STATS AND SPIRITUALITY

It had to be a first. Hours after the Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the budget for 2026-27, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew to Dera Sachkhand Ballan in Punjab to mark Guru Ravidas Jayanti. Never has a prime minister left the national capital on Budget Day. So, while analysts parsed deficits and growth, Modi was busy bowing before Sant Niranjan Dass, the Dera chief and a recent Padma Shri awardee. Rooted in the Ad Dharm and Ravidassia movements, Dera Ballan has long embodied Dalit self-respect in Punjab's Doaba region. With his visit, Modi drew that history into the national frame, recasting a symbol of spiritual autonomy as one of cultural unity.

- Kaushik Deka with Anilesh S. Mahajan, Sonal Khetarpal, Amitabh Srivastava, Arkamoy Datta Majumdar and Jumana Shah

EMPTYING THE NEST

FORGIVEN TRESPASSES

Lalu Prasad's estranged son Tej Pratap Yadav has finally vacated his government bungalow, which he was no longer entitled to after losing the 2025 Bihar election. However, what he left behind, or rather did not, is raising eyebrows.