The Editorial Page: Left needs to find a new vocabulary for the economy of aspiration 10 WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2026 JouRnalISM of CouRage KoLKATA, LATE CITy, 18 PAgES ₹6.00 (₹12 in North East states, ₹20 in Andaman) 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 shah tO Be OBserVer at meetinG OF mLas tO eLeCt Leader a ransacked Tmc office in the Golf Green area of kolkata, Tuesday. ExPrESS Fourkilledas post-poll violenceflares upinBengal sweety Kumari Kolkata, May 5 two alleged BJP workers were killed in new town in north 24 Parganasandudaynarayanpur in Howrah, while the tMc alleged that two of its party memberswerealsokilledinBeleghata in Kolkata and nanoor in Birbhum district as post-poll violence flared up in the state. a man identified as a tMc worker was found dead in Birbhum district’s nanoor, with partysupportersalleginghewas hackedtodeathbyBJPworkers. in a separate incident, the BJP alleged one of its workers was killed by miscreants associated withthetMc,whilehewascelebrating the party’s poll victory in Howrah’s udaynarayanpur on tuesday. the family members of the tMc worker, identified as abir sheikh,allegedhewasattacked byBJPmiscreantswhilehewas on his way back to his house. upon receiving the information, a large contingent from the nanur Police station arrived at the location and cordoned off the area. the family members of BJP worker Jadhav Bor alleged that while he was returning home after poll victory celebrations on Monday, he was dragged away by a group of individuals and attacked with sharp weapons, police said, adding onepersonhasbeenarrestedin connection with the incident. in two other separate incidents, a tMc worker identified as Biswajit Pattnaik was killed, whileinnewtown,BJPworker Madhu Mondal was allegedly killedbytMcworkersfollowing an argument, as a victory procession of the BJP was passing byinBhalliguriarea,policesaid. the tMc Mla-elect from nanoor,BidhanMajhi,claimed that sheikh was an active member of the party and was killed by BJP goons in the area. However, BJP leader shyamapada Mondal said none of their party members was involved in the attack and police Credit Line GUarantee sCheme Suvendu frontrunner for Bengal cM, swearing-in likely on May 9 Union Cabinet clears Rs 2.55 lakh-cr lifeline for MSMEs, airlines hit by West Asia war Two workers each from TMC, BJP killed in post-poll violence in state tanusree Bose, Liz mathew & Jatin anand Kolkata, New Delhi, May 5 giant-Killer suVenDu adhikari,whospearheadedthe BJP’s ground offensive in West Bengal that breached the tMc citadel to end Mamata Banerjee’s 15-year rule, has emerged as the frontrunner for the post of chief Minister. Hailing the party’s election victory as “a triumph for every patriotic nationalist and every BJP worker,” adhikari, who defeated Banerjee in Bhabanipur andalsowonfromnandigram, said tuesday that the BJP was committed to “a developed, prosperous and secure West Bengal”. His remarks came on the day post-poll violence erupted in different parts of the state and fourpersons– two workers eachofthetMcandBJP–were killed in separate incidents. Meanwhile,BJPsourcessaid union Home Minister amit shah, who has been named the party’s central observer for the electionoftheleaderofthelegislature party, is likely to leave for Kolkatathursday.odishachief Minister Mohan charan Majhi will be the co-observer for the election. in new Delhi, BJP national president nitin nabin chaired ameetingofgeneralsecretaries Business as usual By EP UNNY Union minister ashwini Vaishnaw at a cabinet briefing Tuesday. PTI bJp leader suvendu adhikari distributes sweets at the party office in kolkata on Tuesday. PArTHA PAuL deCisiOn 2026 mAmAtA RetuRns RAhul gestuRe BJP win in eAst mAy helP oPen new foReign Policy dooRs in Region PAges 3, 4, 5, 7 at the party headquarters in which preparations for the swearing-in ceremonies were discussed. »COntinUed On PaGe 2 Not defeated, won’t resign… Will strengthen INDIA bloc: Mamata ravik Bhattacharya & atri mitra Kolkata, May 5 a DaY after the BJP swept the West Bengal assembly elections, trinamool congress (tMc) chairperson Mamata Banerjee tuesday ruled out stepping down as chief Minister, alleging that the results were “not a people's mandate but a conspiracy”. Banerjee vowed to take the battle to the streets and strengthen the op- Projected cost about Rs 1 lakh cr/ year; DMK spent Rs 65,000 cr in 2025-26 deeptiman tiwary Tamilaga Vettri kazhagam (TVk) chief Vijay pays tribute to the party’s ideological leaders at the party headquarters in chennai on Tuesday. PTI For a majority, Vijay starts talks Happening with both Congress, AIADMK arun Janardhanan Chennai, May 5 l Vietnamese President To Lam, who is on a three-day visit to India, is scheduled to hold wide-ranging discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. l iPL 2026: Hosts Sunrisers Hyderabad and league leaders Punjab Kings will face off in a key encounter. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com »COntinUed On PaGe 2 Free LPG to grants for jobless, TVK’s poll sops could see 52% spike in welfare bill »COntinUed On PaGe 2 today Tmc leader mamata banerjee in kolkata on Tuesday. PArTHA PAuL position inDia bloc. “We have not been defeated, i have not been defeated,iwillnotresign.thereis no question of my going to raj Bhavan.inthiselection,theBJP and the election commission have played a dirty game. they forcefully grabbed (votes),” the tMcchief,wholosttoBJP’ssuvenduadhikariby15,105votes, said at a press conference in Kolkata, with her nephew and Diamond Harbour MP aDaYaftertheelectionresults, which saw Vijay’s tamilaga VettriKazhagam(tVK)emerge as the single largest party in the tamilnaduassembly,thestate is preparing for something it hasnotwitnessedindecades— a coalition government. leaders from both the congress and the aiaDMK said on tuesday that Vijay reached out to their parties for support in forming a government. The Big PicTure A Vijay blockbuster PAge 9 Making its assembly election debut, the tamil film superstar’s tVK won 108 seats, leaving a significant gap to the rulingDMK,whichcameinsec- ond with 59 seats. However, withthetVKfallingshortofthe majority mark of 118 in the 234member assembly, attention hasshiftedswiftlyfromcelebration to coalition-building. By tuesday morning, as Vijayvisitedhispartyofficeand convened a meeting with newly elected Mlas, plans for a coalition were already set in motion. sources indicated that under one proposed arrangement,thetVK-ledgovernment »COntinUed On PaGe 2 New Delhi, May 5 FroMrs2,500everymonthto women heads of households to six free lPg cylinders per householdeveryyear,agrantof rs 4,000 per month for 10 lakh unemployed graduates — and much more. as film star-politician Vijay's tVK prepares to rule tamil nadu following its incredible election victory, the focus is now on the expansive promiseslistedinitsmanifesto, which builds upon, and even exceeds, commitments made by previous state governments (see chart on page 2). given the tVK's manifesto and official state data, the new government'sprojectedannual expenditure on welfare spending alone would be close to rs 1 lakhcrore—anincreaseofover 52% from the rs 65,000 crore spentbythepreviousDMKgovernment on welfare schemes and subsidies in 2025-26. to put these numbers in perspective, tVK's projected welfare expenditure equals approximatelyone-thirdoftamil nadu'stotalrevenuereceiptsof rs 3.31 lakh crore, as per the2025-26statebudget. that could put a significant burden on the budget,squeezingspace for capital expenditure in a state that already carries a debtof26%ofgsDP.iffinanced entirely through higher expenditure without new revenues, thiscouldpushthefiscaldeficit from the budgeted 3% of gsDP in 2025-26 to about 3.5-4.0%. thisdoesnotcounttheprojected spending on a cooperative farm loan waiver and legally guaranteed MsP procurement of paddy and sugarcane that have been promised E. »COntinUed On PaGe 2 aanchal magazine l BencHstrengtH New Delhi, May 5 tHe union cabinet on tuesday approved a credit support schemetomeettheneedsofindustries in distress due to the Westasiaconflict,targettingan additional credit flow of rs 2.55 lakh crore, including rs 5,000 crore for airlines. Modelled on similar lifelines for distressed sectors during covid, the government's new emergency credit line guarantee scheme 5.0 (eclgs 5.0) has an estimated outlay of rs 18,000 crore. according to an official release, additional credit will be available to MsMes and nonMsMes,excluding aviation,up to 20% of peak working capital utilised during Q4 FY26, capped at rs 100 crore. For airlines, the credit will be up to 100%, capped at rs 1,500 crore oFsctoriseto38 l The Cabinet cleared a proposal for introducing The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026, in Parliament to increase the court's strength from the existing 34 Judges to 38, including the Chief Justice of India. RePoRt, PAge 6 per borrower, subject to certain specific conditions, it said. guarantee fees will be waived under the scheme. For MsMes and non-MsMes, except aviation, the loan tenure would be five years from the date of first disbursement, including a moratorium of one year. For airlines, the loan tenure would be seven years from »COntinUed On PaGe 2 inside two new chiP PlAnts woRth Rs 3,936 cR get cABinet nod Rs 5,659 cR foR 5-yeAR mission to incReAse cotton yield PAge 14 PAge 6 CJI: Original PIL on Sabarimala should have been thrown in dustbin Bench questions locus, intent of original petitioner ananthakrishnan G New Delhi, May 5 Hearingconstitutional questions arising out of petitions seeking a review of its 2018 judgement on the sabarimala issue, a nine-judge bench of the supreme court tuesday questionedthelocusandintent of the original petitioner, with chief Justice of india surya KantsayingthatthePil should have been “thrown outright in the dustbin”. on september 28, 2018, a five-judge bench of the supreme court, in a 4-1 verdict, ruled that the practice of banning women of menstruating age from entering the sabarimala temple in Kerala was unconstitutional. that bench was headedbythen chiefJusticeof india Dipak Misra. on tuesday, while questioning advocate ravi gupta’s submission that the then cJi had provided police security to him and naushad ali, president of the ngo indian Young lawyers association (iYla) which had filed the sabarimala Pil in 2006, Justice B V nagarathna said, “since you are referring to the learned former chief Justice, with great respect, rather than ensuring there was security provided to the advocates, he could have ensured that there was no need for a security threat at all by not »COntinUed On PaGe 2 l The 58-year-old conGress candidaTe made iT To VoTer lisT on eVe of nominaTion deadline, afTer sc rUled in his faVoUr. he won from farakka by 8,000-plUs VoTes Deleted by SIR, elected by people: Motab Shaikh is the ‘luckiest person’ ravik Bhattacharya (sir) exercise, shaikh had approachedthesupremecourtto urge the tribunals to hear his until a month ago, all Motab case on priority. on april 5, a shaikh hoped for was to make daytogofortheendofdeadline it to the West Bengal electoral to file nominations for the firstroll.now,the58-year-oldisone phase seats, the apex court of only two candidates of the ruled in shaikh’s favour. on april 6, congress to have shaikh filed his won in the state, page 1 papers from the Fakeeping alive hopes rakkaassemblyseat. of the party, after it on Monday, he got had scored a duck in 63,050 votes to win the consti2021. His name deleted as a voter tuency by a margin of more after adjudication, following than 8,000. it was his first asthe special intensive revision sembly election; with the last Kolkata, May 5 anchor pollsthatthecontractorbyprofession fought being for panchayats. His son now handles the family business. the trinamool congress, which held the Farakka seat, was relegated to the third position,withtheBJPfinishingsecond. incredulous at the reversal inhisfortunes,shaikhtoldThe IndianExpress over the phone: “i am one of the luckiest people in the world. i had lost all hope when i found my name deleted from the electoral list following thesir.ithoughtiwouldnever ‘i had lost all hope... it is a victory of the people,’ says motab shaikh even be able to vote… But the people voted for me… it is a victory of the people.” oftheroughly27.1lakhdeletions after adjudication in Bengal,38,222wereinFarakka.the Murshidabad district, where Farakka falls, saw the highest number of deletions in the state, at over 11 lakh. the other assembly seat won by the congress in Bengal, raninagar, also falls in Murshidabad district. Julfikar ali won from here by a margin of 2,701 votes, winning 79,423 votes, againstsittingMlaabdulsou- Kolkata mik Hossain of the tMc. shaikh points out that he only got 14 days to campaign becauseofthelonguncertainty over whether he would be included as a voter and be allowed to contest. “First the congress took time to nominate me, and then i found that my name was deleted from the electoral roll. i could campaign only in half of my assembly constituency,” shaikh says. Had he got more time, he adds, “my margin would have been more”. the congress, which had won Farakka in 2016, says shaikh’s victory was proof of “the lack of a level-playing field” due to the ec. “creating a foolproof electoral roll is the dutyofthepollpanel.Here,the ecwasforcedtoallowMotabto file his nomination after a supreme court order… His victory shows people’s faith in the party,” says congress spokesperson soumya aich roy. shaikh, who says he has always been with the congress, like his father and grandfather before him, says: “the Farakka »COntinUed On PaGe 2