Close battle at the 98th Oscars Two frontrunner films One Battle and Sinners have a chance of breaking the all-time Oscar wins record Best director: Reports quoting Oscar insiders said the Academy is likely to honour One Battle director Paul Thomas Anderson but Sinners director Ryan Coogler is equally deserving Coogler could become the first-ever Black person to win Best Director in the 98-year history of the Oscars Best film: Leonardo DiCaprio-starring political thriller One Battle is neck-andneck with Michael B Jordan’s bluesy vampire horror Sinners tirupati l monday l march 16, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Best actress: A sure thing appears to be best actress nominee Jessie Buckley, who plays William Shakespeare’s wife in Hamnet 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 Poll season begins Election dates for Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Puducherry announced POLL Didi clears DA SCHEDULE arrears, clergy pay hike just in time RA J E S H K U M AR THA K UR @ New Delhi Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday announced the polling schedule of four states and one Union territory, setting the stage for high-stakes electoral battles that could impact the political future of the ruling TMC in West Bengal, DMK in Tamil Nadu, BJP in Assam, and CPI(M) in Kerala. Assam, Kerala, and Puducherry will go to polls on April 9, while Tamil Nadu will have voting on April 23. West Bengal will vote in two phases on April 23 and April 29. The results, for all, will be out on May 4. The model code of conduct has come into effect immediately with the announcement. Out of West Bengal’s 294 constituencies, 152 assembly segments will vote on April 23 and the remaining on April 29. The two-phase polling in West Bengal marks a significant shift compared with the 8-phase election in 2021. To ensure peaceful voting, the ECI has deployed the highest ever deployment of security forces in the state. West Bengal, held by Mamata Banerjee-led TMC since 2011, is headed for a fight to finish as the BJP is trying hard to win by raising law and order, infiltration, corruption, and appeasement politics as poll issues. “This election is more crucial for us than contests in other states,” a BJP leader said. In Tamil Nadu, the ruling APRIL 9 Assam 126 seats Kerala 140 seats Puducherry Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar during a press meet | PTI Bypolls for 8 seats ECI announced bypolls for eight seats in six states. Bagalkot and Davnagere South in Karnataka, Goa’s Ponda, Dharmanagar in Tripura and Nagaland’s Koridang will vot on April 9; Gujarat’s Umreth and Maharashtra’s Baramati and Rahuri on April 23 DMK is facing stiff challenge from the AIADMK-BJP alliance, while actor Vijay-led TVK’s entry may also upset poll calculations. The Congress is confident of winning Kerala, currently held by the CPM which is eyeing a third term, while the BJP is also fancying its chances of making a breakthrough. BJP-ruled Assam is another state the Congress is trying to stage a comeback. In Puducherry, the ruling AINRC-BJP coalition is hopeful of retaining power as the DMK-Congress alliance is still in seat-share talks. 30 seats APRIL 23 Tamil Nadu 234 seats April 23 & 29 (2 phases) West Bengal 294 seats RESULTS MAY 4 824 Seats across 4 states and 1 Union Territory 17.4 crore Voters eligible to cast votes S U B HEN D U M AITI @ Kolkata Minutes before the Election Commission announced the Assembly election schedules in four states and Puducherry on Sunday Chief Minister Mamata Ban, erjee in poll-bound West Bengal announced a hike in honorarium for purohits and muezzins, and the clearance of Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears to state government employees. She made the announcement on X at 2.40 pm, 80 minutes before the 4 pm press conference by the Election Commission to announce the poll schedule. Once the election is declared, the model code comes into effect, and such announcements are not permitted. “I am pleased to announce an increase of `500 in the monthly honorariums extended to our purohits and muezzins,” she wrote on X. Addressing state government employees, she said, “They will start receiving their ROPA 2009 DA arrears from March 2026 onwards.” BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari called Mamata’s announcement a “desperate last-minute poll gimmick”. It comes amid a standoff between the state government and its employees. The Supreme Court had directed the government to pay a portion of the DA arrears by March 31. Iran keeps up hard talk, open to negotiations on Strait of Hormuz a g e n c i e s @ Tehran / Tel Aviv IRAN’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that Iran was not interested in talks with the US, pushing back on President Donald Trump’s stance that Tehran wants a deal to end the war. “We are stable and strong enough. We are only defending our people ... we don’t see any reason why we should talk with Americans,” Araghchi told CBS in an interview. His remarks came on the 16th day of the war that has jolted energy and oil prices across the world. On Sunday at , 70 medical students return to New Delhi New Delhi: Nearly 70 out of 101 medical students who left Iran on Saturday reached Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday via Armenia and Dubai. Upset and angry with the Indian government not bearing their travel and boarding expenses, the students refused to speak to newspersons waiting to meet them | P7 day 16 least eight people were injured in Israel following missile launches from Iran even as even as Israel kept up strikes on Lebanon. Eluru MP Putta tests positive for drugs C h i t h a lu r i R eva n t h @ Hyderabad Perhaps for the first time, a sitting TDP MP Putta Mahesh Kumar, who represents Eluru Lok Sabha constituency in Andhra Pradesh, has tested positive for drugs.   B RS l e a d e r a n d former Tandur MLA Pilot Rohith Reddy is also among the six persons, including the TDP MP, who tested positive for drugs. Officials of the Elite Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement (EAGLE) of Telangana, along with the Future City Police, raided the farmhouse owned by Rohith Reddy at Aziz Nagar in Moinabad of Rangareddy district on the outskirts of Hyderabad late on Saturday night. During the raid, six persons, including TDP MP Mahesh Kumar and for mer MLA Rohith Reddy, were found to have consumed narcotic substances. Initially, only five persons tested positive in urine tests, including Rohith Reddy (also known as Panjugula Rohith P4 Reddy).  Araghchi said Iran was ready to talk to countries that want safe passge through the Strait of Hormuz. An Indian-flagged crude tanker sailed out safely from UAE’s Fujairah after loading oil on Sunday Jag Laadki is the . fourth Indian-flagged vessel to have come out of the war zone unharmed. express read Malaysia first to walk out of US trade deal New Delhi: Malaysia has abandoned the trade deal with the United States, becoming the first country to do so after the US Supreme Court’s order. The move could encourage several other US partners to take a similar call | P10 4 of family die after inhaling smoke Tirupati: Four members of a family allegedly died due to asphyxiation after inhaling smoke emanated from a twowheeler that had been kept on inside their house at Punganur town in Annamayya district on Saturday night | P3