The Editorial Page: Why AAP’s breakup matters and can an Opposition-free India be far behind? 8 WEdNESdAY, APRIl 29, 2026 JournAlISm of CourAge AhMEdAbAd, 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 Happening today lPrime minister narendra Modi will inaugurate Ganga Expressway, a major highspeed corridor expected to strengthen the economy of Uttar Pradesh. leuroPean Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will participate in a European Parliament plenary debate on the EU strategy in response to the ongoing West Asia crisis, its implications on energy prices and the availability of fertilisers. ruling Party in state also gets majority of seats in nagarPalikas, taluka PanChayats BJP sweeps Gujarat local body polls, PM Modi hails ‘unbreakable’ bond Party wins all 15 civic bodies, 33 of 34 district panchayats ritu sharma Ahmedabad April 28 lministry of statistiCs and Programme Implementation will convene a summit in Odisha, aimed at building consensus on an action plan to make administrative data ready for policy use. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com guJarat Page 5 Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel, deputy chief minister harsh sanghavi, BJP Gujarat president Jagdish Vishwakarma and others in Gandhinagar on Tuesday. ExPrESS relaTed rePorTs, PaGes 4 & 5 Parimal a dabhi Ahmedabad April 28 Mystery of ‘Missing’ great indian BUstard chick not sUch a Mystery, say officials — ‘it had learnt to fly’ Victory in Ahmedabad, but BJP ‘bastion’ since 1972 falls to Congress tHe bJP registered a thumping victory tuesday in the Gujarat local body elections, winning all 15 municipal corporations and 33 of 34 district panchayats, while also securing a majority of seats in nagarpalikas and taluka panchayats. thenumbersaresignificant on several counts, primarily with Assembly elections due next year. these were the first polls l BJp’svictoryinnumBers (Source: SEC data) municipal district taluka municipalities Corporations panchayats panchayats February 2021 April 2026 482 (out of 576) 1993 775 3,240 (out of 2,720) (out of 980) (outof4,774) 937 1988 892 3,674 (out of 1,044) (out of 2,624) (out of 1,090) (outof5,228) held in the state after the specialIntensiverevision(sIr) ofelectoralrolls.Gujarathadrecorded the highest number of deletions,morethan68lakh,in thesIramongstateswherethe exercise was held in the second phase. these polls were also the first in the state where the higher obC quota of 27% was »Continued on Page 2 WHIle tHe bharatiya Janata PartywontheAhmedabadMunicipalCorporation(AMC)general election on tuesday with a slight improvement of one seat since the 2021 polls, it suffered amajorsetbackinoneofitsbastions in the city. Khadia ward was where the party had not lost since 1972. Also, the Congress improved its seat tally to 32 by clinching seven more seats even as the AIMIM, which had wonsevenseatslasttime,failed to open its account. Along with Khadia, Congress panels swept Dariyapur, Jamalpur, Makhtampura, Gomtipur, Danilimda and behrampura. In2021,theAIMIMhadwon all four seats of Jamalpur and three of Makhtampura — both of which are Muslim-dominated wards. Calling it a victory of India, theJamalpur-Khadiaassembly constituency’s Congress MlA Imran Khedawala said this had happened for the first time in nearly 70 years. “today, the politics of hatred has been defeated. of 89 lakh names deleted in Bengal, 34l had gone to triBunals The BJP won the ahmedabad municipal corporation election WhilebJPleadershadsaidthat theywillnotletKhadiabecome another Pakistan, by creating this history, the people of KhadiahavedefeatedPakistan,and India has won. the bJP might have won the entire state, but theylosttheirstronghold,from where the Jan sangh started, and then the bJP,” Khedawala claimed. Duringthecampaigningfor the locals, and also the inauguration of the bJP’s central officeinKhadia,formerbJPMlA bhushan bhatt had stated: “More focus is on dividing the unitedKhadiathanperforming the ‘Char Dham’ pilgrimage, but from 1972 to 2026, the bJP »Continued on Page 2 In conversation with Ruchir Sharma ace global investor, fund manager and best-selling author ruchir sharma with anant Goenka, executive director, The indian express Group, at the express adda in mumbai, Tuesday. AkASh PAtIL UAE to exit OPEC, OPEC+ amid Strait of Hormuz crisis, big blow to Saudi Arabia E. maha el dahan Dubai, April 28 tHe unIteD Arab emirates said tuesday it was quitting oil-producers’ group oPeC, as an unprecedented energy crisis triggered by the Iran war exposes discord among Gulf nations. the loss of the uAe, a longstanding oPeC member, could create disarray and weaken the group, which has explained Behind the decision The UAE, which has had frosty ties with OPEC’s de facto leader Saudi Arabia, has invested heavily in its domestic energy resources. Its exit frees it from production quota for members of the oil bloc. usually sought to show a united front despite internal disagreements over a range of issues from geopolitics to productionquotas. uAe energy Minister suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei told reuters the decision was taken afteracarefullookattheregional power'senergystrategies. Asked whether the uAe consulted with oPeC’s de facto leader, saudi Arabia, he said the uAe did not raise theissuewithanyothercountry. “this is a policy decision, it has been done after a careful look at current and future policies related to the level of production,” said the energy minister. oPeC Gulf producers have already been struggling to ship exports through the strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint between Iran and oman through which a fifth of the world’s »Continued on Page 2 l ProTesTs oVer alleGed harassmenT of Girl By Teacher in J&k’s soPore Town ‘It wasn’t anti-national’: Kin of six booked under PSA over school protest in disbelief naveed iqbal Sopore, April 28 on tHe front porch of her house at Panzipora in Kashmir’s sopore, Kulsooma sat alone, sobbing. Her brother, AltafAhmedsheikh,wascalled to the local police station on April14,andonApril24,hewas booked under the stringent Public safety Act (PsA), and sent to jail in the bhaderwah district of Jammu. theirs is one of six such kulsooma’s brother altaf ahmed sheikh is among the six youth; (right) firdous ahmad dar, whose son majid has been held. ShUAIb MASOOdI families in sopore grappling with the aftermath of six young menfacingactionunderthelaw, whichallowsfordetention withouttrialforaperiodoftwoyears. All are households with limited means, and the families are unsure of the next steps to meet their children or find a lawyer. on April 13, protests broke out in sopore town after students of a government school alleged harassment of a girl by an urdu teacher there. »Continued on Page 2 Ahmedabad Final round today, EC adds 1,468 names to voter list after 139 in Ph-1 atri mitra & avantika Basu Kolkata, April 28 Justbeforethesecondphase of the West bengal Assembly elections on Wednesday, 1,468 names were added back to the electoral roll. In the case of six, the tribunals said their names cannotbeincluded. However, there is no clarity on the overall number of cases the tribunals managed to take up, before the bengal polls conclude Wednesday. With tadditionofthe1,468names,thetotal »ContinuedonPage2 Business as Usual By EP UNNY