MADURAI l monday l october 26, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l LATE CITY EDITION Resumption of war will not change Iran’s stance: Araghchi Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that a resumption of war with the US and Israel would not change his country’s position Comes after Don Hints at renewed attacks Iran seeks removal of foreign forces His statement came after President Donald Trump indicated that he could resume attacks on Iran after the midterm elections in the US. Speaking at a televised event in Tehran, Araghchi said, “They have already done so twice and have seen the results. If they want to try again, they know they will achieve no different outcome” ■ ■ Araghchi said to achieve peace and stability, “our region must move towards the complete absence of foreign forces” Trump said on Friday the US “may do another little Epic Fury,” referring to the military campaign that began in February. The US has moved thousands of additional troops to the region in recent weeks Nov 3 when the u.s. will hold midterm elections 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 EC hiding software info to bury Busted: Int’l drug cartel manipulation, alleges Congress and `100 cr hawala trail inter-state op Kharge demands annulment of assembly polls held in the past two years MUKESH RANJAN & RAMASHANKAR @ New Delhi / Patna THE Congress on Sunday escalated its campaign against the Election Commission, accusing the poll body of suppressing crucial information about the ECINET software, while party chief Mallikarjun Kharge demanded that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) be halted immediately , assembly polls held in the past two years annulled, and future elections be held through ballot papers. The opposition party cited media reports about the poll body refusing to disclose the technical details of the ECINET software sought through RTI and alleged it was done to hide the alleged manipulation of electoral rolls. “The ECI is repeatedly refusing to provide this information because it will reveal the reality of the massive, centralised manipulation that has taken place,” said Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh, adding the poll panel must clarify whether it is using artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, speaking at an event in Patna on Sunday Kharge called for return to ballot papers , to preserve the sanctity of election process and demanded the assembly polls held in the past two years should be annulled. Interestingly he named only the BJP-ruled West Bengal, Haryana, Bihar and Maharashtra; Congress won in Kerala and is sharing power with the TVK in Tamil Nadu, where elections were held in 2026. Targeting Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Kharge alleged there were irregularities during the SIR process that influenced election results, accusing the CEC of enabling ‘vote theft’. He described the anti-SIR stir as a “second war of independence” and urged people to participate in INDIA bloc’s November 1 protest rally in Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan. Elections should be held using ballots to ensure transparency and restore public confidence. Democracy must be protected, and every vote must count Mallikarjun Kharge Mallikarjun Kharge speaking in Patna on Sunday | PTI Row over remark Kharge’s improptum remarks on PM during the Patna event triggered a political row, with the BJP calling it “insulting” BJP meets to mull how to ‘expose’ Oppn protests, rally RAJESH KUMAR T HAKUR @New Delhi Strategies to counter the Opposition’s sustained protests against the Chief Election Commissioner and its November 1 rally were discussed at a top-level BJP meeting on Sunday as , the party deliberated on how to “expose” the Congress-backed efforts through its nationwide ‘Save Democracy Remove Anarchy’ campaign. , The meeting, chaired by party chief Nitin Nabin and attended by senior leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, discussed how the party could push back on the Opposition’s allegations against the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, sources said. Plans for the BJP’s poll campaign in 2027 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and three other states were also on the agenda. Sources said the leaders discussed the ‘Save Democracy’ campaign, and a series of nationwide activities aimed at questioning the Opposition’s role in upholding democracy and highlighting achievements of the Modi government. “The meeting may have also discussed exposing the rally on November 1 and spreading how the Congress and its allies want the inclusion of dead and fake voters in the voters’ lists under the pretext of protesting and demoralising a constitutional body like the Election Commission,” said a source. Sources further indicated that the discussions covered intensification of outreach programmes against Opposition parties and organisation of major public engagement events and rallies in different states. express read Ex-Army captain held for info leak Vellore: A retired Army captain was arrested in Vellore on Saturday night for allegedly sharing confidential information related to weapons procurement over WhatsApp to a woman who claimed to be working with DRDO | P2 Dark clouds hover over the Marina skies in Chennai on Sunday | 3 die in rain-related incidents, orange alert for 4 TN districts E X P RESS NEWS SER V I CE @ Chennai Modi SAYS CONG RULE FAVOURED RICH Inaugurating the RBI’S `169-crore data centre and Cybersecurity Training Institute in Bhubaneswar, the PM alleged the masses were denied banking services during Cong rule | P7 P Jawahar The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert for four districts — Ariyalur, Pudukkottai, Sivaganga, and Ramanathapuram — on Monday, with heavy to very heavy rain likely at isolated places. Meanwhile, three separate rain-related deaths have been reported from Dindigul and Krishnagiri. T Ankesh (6), a Class 1 student drowned after slipping into water accumulated near a channel near Oddanchatram in Dindigul on Sunday . Muthusamy a 45-year-old daily , wage worker, fell into a pit filled with rainwater at Thangachi- yammapatti in the district. A 45-year-old woman on a twowheeler in Krishnagiri was electrocuted on Saturday night after a snapped electric line fell on her. The depression over the eastcentral and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal is expected to intensify into a cyclonic storm by early Monday morning and a severe cyclonic storm by Tuesday morning. The IMD has issued a cyclone alert for the Andhra Pradesh and adjoining south Odisha coasts. The system is forecast to cross AP and Yanam coasts as a very severe cyclonic storm by Wednesday forenoon, with sustained winds of 115-125 kmph.  P5 62 landslips in Nilgiris Nilgiris/ Coimbatore: Landslips were reported in 62 places across Nilgiris in last 24 hours ending at 7am on Sunday. A huge boulder fell between the 13th and 14th hairpin bends on the Valparai Ghat Road, disrupting traffic |P5 Lack of govt schools forces aided kids to lose quota S u b a s h i n i V i j aya k u m a r @ Chennai Devakottai in Sivaganga district has five government-aided higher secondary schools, but lacks a gover nment school of that level. With the nearest government higher secondary schools located at least seven to eight km away, students from disadvantaged backgrounds are forced to make a difficult choice: travel long distances to retain eligibility for the 7.5% reservation offered to government school students in professional courses, or study in nearby aided schools and lose the quota benefit. The disparity is particularly significant in southern Tamil Nadu, where 10 districts account for 45.1% of the total student enrollment in governmentaided schools. Government-aided schools are in- cluded in the school network used to assess children’s access to education. However, students studying in government-aided schools are excluded from the 7.5% reservation in professional courses, which is available only to students who complete their schooling from Classes 6 to 12 in government schools. This distinction puts students in areas where aided schools are the most accessible option at a significant disadvantage. P5 borders, which Shah described as ‘Death Triangle Corridor’. COORDINATED raids by the Narcotics The crackdown aligns with the govControl Bureau (NCB) and state police ernment’s zero-tolerance policy on forces helped dismantle a trans-nation- drugs and the Vision Document on al narcotics cartel operatNarcotics Control for 2026ing across India, Myanmar 2029, which prioritises a and Bangladesh, Union systematic dismantling of Home Minister Amit Shah organised drug networks. said on Sunday. He said Investigations by NCB, raids were carried out at 38 Mizoram Police and ED unlocations in Assam, Mizocovered a wider network of ram and Manipur leading facilitators, shell entities to 18 arrests, freezing of and money mules support1,424 bank accounts and uning the cartel. The probe covering of hawala transidentified the kingpin as actions worth `100 crore. Myanmar-based ThangcinThe operation, conducttuang, alias Chintuang or ed on October 23 and codeTluanga, who was wanted The synchronised action named ‘Operation Trident’, in more than 10 cases under was designed to disrupt resulted in attachment of the network’s ability to NDPS Act. He was arrested properties worth `17.82 in Delhi.Other key operamove narcotics and crore, seizure of 500 detomoney across state and tives arrested earlier innators and the recovery of cluded Vungkhanthawna, a international borders `12 lakh in cash. facilitator responsible for Amit Shah, home minister Announcing the operacoordinating the movement tion on X, Shah said, “Cenand delivery of Myanmartral agencies and police forces in three origin consignments, and Lalrampari, northeastern states carried out simul- a p r i n c i p a l h aw a l a o p e r a t o r, taneous operations to dismantle the officials said. international drug trafficking network Lalrampari’s arrest by NCB on Auand expose its financial links.” gust 8, 2024, helped investigators unThe cartel allegedly used the corri- cover nearly `100 crore in illicit transdor connecting India, Myanmar and actions and prompted joint financial Bangladesh to move narcotics across action with the ED, he added. m u k e s h r a n j a n @ New Delhi