A defection wave in Tamil Nadu

Senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] leader and former Minister V. Sivankutty on Sunday (July 5, 2026) urged the State government to intervene urgently in the functioning of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. The civic body, he alleged, has been pushed into a state of administrative paralysis, which has severely affected governance in the State capital.Mr. Sivankutty alleged that attempts by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-led Corporation’s leadership to protect Vazhottukonam ward councillor R. Sugathan, who is under judicial remand after being arrested under provisions of the Kerala Anti-Social Activities Prevention Act (KAAPA), has disrupted the day-to-day functioning of the local body.According to him, essential civic services have been adversely affected, with sanitation work coming to a standstill, thereby leaving garbage piling up across the city. He also alleged that pre-monsoon cleaning activities are virtually absent and that many street lights remain non-functional.Official recordsHe also expressed concern over purported attempts to remove valuable official records, including the attendance register of councillors, from the Corporation office. He demanded that the State government appoint an independent agency to investigate the matter.Mr. Sivankutty also alleged that the Corporation’s steering committee has not been meeting and that even council meetings have become difficult to convene due to the prevailing situation. He went on to accuse the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillors of creating unrest inside the council and also physically attacking the Left Democratic Front and United Democratic Front councillors.Referring to the Vazhottukonam ward, Mr. Sivankutty alleged that no development or sanitation activities have taken place in the region for the last five months and the scenario has been causing hardship to local people. Published - July 05, 2026 04:21 pm IST

The Haryana Human Rights Commission has taken cognizance of a complaint alleging serious human rights violations by officials of Government Railway Police (GRP) station, Ambala Cantonment, including illegal detention, custodial torture, physical assault, humiliation, extortion, criminal intimidation and abuse of official authority.The commission has recommended that the matter be investigated through a high-level inquiry.The complainant has alleged that he was summoned to the GRP police station in Ambala Cantonment on June 20 for questioning. Despite there being no FIR, complaint or incriminating material against him, he was allegedly kept in illegal detention.According to the complainant, the man is engaged in the business of marketing and supply of silver articles and frequently travels between Delhi and Punjab as part of his business.He alleged that after an incident involving the theft of gold in another coach of the train in which he was travelling, he was called to the police station for questioning on June 20.Despite fully cooperating with the investigation and in the absence of any FIR, complaint or incriminating evidence against him, he was "unlawfully detained" at the police station, the complaint stated.The complainant further alleged that he was subjected to severe custodial torture using third-degree methods, physically assaulted, stripped, videographed in a naked condition and threatened with false implication unless he paid ₹10 lakh.He also alleged that his mother was not allowed to meet him during the detention and that his mobile phone was unlawfully seized by the police.The complaint stated that he later underwent treatment at the Government Hospital in Bathinda for injuries allegedly sustained during the incident.In an order dated July 1, Chairperson of the Haryana Human Rights Commission (HHRC), Justice Lalit Batra, observed, "the allegations contained in the complaint, if established, disclose a disturbing account of alleged custodial violence, illegal detention, abuse of police powers, extortion and violation of the dignity of an individual"."Custodial violence constitutes one of the gravest forms of human rights abuse as it is allegedly committed by public officials entrusted with the responsibility of protecting the life, liberty and dignity of citizens. Such allegations cannot be viewed lightly and warrant a prompt, impartial and effective inquiry," the order said.The Commission noted that Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution guarantee the protection of life, personal liberty and legal rights. It also observed that under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, the Commission has a statutory obligation to inquire into allegations of human rights violations or negligence by public servants in preventing such violations.Justice Lalit Batra also referred to two landmark Supreme Court judgements, including one that held custodial violence, torture and deaths in police custody strike at the rule of law and amount to a direct violation of Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution. The apex court also laid down mandatory guidelines governing arrest and detention to ensure transparency and accountability in police functioning.The HHRC directed the Director General of Police, Haryana, Panchkula, to ensure that the inquiry is conducted by an officer not below the rank of Inspector General of Police (IGP).The inquiry shall specifically examine allegations of illegal detention, custodial torture, threats and coercion and shall verify and preserve the CCTV footage of GRP police station at Ambala Cantonment for June 20.The Commission further directed that if the allegations are found to be true, responsibility shall be fixed on the concerned police officials, and an Action Taken Report, along with the findings of the inquiry, shall be submitted at least one week prior to the next date of hearing.HHRC Assistant Registrar, Dr. Puneet Arora said the Commission has also directed the Superintendent of Police (Railways),

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)'s protest at Jantar Mantar entered its 15th day on Saturday (July 4, 2026), drawing fresh political support from AAP MP Sanjay Singh and CPI(M) MP John Brittas, while climate activist Sonam Wangchuk continued the seventh day of his hunger strike. All India Students' Association (AISA) said one of its fasting student leaders was hospitalised after her condition turned critical.AISA said JNUSU Joint Secretary Danish Ali was admitted to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital on Saturday evening after her blood sugar level dropped following seven days of fasting.The organisation said she was admitted to the hospital for intravenous fluids, while five other AISA activists – Neha, Manish, Hrishikesh, Deepak and Aameen – continued their indefinite hunger strike along with Mr. Wangchuk and other protesters.Addressing a gathering, Mr. Sanjay Singh accused the BJP government of ignoring students despite repeated examination controversies and questioned why BJP leaders had not visited the protest site."All political parties are here expressing solidarity with a genuine demand of the youngsters of the country. Who is stopping BJP leaders from coming here and supporting the students?" he said.The AAP leader said the Opposition would raise the issue during the Monsoon Session of Parliament."I want to tell the Prime Minister that he should find a solution, otherwise we will not let Parliament function," Mr. Singh said.Appealing to Delhi Police, he said, "Do not use lathis on these students".‘A nationwide struggle’CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas, who said he had come from Kerala to express solidarity, described the agitation as a nationwide struggle to protect the future of young people."I have come from Kerala to express my solidarity with this protest. It is a spontaneous protest," he said, alleging that the country had "never seen such an insensitive and irresponsible government".Referring to repeated allegations of examination irregularities, Mr. Brittas said almost every major examination conducted by the Union government had come under question and urged young people to lead the fight for democratic rights and public education.He also said Opposition parties would continue to raise the issue inside and outside Parliament.Addressing the protesters, Mr. Wangchuk again stressed the need for accountability."If we are forcefully removed, it would be a blot on India internationally that peaceful protesters were removed," he said, adding that the protesters were only demanding accountability in education.CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke earlier said Mr. Wangchuk had lost five kilograms and that his condition was worsening with each passing day."How much longer will the Prime Minister wait before sacking [Education Minister] Dharmendra Pradhan?" Mr. Dipke asked in a post on X, adding that if anything happened to Mr. Wangchuk, the government would be responsible.The CJP also released an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to break what it called his "resounding silence" over the agitation and hold Mr. Pradhan accountable for alleged examination paper leaks and student suicides.The letter said Mr. Wangchuk's hunger strike was intended to exert "moral pressure" on the government and questioned why there had been no response despite 15 days of protests.It also reiterated allegations that Delhi Police assaulted students and threw books, including those on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, B.R. Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh, during an attempt to set up a library at the protest site.Late on Friday night, Mr. Wangchuk welcomed progress in talks between the Centre and representatives of the Leh Apex Body and Kargil Democratic Alliance over Ladakh's demands and urged the government to now "pay attention to accountability in education".His remarks came after the two Ladakh bodies said they had resolved differences with the Ministry of Home Affairs over the minutes of an earlier meeting, paving the way for the next phase of form

The School Education Department on Friday informed the bench of Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar of the High Court that a school being run by Fatima Educational Institution at Patelnagar in Bandlaguda abutting Salkam cheruvu in Hyderabad had no permission from it. The department counsel, appearing in a writ petition seeking direction to remove illegal encroachments in Full Tank Level (FTL) area of Salkam cheruvu, said the premises was being used for facilitating/accommodating students who were studying in other educational institutions which had acquired government permission. The petition was filed by HC advocate Vijay Gopal seeking different reliefs - including removal of every structure (educational institution buildings) that were built illegally within FTL area of Salkam cheruvu. The counsel for Irrigation department informed the bench that they had received instructions from the higher-ups to re-conduct survey of the FTL. The bench sought to know from the counsel why the fresh survey was required when already the authorities had defined the FTL area of the river body. The petitioner and advocate Vijay Gopal, meanwhile, submitted documents to the bench in support of his contention that the total area of the water body was around 36 acres and belonged to the government. The advocate told the court that he had secured the ‘pahani’ copy from the Revenue department of Bandlaguda Tehsildar office in which it was clearly stated that the 36 acres of land covering Salkam cheruvu belonged to the government. He insisted that the HYDRAA officials should take action in the matter in the backdrop of the facts. The HYDRAA counsel informed the bench that it was yet to receive information and complete details from the all the government departments concerned in the matter.Justice N.V. Shravan Kumar, who directed the authorities to conduct enquiry against all the erring officers who failed to check construction of buildings for the educational institution with FTL area of the water body, posted the hearing to July 9 for adjudication. Published - July 04, 2026 12:28 am IST

The State government has issued an order to fully refund the tuition fees to SC students whose family income is up to a maximum of ₹10 lakhs and who have secured seats in private engineering and medical colleges under the management and NRI quota. | A year after the Karnataka government issued an order to refund the tuition fees of Scheduled Caste (SC) students who get Management and Non-Resident Indian (NRI) quota seats in engineering, medical and other professional courses, no student has received any refund so far.The Social Welfare Department has released ₹20 crore for refunding the fees of these students in the first quarter of the current year’s Budget recently, but it is yet to reach students. Some students and parents have alleged that the grant has been used for other projects.“My son was admitted to Ambedkar Medical College in Bengaluru last year under management quota seat by paying ₹12 lakh. I took a bank loan and paid the college fees. However, the government has not yet reimbursed the fees even though it said it would bear the cost. We have also taken a loan for the II year MBBS fees. Despite several requests to the Social Welfare Department, the officials have not refunded the fees,” lamented Suresh, the parent of a beneficiary student from Vijayapura district.How scheme worksFor professional courses, the Social Welfare Department is refunding the fees to SC students whose annual family income is within ₹2.50 lakh per annum for government seats in government colleges and government quota seats in private colleges. The government also provides tuition fees to medical and engineering students from SC communities whose family income is above ₹2.50 lakh but within ₹10 lakhs from the funds allocated to the Medical Education and Technical Education Departments under Scheduled Caste Sub Plan (SCSP) for Scheduled Castes and Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) for Scheduled Tribes (SCSP/TSP).Last year, the State government has issued an order on May 9, 2025, to fully refund the tuition fees to SC students whose family income is up to a maximum of ₹10 lakhs and who have secured seats in private engineering and medical colleges under the management and NRI quota. However, thsi is yet to materialise.In the current year’s State budget, the Social Welfare Department had allocated ₹80 crore for the first quarter of the current year’s budget allocated for SCP/TSP programmes for reimbursement of candidates who got management and NRI quota, engineering and medical seats, hostel expenses, and purchase of essential things for pre-matric and post-matric hostels and other expenses, of which a total of ₹20 crore has been released.With students not getting the money, they are now alleging that all the money has been used to purchase material and none to reimburse tution fees.Protest warned“The fund released for reimbursing the fees of management quota and NRI quota students has been used to purchase cots, beds and other material for hostels by the Social Welfare Department. The Social Welfare Department should immediately refund the fees to the students. If it fails, we will start a protest,” warned Venugopal Maurya, State convener, Democratic Dalith Student Federation.The Commissioner of the Social Welfare Department was not available for comment. Published - July 03, 2026 01:28 am IST

INDIA bloc leaders in joint memorandum to CJI alleged that the Election Commission’s independence had eroded in recent years. File | The letter, dated June 28, was released to the media by the Opposition on Friday (July 3, 2026). Signed by leaders of 24 Opposition parties, including independent MP Kapil Sibal, it detailed concerns over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal and Bihar. The leaders also made a direct accusation, alleging that they believed recently conducted elections in Delhi, Haryana, and Maharashtra had been “manipulated”. The leaders said they were approaching the court because they believed democratic institutions were under strain and that electoral outcomes in several instances did not accurately reflect the will of the people.Delineating the EC’s conduct from 2014 onwards, the Opposition parties said there were hardly any instances, barring a few exceptions, when questions were raised about the integrity of persons in the Commission before 2014. “But since 2014, almost every appointment made by the government has been of persons closely associated with it and seen to be doing the bidding of the government, brazenly, to manipulate the outcome of election results,” the letter said.The Opposition leaders alleged that the Election Commission’s independence had eroded in recent years. Referring to the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Anoop Baranwal case, they argued that judicial concerns about the process of appointing Election Commissioners remained relevant. The letter criticised changes made through subsequent legislation, which removed the Chief Justice of India from the committee responsible for appointing the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners.Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s “brazenly biased conduct”, coupled with his “open, unabashed support of the BJP during the course of and in the outcome of electoral processes”, was a matter of grave concern, the Opposition said in its letter. They accused the EC of not being “even-handed” in the application of the Model Code of Conduct ahead of elections, “by choosing not to take action when the Model Code of Conduct is breached by the political party in power — all this while targeting those in the Opposition”.The parties also questioned the rationale behind conducting the SIR. The political rhetoric surrounding the exercise, the Opposition claimed, centred on the alleged infiltration of Bangladeshis into the Bihar electoral rolls. “Now that the Bihar Assembly elections are over, there is absolutely no data to suggest that such an infiltration indeed took place, nor has the Election Commission made public any data with respect to the number of Bangladeshis having illegally acquired the right to vote in India,” the letter noted.The situation became worse in West Bengal, where, the Opposition said, the government was under siege with the presence of 2.4 lakh CAPF personnel. “To put this in context, 3.5 lakh CAPF personnel were deployed for the entire Lok Sabha election in 2024,” the letter pointed out. The letter also complained of the arbitrary removal of voters under a “never used before category” and of logical discrepancies that had led to the exclusion of nearly 25 lakh voters.“We believe that recently conducted elections in Delhi, Haryana and Maharashtra were also manipulated,” the letter said.The Opposition has demanded the immediate suspension of the SIR, arguing that such a comprehensive overhaul of the electoral rolls should be undertaken only when the next Assembly election is at least five years away. This, th

‘Agri’ S.S. Krishnamurthy The AIADMK’s agricultural wing secretary and whip in the Assembly ‘Agri’ S.S. Krishnamurthy on Thursday challenged deserters to prove that the party general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami had discussed with them the possibility of forming a government with the support of the DMK and its allies. In a statement, he recalled that all the 47 legislators who had won on the ticket of the AIADMK had met; adopted a resolution, electing Mr Palaniswami the leader of the legislature party and signed on a document to this effect. Between this day and the day on which 25 rebels had voted in favour of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government on the floor of the House during a trust motion, “can anyone of them say that the general secretary had told them about the government formation with the help of the DMK and its allies?”Did the rebels not realise that their allegation about Mr Palaniswami was false, when they had given a letter of regret for having violated the party’s directive, Mr Krishnamurthy asked, adding that the party volunteers and people of the State would teach a “fitting lesson” to those who were running away to other parties for protecting their personal interests and not being loyal to the organisation that had sustained them. The party’s Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) I.S. Inbadurai, represented to the Election Commission in New Delhi not to hold by-elections in six assembly constituencies which had been declared vacant following the resignation of AIADMK’s legislators. As the disqualification proceedings were pending before four of the legislators, there should be no by-polls in the seats, he added.Mr Palaniswami announced that during July 6-9, the district-wise review of the party’s performance in the Assembly poll would take place, covering Thanjavur, Sivaganga, Ranipet, Tirupattur, Tiruvallur, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Erode, Tiruchi and Tirunelveli. On Friday and Saturday, similar exercise would be held for Chengalpattu, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Ariyalur and Perambalur. In another release, he announced that S.T.K. Jakkaiyan, former MP and MLA, who was the Theni (west) district secretary till recently, had been made an organisation secretary. The rebels, in their letter addressed to Mr Palaniswami a few days ago, had mentioned Mr Jakkaiyan along with others who had not been put back to their original position of district secretary. (EOM) Published - July 03, 2026 12:50 am IST