The Editorial Page: The Calcutta that once was, the city that can resume its journey again 8 FRiDAy, MAy 8, 2026 JoURnAlism of CoURAge mumbAi, lAte city, 16 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 Business as usual By eP UNNy Suvendu aide killing: Police recover car and bike used in attack; Bengal on edge ravik Bhattacharya, sweety Kumari & Tanusree Bose dent. he was targeted because he worked for adhikari,” she told local television channels, adding that she wants the culprits to get a life term and does not want them hanged. The Governor, meanwhile, has issued a notification dissolvingtheWestBengalassembly even as outgoing Cm mamata Banerjee refused to resign, a day before the BJP Legislature Party meets to elect the new Cm. Kolkata, May 7 politics PAGE 7 Somnath & Bharat: in a world marked By diviSionS, Spirit of unity more relevant than ever By PM NAReNDRA MoDi aDayafterSuvenduadhikari’s personal assistant Chandranath Rath was shot dead in madhyamgram, near Kolkata, police on Thursday said they hadseizedthecarthathadbeen used to block the road in which Rath’scarwastravelling,aswell asthemotorbikethattheassailants rode. Police have also set upaSpecialInvestigationTeam (SIT) comprising the CID, the Intelligence Bureau, and a Special Task Force. Thiscameonadayadhikari claimed that Rath might not have been killed had he not chandranath rath’s body being carried out of Barasat government medical college & hospital after a postmortem, Thursday. PArthA PAul worked for him, while Rath’s mother alleged that the killing was linked to the Trinamool Congress’s defeat in Bhabanipur. “I would not have suffered so much had he died in an acci- Murder probe The police said they were scanning CCTV footage and that the Border Security Force (BSF) had been alerted so that »CONTiNuED ON PaGE 2 Rat poison found in watermelon eaten by Mumbai family before their deaths: FSL report Mohamed Thaver Mumbai, May 7 ZINC PhoSPhIDe, a highly toxicchemicalcommonlyused in rat poison, was found in the watermelon consumed by a family of four from mumbai’s Pydhonieareaaswellasintheir viscera samples, according to a forensic report submitted by the Forensic Science Laboratory(FSL)tothemumbaipolice on Thursday. Investigators said the findings suggest the poison was most likely sprinkled on the watermelon after it was cut, shifting the probe towards how the toxic substance entered the fruit. Thefindingsareexpectedto significantly alter the direction of the police investigation into thedeathsofabdullahDokadia (40), his wife Nasreen (35), and theirdaughtersayesha(16)and Zainab (13), who died within hours of having dinner in which they had consumed biryani and ate watermelon at their residence on april 26. FSL officials said zinc phos- The couple and their two daughters died on april 26. phide, a rodenticide widely usedtocontrolratsandpestsin agricultural fields and stored grains,wasdetectedinboththe watermelon samples and the internal organs of the deceased family members. an FSL official told The Indian Express, “We have submitted the report today. Zinc phosphide was found in two samples, the watermelon and viscera of the four deceased persons.” “Usually, it is a powder whichmostlikelymeanssomeone cut the watermelon, sprinkledthepowderfollowing »CONTiNuED ON PaGE 2 pm narendra modi with Bihar cm samrat choudhary and deputy cm Bijendra prasad yadav as nishant kumar (second from right) and other ministers take oath at gandhi maidan in patna on Thursday. Ani PM on Patna dais, 32 ministers join Samrat govt, Nitish son gets Health santosh singh Patna, May 7 aS maNy as 32 ministers were sworn in to Bihar Chief ministerSamratChoudhary’sCabinet on Thursday, including former Cm Nitish Kumar’s son Nishant Kumar, who has been given the health portfolio. Prime minister Narendra modi was among those who attendedtheswearing-ineventat Patna’s Gandhi maidan. on the way to the venue from the airport, modi’s vehicle was showered with flower petals by people who lined up on both sides of the road. Former chief minister Nitish Kumar, Union ministers Rajnath Singh, amit Shah, J P Nadda, Jitan Ram manjhi and Chirag Paswan, BJP national president Nitin Nabin, and RLm chief Upendra Kushwaha also attended the function. after the ceremony, Pm modiwasseeninteractingwith Nitish Kumar as well as Nishant. Choudhary’s Cabinet now includesthesonsofthreeformer chief ministers — Nitish Kumar’s son Nishant, Jagannathmishra’ssonNitishmishra, andJitanRammanjhi’ssonSantosh Kumar Suman. all three were sworn in on Thursday. Nishant, who is widely seen as the next leader of the JD(U) »CONTiNuED ON PaGE 2 Drones to standoff weapons: Armed forces take fast route to shopping 118 146 181 75 Learning from conflicts, strategies revisited, reorganisation underway amrita Nayak Dutta Happening today lTaTa TrusTs will hold a crucial board meeting, which is likely to consider key issues on the agenda Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com New Delhi, May 7 ReoRGaNISING ITSeLF into a more agile and functional fightingforce,moresopostoperation Sindoor, the Indian military has made large-scale emergency procurement of modern weapons and technology to change the way it fights future wars. The acquisitions over a year operation sindoor A yeAr lAter include a variety of drones, loitering munitions, counter-unmanned aerial systems, standoff weapons, including guided munitions and missiles. Several radars and electronic war- lt gen rajiv ghai, air marshal awadhesh kumar Bharti and Vice admiral a n pramod, who briefed the country during op sindoor, address the media in Jaipur on its first anniversary. rohit JAin PArAs fare equipment have also been procuredthroughthefast-track route. according to officials familiar with the developments, »CONTiNuED ON PaGE 2 uNCErTaiNTy OVEr GOVT fOrMaTiON iN TaMil NaDu Vijay goes back to Raj Bhavan, told to show majority first TVK reaches out to others; AiADMK keeps tie-up with DMK open, shifts MLAs to resort arun Janardhanan Chennai, May 7 aS aCToR-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) scrambled for the final numbers needed to form a governmentinTamilNadu,itsoutreach to potential allies Thursday carried a distinctly new politicalstyle:Whatsappmessages from the state’s newest majorpartytosomeofitsoldest ideological formations. The response from sections of CPI, CPm and VCK ranged from cautious curiosity to visible discomfort, with several senior leaders privately admitting they had never before received a government-formation invitation through a messaging app from a party seekingpowerinFortStGeorge. The unusual outreach unfolded even as Vijay met GovernorRajendraarlekarforasecond consecutive day, this time expressing his wish to be sworn inintwodays,TVKsourcessaid. »CONTiNuED ON PaGE 2 Banners of Vijay, whose TVk emerged as the single-largest party in the Tamil nadu assembly elections, in chennai on Thursday. Pti Questions over role of Governor: SC has upheld primacy of floor test apurva Vishwanath New Delhi, May 7 TamILNaDUGovernorRajendra arlekar’s decision to delay the swearing-in of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) leader Vijay as Chief minister puts the spotlight back on the debate pitting the Governor’s gubernatorial discretion against the democratic mandate of the people. Conventionally, the single E. Sohrabuddin Shaikh encounter case: Bombay HC upholds acquittal of all 22, including 21 cops Omkar Gokhale Mumbai, May 7 The BomBay high Court Thursdayuphelda2018special court verdict acquitting all 22 accused, including 21 police personnel from Gujarat, Rajasthan, and andhra Pradesh, in the alleged fake encounter of Sohrabuddin Shaikh and Tulsiram Prajapati, as well as the killing of Shaikh’s wife Kauser Bi in 2005-06. a bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam a ankhad dismissed appeals filed by Sohrabuddin’sbrothers,Rubabuddin Shaikh and Nayabuddin Shaikh, against the special court verdict, pending for nearly seven years. The bench issued a brief oral order stating that the appeals were rejected and a detailed judgment would follow. “The trial court applied the correct and settled legal principlesinlaw.Itsconclusionsare not contrary to the evidence and documents on record. Nor canitbeheldthatthejudgment largest party stakes its claim, is theninvitedtoformthegovernment,andproveitsmajorityon thefloorofthehouse.however, Governor arlekar is learnt to have asked Vijay to submit proof of support from at least 118 legislators — the majority mark in the 234member assembly. TVK currently has 108 mLas; with Congress’s fivemember support, the number sohrabuddin shaikh and his wife kausar Bi were killed in 2005-06. of the trial court is manifestly unjustandunreasonablebased onerroneouslawandfacts,"the hC held. The bench observed that "foundation of the prosecution story is not established at all in as much as the prosecution failed to establish the abduction of Sohrabuddin Shaikh, Kausar Bi and Tulsiram Prajapati, their illegal detention at Disha Farmhouse and arham Farmhouse and the alleged fake encounter." The bench further noted "findings recorded by trial court are not perverse" and added, "The judgment of »CONTiNuED ON PaGE 2 »CONTiNuED ON PaGE 2 Tyrannyofthe elected:Top courtondelay overCEClaw ananthakrishnan G New Delhi, May 7 The SUPReme Court ThursdaydescribedthefailureofParliament to frame a law for the selection of the CeC and eCs until its direction in the anoop Baranwal case in 2023 as the “tyranny of the elected”. hearing petitions challengingtheChiefelectionCommissionerandotherelectionCommissioners (appointment, ConditionsofServiceandTerm of office) act, 2023, which laid downthattheCeCandeCswill be selected by a panel comprising the Prime minister, Leader of opposition and a Union Cabinet minister, Justice Dipankar Datta, presiding over a two-judgebench,saiditwished judgestoowereappointedwith the same speed as eCs. “We can only say we wish this speed is maintained in the appointmentofjudges,”Justice Datta remarked when Senior advocate Vijay hansaria, appearing for petitioner and Congress leader Jaya Thakur, contended that there was no effective consultation by the »CONTiNuED ON PaGE 2 l parTy leader files fir saying she paid ‘swindler’ for sake of parTy; sTaTe chief spoTs ‘conspiracy’ Whodunnit? A ‘fake Rahul aide’ leaves divided Uttarakhand Cong squabbling aiswarya raj to claim that a conspiracy was underway to replace him. amid the open trading of FeW IN the Congress can put barbsandtheearlierannouncetheir money on being privy to mentofa“sabbatical”byveteran the high command. That per- leader harish Rawat, who has haps explains amritsar native been sidelined within the party, Gaurav Kumar’s alleged suc- Congressstatein-chargeKumari cess in cheating several Con- SeljahasarrivedinUttarakhand. gressleadersacrossthecountry officially, Selja is here for a tour for money, posing as Rahul of the Garhwal division, but her meetings with ConGandhi’sprivatesecpage 1 gress leaders and retary. In Uttarakworkers are being hand, he has got seen as an effort to bang for the buck. GauravKumar’sallegedtar- settle the latest flare-up in the geting of Congress leader fractious state unit. The fast-moving developBhavna Pandey has set off fingerpointing across the ranks in ments were set off by Pandey the party, leading state Con- lodging an FIR on Sunday gresspresidentGaneshGodiyal against Kumar for swindling Dehradun, May 7 anchor her by posing as Gandhi’s private secretary. Speaking to reporters the following day, Pandey claimed Kumar told her thatthehighcommanddidnot support Godiyal and thought hewasdamagingthestateCongress’s image, and that he sought Rs 2-3 crore from her to facilitate Godiyal’s removal. She paid Rs 25 lakh, Pandey admitted, but only “to save the state”. Nextup,Godiyalsaidhe,too, hadreceivedacallfromKumar. “hetoldmeIwasseenassomeoneworkingagainstpartyinterests. I told him that I should be replaced if that was the case.” Godiyal added that when Kumar went on to say that he gaurav kumar allegedly cheated several leaders under the pretext of securing election tickets or party positions. exPress had “settled” matters with several leaders, he smelled a rat. an emotional Godiyal added: “anyone who wants to improve the party can sit in my chair… The allegations against mearebeyondanythingIcould have imagined.” Rawat told The Indian Express the incident showed how crime was rising in the BJP-ruledstateanddeniedany politicalconspiracy.“Policewill investigate the case.” Pandey also alleged that Khanpur Independent mLa UmeshKumar,whohasnolove lost with Rawat, had links with Gaurav Kumar. The mLa respondedbyaccusingPandeyof conspiring against her own party leaders. a former journalist, Umesh Kumar had released a sting video, purportedly showing Rawat discussing exchange of money with then rebel Con- gress mLa harak Singh Rawat, for support of mLas during the 2016 politicalcrisis in the party. Partyleadersdespairedover the fresh eruption of tensions between the Godiyal and harish Rawat camps, with the PCC chiefapparently“ignoring”the veteran and leaning on former PCCchiefKaranmaharaforadvice. Godiyal was earlier considered close to Rawat, but ties between the two soured after Rawat backed Pritam Singh for the PCC chief’s post in august. Recently, Rawat sought the induction of Sanjay Negi, a former block pramukh from Ramnagar, into the party, but Godiyalopposedit.“atthesame time, Godiyal is growing closer topeopleRawatopposes…heis tryingtoropeinUmeshKumar. Ranjeet Rawat, who had earlier fallen out with harish Rawat, is also being favoured,” a senior Congress leader said. Ranjeet Rawat, once consideredharishRawat’saideand dubbed the “super Cm” for his perceived influence, has also emerged as a dissident voice. The relationship between the two leaders deteriorated after the Congress’s defeat in 2017. In 2021, Ranjeet Rawat sought a ticketforhissonforabypollbut wasdeniedone.In2022,thetwo againclashedoveraticketfrom Ramnagar,withthepartydenying the seat to both. »CONTiNuED ON PaGE 2