oppn parties Federal Front: Long Way To Go

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  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
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  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
oppn parties
Federal Front: Long Way To Go

By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2018-03-19 21:04:08

The efforts for a non-BJP, non-Congress front gained momentum when two of its chief protagonists – Telengana chief minister and TRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee met in Kolkata to discuss about it. KCR came calling to the city underscoring the importance of Mamata Banerjee, who is increasingly being seen as the fulcrum of non-Congress unity although the redoubtable lady herself is not averse to including Congress in her scheme of things. This was evident in the way she accommodated the party’s Abhishek Manu Sanghvi as a RS candidate from the state.

Emerging from the meeting, KCR told reporters that "people are thinking before 2019 there will be another front. Let me clarify that this front will be for people of India. This won't be a mere alliance of a few political parties, this will be for the people. There is a need for alternate force." When asked about the tricky question of leadership, KCR said that there would be collective and federal leadership. But the constitution mandates one person to be the prime minister. Who will that person be? KCR had no answer. Maybe the front will play musical chairs and have prime ministers for six months each from all the regional parties.

Mamata Banerjee, apart from saying that they are in touch with other parties to make the front strong made an interesting comment. She said that “one party should not rule the country.” But when it comes to ruling the state, she has no qualms about one party – her party – ruling it. There cannot be different rules for the Centre and the states. The regional parties can come together and challenge the bigger parties but the ultimate power rests with the people. It remains to be seen if the people are impressed with a hastily-cobbled alliance of parties that cannot see beyond the borders of their own states. It also remains to be seen whether these parties can succeed without the Congress which still is the principal opposition party in large parts of the country.

image courtesy: ani/ndtv.com

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