DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2024, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES 2024 ● ‘Forget friends, BJP today will eat its own... It does not need anyone’ THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW AADITYA THACKERAY, SHIV SENA (UBT) LEADER ● With BJP eye on south, data shows rise in Modi visits to five states EXPRESSINTERVIEW ‘Ihaveeightyearsofwork,I speakupinParliament.Will keepdoingit’ MahuaMoitra,TMCleader RAJ BHAVAN STAFFER ALLEGES HE CALLED HER TO OFFICE, TOUCHED HER Bengal Governor accused of sexual harassment, he says false narrative TMC leaders flag woman’s allegations, Governor Bose says won’t be cowed down, bars entry of police into Raj Bhavan RAVIK BHATTACHARYA KOLKATA, MAY 2 THE PROTRACTED stand-off between the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal and Governor C V Ananda Bose deepened Thursday after the TMC flagged the case of a woman contractual staffer atRaj Bhavan who alleged that the Governor had “molested” her. Bose hit back saying “truth ‘Cannot stop my fight against corruption in Bengal’ would triumph,” and he would not be “cowed down by engineered narratives.” Bose’s statement came after senior TMC leaders claimed the womanwastakentoapolicesta- PAGES 4, 10, 11 Down to the wire: Cong keeps Amethi, Rae Bareli open for today, the last day MANOJ C G NEW DELHI, MAY 2 THECONFUSIONintheCongress over its candidates for the traditional Gandhi family seats of Amethi and Rae Bareli in Uttar PradeshpersistedThursdaywith the party not announcing its nominees. The last day for filing of nominations is Friday. While Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is said to be not willing to contest, sources said Rahul Gandhiisbeingpersuadedtoenterthe frayfrom one of the seats. Rahul is said to have had a discussion with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. They CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 APURVA VISHWANATH NEW DELHI, MAY 2 Article 361 of the Constitution that deals with immunity to the President and the Governors states that they “shall not be answerable to any court for the exercise and performanceof thepowers and duties of his office or ● for any act done or purporting to be done by him in the exercise and performance of those powers and duties…” E EVEN AS a complaint alleging sexual harassment has been filed in Kolkata against West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose, Constitutional immunitybarsthepolicefromnamingtheGovernorasanaccusedor even investigating the case. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Manipur marks one year of conflict: Counting the cost — amid tears INSIDE FATHER INHERITED MARTYRDOM, NOT WEALTH: PRIYANKA PAGE 11 were together in Karnataka to address a campaign rally. While some leaders claimed Rahul has CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Pawar: No other PM spoke like this... they won’t cross 230-240 SUNANDA MEHTA BARAMATI, MAY 2 HITTINGBACKatPrimeMinister Narendra Modi, who referred to him as a “bhatakti aatma (wandering soul)” earlier this week, NCP leader Sharad Pawar on Thursday said he (Modi) must have “lost his balance”, adding thatnootherPrimeMinisterhad spoken in this manner. Pawar also said that the BJP-led NDA was unlikely to get more than 230-240seatsintheongoingLok tion where she filed her complaint. When contacted, Bose told The Indian Express: “If anybodywantssomeelectionbenefits by maligning me, God bless them. But they cannot stop my fight against corruption and violence in Bengal.” Incidentally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Raj Bhavan Thursday where he will stay overnight. On Friday, he is scheduled to address three Art 361: Immunity shield until Governor in office EXPLAINED DECISION `5.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 Family members of missing Meiteis at a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday. Tashi Tobgyal; (Right) A Kuki woman who meets her children once a month in Mizoram as they live with her Meitei husband in Imphal. PTI SUKRITA BARUAH GUWAHATI, MAY 2 A CALL to observe May 3 as ‘Kuki-ZoAwakeningDay’,a‘condolence service’ in Churachandpur, a meeting on ‘365 days of Chin-Kuki Narco Terrorist Aggression’in Imphal – different groups in Manipur will mark one year of ethnic conflict in the state in different ways Friday, a reminder of just how deep the faultlines still remain. On May 3 last year, longstanding tensions between the Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur spiralled into violence, whichclaimedatleast52livesin PATNA, VAISHALI, MUZAFFARPUR, DARBHANGA, ARARIA, MAY 2 Sabha elections. Pawar was speaking to CONTINUEDONPAGE2 state itself, and at least 13,247 structures have been gutted or destroyed. At least 28 people continue to be missing or presumed kidnapped or murdered. Within the first week of the conflict, after wide-scale violence and arson, a mass “exchange of population” was CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RJD base secure, faces Modi voter challenge: ‘Not just thinking of Bihar but of country’ VANDITA MISHRA Pawar: Why five phases in Maharashtra. Pavan Khengre three days. Over the course of a year, this toll continued to grow –atleast226liveshave beenlost to the conflict in the past year. Of thedead,20havebeenidentified as women, while eight are children. Morethan 1,500peoplehave been injured, around 60,000 people displaced within the THIS ELECTION in Bihar is being fought on a very untidy field. Here, the Opposition’s grand allianceorMahagathbandhanthat was put together with much flamboyanceandfanfarein2015 to take on the Narendra ModiBJP,hasbeendramaticallyrecon- MUMBAI TO MURSHIDABAD AN EXPRESS SERIES PART-4, BIHAR stituted, most leaders and candidatesonbothsidesof thepolitical fence have changed sides since,manymorethanonce,and NitishKumarmostprominently. InBihar,unlikeinmanyother states like Maharashtra, Madhya PradeshandGujarat,politicalactors zig-zag between all parties, there is no pattern here of a onewayflowtowardsadominantBJP. Not just the Mahagathbandhan story, the Bihar story itself has seen a steady waning — from the widespread hope once sparked by Nitish Kumar’s attempt to build ontheradicalgainsmadebyLalu Yadav in a state of large inequalities, by taking the caste-centric slogan of "samajik nyay" or socialjusticeandjoiningitwiththe plankof “vikas”ordevelopment. Therewasvisibleprogressonthe basics of sadak-bijli-paani but the Nitish model stalled before takingthenextsteptohighereducation-udyog-naukri (jobs and industry) and meandered into the dead-end of prohibition or sharab-bandi. CONTINUED ON PAGE 9 Congress a disciple of Pak, Islamabad rooting for Rahul as PM, says Modi ADITI RAJA ANAND, MAY 2 RATCHETINGUPhisattackonthe Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called it a “disciple (mureed)” of Pakistan, and said its “partnership” with the neighbouring countryhadnowbeen“exposed”. A day after former Pakistan ministerChaudhryFawadHussain praised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a post on social media, Modi, while addressing a rally here, said Islamabad was rooting forRahulasPMbecauseitwanted aweakgovernmentinIndia. “BharatmeinCongresskamzor ho rahi hai, sukshmadarshi yantra lekar bhi Congress ko dhoondhna mushkil ho raha hai... Yahan Congress mar rahi hai, aur wahan Pakistan ro raha hai. Aapko pata chala hoga ki Congress ke liye Pakistani neta dua kar rahe hain. Shehzade ko pradhan mantri bananekeliyePakistanutaavalahai... Aur hum toh jaante hi hain ki Congress Pakistan ka mureed hi hai. Pakistan aur Congress ki yeh partnership ab poori tarah expose ho gayi hai. Desh ke dushmano ko Bharat mein mazboot sarkar nahi Prime Minister Modi in Jamnagar on Thursday. PTI chahiye, unko kamzor sarkar chahiye. Aisi kamzor sarkar, jo Mumbai26/11kaaatankeehamle kesamaythi...dossierbhejnewali... jaise 2014 se pehle desh me thi. Modikimazbootsarkarnahijhukti hai, aur nahi rukti hai,” Modi said. (“The Congress is weakening in the country, we can't find it even if we look through a microscope. While the Congress is CONTINUEDONPAGE2 BE WARY OF CONG, WARNS PM, VISITS NAWANAGAR ROYAL PAGE 4 ‘Parivarvad’: Brij Bhushan doesn’t get BJP ticket, but his son does NIHAL KOSHIE NEW DELHI, MAY 2 THE BJP Thursday named Karan Bhushan Singh as its candidate from the Kaiserganj seat in Uttar Pradesh, replacinghisfather and sitting MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh who has been accused of sexually harassing women wrestlers. Kaiserganj votes on May 20 in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha polls. Wrestler Bajrang Punia, one of the key faces of the protests againstBrijBhushan,saidthedecision to give the Kaiserganj ticket to Karan Bhushan shows that the “BJP does not care about the safety of women” and that “parivarvad” or dynastic politics is prevalent in the ruling party. Karan is the Uttar Pradesh wrestling federation’s president – Brij Bhushan was president of theWrestlingFederationof India when women wrestlers levelled charges against him. Bajrang Punia, who led the Karan Bhushan Singh celebrates in Gonda on Thursday. PTI BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Owaisi still ahead in Hyderabad, BJP’s new face emerges as its best bet PAGE 1 ANCHOR RAHUL V PISHARODY HYDERABAD, MAY 2 THE NARROW bylanes of Hyderabad's Old City are witnessing a spirited campaign this Lok Sabha election. As sitting Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi of the All India Majlis-e-IttehadulMuslimeen (AIMIM) crisscrosses the streets of Yakutpura, hestopsforphotographsandexchanges quick conversations. All the while, he underlines his a request for an interview. party’s message. Barely 2 km away, in the by"Hyderabad ke aman ko maz- lanes of Gowlipura dotted with boot kariye, yeh aapke buzurgon saffron flags, Owaisi's opponent, ki qurbaniyon ka nateeja hai. the BJP’s Kompella Madhavi Patang ke nishan par vote daaliye, Latha, can be heard speaking ek ek vote ka istamaal kariye from an open-top vehicle. (Strengthen the peace in Accusing the AIMIM Hyderabad, which is the and Owaisi of working fruit of the sacrifices of for only “one commuyour ancestors. Vote for nity”, she says that “four the AIMIM's kite symbol. decades is too long a peUse every vote).” DECISION riod for having allowed 2024 Owaisi repeats this as them to rule”. he goes from door to The Owaisi family door. A large group of support- hashadaneartotalholdoverthe ers, besides his security guards, Hyderabad Lok Sabha contry to keep pace. “A lot of work is stituency, with the AIMIM winleft,” Owaisi says, turning down ning the seat since 1984, when VOTE SHARE (%) Hyderabad LS seat AIMIM BJP 52.90 32.06 2014 AIMIM BJP 58.95 AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, BJP’s K Madhavi Latha on the campaign trail. Rahul Pisharody 26.80 2019 Owaisi’s father Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi became an MP from here for the first time, going on to repeat the feat five moretimes.In2004,Owaisitook overandisnowaimingforafifth straight term as MP. Owaisi'svote shareshavenot dipped either; in 2019, he won against the BJP's Bhagavanthrao Pawar by 2.82 lakh votes. Of the seven Assembly segmentsintheseat,theAIMIMhas been winning six in the past three Assembly elections. In last year's Assembly polls too, it won all, barring Goshamahal, which is with the BJP. Owaisi’s brother CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad