WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM Where The Wild Things are Goa’s biodiversity has a lot to offer tourists, from wildlife sanctuaries to wetlands, but unchecked construction is encroaching on its green spaces AHMEDABAD, DECEMBER 21, 2025 SCREEN Battle for Glory LATE CITY 14+4 PAGES ₹6.00 D A I L Y Homebound, in the run for the Oscars F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , Happening today lTHE RESULT Of the first two phases of Maharashtra local body polls will be out. It will offer the clearest signal yet of shifting political equations on the ground, ahead of the municipal corporation elections next month. lINDIA WOMEN’S five-match T20 International series against Sri Lanka starts in Vizag. Can the 50-over World Champions maintain their great run in the shortest format? l’CHILLAI-KALAN’, a 40-day period marked by intense cold and snowfall, begins in Kashmir Valley. Tourism players are hoping for a boost in footfall after what they described as a difficult year for the sector. TRACK THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPRESS.COm INSIDE PAGE 9 CoURT:DElhi CM’S ATTACkERMAY hAvECoMEwiTh iNTENTioNTokill C H A N D I G A R H , D E L H I , J A I P U R , K O L K A T A , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N A G P U R , P A T N A , P U N E , V A D O D A R A 13 TRUSTS SUBMIT CONTRIBUTION REPORTS TO ELECTION COMMISSION After SC junks poll bonds, trusts’ funding to political parties triples BJP receives 82% of total Rs 3,811 crore in 2024-25, Cong less than 8%, others about 10% Damini Nath, Harikishan Sharma, Abhinaya Harigovind & Jatin Anand New Delhi, December 20 INTHEfirstfinancialyearafter the Supreme Court scrapped the government’s anonymous political funding scheme through electoral bonds, nine electoral trusts donated a total of Rs 3,811 crore to political parties in 2024-2025. Bharatiya lContributionsin2024-2025 ELECTORAL TRUST TOTAL BJP CONGRESS Prudent Electoral Trust ₹2,668.46 crore ₹2,180.71 crore ₹21.63 crore Progressive Electoral Trust ₹914.97 crore ₹757.62 crore ₹77.34 crore New Democratic Electoral Trust ₹160 crore ₹150 crore ₹5 crore Harmony Electoral Trust ₹35.65 crore ₹30.15 crore 0 Triumph Electoral Trust ₹25 crore ₹21 crore 0 Samaj Electoral Trust Association ₹6 crore ₹3 crore 0 Janpragati Electoral Trust ₹1.02 crore 0 0 Jankalyan Electoral Trust ₹19 lakh ₹9.50 lakh ₹9.50 lakh Einzigartig Electoral Trust ₹7.75 lakh ₹7.75 lakh 0 TOTAL ₹3,811.37 cr ₹3,112.50 cr ₹298.77 cr Janata Party (BJP), the party rulingattheCentre,receivedRs 3,112 crore, or more than fourfifth (82 per cent) of the total funds donated by trusts. According to the contribution reports submitted by the different trusts to the Election Commission of India, just under 8 per cent of their donationsorRs299crorewenttothe Congress. All other parties put E. ExPLAINED Trusts and transparency Funding of political parties through electoral trusts is just one channel, although a major one. Unlike electoral bonds, the contributions by companies to the electoral trusts and subsequently the donations to political parties through trusts is transparent. together receive the balance 10 per cent or Rs 400 crore. Thetotaldonationsreceived »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PM Narendra Modi with Assam Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and industrialist Gautam Adani during the inauguration of a new terminal of the Guwahati airport. PTI PAGE 7 PM sounds poll bugle in West Bengal: ‘End TMC jungle raj, bring double-engine govt’ Tanusree Bose Nadia, December 20 AHEAD OF the Assembly elections in West Bengal next year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi onSaturdaycalledforanendto the Trinamool Congress government’s “jungle raj” and urged people to give the BJP a chance to form a “double-engine government” in the state. Addressing a gathering in Taherpuroverthephone,ashis helicopter was unable to land due to low visibility, Modi also accused the TMC of opposing »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Site of NREGS launch, ‘transformed’ Andhra village has few fears on changes in scheme Sreenivas Janyala Bandlapalli (Andhra Pradesh), December 20 GONEAREthehutsanddilapidated houses, and the barren fields. Bandlapalli village now has pucca houses painted in attractive colours, with glinting water taps at their doorsteps, crowded lanes where tractors jostle with motorcycles, and fields of mangoes, orchids, pomegranates among other crops, and micro dairy farms. Thestoryofthistransformation is told by a plaque in black stone. It marks the launch, on February 2, 2006, of the NationalRuralEmployeeGuarantee Programme from the Bandlapalligrampanchayat,bythen Congress Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in the presence of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and then Congress Chief Minister of united Andhra Pradesh Y S Rajasekhara Reddy. I am over 60 , but I still go for MGNREGS works. It has changed my life... my granddaughter got into MBBS... We had nothing 15-20 years ago.” C PEDAKKA, THE COUNTRY’S FIRST MGNREGS CARD HOLDER As the Congress leads protests against changes to the MGNREGS by the Centre, includinginitsname,Bandlapalli »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Govt ran a bulldozer over MGNREGA... all ready to counter this attack: Sonia Express News Service New Delhi, December 20 A COUPLE of days after Parliament passed the new rural job guaranteelaw,VB-GRAMGBill, toreplaceMGNREGA,Congress ParliamentaryParty(CPP)chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said the UPA-era law was »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Congress leader Sonia Gandhi in a video released Saturday. PTI Bangladesh Mourns Youth Leader At the funeral of Sharif Osman Hadi, a youth leader who was shot by masked assailants last week, in Dhaka on Saturday. Hadi’s death sparked widespread protests across Bangladesh. REUTERS PAGES 12, 5 T20 World Cup: Gill dropped, focus on powerplay boost, team balance Venkata Krishna B & Devendra Pandey Chennai, Mumbai, December 20 JUST MONTHS after bringing back Shubman Gill in the T20 format — as vice-captain for the Asia Cup — and experimentingwithhimasanopener alongside Abhishek Sharma in three series, the selection committee headed by Ajit Agarkar on Saturday dropped him for the T20 World Cup which begins in February. The Indian Express has learnt that two factors weighed against Gill — his strike rate in powerplay, and team combinationandbalance.Oflate,Gillhad been battling for form, going 18 innings without a 50 in the format. However, according to Chief selector Ajit Agarkar, BCCI Secy Devajit Saikia, T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav in Mumbai. AP sources,itwasthecombinationfactor that swung the decision. Agarkar is learnt to have communicatedthelast-minute decision to Gill, the captain of the Test and ODI teams, only after the selection meeting. While the selection panel was expected to discuss Gill's place in the 15-member squad, the bold call of leaving him out came as a surprise. Despite the underwhelming returns of Gill and captain Suryakumar Yadav, the team looked settled on paper, with the big debate beingaroundWashingtonSundar and Rinku Singh. As it turned out, both left-handers made the cut, while Gill and wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma were left out. With Sanju Samson being the first-choice wicketkeeper, the selectors choseIshanKishanasthebackup option as he also bats at the top. Explaining why Gill didn’t make the cut, Agarkar said: “You’re looking at combinations at the moment. Someone has to miss out when you take 15. And unfortunately, it’s him »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad
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