The Editorial Page: Debate foreign policy, but tempered dissent is heard louder than vitriol 12 TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2026 JOURNALISM of COURAGE LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES ₹6.00 l www.indianexpress.com DA I LY F R O M : A H M E DA B A D , C H A N D I GA R H , D E L H I , J A I P U R , KO L K ATA , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N AG P U R , PAT N A , P U N E , VA D O DA R A UNION HOME MINISTER SPEAKS IN LOK SABHA DAY BEFORE MARCH 31 DEADLINE THREATENS HIT ON OIL WELLS, KHARg, WATER PLANTS Maoists ‘more or less wiped out’ from ‘Great progress’ on Iran Bastar, says Shah; task not over: Opp talks, says Trump, then India has become ‘Naxal-free’, says Shah, blames Cong for ‘Red Corridor’ Jatin Anand New Delhi, March 30 DECLARINGTHATthecountry hasbecome“Naxal-free”,Union Home Minister Amit Shah told LokSabhaonMondaythat“Naxalism has been more or less wiped out from Bastar”, which used to be a Maoist stronghold in Chhattisgarh. Shah was replying to a debate in Lok Sabha on ‘Efforts to Happening today lPRIME MINISTER NARENDRA Modi will visit Gujarat where he will inaugurate a Jain museum at Koba, launch a semiconductor facility in Sanand and address a gathering in the newly created Vav-Tharad district. lPRESIDENT DROUPADI Murmu is scheduled to visit Bihar and attend the convocation ceremony of Nalanda University at Rajgir. lFRENCH PRESIDENTEm- manuel Macron will begin a fourday trip to Japan and South Korea to elevate his country's ties with Asian allies as his government navigates an unpredictable relationship with the US. TRACK THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPRESS.cOm Business as Usual By EP UNNY NATION PAGES 10, 6 RETD BRIGADIER KILLED IN ‘ROAD RAGE’ SHOOTOUT CASTE INFO IN 2ND PHASE OF CENSUS: COMMISSIONER warns of huge infra attack lThefightagainstmaoists:whatShahtoldtheHouse 2 MAOIST-AFFECTED districts, down from 126 in 2014 freethecountryfromLeftWing Extremism(LWE)’,adaybefore his deadline for elimination of Maoistviolenceends.Lastyear, he had announced that LWE would end in the country by March 31, 2026. During the debate, the Opposition members cautioned the government against “pattingitselfonitsback”,underlining the importance of winning 0 MOST-AFFECTED districts, from 35 in 2014 596 FORTIFIED police stations created in 11 years MAOISTS SURRENDERED 4,839 ARRESTED 406 NEW CAPF camps 2,218 68 NIgHT landing helipads From 2024 until March 30, 2026 KILLED constructed in last six years created Jon gambrell, Josh Boak & Mike Corder 706 Dubai, March 30 « Union Home Minister Amit Shah in LS, Monday. PTI »CONTINUED ON PAgE 2 US proposals unrealistic, excessive and illogical: Iran ExPRESSinvestigation Bengal’s ‘dream’ new universities: Makeshift campuses, faculty at Rs 500 per class, falling student numbers The Indian Express visits 11 universities announced by TMC govt in 2017-18 to find seven without campuses, none with permanent faculty — and progress on the ground stalled because of the protracted state-Governor faceoff USPRESIDENTDonaldTrump on Monday threatened widespread destruction of Iran’s energy resources and other vital infrastructure, including desalination plants, if a deal to end the war with Tehran is not reached “shortly.” On the ground, the conflict showed no sign of letting up: Tehran struck a key water and electrical plant in Kuwait, and an oil refinery in Israel came under attack. Israel and the US launched a new wave of strikes on Iran. Trump’s new threat in a socialmediapostandearliercomments in an interview with the »CONTINUED ON PAgE 2 Mumbai, March 30 The War Kolkata, March 30 DAY 31 lIsrael’sParliamentpassed The land earmarked for a permanent campus of Dakshin Dinajpur University. Photos: PARTHA PAUL 11 universities set up by Mamata Banerjee’s TMC govt between 2017 and 2018 7 still functioning from temporary or borrowed premises — schools, colleges, hostels 9 universities with no permanent faculty; they rely on guest lecturers paid Rs 500 per class ~17,000 students enrolled across 8 of the 11 universities; 3 did not share figures Jan 2026 when most universities finally received statutory recognition — years after classes began many universities, the student strength has been declining. Currently, around 17,000 students are enrolled across eight of these universities, with three not sharing their exact numbers. The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government has been on the back foot over the state of education at various levels in Bengal, with the BJP gunning for it over scams involving the recruitment of teachers, in which senior TMC leaders are embroiled. In the case of universities, appointments were stalled between 2023 and 2024 duetoatusslebetweenthethen Governor,CVAnandaBose,the exofficioChancellorofallstateaided universities, and the CM, whohastheauthoritytofinalise the appointments. On July 8, 2024, the Supreme Court constituted a committee to break the stalemate. Since then, V-C posts have been filled and statutory status granted. For 2025-2026, in its last full Budget, the TMC government allocated14.8%offundstoeducation, close to the national average. But this was education’s lowest share in the total state budget since 2023-24. Repeatedcallsandmessages to Education Minister Bratya Basu and Additional Chief Secretary,HigherEducation,Binod Kumar, went unanswered. Universities without a campus DAKSHIN DINAJPUR UNIVERSITY, BALURgHAT: STARTED FUNCTIONING IN OCTOBER 2021; 250 STUDENTS Banerjee announced the establishment of the university on February 21, 2018, meeting a long-standinglocaldemand.At thetime,thenearestuniversity to the district was nearly 200 km away. »CONTINUED ON PAgE 11 Markets close at over two-year low, rupee breaches 95 mark Akash Mandal Ravik Bhattacharya & Atri Mitra ANNOUNCING A new university on the lines of Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan in January 2017, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said her government would build higher education institutions comparable to the best in the world. “Why should Bengal’s students run to Chicago and Harvard when we can create Chicago- and Harvard-like universities here?” she said. “Bengal had 13 universities; wehaveestablished16newuniversities in the last five years (theTrinamoolCongressledby her came to power for the first time in 2011),” she said. Between 2017 and 2018, her government established 11 more universities across Darjeeling, Alipurduar, Balurghat, Murshidabad, Hooghly, Nadia, North 24 Parganas, Jhargram, Paschim Medinipur, Howrah and Birbhum. Classes in most of them started in 2021, when West Bengal saw its last Assembly elections. It was only by January this year,asthegovernmentseeksa fourth term, that these universities, barring Darjeeling Hill University, got statutory recognition, or the legal authority to award degrees. The Indian Express visited the 11 universities and found that seven continue to function out of temporary premises, none have permanent faculty, and most depend on guest lecturersworkingattheUGC-mandatedrateofRs500perclass.In A woman in her brother’s home, which was damaged by an Israeli strike, in Tehran on Monday. REUTERS theannualBudget,ensuring Netanyahu’sgovernmentcan completeitstermuntilFall lIransaiditbeganrevoking residencypermitsforUAE citizensinretaliationforUAE doingthesametoIranians lSpain’sDefenceMinister saidthecountryhadclosed itsairspacetoUSplanesinvolvedintheIranwar FOREIGN PORTFOLIO Investors (FPIs) recorded a historic monthlysell-offinMarch,withdrawingaboutRs1.18lakhcrore ($12.7billion)fromIndianstock markets amid rising global uncertainty and heightened conflict in West Asia. With investors more riskaverse toward emerging markets like India, the large-scale outflowincreasedstockmarket volatility, weakened investor sentiment and put pressure on the rupee, which depreciated sharply, breaching the 95 mark intra day and finally closing at 94.83 against the US dollar on Monday. FPIshadearlierturnedposi- Spot LNG purchases at 70% higher costs, may raise subsidy burden Adequate fertiliser stocks ahead of Kharif season, says Govt Sukalp Sharma New Delhi, March 30 INDIA HAS sufficient stocks of fertilisersvis-à-vislastyear,and effortsareontodiversifysourcing to reduce dependence on West Asia, which has traditionally accounted for 20-30% of India’s urea and diammonium phosphate (DAP) imports, a senior Government official said Monday. E. ExPLAINED lIntensesell-off MARCH CHANgE 30 (%)** Sensex Dow Jones Industrial* 71,947 -11.5 45,283 -7.5 Nikkei 51,885 -11.8 FTSE 100* 9,960 -8.2 DAX* 22,213 -12.1 Shanghai Composite 3,923 -5.8 CAC 40* 7,733 -9.9 *OPENING VALUES FOR MARCH 30 HAVE BEEN TAKEN; **OVER FEBRUARY 27 tive after three months in February, but with the sharp »CONTINUED ON PAgE 2 Indiankilledin attackonwater desalination plantinKuwait, tollnowupto8 Shubhajit Roy Rough weather New Delhi, March 30 Due to the war, global fertiliser market has already witnessed an increase in prices of inputs including LNG, ammoniaand sulphur, along with higher freight. India’s outgo is expected to further spiral in the coming fiscal. AS THE war in West Asia completed 30 days, another Indian national was killed in Kuwait duringanattackonapowerand water desalination plant on Sunday.Thisputsthedeathtoll of Indian citizens at eight now. Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy said a service building at the facility was damaged in Sunday’s attack, Kuwait’s state-run KUNA news agency reported.FatimaJawharHayat, a spokesperson at the ministry, Meanwhile, natural gas supply to fertiliser units, which haddippedto60%earlieramid the West Asia war, has now increased to 75-80% primarily »CONTINUED ON PAgE 2 »CONTINUED ON PAgE 2 l PRADYUT BORDOLOI’S ENTRY SPARKS DISSENT, BJP REBEL IN FRAY AS INDEPENDENT; CONGRESS BANKS ON DIVISIONS IN RULING PARTY In Assam’s seat of power, BJP faces challenge from member of old guard Sukrita Baruah that the decision was not acceptable and that he was considering either contesting from TWOWEEKSago,whenformer the seat as an Independent or, CongressleaderPradyotBordo- even more drastically, extendloi’s resignation from the party ing his support to the Conbecame public on the night of gress’s Mira Borthakur GosMarch 17, another piece of in- wami. A subsequent meeting formation began doing the between him and Mira Bortharounds: that not only would he kur caused a flutter, but Bora join the BJP the following day, soon piped down after Chief Minister Himanta the ruling party PAGE 1 Biswa Sarma paid wouldfieldhimfrom him a visit and said theDispurAssembly he would instead reconstituency, the orient his focus on contesting seat of power in the state. AsBordoloi’scandidacywas the 2029 Lok Sabha election announced on March 19, it set from Guwahati. Jayanta Kumar Das, off a churn in the BJP. An incensed Atul Bora, the sitting another senior BJP leader and BJPMLA,declaredtoreporters ticket aspirant, however, did Guwahati, March 30 anchor DECISION lVoteshareinDispur ASSAM Atul Bora, BJP 2026 2021 ASSEMBLY POLLS 64% MORE REPORTS, PAGE 9 not go quietly. A BJP veteran whohadbeenwiththepartyfor over three decades, Das resigned from the BJP in a fury and is now contesting as an Independent. And not only is he challenging the party whose ideology he still stands by — he says he is a follower of “Vajpayee’s ideals” — but his defiance has provided insight into the much-talked-about re- Manjit Mahanta, Congress 24.28% 2016 ASSEMBLY POLLS Atul Bora, BJP 71.14% BJP’s Pradyut Bordoloi campaigns in Guwahati, Monday. PTI sentment among the “old BJP” about the rise and power of former Congress leaders who have followed Sarma into the BJP over the past decade. “IhavebeenvyingfortheDis- Akon Bora, Congress 24.45% SOURCE: EC pur ticket for the past 15 years. Had the ticket gone to Atul Bora again,Iwouldhaveremainedin the party. But I can’t stand by it being given to a person who described himself as having ‘Congress DNA’ two days before getting the BJP ticket. There is a limit to all things. I didn’t work and make sacrifices for 35 years, beforeanyoneevengavechanda (monetary contributions) to the BJP, to make Congress people ministers and MLAs,” Das tells TheIndianExpress. At a meeting of party workers in Guwahati’s Beltola on Monday, Bordoloi appears aware of the stir his entry has caused.“Ihavebeenworkingon party organisation from a very young age, and I know the expectations of party grassroots workers towards a party candi- date and representative. Please accept me as a member of your family, and I also want to move ahead as a part of you, through allyourhappinessandsorrows. Youmighthaveconcernsabout me as a candidate; that is natural.IonlywanttosaythatDispur might be a new constituency, but I always consider myself a goodstudent.Ihavebeengoing acrossdifferentwardsandbeen trying to understand the issues of the people here,” he says, referring to the fact that he is not only a new entrant to the party, but also to the constituency. When he jumped ship to the BJP, he was serving his second term as a Congress Lok Sabha »CONTINUED ON PAgE 2 Lucknow