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 | MUMBAI | BHUBANESWAR | LUCKNOW | SILIGURI ‘People were tired of corruption’ WORLD EDITORIAL PAGE Trump meets with aides for final determination on Iran deal Page 9 Page 8 SC pulls up NTA over NEET row, cites UPSC’s clean track record STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Kolkata, 29 May W est Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday launched the state’s Census 2027 preparations with a clear warning about demographic changes in the border areas of the state. Speaking from the state secretariat Nabanna on Friday, Mr Adhikari asserted that the upcoming census will play a crucial role in identifying illegal immigrants. The Chief Minister chaired a meeting of Principal Census Officers (PCO) at Nabanna. He termed the Census activity in the state as “extremely important for West Bengal as the state shares a long border with Bangladesh.” “For the past few days, you have been seeing on television how people are lining up in STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 29 May the Bangladesh border areas to return. They are not Indians, and if their names are to appear in the Census, they will not be able to provide the required information or documents. Therefore, the Census is extremely important for our state because the demography here has changed significantly,” Mr Adhikari said. The Chief Minister also alleged that the Census process had earlier been stalled by the erstwhile government in West Bengal. “This (the Census) is extremely important, particularly for our state, because Census data is very important here. Our state shares a long border with Bangladesh. Due to the absence of fencing in several areas and because the earlier state government did not provide land to the Border Security Force (BSF), the demography of our state has changed considerably,” Mr Adhikari said. The Chief Minister also called for large-scale people's participation in the exercise. The Supreme Court on Friday questioned the National Testing Agency (NTA) over the NEET-UG paper leak controversy, asking how such a serious breach could take place despite the existence of monitoring mechanisms and oversight committees. Drawing a parallel with the UPSC, the court noted that the country's premier civil services examination had not witnessed such incidents and said the NTA must take cues from the safeguards and systems adopted there. “The real problem won't stop till actual accountability arises,” a Bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe observed. The Bench said it is “actually very traumatic” if something like this happens, not just for the students, but also for their families. “Accountability will be effective only when you know on whose shoulders, which individual shoulders, the responsibility lies,” it said. The observations came during the hearing of the NEET-UG paper leak case, in which Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared on behalf of the NTA and the High-Level Committee headed by former ISRO chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan. The court took on record the affidavits filed by the NTA and Dr Radhakrishnan and granted the Centre additional time to submit its response. Solicitor General Mehta told the court that the government is seriously concerned about the concerns of the youths and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is personally supervising the situation so that “there is no lacunae”. Leo Messi in Argentina’s World Cup squad as coach Scaloni calms injury fears Page 16 Page 11 CM Adhikari flags border issues, infiltration as state gears up for Census Saturday, 30 May 2026 SPORTS SATURDAY INTERVIEW Fractured healthcare | Shivakumar set to take over as K’taka CM; CLP meet today SHAHID K ABBAS New Delhi, 29 May Karnataka is poised for a major political transition with Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar expected to be formally elected leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) at a crucial meeting in Bengaluru on Saturday, 30 May, which would pave the way for his elevation as the state’s 24th Chief Minister. The Congress Legislature Party has officially convened a meeting at 4:00 p.m. at the Vidhana Soudha where party legislators are expected to endorse Mr Shivakumar’s candidature in the presence of senior All India Congress Committee (AICC) observers K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala. The meeting will also record appreciation for outgoing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, whose resignation earlier on Thursday triggered the carefully choreographed leadership transition within the ruling Congress. Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot has already accepted Mr Siddaramaiah’s resignation and dissolved the Council of Ministers, while requesting him to continue as caretaker Chief Minister until the new government is sworn in. Mr Shivakumar, widely regarded as one of the Congress party’s most influential organisational strategists in southern India, spent Friday in New Delhi holding a series of high-level meetings with the party’s top leadership, including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. Sources within the party described the discussions as “final consultations” regarding the new government's structure, Cabinet composition and the timing of the swearing-in ceremony. “The CLP meeting is a constitutional and organisational formality now. The leadership transition has effectively been decided,” a senior Congress functionary familiar with the deliberations said. The oath-taking ceremony is expected either on Sunday, 31 May, or Monday, 1 June, depending on consultations with the Congress high command and the availability of senior party leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.