The Editorial Page: A year later, Pahalgam’s shadow lingers over Kashmir’s people, economy 14 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2026 JOURNALISM of COURAgE NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 24 PAGES ₹7.00 (₹8 RAIPUR, ₹15 SRINAGAR) 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 Battlelines drawn: Campaign draws to an BOmBS WILL GO OFF IF NO AGREEmENT: U.S. PRESIDENT end in Tamil Nadu, first phase of Bengal Vance trip to Pak on TAmIL NADU SEATS: 234 (44 SC and 2 ST) DECISION 2021 TURNOUT: 73.63% resultsin2021 2026 PARTY SEATS SHARE (%) DMK+ 159 45.38 AIADMK+ 75 39.71 Others 0 14.91 TAm I L N A D U ‘Political enemy DMK, ideological enemy BJP’: Vijay signs off as TN race’s great unknown Arun Janardhanan Chennai, April 21 ON THE final day of campaigning in Tamil Nadu, when veteran leaders were moving through familiar constituencies and party machines were settling into their closing routines, the state’s most unpredictablecandidateclosedas he had opened: as spectacle, grievance, and possibility rolled into one. But beneath the celebrity and noise lies the factor that made Vijay harder to measure than previous third-front challengers: he may be the first major alternative face in decadeswhosestrongestemotional connection is with the youth. The actor-turned-TVK leader closed his campaign on Tuesday at the YMCA Ground in Chennai with a speech that mixed welfare promises, »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 wEST BENGAL (PHASE 1) SEATS: 152 (34 SC and 14 ST) 2021 TURNOUT: 82.64% resultsin2021 PARTY SEATS SHARE (%) TMC 92 46.90 BJP 59 39.65 Congress 0 4.33 CPI(M) 0 3.26 Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay campaigns ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. PTI In Nandigram, TMC bets on Hindu pitch to loosen Suvendu’s grip Ravik Bhattacharya & Atri mitra Nandigram (Purba Medinipur), April 21 AT NANDIGRAM’S Badar Auliya Pir Saheb Mazar field, horses line up to race as a huge crowd cheers. Roaming the field,localTrinamoolCongress (TMC) leader Mijanur Shah urges his colleagues to quickly arrive with party candidate Pabitra Kar so that he can meet thevillagerswhohavegathered to watch the annual horse race, one of the few events where Hindus and Muslims partici- SOURCE: EC ‘Wait for summons’: At tribunal building, in last hours, one more order pate together. Tanusree Bose As West Bengal heads to the Kolkata, April 21 first phase of polls on April 23, with campaigning ending INTO THE final hours of their Tuesday, Nandigram will be last bid to be included in the oneofthemostcloselywatched West Bengal electoral list, Ram among the 152 constituencies PrasadBiswas,RupaSen,Sukhgoing to vote. debSarkar,HasThat is because san Khan, Anof the centrality wara Begum, DECISION of Nandigram Chandan Purto the Trinakayat and SabimoolCongress’s dul Mulla re(TMC) rise to WEST B ENGAL turned without power. answers. The 2007 They were anti-landacquisitionmovement among those who trooped »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 through the day to the Syama 2026 Prasad Mookerjee National Institute of Water and Sanitation at Joka near Kolkata, identified as the site of all the 19 tribunals meant to hear applications of 27.10 lakh people deleted from the Bengal voter roll after adjudication. At its last hearing, the Supreme Court directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to hear their applications and “unfreeze”votingrolltoinclude their names in supplementary lists, to be released on April 21 (for the April 23 polling) and April 27 (for the April 29 phase). »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 hold, Iran says no talks under threat His deadline ending today, Trump pushes for quick deal Jonathan Swan, Elian Peltier, Tyler Pager & Farnaz Fassihi Washington, Islamabad, April 21 US VICE President J D Vance’s trip to Pakistan for a second roundofnegotiationswithIran has been put on hold after Tehran failed to respond to American positions, a US official with direct knowledge of the situation said Tuesday. Iran, for its part, said it had not yet decided whether to resume talks with the US. With the two-week truce set to expire Wednesday in Iran, it was unclear what steps, if any, Iran or the US would take next. Talks could resume at a moment’snoticethoughPresident Donald Trump has suggested that he did not want to extend thetrucewithoutalonger-term agreement. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, said Iran had not decided »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Billboards near the Serena Hotel in Islamabad where the second round of talks between the US and Iran were to take place. AP Diplomatic road long, arduous but why ‘grand bargain’ remains goal C Raja mohan New Delhi, April 21 AS WASHINGTON and Tehran inchtowards asecond round of negotiations, the idea of a“grandbargain”isvery much at the centre of the complex diplomatic dynamic between the two sides. For two adversaries locked in intense and seemingly irreversible hostility since the 1979 Happening Kharge calls PM terrorist, clarifies; today BJP slams remark, to meet EC today lIPL: Lucknow Super Giants and Rajasthan Royals face off in Lucknow (7.30 pm). lENGLISH PREmIER LEAGUE: Manchester City look to level points with league leaders Arsenal as they play against Burnley (12.30 am, Thursday). TRACK THESE AND MORE ON www.INDIANExPrESS.cOm Business as Usual By EP UNNY Express News Service Chennai, New Delhi, April 21 A ROW erupted Tuesday after CongresspresidentMallikarjun Kharge called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “terrorist” at a press conference in Chennai, a remark that drew condemnation and sharp reactions from the BJP and senior ministers in the Union government. A BJP delegation will be meeting the Election Commission Wednesday morning in this connection. Onthefinaldayofcampaigning in Tamil Nadu, Kharge Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in Chennai Tuesday. ANI told reporters: “Periyar,Dr Ambedkar, Annadurai, Kamaraj and Kalaignar – these people stood for women’s reservation, justice, equality and fraternity. Modi is not for these principles… How can these AIADMK people join hands with Modi when their party itself was founded by Annadurai? He is a terrorist. His party doesnotbelieveinequalityand justice. These people are joining with them – it means they are weakening democracy.” Asked to clarify what he meant, the Congress president said, “I just want to clarify that what I said was Modi always threatens,usingagenciesinhis hand such as the ED and IT. All these institutions are in his »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Rs 22.9 cr lost in digital arrest, five banks made to pay Rs 1.3 cr to victim THE BIg PICTURE StALIN’S StAtEcrAft pAgE 21 Order by RBI ombudsman cites deficiencies linked to KYC Ritu Sarin New Delhi, April 21 IN RARE relief to a victim of a digitalarrest scam,the Reserve Bank of India, through its Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, has asked five “beneficiary” Naresh Malhotra, 78, is a retired banker banks, where mule accounts were opened last year to transfer siphoned funds,topay the victim between 5% and 7.5% of the deposited sums. The five banks are Axis Bank, City Union Bank, ICICI bank, IndusInd Bank and Yes Bank. A speaking order passed on February 25 by the RBI ombudsman in New Delhi asked these banks to collectively pay Rs 1.31 crore to the victim. The order for penalties marks a major development in what is described as Delhi’s biggest digital arrest case in which 78-year-old Naresh Malhotra, a retiredbanker,lostRs22.92crore »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 l PAHALGAM: ONE YEAR LATER ‘HM (Shah) said open tourist spots with maximum footfall, not ones easiest to open’ Naveed Iqbal of people. Excerpts: ON THE eve of the first anniversary of the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah told The Indian Express about how his government worked with the Centre to ensure security, and also simultaneously open all tourist destinations because that’s the way to remove fear from the minds On the ground, there are apprehensions about some tourist destinations still remaining shut for tourists and locals. Can you talk about the efforts over the past year to reassure people keen to visit Kashmir? Look, there were multiple things. One, of course, was on the ground here, ensuring that Srinagar, April 21 ExPrESS interview OmAR ABDULLAH CHIEF MINISTER, J&K the security audit took place andplaceswereopenedastheir safety and security was assessed, and that happened. At the same time, we worked with thelocalstakeholders,thetourism industry, to see how best we can position ourselves because we didn't want to appear callous. We wanted to look sensitive in the backdrop of a »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 morE rEportS, pAgE 8 New Delhi IslamicRevolution,theveryarticulation of such an ambition marks a significant shift. Yet the fragility of the moment is evident. Confusion over the opening and closing of the Strait of Hormuz; arguments over rival blockades; US President Donald Trump's optimism Tuesday about a "great deal," and his threats to attack E. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2