DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PATNA, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2025, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES ASSEMBLY POLLS IN 4 OF 12 NEXT YEAR 12 states & UTs, 51 cr voters: After Bihar, SIR next round from Nov 4 Assam excluded for now; EC asks voters to submit forms by Dec 4 Tamil Nadu Kerala Puducherry Uttar Pradesh 51 crore Rajasthan MP VOTERS TO BE COVERED Chhattisgarh Lakshadweep Andaman and Nicobar West Bengal, TN, Kerala and Puducherry Assembly polls due in 2026; UP, Gujarat, Goa in 2027; Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh in 2028; Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep do not have Assemblies NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 27 THEELECTIONCommission(EC) on Monday announced the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in 12 states and Union Territories, where all of the registered 51 crore electors would have to submit enumerationformsbyDecember4toremain on the draft roll. All those who cannot be traced back to the last intensive revision of rolls in 2002-2005 wouldberequiredtosubmitdocumentstoestablishtheireligibility to remain on the final list. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BENGAL, TAMIL NADU PUSH BACK PAGE 10 DECEMBER 9 FEB 7, 2026 Poll panel to publish draft electoral list Final electoral rolls to be published Bihar effect: Processes tweaked to flag inclusion, papers only in 2nd stage DAMINI NATH & RITIKA CHOPRA NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 27 FROM A softening of tone on citizenship to several procedural changes, the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in 12 states and Union Territoriesmarksmanypointsof departure from the exercise the Election Commission had notified for Bihar on June 24. Consider the key ones: ■The first major shift comes rightatthestartingline,theenumeration phase, whose purpose and tone are now entirely different. In Bihar, this phase had triggered anxiety among existing electors registered after 2003, the year the ● state’s rolls were last revised intensively, as they were asked to furnish documents proving their age and citizenship to stay on the electoral E EXPLAINED DAMINI NATH BY UNNY Gujarat Goa CEC Gyanesh Kumar with ECs Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. Anil Sharma BUSINESS AS USUAL 9 STATES, 3 UNION TERRITORIES West Bengal `5.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CJI, SUCCESSOR Chief Justice of India B R Gavai has recommended to the Centre the name of Justice Surya Kant as the next CJI. CJI Gavai is set to retire on November 23. PTI REPORT,PAGE7 59 rescued as rain pounds Gujarat, four ministers set to visit affected areas ‘Jobs, jobs and jobs… Bihar needs this… PK a media creation’ SANTOSH SINGH PATNA, OCTOBER 27 “JOBS,JOBSandjobs.”Thatishow RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav describes his priorities, in an interviewwithTheIndianExpressdays after the Mahagathbandhan announced him as its Chief Minister face. P13 THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW TEJASHWI YADAV In Amreli on Monday. Express RITU SHARMA AHMEDABAD, OCTOBER 27 NEARLY 60 people were rescued as over six-inch rainfall lashed Rajula taluka in Gujarat's Amreli on Monday. The district admin- RELATEDREPORT,PAGE4 istration has been on high alert and no casualty has been reported so far, said an official. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel is monitoring the situation caused by unseasonal rainfall and has directed Agriculture CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RJD LEADER The announcement was an acknowledgment of how cruDECISION 2025 cialthe35-year-old BIHAR is to the Mahagathbandhan’s chances, at CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MEETS RUBIO IN KUALA LUMPUR Energy trade principles are applied selectively: Jaishankar swipe at US SHUBHAJIT ROY NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 27 HOURS AFTER he met US Secretaryof StateMarcoRubioin KualaLumpurMonday,External AffairsMinisterSJaishankartook aswipeattheTrumpadministration, saying energy trade is becoming “increasingly constricted”, “principles are applied selectivelyandwhatispreached is not necessarily practised”. His remarks at the East Asia SummitstemfromtheUSimposition of a 25 per cent tariff penalty on India over its purchase of Russian oil in addition tothe25percenttariff ongoods. The US has not imposed penalty tariffs on Europe and China whichhavealsobeenbuyingenergy from Russia. EAM S Jaishankar with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Kuala Lumpur. PTI “Energy trade is increasingly constricted, with resulting market distortions. Principles are CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Trust an expert who knows when to switch the tune ^ Flexi Cap Fund for agility Scan to know more or contact your MFD/RIA Benefits of investing in Flexi Cap Fund 1 Flexibility to adjust Market Cap allocation 2 Managed by experts with experience across market cycles 3 Flexible approach helps mitigate risk over the long term ^An open ended dynamic equity scheme investing across large cap, mid cap & small cap stocks. SIP for life An Investor Education and Awareness Initiative | SIP - Systematic Investment Plan Visit https://www.hdfcfund.com/information/key-know-how to know more about the process to complete a one-time Know Your Customer (KYC) requirement to invest in Mutual Funds. Investors should only deal with registered Mutual Funds, details of which can be verified on the SEBI website (www.sebi.gov.in/intermediaries.html). For any queries, complaints & grievance redressal, investors may reach out to the AMCs and / or Investor Relations Officers. Additionally, investors may also lodge complaints directly with the AMCs. If they are not satisfied with the resolutions given by AMCs, they may raise complaint through the SCORES portal on https://scores.sebi.gov.in/. SCORES portal facilitates investors to lodge complaint online with SEBI and subsequently view its status. In case the investor is not satisfied with the resolution of the complaints raised directly with the AMCs or through the SCORES portal, they may file any complaint on the Smart ODR on https://smartodr.in/login. To learn more about SIP, visit: hdfcfund.com/sip Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully. Ahmedabad