tirupati l thursday l november 06, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l anantapur EDITION Pant checks in, shami ignored for tests against South Africa Rishabh Pant made comeback into India’s Test squad for two-match series against SA. However, Mohammed Shami has been ignored once again Rishabh Pant Delhi keeper-batter passes fitness test India’s wicketkeeper batter Pant was an automatic choice after recovering from a foot fracture sustained during the fourth Test against England in Manchester in July. He missed the West Indies series but led India A team against South Africa A. Shami, who has had a creditable Ranji campaign as of now, has been overlooked again ■ Two akash deep in, prasidh krishna out ■ Pacer Akash Deep Singh recovered from shoulder injury and has been picked but Prasidh Krishna’s name has been dropped India’s pace attack features Jasprit Bumrah and Mohd Siraj while the spin will be led by veteran Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and all-rounder Washington Sundar. Shubman Gill is captain | P11 India will play two tests against SA in Kolkata, GUwahatI 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 Americans of Indian origin make major political gains BJP ‘stole’ Haryana poll with 25 lakh fake votes, Bihar next target: Rahul Mamdani first Indian-American and Muslim to be elected New York mayor All set Ghazala Hashmi Security personnel carrying election materials ahead of the first phase of Bihar polls, in Muzaffarpur on Wednesday | PTI Stillness of the discerning in Bihar B ihar has never been short of noise. Certainly not when it mattered. Its politics has marched through history with a daring swagger — JP’s call that shook New Delhi, Mandal’s churn that redrafted power, the long years of Lalu raj that jolted the old order. Even the subtler Nitish era made bold strokes on the canvas, turning India’s polity yet again with the caste census narrative and grand alliance politics. Yet this election arrives on soft feet. On November 5, the campaign for the first stretch of 121 constituencies is winding down, and the battle for the remaining 122 — those border districts where sentiment often travels across rivers and frontiers — will begin soon. And through it all, there hangs a curious quiet. Whether in Nitish Kumar’s native Bakhtiyarpur, or hamlets like Gauspur and Chitapur fringing Patna, whether in Dalit ‘tolas’ where caste is still geo-tagged or along the mobile 100-km sweep to Gaya on NH-22, out in villages like Barachati and Tekari near where a legend named Dashrath Manjhi once moved mountains, the stillness is audible. Even in places like Mokama where bullets flew the other day or Barh, , which saw fisticuffs after this writer left, the action is all on one slim band where politics does its business. The people santwana seem unmoved. Almost cold. bhattacharya This is not indifference. It is Editor an extended pause — a thinking state, perhaps it’s the hush of crores of people thinking harder. The old Bihar election grammar is still here: the woven caste alliances, the search for the right symbol atop the right community the deft stitch, ing of booth workers and social equations. But listen closely, and the dialogues are shifting pitch. It is no longer enough to promise representation; people want opportunity Bihar’s young . — impatient, painfully aware of the ticket-to-life stamped “migration” that’s been their lot for years, and now uniformly literate about the ways of the world beyond their panchayat WhatsApp group — are asking sharper questions. Identity of the other sort has not dissolved; only its fabric has thinned in the face of this new common identity, an identity of experience. Numbers are never incidental here. OBCs and EBCs together form roughly two-thirds of Bihar — a demographic truth that still underwrites strategy Yadavs remain the single biggest OBC . bloc, Kurmis and Kushwahas count in pockets where one village’s mood can bend a seat, Dalits and Mahadalits together hold a weight politicians can never ignore, and the elite castes — though numerically modest — continue to influence candidate choice and the political discourse, Continued on: P8 particularly in the plains.  Aftab Pureval Indian roots Ghazala Hashmi, L-G-elect Virginia was born in Hyderabad. Aftab Pureval is the son of a Punjabi father and a Tibetan mother In an extraordinary moment for diversity in American politics, three Indian-origin Americans carved history across key states signalling a possible new era in the United States. Zohran Mamdani became the first Indian-American and Muslim to be elected Mayor of New York City, Ghazala Hashmi was chosen as Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, and Aftab Pureval secured a second term as Mayor of Cincinnati. Together, their victories mark a milestone in the growing political influence of South Asian Americans. At just 34, Zohran Kwame Mamdani’s stunning win has made him New York City’s youngest mayor in over a 100 years and the first of Indian heritage to hold the post. Running as a Democratic Socialist, Mamdani triumphed over two formidable opponents, former governor Andrew Cuomo, contesting as an independent with the backing of President Donald Trump, and Republican Curtis Sliwa. With 83% of votes counted, Mamdani secured “We have crystal-clear proof that 25 lakh voters in Haryana Leader of Opposition Rahul are fake, that they either don’t Gandhi on Wednesday accused exist, are duplicates, or were the Election Commission of designed in a way that allows India of colluding with the anybody to vote. One in eight BJP to ‘steal’ the 2024 Haryana voters in Haryana is fake, elections in the saffron party’s that’s 12.5%,” he said. favour and claimed To substantiate the same sinister his claim, he cited plan will be used in the example of a Bihar to ensure the woman who apBJP’s victory . peared 223 times on Addressing a the voter list. He press conference at also showed the the AICC headphoto of another quarters here on woman, which he We d n e s d ay, t h e SIR: Integrity of claimed was a BraCongress leader alzilian, saying it appoll main issue leged that 25 lakh peared 22 times unOn INDIA bloc’s votes were ‘stolen’ der different names strategy to protest in Haryana through in 10 booths. 5.21 lakh duplicate against SIR, Rahul said “This is proof of the “integrity of the votes, 93,174 invalid a centralised operaelection” is the addresses, and 19.26 tion. What is a Brafundamental issue lakh bulk voters. zilian person doing Haryana has a total on the voters’ list of two crore voters. in Haryana?” he asked. “I am confident that after the Responding to the allegaBihar poll, we will make a pres- tions, Election Commission ofentation that the same thing ficials said the vote manipulahappened in Bihar,” he said, tion charge is unfounded as no adding political parties are un- appeals were filed against Harable to check the ‘vote theft’ as yana electoral rolls, nor was they are provided with the vot- any multiple voting flagged er list at the last moment. when it allegedly happened. PR E E THA N AIR @ New Delhi H a p r ee t B a j w a @ Chandigarh Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani (2nd from right), with wife Rama Duwaji (2nd from left), father Mahmood Mamdani and mother Mira Nair in New York on Tuesday | AP 948,202 votes (50.6%), while Cuomo managed 776,547 (41.3%). The city saw a record turnout of nearly two million votes, the highest since 1969. Born in Kampala, Uganda, Mamdani moved to New York at the age of seven. His mother, acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair, and father, Columbia University scholar Mahmood Mamdani, have long been symbols of cultural and intellectual achievement. In his victory speech, Mam- dani called his win a “mandate for change,” thanking his parents and wife, Syrian-American artist Rama Duwaji. His campaign, which resonated with young and workingclass voters, centered on reducing living costs, expanding housing, and improving public transport—a continuation of his progressive record as a Queens assemblyman, where he introduced a pilot programme for free city buses. Continued on: P9  ASR tribal families see light of Independence Pawan’s initiative Moved by the plight of tribals, the Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan directed the ASR District Collector to prioritise electrifycation of the hamlet. He coordinated with Energy Minister G Ravi Kumar and APEPDCL CMD Prithvi Tej for the speedy execution of the project E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada After seven-and-a-half decades of Independence, electrical lights have illuminated the houses of 17 tribal families in the remote Gudem hamlet of Alluri Sitarama Raju(ASR) district, thanks to the proactive initiative of Deputy Chief Minister (Panchayat Raj and Rural Development) Pawan Kalyan. The electrification project, completed in just five months, marks a historic milestone for this isolated hilltop settlement under Rompalli Gram Panchayat in Ananthagiri mandal. On Wednesday, coinciding with Karthika Pour nami, all 17 houses in Gudem got electricity connections. The project involved laying power lines over 9.6 km through dense forest and rugged terrain, installing 217 electric poles, and setting up a dedicated transformer. Each house was provided with five bulbs, and one fan free of cost. The hamlet, situated 50 km from the mandal headquarters, had remained cut off from basic infrastructure like roads, safe drinking water and electricity. Residents lived in constant fear of wild animals at night, and relied on lanterns. Despite repeated appeals to authorities over the years, no solution materialised until the tribals took their woes to Pawan Kalyan’s notice five months ago. Moved by their plight, the Deputy CM directed the ASR District Collector to prioritise electrification of the hamlet. He coordinated with Energy Minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar and APEPDCL CMD Prithvi Tej for the speedy execution of the project at an estiP4 mated cost of `80 lakh.  The house of a tribal family in Gudem hamlet of ASR district with new electricity connection | Express National pride Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets the victorious ICC Women’s World Cup team in New Delhi on Wednesday | PTI ACB conducts searches at 12 sub-registrar offices E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Following numerous complaints of rampant corruption in sub-registrar offices (SROs), the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) carried out simultaneous surprise checks at 12 SROs across the State on Wednesday . More than 20 ACB teams raided SROs at Jagadamba Centre, Pedagantyada and Madhurawada in Visakhapatnam district, Bhogapuram (Vizianagaram), Ibrahimpatnam (NTR), Narasaraopet (Palnadu), Ongole (Prakasam), Stonehousepet (Nellore), Renigunta (Chittoor), Rajampet (Annamayya), Chilamathur (Anantapur), and Allagadda (Nandyal). During the searches, unaccounted cash ranging from `10,000 to `75,000 was found at Bhogapuram, Jagadamba Centre, Ibrahimpatnam, Ongole, Stonehousepet and Narasaraopet SROs. A total of `4 lakh unaccounted cash and several documents P4 were seized during the ACB raids.  express read Boost for blue economy SAEL Industries to invest `22,000 cr in renewable energy and other sectors Net cast to catch unsustainable fishing practices Vijayawada: SAEL Industries Limited has announced investments worth `22,000 crore across renewable energy, biomass, data centres & port development. The projects are expected to generate 7,000 direct and 70,000 indirect jobs across the State | P4 52 govt school students take flight to Delhi for Science Exposure Tour Vijayawada: In a virtual interaction that ignited young minds, Minister for Investments BC Janardhan Reddy felicitated 52 government school students selected for the Science Exposure Tour to New Delhi, organised by SCAP & Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan | P4 200 Nautical miles from a country’s coast is the extent of EEZ. It grants countries the right to exploit resources J i t en d r a C h o u b e y @ New Delhi The Centre has issued a notification to promote the sustainable exploitation of fisheries within India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The newly introduced rules, titled ‘Sustainable Harnessing of Fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone Rules, 2025’, focus on licensing, registration, and scientific monitoring of fishing activities in the EEZ. They seek to encourage sustainable mariculture, including seaweed cultivation, reduce fishing pressure, create new livelihood opportunities, and enhance overall marine production. The rules recognise Fisheries Cooperatives and Fish Farmer Producer Organisations (FFPOs) as key stakeholders in managing the EEZ. In addition, the government will provide training and capacity-building for traditional and small-scale fishers, including fisheries cooperatives and SelfHelp Groups. Trained and registered fisherfolk entities, such as SHGs and FFPOs, will be eligible to obtain licences through the government’s ReALCRaft portal, ensuring greater participation of organised fishing communities in offshore resource management. Finally, the rules lay down guidelines for issuing health certificates for catches in line with relevant national and international regulations. GoM studies demands for 8 new districts E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Responding to a surge in public appeals, the Group of Ministers (GoM) on district reorganisation met at the State Secretariat on Wednesday and , studied the feasibility of creating eight new districts in Andhra Pradesh. While acknowledging the widespread demand, Revenue, Registration and Stamps Minister Anagani Satya Prasad clarified that only proposals offering tangible administrative advantages would move forward. “Our priority is to ensure gover nance becomes more accessible and efficient,” he said. Acknowledging the NDA poll promises, Anagni said they too are being taken into consideration. The GoM also looked into several proposals for new revenue divisions, especially in areas where existing headquarters are located over 125 km away These proposals were . evaluated with a focus on citizen convenience and operaP4 tional viability  .