DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2025, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES SINCE 1932 BIREN SINGH SUBMITS RESIGNATION TO GOVERNOR BHALLA Chorus growing, Manipur CM finally quits; Assembly on hold Why now: Dissent within, Opp no-trust threat, probe plea in SC, dip in ratings GUWAHATI, NEW DELHI, FEB 9 TWENTY-ONE MONTHS after ethnic violence erupted in Manipur, which remains on the edge,ChiefMinisterNBirenSingh tendered his resignation Sunday evening, ahead of the start of the Assembly session Monday. Singh submitted his resignation to Governor Ajay Kumar BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Manipur CM N Biren Singh submits his resignation to Governor A K Bhalla. ANI Bhalla in Imphal after returning from New Delhi. The Raj Bhavan issued a statement saying the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RELATED REPORTS PAGE 7 RAIPUR, FEBRUARY 9 ALOK DESHPANDE MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 9 WITH STATE FINANCES getting stretched,theDevendraFadnavis government in Maharashtra has held back funds for the ‘Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana’,aprogrammethatsponsors senior citizens to visit pilgrim spots. The scheme was launched in June-end, aboutfive monthsmonthsbeforethe2024 Assembly elections. In a Cabinet meeting last week, the government also discussed discontinuing two other schemes, the Shiv Bhojan Thali (cooked food including chapati, rice, daal and sabji) for the poor, and Anandacha Shidha (a kit of grocery items such as sugar, edible oil, chanadaal, sooji, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 AERO INDIA 2025 A RED initiative appears in today’s edition of Financial Express. These pages are an initiative of the marketing solutions team of The Indian Express Group and contain content paid for by advertisers. These pages should be read as advertisement. E AFTER 21 months of opposition from Kuki-Zo leaders, waning popularity in the Meitei-majority Imphal Valley, calls for resignationfromtheOpposition, withdrawal of support by a key NDA partner, it was pressure from unhappy colleagues in the Valley that finally led to N Biren CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 31 Maoists, 2 security personnel killed in Chhattisgarh gunfight JAYPRAKASH S NAIDU Maharashtra: Financial stress shows, funds for ‘populist’ schemes delayed GUWAHATI, NEW DELHI, FEB 9 AT LEAST 31 Maoists, including 11women,andtwosecuritypersonnel were killed in an encounter on Sunday at Indravati National Park in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district. The encounter, which began around 8 am, took place inside the national park, located about 15 km from the Maharashtra border and 28 km from Bijapur’s Farsegarh, the nearest village. Intermittent firing between Maoistsandsecurityforceswent on till around 4 pm, police said. The security personnel killed wereidentifiedasDistrictReserve Guard (DRG) head constable NareshDhruv,aresidentofBaloda THE LAST MAOIST STRONGHOLD 885 CHHATTISGARH 217 MaoistskilledinBastar regionsince2014 Raipur *Until Feb 9 134 112 69 65 51 47 40 30 35 Narayanpur 65 Dantewada Bijapur 20 ’14 ’15 ’16 ’17 ’18 ’19 ’20 ’21 ’22 ’23 ’24 ’25* SUKRITA BARUAH & LIZ MATHEW Singh’s resignation as Manipur Chief Minister on Sunday. Kuki-Zo groups and 10 MLAs fromthecommunity—theseinclude seven BJP MLAs, two of them ministers — have held Singh responsible for the ethnic con● flictinthestatewhichbegan on May 3, 2023. Rumblings within his own ranks began to grow loud last year and have since intensified. BJP MLAs from the Valley have SUKRITA BARUAH & LIZ MATHEW EXPLAINED Puts in his papers after returning from New Delhi where he met Shah, Nadda Bazar district, and Special Task Force(STF)constableVaasitRavte, a resident of Balod district. Two CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Site of Sunday gunfight Source: Chhattisgarh Police BEHIND THE MAJOR SUCCESS IN BASTAR PAGE 9 LOKNITI-CSDS DELHI ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS SURVEY Why Kejriwal lost: Pollution, lack of drinking water behind voter anger; two-thirds saw AAP as corrupt Over half the voters had made up mind before campaign began, BJP built a strong coalition of upper castes, OBCs SPECIAL TO THE EXPRESS SANDEEP SHASTRI, SANJAY KUMAR & SUHAS PALSHIKAR THE RESULTS of an election are often a by-product of who lost, and,intheprocess,whowon.The just concluded Assembly elections in Delhi are a case in point. Afteradecadeinpower,theAam Aadmi Party (AAP) saw a sharp declineinpublicsupportwiththe ‘credibilityquotient’of itsleadership clearly taking a dip. A direct corollary to this development was a decisive victory for the BJP. TheLokniti-CSDSSurvey,carried outbetween January29and February6(thedayafterpolling) and covering 3,137 respondents across 28 Assembly seats, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi submits her resignation to L-G V K Saxena, Sunday. PTI VERDICT showed that local issues were paramount among voters, there was anger against the AAP MLAs as well as dissatisfaction with its government,andthat,contraryto ● ‘Sheesh Mahal’ CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 2025 shows mirror to AAP ● Schemes were low on priority list P4-6,10 At Maha Kumbh, tiny bundles of joy: 11 babies born in hospital for pilgrims PAGE 1 ANCHOR MANISH SAHU PRAYAGRAJ, FEBRUARY 9 THE SPRAWLING 4,000-hectare Maha Kumbh area in Prayagraj has seen crores of visitors over the last couple of months. For 11 women and their families, their visits were made all the more special as they gave birth while at Kumbh. The 11 births took place at The Central Hospital in the Kumbh area is one of 13 hospitals managed by a team of 105, including four gynaecologists Central Hospital, set up inside the Kumbh area. It is one of 13 hospitalsand10first-aidposts— managed by a team of 105, including four gynaecologists — set up specifically to cater to the requirements of Kumbh visitors. Women experiencing labour pains while at the Kumbh area are brought to Central Hospital, which is the one equipped with facilities to carry out deliveries, by their families or by one of the 125ambulancesdeployedindifferent locations. While the Maha Kumbh CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `15 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM