chennai l Monday l November 17, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late city EDITION Trump’s Gaza peace plan faces crucial vote today at UNSC The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will vote on Monday on a resolution endorsing US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan ‘No’ vote equals support for Hamas: U.S. 5 pm Draft mentions future Palestinian state ■ The draft backs Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan, which proposes the creation of a Board of Peace under his leadership and a stabilisation force. It mentions a possible future Palestinian state ■ Speaking at a Cabinet meeting on Sunday, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated the opposition to a Palestinian state The US last week began negotiations within the 15-member Security Council on a draft resolution. “Any refusal to back this resolution is a vote either for the continued reign of Hamas terrorists or for a return to war with Israel, condemning the region and its people to perpetual conflict,” US ambassador to UN Mike Waltz wrote in The Washington Post | P13 local time on monday is when the UNSC will vote on U.S. resolution 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 NDA firms up formula for Bihar govt formation BJP expected to get 15-16 ministers, JD(U) 14, and LJP(RV) 3; buzz on one of the two deputy CM posts going to LJP(RV) Three more daughters move out of Lalu’s family r a m a s h a n k a r @ Patna BIHAR Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday held a series of meetings with National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders at his official residence in Patna to discuss the formation of a new government after the ruling alliance secured a three-fourth majority, winning 202 out of 243 seats, in the Assembly elections. Union minister of state for home Nityanand Rai and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) chief and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha were among those who met Nitish. Earlier, he convened discussions with senior JD(U) leaders and all newly elected MLAs. JD(U) MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh also attended. Sources said the NDA would follow the same formula for portfolio allocation as it did for ticket distribution. Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) will retain the Chief Minister’s post, while the BJP and Chirag Paswan’s LJP (Ram Vilas) are likely to get one Deputy CM each. As per the cabinet-sharing formula, the BJP is expected to get 15-16 ministerial berths, the JD(U) around 14, the LJP (RV) three, and Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM and Upendra Kushwaha’s RLM one each. “During the tick- said, “Yesterday’s incident has shaken me to the core. What hapTHE turbulence within the Rash- pened to my sister is unbearatriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) first ble.” Without naming anyone, he family deepened on Sunday, a accused “new faces” of clouding day after Lalu Prasad’s daughter Tejashwi Yadav’s judgment and Rohini Acharya announced her warned that the consequences of decision to quit politics “this injustice will be and sever ties with her grave.” RJD review family . “I urge my father to meeting today What began as a sinintervene for the famigle outburst has now RJD has convened ly’s honour,” he said. a meeting of its snowballed into a fullNeither Tejashwi newly elected blown family crisis. nor his advisor, RJD MLAs and senior Three more of Lalu’s MP Sanjay Yadav, has daughters—Rajlaksh- leaders on Monday responded to Rohini’s mi, Ragini and Chan- to analyse its poll alle gations linking result. “The da—left the family’s 10, them to the family’s Circular Road resi- leaders will discuss discord. RJD managed party’s poor dence in Patna early just 25 seats in the reperformance in Monday, taking their cent Assembly polls. polls,” said RJD’s children and flying to Rohini, who contestChitranjan Delhi. Sources said ed the 2024 Lok Sabha Gagan | P12 their departure reflectpolls from Saran, aled growing distress leged harassment and over the recent turmoil. threats from Sanjay Yadav and On Sunday, Tej Pratap Yadav, his associate Rameez. With Rawho heads the newly launched jlakshmi, Ragini, and Chanda’s Janshakti Janata Dal (JJD), is- exit, only Lalu, Rabri Devi, and sued an emotional appeal to his Misa Bharti remain at the family father and a veiled warning to home, which was once the nerve those he termed “traitors.” He centre of RJD’s politics. r a m a s h a n k a r @ Patna BJP supporters celebrate NDA’s victory in the Bihar Legislative Assembly elections, in Patna on Sunday | PTI et distribution, for every MP, an NDA partner was given five-six assembly seats. So, it is likely that the same formula may be in place for cabinet berths,” said a senior BJP leader. With 85 MLAs, the JD(U) could secure 14 berths besides the CM post. Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha is likely to be replaced by LJP (RV) state president Raju Tiwari, elected from Govindganj, while former Union Minister Ram Kripal Yadav, who won from Danapur, is being considered for the same post from the BJP’s side. In the recently-concluded Assembly election, the NDA swept aside the Mahagathbandhan, with BJP emerging as the singlelargest party, winning 89 seats. JD(U) followed with 85, LJP (RV) 19, HAM five, and RLM four. The RJD-led combine could muster only 35 seats. The JD(U) has instructed all its MLAs to remain in Patna from Monday onwards. Nitish is expected to recommend dissolution of the current cabinet on Monday before submitting his resignation to the Governor. This could be followed by the NDA meeting, sources said. Nitish could take oath as Chief Minister for a record tenth time on Wednesday or Thursday depend, ing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s availability . Preparations for the oath ceremony have begun at the historic Gandhi Maidan in Patna.  P12 Chennai gets orange alert as rains set to peak today E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Chennai With a low-pressure area persisting over the southwest Bay of Bengal, an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall has been issued for Monday in Chennai by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The low-pressure zone, located off the Sri Lanka coast, is expected to move slowly west-northwestward over the next 24 hours, keeping the northern Tamil Nadu coast under an enhanced rainfall regime, according to the IMD. Light to moderate rainfall was recorded across several districts of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal on Sunday. According to the IMD, the core rainfall zone will shift northwards over Chennai and its neighbouring districts on Monday.  P9 Cong wakes up to SIR concerns after Bihar rout, calls meeting PR E E T HA N AIR @ New Delhi WEEKS after the Election Commission launched the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in 12 states and UTs, including poll-bound Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, and Puducherry , the Congress has called a review meeting of party functionaries from all regions where the revision process is underway . A senior party leader said the meeting, involving AICC incharges, Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs, Congress Legislature Par ty leaders, and secretaries of the 12 States and UTs, will be held at Indira Bhawan in New Delhi on Tuesday . The meeting is expected to as- Pic: PTI sess ground reports submitted by state units and prepare a unified response to SIR. On October 27, the ECI rolled out the second phase of the SIR, expected to cover nearly 51 crore voters across 12 states and UTs. The initiative has sparked political unease in opposition-ruled states. Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Kerala have escalated their objections to the move, with some even exploring legal options. As reported by this paper, despite being the primary opposition party the Congress had not , convened a joint meeting or crafted a coordinated strategy with its alliance partners on SIR. The Congress’s renewed push comes in the aftermath of the Bihar debacle. The move also signals its intent to step up the ‘vote theft’ pitch as the Bihar rout has intensified concerns within the ranks over organisational shortcomings and voter-list issues, and alliance coordination. The November 18 meeting is expected to review discrepancies flagged by state units, evaluate PCCs’ preparedness to monitor SIR rollout, and explore coordination mechanisms with other INDIA bloc partners. Tonsured heads stuck in 1ST ARREST long lines at Srirangam temple for a quick bath by NIA IN rED FORT BOMB BLAST CASE P T h i r u s e lv a m @ Tiruchy Vows are fulfilled as hair goes off the head, but troubles, they continue. The queue in front of the temporary shed of hairdressers near the Ranganathaswamy temple at Srirangam never ends, for there are only three bathrooms at the decadesold facility to give the freshlytonsured heads a wash. As the number of devotees at the temple, administered by the state’s Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department, swells, the crowd in front of the tonsure centre set up near the Vadakku Vasal (North Gate) also grows; from single digit on week days to 50 to 100 on weekends to more than a thousand on festival days, especially during Chithirai (April-May). Devotees TNIE spoke to said that, at times, the tonsure facility, where 12 hair-dressers work in shifts, is too crowded and the taps at the bathroom go dry, forcing them to walk to the shrunken Kollidam river, some 2km away, or to look for other sources. R Krishnan, a devotee from Thanjavur, who visited the tonsure facility a month ago, said that after the ritual, he could not find any source of water, and was forced to take bath under a roadside public tap. “The situation is very disappointing, as the devotees of the centuries-old t e m p l e, e s p e cially women, are often seen struggling for privacy to take bath,” illustration: Sourav Roy he said. P9 The National Investigation Agency has arrested Amir Rashid Ali, in whose name the car used in the blast was registered. He allegedly conspired with Dr Umar Nabi to carry out the attack | P11 Boy, missing for two days, found dead inside SUV E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Madurai South Africa players celebrate their win over India in the first Test at Kolkata on Sunday | sayantan ghosh for gambhir and co, it’s pitch dark at home S w a r o o p s w a m i n at h a n @ Kolkata EVEN before the presentation ceremony was over, the ground staff at the Eden Gardens, as if to carry out a meta joke, watered the square. With natural light dying, the 22 yards was properly bathed, a dark sheen shimmering in the distance. It was the first time the strip had been hydrated since last Saturday, over a week ago. You can draw a straight line between the Indian team’s decision to not water the pitch to losing a fourth Test in eight home games since Gautam Gambhir was appointed to the post last year (decisions like not watering the strip are usually made by the leadership group, something that happened in Kolkata as well). “This (the pitch) is what we wanted,” Gambhir after the match. “This is what we got.” With the ball misbehaving from as early as the first over on Day 1, both teams knew they were in for a dogfight. India have flippedflopped on the kind of pitches they want but it had seemed like they were going away from this model. However, Sunday was a sharp reminder of how spectacularly it can backfire. So, why did the Indian team go back to a designer surface for the visit of South Africa after playing on two typical sub-conti- nental decks against West Indies? Was it because of the stakes of WTC points? Was it because of their somewhat inexperienced batting line-up? Was it to take the toss out of the equation even if they have lost on these tracks after losing the toss? Gambhir defended the pitch by saying the batters should be able to absorb pressure. He called it more mental than skill. But after a point, survival is nigh on impossible. And that is no way for the game to be played. With less than one week to regroup — the next Test starts in Guwahati on Saturday — how will the team management dig themselves out of a hole of their own choosing?  P15 In a heartbreaking incident, a seven-year-old boy who had been missing from Thursday evening was found dead inside a parked SUV on Saturday night in S Melapatti village under Peraiyur police station limits. Police ruled out any foul play in his death and said he had suffocated to death after getting trapped inside the car, his cries for help probably drowned out by the music from loudspeakers blaring in the village due to a temple festival. The child was R Shanmugavel identified as R Shanmugavel of Nadukottai, a Class 1 student at a private school. He was visiting his grandmother in S Melapatti for the local temple festival along with his parents, Rajasekar (42) and Kavitha (30), and brother Rajavel (3), police said. On Thursday (November 13), Shanmugavel had gone outside to play but did not return home that night. Police said the family initially assumed he would be somewhere nearby and didn’t search for him.  P9 Great People’s March Colour and song return to climate talks in Brazil SOUMYA SARKAR @ Belém (Brazil) The gypsies invariably brought colour and magic to the grey city of Macondo in One Hundred Years of Solitude. Belém is no Macondo living in isolation and innocence, neither are the indigenous people and climate activists who joined the “Great People’s March”on Saturday at halfway point of the UN climate summit the wandering Roma. But the tens of thousands marching through the streets of the Amazonian host city demanding climate action did splash a vi- brant palette of colours and added song and dance to the otherwise grey proceedings at the conference venue of Parque da Cidade. Through the late mor ning hours, the procession stretched for kilometres—a river of red, white, yellow and green flags flowing past watching crowds leaning from balconies to capture the spectacle on their phones. The streets pulsed with drumbeats and chants as protest transformed into celebration, grief into performance. In the most gothic part of the procession, demonstrators carried enormous coffins marked for oil, coal and gas. A 30-metre inflatable serpent wound through the marchers, an enormous anaconda symbolising the sacred and iconic Amazonian creature. A giant balloon painted as Earth bobbed on the streets while sound systems on trucks blared everything from Brazilian samba to socialist anthems. The joy was deliberate, the defiance unmistakable. This was the first major protest outside UN climate talks since Glasgow four years ago. The last three summits —held in autocratic Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan—offered no such freedom.  continued on: p11 A demonstration during the ‘Great People’s March’ in Belém, Brazil on Saturday | Soumya Sarkar