DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE MONDAY, APRIL 22, 2024, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY `5.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 WHEN IN POWER, THEY SAID MUSLIMS HAVE FIRST RIGHT: PM IN RAJASTHAN PM on Muslims: Cong will give your wealth to ‘those with more children’ SECTION 70 OF PMLA Liquor case: ED set to file new chargesheet, may name AAP Kejriwal among new names likely; unprecedented step misuse of law to decimate political party: Singhvi RITU SARIN NEW DELHI, APRIL 21 CONGRESS PRESIDENT PAGE 10 Peru-based top potato research centre to set up India wing HARIKISHAN SHARMA NEW DELHI, APRIL 21 SEVEN YEARS after China got a regional centre of Peru-based InternationalPotatoCenter(CIP), the premier research-for-development organisation with focus onpotatoandsweetpotato,India is set to get a similar centre. The CIP-South Asia Regional Centre (CIP-SARC) is expected to come up in Agra. The centre willservefarmers not only in potato-belt states of India such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal but also in other South Asian countries. The Indian Express has learnt thattheproposaltoestablishthe CIP-SARC is on the 100-day agenda of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare,whichisbeingprepared for the new government to be sworn in after June 4. Accordingtosources,officials frombothsides—IndiaandPeru — have concluded the negotiations and a formal agreement will be signed after approval from the Union Cabinet. The Agriculture Ministry is learnt to have forwarded the proposal to set up the CIP-SARC to the Committee on Establishment Expenditure (CEE)headedbytheExpenditure Secretary. After the CEE's clearance, the proposal will go to the Cabinet for final approval. The project is expected to cost $20 million (about Rs 160 crore), of which India will contribute$13million(Rs108crore) and the rest will be funded by the CIP, sources said. The Uttar Pradeshgovernmentwillbeproviding 10 hectares for the proposed centre. Accordingtoofficials,theCIPSARC will focus on development of new varieties of potato and sweetpotato, which are climate resilient, disease-free and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘Should your hard-earned money be given to infiltrators, do you agree to it?’ pehla adhikar Musalmano ka hai. Iska matlab, ye sampati ikatthi karke kisko baatenge? Jinke zyada BANSWARA, JAIPUR, APRIL 21 bacchehain,unkobaatenge,ghuspaithiyon ko baatenge. Kya aapki MENTIONINGMUSLIMSandfor- mehnat ki kamayi ka paisa ghusmer Prime Minister Manmohan paithiyon ko diya jayega? Aapko Singh’s remarks on their manzoorhaiyeh?(Earlier, “first claim” on resources, when they (the Prime Minister Narendra Congress)wereinpower, ModisaidSundaythatthe they had said Muslims Congress, if voted to have the first right to the power,coulddistributethe wealthofthenation.This DECISION means they will distribnation’s wealth among 2024 “infiltrators” and “those ute this wealth to those whohavemorechildren”. whohavemorechildren, Addressinganelectionrallyin to infiltrators. Should your hardRajasthan’s Banswara, he said, earned money be given to infil“Pehle jab unki sarkar thi, unhone trators? Do you agree to this)?” kaha tha ki desh ki sampati par CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PARUL KULSHRESTHA & HAMZA KHAN Opp INDIA bloc leaders Priyanka Chaturvedi, Kalpana Soren, Sanjay Singh, Bhagwant Mann, Akhilesh Yadav, Champai Soren, Farooq Abdullah and Rajesh Thakur in Ranchi, Sunday. PTI Kharge: What PM said is hate speech, our manifesto talks of justice for all Rest in Peace...Election Commission of India: TN Minister MANOJ CG NEW DELHI, APRIL 21 TERMING PRIME Minister Narendra Modi's remarks as “hate speech”, the Congress on Sunday said it was “a well thought-out ploy” to divert people's attention, prompted by the “panic” and “disappointment” over the first phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. The party said its manifesto “has no mention of the words Muslim and Hindu” and talks about equality and justice for all. INSIDE AT INDIA BLOC RALLY IN RANCHI, FOCUS ON ARRESTS OF SOREN AND KEJRIWAL P 9 In his speech in Rajasthan, ModiclaimedthattheCongress’s manifesto talks about taking stockof “thegoldof mothersand sisters” and distributing that wealth, adding that the then Manmohan Singh government had said Muslims have the first right to the country’s assets. Reacting sharply to his remarks, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said “no Prime Minister in the history of India has lowered the dignity of his office as much as Modi.” He saidModi's“panic-filled”speech showed that the Opposition INDIA bloc was winning the first phase of elections which was held on April 19. “What Modiji said was hate speech and also a well thoughtout ploy to divert attention. Today, the Prime Minister did CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AN EXPRESS SERIES - PART I : MAHARASHTRA Many new cracks on the political ground but above it, there’s one question: Modi versus? The Indian Express retraces the route from where Rahul Gandhi’s second ‘yatra’ ended, takes detours to listen to people — on where the Opposition and the ruling party are headed EXPLAINED HEALTH HEALTHINSURANCE FOR SENIORS PAGE 8 ECONOMY 18% JUMP IN DIRECT TAX COLLECTIONS IN 2023-2024 PAGE 12 MUMBAI TO MURSHIDABAD VANDITA MISHRA & SHUBHANGI KHAPRE MUMBAI, THANE, NASHIK, MALEGAON, DHULE, APRIL 21 WHEN THE Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra wound to an end in a rally at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park on March 17, those who were watching it closely noted two departures from the past. Rahul Gandhi walked up to the flam- A ‘Modi guarantee’ hoarding in Mumbai. Amit Chakravarty ingtorchsetinthepatchof green to pay his respects at the Bal Thackeray memorial in the Park’s premises. And when Uddhav Thackeray opened his speech, a word was conspicuously missing, it had been substituted. Instead of saying “My In Kerala, under fire for ‘silence’ on CAA, Cong promises to repeal law SHAJUPHILIP&MANOJCG THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, NEW DELHI, APRIL 21 AFORTNIGHTaftertheCongress released its election manifesto, which made no mention of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment)Actthatithadopposed vociferously, senior party leader P Chidambaram on Sunday said the CAA would be Chidambaram headedCong’s manifesto committee repealed in the first session of Parliament if the INDIA bloc comes to power. Chidambaram, who headed the Congress’s manifesto com- mittee, made the statement in Kerala, where Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan — with an eye on the significant andinfluential Muslimvotebank—hasbeenattacking the Congress over its “silence” on the contentious law. In Kerala, INDIA bloc allies Congress and the Left are up against each other. Sources said a promise to repeal the CAA was part of the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Hindu brothers, sisters, mothers…”, as he usually did, Uddhav said: “My patriotic brothers, sisters, mothers…”. CongressandSena,traditional rivalsthathavestaredeachother down across the state’s “secular vs communal” divide for nearly sixdecades,wereacknowledging, ahead of this election, their changedcompulsionsinareconstituted political context. This dramatic reset since the last Lok Sabha election in 2019 ripples and echoes in Maharashtra’s political field — the cloak-and-dagger pulling down and putting together of governmentsandthesplitof two regional parties under the shadow of Central agencies CONTINUED ON PAGE 9 DECISION 2024 DEVE GOWDA: ONLY MODI CAN SHOULDER TASK OF BEING PM FOR THIRD TERM IN DARJEELING FIGHT, BJP TOUCHES ON GORKHALAND P 4 Delhi CM was arrested by the ED on March 21. File E E X P L A I NE D ‘Leaders may run scared but Congress grassroot workers have not gone anywhere’ MALLIKARJUN KHARGE Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma during a rally in Jalore. PTI THE ENFORCEMENTDirectorate is likely to file its latest prosecution complaint — equivalent to a supplementarychargesheet—in the liquor policy scam against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as well as the Aam Aadmi Party, possibly before May 15, meeting the 60-day deadline since the March 15 arrest of K Kavitha, Telangana MLC and co-accused in the case. The chargesheet is in the “final drafting stage” and is likely to name “four or five” accused in additiontothosewhohavebeen named in the previous six chargesheets in the case, The Indian Express has learnt. BesidesKejriwalandKavitha, also likely to figure in the new supplementary chargesheet is Chanpreet Singh, Goa-based political worker. Arrested on April 15, he has been accused of managing AAP’s funds for the Goa Assembly elections. Officials said one or two morepersonsallegedlyinvolved in hawala transactions — made after AAP allegedly received “kickbacks” — are also likely to figure in the chargesheet. ED officials said that naming of AAP as an accused party was Political party & ● PMLA ED ARGUES that AAP is a political party registered under Section 29-A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. And since AAP is also an “association of individuals,” it falls within the definition of “company” as contemplated under Section 70 of PMLA. an unprecedented move but they had sound legal advice to back it. Indeed, the possibility of doing so had been acknowledged by Additional Solicitor CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPRESS NETWORK THRISSUR FEST ROW: CM ORDERS CITY TOP COPS’ REMOVAL UDDHAV: WON’T REMOVE ‘HINDU’, FROM PARTY SONG P 9 Surat Cong candidate’s nomination cancelled, party plans to move HC in a bid to halt election EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE SURAT/ AHMEDABAD, APRIL 21 IN A setback to Congress, the nomination of the party's Surat Lok Sabha candidate was rejected on Sunday over alleged discrepancies in the signature of the proposers. Surat District Election Officer (DEO) and Collector Saurabh Parghi on Sunday said that discrepancies emerged during the verification of signatures in the documents of the three proposers and those presented in the support of Nilesh Kumbhani's nomination. The nomination of Suresh Padsala,theCongress'substitute candidate from Surat, was also cancelled on similar grounds, said officials. Amid a simmering political row over the matter, the Nilesh Kumbhani Congress - which has alleged that it is the handiwork of the rulingBJP--hasdecidedtomove the Gujarat High Court to seek a stay on the election in the constituency, which is said to be a BJP bastion. Gujarat Congress chief Shaktisinh Gohil has also sentoutanappealtotheElection Commission for a "suo moto review". Meanwhile, the BJP, which has chosen Mukesh Dalal over sitting MP and Union Minister DarshanaJardoshasitscandidate in Surat, has rejected CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Gukesh on threshold of history, Anand says ‘he’s steady and focused’ PAGE 1 ANCHOR AMIT KAMATH MUMBAI, APRIL 21 ASHEemergedfromthe playing hall in TorontoonSunday morning after defeating Alireza Firouzja—avictorythatpropped himtofirstplaceof thestandings with just one game left — D Gukesh was asked about his trademark unfazed demeanor that he has maintained all through the tense rounds of the Candidateschesstournament.At 17, he was just a win away from becoming the youngest player ever to win the event held to decide the challenger to the reigning World Champion, but there were no signs of nerves. “I’ve been eager and excited in the same way from the start. My mental state has been the same,” Gukesh said at the press conference after the Round 13 triumph that made him the odds-on favourite to be the designated No.1 Candidate to take on defending champion Ding Liren of China next year. In another top-of-the-table duel, Gukesh’s closest rivals — Ian Nepomniachtchi and Hikaru Nakamura — settled for a quick draw. These results set up an exciting final round on Monday. Gukesh at 8.5 points is now closely followed by the three joint-second candidates — the two Americans, Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana, along with Russia’s Nepomniachtchi. Despite his opponents breathing down his neck, Gukesh played the waiting game. He didn't allow pressure to make him anxious. It was the FrenchGMFirouzjawhoblinked first. The moment came when Mentored by Viswanathan Anand, 17-year-old D Gukesh is the favourite to become the youngest challenger to the current chess World Champion. Maria Emelianova/ chess.com the two rival queens were faceto-face. Gukesh didn't shy away from a skirmish and accepted the queen exchange. This put him in a winning position. It would take him 17 more moves to seal the game. Far from being overawed by the occasion, Gukesh has held his own against his experienced rivals when the battle stretched. “Perhaps, it could be my age,” said Gukesh, smiling, as he tried to rationalise an explanation for why he has been playing so well in longer games in Toronto. His mentor, Viswanathan Anand, offered a more lucid re- sponse. “I would describe Gukesh at the Candidates as steady and focused. Focused because he appreciates the occasion and the chance he has got. Andsteadybecauseheplaysone game at a time and gives the impression of keeping his concentration on the game ahead of him. He is happy and excited at thechancehehasgot.Butgenerally, he is quite level-headed abouthistournamentsituation.I would say he gives the impressionof (beingin)control,”Anand toldTheIndianExpressonSunday. This is not the first time Anand has been impressed by Gukesh’s maturity. Back in 2022, during the Chess Olympiad in Chennai, the gold medal was in sight for India when Gukesh, one of the standout performers, lost to Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Abdusattorov from a winning position, costing the team the top spot. Anand tried to cheer Gukesh uprealisingthatthiswasthesort of defeatthatwouldimpactarising star. The five-time world champion said he himself had “games like these where there’s a lot riding on the outcome and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad