The Editorial Page: Likely below-normal monsoon is a warning, India must heed water stress 10 FRIDAY, MAY 1, 2026 Journalism of Courage MuMBAI, LATe CITy, 20 PAgeS ₹5.00 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 reg.no. mcs/067/2018 - 20 rni regn. no. 1543/57 WEsT BEngal Cm TaRgETs BJP ThE day aFTER POlls 100 128 158 76 happening today Guard EVM strong rooms, exit polls fixed, Mamata tells party lIndIa, aImIng to stay on course for a second title, face Japan in quarterfinals of the Thomas Cup. Track This and more on www.indianexpress.com dECIsIOn 2026 By EP UNNY maharashtra seeksdismissal ofpleaagainst scrappingof muslimquota Omkar gokhale Mumbai, April 30 seeKING dIsMIssal of a plea against the february 17 Maharashtra Government resolution (Gr) scrapping the 5 per centreservationforMuslimsin education, the state government recently told the Bombay High Court that “the Constitutiondoesnotenvisagethegrant of reservation solely on the basis of religion”. therefore, the government saidthe“misconceived,baseless, vagueandspeculative”pleacannotbeentertainedandshouldbe dismissedbyimposing“exemplary costs” on the petitioner, a Mumbai-based lawyer, who allegedthattheGrwas“arbitrary” and amounted to “racial discriminationagainstminorities”. on february 17, the state social Justice department cancelled a July 7, 2014, Government resolution (Gr) issued under an ordinance that had l 10seatswithmaximumdeletionsins.i.r. W EsT BE nga l Ravik Bhattacharya Kolkata, April 30 Business as usual In Bengal, 48 seats showed dip in voter numbers, account for 28% of SIR deletions If attacked, do not retaliate now... we will cross 226 seats: CM to TMC a day after polling concluded in West Bengal and most exit polls gave the opposition BJP the edge, tMC chief and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee urgedpartyworkersandpeople of the state to guard strong rooms where electronic Voting Machines (eVMs) are stored, sayingshetoowouldstandvigil. In a video message posted on social media, Banerjee rejected the exit poll projections, saying they had been aired on the “instruction of the BJP” to “demoralise”tMCworkersand said her party would cross 226 seats in the House of 294. asking tMC workers to remain calm, she said they must not “retaliate right now” if attacked. “I am asking our workers and the general public to guard the strong rooms and »COnTInUEd On PagE 2 chief minister mamata Banerjee outside a school in kolkata which serves as a strong room, Thursday. exPReSS High drama in Kolkata: TMC claims tampering of EVMs, poll officials reject charge Ravik Bhattacharya & atri mitra Kolkata, April 30 Hours after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee urged her party to guard the eVM strong rooms,therewashighdramain Kolkata thursday night as tMC candidates Kunal Ghosh and shashi Panja and workers allegedeVMtamperingandsat on a dharna at the Khudiram anushilan Kendra near Netaji Indoor stadium. BJP candidates too rushed to the spot. Banerjee, meanwhile, reached the sakhawat Memorial Girls High school, a strong room for eVMs from her constituency Bhabanipur, at 8.15 pm and remained there until midnight. Workers of both the tMC and BJP gathered outside the school and there was heavy police deployment there. Banerjee later said: “I have requested that candidates and electionagentsbegivenproper facilities. I was here for four hours.Iwasheretokeepavigil. our eVMs are here. at the »COnTInUEd On PagE 2 Page 8 1,88,579 1,90,437 2,25,990 1,90,478 1,96,582 1,86,423 2,16,328 1,63,143 1,98,261 2,19,147 sandeep singh & Jatin anand New Delhi, April 30 tHe West Bengal elections stoodoutfortworeasons:one,a newcriterionof‘logicaldiscrepancies’ that deleted 27.16 lakh names from electoral roll, and two, a record turnout of 92.95% which saw 31 lakh more votes polled compared with 2021. ananalysisofthetwosetsof data throws up 96 seats, which display a telling pattern. In 48 seats, the number of voters this a Vande Bharat express crosses the chenab Bridge for the first time, Thursday after railways minister ashwini Vaishnaw flagged off the 20-coach train service between Jammu and srinagar. services for the public will commence on may 2. PTI Mira Rd accused felt he’d be killed after attack, left note reasoning with ISIS ideology: officials Defence says evidence ‘planted’ as his house was not sealed after arrest Mumbai, April 30 tHe INVestIGatING agenciesprobingthesuspected “lone wolf attack” case in the april 27 Mira road incident, where 31-year-old Zaib Zubair ansari allegedly attacked two security guards with a knife, 1,55,042 1,79,554 2,17,767 1,94,238 1,79,640 1,74,411 2,20,200 1,60,981 2,11,406 2,31,606 deletions in adjudication -17.8 -5.7 -3.6 2 -8.6 -6.4 1.8 -1.3 6.6 5.7 74,775 55,420 47,493 46,100 39,579 38,222 37,965 37,255 36,581 35,573 time was lower than in 2021. these48accountfor28%ofthe total 27.16 lakh deletions. this suggests that the special Intensive revision (sIr) could have had an impact on the number of voters who turned out. BJP had won 15 of these 48 seats in 2021. of the remaining 246 seats where the number of voters is higher than in 2021, 48 seats polled at least 20,000 more votes. these 48 accounted 42% of the total additional votes »COnTInUEd On PagE 2 akash mandal Mumbai, April 30 l4%fallsinceFeb-end tHe ruPee fell past the 95per-dollar mark thursday on its way to hitting a new all-time low of 95.34-per-dollar as fresh concerns about the war in West asia propelled global crude oil prices to a four-year high. Having closed at 94.85 Wednesday, therupeeendedthursdayonly slightly weaker at 94.92. domesticstockmarketsalso behaved similarly, with Nifty and sensex falling as much as 1.6%duringthedaybeforeclosing 0.75% lower. However, for aprilasawhole,thetwobenchmark indices were up 7-8% — the biggest monthly gain in over two years — after falling more than 11% in March. Investor apprehension weighed heavy thursday as Brent crude oil prices surged to $126 per barrel, with worries mounting that the conflict in West asia could escalate after american news website axios reported that us President donald trump would be briefed on “new plans for potential military action” in Iran. Market sentiment was also weighed down by cautious commentary by the us federal reserve,whichlateWednesday leftthefederalfundsratetarget range unchanged at 3.5-3.75%. “the fed’s messaging has 90 91 AIIMS can’t choose for parents: SC refuses to hear plea against ending minor’s pregnancy ThE day’s first train service starts from Jammu Tawi at 6.20 am and after 3 stops will reach Srinagar at 11.10 am. At 2 pm, it will leave Srinagar and reach Jammu Tawi by 6.50 pm. The pair will run 6 days a week. 21 sECURITy personnel, including RPF commandos, to provide security. reporTs: pages 14, 15 Votes polled change in % in 2026 Rupee breaches 95-mark amid fresh war concerns, spike in oil prices 92 93 94 90.99 95 96 94.92 26 FeB 30 APRIL FIguReS ARe dAILy CLoSIng LeVeLS oF RuPee'S uS doLLAR exChAnge RATe. SouRCe: InVeSTIng.CoM the world iran threatens ‘Painful’ resPonse if u.s. attacks Page 16 certainly turned more hawkish,” Madhavi arora, Chief economist at emkay Global financial services, said. It is unlikely the central bank “will move on rates until there is greater clarity” on the conflict and evidence that effects of the ustariffsarefading,arorasaid. the rupee is now down more than 4% since the us and Israel attacked Iran on february 28, with foreign Portfolio »COnTInUEd On PagE 2 dOn’T makE IT a FIghT BETWEEn sTaTE, CITIzEns: sC ThE TRaIn’s design, said Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, is significantly different as it can operate even at -10°C. A single train has more than 3,000 semiconductor chips and is “highly computerised”. mohamed Thaver & sadaf modak ruchir sharma on BJP dominance: no rival on right, oPP divided Samserganj Lalgola Bhagabangola Raghunathganj Metiaburuz Farakka Suti Mothabari Jangipur Ratua Jammuto srinagarin lessthan5hrs »COnTInUEd On PagE 2 nation Votes polled in 2021 seats BREnT CRUdE PRICEs hIT $126/BaRREl were told by ansari that he believed he would be killed after attackingvictimsandhenceleft behind a note claiming allegiance to IsIs, mentioning “lonewolfwouldattackyouall”. the note written in pencil was kept near his laptop on a table.However,ansari’slawyer said it was “planted” as the house was left open and not zaib zubair ansari allegedly attacked two security guards with a knife in mira road area sealed even after he was taken into custody. Police also found the shop in a Mira road mall from where he purchased the nearly nine-inch knife used for the crime. so far, the agencies have been looking at it as a case of self-radicalisation, but now they suspect he was guided by someone online as he had formatted his two phones, presumably to wipe out the links, sources said. the agencies were looking at it a case of self-radicalisation with no external link and now theyaresuspectingexternalinvolvement as ansari had »COnTInUEd On PagE 2 Amend law to remove time limit in case of unwanted pregnancy on account of rape of minor girl: CJI ananthakrishnan g New Delhi, April 30 uNderlINING tHat an unwanted pregnancy cannot be thrust on anyone, the supreme Court on thursday refused to entertain a curative petition filedbytheallIndiaInstituteof Medical sciences (aIIMs), contesting the court’s earlier decision to allow a 15-year-old rape survivor to terminate her 30weekpregnancy.thecourtsaid it “will not allow the institution to choose for the parents”. “this is a case of child rape. the victim will have a lifelong scar and trauma. It is now a fight between the foetus and the child. the child must survive, and she must have a dignified life,” observed Chief Justice of India surya Kant, heading a two-Judge bench whichincludedJusticeJoymalya Bagchi. the CJI also said the Medical termination of Pregnancy (MtP) act should be amended to remove the time limit for legal termination of pregnancies arising out of rape of minor girls. on april 24, another twoJudgebenchofJusticesBVNagarathna and ujjal Bhuyan had allowed the medical termination of pregnancy. aIIMs had then filed a review petition, which was dismissed by the bench on Wednesday. aIIMs then filed a curative petition against the dismissal of the review petition. appearing for aIIMs on thursday, additional solicitor General aishwarya Bhati said thefoetuswasalready30weeks old, and waiting for four more weeks would be in the interest of the minor as well as the foetus. “What has to be done is »COnTInUEd On PagE 2 Inthepast, courtsallowed govtstandof carryingfoetus tofullterm apurva Vishwanath New Delhi, April 30 IN reCeNt cases involving minors seeking termination of advanced pregnancies, even in casesofrape,theCentrehasadvocated for carrying the foetus to full term followed by adoption,insteadofapprovingabortions beyond the 24-week statutory limit. the Centre’s lawyers and the all India Institute of Medical sciences (aIIMs), which is the nodal medical body assigned by the courtforabortioncases,haveargued that termination of pregnancyinadvancedcasesis“akin to foeticide”. additional solicitor General aishwaryaBhatimadethisargument on thursday, too, in the curative plea filed by aIIMs, pressingforthe15-year-oldrape survivor to carry the foetus for “fourmoreweeks”intheinterest oftheminoraswellasthefoetus. While the sC refused to entertain the plea in this case, courts have declined to allow E. »COnTInUEd On PagE 2 l somVeer ghasola from Bhiwani disTricT has acquired 65 acres on a 99-Year lease for an equiValenT of rs 1.5 cr in Tanzania, poinTed ouT an acre in harYana can cosT rs 25 lakh To oVer rs 1 cr Haryana to Tanzania: With help from state govt, farmers bridge the gap sukhbir siwach state’s farmers, “we will verify documentation with the authoritiessothattheydon’tfacediftHree years after Haryana ficulties”. “We also plan to sign began a push for investment an Mou with the tanzanian opportunitiesintanzania,with government to formalise this regular visits by officials and cooperation,” the official said, private delegations, the state marking the Haryana governgovernment has started ident- ment’s first overseas initiative ifying nearly one lakh acres in undertakenatsuchalargescale. on Wednesday, Haryana the east african country for its foreignCooperation farmerstopursueagpage 1 Minister rao Narbir ricultural ventures. singh chaired a a senior Haryana meeting with potengovernment official tial investors keen to told The Indian Express that after identifying land exploreopportunitiesintanzathat can be acquired by the niaandotherafricancountries. Chandigarh, April 30 anchor Yogesh sharma (above), a ca from haryana, has acquired 160 acres in morogoro, Tanzania; his mother inspecting the fields exPReSS the fertile soil and climatic conditions in tanzania, as well ascheapavailabilityofland,are the reasons for Haryana zooming in on the country. tanzania’s location along the Indian ocean offers direct maritime routes to India and global markets, making agricultural exports more viable. somveer Ghasola from BhiwanidistrictisamongHaryana farmers who have already begunleasinglandintanzania. Ghasola, who has acquired 65 acres on a 99‑year lease for equivalentofrs1.5crore,points outthestrikingcontrastinland prices. “In Haryana, an acre of land can cost between rs 25 lakh and over rs 1 crore de- pending on location,” says the 58-year-old. officials say the idea to explore options in tanzania originated with Manohar lal Khattar as Chief Minister, with his government giving the slogan “Go Global”. following that, Haryana established the dedicated ‘department of foreign Cooperation’ to strengthen international partnerships. since tanzania was identified as a lucrative destination, delegationsofHaryanaofficials and interested investors have visited the country regularly. like Khattar, his successor as CM, Nayab singh saini, has been holding meetings with tanzanian officials and stakeholders for large‑scale farming opportunities. earlier this year, a Haryanaafrica strategic Partnership Meetingwasorganisedatsurajkund in faridabad. Ghasola, who fought the 2024 assembly elections as an IndependentfromBadhraincidentallyandlost,hadearlierset upaminingbusinessneartanzania’s capital dodoma. He bought the 65 acres he owns in 2025 for warehousing initially, »COnTInUEd On PagE 2