Petrol price hiked by Rs. 5 a litre

A day after the Assembly election results were declared, state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) on Saturday decided to go ahead with the increase of Rs.5 a litre in petrol price.

The biggest-ever increase in petrol prices, and the eighth since the prices were deregulated in June last year, will come into force from midnight on Saturday night.

The cost of petrol a litre (in Indian Oil Corporation outlets) in Delhi will go up from Rs.58.37 to Rs.63.37 (up by Rs.5, including the tax component); from Rs.61.93 to Rs.67.22 (Rs.5.29) in Chennai; from Rs.63.08 to Rs.68.33 (Rs.5.25) in Mumbai and from Rs.62.50 to Rs.67.71 (Rs.5.21) in Kolkata.

Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum also increased petrol prices by Rs.4.99 and Rs.5.01. However, they said that even after the increase they would still make a loss of Rs.5.50 a litre.

Hinting that another increase was inevitable unless the government decided to compensate the losses they incurred, a senior official of an oil marketing company said the companies approached the government for an increase of Rs.10.50 a litre due to the hike in international crude prices and the high debt burden, but were told to increase the prices by Rs.5. Notably, the companies had been holding back this increase even after crude oil prices touched a two-and-a-half-year high in January this year.

“Though the government might have deregulated petrol prices last year, we still have to seek clearance before announcing any increase. All our requests to the government to devise a mechanism to compensate for losses have not been answered so far. If the Centre does not want the burden to be passed on to consumers, it should compensate us,” the official said.

Jayalalithaa rides wave, decimates DMK-led front

CHENNAI: Riding the crest of a silent anti-incumbency wave in the April 13 Assembly elections, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Friday stormed back to power in Tamil Nadu, paving the way for a third substantive term as Chief Minister for its leader Jayalalithaa.

The AIADMK and its allies were set to shoot past the 200-seat mark in the 234-member Assembly, decimating the rival Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-Congress alliance.

The AIADMK was on the way to winning 150 seats, a convincing majority of its own. With 227 seats declared by 11 p.m., the AIADMK front's tally stood at 199, while the DMK-led alliance accounted for 28 seats. The AIADMK had an individual tally of 148, and was leading in two other constituencies, while its ally, the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), had garnered 27 and was leading in two more constituencies. The CPI(M) and the CPI won 10 and nine seats respectively. Two smaller allies accounted for two seats each.

The DMK won 21 seats and was leading in two other constituencies, while its main ally, the Congress, recorded its worst performance in recent years, winning just five seats.

For Ms. Jayalalithaa, this marks a triumphant return to power after five years, a reversal of fortunes after her party lost every general election begun with the 39-nil defeat in 2004. The party lost the 2006 Assembly polls and was again bested by the DMK in the 2009 parliamentary elections.

“My first priority will be to restore law and order and fulfil the promises made in our election manifesto,” Ms. Jayalalithaa told journalists at her residence. She said rebuilding the State's fiscal health, which she described as being in a state of ruin, was also a priority.

The severity of the DMK's defeat can be gauged from the fact that 16 Ministers lost, while Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin scraped through with a slender margin of 2,819 votes after a day-long see-saw battle against Saidai S. Duraisamy of the AIADMK in the Kolathur constituency in the city. DMK general secretary and Finance Minister K. Anbazhagan was trailing at Villivakkam, while several other senior Ministers — K. Ponmudy, K.N. Nehru, MRK Panneerselvam, Veerapandi S. Arumugam and Pongalur N. Palanisamy — besides Speaker R. Avudaiyappan and Deputy Speaker V.P. Duraisamy found themselves on the losing side.

“The people of Tamil Nadu have given me rest,” said Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi in a brief reaction. He won his Tiruvarur seat by a margin of over 50,000 votes, the 12 {+t} {+h} time he has been elected to the Assembly, but his hopes of being sworn in Chief Minister for a sixth time were dashed by the decisive verdict. He sent in his resignation to Governor Surjit Singh Barnala in the afternoon as the trends firmed up.

For the DMDK, the election represented a success of sorts as it shed its stand of contesting all elections alone and forged an alliance with the AIADMK with the sole aim of defeating the DMK. However, DMDK leader Vijayakant made it clear that his party had no plans to seek inclusion in the new regime. “We have not demanded a role in the government. Even when we formed the alliance that was our stance,” he told journalists. “This is a victory for the people and my cadre,” he said adding the ruling party's belief that “money power” could ensure its victory was proved wrong.

The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), which chose to go with the DMK, won only two of the 30 seats it contested and was leading in one constituency. The Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi (VCK) failed to open its account despite contesting 10 seats in the DMK-led front.

Jaganmohan Reddy, his mother Vijayamma shatter records

KADAPA: Delivering a stunning blow to the ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh, YSR Congress Party president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy retained his Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency and his mother Vijayamma the Pulivendula Assembly constituency with record-breaking margins.

In the by-election results announced on Friday, Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy secured 6.9 lakh votes, more than 65 per cent of the total votes polled. He won with a majority of 5.45 lakh votes over his nearest rival, Health Minister D.L. Ravindra Reddy, who secured 1.46 lakh votes. Telugu Desam Party (TDP) nominee M.V. Mysoora Reddy came third with 1.29 lakh votes. Both his rivals and 39 independents forfeited their deposits.

In Pulivendula, Ms. Vijayamma secured a record 81,373 votes margin, surpassing her husband's 68,681 vote margin in the 2009 elections. She humbled her nearest Congress rival and brother-in-law Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy, who got a little more than 28,000 votes.

TDP candidate M. Ravindranath Reddy, with 12,000 votes, remained a distant third. The nominees of these parties and 22 independents could not retain their deposits.

Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy's emphatic victory is a huge setback not just to the Congress, but the TDP as well, as both had left no stone unturned to contain him. It is seen as a personal triumph for the 37-year-old leader, who made it “a battle between Congress president Sonia Gandhi and self-respect of the people of Kadapa.” He claimed the verdict was a pointer to the political changes in the offing.

Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy bettered the 4.2 lakh vote margin registered by his father from the same Kadapa seat in 1991.

His winning margin was next only to that of the former Prime Minister, P. V. Narasimha Rao, who won with a 5.8 lakh vote margin from Nandyal.

Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy's strategy to deploy as many as 20 Ministers in the two constituencies and the TDP's aggressive campaign on alleged corruption could not stem the tide.

Mr. Kiran Kumar Reddy as well as Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president D. Srinivas conceded that there was a strong sentiment in Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy's favour.