DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2025, LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 FESTIVAL OF SAVINGS, SEASON OF JOY GST RELIEF FOR BENEFICIARIES OF Utsav PM AWAS YOJANA (GRAMIN) CBC 15502/13/0041/2526 Bachat Now my dream of owning a home is coming true, with added savings! IN ADDITION TO ASSISTANCE OF UPTO ₹1.3 lakh SAVINGS OF ₹30 PER CEMENT BAG SAVINGS OF UP TO ₹600 ON SAND-LIME BRICKS WORTH ₹10,000 U.S. DELEGATION MAY COME TO INDIA FOR TALKS India and US begin work on trade draft; Goyal underlines: No deal with a ‘gun to the head’ Will ‘fully comply’ with Govt guidance on Russian oil sanctions, says RIL ‘(We are) 1.4 bn people, we are young. So they are not in a situation where they want to do sub-optimal deals’ NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 24 THE INDIA-US trade talks, marked by twists and turns, seems to be moving closer towardsaconclusionasnegotiators from both sides are said to have begun working on the language of the text but a final announcement will require “political convergence,” a senior government official said here Friday. Indicating as much while stronglyreiterating theredlines, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, at a conference in Berlin Friday, said that India doesn’t do deals with a deadline or with a “guntothehead.”Heframedthe negotiations as a process in which India will look at its longterm implications and how it secures the national interest for a CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Jobs, palayan, weight of being a ‘Bihari’: Aboard a train of migrants going home for Chhath Puja DEEPTIMAN TIWARY ON BOARD A TRAIN TO BIHAR, OCTOBER 24 THE AMRIT Bharat Express that leaves Delhi’s Anand Vihar station in the afternoon and arrives in Motihari in Bihar the next morning is packed to the brim. Every year, as Chhath Puja nears, trainsheadedeastoverflowwith migrants returning home. This one is no exception. In the sleeper coach, it takes nearly 15 minutes to push through the narrow aisle to the berth. Sacks, suitcases, plastic buckets, cardboard boxes filled withpressurecookers,andutensils lie strewn around. The only way to move luggage is to balance it on the head and squeeze sideways. In the compartment where this reporter has a reservation, 15 adults and seven children share eight seats. The floor and berths are cluttered with bags and new purchases — mixies, Inside the Amrit Bharat Express. Deeptiman Tiwary dinner sets, blankets — all gifts to take home. Some passengers have no option but to stand through the night. Yet, there isn’t a word of complaint. “Arey kono baat naikhe, sab kehu adjust ho jai. Chhath ba (This is no problem, we can adjust to anything, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 DECISION2025 BIHAR ● InBJP’sHindiheartland dominance,Biharan outlier Nitish-neeti As Bihar’s longest-serving CM prepares for another election, what it means for him, his party ● Pollsonthehorizon,Cong payshomagetoformer chief SitaramKesri ● BJP,Congleavelion’sshare of SCseatsforallies PAGES13,5 SUKALP SHARMA NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 24 Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal with Germany’s Economic & Financial Policy Advisor to Federal Chancellor and G7 & G20 Sherpa, Levin Holle, in Berlin. @PiyushGoyal X/ANI FOLLOWING SANCTIONS on Russia’s oil sector by the West, private sector refining major Reliance Industries (RIL) said Fridayitisassessingtheimplications and compliance requirements, “complying fully” with any guidance on the issue from the Indian government. RIL, currently the largest Indianimporterof Russiancrude and the biggest exporter of refined petroleum products, also said that it will comply with the European Union’s (EU’s) latest guidelines on import of petroleum products into Europe. The CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Invoking Karpoori, PM hits campaign trail: Bihar will keep jungle raj at bay EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE QUESTIONS U.N. DECISION-MAKING Victims, perpetrators of terror equated in the name of global strategy: Jaishankar Targets Pak, China for shielding TRF which owned up Pahalgam attack PATNA, NEW DELHI, OCT 24 PRIMEMINISTERNarendraModi onFridaylaunchedhiscampaign for the November Bihar Assemblyelectionswithback-toback rallies in Samastipur and Begusarai, weaving together a narrative of social justice, developmentandHindutva,evenashe cautioned people not to let “jungleraj”returntothestate,accusing the Opposition Mahagathbandhan leaders of lawlessness and corruption. Modi said the incumbent NDA under Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar would clinch the polls and break electoralrecords.Withoutdeclaring Nitish as the NDA's CM candidate, Modi's remarks were apparently meant to counter the Opposition'sbarbthattheBJPhas foughtshyof projectingNitishas theCMfacebecauseitwantedto replace him after the elections. The PM chose to launch his campaignbyinvokingthelegacy of socialisticonandformerBihar External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar releases a stamp to mark 80 years of the United Nations, in New Delhi. PTI SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 24 PM Narendra Modi looks at photographs related to former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur during his visit to Karpoori Gram, in Samastipur district of Bihar on Friday. PTI CM Karpoori Thakur. Before addressing his first rally at Samastipur, he visited Karpoori Gram, the paternal village of Thakur, in Samastipur district in the Mithilanchal region. The Modi government conferred BharatRatnaonKarpooriThakur last year. “I went to Karpoori Gram be- ‘Bangladeshis’ and ‘ghuspaithiyas’: BJP MP stops 5 workers on Lucknow road MAULSHREE SETH LUCKNOW, OCTOBER 24 A DAY after he uploaded a video of himself stopping five workers cleaning a road in Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar Extension, accusing them of belonging to Bangladesh and labelling them “ghuspaithiya” (infiltrators), BJP Rajya Sabha MP Brij Lal said he “knows how terrorism works” MP Brij Lal stopped the workers (right) cleaning a road in Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar Extension. Express fore coming here. I got a chance to pay my tributes to him. It is due to his blessings that people like me and Nitish ji coming CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY UNDERLINING THAT “victims and perpetrators of terrorism” were being equated “in the name of global strategy”, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday targeted PakistanandChina,saying“asitting Security Council member” was openly protecting the very organisation which claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam terror attack. Speaking at an event in Delhi to mark the 80th anniversary of the United Nations, Jaishankar also questioned “the sincerity of those involved” in shielding the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 and insisted that they be deported. Lal, who was the former Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police, said, “I am a former IPS officer of the 1977 batch, a formerUPDGPandATSUPfounder. I know exactly how these things work and how terrorism works. In 1984, I served as PAC commander in Assam. I stayed there for six months after the 1983 E EXPLAINED RAVI DUTTA MISHRA ● The stand on listing INDIAN EFFORTS to get Pakistan terror outfits and individuals on the UN sanctions list have a history of being blocked by China, a permanent member. In July this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the BRICS that there should be no hesitation in imposing sanctions against terrorists. He said if it’s not done, it raises questions about the fight against terror. EXPRESS NETWORK ONLY ONE SURVIVES AS BUS BLAZE KILLS 20 IN ANDHRA DOCTOR FOUND DEAD, NOTE ON PALM ALLEGES RAPE BY POLICEMAN PAGE 6 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 His parting line: You are selling nothing if you don’t touch hearts PAGE 1 ANCHOR SHIVANI NAIK MUMBAI, OCTOBER 24 A LEAKING verandah had smudged Piyush Pandey’s script when he was ruminating under awindowledge.Thatinnocuous every day event would give him the idea of a son forcing a father on his deathbed to add zeros to his will — while a water drop erasestheall-important‘1’atthe start of the amount. It’s how ‘Dr Fixit’ waterproofing joined le- gions of other brands — from Cadbury’shumming-word‘kuch khaas hai’ to Asian Paints’ sentimental festive film and Fevicol’s hoot of inseparable sketches — in getting etched on minds. Pandey’s old friend and former Test opener Arun Lal had jingles running in his mind on Friday, since the time he heard about his death. Besides a mourning universe of Indian advertising, the legendary adman, who died at 70, left behind cricket-mates from his college years, who first witnessed turns of his phrases and chuckling puns on the field, some of which grew into iconic campaigns in later years. But Pandey’s autobiography starts with what he loved about cricket. Jaipur knew of an aggressive batsman and a chatty wicketkeeper with pithy pointers well before M S Dhoni arrived. Pandey’s first love might have been words in advertising copy, but his eternal rom-com ran with cricket, starting at St Xavier’s in Jaipur where he was ontheschool’scricketteamwith future BCCI administrator Amrit Mathur. At Delhi’s St Stephen’s College, his chirpiness during their annual derbies with Hindu PIYUSH PANDEY 1955-2025 The 1978 St Stephen’s College cricket team. Front row, from left: Shubro Sen, Ramachandra Guha, Amrit Mathur, Subhash Sharma, Piyush Pandey, Clement Rajkumar, Rajinder Amarnath, Arun Lal College, had a star-studded audience in 1978, with his team comprising historianandauthor Ramachandra Guha, first class players Subhash Sharma and Rajinder Amarnath, along with Lal and Mathur. “You might not be able to print this but you can try,” went the preamble of Lal’s favourite Pandey anecdote as he bid adieu to ‘Buddy’, his former teammate and 6 am cricket confidant, who would ring him up at dawn to guffaw about the latest thing thatamusedhimaboutthesport orshowbiz.Pandey,Lalsays,was agemof aguy,anadprofessional of integrity who wove magic with earthy, Indian, Hindi ideas, but who loved crude, humorous repartee when playing cricket. Back in the 1970s, Stephen’sHindu matches went on for five days “like Tests”, Lal says, and were unofficially declared holidays, so everyone could turn up to cheer. “During one match, the Hindu College captain complained that one of our bowlers was chucking. The umpire paid noheed,sohestartedscreaming, ‘The f***** is chucking.’ Piyush calmly said from behind the wicket,‘No,thechuckerisf******’,” recalls Lal. “His humour was understated, and what others took CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Lucknow