DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2025, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 26 PAGES `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `15 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 POLL SOPS TAKE CENTRE STAGE IN CAPITAL BATTLE Campaignforhigh-stakesDelhi pollsends,votingtomorrow Last lap: Shah reiterates graft charge, Kejriwal says BJP will stop AAP schemes Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha Monday. PTI Rahul invokes China to attack Govt on jobs, border security NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 3 THE HIGH-PITCHED campaign for the Delhi Assembly elections — which saw the AAP, BJP and Congress raising the stakes with variouspollsopsandschemes— drew to a close on Monday. The 70 Assembly constituencies in the Capital will vote on Wednesday, and the results will be declared on February 8. The AAP is seeking a third consecutive term while the BJP ishopingforacomebackafter27 years.TheCongress,whichdominatedDelhi’spoliticallandscape for a decade-and-a-half before the AAP burst on to the scene, is looking to regain its foothold. In the run-up to the polls, all three parties announced a slew of poll sops. Amidcriticismoverbasingits governance model on freebies, the AAP doubled down and announced an increase from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,100 per month in its promised Mukhyamantri MahilaSamman Raashischeme, free treatment for all above the age of 60 years in empanelled private hospitals, and a monthly honorarium of Rs 18,000 to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah at a rally in Jangpura on Monday. Abhinav Saha; AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal takes part in a roadshow in Kalkaji. Tashi Tobgyal DECISION 2025 DELHI TOTALSEATS:70 PARTY-WISESEATS WONIN2020 AAP BJP 62 8 Turnoutin2020:62.5% Votingon FEB5 Resultson FEB8 Source: EC FULLCOVERAGE PAGES 3, 4, 6 VANDITA MISHRA NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 3 IN AN arena where Congress is relegatedtothestatusof aminor third wheel, on the other side from the 11-year incumbent AAP, is a Modi-BJP that has just returned for a third term at the Centreandischafingatbeingout of power for 27 years in Delhi. The BJP labels the AAP as a purveyor of “revdis” (or “freebies”) and, at the same time, as- NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 3 ARRESTEDBYtheCBIinabribery case linked to the National Assessment and Accreditation Council(NAAC),RajeevSijariya,a tariffs on hold for a month on professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Management and Entrepreneurship (ABVSME), is no stranger to controversy. In 2023, his two-year tenure as Dean of ABVSME was cut short after several faculty members accused him of “undemocratic decision-making” and “in- US President Donald Trump, Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum When freedom came on Aug 15, 1947, he was in jail; his case a benchmark for personal liberty YEARS ON RESHAPING THE REPUBLIC CASE BY LANDMARK CASE AN EXPRESS SERIES CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 stigatingstudentsagainstfaculty members”, The Indian Express has learnt. “He never involved his school’s faculty in major decisions, which created discontent. Ultimately,hehadtostepdown,” said a colleague at JNU, speaking on condition of anonymity. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Trump pauses tariffs on Mexico for a month after ‘friendly’ talks, border deal MUSK SAYS TRUMP AGREED TO CLOSE JOSH BOAK USAID, STAFF TOLD & FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ WASHINGTON, FEBRUARY 3 TO STAY OUT OF HQ INDRA NOOYI SISTER US PRESIDENT Donald Trump CHANDRIKA TANDON and Mexican President Claudia WINS GRAMMY PAGE 21 Sheinbaum put their planned 75 sures voters it will not discontinue the existing schemes. It even tries to outdo the AAP with its own promises of cash transfersandsubsidies —forinstance, if AAP says it will give Rs 2,100 a month to women, the BJP pledges Rs 2,500 monthly. Unlike in many other states, however, the BJP’s USP may lie less in the commitments it makestoindividuallabharthis— in the national capital, the AAP hasbeattheBJPtoit.Itlies,more, NAAC bribery: JNU suspends prof, his tenure as Dean was cut short in 2023 VIDHEESHA KUNTAMALLA & ABHINAYA HARIGOVIND THE WORLD BJP’s hope: 11 years on, AAP vehicle for change stuck — at the bottom In this series, The Indian Express tracks down the women and men who reshaped the Republic SHAJU PHILIP & APURVA VISHWANATH THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 3 MINUTES PAST midnight, on August 15, 1947, the echoes of Mahatma Gandhi ki jai and Bharat Mata ki jai reverberated through the Cannanore (now Kannur) jail where Communist leader A KGopalan, then 43, was in solitary confinement. He had secretly kept a national flag with himfortheoccasion.Atdawn,he hoisted the Tricolour where other prisoners gathered to hear him speak. Barely four or five minutes into his speech, the jail authorities stopped him. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Monday to give time for further negotiations, and Mexico said it planned to deploy 10,000 members of its National Guard to address drug trafficking. Trump’s tariffs against Canada and China were still slated to go into effect Tuesday, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 1950 AKGOPALAN V STATEOFMADRAS WHO’S HE: Born in 1904 in Kannur, A K Gopalan was a teacher before he joined the Independence struggle. He was held for the first time in 1930 for taking part in the civil disobedience movement. He joined Congress, became an AICC member before joining the Communist Party. His political leanings meant frequent detentions. Says Delhi sought PM invite to US; Jaishankar calls it falsehood MANOJ C G & ASAD REHMAN NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 3 A FORTNIGHT after he announced the launch of a White T-shirts campaign — billed as a platform for youth, to unite workers across sectors — Rahul Gandhi focused on the youth and unemployment in his ad- E EXPLAINED EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE ● New foot forward? RAHUL GANDHI’S conciliatory noises seemed a departure from the acrimony of previous sessions. He also projected INDIA bloc as an entity, amidst rising tensions within. IN PARLIAMENT P 14 dressinParliamentMonday,this time in the context of the rise of CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Retired soldier killed, his wife and niece injured in Kashmir militant attack BASHAARAT MASOOD SRINAGAR, FEBRUARY 3 AN EX-SERVICEMAN was killed, and his wife and niece were injured, when gunmen opened fire at them in south Kashmir's Kulgam on Monday. Thisisthefirstmilitantattack in the Valley this year. According to police sources, theunidentifiedgunmen shot at the ex-serviceman, identified as retired Lance Naik Manzoor AhmadWagay(45),andhisfamily outside their residence at Behibagh village in Kulgam. The bullets hit Wagay, his wife and her niece. While Wagay was hit intheabdomen,thetwowomen suffered injuries in the legs. All three were immediately CONTINUED ON PAGE 2