FRIDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2025 www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 SINCE 1818 Pages 16 |` 5.00 | LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR NEW TAX BILL IS A FACELIFT, NOT A FIX ACTOR GENE HACKMAN, WIFE AND DOG FOUND DEAD AT HOME P9 P10 SENSEX 74,612.43p10.31 WEATHER Generally clear. Hazy in the evening. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 32°C and 22°C respectively. RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 78% Min. 59% NIFTY 22,545.05q2.50 Min: 22.8˚C SUN SETS 17:39 hrs MOON SETS 18:04 hrs New Moon on 28 February THUMBNAILS A view of the India Gate from Raisina Hills, in New Delhi on Thursday. n ANI SC declines to entertain objections to trial run of Bhopal gas toxic waste disposal: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed petitions challenging a Madhya Pradesh High Court directive for a trial run to dispose of approximately 340 tonnes of toxic waste from Union Carbide. “Now the state government can proceed for trial run of the toxic waste in batches,” a government official said. P8 ` vs $ 87.21 GOLD 88,250.00 P16 SILVER 1,06,000 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 73.39p0.86 BJP manipulating voters’ list with ECI blessing: Mamata India a trusted friend and strategic ally: EU team in Delhi for talks CM alleges bogus voters from Haryana, Punjab, Bihar sought to be included in Bengal poll roll STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE KOLKATA, 27 FEBRUARY TEMPERATURE Max: 32.5˚C SUN RISES 05:58 hrs MOON RISES 06:07 hrs BOWLING COACH MORNE MORKEL REJOINS TEAM INDIA RISKY BARGAIN C hief Minister and Trinamul Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused the BJP of manipulating the voters’ list with the blessings of the Election Commission of India ahead of next year’s Assembly elections in the state. Addressing a large gathering of party leaders and workers at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata, Miss Banerjee said: “An agency at the behest of the BJP is manipulating things online. A group of officers owing allegiance to the saffron party, with the blessings from the Election Commission, is adding names of fake voters to the voters’ list as part of a sinister design of electoral malpractices to vitiate polling in 2026. Based on the information I have, two agencies—Association for Billion Minds and a India 360 subsidiary ~ have been pressed into service to get things done.” These agencies, she claimed, were incorpo- PRE-POLL WARNING L Before any election, they fix their targets on whom to be arrested or against whom charge sheets have to be filed or r whom to be branded as a thief f. They are simply shameless. MAMATA BANERJEE AT ∙ Miss Banerjee claimed that online agencies appointed by the BJP have become active in West Bengal to manipulate the voters’ list so that voters oters from other states can vote in the 2026 Assembly elections. rating the names of bogus voters from Haryana, Punjab, Bihar, and Gujarat against the EPIC (Electoral Photo Identity Cards) numbers of Bengal voters. “The same foul play was implemented in Delhi and Maharashtra to turn people’s mandate in their favour. But they won’t succeed here if they want to replicate TMC National General Secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee scotched speculation of his differences with party chairperson Mamata Banerjee, asserting that even if his throat is slit, he would still shout Mamata Zindabad ‘Mamata Zindabad’. He also dismissed rumours of his joining the BJP as a blatant lie. ∙ Miss Banerjee announced the formation of district-level core committees of her party whose only task will be to identify such alleged manipulations in the respective as districts. districts A centralised committee ha has also been formed for the same purpose chaired by TMC state party president Subrata Bakshi. things during the upcoming 2026 Assembly polls. We won’t let them succeed,” Miss Banerjee said. The TMC chairperson also announced the formation of a core committee led by party president Subrata Bakshi, which also includes MP Abhishek Banerjee, to take on any attempt to manipulate the voters’ list and add bogus voters. Similar committees are also being set up at the district level. Miss Banerjee also lashed out at the BJP for unleashing central agencies against Trinamul Congress leaders, saying: “ED, CBI get active when elections come calling in the state. These agencies have arrest- ed so many Trinamul leaders, but have they succeeded in proving their guilt?” Referring to the RG Kar rape and murder incident, she said the CBI had failed in its pursuit to give justice to the family of ‘Abhaya’ (one of the names used to identify the victim of the incident). Miss Banerjee also called upon her leaders and party workers to close ranks and work in unison, alluding to the alleged internal bickerings in the party at various district levels. She asked them to work adhering to the party discipline in force. Miss Banerjee also advised the party leaders to fully cooperate with the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), with whom Trinamul Congress has a campaign-strategy assistance arrangement since the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections. “The leaders will have to listen to the advice of I-PAC. They will have to cooperate with I-PAC. Stop making negative comments about the organisation,” Miss Banerjee said. (More reports on Pg 3) NEW DELHI, 27 FEBRUARY India hopes to expand cooperation with the European Union (EU) in artificial intelligence and Indo-Pacific security, government sources said, as a delegation led by EU president Ursula von der Leyen and accompanied by the European Union College of Commissioners, arrived in New Delhi on Thursday on a two-day India visit. “Touchdown in Delhi with my team of Commissioners. In an era of conflicts and intense competition, you need trusted friends. For Europe, India is such a friend and a strategic ally. I'll discuss with Narendra Modi how to take our strategic partnership to the next level,” the European Commission President posted on X after landing in the Indian capital. This is Ursula von der Leyen's third visit to India, having earlier visited the country for a bilateral official visit in April 2022, and later to attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit in September 2023. Elevating the India-European Union multifaceted partnership to new heights, this is the first-ever visit of the EU College of Commissioners together to India and among the first such visits since the start of the mandate of the current European Commission in December 2024 after the European parliamentary elections held in June 2024. Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed that discussions would focus on strengthening AI collaboration at both the bilateral and EU levels. The visit marks the first-ever visit of the EU College of Commissioners to India and their first collective visit outside Europe since taking office in December 2024. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar later in the day on Ms von der Leyen, and lauded her views on reenergizing India's engagement with Europe. PM Modi is scheduled to hold delegation-level talks with President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday.