Gill dropped from WC, Kishan gets call-back In a bold move, out-of-form vicecaptain Shubman Gill has been dropped from the 15-member Indian squad picked for the home T20 World Cup. All-rounder Axar Patel was named the vice-captain with in-form Ishan Kishan, who pipped Jitesh Sharma as the second keeper behind Sanju Samson, making a comeback | P11 tirunelveli l sunday l december 21, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 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 ‘Maha jungle raj’ in Bengal, says Modi Slams Congress in Guwahati for ‘defending infiltrators’ S U B H E N D U M A I T I & P r asanta M a z umda r @ Kolkata/ Guwahati sitting ducks A dead elephant in Hojai district of Assam on Saturday. Seven elephants were killed by the Sairang Rajdhani Express while they were trying to cross the tracks near a paddy field. Five coaches of the train derailed | PTI Min says no vacancies, TN nurses continue stir for job regularisation S indu j a j ane @ Chennai Hundreds of nurses working in government hospitals across Tamil Nadu continued their protest for the third day on Saturday in different districts, demanding the regularisation of jobs of around 8,000, who have been recruited on a contract basis by the Medical Services Recruitment Board (MRB) since 2015. The protests continued even as Health Minister Ma Subramanian claimed the nurses had withdrawn their protests after talks. He reiterated the government would regularise the employment of these nurses when vacancies arise, but there were none at the moment. The nurses, who started their stir in Chennai on Thursday , continued their protest at the Kilambakkam bus terminus to which they had been shifted, and later moved to Urapakkam. On Saturday, nurses in various districts continued the protest. Subramanian said that while efforts were already under way to fill 169 vacancies now, the jobs of other nurses will be regularised only when vacancies arise. However, the nurses said that the state has been creating infrastructure without a proportionate increase in posts, instead managing with temporary workers.  P5 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal, likening it to Bihar’s past lawlessness and calling it a “maha jungle raj”. Virtually addressing a gathering at Taherpur in Nadia district, one of the Matua-dominated belts in the state, over phone from the Kolkata airport as his helicopter could not land there due to dense fog, Modi hit out at the alleged corruption, nepotism and politics of appeasement by the ruling Trinamool Congress in the state. “Because of the state government’s cut-money and commission culture, people of Bengal are being deprived of development schemes worth thousands of crores,” he alleged. Positive development in the state can happen if the BJP gets to form a double-engine government. “Give us chance to do so,” he urged the gathering. Citing the recent elections in Bihar, he said the massive win of the BJP-led NDA in the state will open the road for victory of the BJP in Bengal in the coming assembly polls, adding, “Maha jungle raj will come to an end with formation of BJP government in the state.” Modi was scheduled to inaugurate the 66.7-km four-laning of the Barajaguli–Krishnanagar section of NH-34 in Nadia district and lay the foundation stone for a 17.6-km four-laning of the Barasat–Barajaguli section in North 24 Parganas. In Guwahati, Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress for speaking up in defence of the “infiltrators” (illegal migrants) by criticising the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the new terminal building of Lokpriya Gopinath Bardoloi International Airport in Guwahati, he said the government was working to stop infiltration and identify the infiltrators but the Congress and INDIA bloc openly adopt “antinational agendas”. “The Supreme Court also spoke about removing the infiltrators but they (Opposition) are giving statements in defence of the infiltrators,” the prime minister alleged. Infiltrators are blessed by the TMC. The ruling party is opposing SIR to save the infiltrators. You (TMC) give go back slogans against the infiltrators not against me Narendra Modi Will serve Matuas, says PM “I assure every Matua and Namasudra family that we will always serve them. They are not here at the mercy of TMC,” Modi said. A section of the Matuas are upset as their names do not figure in West Bengal’s draft electoral rolls after SIR Govt bulldozed MGNREGA, says Sonia Gandhi P r eetha N ai r @ New Delhi ACCUSING the Modi Government of bulldozing the MGNREGA, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Saturday asserted that the party will fight against the “black law” that seeks to repeal the job scheme. Both Houses of Parliament passed the VB–G Ram G Bill on Thursday that seeks to replace the two-decades-old MGNREGA. The Opposition has urged the government to send the new bill to a standing committee saying that it’s a “conditional, centrally controlled scheme stacked against states and workers”. In a video message, Sonia Gandhi said the Centre has altered the structure of MGNREGA without any consultation, discussion or taking the Opposi- Sonia Gandhi vowed to fight tion into confidence, against the ‘black law’ | PTI and even removed Mahatma Gandhi’s name, undermining the spirit and intent of the landmark legislation. “Twenty years ago, I fought to secure the right to employment for the poor. Today too, I am fully committed to this struggle,” she said. She alleged that decisions on who will get employment, where and how, will now be taken centrally from Delhi, ignoring ground realities and weakening the role of the gram panchayats. By weakening MGNREGA, the Modi government had attacked the interests of millions of farmers, labourers, and landless people, she said. “It is a matter of great regret that just recently , the government ran a bulldozer over MGNREGA,” the Congress leader said. Asserting that MGNREGA was never a party-centric initiative but a programme rooted in national and public interest, she said diluting the law amounts to an assault on crores of farmers, workers and landless rural poor. WITH THIS ISSUE Go Goa Gone PLUS 12 PAGES