The editorial Page: rethink or abandon sir. revelations about eCi take lid off electoral upheaval 8 FridaY, SEPtEmBEr 25, 2026 Journalism of Courage ahmedaBad, late city, 18 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 lAFTER REGISTERING their third consecutive victory in pool B, indian women’s hockey team faces hosts japan at the asian games. trAcK theSe And more on www.iNDiANEXpREss.coM business as Usual By EP UNNY PAymENT TANGlE BJP’s counter: Congress itself to blame for losses, rahul should know... EC process legally sound if tomorrow, the BJP sweeps elections, no one will believe it: LoP Asad Rehman New Delhi, September 24 AS THe opposition stepped up its demand for the resignation of Chief election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and planned to move a motion in Parliament for his removal in the wake of TheIndianExpress report on multiple objections by the two election CommissionerstoSIr-relateddecisions takenwithouttheirknowledge, leader of opposition rahul Gandhi claimed Thursday that “all elections” were being “rigged” in the country. Addressing a press conferenceinNewdelhi,Gandhisaid, “our elections are fundamentally broken.” The “sacred belief ” in the vote, he said, is “dying”. “If tomorrow, the BJP sweeps elections, no one will believe it,” he said. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Express News Service leader of opposition rahul gandhi in new delhi, thursday. aNil Sharma politics 2 Pleas in bombay HC CHallenge maHarasHtra s.i.r, seek eleCtion Halt Vadodara, September 23 For A week now, 5,500 children at 400 anganwadis of the Vadodara Municipal Cor adodara Corhave poration (VMC) have gone An Indian Express report published on September 24 had flagged the issue. Aditi Raja Vadodara, September 24 AdAyafterTheIndianExpress reported that 5,500 children of 400 anganwadis here had not had their daily glass of milk for a week because of payment issues with Amul, the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) said it had cleared the dues and resumed the milk supply from Thursday. With this, a familiar scene returned to the anganwadis: With steel glasses in their hands, children sat crosslegged on the floor and gulped down 100ml of fortified milk at the count of three. VMC officials said the bills were cleared on September 23. The children haven't had their daily dose of milk for a week since September 17. Komal Thakor, VMC Programme officer, Integrated Child development Services »CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 Alok Singh & Jatin Anand cJp founder Abhijeet dipke, co-conveners Saurav das and Ashutosh ranka in new delhi, thursday. amit mehra Surat, September 25 A 28-yeAr-old postgraduate student at the Government Medical College in Surat allegedly died by suicide by slitting both his hands on Thursday afternoon, police said. dr yogendra Prajapati, who was a third-year student at the anatomydepartment,allegedly injured himself at the dissection hall of the department, the Khatodara police added. This was the second such incident reported at the Surat medical college in under two months. “dr Prajapati had been in bJp spokesperson Sudhanshu trivedi in new delhi, thursday. @SudhaNShutrived/X election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar — from keeping them in the dark to adding new voters and deleting names. TrivedialsoquestionedThe IndianExpressreport, saying it did not have “even an off-record response from the election Commissioners”. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THe CoCKroACH Janta Party (CJP) on Thursday demanded theresignationofChiefelection Commissioner (CeC) Gyanesh Kumarfor“undermining”voter rights and warned of a nationwideagitation,including“Jantar Mantar 2.0”, if he does not step down within 48 hours. The CJP also made three demands. “IfGyaneshKumardoesnot resign within 48 hours, we will start a nationwide protest before coming for a protest in delhi,” CJP national convener Abhijeet dipke said at a press conferencehere,flankedbycoconveners Saurav das and Ashutosh ranka. If the CeC doesn't resign, “Jantar Mantar 2.0 willdefinitelyhappen”,hesaid. The CJP’s protest against the NeeT exam paper leak, whichledtodharmendraPradhan’s resignation as Union education Minister on July 25, was held at Jantar Mantar in New delhi. ThiscomesafterTheIndian Express reported that election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXpREss special a video, unidentified girl, closed PoCso case — then a flip in veeramani probe the dissection hall since morning and was involved in the undergraduatestudents’examination. His own third-year exams had concluded last week, and he was completing some remaining terms,” incharge Medical Superintendent dr Parul Vadgama was quoted as saying by PTI. dr Prajapati lived with his wife,four-year-oldsonandparents at the college's hostel quarters. Police sources said dr Prajapati, a resident doctor at New Civil Hospital, had been at the dissection wing since the »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 external Affairs minister S Jaishankar held talks with uS Secretary of State marco rubio in new york. pti file E. EXplAiNED Choked lanes With the Russia sanctions Bill signed into law, all eyes are now on the US use of its penalising provisions given the energy market situation. The West Asia crisis, which choked supplies via the Strait of Hormuz, has now expanded to Bab el-Mandeb, the other key energy corridor. NSE mAkES mARkET DEbUT Surging oil prices send markets plunging, bank and insurance stocks hit Marketmovementsoverlast6months Nifty sENsEX 25,000 80,000 24,500 78,000 24,000 23,500 76,000 23,000 Chennai, September 24 WHeN CHeNNAI Police decided in February to drop further action in a PoCSo case against granite businessman rVeeramani,investigatorshad a video purportedly showing the sexual assault of a minor girl, had searched the house where it was alleged to have happened,andhadquestioned Veeramani and the woman associated with the property. They had also spoken to domestic workers, a puncture shopoperatorandanemployee of a nearby hospital. The accounts recorded by police had one thing in common: outsiders were allegedly not allowed into the house. INreMArKSafterhismeeting Wednesday with external AffairsMinisterSJaishankarwho flagged India’s concerns over the new US law to punish russia’senergybuyers,Secretaryof State Marco rubio said the US was“well-positionedtohelpregional partners address their energy security challenges”. The lindsey o. Graham Sanctioning russia and Iran Act, which was signed into law by President donald Trump last week, authorises the US to impose up to 100 per cent tariffs on russian energy purchasers, including India and China. India depends on importstomeetover88percentof its crude oil needs, and russia currently accounts for nearly half of these imports. A US department of State statement after the rubio-Jaishankar meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly said, “The two also l Arun Janardhanan PG medical student ‘dies by suicide’, 2nd incident in Surat govt college in two months Express News Service New Delhi, September 24 22,500 22,000 23,063.1 22,331.4 6 Apr 4 May 1 Jun Aditi Raja diti goa Ceo: Cases of 97 voters Have been ‘ProCessed seParately’ New Delhi, September 24 5,500 kids in 400 Vadodara 500 Vado anganw anganwadis go without milk after amul stops supply The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, which owns the Amul brand, allegedly stopped supplying the milk pouches to the anganwadis across Vadodara city on Vadodara September 17 following a dispute over payments. payments. Hiral Thakore, the district Programme officer of the Integrated Child development Services (ICdS), told The Indian express that the disruption is a result of the “exhausted credit balance” with Amul due to the rising prices of milk. She Page 13 Divya A & Sukalp Sharma ‘Jantar mantar 2.0’ if CEC does not resign in 48 hours: CJP ultimatum Aweeklater, 5,500Vadodara anganwadikids getbacktheir glassofmilk iCdS official says official say delay delayed bills from amul have led hav to late payments payments already delhi’s largest LNG supplier, Washington looks to push oil sale amid West asia crisis, russia sanctions law New Delhi, September 24 THe BJP hit back at leader of opposition rahul Gandhi over his remarks against the Chief election Commissioner at a press conference Thursday, with party spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi defending the election Commission's Special Intensive revision (SIr) process as legally sound and its decision-making as based on majority consensus. Trivedi was responding to the Congress leader’s remarks following The Indian Express report published on Wednesday that two election Commissioners in the three-member election Commission of India (eCI) objected on record 14 times in 10 months to steps taken by the eCI under Chief Canhelpour partnersdeal withenergy crisis:Rubio 74,000 72,000 74,068.45 73,580.54 1 Apr 1 May 1 Jun 1 Jul 1 Aug 1 Sept visit jaipur and address a programme to felicitate party councillors and other representatives who won the recent urban local body elections. he will also launch Bjp’s campaign for upcoming panchayat elections from dadiya. Opposition plans motion for CEC’s removal, rahul says faith in polls ‘dying’, being rigged AFTER TRUmP SIGNS SANCTIONS lAw 21 Sept lbJP ChIEF Nitin Nabin will QUESTIONS AbSENCE OF ANTI-INCUmbENCy, CITES INDIRA EXAmPlE 13 July 24 Aug Happening today Source: BSe, NSe weBSite Akash mandal businessman r veeramani The girl in the video, police said, could not be found, and theoriginalrecordingcouldnot be retrieved from a dVr. Veeramani denied he was the man in the video. Shanthi, his longtime associate, said the room shown in it was not part of her house. Concluding that there »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Mumbai, September 24 trump hosts Xi for talks uS president donald trump and first lady melania trump welcome chinese president Xi Jinping and his wife peng liyuan at Joint base Andrews, maryland. the ceremony included a flyover by b-1 bombers. both leaders held discussions at the white house on trade, Ai and west Asia war. reuterS pAge 15 INdIANMArKeTSsawasharp slump on Thursday as mountingwarinessoversurgingcrude oilprices,inflationaryconcerns and rising bond yields — all exacerbated by the ongoing West Asia war — triggered widespreadsellingamonginvestors. The benchmark Nifty 50 index ended at an over five- month low of 23,063.10, down 383.70 points or 1.6%. The Sensex slumped 1.7% or 1,247.71 points to close at an over threemonth low of73,580.54.All sectoral and broader market indices ended in the red, with India VIX volatility indicator skyrocketing nearly 23%. This came on a day when the National Stock exchange (NSe) made its market debut, »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 lSAtnAm Singh And SAlmAn KhAn, now with the nAvy And Army, trAined for quAdruple ScullS, but teAm chAnged dAyS before event Former uber driver, farmer son team up to win india a medal EXpREss At AsiAn GAmes mihir Vasavda Nagoya, September 24 THey Were an unlikely pair even before they were thrown together. Satnam Singh, 26, from a farming family. Salman Khan, 28, a former Uber driver. Two six-footers from very different backgrounds, who had barely five days to figure each other out in a double scull boat. on Thursday, in the waters of the Nagara river, the rowing venue, the duo won the bronze inthemen’sdoublesculls—In- iNsiDE Page 17 dia’s maiden medal in the india win silver in event, and its first rowing 4x400m mixed relay, medal in this edition of the bronze in 10,000m Asian Games. “even after we are not around, the world will remember that a Khan and a where his father worked on SinghwonIndia'sfirstmedalin truck bodies. After his father’s double sculls at the Asian death in 2016, the family reGames,” says Satturned to their pAgE 1 nam. hometown, and SalIt was a medal man, the eldest neither man had examong six siblings, pectedtowinunderthecircum- moved to delhi. “My brothers stances.ForSalman,theroadto had to study, sisters had to be that boat had been as unlikely married. I was the eldest, so it as the pairing itself. The man was my responsibility. I had to from Amethi didn’t even want earn,” he says. tobecomearower.Hespenthis So he became an Uber childhood in Tauru, Haryana, driver, behind the wheel of a anchor rowers Salman Khan (left) and Satnam Singh with their bronze medals in the men’s double Sculls event at the Asian games. pti Wagonr,mostlybetweendelhi and Gurgaon, driving from 5 am to 9 am, and again from 5 Ahmedabad pm to 10 pm. “In 2018, one of my friends called me and convinced me to tryfortheArmy.Ihadfailedthe written exam once before, so I wasn’t sure of passing again. But he convinced me, saying I had good height and body,” says the 6’4” rower. Salman trained three times a day, often alone, and made it into the Army, where, like many rowers before him, he found the sport almost by accident. He thought about quittingaftertwopooryears,buthis commanding officer talked him into staying. When he arrived in Nagoya, he was an established member of India’s rowing team. However, what he could not have anticipated was that, just days »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2