miracle of the organisation. Had there been any other worker in place of Shivraj, even then the BJP would have won,” he said.

He also vowed to ensure maximum seats from his state for the BJP in the next Lok Sabha elections. “Our effort when we contest the next Lok Sabha elections under the leadership of Narendra Modi will be that Madhya Pradesh should contribute the maximum number seats among all states to form a government at the Centre,” he said.

So far as the Congress decimation is concerned, the party’s election campaign committee chief Jyotiraditya Scindia magnanimously took the blame upon himself. However, the delay in projecting Scindia is one of the main seasons for the grand old party touching the abysmal low.

Congress leaders admit the party failed to give the people a clear message on its CM candidate at the right time. Ever since the Congress lost power under Digvijaya Singh in 2003, the power of its regional satraps had dimmed. It was in these difficult circumstances that Jyotiraditya was entrusted with the job of infusing back life into the Congress campaign.

Though the erstwhile Gwalior maharaja tried his best, projecting himself as one among the people, with several senior leaders Digvijaya Singh, Kamal Nath, Kantilal Bhuria, Ajay Singh, Suresh Pachori (who, incidentally lost the elections) also holding the fort simultaneously, the party failed to enthuse voters.

The fact is the Congress could not have had a better opportunity to take on Chouhan, armed as it was with a 10-year anti-incumbency factor against the BJP. There was a perceptible public anger against several sitting MLAs with 13 ministers facing corruption charges.

With his carefully cultivated image of family man coupled with simplicity, Chouhan led the BJP campaign, projecting himself as a “mama” uncle to the young and new voters, a large number of whom voted in MP this time. Maintaining a low profile, he ignored comparisons with Modi, presenting a perfect match for the Gujarat CM’s tough and aggressive demeanour.

At a glance

  • CM plus 31 of his ministers contested; 10 lost
  • Chouhan wins both Vidisha and Budhni
  • Former CM Babu Lal Gaur (BJP) makes a record, winning Govindpura for the 10th time
  • Anoop Mishra (minister and Atal Behari Vajpayee’s nephew) lost Bhitrwar despite changing seat
  • Suresh Pachauri (Cong) lost Bhojpur to Surendra Patwa (BJP). Incidentally, Pachauri keeps his personal record of never winning any elections
  • Ajay Singh (son of former CM Arjun Singh) wins
  • Though Uma Bharti’s Bharatiya Jan Shakti Party (BJSP) votes were transferred to BJP, her nephew Rahul Singh lost Khargapur
  • Yashodhra Raje Scindia (BJP) wins Shivpuri
  • Jaivardhan Singh (Cong), son of Digvijaya Singh, wins Raghogarh

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With assets of Rs 6.27 cr, Shivraj Chouhan to be wealthiest CM

New Delhi, December 8
With assets worth more than Rs 6.27 crore, Madhya Pradesh's Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the richest among those set to be appointed Chief Ministers in the four states. While this would be Chouhan's third consecutive term as Chief Minister, his party colleague and Delhi's chief ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan comes last in terms of assets among the new possible heads for the four states.

Vardhan's declared assets of Rs 2.8 crore lag behind that of Rajasthan leader Vasundhara Raje Scindia's Rs 4.04 crore and Rs 5.61 crore of Chattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh.

Interestingly, Chouhan also leads the charts in terms of declared liabilities (over Rs 74 lakh) of the four leaders likely to occupy the Chief Minister's position. In comparison, Vardhan has declared liabilities of Rs 19.5 lakh, as against Raje's Rs 7.29 lakh and Rs 30.7 lakh for Singh. While Chouhan and Raje have steered their parties to victory with huge margins, the elections turned out to be close in Delhi and Chhattisgarh.

Two outgoing chief ministers, Sheila Dikshit of Delhi and Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan, have zero liabilities. Among other chief ministerial candidates, Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party of Delhi had liabilities to the tune of Rs 41.2 lakh, while Chattisgarh's Raman Singh had Rs 30.7 lakh.

In terms of total income for latest financial year 2012-13, Raje and Chouhan are on top with earnings of over Rs 17 lakh. While Raje's is at Rs 17.45 lakh, that of the Madhya Pradesh CM is tad lower at Rs 17.12 lakh. They are followed by Raman Singh (Rs 14.59 lakh) and Shiela Dikshit (Rs 13.94 lakh). Vardhan had a total income of Rs 7.72 lakh, while Kejriwal is way lower at Rs 2.06 lakh.

The analysis is based on figures provided by the candidates and compiled by the Association for Democratic Reforms. All numbers are for the financial year ended March 2013. — PTI

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Raman pulls off hat-trick in nail-biting finish
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 8
After nail-biting suspense through the day, the BJP romped home to victory for the third consecutive term in Chhattisgarh with Raman Singh set to reclaim the mantle of Chief Minister.

In an exciting, neck-and-neck contest, the BJP finally emerged the winner garnering a comfortable edge with 49 out of 90 Assembly seats in the state. The Congress finished with 39 segments — the most-striking part of the election story here being that the grand old party failed to make a mark despite winning a majority of seats in Bastar and Rajnandgaon, traditionally described as the king-making segments in this area.

Out of the 18 seats in the crucial Bastar region, the Congress won 12, restricting the BJP to six. This was in contrast to the 2008 poll when the BJP had wrested 15 as against the Congress which had just three.

Strikingly however, the Congress squandered its Bastar edge (which it gained riding the sympathy wave triggered by Naxal-led elimination of its top leadership this May) in the plain areas of the state managing to win only 27 out of the 72 Assembly segments.

A major setback for the Congress here was the defeat of its legislature party chief Ravindra Chobey by over 9,000 votes in Sajja segment near Raipur. Not just that, of the 38 sitting MLAs the party fielded (against its vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s formerly proposed formula), 27 lost, some being seven-term MLAs like Ram Tukar Singh and Bodh Ram Kanwar.

In 2008, the Congress had won 36 seats out of these 72 seats outside Bastar region, with the BJP winning lesser at 34. The scenario this time around was almost the reverse in the plains with the BJP walking home with a huge edge over the Congress revealing the complete absence of anti-incumbency. Of the 49 seats, the saffron brigade won today, 43 are in these plains though the percentage vote share difference between the BJP and Congress is just 1 per cent with the BJP managing 44 per cent share as against 43 per cent of the Congress.

Congress squanders Bastar edge

  • The Congress failed to make a mark despite winning a majority of seats in Bastar and Rajnandgaon, traditionally described as the king-making segments in this area
  • Out of the 18 seats in the crucial Bastar region, the Congress won 12, restricting the BJP to six

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Few women make it to assemblies

New Delhi, December 8
Only a few women leaders have managed to secure a place in the four state assemblies, the results for which were declared today, with the number of female MLAs remaining in single-digits for three states.

As many as 69 women candidates contested from the 70 seats in Delhi, but only three could secure a win. All three are from Aam Aadmi Party. They include Rakhi Birla, Bandana Kumari and Veena Anand, while the party's spokesperson Shazia Ilmi lost by an ultra-thin margin of 326 votes.

In MP, over 25 women candidates managed to win. The state saw nearly 100 women leaders fight the elections for 230-member strong assembly.

Rajasthan and Chhatisgarh saw seven women leaders each win from their assembly seats. A total of 103 women candidates were in the fray in the 200-strong Rajasthan assembly. BJP' chief ministerial candidate Vasundhara Raje Scindia won by about 61,000 votes, while leading her party to a historic win.

Six out of the seven new women MLAs in Rajasthan are from BJP, which also accounts for a large number of victorious women leaders in Madhya Pradesh.

In Chhattisgarh, Congress leader Renu Jogi, wife of ex-CM Ajit Jogi, won from Kota. — PTI

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what they say

It is the victory of the people… We will play the role of a constructive opposition and will not seek support from any party to form the government.

Arvind Kejriwal, AAP convener

Never underestimate the underdog or a newcomer with a fresh face and message.

Omar Abdullah, J&K Chief Minister

The results of the assembly elections are a clear indicator that the people of the country have completely rejected the Congress.

Parkash Singh Badal, Punjab CM

Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have been BJP bastions since the time of Jan Sangh. The Modi factor did not work in states like Chhattisgarh and Delhi.

Nawab Malik, Maharashtra NCP spokesperson

The elections were a semi-final before the LS polls. People have given clear message that they are not going to accept the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. They have accepted Narendra Modi as their leader.

Nitin Gadkari, BJP leader

It is a phenomenal performance by the BJP. The Congress has been trounced. They could not even save their government in Delhi.

Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena spokesperson

I am glad Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party is winning. One day, he will be the chief minister of Delhi.

Anna Hazare

Congrats Arvind Kejriwal for raising the ante and a great start. Raised expectations bring with it an enormous responsibility to meet them!

Milind Deora, MoS

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Additional charges slapped on Tejpal

PanJIM, December 8
In what can spell further trouble for Tehelka founder editor Tarun Tejpal, accused of sexually assaulting a woman colleague, the Goa Crime branch has pressed additional charges against him.

A senior crime branch official said the first information report filed against Tejpal now has additional two sections of Indian Penal Code - 341 (wrongful restraint) and 342 (wrongful confinement).

The officials interrogating Tejpal said that additional sections were invoked after statements of the victim, witnesses and going through the CCTV footage of the hotel where the alleged incident took place.

Tejpal, who is currently in police custody, has already been booked under section 354-A (sexual harassment, physical contact, advances involving unwelcome and explicit sexual overtures, or any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature), 376 (rape) and 376(2)(k) (rape by a person of a woman in his custody taking advantage of his official position) of the IPC.

Tejpal’s police custody was extended by four days yesterday till December 10.

Tejpal, accused of sexually assaulting a junior woman colleague in a hotel here in early November, was arrested by Goa Police on November 30.

Shoma Chaudhary, former Managing Editor of the weekly, yesterday recorded her statement before the Chief Judicial Magistrate here in connection with the case. — PTI

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HC notice to SRK in gender-test case

Mumbai, December 8
The Bombay High Court has issued notices to Shahrukh Khan and his wife Gauri on a petition filed by a social activist, challenging a magistrate’s order refusing her application for documents pertaining to the couple’s child born through surrogacy.

Varsha Deshpande had filed a complaint in the magistrate’s court seeking action against Shahrukh, Gauri and city-based Jaslok Hospital under the Pre-conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act (PCPNDT).

She has alleged that Khans had conducted a sex determination test before their third child, AbRam, was born through surrogacy.

Deshpande has sought documents pertaining to the surrogacy process and documents collected by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in its inquiry into the matter.

The civic body initiated inquiry following Deshpande’s allegations and gave a clean chit to Shahrukh and his wife, saying no offence under the PCPNDT Act had been committed. — PTI

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Prez to lead delegation at Mandela’s memorial

New Delhi, December 8
President Pranab Mukherjee will lead a five-member delegation to the memorial service of former South African President Nelson Mandela on Tuesday.

The delegation will comprise UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj, Union Commerce and Industries Minister Anand Sharma, CPM leader Sitaram Yechury and BSP leader Satish Mishra, a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson said in reply to questions on the visit. Senior officials from the Ministry of External Affairs and Rashtrapati Bhavan would accompany the delegation to pay homage to the anti-apartheid leader, who died on December 5 at the age of 95.

The delegation would leave tomorrow night. His funeral is scheduled to be held in his childhood home, Qunu village in the Eastern Cape on December 15 and it will be a private affair. However, the South African Government has facilitated world leaders to pay their tributes to Mandela on Tuesday and Wednesday at the State Memorial Services being held at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg. India was the first foreign country that he had visited after his 27 years in prison. Highly regarded in India, the South African leader had always termed Mahatma Gandhi as pioneer of his anti-apartheid movement.

Mandela, who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, was recipient of the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award. The popularity of the leader could be gauged by the decision of the South African government which has capped the number of delegation from every country to six, including the heads of state. — PTI

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