www.thestatesman.com | India’s National Newspaper since 1818 FOLLOW US: | @TheStatesmanLtd Pages 16 8th Day | @thestatesmanltd ` 5.00 People’s Parliament, Always in Session thestatesman1875 | KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | Evolve An expert decodes SIR SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR | 16 November 2025 S P O RT S Bulgaria: the land of wine, art and nature 1st Test: Jadeja grabs four as South Africa slump to 93/7, lead India by 63 runs Page 16 Ajit Pawar meets Shah in Delhi ahead of Pune land deal report’s submission STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Mumbai, 15 November NCP leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar met Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his residence in New Delhi on Friday night and congratulated him on the NDA's victory in the Bihar assembly elections, party sources said here on Saturday, adding that the meeting lasted about 25 minutes. Significantly, the meeting in Delhi took place two days before the report on irregularities in the Pune land deal ~ allegedly involving Ajit Pawar's son, Parth Pawar ~ is scheduled to be submitted to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday (17 November). The rep or t of the committee appointed by the in-charge Inspector General of Registration to investigate irregularities in document registration will be submitted to Mr Fadnavis on Monday. The P une land deal transaction, which was later cancelled, was allegedly carried out by Digvijay Singh Patil, a shareholder of Amadea Enterprises LLP owned by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar's son Parth Pawar, as well as a holder of Power of Attorney called Sheetal Tejwani (who is absconding), for Rs 300 crore, which is allegedly way below the prevailing market price of the land. However, it became clear that the transaction was illegal as the land was government property and reserved for the Mahar Dalit community. So far, Joint Deputy Registrar Ravindra Taru has been suspended in this case, and a case has been registered against him. A four-member committee appointed to investigate the entire matter is scheduled to submit its report on the Pune land deal to Chief Minister Fadnavis on Monday. BJP's silence on Nitish as CM Massive blast at Nowgam queers Bihar power talk pitch police station leaves 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. Lalu’s daughter ‘quits politics, disowns family’; blames Tejashwi’s trusted aides IMRAN MOJIB 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 behest of her brother 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 taking all the blames (sic).” This post points toward major differences within the family. Tej Pratap Yadav has already called Sanjay Yadav a “Jayachand,” and now Rohini Acharya, mentioning both Sanjay and Rameez by name, has announced her decision to step away from politics. Rameez Nemat Khan is a friend of Tejashwi Yadav from his cricketing days. Rameez joined the RJD in 2016. Initially, he handled back-end work in the Deputy CM’s office. Later, he became part of Tejashwi Yadav’s office. Currently, he looks after Tejashwi’s daily routine and election campaigning, much like Sanjay Yadav does in his team. Earlier, a political row had erupted in September when Rohini Acharya posted a series of strong messages on X, countering rumours and defending her integrity. She had challenged her critics to prove that she had ever sought a political position for herself or anyone else, or to prove that the kidney donation was false, failing which, they should apologise publicly. Later, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav had come out strongly in defence of his sister Rohini Acharya, slamming what he called “baseless accusations” and attempts to portray a rift within the RJD’s first family for malicious purposes. PM reviews Bullet Train progress in Surat STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 15 November Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday undertook an inspection of the under-construction Bullet Train station in Surat, taking stock of the accelerated progress on the Mumbai–Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor (MAHSR), India’s most ambitious infrastructure undertaking. The Prime Minister arrived in Surat in the morning, proceeding directly to the Antroli area where the station is being built. He reviewed the on-ground work and interacted with project officials. The MAHSR project, often referred to as the Bullet Train, spans approximately 508 kilometres, with 352 km falling within Gujarat and Dadra & Nagar Haveli, and the remaining 156 km in Maharashtra. Upon completion, the corridor will dramatically reduce travel time between Mumbai and Ahmedabad to nearly two hours, revolutionising inter-city travel for millions. The transformative route will connect 12 major cities, including Sabarmati, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat, Vapi, Thane, and Mumbai. The project is being constructed using advanced engineering techniques aligned with international standards. Approximately 465 km of the route (about 85%) will be elevated on viaducts to minimize land disturbance and enhance safety. So far, 326 km of viaduct work has been completed. Of the 25 planned, 17 river bridges along the corridor have already been constructed. The Surat-Bilimora section (around 47 km) is in an advanced stage, with civil works and track-bed laying fully completed. The Surat station itself is poised to be a modern hub, with a design that draws inspiration from the city’s world-renowned diamond industry, reflecting both elegance and functionality. It is designed with a strong focus on passenger comfort, featuring spacious waiting lounges, restrooms, and retail outlets. Furthermore, the station is being developed for seamless multi-modal connectivity ~ integrating the Surat Metro, city bus services, and the existing Indian Railways network. 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.