NDA sitting pretty seats 243 Target 122 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l wednesday l november 12, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION Polls suggest exit of Oppn aspirations P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi AS the high-stakes Bihar assembly election came to a close on Tuesday, pollsters were unanimous in predicting the National Democratic Alliance’s return to power with a convincing majority If the predic. tions stand, it will be a huge setback for the Opposition’s Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance), which was trying to win the politically crucial state after a gap of 20 years. The poll of exit polls projected the NDA comprising Janata Trump says levy cut soon; India waits for US word Dal (United), the BJP and the LJP(RV) will , cross the majority mark by securing 148 seats, giving the RJD-led grand alliance just 88 seats, less than the 110 seats it won in the 2020 election. The majority mark for the 243-seat assembly is 122. Election strategist Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party which was hyped to play , a crucial role in this election, may end up with a poor showing, as per exit polls. The Bihar polls were conducted in two phases on November 6 and 11, and the results will be out on November 14. The results will also Source NDA Chanakya Strategies 130-138 JSP OTH 100-108 0-0  3-5 Dainik Bhaskar 145-160 73-91 0-3  5-7 DV Research 137-152 83-98 2-4  1-8 JVC 135-150 88-103 0-1  3-6 Matrize 147-167 70-90 0-2  2-8 P-Marq 142-162 80-98 1-4  0-3 Peoples Insight 133-148 87-102 0-2  3-6 TIF Research 145-163 76-95 0  3-6 Peoples Pulse 133-159 75-101 0-5  2-8 148 90 1 5 Poll of Polls 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 ■ ■ set the tone for the upcoming assembly elections in Kerala, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu next year as the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls has already begun in these states. Bihar is the first state to go to polls after the SIR exercise. Exit poll projections are made by election survey agencies based on interviews of voters as they come out after casting their votes. These may vary from the actual results. Illustration: sourav roy l Intercepted letter from Nowgam proves key link l Suspects may be ‘linked’ to Faridabad terror module: l Jaish hand evident, say officials Blast probe handed over to NIA photo: pti M u k e s h R an j an , F aya z Wani & N amita B a j pai P US H P I TA D E Y @ New Delhi @ New Delhi/Srinagar/Lucknow A day after US President Donald Trump said that Washington is ‘pretty close’ to signing a trade deal with India, which would also pave the way for lowering tariffs on Indian goods, sources in Delhi said the trade talks have been so comprehensive that another round of negotiations may not be necessary . Commerce ministry officials said New Delhi is awaiting a response from Washington on the bilateral trade agreement t a l k s. “ T h e y (US) have to get back to us. India’s negotiations have been the most comprehensive and WTO-compliant as compared to any other country Negotia. tions have been done cautiously and carefully, keeping the sensitive sectors in mind.” The ministry’s update came a day after Trump said the deal would soon be sealed, which would enhance the bilateral relations, boost US energy exports and promote investments in key US sectors. According to US media reports, Trump also signalled that the tariffs on Indian goods would be lowered. “The tariffs on India are really high because of the Russian oil [imports], but they have now substantially reduced Russian oil [imports], so we will be bringing the tariffs down,” Trump was quoted as saying. Meanwhile, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said that while India wants a fair trade deal with the US, it won’t compromise on the interests of farmers and the dairy sector. THE investigation into the deadly car blast near Delhi’s Red Fort on November 10 that killed 12 people was on Tuesday formally handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), following high-level security meetings chaired by home minister Amit Shah. Security agencies, working in coordination with state police across J&K, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, launched extensive search operations on Tuesday and found multiple leads linked to the banned Pakistanbased Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror outfit. Preliminary investigations revealed incriminating JeM internal communications that suggest ‘revenge’ as the motive for internal disloyalty. An intercepted letter recovered in J&K’s Nowgam, believed to have originated from the Pakistan-based outfit, threatens punishment for ‘betrayals’ within JeM, exhibiting rhetoric consistent with earlier internal directives. Senior intelligence officials suggest that factional pressure and infighting within JeM could have precipitated the Delhi blast, following counter-insurgency activity in Kashmir. Umar Mohammad Nabi Car track Charred remains of vehicles on Tuesday, following the deadly blast near Red Fort Metro Station the previous night that killed 12 people in New Delhi; and a forensic official collects samples from the site a day after the explosion | Shekhar yadav The police registered a case headlined ‘bomb blast’ invoking sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Explosive Substances Act, after forensics teams began analysing specimens from the site and vehicle to match those from the deceased. Investigators are scrutinising CCTV footage and digital devices and matching DNA samples to ascertain the identity of the car’s occupants. Early findings indicate the use of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil as the explosive material, and a possible operational link to the Faridabad module, from which Szalay’s novel Flesh won the prize (£50,000 and a trophy), beating Indian author Kiran Desai’s The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny Ex-TDB prez Vasu arrested in Sabarimala gold theft case E x pre s s N e w s Ser v i c e @T’Puram /Pathanamthitta N Vasu being taken out of the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Pathanamthitta | Shaji Vettipuram sued. The SIT had, in its remand report of Unnikrishnan Potti, mentioned that it was on the directive of Vasu that the gold-plated copper sheets were recorded as mere copper plates in official documents in March 2019. Sources said the statements given by the co-accused, already arrested in the case, pointed to involvement of Vasu. Potti had told the SIT sleuths that he had mailed Vasu about the gold left over after the renovation of the door frame and dwarapalaka idols. Potti had in- Umar Mohammad Nabi, Pulwama doctor in the middle of the ‘car bomb’ N itin R a w at @ New Delhi 350 kg of explosives and a cache of weapons were seized. Several individuals associated with the accused doctors from Kashmir, notably Dr Umar Nabi and Dr Muzammil Ganaie and Dr Adeel Ahmed, have been detained for questioning in coordinated raids in Pulwama, Srinagar, Faridabad, and parts of western Uttar Pradesh. In UP ATS teams car, ried out raids in Saharanpur, Lucknow and Muzaffarnagar, detaining individuals connected to the JeM module. In Srinagar, at least eight persons including father, mother and two brothers of Dr Umar Nabi, who is suspected of driving the car that exploded,were detained. Security has been ramped up at sensitive locations, including Ayodhya. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, currently in Thimpu on an official visit, said: “The conspirators will not be spared.” India hit out at Pakistan for attempting to link New Delhi to the terrorist attack in Islamabad on Tuesday, calling the charge “baseless, unfounded, and a predictable tactic.” Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif alleged India’s role in a suicide bombing that killed 12 people in Islamabad. 10 deer killed in Booker Prize ‘stray dog attack’ to Hungarian-British author David Szalay at Puthur zoo 16 pages, including 4 pages of THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Express In a blow to the CPM in the run-up to the local body elections, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Monday arrested former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president N Vasu, who has close ties with the ruling party leadership, in connection with the theft of gold from the door frame of the Sabarimala sreekovil. The Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Pathanamthitta remanded Vasu in 14-day judicial custody. He was later shifted to Kottarakkara sub-jail. He has been charged with conspiracy, falsification of records, and involvement in the gold theft. Vasu was Devaswom Commissioner for two terms before becoming the TDB president. The SIT had found that it was during his term as Devaswom Commissioner that the order, allowing Unnikrishnan Potti to take the gold-plated sheet to Chennai for electroplating, was is- MGB formed that he was in possession of the excess gold and would want to spend it on the marriage of a girl, who was in need of financial support, with the board’s cooperation. The SIT finding is that despite knowing that the gold belonging to the shrine was with Potti, Vasu did nothing to take it back. The records seized from the TDB head quarters also pointed fingers at Vasu’s involvement. Vasu was earlier questioned by the SIT and was released conditionally. A Padmakumar was the president when the scam took place and the SIT would soon be making a move on him. A former CPM MLA from Konni, Padmakumar served as TDB president from November 2017 to November 2019. So far, the SIT has arrested five people. They include former Sabarimala administrative officer Murari Babu, former Sabarimala executive officer Sudheesh Kumar, and former Thiruvabharanam Commissioner K S Biju. G o pi k a Varrier @Thrissur Ten spotted deer were found dead inside their enclosure at the newly inaugurated Thrissur Zoological Park at Puthur on Tuesday. Preliminary investigation revealed that the animals were attacked by stray dogs that might have entered the deer’s enclosure at night. The incident has raised questions on the security of animals at the 336-acre zoological park that was inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on October 28. Forest Minister A K Saseendran has ordered a probe into the incident, while Chief Wildlife Warden Pramod G Krishnan visited the zoological park for a preliminary assessment of the situation. “The stray dogs would have scared the deer and while running away from the dogs, they might have hit the walls. However, the exact cause of death will only be known after postmortem examination,” said zoo director B N Nagaraj.  ● More on P4 grim reality Patients lying on floor or sharing beds, long wait for treatment, lack of privacy and overcrowded corridors — the scenes at T’Puram Medical College Hospital punch holes in Kerala’s acclaimed accomplishments in public health. P2 Umar’s i20 first spotted outside Asian hospital in Faridabad around 7.30am on Monday Car entered Delhi after crossing the Badarpur toll plaza at 8.13am Seen near a petrol pump in the Okhla Industrial Area at 8.20am At 3.19pm, car entered parking lot near the Red Fort complex, stayed there for 3 hours Exited at 6.22pm, drove toward Red Fort; blast at 6.52pm A day after the Red Fort blast, which killed 12 people and injured more than 20, investigators are focusing on Umar Mohammad Nabi, a Pulwama-born medical professional suspected to have been behind the wheel of the white Hyundai i20 that exploded near Gate No. 1 of the Lal Qila Metro Station. According to officials familiar with the probe, Umar is suspected to have links with the radicalised white-collar module busted in Faridabad, in a joint operation by the J&K Police and Haryana’s Special Task Force. The operation led to the arrest of eight individuals, including three doctors, and the seizure of 2,900 kg of explosive-making material from multiple locations in Haryana. Umar, a resident of Koil village in Pulwama, was allegedly in touch with members of the same Faridabad module, according to sources. CCTV footage shows a man with a mask at the wheel of the car before the blast. Tracing the ownership of the i20 provided the breakthrough that led investigators to the Faridabad module. The car was initially registered in the name of Salman. He sold it to Devender, who later sold it to Taariq, based in Pulwama. While tracking Taariq, investigators found the white i20 was with Nabi. The police said specialised teams, including crime units, are collecting forensic evidence from the site. Raids have been carried out across the National Capital Region, with security checks in Daryaganj, Paharganj, railway stations, airports, and bus terminals. Investigators said the Pulwama-Faridabad connection is the key line of inquiry .