Chhetri plays last international match Thousands cheered a tearful Sunil Chhetri off the pitch after his last match for India, bringing to a close an international career which put him among the world’s all-time leading scorers. He scored 94 goals over a career spanning nearly two decades, behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Iran’s retired Ali Daei and Lionel Messi in all-time international scorers’ list | P17 chennai l friday l june 07, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 42 l late city EDITION 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 Sunday date for Modi to take oath New govt to consider special financial package for Andhra, Bihar; NDA Parliamentary Party meet today RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi Rahul Gandhi addresses a press conference in New Delhi | PTI Rahul seeks JPC probe into ‘stock market scam’ P reetha N air @ New Delhi Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s role in the “biggest stock market scam” that wiped out retail investors’ wealth to the tune of `30 lakh crore. Addressing a press conference here, Gandhi asked why Modi, Shah, and Sitharaman made remarks to pump up stock markets. “The PM told the country three times that there would be a stock market boom. The HM asked people to buy stocks before June 4. The FM also gave the same message. This is the first time that the PM commented on the stock markets during elections,” Gandhi said. The Congress MP said the ‘fake’ exit polls led to massive stock buying on June 3, a day before the counting of votes. When the actual results were way off projections, the markets crashed. “We are convinced this is a scam. Somebody has made crores of rupees at the cost of retail investors. This is a criminal act,” he alleged. Refuting the charges, BJP leader Piyush Goyal said it’s the wealthy foreign invetors who bought stocks at high rates while Indians sold and made profits. “The `30 lakh crore he is talking about refers to valuation. It’s notional and not about trading; he doesn’t understand,” Goyal said. On the UCC, the CM had written to the Law panel. We are not against it. But there should be consultation with all stakeholders K C Tyagi, JD(U) No final decision has been taken on the ministry of Railway. But in all likelihood it will remain with the BJP BJP leader Amid intense negotiations for Cabinet berths among the NDA partners, it became known that Narendra Modi will take his third consecutive oath as prime minister at a glittering ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday Over 800 guests, . including foreign dignitaries, will attend. Apart from Modi, about 25-30 ministers are expected to be sworn in. Though there was no official word, the BJP central office has already sent its list of invitees to Rashtrapati Bhavan. Significantly, the BJP leadership is learnt to have agreed in principle on the new govern- heads of seven neighbours get invites Invites have been sent to the heads of neighbouring countries to attend the ceremony. Presidents Ranil Wickremesinghe (Sri Lanka), Mohamed Muizzu (Maldives), Wavel Ramkalawan (Seychelles) and prime ministers Sheikh Hasina (Bangladesh), Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ (Nepal), Tshering Tobgay (Bhutan) and Pravind Jugnauth (Mauritius) are on the list of invitees ment considering the demand for special financial packages for both Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. The demand by the TDP’s Chandrababu Naidu and JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar was part of the negotiations on ministerial berths. Besides, a senior NDA source indicated that the TDP, which has 16 MPs, is likely to get one Cabinet and two ministers of state (MoS) in the Union ministry As for the JD(U), it is expect. ed to get one Cabinet and one or two MoS. As for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker, sources said the BJP will have its own nominee while the Deputy Speaker could be from the TDP The JD(U) already . has the post of vice-chairman in the Rajya Sabha. The NDA Parliamentary Party meet on Friday is expected to take the final call on quotas for allies in the Union ministry. “The final decision on the portfolios amongst the allies will be murmurs get louder in BJP, AIADMK Ex-guv backs Ex-Min “What ex-minister Velumani said is realistic. The DMK would not have won all the 40 seats had BJP been in alliance with the AIADMK,” said former governor Dr Tamilisai E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai The comprehensive defeat in all 40 LS seats has sparked a churning in AIADMK and BJP with leaders of the parties voicing opinion about what could have been done better and the way forward for the two parties to get back to winning ways. AIADMK former minister S P Velumani blamed BJP chief K Annamalai for the split in AIADMK-BJP ties just ahead of the election, and claimed that had the alliance remained intact, it would have won 30 to 35 seats. While Annamalai reject- ed it, for mer Gover nor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan supported the idea. “What Velumani said is realistic. DMK would not have won all the seats had BJP been in alliance with AIADMK,” Tamilisai said. But Annamalai questioned Velumani’s rationale and wondered how it could be accepted when the AIADMK had failed to win even a single seat on its own. Meanwhile, for mer CM O Panneerselvam sought retrieval of AIADMK and said “consoling cadres and making them get accustomed to defeat is a sin.” “It is easy to break one stick but difficult to break a bundle of sticks,” he said. AIADMK deputy general secretary K P Munusamy, however, dismissed OPS’s appeal as an attempt to create confusion. “OPS has no right to talk about unity He joined hands with the . BJP to freeze AIADMK’s ‘twoleaves’ symbol,” Munusamy said. MORE REPORTS ON P4 taken at Friday’s meeting,” said a source. However, key ministries that are part of the Cabinet Committee on Security (defence, home, finance and corporate affairs, external affairs) are almost certain to remain with the BJP. The BJP is learnt to have decided to accommodate almost all potential allies with one Cabinet berth and one MoS to both Chirag Paswan’s LJP (RV) and Eknath Shinde’s Sena. Jitan Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha could get the ministry of social justice while the JD(U) may get rural development, water resources or agriculture ministry . Meanwhile, JD(U) leader K C Tyagi said his party has demanded for a review of the Agniveer scheme. e x p r e ss r e a d DMDK seeks recount in Virudhunagar seat Chennai: Claiming irregularities in Virudhunagar polls, DMDK, whose candidate Vijaya Prabhakaran lost the seat to Congress, has asked ECI to order a recount under the supervision of an ex-judge | P4 Irregularities in NEET results: Surjewala New Delhi: Alleging ‘huge irregularities’ in NEET-UG results, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala on Thursday said the government should ensure accountability airport drama CISF constable ‘slaps’ Kangana for ryot stir jibe H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh Bollywood actor and BJP MP-elect Kangana Ranaut said on Thursday that she was slapped by a woman CISF constable during security check at the Chandigarh airport. Ranaut was at the boarding area of the airport to catch a Vistara flight to Delhi when CISF constable Kulwinder Kaur allegedly slapped her. Sources said an argument broke out between the two during frisking over the actor’s critical comments on Screen grab of the far mer Kangana Ranaut’s protest. Kaur video message | PTI has been suspended and a case has been filed against her, sources said. “From what it appears, Kangana was slapped for her ‘Khalistani’ comments,” said her close aide. Sources said Ranaut is likely to file a complaint with the Ministry of Home Affairs. “A CISF woman constable hit me and abused me. When I asked her the reason, she said she supports farmers’ protest. I am safe but the question is how do we handle terrorism in Punjab,” Ranaut said in a video statement. W ITH THIS ISSUE CHENNAI’S BEST WEEKEND GUIDE 42 PAGES, INCLUDING 24 OF INDULGE (TABLOID)
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