The ideas Page: a boardroom rebellion in Tata sons, a modern-day greek tragedy 13 SAtUrdAY, SEPtEMBEr 19, 2026 Journalism of Courage new delhI, late CIty, 22 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 , 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 EXPRESS investigation Part I Picked by BJP, protected by congress: face of Karnataka job scams stayed on despite red flags Last month, Shivashankarappa Sahukar, head of Karnataka Public Service Commission, was suspended over daughter job and paper leak. Over three years, Congress shunted out two officials who flagged his ‘misuse of power’ Jay Mazoomdaar Bengaluru, New Delhi, September 18 InKArnAtAKA’sbitterbipolar politics, there’s hardly anything the BJP and the Congress agree on. that’s why the story of shivashankarappa s sahukar is unique — and a test case of alleged corruption amid political patronagecuttingacrossparties. In the face of public outrage that echoed the Jantar Mantar protests, sahukar, chairman of the Karnataka Public service Commission (KPsC), was suspended on August 25 after two major revelations: one, his daughtergotajobinthestateindustriesandcommercedepartmentafterallegedlyfudgingher forms to give a lower figure for her father’s income; and, two, theexampaperwasleakedtofavoursomecandidatesapplying for 400 jobs as veterinarians. this should not have come as a surprise, though — they were part of a pattern. »ContinUed on paGe 2 Tomorrow: LifTing The veiL on A scAm Shivashankarappa Sahukar was suspended on August 25; the KPSC office in Bengaluru expRess found‘using phone,ChatGpt inexamhall’,iit-B studentendslife; protestserupt pallavi smart & Manish Kumar pathak Mumbai, September 18 A sEConD-yEAr student of IItBombaydiedbysuicideFriday, hours after he was found using a mobile phone in an examination hall. the 19-yearold’s death led to a protest by over 400 students on the campus and the postponement of the ongoing mid-semester examinations. the student, from the Department of Energy science andEngineering,wasallegedly found using a mobile phone in the exam hall. According to an official statement from the institute, the student had uploaded the examinationquestionpaperon ChatGPt to seek answers. »ContinUed on paGe 2 new naMes, syMBoLs for tMC faCtions Symbol gone, Mamata backs Cong candidate; he is arrested Milan Pradhan, Cong’s choice for bypoll in Nandigram, held in 2007 murder case ravik Bhattacharya & damini nath Kolkata, New Delhi, September 18 Hours AFtEr the Election Commission of India allotted alternativenamesandsymbols to the tMC factions led by Mamata Banerjee and Arup roy, the former Chief Minister Fridaywithdrewhercandidatefor the october 6 Assembly bypoll in nandigram and extended support to the Congress. she also moved the supreme Court against the EC decision to freeze the original tMC name and symbol. But in a jolt to the opposition, the Congress candidate, Milan Pradhan, was arrested in a murder case dating back to 2007, the year nandigram was rocked by an agitation over land acquisition. the BJP candidate from »ContinUed on paGe 2 Look who was in charge of probe against him: Member with her own political trail 80 chefs, 450 menu items: Inside Asian Jay Mazoomdaar & Johnson t a Bengaluru, September 18 It’s not just shivashankarappa s sahukar who enjoyed patronageacrosstheaisleinthe KarnatakaPublicserviceCommission. there’s a political trail behind the KPsC’s choice to lead its internal probe against him, records investigated by The Indian Express show. the probe panel chief shakuntalaDundigoudar,aformer E. Leaked papers, daughter job P 11 school teacher, was appointed as KPsC member in 2023, days before her husband rejoined the BJP after a separation — andweeksafterareformspanel recommended reducing the KPsC’s size and appointing only full professors when picking members from academia. shakuntalawasalsoadirector and shareholder in a con- struction company owned by her husband, shrikant Dundigoudar, a PWD contractor linked to a slew of government contracts, according to availablerecords.theyareresidents of shiggaon in Haveri district, the former Assembly constituency of ex-CM and BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai. the KPsC picked shakuntala to head its four-member committee to investigate the allegations against sahukar on »ContinUed on paGe 2 Games kitchen, it’s a culinary Olympics EXPRESS AT AsiAn GAmes Mihir Vasavda Nagoya (Japan), September 18 sIxtytHousAnDbananas.A tonne of rice. two tonnes of chicken. up to 35,000 pieces of Peter Wright, who is responsible for the athletes’ catering, next to a vat of soy sauce bread and 30 kg of almonds. A total of 450 menu items. Every single day. For Peter Wright, the founder of Global Hospitality Group,feedinganAsianGames is less about putting food on a plate than running a small international food system. It begins before dawn, caters to athletes from across the continent and keeps serving until 1am. »ContinUed on paGe 2 Happening today lLeader of opposition Rahul Gandhi will interact with students in Indore as part of his ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’ initiative. surendraKoli, acquittedin nitharikillings, founddead Vidheesha Kuntamalla, sakshi Chand & nirbhay thakur Haridwar, New Delhi, September 18 surEnDrAKolI,whowasacquitted in the 2006 nithari serial murders case last year and walked out of Greater noida’s Kasna Jail 10 months ago, was found dead in Haridwar on Friday. Haridwar Police said Koli, 53, had been living in the city for over a month, running a small tea stall in the sapt sarovar area on Bhupatwala road. »ContinUed on paGe 7 Business as Usual By EP UNNY