New Delhi, Feb 8: Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, reacting to the election results, said on Saturday that he humbly accepts the mandate of Delhi, asserting that the “fight for the rights of Delhiites will continue”.

Taking to X, the Congress leader wrote, “We humbly accept the mandate of Delhi. Heartfelt thanks to all the Congress workers of the state for their dedication and all the voters for their support. This fight for the progress of Delhi and the rights of Delhiites – against pollution, inflation and corruption – will continue.”

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera also responded to the Delhi results.

He said in a post on X, “The meltdown of a section of so-called liberals is completely bizarre. They didn’t give these lectures on opposition unity to AAP when the party went to Goa, Gujarat, Haryana etc to fight elections and weaken anti-communal, secular vote.”

He stated that the Delhi election result was a rejection of the Trojan horse that attempted to damage the liberal cause across the country.

“Majority of liberals are rightly cheering the fall of the facade so that the real champion of liberal values — the Indian National Congress — can emerge stronger to take the BJP on and defeat it,” he added.

Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav also took to X reacting to the election results.

“The results of the Delhi Assembly elections are a clear indication that the people of Delhi have rejected Arvind Kejriwal’s politics of lies and deceit.”

“All the soldiers of the Congress organisation fought the battle for justice very strongly but the results did not come in our favour. We will review our shortcomings and mistakes and will continue to serve the people of Delhi and will stand with the people of Delhi at every moment. The mandate of the people is supreme,” he added.

As per the Delhi election results, BJP is heading for a huge victory in Delhi after 26 years.

After several hours of vote count, the BJP was ahead in 47 out of 70 seats and AAP was leading in 23. The Congress appeared set for another blank show.

New Delhi, Feb 8: The landing site of Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 near the south pole of the Moon in 2023, is about 3.7 billion years old, according to scientists.

Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft carrying lunar lander Vikram, and Pragyan rover became the first to land near the South Pole of the Moon on August 23, 2023.

With Chandrayaan-3’s success, India also became the fourth nation after the erstwhile USSR (now Russia), the US, and China to make a soft landing on the Moon.

Using high-resolution remote sensing datasets, a team of scientists including from the ISRO, Bengaluru, and Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad mapped the landing site of Chandrayaan-3.

“The geological map reveals the spatial distribution of three distinct terrain types within the landing area that includes high-relief rugged terrain and smooth plains, and low-relief smooth plains,” said the team in the paper, published in the Science Direct journal.

The team determined that “the region is approximately 3.7 billion years old”. “It dates back to the same era when the earliest microscopic life forms began emerging on Earth,” said scientists in an article published in Nature.

The Chandrayaan-3 landing site is situated within the low-relief smooth plains. Offering new insights into the Moon’s history, the geological map of the site reveals that debris from the nearby Schomberger crater covers the area.

Further, the analysis revealed the landscape is scattered with boulders, some of which exceed five metres in size. “Most of them originate from a fresh, 540-metre crater located 14 kilometres south of the landing site,” the scientists report.

To the west side are smaller, centimetre-sized rock fragments, which likely came “from a nearby 10-metre-wide crater”, the team said.

The findings showcase valuable context for the interpretation of Chandrayaan-3 mission data and contribute to understanding the geological history of the Moon’s southern high-latitude region.

New Delhi, Feb 8: As the counting for the Delhi Assembly elections nears its conclusion, the Congress party, once a dominant force in the national Capital, appears set for yet another electoral washout, failing to win even a single seat this term.

The Congress, which ruled Delhi for 15 consecutive years from 1998 to 2013, is now staring at its fourth straight defeat in Assembly elections, underscoring its sharp decline in influence across the city.

This time, the party’s struggle was particularly evident in three key Assembly seats — Mehrauli, Okhla, and Mustafabad.

In Mustafabad, BJP candidate Mohan Singh Bisht emerged victorious with a lead of over 17,000 votes. The AAP’s Adeel Ahmad Khan secured second place, while AIMIM candidate Tahir Hussain — former AAP Councillor and a key accused in the 2020 Delhi riots — finished third. Congress candidate Ali Mehdi was left trailing far behind.

In Mehrauli, the BJP’s Gajender Singh Yadav maintained a lead, with the AAP’s Mahender Chaudhary in second place.

An Independent candidate, Balyogi Baba Balaknath, was in third place, while Congress candidate Pushpa Singh lagged at fourth place, with only two rounds of counting left.

Mehrauli is part of the South Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, which comprises nine other Assembly segments, including Bijwasan, Sangam Vihar, Ambedkar Nagar, Chhatarpur, Deoli, Kalkaji, Tughlakabad, Palam, and Badarpur. The BJP is leading in six of these seats.

In Okhla, AAP’s Amanatullah Khan maintained a strong lead of over 30,000 votes. AIMIM candidate Shifa Ur Rehman Khan was in second place, followed by BJP’s Manish Chaudhary.

Congress candidate Ariba Khan trailed at fourth, with eight rounds of counting remaining.

Congress candidate Sandeep Dikshit, contesting from the New Delhi Assembly seat, admitted to the party’s poor performance, calling it “disappointing” and acknowledging that Congress had failed to reconnect with Delhi’s voters.

“We had hoped for 12-13 per cent of the vote share, but we fell short. We wanted to make a place for Congress in the hearts of the people but failed. It is disappointing,” Dikshit told media.

Asked about the reasons behind the Congress’ dismal showing, he said, “It is difficult to pinpoint right now. Maybe people wanted to vote for the Congress but were unsure if we could form a government, so they chose other parties instead.”

Dikshit was in a three-way battle in New Delhi against AAP National Convenor and former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the BJP’s Parvesh Verma, who won the seat.

As counting continues, early trends from the Election Commission of India (ECI) show the BJP crossing the halfway mark, leading in 48 of Delhi’s 70 Assembly seats, while the AAP is ahead in 22. The Congress, however, remains absent from the tally.

Exit Polls had predicted a significant loss for the AAP, with the BJP expected to win between 45-55 seats. The Congress was projected to win just one seat but has failed to achieve even that.

The party’s failure to open its account once again underscores its declining relevance in Delhi politics. Once a formidable force under former Chief Minister late Sheila Dikshit, the Congress has been struggling to regain lost ground since the AAP’s rise in 2013.

Early trends initially showed the Congress leading in Badli, but this advantage quickly dissipated. With no leads in any constituency, the party is poised for another electoral wipeout.

The poor performance comes despite a high-profile campaign led by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi, who held multiple rallies in the run-up to the elections.

The Congress’ vote share has also been on a downward trajectory. The last time it won seats in Delhi was in 2013 when it secured eight constituencies. That election also marked the AAP’s debut, which disrupted the city’s political landscape.

In 2015, the Congress drew a blank, managing only a 9 per cent vote share, while AAP swept 67 out of 70 seats. The BJP won the remaining three.

The downward spiral continued in 2020, with Congress again failing to win a single seat and its vote share dropping below 5 per cent. AAP retained power with 62 seats, while the BJP managed just eight.

As the BJP celebrates its return to power in Delhi and AAP grapples with a significant setback, Congress’ continued decline raises serious questions about its future in the national Capital.