eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE Here He Goes Again KOLKATA,LATECITY MAY26,2024 A few months ago he was in hospital. Designer Rohit Bal is now back where he belongs FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT 14+4PAGES,`7.00 (`12INNORTHEASTSTATES&ANDAMAN) DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA PM warns of Tejashwi arrest, says INDIA bloc can do mujra for vote bank SIXTH PHASE OF LOK SABHA POLLS Overall turnout dips to 61%, Anantnag-Rajouri touches 54% 58.70% polling in Delhi; only 57 seats left to vote SANTOSH SINGH PATNA, MAY 25 REITERATINGHISallegationthat theINDIAblocwantstocarveout a quota for minorities, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the Opposition could perform “mujra” or do “slavery” for its “vote bank”, but he would thwart any attempt to diverttheSC,ST,OBCreservation. While he did not name RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Modi, who addressed a series of rallies in Bihar, also warned that the “countdown” for arrest had started for those behind the alleged land-for-jobs scam. Addressing a rally in Karakat, Modi said: “Main aaj Bihar ke logon ko ek aur guarantee de raha hoon. Jinhone Bihar ke garibon ko lutkar naukri ke badle me zamin likhwayi hai, kaan kholkar sun lo, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 At least 27 killed after fire at amusement park in Rajkot GOPAL KATESHIYA NEW DELHI, MAY 25 PM Narendra Modi with LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan in Patna on Saturday. MANY CHILDREN AMONG DEAD; SPECIAL PROBE TEAM SET UP Officials say gaming zone didn’t have NOC from fire dept; four detained EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE THE TURNOUT in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections in 58 constituencies across eight states and Union territories on Saturday was 61.01 per cent, according to the Election Commission (EC) data at 11.30 pm. The overall turnout in Delhi, where all the seven Lok Sabha constituencies voted in the sixth phase, was 58.70 per cent, down from 60.60 per cent in 2019. In2019,theseatswhichvoted on Saturday had recorded 64.73 percentpolling.Butthisdoesnot include the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency of Jammu and Kashmir, which was redrawn duringdelimitationin2022.The constituency saw 54.06 per cent polling on Saturday. The final turnout is likely to rise.Haryanasawthebiggestdip in polling — from 69.93 per cent in 2019 to 59.63 per cent this time. Among the other states, the turnout was 54.03 per cent in UP; 55.24 per cent in Bihar; 79.30 in West Bengal; 69.32 per cent in Odisha; and 63.76 per cent in Jharkhand. According to data available on the EC’s Voter Turnout App at 11.30 pm, Bishnupur constituency in West Bengal recorded the highest turnout of 83.95 per cent, while Phulpur in WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM RAJKOT, MAY 25 At a polling station in Nandigram, Saturday. Partha Paul Clashes, protests mar voting in Bengal, BJP leader injured after ‘attack’ by villagers Around 78% voter turnout till 5pm in eight seats EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, MAY 25 CLASHES BETWEEN party cadres, protests against nominees and a BJP candidate getting injured after allegedly being attacked by villagers in Jhargram - polling in eight constituencies of West Bengal during the sixth phaseof LokSabhaelectionswas marred by multiple incidents of violence on Saturday. According to officials, around 78 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 5pm in the eight seats. “About 77.99 per cent averagepollinghasbeenrecordedtill 5 pm. Polling has been peaceful with one or two incidents of violence being reported from someconstituencies,”saidasenior EC official. At 81.47 per cent, Bishnupur recordedthehighestpollingpercentage, followed by Tamluk AT LEAST 27 people, including children,werekilledasamassive fire broke out at TRP, a private amusement park/ gaming zone, inGujarat'sRajkotonSaturdayafternoon.OfficialssaidTRPdidnot have a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the fire department. In a statement, the state governmentsaid27bodieshadbeen brought for post-mortem at the Rajkot Civil Hospital. Most of the bodies were charred, making identificationdifficult.“TheirDNA samplesarebeingdrawnforidentification...Theprocessisonatthe RajkotCivilHospitalpolicepostto collect DNA samples of family members so that the DNA can be matched,” the statement said. Rajkot District Collector Prabhav Joshi said most of the victims were children. Officials did not rule out the possibility of the toll rising. The government has set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by Additional Director General of Police (CID-crime) Subhash Trivedi, to probe the incident. The SIT, which includes Banchhanidhi Pani, commissioner of technical education; H P Sanghvi, director of Forensic Science Laboratory, Gandhinagar; J N Khadiya, chief fire officer of Ahmedabad; and M B Desai, superintending engineer of road and buildings department, has been asked to submit a preliminary report within three days, followed by a final report within 10 days. Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi, who was on his way to Rajkot, told The Indian Express that the SIT has been directed to begin work immediately. “I will be holding a meeting with the officials at 3 am ThegamingzoneinRajkotthatburneddown,Saturday. Express PTI (Sunday),” he said. Rajkot Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Parthraj Gohil told The Indian Express that four persons associatedwiththegamingzone hadbeendetained.“Wearefinding out who the land, on which the gaming zone was set up, belonged to, and who was running it,” said Gohil. Police sources said TRP was set up about two years ago. A senior police officer said the co-owner, Yuvrajsinh Solanki, and manager, Nitin Jain, were among those detained. “We are also looking for Prakash Jain, another person associated with the gaming zone. He is reported to have been inside the premises when the fire broke out,” the officer said. Rajkot Mayor Nayna Pedhadiyasaidthegamingzone, operating from a two-storey tin CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Cyclone Remal: Flight operations suspended at Kolkata airport EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE BENGALURU, KOLKATA MAY 25 A DEEP depression over the Bay of Bengal intensified into a cyclonic storm, named Remal, on Saturday evening and is likely to turn severe before making landfall between the coasts of West Bengal and Bangladesh on Sunday (May 26) midnight, the India Meteorological Department(IMD)saidSaturday. In view of Cyclone Remal's impact on the coastal region of West Bengal, including Kolkata, flight operations will remain suspended from “1200 IST on 26.05.2024 to 0900 IST on 27.05.2024 due to forecast of heavy winds and heavy to very heavy rainfall at Kolkata,” Kolkata airport authorities said on Saturday. CycloneRemal,whichhasdevelopedintheBayofBengal,isexpectedtomakelandfallbetween Sagar islands in West Bengal and KhepuparainBangladesh,thedepartment said. North and South 24 Parganas, Purba Medinipur, Howrah, Hooghly districts in West Bengal have been placed underredalert,asthestormgets closer on Sunday. Extremely heavy rainfall (over 204mm in 24 hours)with gusting winds will be experienced over these districts. The Met department has warned of heavy rainfall and gustingwindsovernorthOdisha and West Bengal till the early hours of Monday. “Cyclone Remal is likely to continue to move northwards. It will intensify into a 'severe' cyclone by Sunday morning and move over northwest and adjoining northeast Bay of Bengal. It is expected to cross CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kolkata