DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2024, PUNE, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES Modi Sarkar ki Guarantee e Government of India cbc 22201/13/0252/2324 `6.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 Ensuring bright future of our daughters Hamara Sankalp Viksit Bharat ‘CONG FAILED AS OPP, DIDN’T LET OTHERS BE ONE’ PM slams Congress ‘cancel’ culture, predicts BJP sweep ‘Can gauge nation’s mood, NDA will get over 400 seats, BJP 370’ LIZ MATHEW NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 5 IN A blistering attack on the Congress, the primacy of its Gandhi family and what he called the party’s “cancel culture,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in arguably his last speech in the 17th Lok Sabha, said that he, and the nation, are convinced that the Opposition has resolved to remain in the oppo- PM Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha on Monday. PTI MAYORPOLLINPUNJAB SC says murder of democracy 88 116 142 76 GOKHALE INSTITUTE EVENT DISRUPTED P 4 ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 5 COMING DOWN heavily on the conduct of the returning officer during the Chandigarh mayoral polls on January 30, the Supreme Court said Monday that what happenedduringtheelectionwas “mockery of democracy” and underlined that “we will not CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 3 crore 20 lakh accounts of girl children opened under Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana Scan for more information sition for decades while the BJP will return for a third term with 370 seats and cross the 400mark for the NDA. “Ekhiproductbaarbaarlaunch karnekechakkarmein,Congresski dukaantalalagnekinaubataagayi hai.(Congressshopisontheverge ofclosureinitsattemptstolaunch the same product again and again),” Modi said in his more than 90-minute reply to the discussion on the motion of thanks CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY AN EXPRESS INVESTIGATION The big all India exam leak 5-year fallout: Distress and despair hit 1.4 crore candidates; some wait 2 years plus; little action 15 states, leaks in 41 job-recruitment exams ■ Exams ■ Posts ■ Candidates ARUNACHALPRADESH UTTARAKHAND J&K ■3 ■ 2,330 ■ 2,49,000 HARYANA ■1 ■ 30 ■ 4,000 ■4 ■ 1,800 ■ 2,37,000 UTTARPRADESH ■2 ■ 6,980 ■ 8,41,000 ■1 ■ 3,300 ■ 19,00,000 HARIKISHAN SHARMA NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 5 THE GOVERNMENT on Monday introduced a Bill in Lok Sabha to penalise “malpractices in public examinations” with jail term of 3 to 10 years and fine which can extend to over Rs 1 crore. The Public Examinations (Preventionof UnfairMeans)Bill, ASSAM ■1 ■ 590 ■ 66,000 RAJASTHAN ■7 ■ 40,590 ■ 38,41,000 GUJARAT ■3 ■ 5,260 ■ 16,41,000 MAHARASHTRA ■2 ■ 6,560 ■ 11,25,000 KARNATAKA ■2 ■ 1,660 ■ 3,34,000 MADHYA PRADESH JHARKHAND BIHAR ■1 ■ 2,010 ■ 6,50,000 ■5 ■ 3,690 ODISHA ■ 1,64,000 ■1 TELANGANA ■ 1,000 ■5 ■ 5,000 ■ 3,770 ■ 6,74,000 10 years jail, Rs 1 cr fine: Bill in for Central exams... ■3 ■ 24,380 ■ 22,87,000 Figures are estimates based on data collected from states in the last five years 2024, is applicable to central recruitment and entrance exams conducted by the Union Public ServiceCommission(UPSC),Staff Selection Commission (SSC), Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs), Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS), and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPLAINED PAGE 13 ...but it’s in states where the rot is wide and deep SUKRITA BARUAH, ANAND MOHAN J, HAMZA KHAN & SREENIVAS JANYALA NEW DELHI, GUWAHATI, BHOPAL, JAIPUR, HYDERABAD, FEBRUARY 5 THE BILL introduced Monday says it will serve as a “model draft for States to adopt at their discretion.” This couldn’t be more timely. For, it is in states thattheproblemof examleaksis most acute — and widespread. The Indian Express investigated 41 documented instances of leaks over the last five years in recruitment exams across 15 states — their governments cutting across party lines. What CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Pune