FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms QUALITY AT VALUE FREE PRESS VOL. 13 NO. 353 | BHOPAL | TUESDAY | JUNE 4, 2024 | PAGES 14 r Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 `3 r RNI No. mpeng/2010/35815 www.freepressjournal.in - EDITIONS: INDORE, BHOPAL, UJJAIN, MUMBAI, PUNE LEADERS SPEAK W e have to wait, just wait and see. We are very hopeful that our results are completely opposite to what the exit polls are showing n SONIA GANDHI, CONGRESS LEADER I believe that the BJP leaders might have fainted and fell down by seeing these exit polls, they themselves can't believe it. I think even god will not believe this exit poll survey that the BJP is getting 37 per cent vote share in Tamil Nadu n SANJAY SINGH, AAP LEADER C hange has been confirmed in Odisha. By trusting PM Modi's words, people are going to form the BJP govt in Odisha. This change is going to be for the welfare of people. In the 21st century, Odisha will become a leading state, economic hub n DHARMENDRA PRADHAN, UNION MINISTER W e are seeing it (exit poll results) with skepticism and disbelief. We have also campaigned across the country. We also have a sense of what the pulse of the people is, and we do not believe that is reflected accurately in this poll n SHASHI THAROOR, SENIOR CONGRESS LEADER NEWS BRIEF IAS couple’s daughter kills self MUMBAI: A 27-year-old woman, daughter of an IAS couple, tragically ended her life by jumping off the 10th floor of a government residential building in south Mumbai early Monday morning, police said. Lipi Rastogi, a law student pursuing her LLB course in Sonipat, Haryana, took the drastic step at around 4 am. Akasa flight gets security alert NEW DELHI: Akasa Airlines flight from Delhi to Mumbai carrying 186 passengers along with 1 infant and six crew members received a security alert on Monday. However, as per the airlines, the aeroplane was diverted to Ahmedabad and all the passengers were deplaned. WORLD WEATHER BISHOP CALLS FOR CHANGE IN PAK'S BATTING APPROACH SPORTS CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM IS MEXICO’S FIRST WOMAN PREZ 39.30c. 25.60c Sunrise : 05.42 Sunset : 07.09 AFTER EXIT POLLS PREDICT MODI 3.0... Investors richer by Rs 13.78 lakh cr T AGENCIES New Delhi Investors' wealth jumped Rs 13.78 lakh crore on Monday as the benchmark equity index Sensex hit its lifetime high after exit polls predicted a massive win for the BJPled NDA in the Lok Sabha polls. The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 2,777.58 points or 3.75 per cent to hit a record peak of 76,738.89 in early trade. The benchmark fi- oday, the Indian stock market responded positively due to optimism about policy continuity. This optimism follows exit polls from the recent Lok Sabha elections, predicting a clear victory for the ruling NDA. Equity markets jumped in line with expectations of a development-driven agenda, with the Nifty scaling a new record high n PRANAV HARIDASAN, MANAGING DIRECTOR AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF AXIS SECURITIES nally ended at 76,468.78, registering a sharp rally of 2,507.47 points or 3.39 per cent. Following the huge rally in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies climbed Rs 13,78,630.4 crore to hit an all-time peak of Rs 4,25,91,511.54 crore (USD 5.13 trillion). Exit polls on Saturday predicted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will re- tain power for a third straight term, with the BJP-led NDA expected to win a big majority in the Lok Sabha polls. The counting of votes will take place on June 4. (SEE MONEY) HELLO FRIENDS, CHAI PEE LO CINEMA ‘Uddhav will join Modi govt in 15 days’ AMRAVATI (MAHARASHTRA) Amravati MLA Ravi Rana has claimed Shiv Sena (UBT) head and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray will join the Modi government in 15 days after the Lok Sabha election results come out on Tuesday . Ravi Rana's wife Navneet Rana, the sitting MP from Amravati, contested the Lok Sabha poll from the seat this time on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's ticket. In 2019, Navneet Rana won the Lok Sabha poll from Amravati as an independent candidate. CONTD. ON P6 WITH 64.2 CRORE VOTERS, INDIA SETS WORLD RECORD Kumar said that nearly four lakh vehicles, 135 special trains and 1,692 air sorties were used for conducting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections AGENCIES New Delhi India created a world record with 64.2 crore voters, including 31.2 crore women, participating in the Lok Sabha elections this year, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said on Monday . Addressing a press briefing, he said over 68,000 monitoring teams and 1.5 crore polling and security personnel were involved in the world's largest electoral exercise. "India created a world record with 64.2 crore voters, including PULWAMA ENCOUNTER: LeT commander among 2 terrorists killed SRINAGAR Two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, including a selfstyled commander of the outfit, were killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Monday, police said. Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, V K Birdhi said the ultras -- identified as Riyaz Dar and Rayees Dar -- were killed in the exchange of firing during a cordon and search operation in Nihama area of the south Kashmir district. Riyaz Dar was a "commander" of the banned LeT and was wanted in several terror cases. He had been evading security forces for many years. Security forces had launched the operation after receiving specific inputs about the presence of terrorists there, a police official said. CONTD. ON P6 31.2 crore women, participating in the Lok Sabha elections this year," said Kumar. On social media memes calling election commissioners 'Laapataa Gentlemen', Kumar said, "We were always here, never went missing." "Now memes can say the 'Laapataa Gentlemen' are back," he said. "Only 39 repolls took place in the 2024 general elections as against 540 repolls in 2019," he said. NO EXTRA TIME TO JAIRAM The CEC further said that Jammu and Kashmir recorded its highest turn- out in four decades at 58.58 per cent overall and 51.05 per cent in the Valley . "Seizures of Rs 10,000 crore, including cash, freebies, drugs and liquor, were made during the 2024 polls as compared to Rs 3,500 crore in 2019," he said. T he Election Commission on Monday refused to grant additional time to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh to back his claims that attempts were made to influence 150 district magistrates and collectors ahead of the June 4 vote count for Lok Sabha elections. In a letter to Ramesh, the EC said, "The Commission hereby outrightly rejects your request for time extension and directs you to file your response along with the factual matrix/ basis of your allegation by 7 PM today -- June 3, failing which it would be presumed that you have nothing substantive to say in the matter and the Commission would proceed ahead to take appropriate action". W e were never out, we were always here. We CEC REACTS ON 'LAAPATA GENTLEMEN' MEMES chose to interact with you through our press notes. This was the first time we issued close to a 100 press notes and advisories all put together n RAJIV KUMAR, CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER Fate of Shivraj, VD, Digvajaya, Scindia to be decided today BJP CLAIMS IT will win all 29 seats, but the Congress hopes to win a few claimed that it would win all the 29 seats in the state. According to the party’s state unit president VD Sharma, the BJP will win 29 seats. CONTD. ON P6 OUR STAFF REPORTER Bhopal The fate of former chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Digvijaya Singh, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, BJP’s state unit president VD Sharma and many other politicians will be decided on Tuesday when the counting of votes cast for the Lok Sabha election will take place. The ruling BJP and the opposition Congress have laid their eyes on the outcome. Union Minister Faggan Singh Kulaste, Veerendra Khatik and former minister of the Union Cabinet Kantilal Bhuria are also in the fray . The election in the state was held in four phases – on April 19, April 26, May 7 and May 13. The BJP has fielded candidates from all the 29 seats, and the Congress put up candidates in 27. The BJP and the Congress are getting ready for the election results. The BJP NAKUL NATH VIVEK SAHU All eyes on Chhindwara, Morena, Gwalior T he seats where the BJP is not sure of win are Chhindwara, Morena and Gwalior. The fight is tough in these seats. The hottest of all the constituencies is Chhindwara from where son of former chief minister Kamal Nath, Nakul Nath, is contesting against BJP candidate Vivek Sahu. Former chief minister Digvijaya Singh’s prestige is at stake in Rajgarh. Along with this, the fight is considered close in Ratlam. A day before results, Ex-BrahMos Counting for 29 LS seats to Nitish meets Modi engineer gets life be held amid tight security NEW DELHI Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Monday, a day before the Lok Sabha poll results will be out. There was no official word on the details of the meeting. Kumar's JD(U) is part of the BJP-led NDA and is seen as a declining, though still significant, force in the state amid strong efforts by the RJD to challenge the ruling combine. The chief minister has been at the helm in Bihar since 2005 except for a brief period but there have been some questions over his future as the BJP and the RJD are the two biggest parties in the state. BJP LEADERS HOLD MEETING Senior BJP leaders, including Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, held a meeting on Monday to discuss the party's performance in the Lok Sabha polls and its preparation for the counting of votes scheduled to take place on June 4. JD(U) DEMANDS EARLY POLLS A day ahead of the Lok Sabha polls results on Monday, the NDA’s Bihar ally, JD(U), demanded early Assembly polls in the state in consonance with the Centre’s “one nation, one election” pitch. The JD(U), however, stressed that this demand had nothing to do with Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s visit to Delhi, where he met PM Narendra Modi on Monday. term for leaking info to Pak ISI NAGPUR The Nagpur district court on Monday handed life imprisonment to former BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd engineer Nishant Agarwal under the Official Secrets Act for spying for Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI. Agarwal will also have to undergo rigorous imprisonment (RI) for 14 years and was also fined Rs 3,000. Additional sessions court judge MV Deshpande stated in the order that Agarwal was convicted under section 235 of the Criminal Procedure Code for an offence punishable under section 66 (f) of the IT Act and various sections of the Official Secrets Act (OSA). "The court sentenced Agarwal to life imprisonment and RI for 14 years under the Official Secrets Act and fined him Rs 3,000," said Special Public Prosecutor Jyoti Vajani. CONTD. ON P6 Highest single-day rainfall: B’luru breaks 133-yr record BENGALURU Bengaluru received 111 mm rainfall on June 2, breaking the 133-year record for the highest ever rainfall in a single day in June, Met department officials said. N Puviarasan, a scientist at India Meteorological Department (IMD), Bengaluru, confirmed to PTI that June 2 witnessed the highest single day rainfall in June in 133 years. He also said the rainfall received on June 1 and June 2 alone - 140.7 mm - surpassed the monthly aver- age for June. According to 'X' user @Bnglweatherman, as per IMD, June 2 recorded 111 mm, which crossed the June month average of 110.3 mm, in a single day. He further said the highest single-day rainfall in June was recorded on June 16, 1891. The intense rain also brought Bengaluru to a standstill in many places, particularly in Jayanagar, where residents posted pictures of fallen trees on social media. CONTD. ON P6 More than 22,595 officials to undertake vote counting work OUR STAFF REPORTER city.bhopal@fpj.co.in Counting of votes in all 29 Lok Sabha seats would begin at 8am at 52 district headquarters on Tuesday . Three-tier security arrangements have been put in place at counting centre. More than 22,595 officials would be engaged in counting work. All 116 central observers have reached their respective districts. Interacting with media persons, Chief Electoral Of- NEW RETURNING OFFICER IN JABALPUR A s Jabalpur Collector Deepak Saxena is in grief following death of his son on Saturday, the Election Commission has decided to appoint some other officer as Returning Officer in Jabalpur. ficer Anupam Rajan said that counting day had been declared as dry day Security . arrangements would be taken care of by 18 companies of central forces, 45 companies of SAF and 10,000 jawans of police force. Strong room would be opened in presence of political parties and their representatives. Around 3,883 tables had been arranged for EVM vote counting and 242 tables for postal ballot Rape accused Prajwal, hoping to win 2nd term BENGALURU Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, an accused of committing multiple rapes, sexual assault and filming his victims on his phone is said to be keenly awaiting the counting day on Tuesday with a hope that he would get elected for a second consecutive term. The 33-year-old grandson of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda was arrested by the sleuths of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) soon after landing in Bengaluru on May 31. Later the Special People's Representatives Court had remanded Prajwal for six days in SIT custody. CONTD. ON P6 Threatening SIT? A source told Free Press that the lawmaker continues to be hostile and even indirectly sending threats saying that we will see when we return to power. The SIT is considering informing the court when his custody ends on June 5. POTENCY TESTS Prajwal underwent a potency test on Monday. The lawmaker was taken in an Ambulance to the government Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital where he underwent potency tests besides giving his semen sample for testing. counting. Highest 24-round counting would be done in Pawai assembly seat under Khajuraho Lok Sabha constituency The lowest 12 round . vote counting would take place in Sewda assembly seat of Bhind Lok Sabha constituency EVM vote . counting table would have a counting supervisor, a counting assistant, a counting staff and a micro-observer. CONTD. ON P6 ‘Ditch Maldives, explore Indian beaches’ Israel Embassy reacts after Maldives ban NEW DELHI After the Maldives announced a ban on the entry of individuals holding Israeli passports into the country, the Israel Embassy in India has asked Israeli citizens to visit India and explore Indian beaches. The embassy noted that Israeli tourists are warmly welcomed in India. The Israel Embassy in India also recommended some of the Indian places which include Goa, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and Kerala. The post included pictures of beaches in Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Goa and Kerala.