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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
Tragedy in Kolkata: Stampede at the Chor Bagan Pujo results in 18 people losing their lives and scores injured /////// The stampede was caused by a sudden downpour which made people in the heavy crowd run for cover
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Samajwadi Family War, Chapter Two

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2016-12-29 05:59:35

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
Brace yourself for another round of family war in Samajwadi Party (SP). Mulayam Singh Yadav has announced a list of 325 candidates for the upcoming state elections even as son and chief minister Akhilesh was out of town on tour. He also scotched rumours of an alliance with the Congress and declared that the SP will fight the elections on its own.

The list has sidelined most of Akhilesh loyalists and is filled with people against whom a number of criminal cases are pending. It shows that Shivpal Yadav, Mulayam’s brother with whom Akhilesh had a prolonged public spat just a couple of months back, has managed to convince the party supremo that selection of candidates should not be left to Akhilesh. It is certain that the chief minister is not going to take this lying down.

Essentially, what Mulayam and Shivpal, obviously with help from Amar Singh, have done is to ensure that if, and that is a very big if, SP manages to come back to power, there is no way Akhilesh can become chief minister again. For, as his supporters have not been given tickets, there are not enough numbers for him to swing it his way in a crunch situation. It also ensures that the split that was avoided a few months back looms again on the horizon.

Not only has Shivpal managed to sideline Akhilesh’s supporters, he has even got Mulayam to overrule objections the chief minister had against several candidates as they were tainted. The result is that Akhilesh is staring at a list that has candidates who he does not approve of and it undermines his authority in a big way. This has to be the ultimate showdown within the party.

Upon returning to the state capital, Akhilesh has already called a meeting of ‘disgruntled’ party leaders. Disgruntled here obviously means his own supporters and a counter attack is possible later in the day. No one who has been chief minister for 5 years would allow other party leaders to ensure his ouster through internal machinations resembling a bloodless coup. Maybe Akhilesh does not have the clout or the numbers to outmaneuver his father and uncle, but he has enough numbers to split the party and cause them pain. If matters come to a head that is exactly what can be expected.

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