Fight against Covid-19: How Dharavi is getting it right

Seat-sharing negotiations between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party continue ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections as both parties aim to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Congress has shared a list of 170 seats divided into four categories with the Samajwadi Party, maintaining a firm stance on Category A seats while remaining open to talks on others. Meanwhile, a fresh demand has emerged from within the Congress Minority Department seeking at least 100 alliance seats exclusively for Muslim candidates, citing a 20 per cent population share in the state. While the Congress seeks a respectable share, differences persist over proposed formulas.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has initiated a top-level strategy push for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. The party's top leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Nitin Nabin, will step up campaign preparations across the state. Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to visit Varanasi on October 25 to witness an air show, while Nitin Nabin will share a stage with alliance partner Om Prakash Rajbhar in Azamgarh on October 27. Amit Shah is scheduled to attend the BJP Uttar Pradesh State Executive Meeting in Lucknow on October 30 and 31 to fine-tune election strategy, mobilize booth presidents, and address ally grievances ahead of shifting into full campaign mode after Diwali.

The Director General of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police has confirmed rising tensions and multiple face-offs along the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh. This marks the first official confirmation of escalating border face-offs since July. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police chief stated that strike training for the entire force across units will be completed ahead of late 2027, with essential equipment made available across all forward border outposts to handle Galwan-like situations effectively. ITBP and Indian Army troops remain deployed across key flashpoints in high-altitude border areas to maintain security and defend the frontier.

We The Leaders chief and former Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party president K. Annamalai stated that his backing for Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not blind support, asserting that wrong actions will always be questioned. While clarifying that his organisation does not support the Cockroach Janata Party's objectives or methods, Annamalai defended the democratic right of any political group to hold protests, comparing their right to dissent to that of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. He criticised the police crackdown and detention of demonstrators in Delhi, stressing that arrests must follow due process and recalling Narendra Modi's 2011 criticism of midnight crackdowns at Ramlila Maidan. Annamalai also voiced strong criticism against the Gujarat-centric model of development, urging broad-based national growth across southern states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala. In response, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders accused Annamalai of fence-sitting and compromising on national security issues.