DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2024, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES & ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 Nandigram tense after BJP worker killed, party protests ‘CAN REMAIN CM FROM JAIL’ Kejriwal: If I resign, Mamata, Pinarayi govts will be toppled SWEETY KUMARI KOLKATA, MAY 23 TENSIONS FLARED in Nandigram in West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district on Thursday, hours after a woman worker of the BJP was killed and seven others were injured after being attacked on Wednesday night, two days before the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections in the state. As BJP workers took to the streetsinproteston Thursdayby torching shops and blocking roads using trees and setting them on fire, security was stepped up with Rapid Action Force (RAF) and central forces being deployed, apart from the police. One person has been arrested in connection with the murder case, police said. The Election Commission has also soughtareportfromtheauthorities concerned. The EC will also send some observers to Bengal to look into the matter, Fire at a shop in Nandigram, in Purba Medinipur district, West Bengal, on Thursday. PTI sources said. Theincidentsparkedablame game on Thursday, with the BJP accusing the Trinamool Congress (TMC) of orchestrating the attack and the ruling party denying the allegations, saying that it was a fallout of infighting within the local BJP. “The incident took place in the Sonachura area on Wednesday night. The deceased has been identified as Rathibala Adi. As the condition of one of theinjurediscritical,hehasbeen shifted to Kolkata,” a senior police officer said. According to local sources, the critically injured victim is the son of the deceased BJP worker. According to sources, BJP supporters were guarding the Mansapukur market area of CONTINUEDONPAGE2 HITESH VYAS MUMBAI, MAY 23 BENCHMARK STOCK market indicesSensexandNiftysurged1.6 per cent to end at record high Thursday after the RBI announced a record surplus transfer of Rs 2.11 lakh crore and on heavyinflowsfromforeignportfolio investors (FPIs). The BSE’s Sensex scaled 1196.98 points, or 1.61 per cent to end at a record high of 75,418.04. The Nifty climbed 369.85 points, or 1.64 per cent, to close at an all-time high of 22,967.65. According to some market analysts, the higher dividend payout by the RBI to the government is also because of the confidence that the ruling BJP will again come to power. “The interest rate in the US has gone up from 0 per cent to 5.25-5.5 per cent. With the forex reserves holding of $645 billion, the rise in the RBI’s earnings is EXPLAINED Sensex and Nifty reach new highs on political stability cues E The market ● message A SECTION of market analysts are reading into the higher dividend payout by the RBI as an expression of the confidence that the ruling BJP is coming back to power. The market’s message of political stability after the elections is seen as having prompted Thursday’s rally, which was led by large caps and banking stocks. substantive. The timing and the amount (of the surplus to the government) are definitely part of a well thought-out plan. It indicates that the present government will continue,” said a market analyst, who did not want to be identified. The RBI’s earnings have been robust in recent times. It has been earning around 3 per cent on its forex reserves. The central bank has been lending in the moneymarketaround1.5-2lakh crore daily, on which it charges 6.5 per cent. It is also earning fromtradingintheforexmarket, the analyst said. “The Nifty hitting a new record is the market’s message of politicalstabilityaftertheelections. The rally is healthy since it isledbyfairlyvaluedlargecaps,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. On Wednesday, the RBI board had announced the transferof Rs2.11lakhcroreof surplus to the government for the year 2023-24.Theamountwasmuch higher than both the budgeted (Rs 1.02 lakh crore announced in the Interim Budget for FY2025, including dividends from banks and financial institutions) and the market expectation of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Says institutional safeguards being demolished, judiciary threatened PHASE 6 TOMORROW Officials leave for their polling stations in Bhubaneswar on Thursday. Fifty-eight Lok Sabha constituencies in eight states and Union Territories will vote in the sixth phase on May 25. ANI Women voter turnout higher than men in Phase 5, says EC Of 24 seats which saw higher women polling, 22 saw same trend in 2019 DAMINI NATH NEW DELHI, MAY 23 FOR THE first time this election, the turnout of women voters was higher than the turnout of men voters in the fifth phase on May 20, when polling was held in 49 Lok Sabha constituencies acrosseightstatesandUnionterritories (UTs), according to data released by the Election Commission on Thursday. Reversing past trends, the overall turnout of women voters (67.18 per cent) was marginally higher as compared to men BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY 2024 ■ Men ■ Women PHASE1:(66.14%*) 66.22% 66.07% PHASE2:(66.71%*) 66.99% 66.42% PHASE3:(65.68%*) 66.89% 64.41% PHASE4:(69.16%*) 69.58% 68.73% PHASE5:(62.20%*) 61.48% 63.00% Overall (67.02 per cent) in the 2019 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 P6 MALLICA JOSHI & RAHUL SABHARWAL 2019 Men Women 67.4% 67.02% 67.18% Source: EC *Overall turnout NEW DELHI, MAY 23 RESIGNING AS Chief Minister of Delhiwillsetadangerousprecedent that will allow the BJP to topple governments in states where they are not in power, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said Thursday. In an interview to The Indian Express, Kejriwal, responding to a question on why he hadn’t resigned as Chief Minister despite his arrest in the Delhi excise policy case, said, “Let me explain why I am not resigning. People accuse me of being stuck to my chair. I have never been greedy for a chair or a post. When I was Income Tax commissioner, I quit to work in slums for 10 years. WhenIbecameCM,Iresignedin 49dayswithoutanyprovocation. I did it for my principles. This time I am not resigning because itispartof mystruggle.They(the BJP) understand they cannot defeat the AAP in Delhi, so they frameKejriwalinafalsecaseand topple his government. This is dangerous for democracy.” “If I resign today, then they will topple Mamata Banerjee’s, Pinarayi Vijayan’s governments tomorrow. Wherever the BJP THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW ‘ONLY PM CAN ANSWER HOW LONG HE WANTS TO KEEP ME IN JAIL’ ARVIND KEJRIWAL DELHI CHIEF MINISTER loses,theCMcanbearrestedand hisgovernmenttoppled.Thisbattle will have to be fought. If they putdemocracyinjail,democracy willberunfromjail.Wewillfight this tooth and nail — in courts, wherever else,” he said. Spelling out how he hopes to “run democracy from jail”, he said, “The Supreme Court and High Court have already heard PILsseekingmyremoval(asCM). TheSupremeCourtsaidwecan’t remove him. So I can remain CM from jail. If I can remain CM, the court has to provide me facilities to discharge my duties from inside jail. We will go to court CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 WORLD SUNAK, STARMER HIT CAMPAIGN TRAIL PAGE 10 IMD: ‘Severe’ cyclone headed for Bengal, Bangladesh by May 26 ANJALI MARAR KOCHI, MAY 23 THEINDIAMeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) Thursday said that a cyclone is likely to develop in the Bayof BengalwhichisheadedtowardsWestBengal,Bangladesh. Whenrealised,thiswillbethe firstcyclonetoformin2024inthe North Indian Ocean basin. When the prevailing system intensifies intothecyclonicstormcategory,it willbeidentifiedascycloneRemal, proposedbyOman. OnWednesday,alowpressure haddevelopedoverthesouthwest and west-central Bay of Bengal. Thissystem,byThursday,intensified into a well-marked low pressuresystemandwillintensifyfurtherinthecomingtwodays. The IMD has entered the precyclonewatchstageandsaid,“This system will continue to move north-eastwardsandconcentrate into a depression (wind speed of 31-61km/hr)overcentralpartsof Bay of Bengal by May 24. Further, it is likely to continue to move north-eastwards and strengthen intoacyclone." By May 26, the cyclone (wind speed 62 - 88km/hr) would track anorthwardmovementandisexpectedtobarrel into Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal as a severe cyclone (wind speed over 89 -117 km/hr). This will be for the fifth consecutive year when cyclones developed in the Bay of Bengal during the pre-monsoon phase. The storms were Amphan (2020), Yaas (2021), Asani (2022) and Mocha (2023) whereas Nisarga (2020) and Tauktae (2021) developed in the ArabianSea. Kolkata