The Editorial Page: After Hormuz disruption, Asia should build an energy security alliance 8 MONDAY, MAY 4, 2026 JouRnalism of CouRage MUMBaI, LaTe CITy, 18 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 coUnTinG of VoTes for Tamil nadU, assam, kerala, PUdUcherrY assemBlies Too Results today, all eyes on Bengal Test of BJP’s expansion plans, Opposition cohesion decision 2026 liz mathew & manoj c G 2021 2026 New Delhi, May 3 FORBOTHtheBJPandtheOpposition, the election results in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, and Kerala on Monday carry the potential of causing a churn within the parties themselves as well as reshaping the contours of national politics, with the impact of the verdicts likely to be felt far beyond the boundaries of the states. If the projections of most of the exit polls prove to be accurate, the BJP is likely to edge past the Trinamool Congress (TMC)inWestBengal.Thatwill be a big success for the party’s attempts to reinforce itself as the most dominant pan-regional force in the East, where it is already in power in Odisha and Bihar. The party is ex- West Bengal (294 seats) Business as Usual Turnout in % By EP UNNY Kolkata, May 3 AS vOTES are counted in West Bengal on Monday, voters of Falta in South 24 Parganas districtwillgettoseewhohasbeen voted to power. But they themselves have to wait for almost three more weeks to cast their votes again and choose their MLA after the Election Commission(EC)issuedarareorder 105 133 165 Current House lThe Union healTh Ministry will start a pan-India fire safety campaign across healthcare facilities. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com Cong: 1 Tamil Nadu (234 seats) 72.73% 85.10% 2021 2026 Current House pected to win Assam with a resounding mandate, as per the pollsters, while down South, its attempts to establish itself as a serious force may continue as »conTinUed on PaGe 2 E. directing that polls be held again in all 285 polling stations in the constituency. One of the Assembly segments in TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee’s Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency, Falta is one of the party’s bastions and gave the MP a lead of more »conTinUed on PaGe 2 DMK+: 158 aIaDMK+: 69 vacant: 7 Assam (126 seats) Tmc’s workers and local leaders outside Guru nanak institute of Technology, which houses a strongroom, at Panihati in west Bengal’s north 24 Parganas district saturday night. ParTha PaUL more rePorTs, PaGe 10 & atri mitra Kolkata, Panihati, Howrah, May 3 “WHAT'SyOURview?Itwillbe MamataBanerjee...May4isour D-day.Let’sseewhathappens.” It is around 11 pm Saturday outside the Netaji Indoor Stadium, and Kamar Ilahi and a group of fellow TMC workers have just finished their shift “guarding” a strongroom at a counting centre in the heart of Kolkata. After the two-phase Assembly polls in West Bengal ended April 29 with a record 92.47% turnout, all eyes are on these rooms where the EvMs are stored ahead of counting and results on Monday. Following a video message on Friday, Chief Minister MamataBanerjeewasstationedtill midnight inside Shekhawat MemorialGirlsHighSchool,alleging attempted EvM tampering. Her party’s leaders and workers have been standing guard outside strongrooms across the state, day and night. TheElectionCommission(EC), meanwhile, has virtually turned these rooms into fortresses, with barricades, threelayered security and Central forces on duty. The Indian Express spent a night visiting six strongrooms across North 24 Parganas, Howrah and Kolkata. It found TMC workers and leaders throngingthevenues,edgyand 81.8% 85.96% 2021 2026 BJP +: 74 Current House Cong +: 28 aIUDF: 15 Others: 7 vacant: 2 Kerala (140 seats) 73.9% 79.70% 2021 2026 LDF: 94 Current House UDF: 42 vacant: 4 voter turnout excluding postal ballots; source: eCI, statistical reports and state assemblies »conTinUed on PaGe 2 Govt explores EU-like Nepal objects to Mansarovar Yatra law to safeguard firms via Lipulekh; India says unjustified against sanctions of third countries shubhajit roy & Yubaraj Ghimire New Delhi, Kathmandu, May 3 New Delhi, May 3 Happening today BJP: 71 Others: 2 anil sasi 76 *provisional figure TMC: 220 Behind TMC bastion set At strongrooms in Bengal, a long for repoll: Abhishek aide night for TMC: ‘May 4 our D-day’ who started with CPM ravik Bhattacharya atri mitra 81.56% 92.47%* TO SAFEGUARD against disruption of critical services by foreign companies citing sanctions in other jurisdictions, NewDelhiisstudyingtheEuropean Union Blocking Statute, an anti-sanction law that EU countries take recourse to. Introduced by Brussels in 1996, it acts as a potential ‘shield’ for European companies against sanctions by third countries. A key trigger that raised concerns in the government was a sudden move by Microsoft last July to suspend IT services of Indo-Russian oil refining and marketing company NayaraEnergy.Therehavealso been discussions among concernedministriesaboutthedependenceofIndiancompanies on vital digital infrastructure services provided by foreign companies. “The EU anti-sanctions law is among the options (being looked at). It does offer a template... There is a compelling need to have a mechanism in place and something like this (the EU anti-sanctions law) is among the options on the table,” a senior government official told The Indian Express. Regulation No 2271/96 of this EU statute considers the extra-territorial application of measuressuchassanctionsimposed by a third country to be in breach of international law. According to officials, after Nayara Energy made representations to the government, the FinanceMinistrypointedtothe EU statute example and proposes a similar domestic law or regulation. It can be insisted upon that Indian companies thatarecustomersofglobalservice providers, should sign service contracts or procure products only from a subsidiary of a global company in India, »conTinUed on PaGe 2 THE BALEN Shah-led governmentinKathmandu,justovera monthold,hasobjectedtoIndia and China planning to conduct the Kailash Mansarovar yatra through the Lipulekh pass. India said that such claims are “neither justified nor based on historical facts and evi- “Nepal would like to balance its foreign policy relationship because we need all our friends’’ shankar Prasad sharma OUTgOIng aMBassaDOr OF nePaL TO InDIa Page 13 dence”, and it remains open to “constructive interaction with Nepal”. The Lipulekh pass has been a “contested” territory and Nepal has often questioned moves by India and China to conduct trade and pilgrimages through the pass. The Nepalese Foreign MinistrysaidonSunday,“TheMinistry of Foreign Affairs has drawn the attention of various »conTinUed on PaGe 2 BSF constable’s ‘custodial torture’, death: NCB suspends Major, S-I mahender singh manral & arun sharma New Delhi, Jammu, May 3 THE NARCOTICS Control Bureau (NCB) is learnt to have suspended two officers — an Army Major who was on deputation with the NCB and a SubInspector posted in Jammu zone — in connection with the alleged custodial torture and deathofaBorderSecurityForce constable Jaswinder singh was detained by ncB on march 3 (BSF) constable, Jaswinder Singh (30), in March. As reported by The Indian Express, theautopsyreporthadlisted34 injuries on Singh’s body. “The NCB headquarters in Delhi is yet to receive the final conclusive post-mortem report of Singh. Based on initial findings,bothofficershavebeensuspended. The case has also been transferred from Amritsar zone »conTinUed on PaGe 2 People stage a protest on the mumbai-Bangalore Bypass, in Pune, over the rape and murder of the 3-year-old girl. Pavan Khengre Man held for rape, murder of 3-yr-old in Pune got ‘benefit of doubt’ in 2015 CM says govt will expedite trial chandan haygunde Pune, May 3 THE 65-yEAR-OLD man accused in the rape and murder of a three-year-old girl at a village in Pune district, triggering strong protests, has a prior record of molestation -- police are tracing details of the first case from 1998 while records reviewed by The Indian Express show that a judge pointed to tardy investigation in the second case from 2015 before acquitting the man. In the latest case, involving the three-year-old, a Pune court remanded the accused to police custody till May 7. While seeking custody, police said they wanted to probe further whether he had committed more such offences in the past. Speaking to reporters about the acquittal in the 2015 case, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “The previous offences against the accused would be checked. It willbeseenwhethertherewere any lapses...” Fadnavis also said that he spoke to the father of the girl and reassured him that the state government would expedite the trial and ensure the accused would get a death sentence. “I spoke to the girl's father twice.Ireassuredthemthatthe trial would be expedited. We will ensure there are no lapses. The accused will get a death sentence at the earliest," he said. The state government has formed a Special Investigation Team(SIT)ofPuneRuralpolice comprising six officers led by a woman Senior Inspector to probe the case. Courtrecordsinthe2015case show that the accused was charged with allegedly molesting a 17-year-old relative under IndianPenalCode(IPC)sections 354 and 506, and sections of the ProtectionofChildrenfromSexual Offences (POCSO) Act. According to the order of a special court dated May 3, 2019, the judge expressed surprise over police not taking “any efforts” to collect documents required to conclusively prove that the victim was a minor at the time of the offence. The court also observed “inconsistencies” in the victim's version about the “point of incident”. Court records show that on July 24, 2015, the accused, who residednearby,allegedlycalled the victim to his house on the »conTinUed on PaGe 2 I am one of 6 who filed complaints against Brij Bhushan: Vinesh Raises fear of bias at event in Gonda; Wrestling chief ‘guarantees’ her safety nihal koshie & mihir Vasavda New Delhi, Mumbai, May 3 OLyMPIAN vINESH Phogat claimedonSundaythatshewas among the victims of sexual harassment by former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, and was one of the six women wrestlers who have filed complaints against him. Phogat, now a Congress MLA in Haryana, along with wrestler Vinesh Phogat Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, was at the forefront of the protests »conTinUed on PaGe 2 l JoinT secreTary underlined nios mandaTe To educaTe ‘Poor children’; now Plan To lease one floor Despite objections, open school body spent Rs 247 cr on new office — didn’t move in harikishan sharma & abhinaya harigovind The sum is striking in context. NIOS receives no budgetNew Delhi, May 3 ary support from the Centre. It fundsitselfentirelythroughadDESPITEAseniorofficial’scau- mission and examination fees. tion against “extravagant ex- According to its last publicly penditureonfancyoffices,”the available annual report, for National Institute of Open 2022-23,NIOSgeneratedatotal Schooling (NIOS) — mandated income of Rs 288.65 crore that to educate underprivileged year, of which Rs 183 crore children — spent Rs 247 crore came from admission and in 2021 to acquire exam fees, against page 1 two floors in NBCC’s total expenditure of World Trade Centre Rs 157.89 crore. in Delhi. It received Official records possession in March 2024 but show the proposal to buy has never moved in and is now 61,000 square feet of commerscouting for a tenant, The Incial space, and relocate NIOS dian Express has learnt. headquarters from its current anchor office in Noida to the capital, was discussed and approved at a Finance Committee meeting of the NIOS Society on October 8, 2021, under then Chairperson Prof Saroj Sharma. NIOS is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Education. The Ministry’s own Joint Secretary and Financial Adviser then had cautioned against the move before that meeting. The Joint Secretary had reportedly highlighted the mandate of NIOS to help educate “un(der)privileged, poor children of the society who couldnotpursueformaleduca- The office was acquired at nBcc’s world Trade centre in delhi. FILe tion in schools.” And that the revenueearnedbyNIOScomes mainly from these sections of the society. “It is therefore necessary that NIOS must refrain from making any extrava- gant expenditure on fancy offices at very costly places,” the JS is learnt to have said. Thecommitteesetthoseobjections aside. Sharma reportedlytoldthecommitteethat NIOS was empowered to locate itsofficeanywhereintheUnion Territory of Delhi and “learners ofNIOSfacedifficultiesinreaching NIOS office, as no Regional Centre is located in Delhi.” Sharma declined to comment when contacted. The JS has since retired. Those in favour of the purchase also cited the National EducationPolicy'semphasison digital infrastructure, arguing that the “newly constructed building in the said premises will have all modern facilities for the learners for making them at par to other boards.” The committee further noted that other government bodiesandpublicsectorundertakings had established offices in NBCC-designed buildings at Kidwai Nagar and Nauroji Nagar, and that the space would be “allotted as per fixed rate in a transparent manner.” On those grounds, the Finance Committee approved the acquisition, recording that “other members of the Finance Committeehavegiventheirconsent ontheagenda.”Anofficiallater said the decision was “not a single person's decision but unanimously taken by the academic council.” The cost, however, did not stop at Rs 247 crore. At a meeting on January 13, 2025, held underthenChairpersonPankaj Arora — who held additional charge of NIOS from October 2024 to July 2025 while also serving as chairperson of the National Council for Teacher Education — the Society approved further expenditure: Rs 18.82 lakh as stamp duty and eregistration fee, and Rs 70 lakh »conTinUed on PaGe 2