Retail inflation rises to 5.54% in September Retail inflation rose sharply to 5.54 per cent in September on the back of high onion and other food prices, remaining just within the RBI’s tolerance band, government data released on Monday showed. The Consumer Price Index-based headline inflation was 4.83 per cent in August. Food inflation rose to 7.74 per cent in September from 5.97 per cent in August | P10 HYDERABAD l tuesday l october 13, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE CITY EDITION CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Rahul says only one protest, assures Oppn support to all committed to protecting Constitution LoP Rahul Gandhi’s writ petition in the SC challenges the legality of the SIR, alleging large-scale deletion of genuine voters. It seeks a direction to ECI to place on record the full file recording decision to commence SIR | P7 LOP Rahul Gandhi, Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi & Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy participate in the INDIA bloc’s ‘Chalo Delhi’ march towards the Supreme Court on Monday | Sayantan Ghosh U d aya n K i s h o re & A n u p V erm a @ New Delhi OPPOSITION leaders, party workers and members of the public took to the streets of central Delhi in a massive show of strength on Monday as the INDIA bloc intensified its campaign against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging electoral irregularities and demanding an end to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The ‘Chalo Delhi—March for Democracy,’ was later followed by the filing of a joint petition in the Supreme Court seeking judicial intervention over the allegations. The INDIA bloc has demanded Kumar’s resignation, suspension of SIR, a return to ballot papers and poll reforms. Led by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the march began near the Connaught Place–Barakhamba Road junction. Opposition leaders, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule and CPI general secretary D Raja, joined the mobilisation alongside activists Yogendra Yadav and Nandita Narayan and AISA chief Neha Bora. Police stopped the march at Bhagwan Dass Road about 1 km away , with security tightened across central Delhi. The petition, filed later in the day, lists several Opposition leaders as petitioners and challenges alleged irregularities in the SIR process. The SC registry subsequently flagged at least 10 defects in the plea. Addressing reporters ahead CJI Surya Kant said SC had neither approved nor disapproved the revised Form 6. The SC said ECI cannot claim judicial endorsement | P7 of the march, Rahul said the Opposition’s campaign was a collective effort to defend democratic institutions. “There are no parallel protests, there is one protest,” he said, adding that anyone committed to protecting the Constitution would have the Opposition’s support. Addressing Kumar, he said, “Resign, turn approver; you have made a mistake but you are not the mind behind the mistake.” He said the campaign would continue until the Election Commission’s leadership changed, the Constitution was upheld and the electoral system was overhauled. On X, Rahul said the INDIA bloc had written to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, who told them to approach the court through a petition. He stressed that the agitation would continue beyond Monday’s march. Jantar Mantar denotified as designated protest venue E x p ress n e w s serv i c e @ New Delhi The Delhi Police on Monday denotified Jantar Mantar as a protest venue and named Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground, about 4, 21 and 13 kilometres away from Parliament, respectively, as the new designated sites for holding protests and demonstrations in the national capital. According to the order, the Union home ministry had constituted a committee to examine alternative venues for citizens’ right for organising protest and demonstrations in place of the existing “designated site”. “Based on the committee’s recommendations, Jantar Mantar as a protest venue has been de-notified. Three new venues viz Ramlila Ground, Burari Ground and CBD Ground, East Delhi have been designated as new venues for organising protest/demonstrations,” the order stated. Criticising the decision, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said, “It is a definite sign of the extreme panic that has gripped the PM-HM duo.” Cockroach Janta Party’s Saurav Das called the decision an “assault” on the fundamental right to protest. R A J E S H K U M A R THA K U R @ New Delhi PRESIDENT Droupadi Murmu on Monday appointed governors for six states, naming Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar as the regular governor of Tamil Nadu, transferring Om Prakash Mathur from Sikkim to Kerala and appointing Sudha Yadav as Governor of Karnataka. Braj Mohan Ram has been appointed Governor of Odisha, Dhal Singh Bisen will be posted in Uttarakhand and Dushyant Gautam in Sikkim. Arlekar, who was serving as Kerala Governor, has been in charge of Tamil Nadu following R N Ravi’s transfer to West Bengal in March. A former Speaker and minister of Goa Assembly Arlekar has also served as Gover, Rajendra nor of Himachal Pradesh and Bihar. Vishwanath Arlekar Mathur, a BJP leader and former Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan, succeeds Arlekar in Kerala. Ram, a former Lok Sabha MP from Jharkhand’s Palamu, succeeds Hari Babu Kambhampati in Odisha. Sudha Yadav, a former BJP MP from Mahendragarh, Haryana, and member of the National Commission for Backward Classes, succeeds Thaawar Chand Gehlot as Karnataka Governor. E x p r e s s Re a d Govt mulls reducing TGSRTC-Metro pass cost Hyderabad: Following complaints from commuters that the TGSRTC-Metro common pass is expensive, the state government has decided to review its fares. Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said that the government will soon hold a meeting with senior officials to review the fares and explore ways to make the common pass more affordable, following suggestions from Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka | P3 Ex-security guard held for killing five-year-old Hyderabad: Malkajgiri police arrested former security guard Vikram Kumar on charges of murdering five-year-old Aurelia Fernandes Moses. Police said Vikram abducted the girl intending to demand `20 lakh from her parents, but killed her after realising he could not control her. He hid her body in an unused cellar sump before later calling her family to demand the ransom | P2 Riyadh attack: Kamareddy man in ICU M V K S a s t r y @ Kamareddy A 36-year-old man from Kamareddy, Shaikh Saeed, is reportedly among three Indians grievously injured in an attack at the international airport at Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The Embassy of India in Riyadh said three persons remain in the ICU, two are undergoing treatment, and the remaining injured have been discharged. In Kamareddy Saeed’s fam, ily waits anxiously Islampur, later settled for updates on his in Sailani Baba Colocondition after reny in Kamareddy ceiving information town. While Saeed about his condition and his brothers have on Sunday night. Rebeen working in Sauports that the incidi Arabia for several dent had left 13 peoyears, his mother, ple dead and around wife and sisters-in300 injured heightShaikh Saeed law live in ened their concern, and Telangana. they have since been trying to Further details about his obtain further details by con- medical condition and the cirt a c t i n g r e l a t i v e s a n d cumstances of the reported acquaintances. airport attack are awaited. The family, originally from  CONTINUED ON P2 CBC 15204/13/0117/2627 Massive march for democracy Arlekar appointed full-time TN guv