DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA ● REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2024, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 28 PAGES `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 M Modi Government of India World Class Dedicated Freight Corridors cbc 22201/13/0353/2324 Sarkar Ki Dedicated Railway Freight Transportation Scan for more information Corridors worth over ₹ 120 lakh crore Hamara Sankalp leading to Nation's unprecedented progress Viksit Bharat Guarantee PARTY RELEASES NAMES FOR ANOTHER 72 SEATS BY UNNY One nation, one poll report likely today: In eight volumes, no German model DAMINI NATH NEW DELHI, MARCH 13 THE HIGH-LEVEL committee set up by the government to draw a roadmap for holding simultaneous elections is expected to submitaneight-volumereport,running into 18,000 pages, to President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday, sources said. The committee, chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind, is likely to recommend aconcretemodelforonenationone election — as opposed to suggesting options — for synchronising the different poll cycles, it is learnt. Thecommitteeisreportedto have deliberated on a number of options for ensuring continuity of simultaneous elections. According to sources, it also debatedtheGermanmodelof constructive vote of no-confidence — where a no-confidence motion against the incumbent can be brought if there is a positive vote of confidence in a successor — but decided against recommending it. The panel found it to be “against the tenets of Indian democracy”, a source said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE WORLD RUSSIA READY FOR N-WAR IF THREAT TO SOVEREIGNTY: PUTIN TRUMP, BIDEN GET NOMINATIONS, KICK OFF REMATCH PAGE 20 E E X P L A I NE D BUSINESS AS USUAL 20 named in Maharashtra, 5 MPs dropped 3formerCMs,9ministers,2RSMPs,15 womenamongthosehandedtickets LIZ MATHEW & VIKAS PATHAK NEW DELHI, MARCH 13 THEBJPWednesdayreleased its second list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, dropping at least28sittingMPswhileincludingthreeformerChief Ministers, nine Union Ministers, two Rajya Sabha MPs and 15 women. If the party’s first list of 195 candidates, released on March 2, was more about continuity with a large number of candidates being retained, the second list of 72 candidates signalled change and an emphasis on selection based on the winnabil- The winnability ● factor THE BJP second list points to the emphasis on the winnability factor of candidates given that it has set itself a target of 370 seats this time. Reason why at least 28 MPs no longer find place in a list of 72 candidates. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE MUMBAI, MARCH 13 Nitin Gadkari will contest from Nagpur; Piyush Goyal from Mumbai North; Manohar Lal Khattar from Karnal Delhi, Tripura and Uttarakhand. ManoharLalKhattar,whoresignedasHaryanaChief Minister Tuesday and vacated his Karnal Assembly seat Wednesday, has beenfieldedfromtheKarnalLok Sabha constituency. While Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has been retained from Nagpur, his colleague Piyush Goyal, Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha, will be contesting from Mumbai North. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi has been fielded again from Dharwad in Karnataka while Union Minister of State Shobha Karandlaje has been moved from Udupi THE BHARATIYA Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday announced 20 names from Maharashtra in its second list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, replacing five existing Members of Parliament (MPs). The state has 48 Lok Sabha seats. Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Nitin Gadkari will contestfromMumbaiNorthand NagpurLSseatsrespectively.The party replaced sitting MP Gopal Growing tally, rising turnout: Women steadily outnumber men in LS seats Hyderabad Police probes tapping of BRS rivals, officer arrested DOMESTIC HELP HELD FOR MURDER OF ELDERLY WOMAN IN MALABAR HILL PAGE 4 MAHARASHTRA GOVT TO RENAME AHMEDNAGAR AS AHILYANAGAR PAGE 6 Seatswithmorewomenelectorsthan menupfrom85in2009to110in2019 HYDERABAD, MARCH 13 ity factor. With the second list, the BJP has announced all its candidates for Madhya Pradesh, RISE AND RISE OF THE WOMAN VOTE ■ 2009 Share in voters (%) ■ 2019 67.18 64 55.80 154 48.15 125 Gadkari, Khattar and Goyal in second BJP list for LS polls, 28 MPs dropped 45.79 97 No. of seats where women voters outnumbered men 64 143 Seats with more men on poll rolls, but more women voted Turnout in % 11 58 Source: Election Commission of India reports HARIKISHAN SHARMA NEW DELHI, MARCH 13 FROMTHEwomen’sreservation Bill passed by the BJP-led government at the Centre to AAP’s promiseof Rs1,000amonthand Congress’s proposed allowance of Rs 1 lakh per annum — ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, political parties have been pushing key legislative and development measures targeting women voters. Data drawn from three recent Lok Sabha elections shows that their focus on women voters is not surprising. A number of indicators — from the share of women in the total electorate to their voter turnout — point to their rising participation in the electoral process. Also increasing is the number of parliamentary constituencies where women outnumber men among electors and voters. ■ An analysis of the data for the 2009, 2014 and 2019 general elections showsthattheshareof women in the total electorate (those on the electoral rolls) increased from 47.73 per cent in 2009 to 48.09 per cent in 2019. Similarly,women’sshareamong voters (those who exercised their franchise) went up from 45.79%in2009to48.15%in2019. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SREENIVAS JANYALA THE HYDERABAD Police on Wednesday arrested a suspended Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) who is suspected of having tapped the phones of theBharatRashtraSamiti’s(BRS) political opponents while the partywasinpowerinTelangana. DSP Dugyala Praneeth Kumarhadbeenpostedwiththe Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) when the alleged offences took place. He was suspended earlier this month after it came to light that he allegedly erased intelligence data from the SIB’s hard drives after Congress won the Assembly election last year. He is also accused of having copied intelligence data to his personaldevices.Hewasbooked last week on charges of tampering with evidence, breach of trust, and criminal conspiracy. Kumarwastakenintocustody onTuesdaynightandarrestedon Wednesday following questioning overnight, officers said. According to sources, Kumar is suspected of having been involved in the tapping of phones of Oppositionleadersandothers when the BRS was in power. SIB Additional Superintendent of Police D Ramesh had lodged the firstcomplaintagainstKumarafter finding that he was involved intheallegedphonetappingand CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Journey of data journalist who died in US fire: Delhi to NY, DU to Columbia PAGE 1 ANCHOR ABHINAYA HARIGOVIND NEW DELHI, MARCH 13 FROM A government school in West Delhi to Columbia University and a job as a data journalist in the US — Fazil Khan’s leap from the Capital’s Raghubir Nagar neighbourhood to New York was part audacious, part inspiring. That journey was abruptly cutshortlastmonth,whenFazil, 27, died in a fire in his building in He moved to New York in 2020 to pursue a course in data journalism from Columbia University. Facebook Cong revisits its 2019 poll promise of NYAY, assures Rs 1 lakh/year aid for poor women Harlem, New York, on February 23.While17peoplewereinjured intheblaze,Fazilwasthesolefatality. On February 28, The New YorkTimesreportedthatthefire was caused by “lithium-ion batteries that power e-bikes”. The fire began from an apartment where the batteries were being charged, the report added. The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) had stated on X that the fire was caused by a lithium-ion battery. The New York Police Department (NYPD) told The Indian Express in an email, “The investigation remains ongoing.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Dondaicha, Maharashtra, on Wednesday. PTI MANOJ C G NEW DELHI, MARCH 13 AHEAD OF an uphill Lok Sabha election battle, the Congress on Wednesday dusted off and revivedNYAY,thecentrepieceof its 2019 manifesto promise, and announcedthattheparty,ifvotedto power,wouldgiveRs1lakhannually to a woman of every poor family.Thepartyalsosaiditwould provide50percentreservationfor women in new appointments in the central government. NYAY, or Nyuntam Aay Yojana, was the highlight of the Congress’s 2019 election manifesto, under which it had promised“fivecrorefamilieswhoconstitute the poorest 20 per cent of all families” a guaranteed cash transfer of Rs 72,000 a year. “As faraspossible,themoneywillbe transferred to the account of a woman of the family who has a CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RELATED REPORT PAGE 9, 19