DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA ● POSTAL REGN. NO. JAIPUR CITY/001/2024-26 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, MAY 4, 2024, JAIPUR, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 CITES ONGOING LS POLLS Wewillconsider Kejriwalinterim bail,mayormay notgrant:SC Congress leader Rahul Gandhi files his nomination papers for the Rae Bareli seat on Friday. Vishal Srivastava Congress fields Rahul from Rae Bareli seat, Gandhi loyalist from Amethi, Priyanka out RAE BARELI, NEW DELHI, MAY 3 ENDINGWEEKSof suspenseand uncertainty, the Congress Friday announceditscandidatesforthe traditional Gandhi family seats of AmethiandRaeBareliinUttar Pradesh, but with a twist. Senior leader Rahul Gandhi switchedtoRaeBareli,perhapsa safer seat than Amethi, from where he lost to Union minister SmritiIraniin2019,whilehissister and AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will not be contesting. The announcement came on the last day of filingnominationsforthetwoseats, which go to polls on May 20. In Amethi, the party fielded Kishori Lal Sharma, an influential representative of the NehruGandhi family in the two seats for over two decades. Rahul filed his nomination papers accompanied by not just motherSoniaGandhi(thesitting MP from Rae Bareli), sister Priyanka and brother-in-law RobertVadra,butalsoseveraltop Congress leaders, including Mallikarjun Kharge, K C Venugopal,andformerRajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot. BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY The administration tried to make sure that the paths of BJP candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh and Rahul did not cross at the district collectorate at the time of nomination filing. However, Rahul’s cavalcade had to face heckling by BJP workers. While both Rahul and Sonia avoided questions, Priyanka, who also accompanied Sharma forhisnominationfilingandparticipated in a road show for him, said she would be camping and campaigning in the two seats from May 6 till when elections get over on May 20. After Rahul filed his nominationpapers,thefamilyperformed CONTINUEDONPAGE2 KOLKATA, NEW DELHI, MAY 3 WITH RAHUL Gandhi filing nominationpapersfromtheRae Bareli Lok Sabha seat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday Prime Minister Narendra took a swipe at the Congress Modi addresses a public leader, saying that fear of losing meeting in Krishnanagar, elections is making him “run” West Bengal, Friday. PTI from one seat to another. Addressing a rally in Bardhaman-Durgapur from the seat in Kerala constituency in West which he won in 2019. Bengal,hesaid:“Ihadsaid “His followers were inParliament2-3months sayingthathewouldconbefore the elections that DECISION test from Amethi. But he 2024 their biggest leader will is so afraid of Amethi that not dare to contest eleche ran away and is trying tions; that she will run away out to find the way in Raebareli. Ye of fear.SheranawaytoRajasthan log ghoom ghoom ke sabko kehte and got elected to the Rajya hain — daro mat. Main bhi inhen Sabhafromthere.”Hewasrefer- yahi kehta hoon — aur ji bhar ke ring to Sonia Gandhi. kehta hoon — arre daro mat, “IhadalsosaidthatShehzada bhaago mat (These people go willlosetheelectioninWayanad. around telling others not to be In fear of losing the seat, he will afraid. I also say the same thing look for another seat to contest to them today: don’t be afraid, the election,” he said, targeting don’t run away),” he said. Rahul, who is also contesting CONTINUEDONPAGE2 PAGE 1 ANCHOR SURAT, MAY 3 ● Back to retake Guna, Jyotiraditya Scindia hopes to put 2019’s shock loss in rearview PAGE 5 THE BIG Women are travelling like they are possessed… PICTURE A year since Karnataka made bus travel free for women, its four bus corporations see around 1.10 cr daily passengers, 60% of them women EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, MAY 3 ACKNOWLEDGING THE dip in voter turnout in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, the Election Commission (EC) Friday expressed disappointment about the polling percentage in some metropolitancitiesinthesecond phase, attributing it to “rigid levels of apathy” in urban seats. TheCommission’sstatement comes against the backdrop of a drop of just under 4 percentage points for the first phase of elections and under 3 percentage points for the second phase compared to the 2019 elections. Voting percentage for the 102 seats that went to poll in the first phase on April 19 was 66.14% and for the second phase on April26,inwhich88seatsvoted, was 66.71%. In the first two phases, urban seats, which have traditionally registered low turnouts in the fifties, did not move the needle even this time. In fact, the voting percentage decreased further. Among them was Ghaziabad, which experienced a decrease of 6 percentage points from 55.88% in 2019 to 49.88% this time. Gautam Buddh Nagar recorded 53.63%,downfrom60.4%in2019. Additionally, Bangalore Central and Bangalore South, which also voted on April 26, saw turnouts of 54.06% and 53.17%respectively,comparedto 54.31% and 53.69% in the last election. According to EC sources, the Commission was disappointed that the city voters did not exercise their franchise despite efforts and campaigns by the poll watchdog targeting urban seats this time. The EC's Friday's statement also alluded to this. Itsaid,“Commissionisdisappointedwiththeturnoutlevelin some metropolitan cities in CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Hit squad members tied to killing of separatist Nijjar held in Canada: Report SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, MAY 3 MORE THANsevenmonthsafter Canadian Prime Minister Justin TrudeauallegedthatIndiangovernment agents had a possible role in the killing of Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Canadian police have “arrestedmembersof anallegedhit squad investigators believe was tasked by the government of IndiawithkillingNijjarinSurrey last June”, CBC [Canadian BroadcastingCorporation]News reported on Friday. “The men were arrested Friday during police operations inatleasttwoprovinces.Sources said investigators identified the alleged hit squad members in Canada some months ago and have been keeping them under tight surveillance,” the report stated. Police are expected to announce the arrests and share some details of their investigation later Friday. Without disclosing details abouttheidentityof theindividualsarrested,thereportsaidthat sourcesclosetotheinvestigation also told CBC News that police are actively investigating possiblelinkstothreeadditionalmurders in Canada, including the shooting death of an 11-year-old boy in Edmonton. “Members of the hit squad are alleged tohaveplayeddifferent roles as shooters, drivers and spotters on the day Nijjar was killed at the Guru Nanak Sikh GurdwarainSurrey,accordingto the sources.” India and Canada are dealing with an unprecedented diplomatic crisis, which can have politicalas well as geopolitical consequences. It started after Trudeau dropped a bombshell allegation inSeptemberlastyear,tellinghis country’s Parliament that it is possible the Indian government had ahand inthe killing of Nijjar. CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Prajwal faces new case after woman alleges he raped and blackmailed her Suspended JD(S) leader Prajwal Revanna KIRAN PARASHAR BENGALURU, MAY 3 INAfreshcaseregisteredagainst Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna, a former zilla panchayatmemberhasaccusedhim of sexuallyassaultingherforover threeyearsandrecordingvideos of theact,whichhewoulduseto threaten and blackmail her. TheFIRhasbeenregisteredby the Criminal Investigation Department(CID)inKarnatakaafter the woman, who is in her 40s, recorded her statement with the Special Investigation Team (SIT). According to the FIR, the woman used to visit MLAs and MPs seeking funds for development work in her region. In the complaint, the woman has allegedthatshewasrapedandharassedonmultipleoccasionsbetween January 1, 2021 and April 25, 2024. The CID registered the case on May 1. The complainant allegedly met Prajwal to secure seats for girl students at a governmentrun hostel. "In 2021, I visited CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Loss to nation due to oral cancer deaths: Study pegs it at `72 lakh for a man, `57 lakh for woman RUPSA CHAKRABORTY MUMBAI, MAY 3 A NEW study led by Tata Memorial Hospital has estimated that premature oral cancer deaths have cost India productivity losses to the tune of $5.6 billion or 0.18 per cent of its GDP in 2022. Oneof thekeyfindingsof the study, according to its lead author Dr Arjun Singh, Assistant Professor, Tata Memorial Hospital,isthat91percentof the deaths or terminal stages were among patients with a median age of 41.5 years. Giventhattheretirementage in India is around 62 years, the study — which tracked 100 patientsoverthreeyears—showed that those who succumbed to thediseasecumulativelylost671 productive or working years (29.8% to early stages and 70.2% to advanced stages). The mone- tary value of the losses for men exceeded Rs 72 lakh and that for women Rs 57 lakh. “If they had survived, they could have contributed more to the country’s GDP,” said Dr Singh,giventhepopulationmortality rates in India. As Dr R A Badwe, senior author and former director, Tata MemorialCentre,said,“Veryfew studieshavefocussedonproductivity losses of cancer in low CONTINUEDONPAGE2 E Prevalent, but can be ● prevented THE FINDINGS of the study on diagnosis, intervention, access to and costs of healthcare, will help the government draw up better resource allocation. THE SUPREME Court said Friday that on May 7 it may consider granting interim bail to Delhi Chief MinisterArvindKejriwalin view of the ongoing Lok Sabha electionsif thehearingonhispetition challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) gets prolonged. Kejriwal is currently in judicial custody following his arrest by the ED on March 21 in connection with the Delhi excise policy case. Towards the end of the proceedings Friday, the bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and DipankarDattaexpresseddoubts thatthehearingonthechallenge may not conclude on the next date as well. It told Additional Solicitor General S V Raju who appeared for the ED: “It does appear we will not be able to completetoday.SokeepitonTuesday (May7)morningitself…If it’sgoing to take time, (and) does appear it’s going to take time, we may then consider the question of interim bail because of the elections. We may hear you on that because of the elections. Let’s be very clear on that.” Arrested by ED in excise policy case on March 21 The ASG pointed out that Kejriwal had only challengedhis arrest and had not filed any bail application. He said the election is one of the grounds raised in the petition. “Maybe, but that (court’s suggestion to take the elections into account) is for interimbail…Wemayhearyouon that,” Justice Khanna said. Raju referred to the interim bailgrantedtoAAPleaderSanjay Singhand said “lookat the statements he is making”. While granting interim bail to Singh on April 2, the Supreme Court had imposed the condition that he will not make any comment regarding his alleged role in the case. Justice Khanna asked Raju to take instructions on what conditions should be put in place in caseitdecidestograntinterimrelieftoKejriwalincludingwhether heshouldbesigningfilesinview of the position he holds. “Pleasealsotakeinstructions CONTINUEDONPAGE2 THE WORLD UK LOCAL POLLS: TORIES SET FOR GREAT FALL AS LABOUR WINS BIG HAMAS CHIEF TALKS TRUCE WITH EGYPT AND QATAR PAGE 16 Month after closing file saying Rohith Vemula was not Dalit, police say ‘probing further’ SREENIVAS JANYALA HYDERABAD, MAY 3 MORE THAN a month after the Telangana police filed a closure report in their investigation into the January 2016 death of University of Hyderabad PhD scholar Rohith Vemula, the state Director General of Police Friday saidtheyhavedecidedtoconduct further investigations as “some doubts have been expressed” by Vemula’s mother and others. Theclosurereportfiledbythe police had claimed that Vemula was not a Dalit and that it was likely the fear that his “real caste” would be revealed was what led himtosuicide.Ithadalsoabsolved all those accused in the case. InastatementonFriday,DGP Ravi Gupta said the final report His suicide in 2016 had triggered protests on campuses inthecasewaspreparedin2018, and that it was officially submitted in the jurisdictional court on March 21, 2024. “As some doubts have been expressedbythemotherandothersofthedeceased,RohitVemula, ontheinvestigationconducted,it has been decided to conduct further investigation into the case. A petition will be filed in the court concernedrequestingtheHon’ble Magistrate to permit further investigation into the case,” the DGP’s statement said. CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Surat withdrawal reasons: ‘Depression’ to ‘not wasting govt money’ KAMAAL SAIYED ● As BRS bleeds, a buffed-up BJP has a problem of plenty Jithendra M Disappointed with apathy of voters in metros: Poll panel on turnout in Phase 2 SANTANU CHOWDHURY & VIKAS PATHAK 2024 NEW DELHI, MAY 3 PAGE 7 Modi takes swipe at Rahul: Fear of losing is making him run... daro mat, bhaago mat DECISION ANANTHAKRISHNAN G EXPLAINED MAULSHREE SETH & MANOJ C G ArgumentswillbetakenuponMay7, ASGsaysthere’snobailapplication NEARLY A fortnight after the Surat Lok Sabha seat was won uncontested by the BJP, after the Congress candidate’s nomination was declared invalid and eight candidates withdrew, the ripples from it are yet to die down. Days later, the Congress’s Indorecandidatedroppedouton the last day of withdrawal of nominations, leaving the party without a nominee in the seat. On Thursday, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said “a beginning”had beenmadefrom thetwoseats,towardsachieving the BJP’s target of 400-plus Lok Sabha seats for the NDA. While the Congress’s candidate from Surat whose papers wererejected,NileshKumbhani, has not been seen in public but hasclaimedlackof supportfrom own party ranks, the others too remain “missing”. A look at the eight,andtheirreasonsfordropping out, in their words: ■ Pyarelal Bharti, 58: After the Congress was ruled out from the race, Bharti, fielded by the BSP, was seen as the only viable challenge to BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal. The Congress and AAP, who are allies in Gujarat, also promised to support Bharti. AnativeofVaranasiwhoissettled in Surat for the past 25 years, Bharti,however,stunnedhisparty by declaring that he was withdrawing. In his affidavit, Bharti, who runs a weekly newspaper called Sharmik Shakti, put his education qualification as Class 10 and declared cash in hand of Rs 5,000 as part of his assets. Bharti has contested elections in the past too — the 2014 BJP’s Mukesh Dalal (centre) was elected unopposed from Surat on April 22. File Jaipur parliamentary polls from Navsari,the2022Assemblyelections from Varachha seat in Surat, and the 2021 Surat MunicipalCorporationelections from the Khatodara ward. He lost every time. BSP Surat president Satish Sonavne says that after coming toknowof Kumbhani’sdecision, the party feared that something was afoot and immediately got cracking.“WesentPyarelalaway to Vadodara to a party worker’s house, and got his clothes collected from home. We told him to switch off his phones.” But from there, Sonavne says, Bharti went “missing” and they later learntthathehadwithdrawnhis nomination. The whole family then stopped taking their calls, he says. According to the BSP leader, they have still not been able to get in touch with Bharti or his family. Their rented Surat house is locked and the family is said to be currently in Varanasi. ■ Bharatbhai Prajapati, 50: A worker in Surat’s diamond units for the past 30 years, Bharatbhai originally belongs to CONTINUEDONPAGE2