The Editorial Page: Left needs to find a new vocabulary for the economy of aspiration 8 WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 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 shah tO Be OBserVer at meetinG OF mLas tO eLeCt Leader 114 142 176 76 Happening today l Vietnamese President To Lam, who is on a three-day visit to India, is scheduled to hold wide-ranging discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. l iPL 2026: Hosts Sunrisers Hyderabad and league leaders Punjab Kings will face off in a key encounter. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com Bombay HC orders release of 50 stranded seafarers: ‘Life comes only once’ Omkar Gokhale Mumbai, May 5 tHe BoMBaY High court on tuesday ordered the immediatereleaseof50crewmembers, all indians, stranded on three vesselsinthearabianseasince February, observing that “for them life comes only once”. callingthemselves“victims of a high-seas humanitarian crisis”, the seafarers had claimed that they had been stranded inside the vessels since February 9, and the owners had “practically abandoned” the ships and deserted the crew. the three motor tankers, Mt asphalt star, Mt stellar ruby and Mt al Jafzia, had been intercepted by the indian coastguardinFebruary,about 11nauticalmilesfromMumbai, for alleged illegal transfers of fuel oil and bitumen. While the ships were placed under arrest, only one of the 50 crew members was named as an accused in the case. some of the crew members, representedthroughtheMaharashtra navnirman navik sena union, had filed a habeas corpus plea in the High court. alleging that they were held in wrongful confinement for nearly three months, they soughtdirectionsfromthecourt »COntinUed On PaGe 2 related reports p 3 Credit Line GUarantee sCheme Suvendu frontrunner for Bengal cM, swearing-in likely on May 9 Union Cabinet clears Rs 2.55 lakh-cr lifeline for MSMEs, airlines hit by West Asia war Two workers each from TMC, BJP killed in post-poll violence in state tanusree Bose, Liz mathew & Jatin anand Kolkata, New Delhi, May 5 giant-Killer suVenDu adhikari,whospearheadedthe BJP’s ground offensive in West Bengal that breached the tMc citadel to end Mamata Banerjee’s 15-year rule, has emerged as the frontrunner for the post of chief Minister. Hailing the party’s election victory as “a triumph for every patriotic nationalist and every BJP worker,” adhikari, who defeated Banerjee in Bhabanipur andalsowonfromnandigram, said tuesday that the BJP was committed to “a developed, prosperous and secure West Bengal”. His remarks came on the day post-poll violence erupted in different parts of the state andfourpersons–twoworkers eachofthetMcandBJP–were killed in separate incidents. the tMc said two party members were killed in Beleghata in Kolkata and nanoor in Birbhum.theBJP,ontheother hand, said two of its workers were killed in new town in north 24 Parganas and udaynarayanpur in Howrah. each party blamed the other for the deaths. the tMc also said that there were widespread attacks on its offices and workers fol- exchange of fIre, bUt Iran ceasefIre holds, says U.s. By EP UNNY Union minister ashwini Vaishnaw at a cabinet briefing Tuesday. PTI BJP leader suvendu adhikari distributes sweets at the party office in kolkata on Tuesday. PArTHA PAuL deCisiOn 2026 In bengal, bjp’s rs 5 l health coVerage for the poor, elderly tMc says party offIces beIng attacked pages 7, 10 lowing its defeat in the assembly elections. the BJP said it hadinstructeditsdistrictpresidents and party workers not to »COntinUed On PaGe 2 Not defeated, won’t resign… Will strengthen INDIA bloc: Mamata ravik Bhattacharya & atri mitra Kolkata, May 5 a DaY after the BJP swept the West Bengal assembly elections, trinamool congress (tMc) chairperson Mamata Banerjee tuesday ruled out stepping down as chief Minister, alleging that the results were “not a people's mandate but a conspiracy”. Banerjee vowed to take the battle to the streets and strengthen the op- Tmc leader mamata Banerjee in kolkata on Tuesday. PArTHA PAuL position inDia bloc. “We have not been defeated, i have not been defeated,iwillnotresign.thereis no question of my going to raj Bhavan.inthiselection,theBJP and the election commission have played a dirty game. they forcefully grabbed (votes),” the tMcchief,wholosttoBJP’ssuvenduadhikariby15,105votes, said at a press conference in Kolkata, with her nephew and Diamond Harbour MP »COntinUed On PaGe 2 Free LPG to grants for jobless, TVK’s poll sops could see 52% spike in welfare bill Projected cost about Rs 1 lakh cr/ year; DMK spent Rs 65,000 cr in 2025-26 deeptiman tiwary Tamilaga Vettri kazhagam (TVk) chief Vijay pays tribute to the party’s ideological leaders at the party headquarters in chennai on Tuesday. PTI For a majority, Vijay starts talks with both Congress, AIADMK arun Janardhanan tHe world page 14 business as Usual Chennai, May 5 aDaYaftertheelectionresults, which saw Vijay’s tamilaga VettriKazhagam(tVK)emerge as the single largest party in the tamilnaduassembly,thestate is preparing for something it hasnotwitnessedindecades— a coalition government. leaders from both the congress and the aiaDMK said on tuesday that Vijay reached out to their parties for support in forming a government. The Big PicTure a Vijay blockbuster page 13 Making its assembly election debut, the tamil film superstar’s tVK won 108 seats, leaving a significant gap to the rulingDMK,whichcameinsec- ond with 59 seats. However, withthetVKfallingshortofthe majority mark of 118 in the 234member assembly, attention hasshiftedswiftlyfromcelebration to coalition-building. By tuesday morning, as Vijayvisitedhispartyofficeand convened a meeting with newly elected Mlas, plans for a coalition were already set in motion. sources indicated that under one proposed arrangement,thetVK-ledgovernment »COntinUed On PaGe 2 New Delhi, May 5 FroMrs2,500everymonthto women heads of households to six free lPg cylinders per householdeveryyear,agrantof rs 4,000 per month for 10 lakh unemployed graduates — and much more. as film star-politician Vijay's tVK prepares to rule tamil nadu following its incredible election victory, the focus is now on the expansive promiseslistedinitsmanifesto, which builds upon, and even exceeds, commitments made by previous state governments (see chart on page 2). given the tVK's manifesto and official state data, the new government'sprojectedannual expenditure on welfare spending alone would be close to rs 1 lakhcrore—anincreaseofover 52% from the rs 65,000 crore spentbythepreviousDMKgovernment on welfare schemes and subsidies in 2025-26. to put these numbers in perspective, tVK's projected welfare expenditure equals approximatelyone-thirdoftamil nadu'stotalrevenuereceiptsof rs 3.31 lakh crore, as per the2025-26statebudget. that could put a significant burden on the budget,squeezingspace for capital expenditure in a state that already carries a debtof26%ofgsDP.iffinanced entirely through higher expenditure without new revenues, thiscouldpushthefiscaldeficit from the budgeted 3% of gsDP in 2025-26 to about 3.5-4.0%. thisdoesnotcounttheprojected spending on a cooperative farm loan waiver and legally guaranteed MsP procurement of paddy and sugarcane that have been promised E. »COntinUed On PaGe 2 aanchal magazine l BencHstrengtH New Delhi, May 5 tHe union cabinet on tuesday approved a credit support schemetomeettheneedsofindustries in distress due to the Westasiaconflict,targettingan additional credit flow of rs 2.55 lakh crore, including rs 5,000 crore for airlines. Modelled on similar lifelines for distressed sectors during covid, the government's new emergency credit line guarantee scheme 5.0 (eclgs 5.0) has an estimated outlay of rs 18,000 crore. according to an official release, additional credit will be available to MsMes and nonMsMes,excludingaviation,up to 20% of peak working capital utilised during Q4 FY26, capped at rs 100 crore. For airlines, the credit will be up to 100%, capped at rs 1,500 crore oFsctoriseto38 l The Cabinet cleared a proposal for introducing The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026, in Parliament to increase the court's strength from the existing 34 Judges to 38, including the Chief Justice of India. report, page 2 per borrower, subject to certain specific conditions, it said. guarantee fees will be waived under the scheme. For MsMes and non-MsMes, except aviation, the loan tenure would be five years from the date of first disbursement, including a moratorium of one year. For airlines, the loan tenure would be seven years from »COntinUed On PaGe 2 inside two new chIp plants worth rs 3,936 cr get cabInet nod 3 IndIans In Uae InjUred In Iran strIke, pM says ‘Unacceptable’ page 15 page 12 CJI: Original PIL on Sabarimala should have been thrown in dustbin Bench questions locus, intent of original petitioner ananthakrishnan G New Delhi, May 5 Hearingconstitutional questions arising out of petitions seeking a review of its 2018 judgement on the sabarimala issue, a nine-judge bench of the supreme court tuesday questionedthelocusandintent of the original petitioner, with chief Justice of india surya KantsayingthatthePilshould have been “thrown outright in the dustbin”. on september 28, 2018, a five-judge bench of the supreme court, in a 4-1 verdict, ruled that the practice of banning women of menstruating age from entering the sabarimala temple in Kerala was unconstitutional. that bench was headedbythenchiefJusticeof india Dipak Misra. on tuesday, while questioning advocate ravi gupta’s submission that the then cJi had provided police security to him and naushad ali, president of the ngo indian Young lawyers association (iYla) which had filed the sabarimala Pil in 2006, Justice B V nagarathna said, “since you are referring to the learned former chief Justice, with great respect, rather than ensuring there was security provided to the advocates, he could have ensured that there was no need for a security threat at all by not »COntinUed On PaGe 2 l Farmers oF nandUrBar Town sUViVed 2 oUTBreaks, sTrUggling wiTh The Third in 20 years ‘This time we don’t have any strength left’: Bird flu hits Navapur again Purnima sah rashtra’s nandurbar district, is oneofwesternindia’smostproductiveegg-supplyhubs,pushsuresH DollaBHai Praja- ing nearly 10 lakh eggs daily to pat (63) has run his Diamond markets in Mumbai, surat, JalPoultry Farm in navapur gaon and nashik. it has now through two bird flu been hit by bird flu page 1 outbreaks. He rethree times, in 2006, built after 2006 and 2021, and now. each survived 2021. on time, the industry May 2, as officers finished cul- has shrunk a little more. ling the last of his 11,000 the current outbreak chickens, he decided he was began quietly. on april 12, Pradone. “this time i don’t have japat found five dead chickens any strength left,” he told the in his shed and assumed it was indian express. heatstroke. a vet prescribed navapur, a town in Maha- medicines. By afternoon, 50 Navapur, May 5 anchor more were dead. By the next morning, over 300. Farms nearby were reporting the same thing. similar scenes were playing out at Dawn Poultry Farm, beyond three-kilometre radius. onapril18,tausifBalesaria(37) found55deadbirdsinthemorning. By afternoon it was 132. “there were no visible symptoms, the birds were eating normally,” he said. “We thought it was a routine illness. You don’t realise until it’s too late.” samples were collected on april 26 and sent to the na- samples are collected from a bird in navapur. PurNIMA SAH tionalinstituteofHighsecurity animal Diseases in Bhopal. those from three farms — Diamond, tasleem and Dawn — tested positive for avian influenza. on april 30, District collector Dr Mittali sethi declared parts of navapur an infected and surveillance zone, with a one-kilometre infected radius and 10-km surveillance radius around the epicentre. Movement and sale of poultry and related materials are bannedfor90days.Policehave been deployed to enforce the restrictions. ByMay5,thenumberswere staggering. over 2 lakh birds were culled. approximately 8 lakh eggs destroyed and more than 210 metric tonnes of feed disposedof.DrsanjayKachane, Deputycommissioner,animal HusbandryandDairy,nandurbar, said the final toll could climb higher. a team of 18 cullingofficials,workingingroups of four to five, has been at it since 8 am every day, he told theindianexpress,addingthat another140veterinaryofficers, para-vets and support staff are deployed across the zone. this is the third major outbreak in navapur. in 2006, around 10 lakh birds were culled and 14 lakh eggs destroyed. in 2021, nearly 9 lakh birds were culled and close to 60 lakh eggs destroyed. each outbreak has steadily eroded the local poultry economy. For tausif, the scale is hard to process. all 62,300 birds on his farm were culled. six lakh eggsdestroyedand72tonnesof feedwasted.athird-generation farmer, he started out independently in 2017. this is his first »COntinUed On PaGe 2