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SUNDAY CROSSWORD 3082

CRYPTIC CLUES

QUICK CLUES

ACROSS1 Bill on the line expresses

agreement (6)4 Papers thrown at union meeting (8)9 Take away or put back on the

agenda? (6)10 Staff on holiday - hence delay (5,3)12 What’s missing in a fight is

obscure (5,3)13 Operatic heroine that is at heart

betrayed (6)15 Try at an international match (4)16 Brats badly behaved should be

removed (10)19 Held in check; fell behind the

others (10)20 Sailing vessel with a professional

second mate (4)23 Willingly left member with account

to pay finally (6)25 Swirling mist hides the way

forward (8)27 It describes a man who lacks spirit (8)28 Absorbent soup or stew (6)29 The end of the road for one who saw

the light (8)30 Get a seat when prepared to stand (6)

DOWN1 Man devoured by lion could be a

circus performer (7)2 Drawing equipment arrives without

a permit (9)3 Don’t follow suit (6)5 One shouldn’t lie under it (4)6 Vast fire put out in superior sort of

hotel (4-4)7 Monster fish (5)8 Find lie perfect for a place close to

the action (7)11 Many were carried away by it and

lost their heads (7)14 Crowds moving about in the

morning in the streets (7)17 Got up and dressed (6,3)18 Kind to me in expressing surprise (8)19 Right to be overjoyed when told (7)21 Performer tires at appearing in

variety (7)22 Moody and could become more

so (6)24 Shine as a beginner in a new

game (5)26 Forbidden but a doctor provides

it (4)

SOLUTIONS TO CROSSWORD 3081CRYPTIC QUICK

ACROSS1 Lawsuit (6)4 International tennis trophy (5,3)9 Manage with limited means (4,2)10 Sentimental weakness (4,4)12 And similar things (8)13 A card game (6)15 Except (4)16 Take your time! (4,4,2)19 Sorely contested (4-6)20 Wild animal’s den (4)23 Behave abjectly (6)25 As a rule (8)27 Responsive to suggestion (8)28 Bay tree (6)29 Closing date (8)30 Lacking warmth of feeling (6)

DOWN1 Without purpose (7)2 Seek shelter from attack (4,5)3 Unusualness (6)5 Eagerly expectant (4)6 Areas away from coast (8)7 Roman god of love (5)8 Forbearing (7)11 Concoct (5,2)14 Tropical cyclone (7)17 Rifles and revolvers (5,4)18 Nevertheless (5,3)19 Hollow-eyed (7)21 A payment to an author (7)22 Weaken (6)24 Musical drama (5)26 An intended method (4)

New Delhi: The openingmoves of the UP electionswere fraught for BJP. Theparty faced a restless Jatconstituency and Mayawatiwas a real threat in this neckof the woods. But paradoxi-cally, the hype whipped upby the SP-Congress allianceended up helping BJP safelynegotiate the treacherousterrain.

The newly minted SP-Congress pact preventedwest UP’s large Muslim po-pulation from rallying be-hind BSP, a developmentthat would have spelt troub-le for BJP. This, with discon-

tent in the Jat ranks, couldhave hurt the saffron cam-paign.

Though estimates vary,BJP chief Amit Shah’s in-tervention with Jat leadersprevented largescale deser-tions while several othercommunities barring Mus-lims backed the party. So,BJP emerged with a leadthat only grew stronger as

the election progressedacross the state with the fi-nal victory setting the scenefor the party’s bid to defendits Gujarat crown for a record sixth term.

After the first two phases,Modi began to step up his tem-po and pressed harder on thetheme of “discrimination” inSP’s governance by sugges-ting power supplies during

Ramzan were more regularthan for Hindu festivals. Hethen swung out at SP again,with his comparison of go-vernment assistance to burialgrounds as opposed to crema-tion arenas. Thereafter, Shahused the “KASAB” formula-tion to attack SP.

Finally, when questionswere raised about Modi’s pre-sence in his constituency Var-anasi for three consecutive da-ys holding roadshows, BJP re-sponded by terming it a “vic-tory procession” as seniorsgrew increasingly confidentthat the party was home anddry. Modi powered ahead,gunning for a sweep in the final 40 seats.

How Modi set the victory agendaTEAM TOI

Bharti.Jain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: After BSP’s dis-mal electoral performance inUttar Pradesh, its supremoMayawati chose to pin the bla-me on “tampered” EVMs, al-leging that they had recordedvotes in favour of BJP irre-spective of the button pres-sed. The charge was echoedby Uttarakhand CM Harish

Rawat, who lost from both theseats he contested, while Ak-hilesh Yadav insisted that Ma-yawati’s doubts regardingtamperability of EVMs beaddressed.

Congress supported May-awati’s demand for a probeinto EVMs used in the UPpolls and asked the EC to se-riously look into her charges.“ Mayawatiji has raised se-

rious and pertinent ques-tions about the integrity ofthe entire democratic pro-cess as also the EVMs used inUP,” Congress spokesmanRandeep Surjewala said.Though BSP requested EC towithhold declaration of re-sults and order fresh polls inUP with paper ballots, the ECwas quick to reject her prayeras “legally untenable”.

EVMs were doctored, say losers

6 SUNDAY TIMES OF INDIA, KOLKATAMARCH 12, 2017DANCE of DEMOCRACY | DECODING THE VERDICT

UP, Uttarakhand victories may helpNDA get President of its choice

Vishwa Mohan@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:A landslide win inUP and Uttarakhand has ta-ken the ruling alliance closerto getting the President of itschoice when incumbent Pra-nab Mukherjee’s tenure endsin July.

Though the NDA’s vote sha-re in the electoral college willstill be short of majority, thegap can easily be narrowed if itcan strike a deal with one ortwo non-UPA parties like BijuJanata Dal (BJD) and AI-ADMK. The President is elec-ted by the members of an elec-toral college consisting ofelected members of both theHouses of Parliament and theelected members of the legis-lative assemblies of states andthe Union Territories of Delhiand Puducherry.

The NDA was short of75,076 (value of votes) from themajority mark in the electoralcollege (having value of votesof 10,98,882 in total) before theresults of the five states — Ut-tar Pradesh, Uttarakhand,Punjab, Manipur and Goa, we-re declared. The emphaticwins for BJP in UP and Utta-rakhand have, however, nowhelped the NDA to cut this

117 MLAs in Odisha assembly.Similarly, AIADMK can pitchin with 23,584 votes if it deci-des to go with the NDA candi-date. The party has 134 MLAsin the Tamil Nadu assembly.

The assembly results of UPand Uttarakhand will also ulti-mately help the NDA improveits numbers in the Rajya Sab-ha — a must for getting key le-gislations passed in the UpperHouse. But it will happen onlyin April next year when boththese states together report 11vacancies due to retirement ofexisting members. Thechange in Rajya Sabha num-bers will, however, not have animpact on the presidentialelection, which is due in July.By-polls to three Lok Sabha se-ats are due in April. But, resultof three seats will not signifi-cantly affect the presidentialpoll scenario.

Though the NDA, with atally of 75, will continue to be afair distance from the majori-ty mark of 123 in the Rajya Sab-ha, Saturday’s victories willsomewhat shorten the gap bynext year. The result of otherthree states will also not alterthe Upper House’s arithmeticin 2017.

The NDA is, however, ex-pected to boost its numbersnext year when the Rajya Sab-ha will report a total of 68 va-cancies. Fifty-eight out of the68 vacancies will be reportedin April, 2018. Ten vacancieswill be reported from UP whileone from Uttarakhand.

polls. If BJD supports the NDAcandidate, it will contribute17,433 votes by virtue of having

ties like BJD and AIADMKand independent MPs andMLAs for the presidential

shortfall to just 20,000. This gap can easily be brid-

ged if the NDA can rope in par-

But NumbersIn RS Will Go

Up Only In 2018

ALLIANCE STILL SHORT OF NOS IN PREZ POLL RACE1 HOW IS THE PREZ ELECTED 2 HOW POLLS CHANGE CALCULATIONS

➤Next President will be elected in July

➤Electoral college consists of elected MPs of both Houses and all elected MLAs

Total value of votes of electoral college

10,98,882

LS 543 RS 233+

+ 4,120 MLAs

4,896Total

Value of each MP’s vote = 708(Total value of all MLA votes divided by 776 rounded off to the nearest whole number)

Value of each MLA’s voteVaries from state to state

Example: Punjab

1,35,51,060

117=

(Total MLAs)

State population in 1971(Punjab)

1,15,821

Divide this by 1,000 to get value of each Punjab MLA’s vote — 115.82, which is rounded

off to 116

consisting of 776x708=5,49,408 for MPs + 5,49,474 for MLAs

Majoritymark:5,49,442

Vote share of five states which went to polls

UP

Punjab

UK

Manipur

Goa

83,824

13,572

4,480

1,080

800Total

1,03,756

776 MPs

NDA count before election

NDA count after election

4,74,366 5,29,398Shortfall:20,044

MLAs

Value of each MLA’s

vote

208

116

642018

➤ The shortfall can be made up if NDA can strike a deal with non-UPA parties like BJD & AIADMK; Independent MPs & MLAs can also support NDA

➤ If BJD supports the NDA candidate, it will contribute 17,433 vote value by virtue of having 117 MLAs in Odisha assembly (Value of vote of an MLA in Odisha: 149)

➤ If AIADMK supports the NDA nominee, it'll contribute 23,584 vote value; party has 134 MLAs in TN assembly (Value of TN MLA vote: 176)

AFTER STATE POLLS

BEFORE STATE POLLS

Former finance minister P Chidambaram said on Saturday thatthe state assembly election results have established Prime

Minister Narendra Modi as the most dominant person with acountrywide appeal. Chidambaram also told a TV channel thatthe BJP will have a majority in Rajya Sabha once elections are heldfor the Upper House of Parliament. TNN

PM most dominant leader now, says PC

Ishita.Bhatia@timesgroup.com

Meerut: With BJP sweepingall six seats in Muzaffarnagarand two out of the three inneighbouring Shamli, the 2013riot victims said the saffronparty’s landslide win through-out the state felt like a “baddream”. Many of them blamedit on “conscious efforts” by po-litical parties to divide the mi-nority votes. “People who setup one community against theother are now in power. Theymade their intentions quiteclear by fielding all the riot-ac-cused candidates and reapedrich dividends of it,” said Mo-hammad Shamshad, who hadto leave his village Kutba dur-ing the riots.

In riot-scarred Muzaffarna-gar and Shamli, four of the ninewinners in the neighbouringdistricts have been booked oncharges of rioting and criminalintimidation. Suresh KumarRana of BJP from Thana Bha-wan, Nahid Hasan of SP fromKairana, BJP’s Umesh Malikfrom Budhana and VikramSingh from Khatauli — all haverioting and criminal intimida-tion cases filed against them.

In the 2012 assembly polls,BSP had claimed three seats inMuzaffarnagar while BJP, SPand RLD had won one each. InShamli, Congress, BJP and SPhad won a seat each.

TOI had earlier reportedthat at least 35% of the totalvoters who got displaced afterthe riots here in 2013 were notregistered with the ElectionCommission.

Saffron win abad dream:Riot victims