Polling for NYC mayor begins New York City’s voters are deciding the outcome of a generational and ideological divide on Tuesday as they choose the next mayor to run the nation’s largest city. Zohran Mamdani, who won the Democratic primary earlier this year, faces former Gov Andrew Cuomo, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa | P9 TIRUNELVELI l wednesday l november 05, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION 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 2,100 Sikh pilgrims enter Pak via Wagah Joint INDIA bloc H a r p r e e t B a j w a @ Chandigarh The Sikh jatha from India being greeted in Pakistan on Tuesday | PTI IN a rare moment of religious diplomacy amidst curtailed bilateral ties and airspace ban following Operation Sindoor, About 2,100 Indian Sikh devotees crossed into Pakistan on Tuesday through the AttariWagah integrated border post to attend the 556th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. This is the first people-to-people contact between the neighbours since the May conflict. The Pakistan government had issued 2,150 visas for the Sikh pilgrims, but this year India allowed only Indian citizens to participate, excluding NonResident Indians (NRIs), a departure from earlier years. Palwinder Singh, in-charge of the Yatra Vibhag of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), said he was unaware of the reasons behind the decision. The pilgrims are scheduled to return on November 13 after visiting key historic gur dwaras: Janamasthan in Nankana Sahib, Sri Panja Sahib in Hasan Abdal, Sacha Sauda in Farooqa- bad, and Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur. Upon reaching Lahore, the Sikh pilgrims led by Jathedar Akal Takht Giani Kuldip Singh Gargajj were accorded a warm welcome by Pakistan’s Punjab province minister Ramesh Singh Arora and senior officials of the Pakistan Evacuee Trust Board. Chairman of Pakistan Evacuee Trust Board Dr Sajid Mehmood Chohan, Additional secretary Nasir Mustaq, vice president Pakistan Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee Mahesh Singh greeted the jatha. 2 4 - h rs a f t e r c ri m e 3 gangrape suspects shot in leg, nabbed by coimbatore cops Express News Service @ Coimbatore Three men allegedly involved in the gangrape of a 20-year-old college girl in Coimbatore on Sunday were shot in the leg and captured by the city police around 11pm on Monday when they allegedly attacked a police team with machetes during an operation to arrest them. Addressing a press conference in Coimbatore on Tuesday, police commissioner A Saravana Sundar said that based on scientific evidence and after scanning the footage from nearly 200-300 CCTV cameras, police zeroed in on the suspects — Sathish alias Karuppasamy (30), his brother Karthik alias Kaleeswaran (21) of Sivaganga district, and their friend Guna alias Thavasi (20) of Karuppayurani in Madurai district. A police team opened fire at the suspects on Monday night after being attacked by the accused while trying to nab them near a hideout at Vellakinaru near Thudiyalur in Coimbatore, the officer said. Chandrasekar (47), a grade- I constable, suffered injuries to his wrist in the attack by the suspects, Saravana Sundar said.  P5 Rail mishap At least seven persons were killed and 14 others injured after a passenger train collided with a goods train near Bilaspur station in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday | PTI AIADMK mla Manoj pandian joins dmk, quits post OPS loyalist and Alangulam legislator P H Manoj Pandian joins DMK, says AIADMK has become a branch of the BJP under Edappadi | P4 action missing in anti-SIR fight P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi While some Opposition-ruled states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal have intensified their protest against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the INDIA bloc is yet to come up with a collective strategy on the issue. The DMK government in Tamil Nadu moved the Supreme Court on Monday challenging the SIR exercise, while West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hit the streets on Tuesday The Kerala . government is holding an allparty meeting to discuss the future course of action on the electoral roll revision. However, the INDIA bloc parties haven’t had a joint meeting or discussion ever since the EC announced the SIR for 12 states and Union Territories on October 27, a senior Opposition leader told this paper. As the principal Opposition party, the onus lies with the Congress, the leader said. “The actions are now limited to the state level and there is no coordination between Opposition parties at the national level. The SIR exercise has already begun in some states and there is hardly any time left,” said the leader, pointing out that the INDIA bloc leadership could An enumeration form given to a voter for SIR in Chennai | P Ravikumar have planned joint press conferences or protests in the national capital. Speaking to this paper, a senior Congress leader said that the party is likely to discuss the matter after the Bihar election. Significantly the monsoon ses, sion of Parliament was a near washout the Congress-led Opposition insisted on a discussion on Bihar’s SIR. Although the Trinamool Congress (TMC) was part of the protests against the SIR during Parliament’s monsoon session, the party now seems to be in no mood to be together with the INDIA bloc on this. TMC’s Lok Sabha MP Saugata Roy told this paper that the “TMC will fight this battle alone”. Another Opposition leader told this paper that the Congress is not taking the initiative as the SIR is not taking place in any of the Congressruled states. “In other states, they are only allies,” he said. Manipur: Four militants killed in gun battle express news service @ Guwahati FOUR members of insurgent group United Kuki National Army (UKNA) were killed in an encounter with security forces in Churachandpur district of Manipur early on Tuesday . Sources said around 17 UKNA rebels were taking shelter at Khanpi village under Henglep subdivision of the district. While four rebels were gunned down, others managed to flee. A defence ministry statement said, “…terrorists resorted to unprovoked firing on an Army column at Khanpi village, approximately 80 km west of Churachandpur, Manipur. In the ensuing firefight between security forces and armed cadres of UKNA, a non-SoO (suspension of operations) insurgent group, 04 cadres of the terrorist group were neutralised.” A search operation in the adjoining areas was in progress when reports last came in.