DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2024, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES Modi Sarkar ki Guarantee Government of India 22201/13/0313/2324 `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 Freedom from colonial mindset Scan for more information Rajpath now becomes Kartavyapath, Mughal Garden becomes Amrit Udyan, new epaulettes of Indian Navy to be based on the naval ensign of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj WITH TODAY’S ISSUE Interim unity govt, common voter list: Law panel readies report on simultaneous polls A BJP promise APURVA VISHWANATH NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 28 IE 100 2024 THE LIST OF MOST POWERFUL INDIANS BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY FROM MAKING express provisionsforsimultaneouspolls,prescribing a common electoral roll to formation of a unity government in case a government falls before the end of its five-year tenure, the Law Commission of Indiahasworkedoutthreemajor Constitutionalamendmentstoset theballrollingforthe‘OneNation, OneElection’projectin2029,The Indian Express has learnt. The 22nd Law Commission, headed by former Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, is set to recommend the addition of a new chapter on simultaneous polls in the Constitution, sources said. Currently, Part XV of the Constitutiondealswithelections. It prescribes the role of the Election Commission and for electionstobebasedonadultsuf- The Law Commission has made a presentation to the Kovind committee. File frage among other aspects. The Commission is likely to recommendinsertionof anewchapter, Part XVA, that would make provisions for simultaneous polls. While the law panel has not submitted its report to the government, it has made detailed presentationsof itslikelyrecommendationsbeforethehigh-level committee, headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind, to THE IDEA of simultaneous polls, for long a BJP promise, has been amplified in recent years by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In its 2019 poll manifesto, the BJP said simultaneous polls were needed to reduce expenditure, ensure efficient utilisation of government resources and security forces and for effective policy planning. It said a common voter list will ensure every citizen gets the right to exercise his/her franchise for all public bodies. “examineandmakerecommendationsforholdingsimultaneous CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 3,300 kg of narcotics seized off Gujarat coast in highest-ever drug bust in India, 5 arrested Hamara sankalp Viksit Bharat DAY AFTER RS POLLS: BJP MLAs SUSPENDED, BUDGET PASSED Congress firefights in Himachal, rebellion against CM out in open Vikramaditya quits as minister, talks to observers; Sukhu says govt will last full term MANOJ C G & NAVJEEVAN GOPAL Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu with AICC observers Bhupesh Baghel, D K Shivakumar, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Rajeev Shukla in Shimla on Wednesday. PTI (Left) Vikramaditya Singh after quitting as minister. ANI NEW DELHI, CHANDIGARH, FEBRUARY 28 A DAY after its official candidate suffered an embarrassing defeat in the Rajya Sabha elections in Himachal Pradesh, the Congress central leadership on ‘It is scary’, says Gujarat HC on GNLU ‘suppressing’ homophobia, rape incidents EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE AHMEDABAD, FEBRUARY 28 "IT IS scary", Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal said on Wednesday, as theGujaratHighCourtslammed the Gujarat National Law University(GNLU)for"suppressing" incidents of rape, molestation, discrimination and homophobia as well as for not having in place an internal complaint committee. A division bench led by the Chief Justice was referring to a report submitted last week by a fact-finding committee, led by retired Justice Harsha Devani. The court noted the CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Wednesday scrambled to avert acrisisandsavethestategovernmentevenassixpartyMLAsand three Independents, who crossvoted for the BJP nominee, remained out of the party's reach. While young minister Vikramaditya Singh announced his resignation from the Cabinet in the morning, the central leadershipmanagedtopacifyhimby the end of the day. After a meeting with AICC observers D K Shivakumar, Bhupesh Baghel andBhupinder SinghHooda late in the evening, Vikramaditya Singh said he was not pressing for his resignation. Vikramaditya Singh and his mother, PCC chief Pratibha CONTINUEDONPAGE2 EXPRESS NETWORK CBI SUMMONS AKHILESH IN 2019 MINING CASE PAGE 10 ENS & PTI AHMEDABAD, FEBRUARY 28 IN WHAT is claimed to be the biggest drug bust in the country, around3,300kgof narcoticswas seized from on board an Iranian boat and five suspected Iranian nationals were arrested off the Gujarat coast on Tuesday in a joint operation by the Navy, the CONTINUEDONPAGE2 The boat with 3,300 kg of contraband (right) off Gujarat coast, on Wednesday. ANI In first visit to Valley since Art 370 move, PM to address Srinagar rally NAVEED IQBAL & LIZ MATHEW SRINAGAR, NEW DELHI, FEB 28 IN WHAT would mark his first visit to Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to address a public rally in Srinagar on March 7. The Prime Minister has been onawhirlwindtourof thecountry ahead of the announcement of Lok Sabha polls, with his speeches focusing on how his government’s schemes have touchedthelivesof beneficiaries. InSrinagar,too,heisexpected to address beneficiaries of the Centre’s schemes, sources said. “There is a demand for a public rally by the Prime Minister — it is CONTINUEDONPAGE2 IN CONVERSATION WITH SITHARAMAN Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman in conversation with Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express Group, and P Vaidyanathan Iyer, Executive Editor, The Indian Express, at the Express Adda in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Sankhadeep Banerjee NSG’s Labradors set to make way for the more versatile Belgian Malinois PAGE 1 ANCHOR DEEPTIMAN TIWARY NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 28 WITH THE Belgian Malinois becoming the preferred canine companionofspecialforcesinthe United States, Europe and Israel, India’s elite counter-terrorism unit,theNationalSecurityGuard (NSG), hopes to soon deploy the A Belgian Malinois with the NSG’s K9 unit during an anti-terror drill. Gajendra Yadav ferocious four-legged fighting force in its future operations in place of the adorable Labrador. During the ongoing IsraelPalestine conflict, the Belgian Malinois — a canine breed especially trained by the Israeli forces to not just sniff out Hamas militants in their underground tunnelsinGaza,butalsotrackandattack them — was among Israel’s most valued fighting units. The NSG’s Labrador squad will gradually make way for the CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Ahmedabad