The Editorial Page: US deal raises questions. PM must take a leaf out of Manmohan Singh’s book 8 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2026 JOURNALISM of COURAgE MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 16 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 POLLING TODAY ROW IN LOK SABHA AFTER REMARKS BY LEADER OF OPPOSITION 111 139 172 Rahul slams Govt over US deal; Great opportunities to work with India, Cong sold out at WTO, says FM says Tarique aide as Bangladesh votes 73 ExPrEss Happening today ExPrEss IN interview DHAKA lMINISTRY OF STATISTICS and Programme Implementation will release the Consumer Price Index inflation data for January as per the new series at 4 pm. Secretary Saurabh Garg and Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran will later address the media. lIN THE ICC T20 MEN’S World Cup, defending champions India face underdogs Namibia in their second Group A match in Delhi. TRACK THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPrEss.cOm Business as Usual By EP UNNY Shubhajit Roy February 11 Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and (right) Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speak in Lok Sabha on Wednesday. PTI & ANI He is misleading House, will file privilege notice: Union Minister Rijiju Asad Rehman New Delhi, February 11 Afteroutrageover shootingvideo, AssamBJPfires socialmediaman Sukrita Baruah Guwahati, February 11 ONE OF the four co-conveners ofAssamBJP’ssocialmediadepartment has been removed from his position after a video posted from the unit’s official X handle last week showed an image of Assam Chief Minister HimantaBiswaSarmaaiminga rifleattwomeninskullcaps,including one who resembles CongressMPGauravGogoi.The video prompted outrage from acrosstheOppositionspectrum and was deleted the next day. Confirming this to The Indian Express, Assam BJP president Dilip Saikia called the post by the co-convener an “immature”and“unauthorised”action. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MOUNTING A sharp attack on the government, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi WednesdaytargetedthePrimeMinister over the India-US trade dealsayingitwasgoingtocompromise the country’s energy security and farm interests. ParticipatinginaHousediscussion on the Union Budget, Gandhiusedamartialarts“grip” and“chokehold”analogytotarget the government. “You are telling us that energy and fi- Sitharaman counters LoP on farmers, food security & data Deeptiman Tiwary New Delhi, February 11 nance are being weaponised, and then you are having it done to you; you are having it done to our farmers; you are having it done to our youngsters. You are handingoverourdata.Howcan you even make these statements?Howcanyouevencome to this House…,” he said. His remarks — some of whichwerenottakenonrecord following directions from Jagdambika Pal who was chairing the proceedings — drew an angry response from the treasury benches. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 HOURS AFTER Leader of OppositionRahulGandhitargeted thegovernmentovertheIndiaUS trade deal, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while defending provisions of the Union Budget, hit back at the Congress, saying it was the UPAthathad“surrendered”India’s interests at the WTO and putfarmersandthefoodsecurity system at risk. Replying to the discussion in Lok Sabha on the Budget, Sitharaman said, “They are talking about selling India and In- INsIDE p 10 Opp pArTIES SAY BUDGET ONLY fOr prIvILEGED dian farmers. That Modiji has surrendered.Modijiwillalways stand steadfast in the interest of the nation. I will tell you who sold the nation. In 2013, Congress signed a WTO agreement in Bali. There were two issues, trade facilitation and public stock holding of grains. Without securing India’s interest in public stockholding of grains, they signed the trade facilitation agreement.” She said this would have severely constrained procurement and the public distribution system. “This meant that no procurement could happen from any Indian farmer post 2017. And we couldn’t give anything to the poor through the ration shops,” she said. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Buffoonery, smear campaign: Puri US revises its India hits out at Rahul’s Epstein remark trade deal fact sheet, drops ‘certain pulses’ Jatin Anand New Delhi, February 11 HITTING BACK at Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi for mentioning his name in connection with the Epstein Files, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri,whiledenyinganywrongdoing, dismissed the allegations as “baseless”, “buffoonery”, “innuendo” and a “smear campaign”. Addressing the press, Puri targeted Gandhi, “There are twokindsofleaders:Thosewho assume responsibility in the political system and then dedicate their lives to samaj sewa, transforming the country… those in whose lifetime the Changes India ‘commits’ to ‘intends’ in clause on purchase of $500-bn goods Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri at the BJP office in New Delhi. PTI country moves to being the third largest economy from the tenth largest… and then there are other leaders who, occa- sionally, come to the country.” “This is the same yuva leader who, a few months ago, »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Divya A New Delhi, February 11 A DAY after unilaterally releasing a fact sheet on the interim India-US trade agreement, mentioning “certain pulses” E. How US toned down PAGE 11 among American agricultural productsthatwillseetariffcuts by New Delhi, the White House has updated the document, removing those two words. Ithasalsomadeanotherkey change in a reference to the purchase of $500-billion worth of US products overall, changing “India commits” in this context to “India intends”. The original fact sheet had led to protests by Opposition »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AS BANGLADESH goes to polls Thursday under a heavy securityblanket,BNPhasemergedas the frontrunner to lead the country under Tarique Rahman, the son of party founder and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. The Jamaat-e-Islami, which was banned and marginalised by the ousted PM Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League regime, is BNP’s main challenger. Rahman, who is BNP's prime ministerial candidate, returned to Bangladesh from the UK less than two months agotobewithhisailingmother Khaleda Zia who passed away on December 30, 2025. Now, on the eve of elections with 12.7 crore eligible voters, one of Rahman’s closest advisors, Mahdi Amin, told The Indian Express that if the »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 MAHDI AMIN BNP LEADER E. ExPlAINED Why Delhi is looking at Dhaka This will be Bangladesh’s first election after Sheikh Hasina was ousted as PM in August 2024. For a country that has since been governed by an unelected administration led by Muhammad Yunus, the polls will be a key test of its return to democracy. Given the strain in ties, Delhi will watch closely what happens in Dhaka. rELATED rEpOrTS, p 12 Ritu Tawde elected Mumbai’s 78th mayor amid slogan-shouting, Opposition walkout Focus on illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and civic projects Nayonika Bose & Pratip Acharya Mumbai, February 11 WITH ACTION against illegal Bangladeshiimmigrantsemergingasoneofherstatedpriorities, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Ritu Tawde was on Wednesday electedunopposedasMumbai’s 78th mayor, marking the end of nearly four years of administrator’s rule in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Mayor Ritu Tawde and deputy mayor Sanjay Ghadi at the BMC headquarters. GANESH SHIRSEkAR RELATED REPORTS, PAGE 4 in a session marred by slogan shouting,heatedexchangesbetweentherulingallianceandthe Opposition,andwalkoutsbythe Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress. Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Ghadi was elected unopposed as the city’s deputy mayor. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 l IN PUNE’S YERAWADA CENTRAL PRISON Around 20 inmates don the role of chess coaches for 200 fellow prisoners Sushant Kulkarni The life-term inmate, in his late 40s, is among a group of around 20 prisoners at YeraAS THE day began inside the wada Central Prison who are high-securityYerawadaCentral training nearly 200 fellow inPrison in Pune, a life-term in- mates interested in chess. The mate walked to the prison li- group includes members of the brary. On the tables winning team of the lay chessboards, FIDE IntercontinenPAGE 1 pieces already artalChampionshipfor ranged, and some Prisoners,alongwith desktop computers others receiving exwithchessapplicationsopen.A pert coaching as they prepare dozen inmates were ready for forfutureeditionsofthetournathe lesson for the day: the King ment.InOctoberlastyear,asixand Pawn versus King end- member team of inmates from game, one of the most funda- Yerawada prison clinched gold mental endgames in chess. bybeatingtheElSalvadorteam Pune, February 11 anchor inadecisiveArmageddongame in a tense final match. All six members are serving life sentences, so are most of the 20 inmateswhoarebeingtrainedfor future editions. ThechessteamatYerawada Central Prison began taking shape in mid-2021 under IndianOilCorporation(IOC)’ssocial stewardship programme, Parivartan: Prison to Pride, launched across prisons in India. The initiative gained international attention in 2024 when Yerawada hosted the International Chess for Freedom Conference, organised by the The Champions of FIDE Intercontinental Championship for Prisoners held in 2025. These winning members are among the 20 inmates who are training other 200 prisoners. EXPRESS InternationalChessFederation (FIDE)inpartnershipwithIOC, focusing on chess as a key cor- rectional activity. Prior to gold in the intercontinental championship in October 2025, the Yerawadaprisonteamclinched silver in Asian championship in2025,fourthpositioninintercontinental championship in 2024, gold in intercontinental championship in 2023 and bronze in intercontinental championship in 2022. The intercontinental championship is the biggest-ever chess event among correctional facilities, organised by FIDE and the Chicago Cook County Sheriff’s Office, a part of the ‘Chess for Freedom’ programme. Yerawada prison SuperintendentSunilDhamalsaid,“Inside the prison walls, chess has become more than a game. It offers inmates a structured space to think, plan and focus, replacing idle hours with discipline and purpose. The dedication shown by the players reflects a deeper desire to rebuild themselves and move beyond the most difficult chapters of their lives. We have a group of around 20 inmates, most serving life sentences, who have been selected for specialised training. They undergo intensive training from outside coaches for two to three months prior to each international competition. But for the rest of the year, these 20 inmates become coaches for around 200 inmates who are interested in chess.” Aprisondepartmentofficer said, “Every inmate carries a past marked by difficult and oftendarkchapters.Chess,with its emphasis on strategy, patience and discipline, offers a rare opportunity to look ahead withpurpose.Whilealltheparticipants are serving sentences for serious offences including murder, the programme aims to open a constructive path — one that encourages reflection, »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2