The Editorial Page: In Tamil Nadu, Governor’s delay did not do justice to the verdict 10 SATuRDAy, MAy 9, 2026 JournAlism of CourAGe lucknow, lAtE cIty, 22 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 PrIMe MInISTer MoDI, CMs of nDa STaTeS SeT To aTTenD SWearInG-In CereMonY In kolkaTa Suvendu takes oath as West Bengal cM today, Vijay still short of majority in TN Vijay moves closer with CPI(M), CPI support, all eyes on VCK now First BJP govt in West Bengal likely to have two Deputy CMs TVK chief goes to Raj Bhavan again, Saturday’s swearing-in called off as arithmetic falters atri Mitra & Tanusree Bose Kolkata, May 8 hOUrS AFTer being unanimouslyelectedtheleaderofthe BJPLegislaturePartyonFriday, West Bengal Chief Ministerelect Suvendu Adhikari met Governor r N ravi and staked claim to form the first BJP government in the state. Adhikari will take the oath of office at the Brigade Parade Ground on Saturday morning, mostlikelyalongwithtwoDeputy CMs, said sources in the raj Bhavan. Prime Minister NarendraModiandtheCMsofseveral NDA-ruled states are scheduled to attend the ceremony. hours earlier, senior BJP leader and former state unit president Dilip Ghosh proposed Adhikari’s name during the Legislature Party meeting, saying he was the face of the BJP’s expansion in Bengal and the best placed to lead the government. After the proposal received the unanimous support oftheMLAs,UnionhomeMinisterAmitShah,theparty’scentralobserver,announcedAdhikari’selectionastheLegislature Party leader. “Aftera100-yearideological journey, the BJP is in power everywhere from Gangotri to Gangasagar,” Shah told party MLAs and workers after the meeting. “When I had just becometheBJPpresidentin2014, our current state president Samik Bhattacharya opened our account by winning a byelection (in Basirhat Dakshin). In 2016, we had 3 seats. In 2021, we had 77, and now in 2026, we have 207 seats, and we are going to get a CM.” »ConTInUeD on PaGe 2 Decisive leader with street cred: Why BJP chose Suvendu as CM ravik Bhattacharya & atri Mitra Kolkata, May 8 The BJP’S decision to appoint Suvendu Adhikari as the West BengalCMflowsfromaneedto haveadecisiveleaderat the helm who can steer the new government as it goes about fulfilling the primary promises it made in its manifesto about stopping the entry of undocumented immigrants from across the Bangladesh border and implementing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), among other things. Setting the tone, Union homeMinisterAmitShah,who was the central observer at the meeting of the BJP Legislature Party on Friday, said, “Now infiltration and cow smuggling willbecomeimpossibleinWest Bengal.” In Bengal, one of the BJP’s main planks has beeninfiltrationandthe accompanying demographic changes. Adhikarihasgovernance experience — having been a minister in the secondTrinamoolCongress(TMC) government — and can deal with administrative issues with a strong hand. ByappointingAdhikari,the E. »ConTInUeD on PaGe 2 »ConTInUeD on PaGe 2 happening Fuel price freeze cost oil marketing today lThe 61stInTernaTIonalArt Exhibition of the Venice Biennale officially opens to the public. India has returned to the Biennale after seven years. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com The Big PicTure mumbai to ahmedabad @ 320 kmph Page 16 TVk chief Vijay meets Tamil nadu Governor rajendra arlekar to stake claim to form the government, at raj Bhavan in chennai, Friday. AnI DMK asks Speaker to seat its MPs away from Cong, Opp coordination in House set to be hit Manoj CG & asad rehman New Delhi, May 8 The FIrST ripples of the Congress’s political realignment in Tamil Nadu were felt on Friday as the DMK wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, seeking a change in the seating arrangementofitsMPs,sayingitwould not be appropriate for its members to sit alongside those of the Congress. A founding member of the INDIA bloc, the DMK was the Congress’s dependable and steadfast ally in the fractious alliancesofar.ThebitterCongressDMK split will cast a shadow on the INDIA bloc’s cohesion and coordination in Parliament. »ConTInUeD on PaGe 2 business as Usual By EP uNNy New Delhi, May 8 STATe-OWNeD oil marketing companies (OMCs) Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and hindustan Petroleum are estimated to be piling up under-recoveries — the difference between the retailpriceandtheimportprice — of about rs 30,000 crore a month on petrol, diesel and cookinggas,accordingtoasenior government official. OMCs have been facing severe stress as they have kept retail prices of fuel products un- changed despite a surge in global prices amid the West Asia crisis,saidSujataSharma,Joint Secretary, Petroleum Ministry. Besidesthethreefuelproducts, OMCs are also losing money on sale of aviation turbine fuel, or jetfuel,fordomesticflights.estimated losses on jet fuel sales werenotimmediatelyavailable. With no plans to compensate the OMCs for their losses on sale of petrol, diesel, and jet fuel below market prices, sources said the comments on ballooning under-recoveries sP chief akhilesh Yadav posted on X a photo of him with former Tamil nadu cm m k stalin We are not the ones who abandon each other in times of difficulty.” akhIleSh YaDav, on x Uttar pradesh »ConTInUeD on PaGe 2 economy PrePaid Power meter rollback: what changes for 83 lakh U.P. consUmers Page 6 sbi caUtions against demand moderation dUe to Prolonged west asia war Page 14 kerala cm race: cong workers hit streets in sUPPort of satheesan Page 8 A DAy before polling ended in West Bengal, data from the officeoftheChiefelectoralOfficer showed that as many as 1,607 appealsbypeoplewhosenames weredeletedfromthevoterlist, as part of the controversial SIr exercise,hadbeenapprovedby the Appellate Tribunals and added back to the electoral roll. The Indian Express has, however, learnt that just one of the 19 tribunals headed by Justice (retd) T S Sivagnanam had clearedasmanyas1,717appeals between April 5 and April 27. Since there are 18 more tribunals, there are now questions about the number of appeals clearedbythem,andhowmany more persons could have been added to the electoral rolls in time to cast their votes. TheIndianExpressreported FridaythatJusticeSivagnanam resigned from the tribunal on Thursday. When contacted by The Indian Express, he said he had done so due to personal reasons. Justice T s sivagnanam quit the tribunal Thursday The election Commission did not respond to a request for comment. West Bengal CeO Manoj Agarwal could not be reached for comment. ItislearntthatJusticeSivagnanam, who had originally been assigned some constituencies of North 24 Parganas and Kolkata as per the eC’s March 20 notification, disposed of 1,777 appeals in total. Ofthese,itislearntheapproved all1,717appealsfiledbycitizens againstdeletion.herejected60 appeals filed by the eC against inclusions in Birbhum district, the jurisdiction of which had beengiventohimwhentheSupreme Court asked him to give »ConTInUeD on PaGe 2 TWo MeeTInGS In laST 3 MonThS companies Rs 30,000 cr a month Sukalp Sharma Mismatch: Justice Sivagnanam, one of 19 tribunals, cleared 1,717 appeals; EC added only 1,607 names to rolls New Delhi, May 8 Chennai, May 8 Union home minister amit shah with suvendu adhikari after the BJP Legislature Party meeting in kolkata on Friday. PArthA PAul Judge who quit sir tribunal cleared more voters than ec added to rolls Damini nath arun Janadhanan WhAT SeeMeD like a done deal for Vijay’s TVK hit a speed bump on Friday evening as Tamil Nadu’s already volatile government-formation drama took another turn. For much of the day, TVK leaders and supporters believed the party had effectively crossed the 118-seat majority mark, with support from the Congress, CPI, CPI(M), and the expected backing of the VCK and IUML. Firecrackers burst outside Vijay’s Panayur residence,andpartyworkersspoke openly of a swearing-in ceremony on Saturday morning. Then the arithmetic began to wobble. VCKchiefThirumavalavan, who had publicly said his party would follow the Left parties’ decision on supporting TVK, hadstillnotsubmittedaformal letter of support to Governor rajendra Arlekar until Friday night, leaving Vijay’s camp technically short of a majority. Sources in the Governor’s office said Vijay had only 116 MLAs on record in the meeting on Friday evening. The delay triggered fresh speculation across political circles,whererumourswerealready moving faster than official statements. Thirumavalavan reportedly held a series of meetings through the night and into Friday with TVK, 27.16 lakh CoUlDn’T voTe In BenGal women Protesting against liqUor shoPs clash with Police in Pilibhit; 45 booked Page 5 Ex-Army generals, retired diplomats break India-Pak ice Meetings in Qatar, another Asian capital amid growing consensus on the need for a back-channel Shubhajit roy New Delhi, May 8 A yeAr after Operation Sindoor, while there has been no official contact with Pakistan, former Army generals and retireddiplomatsfrombothIndia and Pakistan have met at least twice in the last three months, including once in Qatar and another Asian capital, The Indian Express has learnt. While these are not formal “back-channels of communication,” this is the first such engagement since Operation Sindooramidagrowingconsensus in official circles in favour of opening such a track with Islamabad and rawalpindi. It’s learnt that the need for this has been “escalated” to National Security Advisor Ajit Do- nation Page 9 china admits it sUPPorted Pak in conflict with india last year val’s office and the National Security Council Secretariat has been made aware of the “willingness” from Pakistan as well. A political call is yet to be taken in favour of a back-channel but one of the key reasons behindthisrethinkhasbeenthe imperative to “manage” escalation in case of another attack. Sources said, as of now, there is an absence of established crisis-management mechanisms between the two »ConTInUeD on PaGe 2 l Lahiri kommaraVeLLY (15) and sUraGani eswa (16) From TeLanGana To rePresenT india in 29er Two-Person BoaT Feeder-cLass YoUTh caTeGorY Daughters of cook, daily wage worker make waves, set to sail into Asian Games Shivani naik 2020. With her husband, a barber, unable to earn a living, a desperate Kavitha took the ONe IS the daughter of a cook risk of working in a local hospifrom Siddipet who works at a tal’s housekeeping departyacht club in hyderabad; the ment. But her family’s life other’s mother, a widow, works changed when the hyderabad as a daily wager in a pickle fac- yacht Club hired her as a cook tory in Suryapet. Breaking into and the club’s president, Sutheelitesportofsailing,thetwo heim Shaikh, offered to train girls — Lahiri Kommaravelly her three daughters in sailing. Shaikh, a former (15) and Suragani page 1 IITian and entrepreeswa(16)—fromTeneur, sailed for over langana are now five decades, inbound for the Asian Games in Japan this Septem- heriting the generational priviber,inthe29ertwo-personboat lege,evenasherealisedthataccess to the hussain Sagar lake feeder-class youth category. Lahiri’s mother, Kavitha, waters in hyderabad was a prestruggled to make ends meet serve of the elite. “Sailing was during the Covid pandemic in an exotic, elite sport, and only Mumbai, May 8 anchor people with access to a club, or Army/Navycouldsail.Iwentto bureaucrats in hyderabad and told them that I would throw sailing open to everybody,” he says. That’s how Project Naavika waslaunchedin2015.“Weonly train underprivileged children from shanty towns, orphanages, destitute and abandoned families. We are meeting our goal of pulling hundreds out of poverty,” says Shaikh. Over the last decade, 27 havefoundspotsinsportscompanies and units across Navy and Army sailing nodes. Lahiri’s partner at a recent exposuretourregattaattheeurocupatGardaLakeinItalywas suragani eswa, Lahiri kommaravelly. SuhEIm ShAIkh/hydErABAd yAcht cluB Suraganieswa,fromChilukuru village, whose life changed after the death of her father, an ambulance driver. Suragani was studying at the Mahatma Jyothiba Phule Telangana Backward Classes Welfare school in Telangana’s yadadri- Bhuvanagiri district, from whereshewasscoutedout.her mother, Madhavi, works as a daily wage labourer in a pickle factory,earningrs300perday, and a monthly widow’s pension of rs 2,000. Only a year into sailing, but chosenbecauseshewasgoodat keeping the sails flat, not looseningupwhiletrimming,gybing and tacking, Suragani is learning fast. “earlier, my mother was scared and didn’t allowme.Thefirsttimewecapsized, I didn’t know what happened.ButIlikesailingbecause I’m getting good at it fast,” she says. It’s hard work, but the duo aced the Mumbai trials last De- cember,despitecapsizes,while finding their way around the trapeze chord that runs down the sail. While they adapted quickly to international travel, Lahiri and Suragani struggled with the cold winds of northern Italy, a stark contrast from the 39degreesCelsiustemperature when they trained in India. Back in hyderabad, there are similar stories emerging from the yacht club. rameeza Bhanu, whose parents were abandoned on the streets and fell to alcohol addiction, was forced to beg on the streets, before she fled and started to live in parks and footpaths. WatchingboatsatTankBund,shewas drawn to sailing and joined up. As talented as Lahiri is ravaliParandi,19,whowasonthe streets for two years before she enlisted and went on to win the prestigious Maj Gen harry Kapoor Trophy at yAI youth Nationals in 2021. The yacht Club also funds their education and helps them land jobs. ravali learnt German at Goethe-Zentrum. Vadla Mallesh from Kondapur Kalan village went on becomeanAgniveer,whileDurga Prasad of rasoolpura left behind sailors from tony neighbourhoods to become the national U-17 champion and is now serving in the Navy. »ConTInUeD on PaGe 2 Lucknow