The Editorial Page: Uddhav & Raj bury hatchet but can they refresh Brand Thackeray for future? 10 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2025 JOURNALISM of COURAGe MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES ₹5.00 l www.indianexpress.com DA I LY F R O M : A H M E DA B A D , C H A N D I GA R H , D E L H I , j A I P U R , KO L K ATA , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N AG P U R , PAT N A , P U N E , VA D O DA R A REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 Happening today lTHE CONgRESS WORKINg Committee (CWC) will meet in New Delhi to chalk out an agitational programme seeking withdrawal of the VB-G RAM G Act, which replaced the UPAera MGNREGA. The VB-G RAM G Bill got the Presidential assent on December 21. TRACK THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPrESS.cOm 120 148 184 94 FIRST REMARKS AFTER BNP LEADER ENDS EXILE AND ARRIVES IN DHAKA Delhi on Rahman return: Polls must be free, inclusive and participatory Unremitting hostilities against minorities in Bangladesh: MEA Divya A New Delhi, December 26 IN FIRST remarks on Bangladesh a day after BNP leader Tarique Rahman returned to Dhaka ending 17 years of selfexile, India said Friday that the homecomingshouldbeseenin the context of ensuring “free, fair,inclusiveandparticipatory elections” scheduled for February in the neighbouring country. Rahman, son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia who is ailing, is the BNP’s acting chairman and is tipped to be the next Prime Minister. His party is expected to come to power after the February 12 elections. Ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League has been barred from the polls. RandhirJaiswal,spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, told reporters: “India stands for strengthening our ties with the people of Bangladesh. We favour peace and stability in Bangladesh and have consistentlycalledforfree,fair, inclusive and participatory elections in Bangladesh.” Underlining the “unremitting hostilities” against minorities in Bangladesh and flag- BJP workers hold a protest in Karnataka’s Chikkamagaluru on Friday against the alleged killing of a Hindu youth in Bangladesh. PTI gingit“asamatterofgraveconcern,” Jaiswal said India condemns the killing of a Hindu youth in Bangladesh. In Mymensingh, Dipu Chandra Das was beaten to death by a mob over alleged blasphemy, and his body was later set on fire on December 18. “Theunremittinghostilities against the minorities in Bangladesh including Hindus, Christians and Buddhists is a matter of grave concern. We condemn the recent killing of a Hindu youth in Bangladesh and expect that the perpetratorsofthecrimewillbebrought to justice,” he said. TensionsbetweenIndiaand Bangladeshescalatedlastweek following the death of July 2024 uprising leader Sharif Osman Hadi. He died on December 18, six days after he was shot in Dhaka. As protests erupted on both sides of the border, Delhi and Dhaka summonedeachother’senvoysearlier this week to express »CONTINUED ON PAgE 2 RELATED REPORT, P 16 Sengar order perverse: CBI challenges HC finding, moves SC His release will jeopardise victim, family: Agency Ananthakrishnan g New Delhi, December 26 DESCRIBING THE Delhi High Court order suspending the life sentence of Unnao rape case convict Kuldeep Singh Sengar as “contrary to law” and “perverse”, the CBI Friday moved the Supreme Court, challenging the HC finding that he was not a public servant when he committed the offence. In its appeal against the December 23 order which led to public outrage and protests including by the victim and her family, the CBI said the HC “failed to consider that a sitting MLA,byvirtueofholdingaconstitutional office, is vested with Unnao rape case convict Kuldeep Singh Sengar public trust and authority over the electorate, and that such a position carries heightened responsibilityarisingfromduties owed to the State and society”. It said the HC “has erred in lawbyfailingtoadoptapurposive interpretation that advances the object and intent of the POCSO Act, a special victim-centric legislation enacted to protect children from sexual offences”. TheHC,itsaid,“hasignored that releasing” Sengar “on bail »CONTINUED ON PAgE 2 New Delhi, December 26 OPPOSING THE Delhi High Court’s intervention in a PIL seeking GST reduction on air purifiersfrom18%to5%byclassifyingthemasmedicaldevices, the Centre said Friday that any judicialdirectionwillamountto thecourtsteppingintothelegislative domain and violating the Constitution’sbasicstructureof separation of powers. Statingthatentertainingthe petition will “open a Pandora’s box” and the government is “scaredfromtheconstitutional perspective”, Additional Solicitor General N Venkataraman, appearing for the Centre, said thereisalreadyalegislativepro- Nation’s Pride President Droupadi Murmu with the winners of this year’s ‘Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar’, which recognises exceptional achievements of children between the age of 5 and 18, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday. PTI THE NATIONAL AWARDS were conferred on the occasion of Veer Bal Diwas, which commemorates the martyrdom of two sons of Guru Gobind Singh. 20 CHILDREN got the awards this year across categories: Bravery, Social Service, Environment, Sports, Art & Culture and Science & Technology. tioning the motive, the ASG said, “This is not a PIL at all… GST is only a ruse. This will openaPandora’sbox…Thereis a process. We will go through the process… filing a petition and getting a mandamus (a court order) issued asking the GSTCounciltosaythisorthat… , we are scared from the constitutional perspective, it is the doctrine of separation of powers… We can’t give a committed date (on the GST Council meeting) (but) we certainly see an agenda (by the »CONTINUED ON PAgE 2 PM NARENDRA MODI, speaking at a Veer Bal Diwas event, said the country should resolve to rid itself of 'slave mentality' in the next 10 years. PAgE 8 Indus Treaty on hold, green nod for another hydel project on Chenab Business as Usual By EP UNNY Centre questions motive of PIL, says it will open a Pandora’s box cess involved in dealing with recommendationsmadeinParliamentary standing committee reports as well as how GST Councilmeetingsdeliberateon proposals. “How can this processbescuttledthroughacourt process?” he said. Advocate Kapil Madan, appearing as party-in-person in the PIL, has submitted in the petition that an air purifier can beclassifiedasamedicaldevice asperaFebruary11,2020notificationoftheMinistryofHealth and Family Welfare. Opposing the PIL and ques- In Bengal, officials flag deletion fears as EC generates notices to electors Write to CEO: EROs may not even know of deletions, but will be blamed Atri Mitra, Ravik Bhattacharya & Damini Nath Kolkata, New Delhi, December 26 AS ELECTORAL Registration Officers (EROs) in West Bengal prepare to hold hearings from Saturday to decide whether lakhs of electors will remain on the rolls, an association of state service officers has flagged a seriousconcernoverthepotential of large-scale “systemdriven” deletions the EROs could be blamed for, despite not being involved in generating the notices. In a letter to West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal, with a copy to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s office, the West BengalCivilService(Executive) Officers’ Association on Wednesday flagged the “suo motu system-driven deletion of electors from the draft electoral rolls in West Bengal in the ongoing SIR process bypassing the statutory role of EROs”. The EROs are the sole and competent authority to issue notices if they doubt an elector’s eligibility, including citizenship, as per the Representation of the People Act, 1950. E. ExPLAINED ERO: Sole authority for voter deletion AT the heart of the issues raised by the West Bengal officers’ association is the claim that names of persons may be deleted from voters’ list without the knowledge of the Electoral Registration Officer, who is the competent authority as per law to send notices and decide if a person is a legitimate voter. However, in the ongoing SpecialIntensiveRevision(SIR) of electoral rolls, the ECI’s centralised portal has been used to generate notices. The Indian Express had reported on December 16 that EROs across Bihar had found “pre-filled notices” appearing on their individual log-ins on the ECI’s centralised portal. Significantly, while the notices bore the names of the EROs, they had not been generated by them. An Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) in West Bengal, »CONTINUED ON PAgE 2 DELHI-MUMBAI EXPRESSWAY Any HC step on air purifier GST will violate basic structure: Govt Sohini ghosh BIHAR PLAYBOOK gETS PUSHBACK Nikhil ghanekar New Delhi, December 26 AMID THE Centre’s push to expedite pending infrastructure projects in the Indus basin, the Environment Ministry’s sectoral expert appraisal committee (EAC) on hydel projects has recommended clearance for the 260-MW Dulhasti Stage-II project on the Chenab river in the Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir, according to minutes of the panel’s December 19 meeting. Theprojectwillbedeveloped by the NHPC Limited at an estimated cost of Rs 3277.45 crore. The 390-MW Dulhasti-I is a THE BIg PICTURE In Kerala, a mob and its many faces PAgE 13 l DulhastiHEP-II Dulhasti-I Chenab river Dulhasti-II KishtwarManali road Kishtwar run-of-the river scheme, and was commissioned in 2007 by NHPC Ltd. Dulhasti-II will utilise the existing dam, reservoir, power intake of the Stage-I »CONTINUED ON PAgE 2 ‘Negligible progress’: NHAI notice to firm on ending contract for expressway work ‘Intent-to-terminate’ notice to Pune contractor for 35-km stretch in Gujarat Dheeraj Mishra New Delhi, December 26 THE NATIONAL Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has issued an “intent to terminate notice” to Pune-based contractor Roadway Solutions India Infra Ltd (RSIIL), citing “negligible financial progress” in the 35-km Jujuwa-Gandeva section (Package 8) of the DelhiMumbai Expressway in Gujarat, derailing the entire 1,386-km project. On December 18, The IndianExpressreportedthata87kmstretchinGujarat,whichincluded the Jujuwa-Gandeva section, had derailed the Rs 1.04 lakh crore project. It was one of the two packages re-awarded to the company after scrapping the contract over delay in works. The Indian Express report dated Dec 18 on the delay in the project On December 23, a 23-page letter was sent to the RSIIL, giving it 15 days to respond. In its letter, the NHAI said the contractor could achieve only 4.5 per cent financial progress despite the lapse of 16 months fromthedateofappointmentor thecontractor’sstartdatewhich wasAugust31,2024.“Asperthe 18monthscontract,theprogress shouldhavebeen70percenttill date… but there has been negligible progress,” it stated. »CONTINUED ON PAgE 2 l‘AIM TO LEAVE BEHIND INFRA THAT CONTINUES TO IMPROVE EVERYDAY URBAN LIFE LONG AFTER THE GAMES’ Gujarat CM on his priority in run-up to CWG 2030: Fixing AQI, building infra Ritu Sharma & Leena Misra Gandhinagar, December 26 FIXING THE air quality index and public transport systems will be the Gujarat government’s top priority, along with setting up “international standard sports facilities”, as it prepares to host the Commonwealth Games 2030, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has told The Indian Express. In an exclusive interview, Patel detailed how his government was streamlining processes to meet deadlines and ensure delivery. “We are work- ing closely with the United Nations Environment Programme to align our air quality index (AQI) with global public health benchmarks… The experience of successfully managing large crowds during major concerts, festivals and cultural events has given us confidence in handling the scale and complexity of an international sporting event”, he said.“Weaimatnotjusthosting eventssuccessfully,buttoleave behindinfrastructurethatcontinues to improve everyday urban life long after the Games are over.” Patel’s government has also been aggressively hiring and fixing its governance and administration, largely based on recommendations of the Gujarat Administrative Reforms Commission (GARC) appointed early this year. Hiscabinetsawanoverhaul in October, with new ministers being sworn in along with a deputy chief minister in Harsh Sanghavi, who also holds the sports portfolio. In the last six months, the government has hired teachers, health workers and policementofillthelong-pend- ExPrESS interview BHUPENDRA PATEL CHIEF MINISTER OF GUjARAT ing vacancies to strengthen the "frontline service delivery", Patel said, adding that his government is focusing on "mov- ing away from reactive hiring toward a binding 10-year recruitment calendar”. About the CWG 2030, Patel saidthatdetailedeconomicimpactassessmentsarebeingcarried out to ensure that investments remain "financially responsible and sustainable". "Gujarat is working to ensure that the road to 2030 becomes a global benchmark – not just for hosting a sporting event, but for showcasing the idea of a truly Viksit Gujarat", he said. Emphasising how "monitoringsystems"hadbeenputin place to ensure timelines are met,theCMsaidthataGovernance Performance Index (GPI) is in place, which he personally monitors through the CM Dashboard. “Some of the areas in the state which are really doing well on GPI are industries and investments. With the help of real-time tracking, I do not need to ask any department about how long the issue has been pending or what measures have been taken for people-oriented schemes,” he said. He also cited the Statewide AttentiononGrievancesbyApplication of Technology (SWAGAT) platform as an effective mechanism to address grievances of citizens, mostly about "land-related matters". “The mechanism is completely apolitical. To date, I havenotreceivedasinglereference from any political representative in support of or against the complaints or their redressal. However, certainly I have often told the district and taluka level concerned authorities to work effectively to get thecomplaintsresolvedattheir level itself,” the CM said.