FOLLOW US: @TheStatesmanLtd @thestatesmanltd thestatesman1875 www.thestatesman.com People’s Parliament, Always in Session India’s National Newspaper since 1818 | Pages 16 | ` 5.00 | KOLKATA LC | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR EAM outlines key priorities for India’s BRICS chairship Page 5 Death toll from protests in Iran spikes to at least 2,000 Contrived confusion over the Aravallis Page 11 Page 9 STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE CM alleges Army officer’s role in SIR Kolkata, 13 January C deletions. “They deleted the names of women who changed their surnames after marriage. This is a deliberate attempt to target the women vote bank because the BJP cannot fight us politically,” she alleged. “Voters have been removed unethically, without any explanation,” she said, further alleging that the concept of “logical discrepancy” was not part of the original SIR verification process and was introduced later to facilitate further deletions. “In the name of logical discrepancy, they have prepared a list of 1.36 lakh voters. We don’t know who these people are. They have not given us any list,” Miss Banerjee alleged. Claiming a “BJP-ECI nexus,” she warned that plans were underway to remove another one crore names from the final electoral rolls. She also accused the ECI of preventing Booth Level Agents (BLA-2s) from attending hearings. “Micro-observers, who are BJP’s cronies, have been deployed only in Bengal, though SIR rules do not allow it,” Miss Banerjee alleged. Kohli’s form keeps India on course ahead of Rajkot ODI PERSPECTIVE CM Mamata slams ECI, flags 54 lakh ‘unilateral’ voter deletions hief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday came down heavily on the Election Commission of India, alleging that the deletion of 54 lakh names from the draft electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state was carried out unilaterally and through a misuse of powers vested in Electoral Registration Officers (EROs). Addressing a Press conference at the state secretariat, Nabanna, Miss Banerjee said a majority of the deleted names belonged to “genuine electors” who were denied an opportunity to defend themselves as they were not informed of the reasons for deletion. She alleged that the Election Commission, “while sitting in Delhi,” used artificial intelligence tools “devised by the BJP” to identify so-called mismatches in SIR data, leading to mass Wednesday, 14 January 2026 SPORTS WORLD NATION | Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday alleged that a senior Army officer of the rank of commandant was operating from within Fort William and working in favour of the BJP to manipulate voter lists as part of the SIR exercise. “A few days ago, some people from the media were invited from the Army office. There is information that one commandant is working for the BJP and the SIR. He is doing party work from the Army office. I request that this should not be done,” Miss Banerjee told the media. She said that the armed forces are mandated to remain apolitical and neutral, and objected to any Army officer engaging in partisan political activity. Page 7 Page 16 Pak sought ceasefire after ‘connecting the dots’: Army Chief PARWINDER SANDHU New Delhi, 13 January Reminding Islamabad that “Operation Sindoor is still ongoing,” Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi on Tuesday warned that “any misadventure by the adversary will be dealt with effectively.” Addressing a Press conference ahead of Army Day, General Dwivedi spoke extensively about Operation Sindoor, carried out against terrorists and terror hubs in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The Operation was launched in May 2025 by India to avenge the killings of 26 tourists in the Pahalgam terror attack. “Through 22 minutes of initiation on 7 May and an orchestration that lasted 88 hours up to 10 May, the operation reset strategic assumptions by striking deep, dismantling terror infrastructure, and puncturing the longstanding nuclear rhetoric,” he said. Talking about how Pakistan was forced to approach India for a ceasefire, Gen. Dwivedi said that it was after they were able to “connect some dots” in the course of the conflict. “On the morning of May 10, certain orders regarding what needed to be done if the fight escalated were issued to all three armed forces. The message of what would happen if the fighting continued was understood by whoever needed to understand it,” he said. “Pakistan had access to satellite imagery that showed the movement of Indian naval assets, strike corps and aircraft. When they connected the dots, they realised that it was the right time to stop the fight.” Centre reins in 10-minute delivery: New Delhi: Coming as a major relief to gig workers, the Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has persuaded major delivery aggregators to remove the mandatory 10-minute delivery deadline. A meeting was held with leading platforms including Blinkit, Zepto, Zomato and Swiggy among others to address concerns related to delivery timelines. As per reports, quick commerce firms, such as Blinkit and Zepto, have voluntarily decided to halt their 10-minute delivery claims after Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya raised the issue. Page 12