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 | P15 bengaluru l tuesday l october 13, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 22 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 Massive march for democracy 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 | P11 Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and AISA chief Neha Bora with others during the Opposition INDIA bloc’s march to the Supreme Court in New Delhi on Monday | PTI U d aya n K i s h o r e & A n u p V e r m 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 | P11 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 r ess n e w s se r v 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. 50% ceiling HC quashes state govt’s SC/ST quota hike Yat h i r a j u @Bengaluru Robert E Hall In a major setback to the state government, the Karnataka High Court on Monday struck down Sections 3 and 4 of the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions and of Appointments or Posts in the Services under the State) Act, 2022, through which the reservation for persons from Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) was increased from 15% to 17% and from 3% to 7% respectively The reservation for . other backward classes (OBCs) was retained at 32%, but still the total quota exceeded the permissible 50%. “Section 3, insofar as it takes the aggregate reservation beyond the ceiling of 50%, is struck down as it violates Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution. Section 4 is also struck down as unconstitutional, as it violates Articles 14 and 16,” a division bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice K S Hemalekha said. The Bench passed the order, allowing a batch of petitions including a PIL filed by Mahendra Kumar Mitra and others questioning the width of the power of the state to provide reservation within the scheme of the equal protection and equal opportunity clauses - Article 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution. The Act came into force on January 12, 2023.  P7 Michael Woodford Nobel honours work on managing crises US economists Robert E Hall and Michael Woodford won the Nobel Economics Prize on Monday for work on models that have helped central banks manage economic shocks | P15 press Intake Fin Dept flagged concerns over Hebbal short tunnel road | P2 Difficult to release 11tmcft of Cauvery water to TN: K’taka | P5 Sudha Yadav appointed K’taka Guv RAJ E S H K U M AR THA K UR @ New Delhi President Droupadi Murmu on Monday appointed governors for six states, naming Sudha Yadav as governor of Karnataka, transferring Om Prakash Mathur from Sikkim to Kerala and appointing Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar as regular governor of Tamil Nadu. Braj Mohan Ram has been appointed Governor of Odisha, Dhal Singh Bisen will be posted in Uttarakhand and Dushyant Gautam in Sikkim. Sudha, a former BJP MP from Mahendragarh, Haryana, and member of the National Commission for Backward Classes, succeeds Thaawarchand Gehlot as Karnataka Governor. She entered politics after the death of her husband, a deputy commandant in BSF, in the Kargil war when Narendra Modi, then BJP’s Haryana in-charge, proposed her candidature from Mahendragarh. Arlekar, who was serving as Kerala Gover nor, has been in charge of Tamil Nadu following R N Ravi’s transfer as Governor of West Beng al in March. Mathur, a BJP leader and former Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan, succeeds Arlekar in Kerala. He assumed office as Governor of Sikkim in July 2024.