hubballi l wednesday l october 28, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION Israel logs high voter turnout as Netanyahu faces tough fight Nearly 66 per cent voters cast their ballots by 6 pm (9.30 pm IST) in Israel’s crucial general elections on Tuesday, the highest since 1973 polls bibi falls back to tested playbook of 2015 several parties allege irregularities Surveys predicted a tight race between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main rival, former army chief Gadi Eisenkot. Locked in a tight race, Netanyahu made a desperate plea to right-wing voters to “wake up” and go vote for his Likud party to avoid formation of a ‘government of Arab parties’, in a repeat of his tested playbook of 2015 ■ ■ Several parties, including Eisenkot’s Yashar and Bennett’s B’Yachad, alleged irregularities, including missing or defaced ballot slips and suspected attempts to interfere with voting | P11 Arab citizens, who make up about 21 per cent of Israel’s population, could play a significant role in the post-election arithmetic Nov 4 is when the results will be announced CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI New face-off brewing on 4.55cr voters in K’taka, 99 lakh deleted CEC mock impeachment B o s k y K h a nn a @Bengaluru No police permission but Oppn to go ahead with event on Friday P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi the confrontation between the INDIA bloc and the government escalated on Tuesday with the , Congress asserting that the Opposition would go ahead with its proposed mock “public impeachment” of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on October 30, despite the Delhi Police denying permission for the event at two venues. The party alleged permission was first denied for government-owned Hotel Ashok, where the event was originally planned, and subsequently for Ramlila Maidan. The proposed event comes ahead of the INDIA bloc’s November 1 rally at Ramlila Maidan against alleged ‘vote theft’ and the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal said the alliance had sought to hold the event at Ramlila Maidan after permission was denied for Hotel Ashok. However, police Kerala Cong stopped preparations at apologises the ground despite the organisers having the requiThe Kerala Pradesh s i t e p e r m i s s i o n s, h e Congress Committee (KPCC) has tendered alleged. an unconditional “The INDIA bloc had apology to Chief booked Ramlila Maidan Justice of India from October 25 to NovemSurya Kant for a ber 3. So there is no reason disrespectful post on to deny us permission to its official X account. hold our event there on KPCC said it was October 30,” he said. posted without Asserting that the Oppoauthorisation sition would continue its and the person campaign for Kumar’s reresponsible moval, Venugopal said: “If for the post they stop us here, we will has been go to Amit Shah’s house, removed PM Modi’s house, and stage a massive dharna there.” Contesting the Congress’ claims that authorities were stalling its programme, police sources said the Congress had not submitted a separate request for permission to hold the ‘public impeachment’ on October 30. The party had sought permission only for the November 1 rally at Ramlila Maidan, they said. Speaking to the media, police sources said that the permission for Ashoka Hotel rested with the hotel as the premises were privately owned. They also clarified that it has not withdrawn permission for the INDIA bloc’s November 1 rally at Ramlila Maidan, saying a no-objection certificate has been granted from the law-and-order perspective. We know everything, will examine all SIR allegations, says SC S U CHITRA KALYA N M OHA N TY @ New Delhi THE Election Commission of India (ECI) has told the Supreme Court that all its decisions on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) were unanimously approved by the full poll panel, rejecting allegations that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar ignored the opinions of Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. In its affidavit, the ECI rejected claims that Form 6, the statutory form used for voter registration, had been amended. It clarified that the decFresh plea on laration required under Bihar SIR the SIR is a separate document. The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought The ECI, however, adresponse of the mitted that the way the Election Commission declaration was displayed on a fresh plea on its online platform may by TMC’s Rajya have created the impresSabha MP Dola sion that For m 6 was Sen alleging that made. It said the declarachanges were made tion had been merged into to Form 6 during the the online Form 6 page so Special Intensive that applicants would need Revision (SIR) only one OTP and one eof electoral sign instead of two. rolls in Bihar The poll panel filed its without the 248-page response to a top court’s batch of petitions against approval the ECI’s decisions on SIR, filed on Monday evening. The petitioners, including opposition parties, alleged SIR was being carried out in a hurried manner, risking mass deletion of voters. They sought the court’s direction to put on hold the exercise and to frame guidelines. The CJI said the court is cognizant of the issues raised and would consider all aspects. “We know everything. We will examine.” Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for lead petitioner Rakesh Kumar Singh, urged SC to issue directions to preserve the ECI’s file notings and internal communications to ascertain whether decisions were taken unanimously . The bench asked the petitioners to file a comprehensive rejoinder within 10 days and listed the matter on November 17. With the end of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Karnataka, the state now has 4,55,00,011 voters. Data from the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Karnataka showed that before the commencement of SIR, as on June 16, the state had 5,54,32,314 voters. Names of 99,32,303 voters have been cleaned from the rolls after the SIR process ended on October 27, 2026. CEO Karnataka V Anbukkumar said no eligible voter has been deleted from the rolls. Data showed that the state houses a total of 2,25,40,493 males, 2,29,12.355 females and 2,873 others. The male to female ratio is now 1000:1017. @ Belagavi A breakthrough was reached in the sugarcane pricing dispute in the early hours of Tuesday following marathon negotiations between Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, cane farmers and sugar factory owners in Belagavi. A final decision on the price payable to farmers is expected within two days. The CM held five rounds of discussions for nearly 10 hours at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha and the Circuit House on Monday, bringing together farmer leaders and representatives of 79 of the state’s 80 sugar factories. The breakthrough came after the chief minister pressed both sides to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution. The discussions were attended by nine ministers and around 70 MLAs, besides farmer representatives and mill owners. Speaking to reporters at 12.30 am on Tuesday, Shivakumar said the minimum selling price (MSP) of sugar is central to determining the price mills could pay sugarcane growers. Factory owners had agreed to work out the cane price based on the minimum sugar sale price, while farmer leaders sought two days to discuss the proposal among themselves. The CM said farmers have held discussions with a Union minister and are hopeful of a favourable response. MORE: P4 Data also showed that the voter to projected population ratio (excluding service voters) is 66.11%. The state has a projected population of 6,87,59,538 and the number of electors (excluding service voters) is 4,54,55,689. The maximum number of voters in the state are aged be- tween 30 and 39 at 1,02,57,680, followed by those aged between 40 and 49 years, who account for 94,17,853 voters. There has been a rise in the number of polling stations after rationalisation. While the number of polling stations before SIR was 41,498, it increased to 41,888, an uptick of 390.   east coast gears up for ‘arnab’ Andhra Pradesh and Odisha have stepped up preparations as “very severe” cyclonic storm Arnab hurtles towards the east coast and is expected to make landfall early Wednesday near the coast between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, close to Yanam Maximum wind speeds of 125-135 kmph are likely, IMD said Gusty winds & rough sea conditions witnessed in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday | G Satyanarayana DRDO scientist jumps from apartment to end life, family alleges work pressure E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru A senior scientist, attached to the Defence Research and Deve l o p m e n t O r g a n i s a t i o n (DRDO), ended his life by jumping from the fourth floor of an apartment at Seegehalli on October 21. His family alleged that he was suffering from severe work-related stress and depression for over a month. The deceased, Sharad Kati- Cane price issue settled, CM says decision soon E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, V Anbukkumar releases the final voter roll under SIR, on Tuesday | express 43% removed in B’luru Bengaluru’s electorate in the final electoral roll has dropped to 59,08,151 voters from 1,03,88,363, recorded on June 16, witnessing around 43 per cent cut. As many as 44,80,212 voters have been removed. The final roll has 674 voters belonging to the third gender. In all, 2,74, 372 voters were added, while 65,881 names have been deleted and modification or correction was done on 1,81,053 names and other details. yar (47), was a Grade F senior scientist working in the programming division of the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) of DRDO. He was staying with his family at the apartment in KR Puram. Katiyar allegedly jumped from the staircase on the fourth floor of the apartment around 7.30 pm on October 21 and sustained severe injuries. His fam- ily members and neighbours rushed him to a nearby private hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries, the police said. The police said his family alleged that he was suffering from severe work-related stress and depression for over a month and was undergoing medical treatment and counselling.  CONTINUED ON: P7 In Bengaluru, while the population is 1,07,08,716, the number of voters is 59,09,775. A total of 44,80,212 voters have been deleted. After releasing the final rolls, Anbukkumar said there were no bulk preprinted Form7s for processing and no FIRs were filed. He said Form 7 for deletion cannot be generated suo motu. All forms processed for inclusion/deletion/correction were done after following the due legal procedure. For every Form 7 processed for deletion, a speaking order was passed by the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) and Assistant ERO. These copies have been shared with political parties for verification, he said.  P4 NDA wins two Council seats, leads in 2 more D e v a r a j B H i r e h a l l i @Bengaluru The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Tuesday won two of the four Karnataka Le gislative Council constituencies that went to polls on October 23 and was leading in the remaining two when the latest reports came in, raising the prospect of a clean sweep. NDA wrested the Bengaluru Teachers’ Constituency from Congress, with JDS candidate AP Ranganath defeating fivetime winner Puttanna by 908 votes. Ranganath secured 10,810 votes against Puttanna’s 9,902. In the North-East Teachers’ Constituency, BJP candidate Shashil G Namoshi retained the seat by defeating Congress nominee Sharanappa Mattur by 3,297 votes. Namoshi secured 15,596 votes against Mattur’s 12,299, marking his fifth victory from the constituency . In West Graduates’ Constituency sitting BJP MLC SV Sanka, nur was leading Congress candidate Mohan Limbikai by 3,529 first-preference votes after the second round of counting. P7 Pakistan invited to first civilisational dialogue of SCO from Nov 20 in Delhi j aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi the sharma show Abhishek Sharma celebrates his 35-ball ton, the joint-second fastest T20I hundred by an Indian. He scored a 38-ball 113 (9X4, 11X6) as visitors chased down 199 in 13.2 overs against New Zealand. India secured the 5-match series 3-0 on Tuesday | bcci INDIA will host the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) first Civilisational Dialogue Forum in New Delhi between November 20 and November 22, with Pakistan’s Minister for National Heritage and Culture, Aurungzeb Khan Khichi, among those invited to attend, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday . Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate the forum, which will bring together representatives from more than 25 countries at Purana Quila, a 16th-century fort in the national capital. The Ministry of Culture will partner with the Ministry of External Affairs in organising the event. The initiative was proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the SCO leaders’ summit in Tianjin in 2025 and subsequently adopted by the grouping. Culture ministers from all 10 member states, including Russia, China, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Belarus, have been invited, along with representatives from observer and dialogue partner countries, sources said. Pakistan is yet to confirm who will attend the event from its side. If Khichi attends, it would mark the first visit by a Pakistani minister to India since the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting in Goa in 2023 which was attended by Bilawal Bhutto. Despite strained bilateral relations, India has continued to participate in SCO engagements involving Pakistan. In September 2026, India sent SCO National Coordinator Alok Dimri to Islamabad for a meeting ahead of Pakistan’s presidency of the grouping. SC notice to govt as digital publishers argue data law will force newsrooms to close down S U CHITRA KALYA N M OHA N TY @New Delhi Newsrooms will shut down if journalists are forced to seek permission before reporting on a person, the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) told the Supreme Court on Tuesday while challenging the Digital Personal Data Protection Act and DPDP Rules. The court, which refused to stay the Act, issued notice to the Centre on the plea that contends the law infringes on press freedom and right to information. Senior advocate Madhavi Divan, appearing for DNPA, informed the SC that this was the first comprehensive challenge of the law by ‘legacy’ media. The DNPA comprises 21 media outlets, including NDTV Net, work 18 and TNIE. “If I am left to the mercy of the data principal on whether he or she will give consent, the Act endangers sources of journalists, says petition The Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA)’s petition contends that the law trampled on investigative work of journalists and endangered journalists’ sources. Earlier drafts of the law carved out an exemption for journalists. However, as the final legislation has not exempted media outlets, the law infringes on press freedom, the publishers said. The DPDP Act aims to protect digital data of users, raising compliance requirements for platforms like Meta and Google concept of news will be gone... News has to be new. What’s the point if I have to ask for permission and consent? Please stay the impugned provisions... how can we ask for your permission before reporting on you. We are regulated. The pro- visions will shut down the newsroom,” Divan contended. “We will never pass an exparte order without hearing the other side. You have to tell us how you will be regulating yourself,” said a three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana. “You are the domain experts. You are the best person to suggest to the Union and us how you will ensure there’s no misuse,” the CJI said, clarifying that there had to be balance to ensure people’s rights are not abused. “If there’s something inaccurate, we must face consequences... We are regulated by Press Council etc,” Divan submitted. DNPA has separately challenged the amendment, via the DPDP Act, of Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act by creating an exemption for “personal information”. The SC issued notice to the Union law and electronics and information technology ministries and listed the matter for November 17.