DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2024, LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 TW0-DAY DISCUSSION IN LOK SABHA Congress has always chosen power over Constitution: Rajnath ‘No problem with caste census, let your blueprint specify quotas’ Samvidhan not Sangh ka IN PRAYAGRAJ, PM UNVEILS PROJECTS vidhan, fear spreading, learn from 1975: Priyanka Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and others in Prayagraj on Friday. PM Modi rolled out projects worth Rs 5, 500 crore. Express REPORT,PAGE3 Says one business group favoured, takes name which is later expunged VIKAS PATHAK NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13 Defence Minister Rajnath Singh initiates the Lok Sabha discussion on the Constitution on Friday. PTI VIKAS PATHAK NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13 FROMLISTINGtheexcessesofthe Emergency to the toppling of electedgovernmentstooverturning the Shah Bano verdict to undermine the judiciary, BJP senior leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh mounted a scathing attack Friday on the OppositionCongress,sayingithas neverrespectedtheConstitution CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 OPENING FOR the Opposition in the Lok Sabha discussion on the Constitution, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Friday sought to turn the tables on the government,sayingithasforgotten that the “Samvidhan” (Constitution) is not “Sangh ka vidhan” (the law of the RSS). In her maiden speech in the House after being elected MP from Wayanad in Kerala, Vadra accused the Modi government of “oppressing” people and spreading “fear”, and said the Constitution gave common peoplecourageinthefaceof oppression. Speaking immediately after Union Defence Minister and BJP senior leader Rajnath Singh listed the excesses of the Emergency and attacked the Congressandherfamily,shetold the government to learn from it and apologise for its mistakes. “My friends there were saying this and that happened in 1975 (the imposition of EPFO works on plan to introduce ATM High drama starring card facility for withdrawal of funds Allu Arjun: Arrest, then Amid high rate AANCHAL MAGAZINE of rejection bail but night in jail NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 13 Congress’s Priyanka Gandhi Vadra opened for the Opp. PTI Emergency). Toh seekh leejiye na aap bhi (so you also learn a lesson). You also apologise for your mistakes,” she said. She asked the government to return to elections through ballot papers and then see what happens. Countering Singh’s remarks about dismissals of elected governments during Congress rule, she sought to know whether the present government had not tried to break parties in CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 JOINT POLLS: DRAFT BILL CIRCULATED P 6 RETIREMENT FUND body Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is working towards rolling out a facility that willallowmemberstowithdraw funds from their corpus through anATMcard.TheATM-cardtype withdrawal from the EPFO, THE MOVE by the EPFO for an ATM-card type facility comes in the wake of concerns over a high rate of rejection of EPF final settlements in recent months. Held as ‘spy’ and acquitted, UP man will be judge now MANISH SAHU LUCKNOW, DECEMBER 13 OVER TWO decades after he was arrested on espionage charges, a 46-year-old from Kanpur is within touching distance of judgeship. Last week, the AllahabadHighCourtorderedthe Uttar Pradesh government to issuetheletterappointingPradeep Give Pradeep Kumar his appointment letter by Jan 15, 2025: HC Kumar,aresidentof Kanpurwho was arrested in June 2002, as Additional District Judge. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 which would be subject to a certain ceiling, is likely to be rolled out by the middle of next year, officials said. TheEPFOisworkingtowards improving its IT infrastructure underEPFO3.0,thefirstphaseof which would end in December and is expected to be completed in June 2025. The ATM card feature for withdrawal of funds CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Actor Allu Arjun leaves a Hyderabad hospital after medical check-up following his arrest Friday in a stampede case. PTI SREENIVAS JANYALA HYDERABAD, DECEMBER 13 TELUGU FILM star Allu Arjun was arrested Friday morning from his house in Hyderabad in connection with a stampede at the premiere of his film, Pushpa 2, earlier this month. He was remanded in 14-day judicial custody by a lower court before the Telangana High Court granted him four-day interim bail later in the day. However, he was not released from jail as of late Friday night, with sources saying that he would likely have to spend the night in CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Lucknow