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Tuesday,13-October-2026
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Upset with Akhilesh Yadav, Azam Khan may walk out of Samajwady Party

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The Samajwadi Party (SP) may soon face another major jolt as speculations about senior party leader Mohd Azam Khan leaving the party and, possibly, forming his own party, gained ground.

Azam Khan’s media in charge Fasahat Khan Shanu said, “Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was right when he said that Akhilesh does not want Azam Khan to be out of jail.”

Fasahat made the remark at a meeting of Khan’s supporters at the party office in Rampur, late on Sunday night.

According to sources, Azam Khan has been upset over the fact that Akhilesh did not visit him in Sitapur jail-except once– where he is lodged since February 2020.

Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia (PSP-L) chief Shivpal Yadav’s rift with Akhilesh and his possible shift to the ruling BJP has strengthened reports about Azam Khan also quitting SP.

Azam Khan fought the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections and won the Rampur seat for the 10th time from behind the bars in Sitapur jail.

Fasahat said, “On the indication of Azam Khan, the Muslims not only in Rampur, but also in several districts voted for the SP. But the SP national president did not take the side of Muslims. Azam Khan is in jail for more than two years, but the SP president only once went to meet him in jail. Not just this, Muslims are not being given importance in the party.”

Fasahat added, “Now Akhilesh Yadav feels that our clothes stink.”

Interestingly, day ago, SP MP Shafiqur Rehman Barq had also alleged that SP was not working for Muslims.

Samajwadi Party state spokesperson and national secretary Rajendra Chaudhary said: “I am not aware of any such meeting or comments. Azam Khan is with the SP and the SP is with him.”

Azam Khan’s wife Tazeen Fatima is an ex-MLA and former Rajya Sabha member while his son Abdullah Azam Khan won the Suar assembly seat in Rampur.

Azam Khan has been winning the Rampur seat since 1980. He lost only in 1996 to the Congress. Tazeen Fatima won the Rampur seat when he vacated it after winning the Rampur Lok Sabha seat in 2019.

On March 22, Azam Khan resigned as Rampur Lok Sabha member to retain his assembly seat. This was done on the same day on which Akhilesh quit as the SP’s Azamgarh Lok Sabha member to retain his Karhal assembly seat.

Earlier, Azam Khan had been out of SP for almost a year after the party had expelled him in May 2009 for six years.

The expulsion was revoked in December 2010 and he re-joined the party. During the period of his expulsion, he did not ally with or join any other party.

Meanwhile, an MLA known for his proximity to Azam Khan admitted that Khan was being increasingly side lined after Akhilesh took over the reins of power in the party in 2017 and even Mulayam Singh Yadav had been relegated to the wings.

“Azam Khan may quit SP though he may not join any political party for some time-at least, till the Lok Sabha elections. He has every reason to feel betrayed by the party leadership,” the MLA said.

Crime

Delhi Police file 4 FIRs over INDIA bloc march to SC; detain Ashutosh Ranka, Saurav Das from Jantar Mantar

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New Delhi, Oct 13: Delhi Police have registered four FIRs in connection with the INDIA bloc’s protest march to the Supreme Court, police sources said on Tuesday. The cases were registered at the Connaught Place, Tilak Marg, Mandir Marg, and Barakhamba police stations.

These FIRs have been filed for violation of Section 163 of the BNSS.

Two FIRs have been filed at the Tilak Marg police station, one at the Mandir Marg police station, and one at the Barakhamba police station, according to Delhi Police sources.

In another development, the police detained several protesters, including CJP’s Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, from Jantar Mantar. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke posted a video of a flash protest at Jantar Mantar where CJP volunteers were seen climbing an iron gate and a police barricade to reach Jantar Mantar to protest.

In the video of the protest, CJP leader Ranka and Das alongwith a few volunteers can be seen jumping a gate with flags in their hands and entering the area to stage a protest. The group raised slogans as they were chased by the police who were stationed there. The protesters had a little run in with cops who tried to stop them while they raised Bharat Mata Ki Jai and Inquilab Zindabaad slogans. The protesters were later detained and taken away.

The march on Monday witnessed a gathering of INDIA bloc leaders, activists and civil society members in central Delhi protesting against the Election Commission of India (ECI) over alleged electoral irregularities and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. A delegation of the leaders subsequently approached the Supreme Court with a joint petition challenging the SIR process.

The march came a day after Chief Justice of India Surya Kant declined a request to meet Opposition leaders over the issue, citing that the matter was sub judice.

Meanwhile, the Congress party claimed on its social media handles that 2.5 lakh people had participated in the protest. The ‘March for Democracy’, which began at the Constitution Club around 1.30 p.m., continued for more than four hours and proceeded largely unhindered by police barricades.

The march also witnessed several lighter moments, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge donning a Batman mask.

Despite a proposal by the INDIA bloc leaders that only the national flag should be displayed during the march, Congress flags dominated the gathering. Flags belonging to Left student organisations were also visible.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has invited the INDIA bloc leaders, civil society members and student organisations for a high tea at his residence at 4 p.m. on Tuesday. A press conference is also scheduled ahead of the meeting, a day after the Opposition’s march to the Supreme Court over the SIR of electoral rolls.

Meanwhile, a security review of three newly designated protest sites has been completed, sources said. The decision was based on real-time inputs received by the Ministry of Home Affairs’ control room. Security deployment strategies are being assessed and revised daily, they added.

A majority of the protesters were Congress supporters who had travelled from different parts of the country to participate in the demonstration.

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National News

Shiv Sena(UBT) accuses Centre of dictatorial tactics amid Oppn protests in ‘Saamana’

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Mumbai, Oct 13: The Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray on Tuesday criticised the Central and state leadership, accusing them of creating a civil-war-like, anarchic situation across the country.

The Thackeray camp in the party’s mouthpiece, ‘Samaana’, condemned the alleged police brutality against ‘peaceful’ student protesters, youth, and women in Delhi and Mumbai, while sharply criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for their “silence and apathy”.

The editorial said that the country is witnessing an atmosphere akin to a civil war, with Delhi transformed into a massive police station where children and young girls are being shamelessly beaten. Despite Supreme Court directives stating that police should not use batons on protesters when there is no rioting, police forces in Delhi and Mumbai have reportedly behaved high-handedly, subjecting peaceful satyagrahis to brutal force. In Delhi, women satyagrahis and journalists faced ruthless behaviour, with allegations that male police personnel molested and manhandled them. Prominent political figures, including MP John Brittas, CPI General Secretary M.A. Baby, and Kerala opposition leader P. Vijayan, were dragged, beaten, and stuffed into prison vans while participating in a peaceful satyagraha, said the Saamana editorial.

The editorial further stated that similar tactics reportedly spread to Mumbai, where students and numerous female college students staging a satyagraha near Shivaji Park were cruelly dragged and forced into police vans.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena accused Home Minister Amit Shah of “crushing” Supreme Court orders and “unleashing brute force on peaceful protesters”, claiming these actions are fuelling public anger against the Prime Minister. It criticised Prime Minister Modi for visiting Chennai to review metro presentations and deliver lectures on development instead of uttering a single word over the unrest.

The Thackeray camp accused Home Minister Amit Shah of “staying sequestered behind armed guards, ignoring public uprisings and police crackdowns, and instead celebrating by distributing sweets on social media over the BJP’s by-election victories in states like West Bengal and Puducherry”.

The editorial launched a severe attack on the nation’s prominent award-winning personalities — holders of honours like Bharat Ratna, Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, Jnanpith, and Sahitya Akademi awards — as well as film and theatre celebrities, comparing them to submissive artists dancing to the tune of power.

Drawing a parallel to the silence of intellectuals and artists during the eras of Hitler and Mussolini, the editorial quoted writer Harishankar Parsai, stating that the country’s intellectuals are “nominal tigers who merely play band in a jackal’s wedding”.

“While actors and public figures deliver heavy dialogues on screen, they zip their mouths when the nation faces a crisis, acting as beneficiaries of the government just like beneficiaries of welfare schemes”, claimed the editorial.

In contrast, the editorial praised figures like Prakash Raj, Naseeruddin Shah, and Jaya Bachchan, along with former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar — who voiced opposition to police high-handedness — as showing true spirit and greater nationalism.

The Thackeray camp warned that treating these opportunistic celebrities as neutral when a political shift occurs would be an ultimate betrayal of the youth who are currently suffering under police oppression and fighting against dictatorship.

The editorial concluded by declaring that “intellectuals who silently watch such atrocities are enemies of society and of no use to the nation”.

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National News

‘Rahul Gandhi has lost his mental balance’: BJP MP Ravi Kishan

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New Delhi, Oct 13: BJP MP Ravi Kishan sharply criticised the Opposition parties’ ongoing protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and stated that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has ‘lost his mental balance’.

Speaking to reporters in Chhattisgarh, Ravi Kishan said, “Rahul Gandhi, as you can see in recent visuals, seems to have lost his mental balance. They are resorting to physical violence. The day before yesterday, there was a fight involving shoes and slippers in Uttar Pradesh during a clash over the state party president. Akhilesh Yadav and the Samajwadi Party are also involved. Since they are unable to defeat PM Modi and the BJP, they are now trying to hijack things.”

Highlighting the inconvenience caused to the public due to recent protests in the national capital, he said, “For 65 years, the Congress party has exploited this country. They want India to go back 65 years. They are trying to hijack things and cause inconvenience to the people in Delhi. Someone travelling in an ambulance with a sick person is being inconvenienced, and someone else is unable to get to work. They are not even asking the public what it wants. The people want PM Modi and this government, under which India is progressing so well…”

Kisan further mentioned that when the Opposition loses elections, they make such allegations against EVMs and elections.

“Gyanesh Kumar came in 2025. I want to ask Rahul Gandhi, wherever you won elections, there were no problems, but when you lose, suddenly you start questioning the EVM, alleging vote theft. When you fear losing, then you do such drama, ask people what they want — they want BJP. Youth is satisfied with BJP; you are trying to hijack a few youngsters,” he said.

Opposition leaders have alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise and raised concerns over the electoral rolls, while the BJP has defended the process and accused the Congress of politicising the issue.

Earlier, the INDIA bloc leaders had also sought an appointment with Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant to discuss their concerns. However, the CJI declined their request and advised them to approach the court through a petition in accordance with the established legal procedure.

Following this, Gandhi led a protest march of the INDIA bloc leaders towards the apex court on Monday.

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