Shirsat in a videograb; and the bag full of cash kochi l saturday l july 12, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION Sena minister caught on cam with cash, says it’s only clothes i-t lens on mighty spike in declared assets The video surfaced a day after reports emerged of Shirsat facing scrutiny from the Income Tax Department regarding a significant increase in his declared assets, which surged from I3.3 crore in 2019 to I35 crore in 2024. The Opposition parties in Maharashtra have sought the resignation of Shirsat, who branded the video as a preplanned conspiracy to frame him Shiv Sena (Shinde) minister Sanjay Shirsat is in the dock once again after a video of him with a bag full of cash lying near his bed surfaced bought a hotel at below-market rate ■ ■ Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, who first shared the video, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and CM Devendra Fadnavis should take action against Shirsat Shirsat is also facing a probe into purchase of luxury hotel VITS at I65 crore against the market rate of I120 crore in Sambhaji Nagar A30 cr approximate value of the residence where shirsat lives 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 Tennis academy Dad blames barbs for murdering Radhika E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ New Delhi The postmortem report of a 25-year-old former state-level tennis player, who was allegedly shot dead by her father on Thursday, revealed that she was hit by four bullets from behind in Gurugram’s Sector 57. Deepak Yadav, the accused, was remanded in one-day police custody on Friday . The autopsy was conducted by a board of three doctors. They recovered four bullets from the body After the exami. nation, the body was handed over to the family members who cremated her at their village in Wazirabad. Radhika was living with her parents in Sushant Lok-II, Gurugram Sector-57. She was shot dead by her Radhika Yadav father using his licensed firearm, the police said. A murder case was registered on the complaint of Deepak’s brother and he was arrested. Deepak confessed he shot Radhika because he was often mocked at for living off her income, police sources said. Police also claimed the tennis academy Radhika ran was the bone of contention between the father and daughter. The accused, who police said was depressed for the last 15 days, also felt he had good rental income so there was no need for his daughter to run an academy . 18 pages, including 4 pages of KOCHI Express BJP revamps state leadership; Sobha, Ramesh among gen secys E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ T’Puram In a significant move ahead of local body and assembly elections, the BJP has executed a major revamp of its state leadership. Prominent woman leader Sobha Surendran, former secretary S Suresh and former Yuva Morcha national secretary Anoop Antony Joseph have been inducted as general secretaries, while senior leader M T Ramesh has been retained in the post. Notably, ex-DGP R Sreelekha and young leader Shone George figure among the 10 new vice-presidents. The new office-bearers were announced on the day of Union Minister Amit Shah’s visit to the state. Shah is expected to chair the state-level leadership meeting on Saturday . The revamp, widely perceived as an attempt to rework internal dynamics and increase the party’s appeal, includes a combination of seasoned lead- ers and successful career professionals. The appointment of a new team reflects the vision of Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who recently took over as the party state chief. R Sreelekha PARVE Z S ULTAN @ New Delhi FORMER Chief Justices of India D Y Chandrachud and J S Khehar have flagged the sweeping powers that the One Nation One Election (ONOE) Bill seeks to confer on the Election Commission of India. According to sources, both ex-CJIs clarified that the bill for simultaneous elections does not violate the basic structure of the Constitution—as alleged by some Opposition parties—but suggested some tweaks in the language and provisions of the bill to check the unbridled powers of the Election Commission. On Friday, Chandrachud concluded his presentation before the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) headed by BJP MP P P Chaudhary which was entrusted with the , task to review the Bill. Justice Khehar had already given his views on the legal and constitutional aspects of the proposed legislation. “The former CJIs told JPC that though the Bill does not violate the Former Chief Justices of India D Y Chandrachud and J S Khehar basic structure of the Constitution, some of the proposed provisions may not get past judicial scrutiny . They also suggested the ways to address these issues. Both jurists suggested that there should be an ‘oversight mechanism’ on the conduct of elections,” said sources. Meanwhile, Opposition members including Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and DMK’s P Wilson raised queries about the constitutionality of dissolving assemblies midway to synchronise their polls with Lok Sabha elections. Making his point before the JPC, Wilson argued that the aim is to curtail election expenditures but the proposed system would lead to Fly slip (Top) Jasprit Bumrah tries to fend off ladybirds on the first day at Lord’s. He took five wickets on Friday. (Left) Joe Root celebrates ton against India | AFP men, the rising temperature in England has led to swarms of these species of beetle to invade open areas including grounds. England batter Ollie Pope admitted this was the first time he had seen anything like this. “No, I haven’t (seen that before). It’s a first and the crowd got that. I didn’t even know why we stopped,” replied Pope when questioned about the interruption during media interaction at the end of day’s play . One of the ground staff said the menace will continue during the entire duration of the match as temperature is expected to only increase in the next few days. “It may touch 35 degrees (centigrade), which is unprecedented as the last time we witnessed this was during the first Covid wave in 2020. The insects are harmless but can cause disruption if they come in a large number. We use spray to counter them but that will not be that effective if they swarm the venue,” said the staffer, who did not wish to be named. The extreme hot weather accompanied by dry patch also led to hosepipe ban in Yorkshire. The warm climate is responsible for the increase in the population of the ladybirds, who anyways are evolving to adapt to different weather patterns. The warmer temperatures mean the presence of aphids (garden pest), ladybirds primary source of food, that helps them multiply exponentially . The recent incident at the Home of Cricket highlighted yet another reason how the sport is being challenged for its existence by external factors P13 like extreme weather.  Shone George With the reshuffle, current group equations within the party are anticipated to change. There are allegations that leaders close to V Muraleedharan have not been given due consid- Ex-CJIs red flag sweeping powers of EC under ONOE Oh Lord’s: Ladybird infestation, climate change & playing conditions It is not always that a game of cricket has been stopped due to a swarm of ladybirds invading the pitch. On Thursday the first , day of third Test in Lord’s between India and England, players including that of hosts encountered a peculiar phenomenon. A swarm of ladybirds flew over the ground, some even landed on the helmet of Ben Stokes. These are unusual and rare sights but are invariably tied to the usual suspect, climate change. Rising temperature and dry spell in England has already have had an impact on the playing conditions. The beetles are only adding to the woes. The game as of now doesn’t have a rule to stop because of insect attack. According to the grounds- Sobha Surendran One Nation One Election Bill not unconstitutional but needs rework b o d y l ine F i r o z M i r z a @ London M T Ramesh numerous polls in the event of the fall of the government at the Centre. In such a scenario, the purpose of the Bill would be defeated, he pointed out. Justice Khehar suggested that Parliament or the Union Council of Ministers should have a say in taking the call on holding the election of an assembly as envisaged under , Section 82A(5) of the Bill. The Section in its current form says, “If the Election Commission is of the opinion that the elections to any Legislative Assembly cannot be conducted along with the general election to the House of the People, it may make a recommendation to the President, to declare by an order, that the election to that Legislative Assembly may be conducted at a later date.” Referring to another Section of the proposed law, Justice Khehar said it should also specify what will happen in case of an Emergency . After the meeting, Chaudhary said each aspect will be discussed and recommendations made. Tharoor losing UDF sweet spot as IUML, RSP sour over ‘provocation’ K S S REE J ITH @ T’Puram Hard on the heels of his most recent ‘provocations’, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor is losing the support of UDF partners, many of whom had stood with him in times of crisis. Two major allies, the Muslim League and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), have come out openly against Tharoor over two separate incidents that placed him at odds with UDF’s political positioning. Referring to Tharoor attending a luncheon hosted by the Israeli ambassador to India, IUML general secretary P M A Salam said the Congress party has no control over Tharoor. “Tharoor has been doing things without the knowledge of the Congress leadership. The Muslim League has serious reservations about some of his actions. This has been continuing for some time. It is the Congress that has to take a call on how to deal with it,” Salam told TNIE. The League had extended its support to Tharoor when several Congress state leaders tried to block his active participation in Kerala politics. In 2023, the League leadership invited Tharoor to its pro-Palestine rally where his reference to Hamas as a ter, rorist organisation had put the former in an awkward spot. Tharoor attended the event hosted by the Israeli envoy for Indian Parliament members on June 27. It was organised to solicit the support of the Indian political class for Israel in its war with Iran and attack on Gaza. Among those invited were BJP leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad and Baijayant Panda and Congress’ Praniti Shinde and Deepender Singh Hooda, besides Tharoor. However, Praniti and Deepender did not at● More on P4 tend the function.  eration in the revamp. Meanwhile, attempts have been made to ensure social and communal balance. A couple of leaders from minority communities figure among the new appointees. Apart from Sreelekha and Shone, former vice-chancellors K S Radhakrishnan and Abdul Salam, C Sadanandan of Kannur, P Sudheer of Thiruvananthapuram, C Krishnakumar from Palakkad, B Gopalakrishnan from Thrissur, K Soman of Alapppuzha and K K Aneesh Kumar of Thrissur have also been appointed as new vicepresidents. The list of 10 newly appointed secretaries includes Ashokan Kulanada, K Renjith, Renu Suresh, V V Rajesh, Pandalam Prathapan, Jiji Joseph, M V Gopakumar, Poonthura Sreekumar, P Shyamraj and M P Anjana Renjith. In addition to these changes, Abhijith R Nair has been named the party’s social media ● More on P4 convenor.  Oppn manufacturing anxiety, says Shah ‘I believe that if anyone has any concerns about the special poll roll revision in Bihar, he/she should approach the ECI. Not with presumption but with examples... We have a firm policy on running India using Indian languages. The fight is in the minds of those who still believe India should run on foreign languages’ Narendra Modi government. “The world looks up to India nion Home Minister again. Under Modi ji, we have reAmit Shah says the stored faith in India’s future. ToSpecial Intensive Revi- day, 140 crore believe India can sion (SIR) of electoral become a fully developed nation rolls, which is under by 2047. Every sector is filled way in poll-bound Bi- with confidence about making har, would be imple- India self-reliant,” Shah said. “Is mented in other states as well. “I there any area that has not seen think roll revision will be done improvement? Be it foodgrain across the country he remarked. production, advances in space, ,” Speaking to this newspaper, internal security our global stat, Shah said the Opposition is man- ure, reduction in corruption, our ufacturing anxieinte g rated apty over the procproach to health?” press ess to mask its In re ply to a Interview lack of electoral question, Shah winnability. “If predicted, “The anyone has any concerns over AIADMK–BJP alliance will win the process, they should ap- by a landslide in the coming elecproach the Election Commis- tion in Tamil Nadu. The people sion, not with presumptions, but are fed up with corruption, nepowith examples of the outcomes tism and the family feuds of the of the process,” he said. DMK.” Predicting a win for the BJPOn the Opposition’s apprehenled alliance not only in Bihar s i o n s a b o u t t h e e f f e c t later this year, but also Tamil delimitation may have for the Nadu and West Bengal, among South Indian states, Shah other states scheduled to vote for asserted, “There is no need for new assemblies beginning next anyone to feel anxious. I have year, Shah said this reflected the said this categorically: There massive and ongoing popular en- w i l l b e n o i n j u s t i c e t o dorsement of the 11-year-old the South.”  Full interview: P7 E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ New Delhi U