🇮🇳Week of October 26

Cyclone Arnab crossed the Andhra coast and weakened into a severe cyclonic storm, leaving heavy rain and flooding across southern India and Odisha. In Andhra Pradesh, Minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar said the power sector suffered ₹500-crore damage, and that emergency repairs have been intensified with special focus on Palakollu, Bhimavaram and Narsapur, which bore the brunt of the storm.12

Attributed claim: In Odisha, more than 200 villages in 22 blocks across Ganjam and Gajapati districts were severely affected, with roads washed away, villages marooned and three rivers in spate. The New Indian Express reported that floods marooned 300 villages in Ganjam district and that the state planned to airlift stranded people.34

Rail services in Odisha were hit, with the Vande Bharat Express among nine trains cancelled. The Jharkhand government said it would assess crop damage from the cyclone and compensate affected farmers.56

Kolkata is likely to see more rain, with an orange alert issued for the city. The cyclone entered India, left, and then entered again, a path India Today examined in an explainer.78

An old video of a tornado in Odisha was falsely shared as footage of Cyclone Arnab, The Quint reported.9

The Maharashtra MLC election results have opened a new front inside the ruling Mahayuti alliance, with the BJP blaming Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde for the defeat. The blame game began as the BJP accused Shiv Sena of costing the alliance the seats, and a Shinde-for-CM pitch and a 'Shakuni mama' jibe followed.123

Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut answered the BJP's charge with a 'Big Fat Zero' dig. The exchange turned the result into a public dispute between the two alliance partners rather than a single verdict on the outcome.31

In Nagpur, Congress beat the BJP, and the MVA led 3-2 across the state, according to The Hindu. NDTV reported that the BJP made gains in the Maharashtra MLC polls but that the alliance's strength was tested to its limit.456

NCP Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar said the party will introspect on the Maharashtra Council poll results. The remark came as the alliance partners traded blame over the outcome.7

Congress took its attack to Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the BJP lost the Nagpur and Varanasi MLC polls, with the party saying: 'Mr. Modi, stop the trolling, drop the arrogance.'8

The Bombay High Court has put on hold a 'leave India' notice issued to actor Imran Khan and granted him interim relief until November 2, when it will hear his challenge to the notice. No action will be taken against him before that hearing date.1234

The court's order allows Imran Khan to stay in the country until November 2, the next date of hearing in the case. The actor had filed a plea contesting the notice.526

A court in Sultanpur acquitted Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition, in a 2018 criminal defamation case over remarks he made about Amit Shah. Outlets reported the verdict as a finding that Gandhi was "not guilty" in the case.1234

The case turned on Gandhi's 2018 remarks about Amit Shah, and the acquittal closes the defamation proceeding against him in Sultanpur. ThePrint framed the outcome as a lesson that pushback must come from party bases.541

TheWire.in described the case as a defamation complaint brought by BJP leaders over Gandhi calling Amit Shah a murder accused, and reported that the court acquitted him.6

The Election Commission filed a common affidavit in the Supreme Court for itself, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sandhu and Joshi, telling the court that the June 2025 decision to hold the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls was taken unanimously. The affidavit argues that any attempt to restrain the CEC's functioning is contrary to the 2023 Act, and that the CEC can be removed only in the manner of a Supreme Court judge. It also asserts that Form 6 was not amended, and that the change to the online Form 6, under fire as illegal, had a bona fide objective.1234

The filings respond to a petition against the ECI, CEC Gyanesh Kumar and the SIR decisions that seeks the CEC's suspension from office and challenges the roll revision. The Supreme Court heard the pleas and gave the petitioners 10 days to reply, with the bench stating it knows everything about the allegations of unilateral decisions by the CEC. West Bengal's chief electoral officer's officers filed appeals against inclusions.561

The affidavit left a central question unanswered: the Indian Express reported that while the EC called the SIR decisions unanimous, a big question remained open, and Deccan Herald reported that the affidavit raised more questions than answers on the use of declaration forms.75

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has conceded defeat in the parliamentary election, handing a victory to the student-led opposition movement that grew out of months of protests. The result ends the tenure of a leader who had long dominated Serbian politics.12345

The student movement's win was reported as a historic result and a major political shift in Serbia, with the movement ousting the longtime leader in the parliament poll. Vucic's concession was framed by the movement's supporters with the line that the people have won.3462

After the concession, the incoming Serbian government was told that the door to the European Union is open, a statement carried in live coverage of the election aftermath.71

Five people, including a woman, were shot dead inside Hotel Bilas Inn in Guwahati's Bora Service area. The dead include a mother and son. The shooting followed a dispute between the hotel's owner and the person who had taken it on lease.123

The leaseholder killed four people linked to the owner's family, according to The Times of India's account of how the lease dispute escalated into the mass shooting. Police arrested one suspect, and the assailant was taken into custody with the murder weapon, Telegraph India reported.452

Chennai Police took former School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi into custody in connection with an alleged multicrore scam in private school approvals, described in reports as a ₹100-crore case. The arrest came hours after his anticipatory bail plea was dismissed. The former minister belongs to the DMK.123

The Madras High Court denied anticipatory bail to the former minister in the alleged corruption case, clearing the way for his arrest. Live Law and The News Minute both report the bail denial ahead of the custody; The News Minute describes the matter as an alleged school approval racket.45

The arrest drew a political response from TVK, which targeted the DMK over the case, calling it an "evil force" in its reaction to the former minister's detention.2

The Election Commission has refused to disclose details of the software used in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, invoking exemptions for trade secrets and intellectual property rights. The commission's position emerged in response to a Right to Information request, and it declined to reveal what powers the voter-roll checks.1234

The commission said no new software was developed for the exercise, even as it withheld the technical details behind the roll revision. The refusal covers the software that drives the SIR's voter-roll checks.54

Congress targeted the commission over secrecy around ECINET, claiming the software details could expose manipulation in the SIR. The party asked why the RSS and the BJP were replying on the commission's behalf.67

BJP leaders and workers staged protests against Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over his remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's late father. In Bengaluru, party leaders and workers were taken into custody during a protest against Kharge. The row follows a ruckus during Kharge's address at a Patna event marking the 139th birth anniversary of Dr. Shri Krishna Singh on Sunday.123

The BJP answered Kharge with the line "Sorry anti-Indian forces, but Modi won't go," hitting back a day after his "baap" remark. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami called the remarks "entirely unbecoming in a democracy." BJP leader Laxman also attacked Kharge over the comments about the Prime Minister's father.345

The party called nationwide protests over Kharge's remark about Modi's late father, widening the dispute from the Bengaluru custody action to a countrywide campaign.61