The Editorial Page: In Tamil Nadu, Governor’s delay did not do justice to the verdict 10 SATuRDAy, MAy 9, 2026 JournAlism of CourAGe kolkaTa, laTe cITy, 20 PageS ₹6.00 (₹12 in north east states, ₹20 in andaman) 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 Judge who quit sir tribunal cleared more voters than Vijay moves closer ec added to rolls with support from Mismatch: Justice Sivagnanam, one of 19 tribunals, cleared 1,717 appeals; CPI(M), CPI, all EC added only 1,607 names to rolls eyes on VCK now First BJP govt in West Bengal likely to have two Deputy CMs damini Nath New Delhi, May 8 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 TVK chief Vijay meets Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Arlekar to stake claim to form the government, at Raj Bhavan in Chennai, Friday. anI Union Home Minister Amit Shah with Suvendu Adhikari after the BJP Legislature Party meeting in Kolkata on Friday. ParTha Paul 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 will become impossible in West Bengal.” In Bengal, one of the BJP’s main planks has beeninfiltrationandthe accompanying demographic changes. Adhikari has governance experience — havingbeenaministerinthesecond TrinamoolCongress(TMC)government — and can deal with administrative issues with a strong hand. ByappointingAdhikari,the BJP also keeps its word that a E. Bengali will be the CM, thereby disproving the TMC’s election narrativethatelectingtheparty would mean handing over the state to “bohiragatos (outsiders)”. Adhikari is a leader who is quite in the mould of Mamata Banerjee — someone with a streetfighter mentality who is equally at ease running an administration. BJP insiders said that with the new government expected to publish a white paper on the TMC’s corruption and set up a Commission—Adhikarireiterated this in his speech on Friday—severalleadersoftheOppositionpartymaycomeunder »CONTiNUed ON PAGe 2 TVK chief goes to Raj Bhavan again, Saturday’s swearing-in called off Arun Janardhanan Chennai, May 8 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. VCK chief Thirumavalavan, »CONTiNUed ON PAGe 2 Outgoing ministers’ nameplates removed, new signages installed: Bengal Assembly prepares for new Cabinet sweety kumari & Atri Mitra Kolkata, May 8 FOLLOWINg The conclusion of the West Bengal Assembly elections and the transition towards a new government, the state Legislative Assembly is undergoing a visible transformation, with officials and staffers working in full swing to prepare the premises for an inaugural cabinet meeting likely aftertheswearing-inceremony on saturday. While formal confirmation 27.16 lAkh COUldN’T vOTe iN BeNGAl The West Bengal Legislative Assembly illuminated ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, in Kolkata on Friday. PTI on the cabinet meeting is still pending, the state administration has initiated a formal protocol for the removal of official nameplates of the outgoing MLAs and ministers to make way for the newly elected representatives. Maintenanceteamsandthe PublicWorksDepartmenthave been deployed to sanitise chambers, which includes the installation of new signage and updating the furniture. The iconic red-brick Writers’ Buildings, which served as the state adminis- trative headquarters since 1780 and served as the seat of power for the east India Company, is also undergoing large-scale renovation,withtheBJPreiterating its commitment to returningtheChiefMinister’sOffice (CMO) to this historic site. Although the state government had earlier sanctioned Rs 200 crore for restoration of the 240-year-old structure, only Blocks1and2areconsideredfit for immediate use, with the second floor likely to temporarily house the CMO, while »CONTiNUed ON PAGe 2 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 Business as usual By EP uNNy kerala cm race: cong workers hit streets in support of satheesan page 6 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 Freeze on petrol and diesel prices cost oil marketing firms Rs 30,000 crore a month sukalp sharma 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 unchanged despite a surge in globalpricesamidtheWestAsia 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 economy sBi cautions against demand moderation due to prolonged west asia war page 13 on sale of petrol, diesel, and jet fuel below market prices, sources said the comments on ballooning under-recoveries indicates a price hike is imminent. The OMCs too have been pushing for a price increased, they said. In the case of LPg, the government had stepped in to »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,earning Rs 300 per day, 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- Kolkata 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,who was on the 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