Damascus, May 28 (AP): Syrian President Bashar Assad was re-elected in a landslide, officials said Thursday, ushering in a fourth seven-year term in the war-torn country following an election described as illegitimate and a sham by the West and his opposition.

Assad’s win was not in doubt, in an election where officials said 18 million were eligible to vote. But in the country ravaged by the 10-year-old conflict, areas controlled by rebels or Kurdish-led troops did not hold the vote.

At least 8 million, mostly displaced, live in those areas in northwest and northeast Syria. Over 5 million refugees mostly living in neighbouring countries have largely refrained from casting their ballots.

US and European officials have also questioned the legitimacy of the election, saying it violates UN resolutions in place to resolve the conflict, lacks any international monitoring, and is unrepresentative of all Syrians.

Syria’s parliament speaker, Hammoud Sabbagh, announced the final results from Wednesday’s vote. He said Assad garnered 95.1 per cent of the votes. He said turnout stood at 78.6 per cent of the voters, in an election that lasted for 17 hours on Wednesday with no independent monitors.

Assad was facing symbolic competition from two candidates a former minister and a former opposition figure.

With the oath-taking ceremony of the second Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government set to take place on Thursday, here’s a list of his cabinet colleagues

A tough taskmaster, Pinarayi Vijayan could steadfastly hold together the CPM and the Left Democratic Front in Kerala while Left movements had faltered without much resistance in Tripura and West Bengal which had been red forts for several decades. His willpower and pragmatism helped broaden the support base of the LDF in the state with people from all castaes, religion and economic classes lending support to his leadership.

During the tough days of floods, cyclone and pandemic, Pinarayi unwaveringly led the state forward and the re-election of LDF stood out as a testimony to his leadership skills. He took a break from parliamentary politics to become CPM state secretary in 1998. After being at the helm of CPM for 16 years, he contested again in 2016 and became the chief minister. This time, voters gave him a majority of 50,123 votes from the same constituency. He is currently a CPM politburo member. Earlier, Pinarayi had been elected to the assembly in 1970, 1977, 1991 and 1996.

Except Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan from CPM, A K Saseendran from NCP and K Krishnankutty from Janata Dal(S), all other ministers are fresh faces. K Radhakrishnan, who was elected from Chelakkara constituency, was SC/ST Welfare Minister in the E K Nayanar cabinet in 1996. He also served as the assembly speaker from 2006 to 2011. 

J ChinchuRani, 56, 
CPI .Chadayamangalam. Education: SSLC 
Chinchurani is the second woman minister from CPI (after K R Gowri who had been part of the 1957 cabinet). She began her public life by associating with Balavedi and AISF. She is the state president of Kerala Mahila Sangham. Her husband D Sukesan is a CPI local leader in Kollam.

Roshy Augustine, 52, KC(M) Idukki. 
Education: BSc
Roshy Augustine entered politics through KSC(M), the students’ wing of Kerala Congress(M). After his unsuccessful contest from Perambra constituency in 1996 at 27, Mani offered a ticket to Roshy in the 2001 assembly elections from Idukki. Roshy, who won from Idukki in 2001, has never tasted defeat since then. 

P RajeevE, 54, 
CPM Kalamassery. 
Education: LLB
A native of Meladoor in Thrissur, Rajeeve has been living in Kalamassery for the past several years. Rajeeve, who began his public life as an SFI organiser, earned appreciation cutting across party lines as Rajya Sabha MP from 2009-2015. He is a member of the CPM state secretariat and served as Ernakulam district secretary. 

K Radhakrishnan,57, 
CPM  Chelakkara.
Education: BA Economics
A native of Thonnoorkara in Chelakkara, Radhakrishnan entered politics through SFI while studying at Thrissur Kerala Varma College. He has represented Chelakkara constituency in the assembly for 5 terms. In the first term, he was made SC/ST Welfare minister in the E K Nayanar cabinet in 1996. He served as the assembly speaker from 2006 to 2011. 

K Rajan, 48, CPI  Ollur. Education: BSc, LLB 
Ollur constituency has never given a second term for a candidate during the past four decades. The CPI has named K Rajan who served as government chief whip during the previous term as minister as he broke the jinx attached to Ollur. Rajan is a state executive member of the CPI and had been AIYF national secretary. 

K Krishnankutty, 76, 
JD(S)   Chittur. Education: High School
K Krishnankutty was water resources minister in the outgoing Pinarayi Vijayan government. A native of Chittur in Palakkad, K Krishnankutty is a farmer and an expert in inter-state river-water sharing treaties. He is the state president of the Janata Dal (S). 

Veena George, 44, 
CPM Aranmula 
Education: Msc 
Veena George is a journalist-turned-politician. She quit her job to contest the election from Aranmula in 2016. Veena’s leadership qualities were visible during the 2018 floods which had affected Pathanamthitta badly.

A K Saseendran, 75, NCP   Elathur Education: Diploma in Ayurveda Medicine 
A native of Chovva in Kannur, Saseendran started his political career as a KSU worker. He was the district president of KSU from 1963-1966 and its state president from 1978-1980 and state president of Youth Congress. He later joined Congress(S) and his party merged with NCP when the latter was formed. The six-time MLA was first elected to the assembly in 1980 from Peringalam in Kannur. He served as the transport minister in the outgoing LDF government. 

R Bindu, 54, 
CPM Irinjalakuda. 
Education: PhD 

Wife of CPM state secretary A Vijayaraghavan, she is a central committee member of All-India Democratic Women’s Association. She was the first woman mayor of Thrissur. She was the head of the department of English and vice-principal of Thrissur Kerala Varma College. 

M V Govindan, 68, CPM  Taliparamba. Education: Diploma
Considered a party ideologue from Kannur, M V Govindan is a central committee member and one of the top leaders of CPM in the state. He is a member of the CPM state secretariat. A former DYFI state president, M V Govindan had served as the Chief Editor of party mouthpiece Deshabhimani for some time. He is a three-time MLA, and has won from Taliparamba constituency. 

P A MOHAMED RIYAS, 45, 
CPM, Beypore. Education LLB
National president of DYFI, P A Mohamed Riyas started his political career through SFI while studying at St Joseph’s High School. He was instrumental in breaking the MSF monopoly at Farooq College in 1997. He had unsuccessfully contested from Kozhikode constituency in the 2009 LS polls. Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter T Veena is his wife. 

Ahamed Devarkovil, 61, INL  Kozhikode South. Education: Pre-degree 
A native of Kozhikode, Ahamed began his political life as a Muslim Students Federation activist. He has been with the organisation since the formation of the INL under the leadership of Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait. Ahamed is currently INL national general secretary. He defeated IUML’s Noorbina Rasheed in the election. 

V Abdurahiman, 59, National Secular Conference 
Tanur. Education: SSLC
Winning twice from a constituency that IUML kept as its citadel for more than five decades helped V Abdurahiman find a place in the government. He started his political career in KSU. He left Congress in 2014 and contested unsuccessfully against IUML from Ponnani Lok Sabha seat as an LDF candidate. 

V Sivankutty, 66, 
CPM  Nemom 
Education: BA 
V Sivankutty enters the cabinet with the distinction of winning back BJP’s lone sitting seat in the state. He was the state president of SFI and had served as the president of Ulloor panchayat and Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. He is currently a state committee member of CPM and CITU state secretary. His wife Parvathy Devi is the daughter of CPM ideologue the late P Govinda Pillai. 

Antony Raju, 66, Democratic Kerala Congress  Thiruvananthapuram 
Education: BA, LLB

Antony Raju trounced sitting MLA V S Sivakumar to win the Thiruvananthapuram constituency. He started his political career as the student leader of KSC, a feeder organisation of the Kerala Congress. 

G R Anil, 58, CPI  Nedumangad. Education: BA, LLB
Anil won the maiden assembly election from Nedumangad. He had earlier served as the health and education standing committee chairman of T’Puram corporation. He is currently the district secretary of CPI. His wife R Lathadevi is a former MLA. 

K N Balagopal, 57, CPM  Kottarakkara. Education: MCom, LLM 
This is Balagopal’s maiden term in the assembly. He had been a Rajya Sabha member. During the tenure of V S Achuthanandan, he had been his political secretary. His political life began in SFI and he went on to become national president of SFI and DYFI. 

Speaker   M B Rajesh, 50, 
CPM  Thrithala. 
Education: LLB 
A two-time MP, he wrested Thrithala constituency from the Congress which it had held for a decade. He had served as district secretary, state secretary and All-India joint secretary of SFI and DYFI state and national president. He is a CPM state committee member.

Saji Cheriyan, 56, CPM  Chengannur. Education: LLB
He began his political career through SFI during his pre-degree studies at Chengannur Christian College. He was first elected to the assembly in a bypoll necessitated following the death of the Chengannur MLA in 2018. He was earlier unsuccessfully contested against P C Vishnunadh from the same constituency. He was SFI district president, DYFI district secretary and CPM district secretary.

P Prasad, 51, 
CPI  Cherthala. Education: BA 
A native of Palamel in Alappuzha, he began his political career through AISF. Later, he worked as AISF state president and state executive member. He had also been an additional private secretary to former minister Binoy Viswom and Thiruvananthapuram unit manager of Janayugom, CPI mouthpiece. 

V N Vasavan, 66, CPM  Ettumanoor.  Education: SSLC, ITI 
Vasavan entered politics through SFI. He was elected the CPM district secretary in 2015. After his unsuccessful contest against Oommen Chandy in Puthuppally in 1987 and 1991 assembly elections, he became an MLA in 2006 from Kottayam constituency. 

Deputy Speaker  Chittayam Gopakumar, 56, 
CPI  Adoor. 
Education: SSLC 
A three-time MLA from Adoor, he had started his political career as an activist of AISF and held various positions in AIYF and Kisan Sabha. A former panchayat president of Kottarakkara, he had also served as Agriculture Workers’ Welfare Board chairman.

Chennai:  Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin, the DMK president who led his party to a huge victory in the Assembly polls was sworn in as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on Friday.

Governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office and secrecy to 68-year old Stalin, for whom this would be the first stint as CM, in a simple ceremony at the Raj Bhavan here.

AIADMK top leader O Panneerselvam, leaders from alliance parties including Congress’s P Chidambaram, MDMK chief Vaiko and top state officials took part in the ceremony.

The ceremony witnessed adherence to COVID-19 guidelines including wearing masks.

KOLKATA:  Notwithstanding the shrill pitch of “Jai Shri Ram” and BJP heavyweights Narendra Modi and Amit Shah leading the opposition rallies, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee had the last laugh with her plan of portraying herself as the daughter of West Bengal pitted against outsiders striking a chord with the voters. 

Unlike the 2019 LS elections, the ghost of anti-incumbency failed to spook Didi and her government.  

Mamata tactfully sat down after the 2019 debacle to unleash a plethora of sops mixed with a healthy dose of populism.

Multiple factors worked in favour of Mamata, which include complete consolidation of minority vote-bank, massive support of women electorates, her pre-election ventures of giving health insurance cards to all citizens and setting up government camps in localities across Bengal to offer services.

Mamata Banerjee emerged out of her house Kalighat residence and greeted the party supporters assembled in front of her house.

“This is Bengal’s victory. Today, Bengal has saved India. They talked out double-engine government in Bengal. We have crossed double century mark. We didn’t expect landslide victory at some places.’’

On the day of her party’s remarkable victory, Mamata hit out at the centre on Covid-19 vaccination issue. ‘’The central government should give vaccines to all 140 crore people free of cost. If they don’t, I will stage sit-in-demonstration.’’

Eyeing to consolidate 70 per cent of Hindu electorates, the BJP tried the card ofd polarisation accusing Mamata of going all out to appease one community. In retaliation, Mamata branded the BJP as a party of outsiders.

“Our Hindutva rhetoric went against us. The narrative proved futile as the Hindu electorates not at all voted for us en bloc. Instead, it panicked the minority electorates and they got consolidated in favour of the TMC completely. As a result, the Congress’s and Left Front’s vote share shifted to the fold of the ruling party,’’ said a BJP leader.

The leader admitted that the promise of building Sonar Bangla faded in front of Mamata’s aggressive tact of outsider versus insider plank.

“She kept asserting that our national leaders are talking about building Sonar Bangla when they cannot even pronounce two Bengali words properly. Besides, she coined a slogan of Bangla Nijer Meyeke Chay (Bengal wants its own daughter). This narrative worked,’’ he said. 

Mamata expressed her gratitude to the women electorates who form 49 per cent of the total electorate. “Her (Mamata’s) decision of giving health insurance cards covering all citizens of the state, irrespective of financial status, was aimed to woo the women voters.”

The LDF tally, which matches the win of A K Antony-led UDF in 2001, becomes remarkable as it is rare for an incumbent government to retain power by winning more seats than the last time.

T’PURAM: Riding on the pro-incumbency wave, the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front won the assembly elections with an impressive tally of 99 out of 140 seats.

“We trusted people and people put their trust in us,” Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters in Kannur after the results were known. The verdict is a personal victory for Vijayan too as the CPM and CPI had benched many senior leaders including eight ministers to make room for newcomers. 

The resounding wins in UDF strongholds like Aruvikkara in Thiruvananthapuram and Azheekode in Kannur underline the theory that votes were cast for the good work and policies of the LDF government rather than the merit of individual candidates.

The strategy of the UDF to put up a strong fight with young, new faces did not fetch the desired results as voters seemed to have made their choices based on policies.

Pinarayi, who was in his Dharmadom constituency when the counting took place on Sunday, will reach the capital on Monday and submit his resignation to Governor Arif Mohammed Khan by noon. The CPM state secretariat and LDF state committee are likely to meet on Tuesday to decide on the swearing-in ceremony.

A mix of policies in which development and welfare measures were added in right proportion and implemented over the last five years paved the way for the re-election of the ruling front, something which has not happened in the state after 1977. 

Right from the implementation of Nava Kerala Mission projects to bring radical changes in health and education sectors and to provide housing for the poor to the organised manner in which the government dealt with Covid crisis, a host of factors could be listed as reasons for the result.

Crises such as Nipah, Ockhi cyclone, 2018 flood, Covid and lockdown were dealt with professionalism and compassion by the government. Pinarayi’s leadership skills were on display during these crises and the leader slowly grew to a cult figure among Keralites. When the CPM decided to seek votes for the Pinarayi government, drifting away from the practice of seeking votes for the party, there was a clear understanding the leader has become a brand himself and could ensure the win.

The comeback of LDF after the humiliating defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls was made possible because of the strategic retreat by the front in the Sabarimala women’s entry issue. Local body polls held in November was the testing ground for this strategy and the LDF made huge gains then. 

The more accommodative stand assuaged majority communities and a first reading of the assembly poll results makes it clear that the LDF could win good majority of Nair, Ezhava votes along with the minority votes they had mobilised through strong stands taken during issues such as beef ban and CAA Act.

The second Pinarayi government will have to deal with tough challenges from Day One.

The worsening Covid situation and near-empty coffers will pose great challenges to the government. While speaking to reporters on Sunday, Pinarayi sought the support from all including the Opposition to take the state forward during the hour of crisis.

Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee was, however, trailing her former protege-turned-BJP rival Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram by over 8,000 votes.

The ruling Trinamool Congress is all set to retain power in West Bengal as the EC trends indicate its candidates leading comfortably in 187 seats. 

TMC supremo and state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, however, is trailing her former confidante-turned-BJP rival Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram.

If the current trends hold, the party will easily form its third consecutive government in Bengal. 

The month-long West Bengal election that was held in eight phases under the shadow of a raging pandemic saw blame games, insider-outsider debates, political attacks and loud jingles of ‘Khela Hobe‘ vs ‘Khela Shesh‘. This even as Covid cases shot up both in Bengal and across the country.

The Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements for the counting of votes and also put in place measures to ensure strict adherence to health safety protocols. Expect results to be confirmed later than usual.  

KOLKATA: An estimated 75 per cent votes were cast on Monday in West Bengal in the seventh and penultimate phase of the assembly election, which was by and large peaceful, Chief Electoral Officer Aariz Aftab said.

“Polling was entirely peaceful today and there was no incident of violence anywhere in the state,” Aftab told reporters.

“The seventh phase is the most quiet and incident-free phase. There was no bomb blast from anywhere during today’s polling, not even from sensitive places. We are extremely happy. The police and the central forces have done a commendable job,” ADG (Law and order) Jag Mohan said.

Voting began at 7 am in 12,068 polling stations spread over nine assembly constituencies each in Murshidabad and Paschim Bardhaman districts, six each in Dakshin Dinajpur and Malda and four in Kolkata, including Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s home turf Bhabanipur.

Malda, Murshidabad and Dakshin Dinajpur are minority dominated and the fight in these districts is between the Trinamool Congress and the Congress-ISF-Left alliance, except in a few pockets where the BJP has gained strength.

Till 5 pm, the highest voters’ turnout of 80.30 per cent was registered in the Murshidabad constituency, and the lowest polling percentage of 59.91 per cent was recorded in the Kolkata Dakshin seat, the CEO added.

Although the polling passed off more or less peacefully, there were a few incidents of scuffle between rival party workers in some parts of the state.

A few such incidents were reported from Asansol in Paschim Bardhaman district where TMC candidate Sayoni Ghosh claimed that BJP activists tried to jam booths in the constituency.

The allegation was dubbed as baseless by BJP candidate Agnimitra Paul, who asserted “Ghosh is making excuses sensing defeat”.

There was a commotion in the Rash Behari constituency in the city after BJP candidate Lt Gen (retd) Subrata Saha’s agent Mohan Rao was accused of molesting women voters inside a polling booth, police said.

The agent was detained after several women voters claimed he tried to drag them by holding their hands inside Bidya Bharati School, a police officer said.

Rao rubbished the allegations and said no such incident had taken place.

“We have received a complaint in this regard and a probe is underway,” the official said.

The TMC candidate for the constituency, Debashis Kumar claimed that he was stopped from entering a booth in the area by central forces.

The central forces, however, denied the allegations.

In the Jamuria seat, Left Front candidate Aishe Ghosh alleged that agents of CPI-M were stopped from entering a booth by TMC workers, a charge which was denied by the ruling party.

In Murshidabad, TMC district president and MP Abu Taher was heckled by party workers when he was touring the area.

Taher, however, claimed that Congress activists had heckled him.

The Congress dubbed the allegations as baseless.

In Bhabanipur constituency TMC candidate Sovandeb Chattopadhyay claimed that he too was stopped from entering the booth in his area by central forces.

The security forces denied the allegations and the office of the chief electoral officer intervened and sorted out the issue.

Security was tight in view of the violence in the previous phases, particularly the death of five people at Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar, including four in CISF firing, in the fourth phase of polling on April 10, an EC official said.

The ECI has ordered repoll on April 29 at booth No.

126 of the Sitalkuchi seat where voting was cancelled after the four were killed in the firing.

The poll panel has deployed at least 796 companies of central forces in the seventh phase to ensure free and fair voting, he said.

Each company of central armed police force has around 100 personnel and officers.

The EC also put in place measures to ensure strict adherence to health protocols during the election process, including wearing of face masks and maintaining social distancing to check the spread of COVID-19.

The state registered its highest single-day spike of 15,889 COVID-19 cases on Sunday, while 57 more people succumbed to the virus.

Election to two assembly constituencies Samserganj and Jangipur in Murshidabad district where polling was originally slated on Monday – has been adjourned following the death of two coronavirus-positive candidates.

The EC has fixed May 16 as the date for polling in the two seats.

The eighth and final phase of polling is scheduled for Thursday, April 29.

Votes will be counted on Sunday, May 2.

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Tuesday banned all victory processions on or after counting of votes in states where assembly polls were held, sources said citing an order.

The counting of votes will be held in Assam, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala and Puducherry on May 2.

Sources in the poll panel said an exhaustive order is being issued in this regard.

KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress candidate from Bhowanipore constituency, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay on Monday said that people will vote for Mamata Banerjee as “her projects and her development” has reached all homes in the state.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is the sitting Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from the Bhowanipore constituency.

Voting in 34 constituencies spread across five districts of West Bengal is currently underway. A total of 268 candidates, including 37 women are in the fray in this phase of the West Bengal elections.

The phase will witness an intense battle in six constituencies in Dakshin Dinajpur, six in Malda, nine in Murshidabad, nine in Paschim Bardhaman and four in Kolkata.

Polling for the eighth and final phase will be held on April 29 while the counting of votes will take place on May 2. 

NEW DELHI: India registered over 3.14 lakh new coronavirus cases in a day, the highest-ever single-day count recorded in any country, taking the the total tally of COVID-19 cases in the country to 1,59,30,965.

The national COVID-19 recovery rate fell below 85 per cent.

Registering a steady increase for the 43rd day in a row, the active cases have increased to 22,91,428 comprising 14.38 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has dropped to 84.46 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,34, 54,880.

The case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.16 per cent, the data stated.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh  on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

It went past  60 lakh on September 28,  70 lakh on  October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29,  90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

India crossed the grim milestone of 1.50 crore on April 19.

According to the ICMR, 27,27,05,103 samples have been tested up to April 21 with 16,51,711 samples being tested on Wednesday.

The 2,104 new fatalities include 568 from Maharashtra,  249 from Delhi, 193 from Chhattisgarh, 187 from Uttar Pradesh, 125 from Gujarat and ,116 from Karnataka.

A total of 1,84,657 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 61,911 from Maharashtra, 13,762 from Karnataka ,13,258 from Tamil Nadu, 12,887 from Delhi, 10,710 from West Bengal, 10,346 from Uttar Pradesh, 8,114 from Punjab and 7,510 from Andhra Pradesh.