The Editorial Page: Left needs to find a new vocabulary for the economy of aspiration 8 WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 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 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 3indiansinUae injurediniran dronestrike, Pmsaysitis ‘unacceptable’ shubhajit roy New Delhi, May 5 A DAY after three Indian nationals in UAE were injured in a fire caused by an Iranian drone strike in Fujairah, Prime Minister narendra Modi “strongly condemned the attacks” and said targeting civilians and infrastructure was “unacceptable”. In a separate statement, the Ministry of External Affairs called for the “immediate cessation of these hostilities and the targeting of civilian infrastructure and innocent civilians”. Monday’s incident at the Fujairah Petroleum Industries Zone (FoIZ) signalled rising tensionsintheregionalongthe Strait of hormuz amid a fragile ceasefire involving the US, Israel and Iran. on Tuesday, too, UAE authorities said their air defences were intercepting missiles and drones from Iran. In a post on X, Modi said: “Strongly condemn the attacks on the UAE that resulted in injuriestothreeIndiannationals. Targeting civilians and infrastructureisunacceptable.India stands in firm solidarity with the UAE and reiterates its support for the peaceful resolution of all issues through dialogue and diplomacy.” he said, “Ensuring safe and unimpeded navigation through the Strait of hormuz is vital for enduring regional peace, stability and global energy security.” Earlier, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the attack “that resulted in injury to three Indian nationals is unacceptable”.“Indiacontinuestostand fordialogueanddiplomacy...so that peace and stability may be restored across West Asia. We also call for free and unimpeded navigation and commerce through the Strait of hormuz in keeping with international law,” he said. shah tO Be OBserVer at meetinG OF mLas tO eLeCt Leader 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- PAge 17 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 tmc sAys PArty offIces beINg AttAcked bjP wIN IN eAst mAy helP oPeN New foreIgN PolIcy doors IN regIoN PAges 11, 14 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 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 15 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 14 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 ceNtre okAys gujArAt shIPyArd; 3 rAIl Projects NIA fIles chArgesheet IN gujArAt rIcIN bIoterror Plot PAge 2 PAge 4 Rajkot discom official ‘transfers Rs 45 lakh in govt funds to cyber criminals who posed as IAS officer’ Rs 43 lakh frozen, miscreants had withdrawn Rs 2.5 lakh by then: Police Brendan dabhi Ahmedabad, May 5 A CYBER fraud targeted at a public sector power distributioncompanyinGujarathasinadvertently exposed what appears to be laxity in legal procedures followed before transfer of large amounts of government funds that has now led to loss to the exchequer. The Rajkot City Cybercrime Branch on Monday booked unidentified persons for cheating and impersonation of a public servant, after Kintukumar Sha- shikant Malkan (54), general manager (Finance) of Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Limited (PGVCL), transferred Rs45.60lakhtocybercriminals who allegedly impersonated his boss, IAS officer K P Joshi, managing director (MD) of PGVCL. Police said that of the Rs 45.60 lakh transferred by Malkan,basedonlyonaWhatsApp message by someone claiming to be his boss, the police had managed to freeze Rs 43 lakh but the miscreants had managed to withdraw Rs 2.5 lakh of »COntinUed On PaGe 2 l The 58-year-old congress candidaTe made iT To VoTer lisT on eVe of nominaTion deadline, afTer sc rUled in his faVoUr. he won from farakka by 8,000-plUs VoTes Deleted by SIR, elected by people: Motab Shaikh is the ‘luckiest person’ ravik Bhattacharya (SIR) exercise, Shaikh had approachedtheSupremeCourtto urge the tribunals to hear his UnTIL A month ago, all Motab case on priority. on April 5, a Shaikh hoped for was to make daytogofortheendofdeadline it to the West Bengal electoral to file nominations for the firstroll.now,the58-year-oldisone phase seats, the apex court of only two candidates of the ruled in Shaikh’s favour. Congress to have on April 6, won in the state, Shaikh filed his page 1 keeping alive hopes papers from the Faof the party, after it rakkaAssemblyseat. had scored a duck in on Monday, he got 2021. 63,050 votes to win the constihis name deleted as a voter tuency by a margin of more after adjudication, following than 8,000. It was his first Asthe Special Intensive Revision sembly election; with the last Kolkata, May 5 anchor pollsthatthecontractorbyprofession fought being for panchayats. his son now handles the family business. The Trinamool Congress, which held the Farakka seat, was relegated to the third position,withtheBJPfinishingsecond. Incredulous at the reversal inhisfortunes,ShaikhtoldThe IndianExpress over the phone: “I am one of the luckiest people in the world. I had lost all hope when I found my name deleted fromtheelectorallistfollowing theSIR.IthoughtIwouldnever ‘i had lost all hope... it is a victory of the people,’ says motab shaikh even be able to vote… But the people voted for me… It is a victory of the people.” oftheroughly27.1lakhdeletions after adjudication in Bengal,38,222wereinFarakka.The Murshidabad district, where Farakka falls, saw the highest number of deletions in the state, at over 11 lakh. The other Assembly seat won by the Congress in Bengal, Raninagar, also falls in Murshidabad district. Julfikar Ali won from here by a margin of 2,701 votes, winning 79,423 votes, againstsittingMLAAbdulSou- Ahmedabad mik hossain of the TMC. Shaikh points out that he only got 14 days to campaign becauseofthelonguncertainty over whether he would be included as a voter and be allowed to contest. “First the Congress took time to nominate me, and then I found that my name was deleted from the electoral roll. I could campaign only in half of my Assembly constituency,” Shaikh says. had he got more time, he adds, “my margin would have been more”. The Congress, which had won Farakka in 2016, says Shaikh’s victory was proof of “the lack of a level-playing field” due to the EC. “Creating a foolproof electoral roll is the dutyofthepollpanel.here,the ECwasforcedtoallowMotabto file his nomination after a Supreme Court order… his victory shows people’s faith in the party,” says Congress spokesperson Soumya Aich Roy. Shaikh, who says he has always been with the Congress, like his father and grandfather before him, says: “The Farakka »COntinUed On PaGe 2