The ideas Page: For opposition, protests show way to a politics less particular, more universal 9 ThURSDAY, NoVEMBER 5, 2026 JouRnaLisM of CouRaGe AhMeDAbAD, lATe cITy, 22 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 senate u.s.midterm 2026:tHe bluewave House Dems Democrats Republicans 54 100 SouRce: ASSocIATeD PReSS Reps Reps 28 139 435 Total Seats Dems To be called 234 44 GOVT OVERHAULS AGNIPATH SCHEmE stategovernors Total seats 20 Donald Lame Duck Trump America delivers stinging rebuke to Trump Midterm: Democrats sweep Congress, breach Republican bastions; after 2 years of chaotic regime, President humbled — and hemmed in Amrita Nayak Dutta Inflation, affordability behind rout; Vance blames it on Iran war Washington, November 4 DeMocRATS SeiZeD control of both the US Senate and HouseofRepresentativesWednesday, scoring sweeping victories in Republican strongholds for the first time in generations as tens of millions of voters delivered a scathing rebuke to President Donald Trump. Business as Usual By EP UNNY A wave of anger over Trump’s policies, particularly the US-iran war’s role in pushing the cost of living higher, helped Democrats take the Senate, where they flipped seats in deeply Republican states for a majority of at least 54-44, and the House of Representatives, where they gained at least 25 seats. it will be the first time that Trump, a Republican who also held the White House from »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 New Delhi, November 4 oVeRHAUlinG THe Agnipath scheme, the Union cabinet Wednesday approved a path for all Agniveers undergoing training in the three services to join the Armed forces as regular soldiers. The process will have two stages. in the first step, 25 per cent of Agniveers will be selected on merit for absorption into the services after completing their four-year tenure, as part of the original scheme. The remaining 75 per cent, who would have otherwise exited the services with a contributory scheme package, will now be offered an additional two-year engagement. Thereafter, they will have the oppor- at a democratic congressional campaign committee midterm watch party in washington dc. ReuTeRS Happening Verdict decoded: Why Abdul El-Sayed, son of Egyptian today Delhi must rediscover immigrants, first Muslim Senator and engage with the many Americas lPm Narendra Modi will meet Asian Para Games medallists. Rishika Singh New Delhi, November 4 Refresh 1990s-2000s playbook; work to seek friends across the aisle: Congress, business, campuses, beyond diaspora C Raja mohan New Delhi, November 4 tHe world stroNG showiNG By iNdiaN-ameriCaNs iN midterm polls ‘GreatameriCaN ComeBaCk’:hakeem settomakehistory trUmp Now faCes a stark ChoiCe oN iraN war explained paGe 18 red flaGs for trUmp tHe editorial page the Better aNGels of demoCraCy have asserted themselves iN ameriCa paGe 8 Rajnath hails ‘second tour of duty’, CDS says move to boost op efficiency of forces chief of defence staff General n s raja subramani and union i&B minister ashwini vaishnaw in new delhi, wednesday. ANIl ShARMA Trump at the white house Ballroom construction site, wednesday. AP Brad Heath, Jason Lange, David morgan & Phil Stewart 2-year extension to 75% Agniveers opens permanent service door to all THe DeMocRATic Party’s sweeping victory in the Americanmidtermelectionspresents india with immediate and long-term imperatives in dealing with the United States, its most importantandcomprehensive partner for the foreseeable future. The immediate task is to step up engagement with the Trump administration, wrapupthelong-pendingbilateral trade agreement and advance cooperation in energy, defence and technology. The latest election is part of the enduring ebb and flow of American politics. The Democratic triumph this week does not guarantee it victory in the 2028 presidential election or continued congressional domination in the next con- gressional cycle. instead of obsessing with mood swings in the American electorate, Delhi must rediscover America’s extraordinary political diversity and rebuild relationships across its rapidly changing political landscape. it is not just Trump who will fade from the scene in the coming years. familiar Democratic figures—the clintons,obamaandBiden— are also yielding to a new generationrepresentingamore diverse America. if india was surprised by the power of the MAGA movement on the right, it must prepare for potential shocks from the rise of progressive forces on the Democratic side. More immediately, Prime Minister narendra Modi could have two opportunities to meet Trump—at the east Asia »CONTINUED ON PAGE 15 DeMocRATic cAnDiDATe Abdulel-SayedhaswonMichigan’sSenateraceintheUSmidterm elections, a historic first that will make him the country’s first Muslim Senator when he takes his seat in January 2027. An outspoken critic of israel, el-Sayed defeated former Representative and Republican candidate Mike Rogers, who was making his second run for the Senate, in a closely watched and bitterly »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Track This and more on www.indianexpress.com New Delhi, November 4 foRDelHi,theunpredictability of Donald Trump became morepronouncedeversincehe claimed to have brokered a ceasefire between india and Pakistanfollowinghostilitiesin May 2025, his whims and diktats sending bilateral relations on a roller coaster. on Wednesday, there was a collective sigh of relief in Delhi »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 inside paGes 16, 15 No hormUz traNsit restriCtioNs oN ships from iNdia, 3 other NatioNs: iraN No Need for appreheNsioN: sC to voters oN form 6 12 streetlights not working on PM’s route, municipality in Gujarat suspends official Aditi Raja Vadodara, November 4 democrat abdul el-sayed and his wife sarah jukaku in detroit. AP karnaTaka Town GeTs reason To celeBraTe, paGe 14 ‘Cautiously optimistic’: Delhi tracks shift after 18 months of rocky ties Shubhajit Roy tunity to join the Armed forces as regular soldiers, provided they are willing and meet the military’s objective selection criteria. This means that all Agniveers will now have an opportunity to join the Armed forces as regular soldiers. over three lakh Agniveers are undergoing training at various stages in the three services. This includes around 2.8 lakh Agniveers in the Army, of whom around 19,000 will complete their initial tenure in four years. Around 2,500 Agniveers will completetheirfour-yeartenure in the navy this month, and another 2,900 will complete their training as part of the first iAf batch next month. chief of Defence Staff as Democrats seized control of both the Senate and House of Representatives, placing guardrails on the President’s unchecked powers so far in the two years of his Presidency. South Block officials, who hadbeentrackingtheelections throughthenightTuesday,told The Indian Express that they were “cautiously optimistic” about the results after a yearand-half of turbulence in bilateral ties. from 50 per cent tariffs to restrictions on H1B visas, curbs on student visas to Trump’s proximity to Pakistan and US re-engagement with china, all these moves had bothered Delhiinthelast19months.And the war in West Asia had led to risingcostsinenergypricesand had adversely impacted the indian economic environment. Geopolitically, Delhi will be looking at Trump’s moves in »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 An officiAl of Dabhoi Municipality in Vadodara district hasbeensuspendedforsixdays because 12 streetlights on a road on which Prime Minister narendraModitravelledonoctober 31 were “non-functional andmanyothersina flickering state”. The administrative head of the civic body has issued a suspension letter to Mahesh Vasava, the in-charge clerk of the lighting department, for alleged negligence in ensuring the upkeep of streetlights despite instructions from the municipality. Hehasbeenaskedtoappear before the “competent authority” at the end of the suspension period to furnish an explanation for his alleged Prime minister narendra modi waves to a gathering during the rashtriya ekta diwas celebrations in ekta nagar on october 31. PTI fIle negligence. The suspension order was issuedonoctober31underSection 48 of the Gujarat Municipalities Act, 1963, which deals withtheimpositionofpenalties “for good and sufficient reasons…upon any officer or servant of a municipality”. »CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 l The younGesT mayor of GujaraT’s caPiTal ciTy says he will fulfil Prime minisTer narendra modi’s vision of Viksit Bharat Meet Rupsing, Gandhinagar’s 29-yr-old mayor who ticks BJP’s GenZ & Thakor boxes ParimalADabhi coverstheDholakuva-Palajarea, and includes indroda, home to the ruins of an ancient 15th cenHeiS29yearsold,ownsacloth- turyfortonthebankoftheSabaring showroom in Gandhinagar, matiRiver. and says that he will “take forThe BJP swept 38 of the 44 wardthevisionofPrimeMinister seats in the Gandhinagar Munarendra Modi for a Viksit Bha- nicipalcorporationelectionheld ratby2047”.Rupsing on october 11, a vicpage 1 Ranaji Thakor, the tory that came ahead youngest mayor of of the biennial ViGujarat’s capital city, brant Gujarat Global presidedoverthefirstmeetingof Summit scheduled in the city the general board on Tuesday earlynextyear.fiveseatswentto (november3). the congress, and one to an inThakor, a first time council- dependent. lor, represents Ward 4, which The state capital forms a sigAhmedabad, November 4 anchor nificantpartoftheGandhinagar lok Sabha constituency represented by Union Minister for Home and cooperation Amit Shah.ThecityisalsohometoGujarat international finance-Tec (GifT) city, the state’s first smart city and financial centre. (GifT city has its own notified administrative area.) Rupsing, who studied until class10,belongstothepolitically influential Thakor community, which is included under the other Backward classes (oBc) category. The post of mayor was rupsing Thakor owns a clothing showroom in Gandhinagar. reserved for oBcs this year. Rupsing is also Gandhinagar’s first Thakor mayor. This was the fourth election to the civic body after it was set up in 2010; elections were earlier held in 2011, 2016, and 2021. Mahendrasinh Rana, Pravin Patel, Rita Patel, Hitesh Makwana, and Meeraben Patel were mayors of thecityearlier. Thakor’srisetomayorshipis part of the BJP’s strategy to promoteyoungerandGenZleaders asthefacesofthepartyaheadof theAssemblyelectionsduenext year,severalBJPleaderstoldThe IndianExpress. Thakor’sfamilyhasanoldassociation with the BJP, and Rupsing himself has been for- mally associated with the party sincetheageof18. Hehasearlier been a ward president of BharatiyaJanataYuvaMorcha(BJYM), theBJP’syouthwing. “i will take forward the incompleteworkoftheBJPinGandhinagar. i will also work for the vision of Prime Minister narendraModitomakeindiadeveloped by 2047,” Thakor told The IndianExpress. A political observer said, “With Rupsing’s appointment, theBJPhasaimedattwotargets with one stone, GenZ and the Thakor community. They are Ahmedabad signallingthattheyoutharegetting prominence in the party. At thesametime, they are also trying to woo the Thakor community, which has the potential to bring dividends for the party in the Assembly election.” Alpesh Thakor, founder of the Kshatriya-Thakor Sena, said: “This (appointment) is a decision of the party. i thank the party for giving representation to a young boy of the Thakor community, which has ahugepopulation.” Alpesh rose to fame as the leader of an oBc agitation against Hardik Patel’s 2015 Patidarquotaagitation.Botharenow BJP MlAs; Alpesh represents GandhinagarSouth,andHardik ViramgaminthestateAssembly. ThakorshaveinfluenceinAssemblyseatsinnorthandcentral Gujarat. Alpesh said Rupsing’s appointment could benefit the BJP at seats around Gandhinagar, where Thakors make up a significantchunkofelectors. on Tuesday, Anjana Mehta and Mahendra Patel were appointeddeputymayorandchairpersonoftheStandingcommitteerespectively.