DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 SALVE VS SIBAL, SINGHVI IN HIGH VOLTAGE BATTLE Sena rebels challenge Dy Speaker’s decisions in SC, to be heard today One more minister flies to Guwahati, Shinde has 39 now EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY NEW DELHI, MUMBAI, JUNE 26 THE MAHARASHTRA rebels camping in BJP-ruled Assam have moved their battle to the Supreme Court. The court will takeuptwopetitionsonMonday — one by rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde; the other by 15 MLAs belonging to his camp. The petitions challenge the decision by Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal to recognise Ajay CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Keep Central forces ready, says Governor; 15 rebel MLAs get Y-plus security YOGESH NAIK MUMBAI, JUNE 26 Aaditya Thackeray arrives for a meeting at the Shiv Sena office in Mumbai, Sunday. Amit Chakravarty REPORTS, PAGE5 FLAGGINGREPORTSof rebelShiv Sena MLAs’ houses and offices being targeted in Maharashtra, Governor B S Koshyari has asked the Centre to keep “adequate” centralsecurityforces“ready...to address the situation”. Meanwhile, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Sunday granted Y-plus security cover, comprising CRPF personnel, to at least 15 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs. While the MLAs are in a hotel in Assam, sources said security willbeprovidedto their families in Maharashtra. In his letter to Union Home CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Gujarat govt forms new SIT to probe Sreekumar, Teesta, Bhatt for conspiracy VAIBHAV JHA AHMEDABAD, JUNE 26 THE GUJARAT government on Sunday formed a six-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by the state’s AntiTerrorism Squad (ATS) DIG Deepan Bhadran to investigate retired DGP R B Sreekumar, activist Teesta Setalvad and former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt for criminal conspiracy and forgery, and other charges, “as per directions of the Supreme Court”, a top official told The Indian Express. The move follows an FIR lodged against the three at the Detectionof CrimeBranch(DCB) CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BJP wrests SP’s strongholds in UP, AAP loses Sangrur in Punjab LS bypoll MANOJ CG NEW DELHI, JUNE 26 JUST MONTHS after it stormed to power in Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) suffered a setback on Sunday as it lost the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat, vacated by its Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, to Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann. The AAP now has no member in the Lok Sabha. In Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party (SP) lost its strongholds of Azamgarh and Rampur to the BJP in the Lok Sabha bypolls. The two seats fell vacant after party chief Akhilesh Yadav and senior party leader Azam Khan were elected to the Assembly in March. In Azamgarh, where the Muslim-Yadav dominance had helped Mulayam Singh Yadav win the seat in 2014 and Akhilesh in 2019, BJP nominee Dinesh Lal Yadav “Nirahua”, a Bhojpuri actor, defeated SP’s DharmendraYadav,aformerMP andcousinof Akhilesh,byamar- E X P L A I NE D MONDAY, JUNE 27, 2022, PUNE, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES E ● Setback for Opp THE DEFEAT in Sangrur, just months after its spectacular win in the Punjab Assembly elections, comes as a wake-up call for the AAP. In UP, by wresting two SP strongholds, the BJP has strengthened its already-dominant position ahead of the urban local body elections due later this year. gin of about 8,600 votes. In 2019,Akhilesh had defeated Nirahuaby2.6lakhvotes.TheSP had then contested the election in alliance with the BSP. TheresultsshowthattheBSP made a dent in the SP’s CONTINUEDONPAGE2 MORE REPORTS PAGE 6 WORLD PM IN MUNICH PM Narendra Modi addresses the Indian diaspora in Munich, Germany, where he arrived on Sunday to take part in the G7 summit. At the community event, the PM said the Emergency, announced on June 25, 1975, was a ‘black spot’ in India’s history. PTI REPORTS, PAGE4 RUSSIAN MISSILES POUND KYIV AS G7 LEADERS MEET WHITE HOUSE TO FIGHT STATES OVER ABORTION PILL P 12 ‘We are no longer chess players from mythology; someone bespectacled who is slightly old. Now chess is seen as a fairly young sport’ VISWANATHAN ANAND INDIA’S FIRST GRANDMASTER & FIVE-TIME WORLD CHAMPION PAGE 7 MP toasts its first Ranji title: ‘Moment of a lifetime’ ABHISHEK PUROHIT BENGALURU, JUNE 26 MADHYA PRADESH captain Aditya Shrivastava was waiting forhisturntospeakafterMumbai skipper Prithvi Shaw at the postmatch presentation of the Ranji Trophy final. But Shrivastava's team had walked over to the board reading “Champions”, ready to pose for photographs. Earlier, in another glimpse of what this maiden Ranji Trophy crown means to a state formed in 1956, Shrivastava was already inhisofficialdarkblueMPblazer ashestoodafewmetresfromhis impatient teammates just moments after the six-wicket victory over 41-time champions Mumbai. “Completely ecstatic,” the 28-year old captain began when it was his turn to talk to the presenter, Anjum Chopra, the former India captain. “A generation...of time has CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Pune