FOLLOW US: @TheStatesmanLtd @thestatesmanltd thestatesman1875 www.thestatesman.com People’s Parliament, Always in Session India’s National Newspaper since 1818 | Pages 16 | ` 5.00 | KOLKATA LC | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR | Wednesday, 31 December 2025 SPORTS WORLD BUSINESS India now the world’s 4th largest economy: Govt Page 12 Saudi Arabia bombs Yemen port over weapons shipment NATION Eventful 2025 for apex court Page 11 Page 5 Khaleda Zia dies, leaving behind a polarising legacy PM, Mamata pay tribute to former Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia: UNITED NEWS OF INDIA Dhaka, 30 December B egum Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister and a controversial figure in the country’s turbulent political life for more than three decades, died on Tuesday after a prolonged illness. She was 80. Her son Tarique Rahman had returned on Christmas Day from self-imposed exile in the UK to contest elections and be by her side. Zia, who was chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), passed away at 6 a.m. at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka, where she had been undergoing treatment for the past five weeks. Zia had been admitted to the hospital on 23 November with serious infections affecting her heart and lungs, party officials said. She was also suffering from pneumonia, New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed sorrow over the passing of Begum Khaleda Zia, the first woman Prime Minister of Bangladesh. In a post on X, PM Modi said: “Deeply saddened to learn about the passing away of former Prime Minister and BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia in Dhaka. Our sincerest condolences to her family and all the people of Bangladesh. May the Almighty grant her family the fortitude to bear this tragic loss.” West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also condoled the demise of Khaleda Zia. In a message, Miss Banerjee said she was saddened by the death of Begum Zia, whom she described as a prominent political leader. and her condition had deteriorated steadily in recent days. Her funeral will be held in Dhaka on Wednesday. External affairs minister S Jaishankar will be attending. Her death marks the end of an era and is likely to aid her party in its electoral efforts as voter sympathy for the dead leader, whose husband, Gen Zia Ur Rahman, was a freedom fighter and former military ruler, is expected to surge. Zia served thrice as prime minister, first from 1991 to 1996, along with a short-lived second stint in February 1996, and again from 2001 to 2006, becoming the country’s first woman to hold the office through a democratic election. Alongside her long-time rival, Sheikh Hasina, she dominated Bangladesh’s political landscape, their feud shaping the nation’s governance and street politics for decades. She left behind a country whose political contours she helped define, first as an unlikely symbol of resistance against military rule and later as a central actor in a fiercely adversarial, often unforgiving political arena. For much of her early life, she lived in the shadows of her army officer-turned-president husband who was assassinated in a failed coup in 1981. It was precisely that violent rupture, his death and the sudden leaderless drift of the party he had founded, that propelled Zia into the public arena. • Battle of Begums finally ends: Page 11 Indian sport’s 2025: Defining moments & a bigger dream Page 16 Mamata demands Shah’s resignation, accuses ECI of voter roll manipulation STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE ‘Infiltration to be BJP’s main poll plank in Bengal’: Barjora, 30 December Trinamul Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched a scathing attack on Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday, accusing them of manipulating voter rolls ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. Addressing a packed rally at Birsinghapur ground in Bankura, Miss Banerjee likened Mr Shah and the Commission to mythological villains, calling them “Duryodhana” and “Dushasana.” She demanded Mr Shah’s resignation, alleging that millions of valid voters had been struck off the electoral rolls under the instructions of the Home Minister. She mocked Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar as “Vanish Kumar,” claiming his “tricky attempts” had led to the disappearance of voters’ names. The rally coincided with Mr Shah’s visit to Kolkata, where he asserted that the BJP would secure two-thirds of Assembly seats in 2026. Miss Banerjee dismissed his claim, warning: “You seem to be a tyrant, an oppressor. Still, out of etiquette, we are offering you reception and behaving tenderly. Don’t mistake this for weakness.” She blamed Mr Shah for 57 deaths during the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and instructed Trinamul leaders to erect martyrs’ altars across the state in memory of affected voters and Booth Level Officers. On Mr Shah’s charges of infiltration, Miss Banerjee countered: “Out of 54 lakh Kolkata: Indicating that illegal infiltration will be the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) principal electoral weapon in Bengal, Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday accused the Trinamul Congress of abetting Bangladeshi infiltration for political gains. Addressing the media in Kolkata, Mr Shah said the issue of infiltration, along with corruption, misgovernance, political violence and women’s safety, would dominate the BJP’s campaign ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. Page 3 names dropped in the draft list, how many infiltrators did you find? Your government admitted only 11,200 during Aadhaar enrolment. Why do you target Bengal alone? Why not Kashmir or Delhi?”