The editorial Page: Can election Commission untie knots of its own making? That’s the question 10 WedneSday, OCTOBeR 7, 2026 JournAlism of CourAge luckNoW, lAte cItY, 18 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 union Cabinet hails 25 years of Modi at helm, flags ‘mandate, trust, his governance’ PaRlIaMenT sTReeT sHUTs DOwn FOR MUcH OF THe DaY Opp hits the street against CEC, its leaders detained Time for him to resign, says Rahul; BJd joins protest, dMk stays away From Gujarat CM to successive terms as PM, resolution traces his journey asad Rehman & Manoj cG express news service New Delhi, October 6 New Delhi, October 6 The Union Cabinet adopted a resolution Tuesday, hailing the “enduring trust that the public have reposed” in narendraModiandhisgovernance achievements over the last 25 years, first as Chief Minister of Gujarat and later as Prime Minister of the country. Briefing reporters on the decisions of the Union Cabinet at its meeting Tuesday, information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the resolution covers Modi’sunbrokenpublicservice record, spanning the period »cOnTInUeD On PaGe 2 Business as Usual By eP unny resolution highlights modi’s achievements, from his role in Gujarat to operation sindoor. ANI the ideas page PaGE 11 M Venkaiah naidu THEjoURnEyfRom ‘CHalTaHaI’To ‘BadalsakTaHaI’ happening today lRBI wIll announce its mone- tary policy, with experts expecting a rate hike after three-and-a half years as inflation pressures rise due to the West Asia war. Track This and more on www.indianexpress.com eSCAlATinGThebitterpolitical fight over the Special intensive Revision (SiR) of electoral rolls by the election Commission, inDiA bloc MPs, led by leader of opposition in lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, staged a protestTuesdayandattempted to march to the Commission headquarters, demanding the resignation of Chief election CommissionerGyaneshKumar. Thestandoffwiththepolice throughmuchofthedayended in the evening with the detention of Gandhi and several leaders including Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Among those who joined the march from Parliament towards nirvachan Sadan — it wasthesecondsuchjointstreet protest since the rollout of the SiR — were SP’s Akhilesh yadav, TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee, nCP (SP)’s Supriya Sule, RJD’s Manoj Kumar Jha and CPM’s John Brittas. Gandhi and Congress MPs including Vadra, K C Venugopal, Pawan Khera, imran Pratapgarhi, Charanjit Singh »cOnTInUeD On PaGe 2 moRE REPoRTs, PaGE 5 leader of opposition rahul Gandhi being detained by police in new delhi, Tuesday. GAjeNdrA YAdAv MPs wanted a meeting in Parliament annexe... against protocol, says eC ‘Panel offered to send senior official to get memo but MPs declined’ express news service New Delhi, October 6 SAyinG ThAT no party had sought an appointment until 4 pm Tuesday, the election Commission (eC) said it was later informed by police that the oppositionMembersofParliament (MPs) wanted a meeting at Par- samajwadi party chief akhilesh Yadav and Tmc’s kalyan banerjee were among leaders at the protest in delhi on Tuesday. AbhINAv SAhA liament house Annexe. it said this request was “unusual”, because, as per protocol, “such meetings are held only on the premises of the election Commission of india”. The election Commission saiditstillofferedtosendaseniorofficertoreceivetheirmemorandum, but the MPs rejected its proposal. »cOnTInUeD On PaGe 2 BJP: Stop daily drama, learn from PM Modi to win people’s support Jatin anand New Delhi, October 6 DeSCRiBinG The Congress protest against the election Commission of india as “drama”, the BJP Tuesday accused the principal opposition party and leaders of non-nDA parties who had joined it of abusing the Commission after failingtosecurethemandateof the people. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said Rahul Gandhi, leader of opposition in lok Sabha, should learn from Prime Minister narendra Modi and the BJP on securing people’s support on the basis of work instead of relying on “drama”. “it is time to stop the drama Union minister kiren rijiju that Rahul Gandhi ji and his colleagues keep doing daily against the election Commission and the Supreme Court. it has been going on since 2014… in a democracy, serve the people and you will get their mandate,” he said. »cOnTInUeD On PaGe 2 Bypolls: Opp in Bengal seeks repoll; Vijay faces Tn acid test 2026 nobel prize physics Ravik Bhattacharya, atri Mitra & arun Janardhanan FRancIs Halzen awIndowToUnIvERsE THRoUGH‘GHosT PaRTIClEs’InICE ExPlaInEd inside PaGE 17 HaRmanPREET sTEPs down, mandHana Is nEw IndIa CaPTaIn THE BIG PICTURE THE ‘moUnjaRo BRIdEs’: a yEaR laTER Nandigram, Kolkata, Chennai, October 6 The ByPollS for the two Assembly constituencies in West Bengal on Tuesday saw the arrest of Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) chief humayun Kabir and the opposition’s pitch for a repoll over alleged vote-rigging and other irregularities. There were no reports of any violence during polling. The opposition’s allegations were rejected by the ruling BJP in the state and Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. The nandigram Assembly seat in Purba Medinipur dis- at a polling booth in nandigram, West bengal, Tuesday. PArthA PAul trict recorded a turnout of about 80.87%, while Rejinagar in Murshidabad registered about80.07%polling,asperthe election Commission officials. The bypolls in the two seats were necessitated after Adhikari resigned from the nandigram seat and retained his »cOnTInUeD On PaGe 2 PaGE 14 world PaGE 12 at least 12 indian sailors injured in attacks in Black Sea, Strait of hormuz shubhajit Roy New Delhi, October 6 sTUdEnTs ClasH wITH PolICE as PRoTEsTs sPREad aCRoss fRanCE WiTh inDiAn seafarers being injured in two separate attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of hormuz and the Black Sea,theMinistryofexternalAffairs (MeA) on Tuesday con- demned the incidents and expressed “deep concern” over the “targeting of commercial shipping”. eleven indian crew members were injured after a Panama-flagged vessel was hit by a projectile while transiting the Strait of hormuz on Tues- day. in the other incident, at leasttwoforeigncrewmembers werekilledandsomeothers,includinganindian,wereinjured after a Russian drone strike caused a fire on a Turkishowned civilian cargo vessel in the Black Sea on Monday. »cOnTInUeD On PaGe 2 l besT-sellinG novelisT Was member of parliamenT & depUTY head of ThaTcher’s conservaTive parTY Jeffrey Archer, whose real life rivalled his edge-of-seat thrillers, dies at 86 alan cowell in london. he was 86. his publisher, harperColJeffReyARCheR,abest-sell- lins, announced his death in a ing British author, politician, statement. his final novel, philanthropist, athlete and “Adam and eve,” about the inone-time jailbird, whose re- tertwineddestiniesofthehighsume seesawed between born and the humble, was achievementanddisgrace,and scheduled for publication Tuesday. who inspired abidpage 1 Archer’s thrillers ing public fascinaand sagas of the rich tion with headlineand powerful sold grabbing accounts, hundredsofmillions both fictional and personal, of ambition, self-pro- ofcopiesworldwide.inhislonmotion,misbehaviorandscan- donapartmentoverlookingthe dal, died Monday at his home Thames, the walls were anchor Jeffrey archer at his london flat in 2011. reuterS FIle adorned with paintings, includingworksbyClaudeMonet and Pablo Picasso. As a host there, he became known for annual parties at which celebrity guests were served top-end Krug Champagneandlowlyshepherd’spie. in his days as a politician — both as a member of Parliament in the elected house of Commons and as deputy head ofMargaretThatcher’sConservative Party — he displayed a barelyveiledhungerforthetop »cOnTInUeD On PaGe 2 Lucknow