The ideas Page: Dialogue, not agitation, holds key to ladakh’s political future 11 ThURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2026 Journalism of Courage KolKATA, lATe cITy, 18 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 business as usual By EP UNNY theeditorialpage p 10 i voted for three decades. why is my s.i.r incomplete? commission has no answer by surjit s bHalla this isn’t about who wins, but about the citizen’s right to her vote by manoj Kumar jHa 2 ecs stand up to ask; cec must answer, sc must not turn away the ideas page p 11 chief election commissioner is not the election commission of india by s y QuraisHi after tHe indian eXPress investigation on 14 objeCtions raised by two eCs eC note signed by dePuty direCtor CEC must go, SC should act: Opp chorus after EC divide out in open ‘Differing views’ part of ‘decision-making’, says EC, does not address concerns two ECs red-flagged Demands for court-monitored probe, SIR pause, fresh polls; CJP announces stir; Opp distances CEC from Commission manoj C g & asad rehman New Delhi, September 23 WiTh eveRy BJP victory, opposition parties have been increasingly critical of the election Commission of india (eCi) alleging infirmities in the electoral process — from “faulty” rolls, siR “intimidation” to “selective” application of the Model Code of Conduct. The revelations in the investigation published by The Indian Express Wednesday of the dividewithinreshapedthatcriticism in two significant ways. For the first time, opposition parties decoupled the full Commission from Chief elec- EC exposed... Who is playing with a constitutional body to remain in power? This means govts formed during this period were unconstitutional.” aKHilesH yadav, SP Vote chori a crime... direct attack on Constitution... BJP, RSS and EC who organised it have committed an act of treason. Justice will be served.” CEC should be arrested.... There will be pan-India protests until Gyanesh Kumar remains CEC... Hold fresh elections with pre-SIR voter lists.” raHul gandHi, omar abdullaH, Nc TRINAMool coNGReSS Constitutionalauthority,theopposition said that the supreme Court—alreadylookingintoaspectsofthedeeplycontestedsiR — should step in and scrutinise the decisions of the eCi. TheIndianExpressreported thattwooftheeCi’sthreeCom- missioners, sukhbir singh sandhu and vivek Joshi, had objected, on the record, at least 14 times in 10 months on a rangeofissues:decisionstaken without their knowledge; changes to Form 6 for new voters;deletionandrestoration of voters in the siR process; glaring gaps in processes that included centralisation of the voter database and its custody. on Wednesday, the »Continued on Page 2 more reports, page 5 ‘Still awaited... urgently required’: BJP: Smear campaign by Opp, dissent Goa staff sent 8 emails in 7 days, within EC sign of vibrant democracy Patra targets but EC shut out valid voters Congress over past For a Goan, being off the roll costs more than a vote: Dialysis to appointment of ECs, their role in transplants, state health support scheme open only to voters party later ritika Chopra Panaji, September 23 nineTy-seven voters may notmatterintheworld’slargest democracy of over 900 million voters but this story from goa has national significance. on Wednesday, The Indian Express reported that two election Commissioners in the three-member election Commissionofindiaobjectedonrecord 14 times in 10 months to steps taken by the eCi under Chief election Commissioner gyanesh Kumar — from keeping them in the dark to adding new voters and deleting names. WhatthetwoelectionCommissioners, sukhbir singh sandhu and vivek Joshi, primarily warned against — the centralisation of eCinet and cutting out state ground-level officials — has played out in goa, and its trail is recorded. on February 17, four days before goa was due to publish its final electoral roll under the special intensive Revision (siR), the state’s Chief electoral officer wrote to the eCi in Delhi. This was his eighth time in seven days. attached was a list of 97 voters whom goa’s own electoral Registration officers (eRos) had heard, examinedandfoundeligibleundera process laid down by the supreme Court. »Continued on Page 2 Unanimous process, says poll panel; no mention of why ECs went to Cabinet Secy mamata banerjee, coNGReSS tion Commissioner (CeC) gyanesh Kumar, and shifted their attack from the eCi in general to the CeC specifically. Kumar “must go”, and “he has no right to continue in office”, was their refrain. in tandem, given the nature of the Corrective action needs to be taken. Otherwise, if people lose faith in elections, what remains of a democracy? Election is the very foundation of a democracy.” jatin anand New Delhi, September 23 DesCRiBing The opposition attackontheBJPanddemands for the resignation of Chief election Commissioner gynesh Kumar as a “smear campaign” aimed at “undermining theinstitutionsofthecountry”, the BJP Wednesday said dissent within the election Commissionwere“signsofavibrant BJP spokesperson sambit Patra democracy”. addressing a press conferenceafterTheIndianExpressreported that election Commissioners sukhbir singh sandhu andvivekJoshihadobjectedon record, at least 14 times in 10 months,tosiR-relateddecisions taken without their knowledge and glaring gaps in processes, BJP national spokesperson sambit Patra said dissent amongelectionCommissioners only went to underline that no constitutional body was being subjected to dictatorship – a charge levelled by the opposition–andwhatfinallymattered was that the siR was “through consensus…anexerciseinunanimity”. “eversincetheModigovernment came to power in 2014, opposition parties have been collapsing one after the other… The Congress party, in particular…Realisingthatwhenit(opposition) cannot win, they are underminingtheinstitutionsof the country,” he said. hesaidthelatestopposition uproar was in line with its plan of “attacking the constitutional institutions of the country and findingwaystodiscreditthem”. »Continued on Page 2 The Indian Express investigation published on september 23 ritika Chopra New Delhi, September 23 ResPonDing to The Indian Express investigation Wednesday that two of its three Commissionershadobjectedonrecord at least 14 times in 10 monthstodecisionstakenwithouttheirknowledgeandglaring gaps in processes, the election Commission of india (eCi) Wednesday acknowledged thesenotesbutdescribedthem as part of the panel’s “decisionmaking process”. however, it did not respond to any of the concerns raised by the two Commissioners, nor did it state whetherorhowtheseconcerns had been addressed. “Differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberation in any institution,” the Commission said in a press notesignedbyDeputyDirector PPawan.“Theyareapartofthe decision-making process before a final decision is taken.” E. why sc referred matter to cji explained The “written notes, observations, technical suggestions and internal checks-and-balances” by its members, it said, were “standard, ongoing practices”, and “the suggestions given by the Commissioners were for further improving the electoral processes”. in recent months, the note said, the Commission “has taken numerous decisions, issued instructions, introduced around 40 new initiatives and undertaken many electoral reforms including the conduct of electoral roll revision (including siR) across the country. all thesedecisionsareanoutcome of the unanimous decisions of the full Commission in the past one year.” it said that highlighting “certain specific internal notes/observationsspreadover the period of 10 months while overlooking the much larger body of approvals, decisions, »Continued on Page 2 independent eci not enough, it must also appear to be so: sc judge page 5 happening SC stays order quashing meeting on sidelines of unga session in new yorK Accused held in Delhi today student’s NSA detention, In talks with Rubio, Jaishankar flags gangrape was police lCalCutta HigH Court will hear a plea alleging discrepancy in the age mentioned and school passing-out year of BJP’s Nandigram bypoll candidate Hasirani Rath. largentina’s President Javier Milei is set to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid escalating tensions with Britain over oil exploration around the Falkland Islands. lindian men’sHockey team will face South Korea in third Pool A match at the Asian Games. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com penalising Noida DM India concerns over Russia sanctions informer earlier: Probe ananthakrishnan g divya a mahender singh manral in The first official discussion betweenDelhiandWashington after President Donald Trump signedtheRussiasanctionsBill empowering the Us to levy tariffs up to 100 per cent on Moscow’s energy buyers, external affairs Minister s Jaishankar conveyedindia’seconomicand strategic concerns to secretary of state Marco Rubio. The bilateral meeting Wednesday took place on the TheinvesTigaTionintothe alleged gangrape of a 17-yearold at aastha Kunj Park, in southeastDelhi,hasfoundthat one of the three accused earlier worked as a police informer in the same district. This prior association helpedpoliceidentifyandtrace the accused within a few hours of the incident being reported, sources told The Indian Express. While the girl was allegedlyrapedonMondaynight,all New Delhi, September 23 ThesUPReMeCourtWednesday stayed the operation of the september 2 order of the allahabad high Court which quashed the detention of Delhi University student akriti Chaudhary under the national security act, passed strictures against gautam Buddha nagar DistrictMagistrateMedhaRoopamanddirectedthatRs5lakh be paid from her salary as compensation to Chaudhary. LodgedinKasnaJail,Chaud- harywasarrestedinconnection with a protest by workers in noida in april this year. a bench of Justice satish Chandra sharma and Justice n K singh stayed the high Court’s adverse remarks against Roopam including that her “conduct… is worthy of derision” and that she “is guilty of violatingheroathofallegiance” to the Constitution. The bench said, “after hearing learned senior Counsel for the parties, this Court is of the opinion that till the matter is »Continued on Page 2 New Delhi, September 23 New Delhi, September 23 »Continued on Page 2 external affairs minister s Jaishankar with Us secretary of state marco rubio in new York, Wednesday. PTI; IndIan seafarer kIlled In aTTack on carrIer off oman coasT, page 8 inside page 6 ‘nothing changed since dec 16, 2012’: anger on the streets of delhi three accused were arrested by Tuesday morning. accordingtosources,police personnelidentifiedasif(34),a vegetable vendor and a former police informer, from the girl’s description. “The police personnel shared asif’s details »Continued on Page 2 l UmadevI, 40, Is In PsYchIaTrIc care afTer allegedlY droWnIng her 4-monTh-old TWIn daUghTers; famIlY recoUnTs her ‘sTrUggles’ afTer TheIr BIrTh and TheIr aTTemPTs To ProvIde helP When a mother ‘can’t cope’: Behind Bengaluru woman who ‘killed’ newborn twins atiya firdos Thesymptomshadlastedat least two-and-a-half months, beginningsixweeksafterUmaThe TRiaL of Lindsay Clancy, devi delivered their twin the mother accused of killing daughters. Their birth, on May her three small children in 5, came after a long wait for the Massachusetts, Us, has caught couple and one round of failed world attention as “america’s ivF. on september 1, Umadevi saddest murder trial”, and allegedly drowned the fourpromptedadebateonthemen- month-olds, and was stopped tal condition her lawyers say on time as she was trying to kill herself. she was suffering page 1 Ramelingappa from — postpartum saysthatwhileUmapsychosis. devi appeared to be it’s not a condicopingafterthebirth tion that Ramelingappash,50,arealestatedealer of the twins, changes in her bebased in Talaghattapura in haviour were evident after a Bengaluru, had heard of. But, while. she began sleeping and he says, he could see his wife eating poorly, became withUmadevi, 40, was “struggling”. drawn and repeatedly told her Bengaluru, September 23 anchor husband and mother-in-law thatshewas“frightened”ofthe babies and did not feel capable of caring for them. at times, she said she wanted to send the children to an ashram or go there herself, he says. geetha Desai, Professor of Psychiatry at niMhans and professor in-charge of its Mother-Baby Unit, says these are symptoms typical of postpartum mental illness. “Women with postpartum depression may experience persistent sadness, anxiety, exhaustion, loss of appetite and difficulty sleeping. some may also develop a deep sense of inadequacy and feel that they are morethan1in5affected l studies Put the prevalence of postpartum depression at around 22% of new mothers, or more than one in five PostPartum PsyCHosis, a much-rarer condition, may afflict one to two women per 1,000 deliveries, says an expert a 2018 study of women with postpartum severe mental illness at NIMHANS found 44% of them saw a delay in getting psychiatric care not capable of caring for their baby,” Desai adds. Umadevi, who had come to niMhans earlier too for treatment, is back at the institute after the death of the twins. While the Bengaluru Police hasregisteredacaseinconnection with the deaths and Umadevi’s attempt to take her own life, she is under psychiatric care and her medical condition is being assessed before further course is decided. Could the deaths have been averted? Umadevi is undergoing treatment at nImhans sources familiar with Umadevi’s case say the tragedy couldhavebeenpreventedhad she got medical help on time. Kolkata Ramelingappa says they tried, as best as they knew. he and his mother took over the bulk of the care of the twins as Umadevi battled symptoms, and consulted a psychiatrist in Bengaluru. Umadevi met the psychiatrist, but there was no improvement. so, on august 8, the family took her to niMhans. Ramelingappa says the 40year-old was assessed for postpartum depression, prescribed medication, and advised inpatientpsychiatrictreatment.But Umadevi refused admission. “she had seen patients beingphysicallyrestrainedand was afraid the same would happen to her. her condition also kept fluctuating. on some days she appeared normal, while on other days she was withdrawn, anxious and struggled to eat or sleep,” Ramelingappa says, describing the ups and downs which also lie at the heart of the Clancy case. The family and ex-husband of Clancy — who is paralysed from waist down after throwing herself out of a window after allegedly killing her children — have sued her doctors for “medical malpractice”, saying they missed the extent of her troubles. The day of the incident, Ramelingappa was at home till about12.20pm,whenhehadto »Continued on Page 9