FOLLOW US: @TheStatesmanLtd @thestatesmanltd thestatesman1875 www.thestatesman.com People’s Parliament, Always in Session India’s National Newspaper since 1818 | Pages 12 | ` 5.00 | KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR | Wednesday, 07 January 2026 SPORTS WORLD BUSINESS ‘Eliminating malnutrition key to building Viksit Bharat’ Senior Congress leader Suresh Kalmadi passes away: Pune: Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Suresh Kalmadi passed away on Tuesday following a prolonged illness. He was 81. The former Member of Parliament had been undergoing treatment at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital in Pune. His mortal remains will be kept at Kalmadi House in Erandwane for public darshan till 2 p.m, after which his last rites will be performed at Vaikunth Smashanbhumi in Navi Peth, Pune. Kalmadi began his career as a pilot in the Indian Air Force before rising to prominence in politics. He served for many years as a Member of Parliament from Pune, held positions as a Union Minister, and later became President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). Details on Page 3 Smith’s SCG masterclass takes him closer to Bradman’s Ashes feats Page 5 Page 12 NATION Page 9 Page 10 BRIEFLY Jairam Ramesh questions US role in ‘Op Sindoor’ halt Maduro pleads not guilty to drug trafficking charges Over 2.89 crore voters deleted in UP as ECI releases draft roll Madras HC upholds single judge directive to light Deepam atop Thiruparankundram hillock STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, 6 January O ver 2.89 crore voters’ names have been deleted from the Uttar Pradesh voter list as the Election Commission of India on Tuesday released the draft electoral rolls following the completion of the enumeration phase of the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Chief Election Officer Navdeep Rinwa said that the poll panel received approximately 12 crore 55 lakh enumeration forms. Before the SIR exercise, Uttar Pradesh had a total of 15.44 crore registered voters. “The number of enumeration forms we received was approximately 12 crore 55 lakh. This means that these many people returned the forms duly signed, indicating that their names should be included in the draft list,” Rinwa said. According to a statement issued by the ECI, “a total of 12,55,56,025 electors, out of 15,44,30,092 electors as per the Electoral Roll as on 27 October 2025, have submitted their Enumeration Forms till the last date of the enumeration period, i.e., 26 December 2025, reflecting overwhelming participation in the first phase of the SIR.” Breaking down the deletions, the ECI stated that 46.23 lakh voters were marked as “deceased”, while around 2.17 crore names were found to have either migrated, permanently shifted, or could not be traced by Booth Level Officers (BLOs). Additionally, about 25.47 lakh voters were found to be registered at more than one place in the electoral rolls. The ECI clarified that genuine voters whose names have been dropped from the draft voter list can still be added during the Claims and Objections period. “Genuine electors from the above categories can still be added back to the electoral roll during the Claims and Objections period (6 January 2026 to 6 February 2026) by submitting Form-6 along with the Declaration Form and other relevant documents,” the EC statement said. The Special Intensive Revision exercise in Uttar Pradesh for the submission of enumeration forms concluded on 26 December 2025. Chennai, 6 January In a major setback for the DMK government of MK Stalin, a Division Bench of Madras High Court on Tuesday upheld the directive of a single judge to light the Karthigai Deepam atop the Thiruparankundram hillock at the stone pillar, claimed to be a Deepathoon adjacent to the Sikkandar Dargah in Madurai city. Trashing the contention of the state about threat to law and order and communal disturbance as an imaginary ghost, Justices G Jayachandran and KK Ramakrishnan while dismissing the appeals of the state observed that the order of the single judge is not hit by res judicata as the issue was not decided in earlier litigations. The appeals were filed challenging the order of Justice GR Swaminathan on 1 December last on a petition Members of Hindu Munnani stage a protest demanding the Karthigai Deepam be lit atop Thirupparankunram hill on 7 December 2025. AGENCIES from a Hindu activist, directing temple authorities to light deepam at the stone pillar, close to the dargah, in addition to the traditional one at the deepa mantap at Uchi Pillayar temple, right above the famed Murugan temple at the foothills. When the order was not complied with, the Judge, acting on a contempt petition, directed the petitioner to light the deepam with CISF escort. This too was stopped by the police citing law and order and BJP leaders and a few Hindu activists were arrested. The state was aggrieved that the order was contrary to a judgment of a Division Bench a decade ago. “Agama Sastra does not prevent lighting of the deepam at the stone pillar and the appellants in the case, including State authorities and Hazarath Sultan Sikkandar Badusha Avuliya Dargah, have failed to provide ‘formidable evidence’ contrary to that,” the Judges said and rejected the arguments that lighting of deepam would provoke disturbance to public peace.