oppn parties Identifying The Leader With The Nation Is Dangerous Sycophancy

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Tiranga Rally Is Excellent. Breaking The Law Was Not

October 17, 2026

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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
Identifying The Leader With The Nation Is Dangerous Sycophancy

By Sunil Garodia

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

Second or third rung politicians in India have sycophancy in their blood irrespective of the political colour they represent. So is the habit of hailing one's leader as Supreme and by that token, to be the only one to be identified with or as the Nation itself. Any criticism of the leader was and is, per se, criticism of the Nation according to such leaders. Hence, when Congress leader D K Barooah had said that "India is Indira and Indira is India" he was just taking such sycophancy to its peak. People were not surprised at that time but took it as a 'devotional' chant from a sycophant.

Times have not changed. When Union minister Jitendra Singh says that those who criticize US President Donald Trump for calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi "Father of India" and are not proud of the fact that Modi is indeed the 'Father' of India are not Indians, he is showing the same devotion as shown by the likes of D K Barooah. Once again, the Supreme leader is being identified with the Nation and it is being said that any criticism of the leader is a criticism of the Nation. It is being said that those who do not recognize the Supreme leader as the only one to be identified with or as the Nation are 'traitors' and do not deserve to be its citizens. The Father of the Nation is Mahatma Gandhi and no other leader can aspire to match his stature. Obviously, the Nation cannot have two Fathers. Perhaps Jitendra Singh wants to believe Trump and replace Mahatma Gandhi.

This was, and still is, a dangerous theory. Just months after the devotional chant from Barooah, the Supreme leader in Indira Gandhi was so filled with her own importance that she declared a national emergency when faced with rising opposition to her dictatorial policies and incarcerated almost everyone who was not a Congressman or held a view that Indira was not India. If now sycophants in the BJP keep on egging Narendra Modi, who knows what will befall the nation? Already, the likes of Sakshi Maharaj have said that there will be no elections in India in 2024 as Modi, after winning in 2019, will continue to rule for as long as he wishes or lives.

Despite Modi himself being humble and calling himself the Pradhan Sevak of the nation, the people around him are just fawning sycophants. The Prime Minister must tell them not to cross the line. Praise must be showered in moderation. No leader is Supreme. He is supreme till the time people think he is and vote for him. In any case, no leader can be compared to or identified with or as the Nation. India is much bigger than Indira or Modi. They are just sevaks who come to manage the affairs of the Nation on the bidding of the people. Hence, people in the BJP must not discredit Indians who do not think what Trump said was right. 

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