The Editorial Page: Why AAP’s breakup matters and can an Opposition-free India be far behind? 14 WEdNESdAY, APRIl 29, 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 , lU 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 UP’s economy. leuroPean Parliament will discuss the EU strategy in response to the West Asia crisis. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com The Big PicTure the Great benGal exClusion: of 89 lakh names deleted, 34 lakh had Gone to tribunals Final round today, ec adds 1,468 names to voter list after 139 in Ph-1 3.22 crore electors will decide fate of candidates in 142 Assembly seats in Bengal Phase-2 l atstakein2ndphase 2021 results in Phase-2 seats party tMC soumyarendra barik New Delhi, April 28 DeSPITe eFFeCTIvely banningonlinerealmoneygamesin India,theMinistryofelectronics and Information Technology (Meity) is stepping up vigil so thatsuchentitiesdon'tfindtheir way back online by getting themselves categorised as an esport — a class of online game thatIndia’sgaminglawallows— with enhanced safeguards. “Meity fears that e-sports is one potential way in which banned money games could seek a re-entry after making some tweaks to their models. Theapplicationsofsuchgames will be scrutinised quite closely,” a senior government officialtoldTheIndianExpress. last year, the IT Ministry notified the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act,2025,whichbannedonline real money games of all types, shutting the door on popular apps such as Dream11, Mobile Premier league and Winzo. TheActallowse-sportstooperate, but places them under greater compliance burden than other types of permissible games. For instance, the law mandates registration for »Continued on PaGe 2 Parimal a dabhi 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. Total candidates: 1,448 Kolkata, April 28 JUST BeFORe the second phase 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 theirnamescannotbeincluded. However, there is no clarity on the overall number of cases the tribunals managed to take up,beforetheBengalpollsconclude Wednesday. With the addition of the 1,468 names, the total number of electors in Bengal for Wednesday’s polling across 142 Assembly seats is 3.22 crore. earlier, the election Commissionof India had said the 19 tribunals had received 34 lakh applications, including for exclusion. In the last supplementarylist,aheadofthefirstphase »Continued on PaGe 2 Turnout in2021 80.7% SoUrCE: EC Business as Usual By EP UNNY Polling officials collect eVms and other material at netaji Indoor stadium in kolkata on Tuesday, a day ahead of the second and final phase of voting for the assembly elections in West Bengal. PArthA PAUl 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 Thenumbersaresignificant on several counts, primarily with Assembly elections due next year. These were the first polls held in the state after the SpecialIntensiveRevision(SIR) ofelectoralrolls.Gujarathadrecorded the highest number of deletions,morethan68lakh,in theSIRamong states where the »Continued on PaGe 2 mohamed thaver, Pallavi smart & sadaf modak Mumbai, April 28 IN WHAT the police are calling a “lone wolf attack”, a 31-yearold US-returned man was arrested for allegedly stabbing twosecurityguardsatanunderconstruction site in Mira Road, a suburb north of Mumbai, early Monday, after asking them their religion. Zaib Zubair Ansari was arrested by the Mira Road police Monday, with the case now transferred to the Maharashtra Anti-TerrorismSquad(ATS)for further probe. MaharashtraChiefMinister DevendraFadnavisonTuesday called it a case of “self-radicalisation”. »Continued on PaGe 2 ‘It wasn’t anti-national’: Kin of six booked under PSA over school protest in disbelief naveed iqbal Sopore, April 28 kulsooma’s brother altaf ahmed sheikh is among the six youth; (right) firdous ahmad dar, whose son majid has been held. ShUAib MASoodi 26 ( including 34 SC and 1 St) l ProTesTs oVer alleged harassmenT of gIrl By Teacher In J&k’s soPore ToWn 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 14.62% 142 deCision BJP sweeps local body Stabbing of Thane guards polls in Gujarat, Modi a ‘lone wolf’ attack: Police; hails ‘unbreakable’ bond self-radicalised, says CM Ahmedabad, April 28 36.14% 1 Total seats: atri mitra & avantika basu Govtwaryof bannedonline moneygames sneakingin ase-sports 49.24% 18 others 2026 Page 18 123 bJP West b enGa l didi’s fight seats Voteshare 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 UAE to exit OPEC, OPEC+ amid Strait of Hormuz crisis, big blow to Saudi Arabia maha el dahan Dubai, April 28 THe UNITeD Arab emirates saidTuesdayitwasquittingoilproducers’ 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 usually sought to show a united front despiteinternaldisagreements over a range of issues from »Continued on PaGe 2 E. 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 the bloc’s members. The market should be able to absorb additional UAE oil given the depleted inventories of importers and their focus on building reserves.