www.thestatesman.com | @TheStatesmanLtd FOLLOW US: India’s National Newspaper since 1818 World | Pages 12 | @thestatesmanltd ` 5.00 | People’s Parliament, Always in Session thestatesman1875 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI Editorial Page | BHUBANESWAR | 16 November 2025 S P O RT S Plutocracy Gone Crazy 1st Test: Jadeja grabs four as South Africa slump to 93/7, lead India by 63 runs Page 6 Accused in Ukrainian corruption scandal is a former Zelenskyy associate Page 12 Page 9 Lalu’s daughter ‘quits politics, disowns family’; blames Tejashwi’s trusted aides STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Patna, 15 November Following the crushing defeat of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in the Bihar Assembly elections, internal conflict within the Lalu Yadav family has come out in the open, creating a stir in Bihar’s political circles. Lalu’s daughter Rohini Acharya made a post on the social media platform ‘X’ on Saturday announcing that she was quitting politics and severing ties with her family. She claimed she made this decision at the b e h e s t o f h e r b ro t h e r Tejashwi Yadav’s trusted men Sanjay Yadav and Rameez Nemat Khan. She wrote: “I’m quitting politics and I’m disowning my family … This is what Sanjay Yadav and Rameez had asked me to do … and I ’m t a k i n g a l l t h e blames (sic).” BJP silence on Nitish queers Massive blast at Nowgam police station leaves Bihar power talk pitch IMRAN MOJIB Patna, 15 November A fter the historic results of the Bihar Assembly Election 2025, political activity has intensified over government formation in the state, with NDA leaders visiting Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s residence on Saturday. Along with key JD(U) leaders, LJP (Ram Vilas) President Chirag Paswan also met Nitish Kumar and discussed the outline of the future alliance. However, the suspense over Nitish Kumar’s return as Chief Minister has deepened, as senior BJP leaders continue to refrain from explicitly endorsing his name. Their hesitation has fuelled political speculation, especially in light of the shifting power balance within the NDA after the 2025 election results, where the BJP emerged as the single-largest party. Speaking to the media about the formation of the new government, BJP state president Dilip Jaiswal said the party would spend the next few days organising programmes to thank the people of Bihar for the mandate. After that, MLAs of all constituent parties would choose their respective leaders, following which the NDA legislators would jointly select the alliance’s leader. He emphasised that this is the constitutional and traditional process followed during government formation. When asked directly whether Nitish Kumar would return as Chief Minister, Mr Jaiswal said the decision would ultimately be made by the BJP’s central leadership. Earlier, Dharmendra Pradhan also avoided naming Nitish Kumar when questioned about the Chief Minister’s post during a television interview. He reiterated only that the next Chief Minister would certainly be from the NDA, leaving the identity of the alliance’s leader open to interpretation. Meanwhile, the JD(U) has asked all its newly elected MLAs to reach Patna by Sunday evening, as a meeting with Nitish Kumar has been scheduled for Monday. Although not formally announced yet, this meeting is likely to serve as the first gathering of the JD(U) Legislature Party, during which important decisions related to government formation, leadership, and the cabinet may be taken. It is expected that all newly-elected JD(U) MLAs will nominate Nitish Kumar for the post of Chief Minister. Usually, meetings of the legislature party before government formation are mere formalities, but this time the situation is somewhat different. During the election, some questioned Nitish Kumar’s stance, while others discussed the BJP’s leadership. In such a scenario, this meeting indicates that the JD(U) wants to avoid any form of political disagreement or confusion. nine dead, 32 injured SP SHARMA Jammu, 15 November At least nine people were killed and 32 others injured after a massive cache of explosives ~ seized from a “white-collar” terror module in Faridabad (Haryana) and brought to the Nowgam Police Station in Srinagar ~ detonated around midnight on Friday, reducing much of the building to rubble. The explosives were seized from the same module which is believed to be behind the recent blast near Delhi’s Red Fort. The explosion engulfed nearly a dozen vehicles parked inside the police station premises, leaving them completely charred. Large portions of the police station collapsed, while several residential houses in the neighbourhood suffered extensive damage. Among the dead were two magistrates, an officer of the State Investigation Agency (SIA), three personnel from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), two crime-scene photographers, and a civilian, Mohammad Shaffi Parray, who was assisting the team. The NIA has initiated investigations into the explosion. The explosion took place while police officers and an FSL team were sampling the seized explosive material inside the police station premises. The Nowgam police had first got wind of the module consisting of doctors in Haryana and UP planning terror strikes in Delhi. An investigation was initiated after registering an FIR. J&K DGP Nalin Prabhat said that 27 police personnel, two revenue officials, and three civilians from adjacent localities sustained injuries and were immediately shifted to the nearest hospital for treatment. The DGP described the explosion as “accidental” and stressed that any other speculation into the cause of this incident is unnecessary. However, the Pakistan-backed People's Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), which is a shadow terror group of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), had earlier claimed the responsibility for triggering the explosion. Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha, meanwhile, has ordered a probe to ascertain the cause of the incident. He visited Srinagar’s SMHS hospital and met those injured in the blast.