DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2025, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 22 PAGES JOURNALISM OF COURAGE CLAIMS KARNATAKA CID SENT 18 LETTERS TO EC IN AS MANY MONTHS CEC shielding ‘vote chors’, Cong voters targeted in Karnataka seat, says Rahul As Rahul takes ‘H-bomb’ path, murmurs in Cong: What will be the fallout radius? MANOJ C G NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18 WITH THE promised ‘hydrogen bomb’ put off for another day, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s stepped-up ‘vote chori’ line of attack against the BJP Rahul Gandhi at the press conference in New Delhi on Thursday. Anil Sharma ASAD REHMAN NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18 STEPPINGUPthepressureonthe Election Commission (EC) over the issue of alleged vote theft, Leaderof Opposition(LoP)Rahul POLL PANEL SITS ON KARNATAKA CID QUERIES PAGE 8 Gandhi Thursday accused Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar of protecting “vote chors” who have “destroyed Indian democracy”. The Congress leader cited data from two Assembly CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 INDIAN MISSILE STRIKE IN BAHAWALPUR Pak Army at funeral of terrorists: Munir ordered attendance, admits Jaish M ZULQERNAIN LAHORE, SEPTEMBER 18 PAKISTAN ARMY Chief Asim Munirhadissueddirectordersto the Corps Commander of Bahawalpur and soldiers to at- tendthefuneralof thosekilledin the Indian missile strikes on Jaish-e-Mohammad'sheadquarters on May 7, a top commander of the terror group has said. In a video that went viral on Thursday, JeM commander Ilyas CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E Thursdayleftatleastsome in the party uneasy about the fallout. At a press conference heldinDelhi,theLeaderof the Opposition alleged illegal deletion of votes at an Assembly constituency in Karnataka and “additions” at a seat in EXPLAINED EC dismisses claims as incorrect and baseless, says FIR was filed in 2023 Maharashtra. Gandhi claimed the use of centralised software for this, ● andaccusedChief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of “protecting those people who have destroyed Indian democracy”. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BJP hits back: Rahul trying to protect infiltrators and destabilise democracy SANTOSH SINGH & JATIN ANAND PATNA, NEW DELHI, SEPT 18 `7.00 (`8 RAIPUR, `15 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 (EC) of mass voter deletion, UnionHomeMinisterAmitShah mounted an attack on the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition, describinghisVoteAdhikarYatrain Bihar,whereelectionsarearound the corner, as a move to “protect infiltrators”.Gandhiwasalsotargeted by Shah's party colleague Anupam Thakur who accused him of “trying to destabilise” Indian democracy by questioning the EC. Court sets aside order asking journalists to take down content against Adani firm Court:Defendants shouldhavegota chancebeforeposts calleddefamatory NIRBHAY THAKUR NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18 A DELHI court Thursday set aside a September 6 order against four journalists which restrained them from publishing alleged defamatory content ontheAdaniEnterprisesLimited (AEL) and directed them to remove “unverified” posts. The four journalists — Ravi Nair, Abir Dasgupta, Ayaskanta DasandAyushJoshi—whowere amongindividualsandentitiesrestrained by the September 6 CONTINUED ON PAGE 11 Adani gets clean chit from Sebi, Hindenburg allegations dismissed HITESH VYAS & GEORGE MATHEW MUMBAI, SEPTEMBER 18 THE SECURITIES and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has given a clean chit to Gautam Adani, Rajesh Adani and key Adani Groupfirms—AdaniPorts&SEZ, Adani Power, and Adicorp Enterprises — on all charges levelled by US short-seller Hindenburg Research. The allegations of insider trading, marketmanipulation,andviolations of public shareholding rules col- A bowler who switched to javelin, Sachin Yadav Saudi and Pakistan seal defence pact; finishes 4th at world meet Delhi says Riyadh kept it in the loop NIHAL KOSHIE ONAdaywhenRahulGandhiaccused the Election Commission CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18 SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18 WITH SAUDI Arabia and Pakistansigningaformalmutual defence pact which states that “any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both”, India said Thursday it will “study the implications” of this develop- ment for its “national security as well as for regional and global stability”, and is committed to “protecting India’s national interests”. DelhialsosaidthattheIndian government was “aware” that this development had been “under consideration”. Sources said the Saudis had kept India “in the loop” about the formalisation of the defence partnership be- tween Riyadh and Rawalpindi. Sources pointed out that Saudi Arabia has been one of the major hubs for re-employment of former Pakistan Army officers —themostfamousexamplewas the appointment in 2017 of formerPakistanArmychief General Raheel Sharif as the lead commander of the Saudi-led forces against terror. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AS A 19-year-old, when Sachin Yadav decided to give up fast bowling and take up the javelin, his family in Khekada village, in Baghpatdistrictof UttarPradesh, was worried. But, although cricket was a far more attractive career option than track and field, Sachin's father, Naresh Yadav, respected his son's decision, even borrowing money to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Sachin Yadav at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Thursday. AP lapsed under scrutiny, Sebi said after a detailed probe. The regulator made it clear that none of the charges in the show-cause notice could be proved. It also confirmed there was no violation of the Sebi Act concerning fraudulent or unfair trade practices. The alleged transactions were deemed genuine business dealings and not fraudulent or violative of RPT disclosure norms, given the legal framework applicable during the investigation period, Sebi said in CONTINUED ON PAGE 11 EXPRESS NETWORK GAG ORDER IN ADANI CASE FLIES IN FACE OF WHAT SC RULED PAGE 7 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY