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 | SPORTS WORLD EDITORIAL Visa Squeeze Page 6 Friday, 07 November 2025 UN climate summit kicks off in Brazil’s Amazon NATION Shah predicts RJD-Congress wipeout, warns of jungle raj Page 9 Page 5 4th T20I: India beat Australia by 48 runs, take 2-1 lead Page 12 64.7 pc voting in peaceful RJD’s rule in Bihar destroyed first phase of Bihar polls a generation’s future, says PM IMRAN MOJIB Patna, 6 November A mid tight security arrangements, voting for the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections was held peacefully on Thursday across 121 constituencies in 18 districts, with the highest ever voter turnout of 64.66% in the history of Bihar. A total of 45,341 polling booths were set up across the state for over 3.75 crore voters. The fate of 1,314 candidates, including 122 women, was sealed in the EVMs. Till 5 p.m, the highest polling was reported from Begusarai district (67.32 per cent), followed by Samastipur (66.65 per cent) and Madhepura (65.74 per cent), while the lowest turnout was recorded in Sheikhpura, where 52.36 per cent of voters exercised their franchise. Except for a few stray incidents reported from some areas, the polling passed off peacefully. Election boycotts were reported from Booth No. 56 in Brahmpur Assembly Constituency, Booth Nos. 165 and 166 in Fatuha, and Booth Nos. 1, 2, and 5 in Suryagarha. Several prominent leaders, including JD(U) President and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan, and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) chief and Grand Alliance Deputy CM face Mukesh Sahani, cast their votes. After voting in Patna, INDIA bloc’s chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav urged the people of Bihar to vote in large numbers. He said voters should consider their present and future while casting their votes and give priority to issues such as employment, education, and better healthcare. He claimed that the INDIA alliance’s victory was certain and that a new government would be formed after 14 November. At several polling stations, voting was delayed due to technical glitches in EVM and VVPAT machines, leading to long queues and inconvenience for voters. There were a few claims that eligible voters were not allowed to exercise their franchise at a few places. In Lakhisarai, the convoy of Deputy Chief Minister and BJP candidate Vijay Kumar Sinha was attacked, with stones pelted at his vehicles, causing damage. Mr Sinha accused RJD supporters of being behind the attack. Will be the last to fill up SIR enumeration form: Mamata STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Kolkata, 6 November West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday asserted that she would not f ill up the enumeration forms that are required for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, until all other residents of the state have done so. The Chief Minister also rubbished reports in a section of the media that she had personally received the forms from the Block Level Officer who came to her Kalighat residence office to distribute them. “ Yesterday, the BLOs concerned came to our neighbourhood to do their specific work. As per the work , they came to my residence-cum-office and found out how many voters there were in the residence and gave them the forms. I have not filled up any form myself, and until every person in West Bengal fills up their forms, I will not fill up my form either,” the Chief Minister said in a social media post on Thursday afternoon. She made it clear that she was not present in person to receive the enumeration forms from the BLO as was reported in some sections of the media. Such reports were untrue, misleading, and purposeful propaganda, she said. “Various media outlets and newspapers have reported that I came out of my residence and received the enumeration form from the BLO with my own hands! This news is completely false, misleading, and purposeful propaganda,” the post by the Chief Minister read. Maha CM orders probe into land transaction involving Dy CM’s son AGENCIES Mumbai, 6 November Amid a raging controversy over a high value land transaction in Pune's upscale Mundhwa-Koregaon Park area involving Deputy Chief Minister and NCP chief Ajit Pawar’s son Parth Pawar, the Maharashtra Chief Minister on Thursday ordered a high-level probe. CM Devendra Fadnavis ordered a probe by a three member committee headed by the Revenue Department's Additional Chief Secretary, Vikas Kharge. Describing the charges as prima facie very serious, Mr Fadnavis said the committee would probe how the government land was transferred without proper authorisation and why the stamp duty was waived. Mr Fadnavis told reporters that he has sought detailed reports from the Revenue and Land Records departments and assured strict action if wrongdoing is found, emphasising that "even Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar would not support any wrongdoing." The CM’s move comes after former Leader of Opposition in the state council and Shiv Sena UBT leader Ambadas Danve accused Ajit Pawar of misuse of power, saying that the land worth Rs 1,800 core was purchased at a paltry Rs 300 crore with a payment of stamp duty of a mere Rs 500. “Dy CM Ajit's son Parth Pawar's company Amedia, which has a share capital of just Rs 1 lakh, was able to purchase such a high cost land. This scam should now be probed," he said. Ajit Pawar (photo) has declined to comment while Parth Pawar told a TV channel: “I have not done anything wrong. I have not engaged in any illegal or unethical activity." IMRAN MOJIB Patna, 6 November Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday claimed an entire generation’s future was destroyed by the 15-year rule of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) headed by Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi in Bihar. Speaking at an election rally in Araria, he alleged that from 1990 to 2005, Bihar’s development report card showed a big zero. “In those 15 years of Jungle Raj, how many expressways were built in Bihar? How many bridges were constructed over the Kosi River? How many tourist circuits were developed? How many sports complexes were built for our youth and daughters? How many medical colleges were established? The answer is zero. During those 15 years of Jungle Raj, not a single IIT or IIM came to Bihar. The leaders of the RJD destroyed the future of an entire generation,” Mr Modi added. On the contrary, he said, under the NDA government, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar worked hard to bring Bihar out of Jungle Raj. After the formation of the double-engine government in 2014, Bihar’s development gained new momentum. He added that over the past 20 years, an IIT has been established in Patna, an IIM in Bodh Gaya, an AIIMS in Patna, and work on the Darbhanga AIIMS is progressing rapidly. Congress to submit over 5 crore signatures against ‘Vote Chori’ to President on 8 Nov AGENCIES New Delhi, 6 November The Congress on Thursday renewed its allegation of electoral manipulation and “Vote Chori”, outlining its plan to submit a memorandum with over 5 crore signatures to President Droupadi Murmu on 8 November to seek urgent corrective action. K. C. Venugopal, General Secretary, AICC, (Organisation), in a statement, said that so far over 5 crore signatures have been collected n a t i o nw i d e , wh i c h h e characterised as a powerful testimony to the anger, apprehension, and deep concern among citizens about th e “nake d murder of democracy through manipulative practices such as duplicate voting, fake voter entries, and fraudulent addresses in the electoral rolls”. The Congress, Mr Venugopal said, has been consistently raising concerns about electoral roll manipulation and large-scale electoral fraud undermining the sanctity of the democratic process.