oppn parties For the Goonj to Reverberate, Rahul Gandhi Must Take Regional Parties Along

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  • India–New Zealand free trade agreement takes effect on Vijayadashami, giving 100% of Indian exports duty-free access to New Zealand, according to the government’s announcement
  • US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is due in Mumbai today for talks with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, with trade, energy security, technology and defence cooperation among the key issues. He is also expected to pay tribute to the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks
  • Three people were killed and three injured when suspected militants ambushed a group collecting firewood near the border of Manipur's Imphal East and Kangpokpi districts. The killings triggered protests in Imphal, where demonstrators placed two victims' bodies outside Chief Minister Y. Khemchand Singh's residence; markets and shops shut amid renewed security concerns
  • A Delhi court extended the judicial custody of Cockroach Janta Party leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das by two days at the police's request for further questioning
  • India rejected a resolution on Jammu and Kashmir adopted at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's Council of Foreign Ministers' meeting in Baghdad, describing its references to India as biased and false. The Ministry of External Affairs accused Pakistan of using the 57-member grouping to advance its position and reiterated that Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are integral parts of India
  • Samyukta Kisan Morcha has decided to join the nationwide protest against the SIR, with the first rally on October 23
  • The government directed oil marketing companies to reduce sugar diversion for ethanol production to zero for the 2026–27 supply year, excluding ethanol made from sugarcane juice, syrup and B-heavy molasses from the latest tender. The move is intended to increase domestic sugar availability and ease prices, which have risen sharply ahead of the festive season, but it could reduce returns on sugar producers' ethanol investments
  • India's National Cybercrime Threat Analytics Unit warned of a rise in online financial fraud involving manipulated videos of the Prime Minister, finance ministers and chief ministers promoting fictitious government schemes. Fraudsters direct victims to fake websites or messaging accounts and demand processing fees or induce them to approve fraudulent UPI transactions, the unit said
  • The rupee closed almost unchanged at ₹94.925 against the US dollar on Monday after early gains faded as importers bought dollars and domestic equities weakened
  • Indian equities fell sharply on Monday, with the Sensex declining 876.37 points, or 1.17%, to close at 73,852.90 and the Nifty 50 losing 1.11% to finish at 22,888.95. Private-sector banks and information technology stocks led the decline as investors assessed quarterly earnings and elevated crude oil prices
  • India won 11 medals, including four gold, five silver and two bronze, on the opening day of the Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. Mona Agarwal won gold in the women's 10-metre air rifle event, Nishad Kumar topped the men's T47 long jump, Soumya won the women's 1,500 metres, and Rinku Hooda secured gold in the men's F46 javelin
  • Indian para-archer Sheetal Devi equalled the world record in the women's compound qualification round at the Asian Para Games, scoring 704 out of 720 and setting a new Asian record. The 19-year-old also helped India top the women's compound team qualification standings with a combined score of 1,379 alongside Payal
  • Ranji Trophy matches produced major batting performances on Monday, with Mumbai's Sarfaraz Khan scoring an unbeaten 139 against Himachal Pradesh and Delhi's Ayush Badoni making 217 against Gujarat after Priyansh Arya fell one run short of a double century
  • A new pressure group, calling itself Lal Hit Janata Party (reference to the cockroach repellant Lal Hit), held its first meeting in Delhi on Sunday. Formed to oppose Cockroach Janata Party and the Congress, the group said the CJP is destroying the nation's institutions
  • Kolkata Police arrested seven people, including office-bearers of the Chorbagan Durga Puja committee and private security personnel, in connection with Saturday's stampede that killed 19 people and injured 25. A case has been registered over alleged failures in crowd management, safety arrangements and the pandal's structural setup
Actor Tiger Shroff attacked: Unidentified gunmen on motorcycle fired 6 rounds at the car carrying Tiger Shroff, his driver and a fan sustained injuries /////// Tiger shroff escaped with minor abrasions /////// Lawrence Bishnoi gang members claimed responsibility
oppn parties
For the Goonj to Reverberate, Rahul Gandhi Must Take Regional Parties Along

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2026-09-29 14:22:55

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

Rahul Gandhi is trying hard. By taking up the SIR issue in earnest and also starting the 'Chattron in Goonj' campaign to side with GenZ, he is putting Congress at the forefront of the fight against the BJP. But it seems that it is Congress against the BJP, and not the INDIA bloc, as disunity among the constituents of the bloc is visible once again. The bloc never seemed united but, in the past, the leaders showed unity for the sake of the fight against the BJP. That has also vanished now.

For the meeting to be held on September 30 to take the SIR issue forward and corner the Election Commission after the damning disclosures in the Indian Express report, the DMK has already expressed its inability to attend. It is also reported that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav will stay away, although the party is not boycotting the meeting and other leaders of the party are likely to attend.

Being a national party with all-India infrastructure, the Congress should be the natural leader of the bloc. But its past actions have made regional parties distrust its motives and show their displeasure. It junked old, long-term allies like the DMK for the short-term gain of two ministerial berths by supporting the TVK in Tamil Nadu, and it asked for seats disproportionate to its standing in UP in its alliance with the SP.  

The Congress will have to take all parties with it if it seriously wants to take on the BJP. For, the numbers are, for now, with the ruling party and a fragmented opposition will not be able to do much except raise a hue and cry. Another thing is that supporting street fighters like CJP was good on the issue of Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation, but moving forward, the Congress will not benefit much from that. This is clear from the CJP's call to the opposition to boycott 'tainted' elections, something no opposition party, especially the Congress, will agree to as they feel it will make them irrelevant.

So, much as the Congress would like to assume leadership and project Rahul Gandhi as the only leader who can take on Narendra Modi, the numbers are not in its favour. It will need the support of most regional parties, and for that it will have to follow a consistent policy. Otherwise, like the DMK, other parties will stop supporting it and, by extension, the INDIA bloc as well.

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