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 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l tuesday l October 13, 2026 l `10.00 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 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 | P7 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 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. Pinarayi & kin charged with graft, conspiracy S h a n A S @ T’Puram Legal and political hailstorm is brewing for former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan as the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Monday registered FIRs against him and family members on charges of corruption and Pinarayi Vijayan criminal conspiracy in connection with the Exalogic-CMRL payoff case. The VACB has registered two separate FIRs in which Pinarayi and his son-in-law and former minister P A Mohamed Riyas are the first accused. In both cases, Pinarayi’s daughter Veena T has been listed as the second ac- Mohamed Riyas cused. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) could now open a case on its own against the CPM strongman on money-laundering charges as it can term the corruption charges levelled by the VACB as a predicate offence. The FIR in the case in which Pinarayi is the first accused stated that he abused his official Veena T position and adopted corrupt and illegal means for obtaining illicit pecuniary benefits for himself, daughter and her company —Exalogic Solutions. Consequently Veena and her firm were paid `3.28 crore by , CMRL and its associate concern Empower India Capital Investments “under the guise of information technology consultancy and marketing Services”, the FIR said. ● More on P4 E x p r e s s Re a d Nobel honours work on managing crises Stockholm: American economists Robert E Hall and Michael Woodford won the Nobel Prize in Economics for their work on models that have helped governments and central banks manage economic shocks, such as energy crises and inflation. “Their research has made it possible to manage macroeconomic crises far more effectively than before,” the Nobel committee said. P10 ‘75% funds mobilised by KIIFB yet to be repaid’ T’Puram: In a revelation that could trigger fresh political debates over KIIFB, it has come to light that more than 75% of funds it collected is yet to be repaid. As per the data presented by CM V D Satheesan, of the total of I42,193.45 crore that KIIFB mobilised from different lenders since March 2017, only I1,023.71 crore has been repaid so far. P4 16 pages, including 4 pages of THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Express Om Prakash Mathur new Keralam guv R A J E S H K U M A R T HA K U R @ New Delhi PRESIDENT Droupadi Murmu on Monday appointed governors for six states, transferring Om Prakash Mathur from Sikkim to Keralam, naming Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar as the regular governor of Tamil Nadu, and appointing Sudha Yadav as Karnataka Governor. Mathur, a BJP leader and former Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan, succeeds Arlekar in Keralam. He assumed office as Governor of Sikkim in July 2024. Mathur has held several organisational positions in the BJP including as nation, al vice-president and general secretary, and served two terms in the Rajya Sabha. He was also associated with the party’s election management in several crucial states. Arlekar has been in charge of Tamil Nadu following R N Ravi’s transfer as Governor of West Bengal in March. Braj Mohan Ram has been ap- pointed Governor of Odisha, Dhal Singh Bisen in Uttarakhand and Dushyant Gautam in Sikkim. Ram, a for mer LS 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.