Daily Bulletin

An INDIA bloc protest against the CEC in New Delhi led to the detention of several opposition leaders, including Leader of Opposition (Lok Sabha) Shri Rahul Gandhi and Smt. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The MPs were marching towards the Election Commission headquarters to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Shri Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The Election Commission later clarified that it had declined a request for a meeting at the Parliament House Annexe as it was against protocol, stating that such meetings are held only on the Commission's premises.

Leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc have intensified their demand for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of mass disenfranchisement, seeking a meeting with President Droupadi Murmu and holding a sit-in protest in New Delhi. Several prominent leaders, including Shri Rahul Gandhi and Smt. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, were detained by police during the demonstration on Ashoka Road on October 7. Concurrently, President Murmu has forwarded a separate complaint on similar issues from CPI(M) MP Shri John Brittas to the government for appropriate action.

During an INDIA bloc protest in the national capital, senior Congress leaders Shri Rahul Gandhi and Smt. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were detained by Delhi Police for a second consecutive day. The protest on October 7, 2026, was organised to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Shri Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the electoral process. The leaders were taken into custody near Windsor Place while attempting to march towards Jantar Mantar.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested the suspended chairman of the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC), Shri Shivashankarappa S Sahukar, and commission member Smt. B V Geetha. The arrests are part of a money laundering investigation linked to alleged irregularities in the conduct of certain KPSC examinations and financial misconduct within the state's recruitment authority.

The Press Council of India (PCI), the country's primary media watchdog, has been operating at half its sanctioned strength for nearly a year and currently has no members who are working journalists or newspaper editors. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has not yet notified the appointments of 13 nominated members. This has left the 28-member council with only 14 appointed members, raising concerns about its functional capacity.

The Supreme Court will soon decide on listing an application to recall its order referring challenges to the CEC & ECs Appointment Act, 2023, to a five-judge Constitution bench. Chief Justice of India, Shri Surya Kant, gave this assurance after the plea was mentioned for an urgent hearing. The application argues for the recall on the grounds that one of the judges on the original bench, Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, allegedly had a conflict of interest.

The Central Government has opposed a plea in the Supreme Court seeking the commutation of Balwant Singh Rajoana's death sentence, a convict in the 1995 assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Shri Beant Singh. Representing the Centre, Additional Solicitor General Shri K.M. Nataraj informed a bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath that the prevailing situation in Punjab is not conducive for such a measure. Rajoana's mercy plea has been pending with the President since 2012, with the next hearing scheduled for October 28.

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi marked 25 years as a Head of Government, a milestone that began with his first oath as Gujarat's Chief Minister on October 7, 2001. Addressing the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Sabha in New Delhi, he stated that India has transformed from 'policy paralysis' to a 'reform express'. Several international leaders, including the Prime Ministers of Japan and Bhutan, congratulated him on the achievement.