BJP leaders said Modi is the first and only Prime Minister born after Independence to become the longest-serving non-Congress PM BHUBANESWAR  SATURDAY  JULY 26, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 14  LATE CITY EDITION MODI BECOMES SECOND LONGEST SERVING PM SURPASSING INDIRA NO MEAN FEAT: 4,078 DAYS IN HIGH OFFICE Narendra Modi has reached what the NDA described on Friday as a “historic milestone”, consecutive terms of 11 years as prime minister VAJPAYEE TOO HAD THREE SHOTS AT PM POST After completing 4,078 consecutive days in office, PM Modi has now surpassed former prime minister Indira Gandhi, who served for 4,077 days from 1966 to 1977. Throughout his uninterrupted 24 years in office, Modi was Gujarat chief minister for 13 years from 2001 before seamlessly occupying the post of PM after winning the general elections in 2014 ■ ■ Modi has already matched first prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who had won three consecutive general elections | P9 BJP stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee too did three stints as prime minister after elections in 1996 (13-day government); 1998, when he headed the government for 13 months; and in 1999 for a full term Six CONSECUTIVE ELECTIONS WON BY MODI IN 2002, 2007, 2012, 2014, 2019, 2024 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 Inaugural Odisha TEX summit bags investment proposals worth `7.8K cr Modi gives Muizzu `4,850 cr INDIA AND MALDIVES RESET BILATERAL RELATIONS Big H E M A N T K U M A R R O U T investments @ Bhubaneswar MCPI Pvt Ltd: THE first Odisha Textile Sum`2,223 cr mit (Odisha TEX 2025) organSportsking India: ised by the state government on `2,055 cr Friday attracted investment proposals worth around `7,808 First Step crore that would generate more Babywear: than 53,300 employment oppor`500 cr tunities in the textile and apparel sector. Adishtam Industry leaders, including Ventures: `500 cr Sportsking India Ltd, MCPI Pvt KPR Mill Ltd: Ltd, First Step Babywear, Crea`350 cr tive Garments Pvt Ltd, Aditi Lifestyle, Hindalco, SCM GarAditi Lifestyle: ments Pvt Ltd, Tiruppur-based `300 cr Adishtam Ventures Pvt Ltd and Creative Garments: Coimbatore-based KPR Mill Ltd `300 cr were among 33 companies which signed MoUs to set up their Hindalco: `200 cr units. CM Mohan Charan Majhi discussing with investors during Odisha TEX 2025 in Bhubaneswar on Friday | EXPRESS This was in addition to the 11 MoUs of `7,002 crore signed during the Utkarsh Odisha: Make-in-Odisha Conclave 2025 held in January this year. The state government had then signed 145 MoUs worth `12.89 lakh crore across 16 diverse sectors. Terming the first Odisha TEX 2025 a grand success, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said the state government has set an ambitious target to create over one lakh jobs in textiles and apparel sector by 2030 with new clusters in Balangir, Keonjhar, Sambalpur, Jagatsinghpur, Ganjam and Cuttack districts. “We have received overwhelming response during the first textile summit. It will not only help reduce migration of workers from the state but also make Odisha a textile hub and lead Eastern India’s textile revolution,” he said. The chief minister said Odisha offers the most attractive incentive packages in the country under its Industrial Policy Resolution 2022 and the Odisha Apparel and Technical Textiles Policy (OATTP) 2022. CONTINUED ON P5 Prez sends Phase 1 over, 65.2L out of Bihar poll roll back Aparajita bill to WB MUKESH RANJAN AND RAMASHANKAR @ New Delhi/Patna K A U S H I K P R A D H A N @ Kolkata IN what appears to be a setback for the West Bengal government, President Droupadi Mur mu recently sent the ‘Aparajita Bill’, passed in the state assembly last year, back to Raj Bhavan, Kolkata, after raising a few questions, sources said on Friday Subsequent. ly, West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose sent back the bill to the assembly Speaker. Governor Bose had reserved ‘The Aparajita Women and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024’ for consideration of the President. The Centre has since conveyed its observations on certain amendments proposed to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) through this bill, highly placed sources in Raj Bhavan informed. One of the proposed amendments seeks to enhance punishment for rape, raising it from the existing 10 years to life imprisonment for the remainder of one’s life or death. The Union home ministry termed this change as “excessively harsh and disproportionate,” sources said. Another proposed amendment seeks to delete Section 65 of the BNS, 2023. “Thereby it is removing the distinction in punishment for rape of women under 16 and 12 years of age. The Union home ministry observed that the removal of such classification violates the principle of proportionality in sentencing,” sources revealed. Additionally the bill propos, es to make death penalty mandatory for cases involving the victim’s death or persistent vegetative state under Section 66 of the BNS. “The Union home ministry has raised concerns over the removal of judicial discretion in such cases,” sources added. EXPRESS READ `1.43 cr cash, 1.5 kg gold seized from dy ranger Bhubaneswar: A deputy ranger posted in Jeypore has been caught with a cash stash of a whopping `1.43 crore cash and gold weighing over 1.5 kg. Out of the total cash, `1,38,90,000 was stashed inside a secret safe at Nepak’s flat in Jeypore Town | P3 7 students killed in school collapse Jaipur: Seven students were killed and over 25 others were injured when a government school collapsed on Friday morning at Piplodi village in Rajasthan’s Jhalawar district | P5 AS many as 65.2 lakh names have been excluded from the Bihar election rolls months ahead of the assembly polls, whose controversial voter enumeration phase ended on Friday Voters and political parties have . till September 1 to challenge the deletion or addition of names after the Election Commission of India (ECI) publishes the draft rolls on August 1. Of the total 7.9 crore registered voters in Bihar, 22 lakh were weeded out as they were dead, 35 lakh permanently migrated, 7 lakh had registered at more than one place, and 1.2 lakh are untraceable, the ECI said. The ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) made a mockery of the summery revision of poll rolls in Bihar in January this year, which had arrived at the figure of 7.9 crore voters in the state. The RJD, Bihar’s main opposition party, said it will continue its protest against the SIR exercise. Former chief minister Rabri Devi, mother of former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, wondered how four crore Biharis living outside the state would be able to complete the SIR formalities within the short span of two months. She went on to allege a political plot to eliminate Tejashwi. The RJD and the Congress have already hinted at the possibility of boycotting the state polls due in October-November if the discrepancies pointed out by them in the SIR are not properly addressed. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi recently warned of action against ‘partisan’ poll officials involved in conducting the SIR exercise in Bihar. A couple of days ago, Tejashwi said, “We are keeping the option open for boycott of the assembly polls. When the time comes, we will take a decision following a discussion with our alliance partners.” Krishna Allavaru, AICC in-charge of Bihar, said: “Talks are on for every option…. This process (SIR) was not acceptable to the INDIA bloc from the beginning, and we won’t accept it in the future.” lifeline; FTA on the table J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu during the exchange of an MoU and virtual inauguration of the projects, in Male | PTI Defence and security cooperation is a testament to mutual trust. The roots of our relationship are older than history and as deep as the sea… Narendra Modi, Prime Minister India’s continued assistance to the Maldives through the export of essential commodities is a key facet of our bilateral cooperation under the long-standing trade agreement Mohamed Muizzu, Maldivian President INDIA and the Maldives on Friday unveiled a significant reset in bilateral relations, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing a `4,850 crore line of credit (LoC) and a new framework for expanding cooperation in trade, defence, infrastructure, and digital connectivity among others. , Modi’s visit, his first to the Maldives in his third term, marks a sharp turnaround in bilateral ties, which had faced strain early in President Mohamed Muizzu’s tenure when the latter tried to strengthen relations with China by moving away from India. Reflecting the renewed warmth, Muizzu and his ministers welcomed Modi at Velana airport. After delegation-level talks, Modi said: “India is proud to be the most trusted friend of the Maldives. For us, it is always friendship first.” He added that the Maldives holds a central place in India’s Neighbourhood First policy and the MAHASAGAR vision for regional maritime cooperation. “India will always stand by the Maldives in strengthening its defence capabilities,” Modi said, adding that deepening security ties reflect the trust between the two nations. “Our defence and security cooperation is a testament to mutual trust. The roots of our relationship are older than history and as deep as the sea… our friendship will remain bright and clear,” the prime minister said. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri described the visit as “a demonstration of trust and strategic convergence.” On India’s concerns about foreign military presence in the region, Misri said: “Security is a mutual concern. Both sides reaffirmed that peace and stability in the Indian Ocean are shared responsibilities.” The two nations agreed to move swiftly on finalising a bilateral investment treaty and launched negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA). “We hope to conclude the India-Maldives FTA quickly,” Misri said. Modi’s two-day visit also aims to reinvigorate India’s development partnership with the Maldives, with the `4,850 crore LoC at its core. “This will support infrastructure projects aligned with the priorities of the Maldivian people,” Modi said. India also agreed to ease Maldives’ debt repayment obligations on existing Indian lines of credit — a move that signals New Delhi’s willingness to support Male’s economic recovery . Muizzu, who once distanced from New Delhi, appreciated India’s help. He also condemned the Pahalgam terror attack, expressing solidarity with India on its counterterrorism efforts.