oppn parties Finally, Opposition Parties Get To Visit Lakhimpur Kheri

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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
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • 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
Finally, Opposition Parties Get To Visit Lakhimpur Kheri

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-10-06 14:21:49

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

The UP government has finally decided to allow politicians from the opposition to meet the families of the farmers killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident. It has said that the teams must not be of more than five people. The Aam Aadmi Party was first off the block, once again showing that it is taking the ensuing UP elections very seriously. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal spoke to one of the families over phone. A TMC team has also reportedly met the families. At the time of writing this piece, Priyanka Vadra and Rahul Gandhi, along with the chief ministers of Punjab and Chhattisgarh, are already on way to Lakhimpur Kheri. Others parties are also sending teams to meet the families.

This is a welcome decision as political parties should not be prevented from meeting people in distress, hearing their grievances and offering help. In the instant case, since the son and other people connected with a Union minister have been accused of causing the problem, it is all the more important for the opposition parties to meet and provide help to the distressed families. The initial response of the UP government was undemocratic and more befitting of a police state. Perhaps it first wanted to settle the matter with the families, get the bodies cremated and then allow politicians to meet them as it knew that the opposition will take political advantage of the situation. But that is not the correct way. In a democracy, such restrictive policies often backfire.

To be fair to the UP government, it is not alone in using such restrictive policies. It has become a practice in all states ruled by different parties to prevent the opposition from visiting trouble spots. West Bengal also did not allow a BJP team to visit areas near Howrah when disturbances happened there. Other states have also done it. But with UP, it has become a recurring feature and it multiplies the unfairness by detaining journalists (Siddique Kappan, who went to report on the aftermath of the Hathras gang rape and murder, is still in jail). Such highhanded policies have no place in a democracy and must not be resorted to. 

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