Police said they were yet to identify the victims and had launched a rescue operation. (Special arrangement photo)Eight students from a private coaching class in Pune drowned while swimming at Diveagar beach in Maharashtra’s Raigad district, according to preliminary information.
The students were on an excursion when they entered the sea and apparently misjudged its depth and conditions.
Ratna Singh, Abhijeet Dipke, and Saurav Das addressed a press conference on Wednesday and announced a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
“There will be an andolan tomorrow, and we will also go to Jantar Mantar until Gyanesh Kumar resigns,” Dipke said.
Calling the current situation “tanashahi” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Dipke alleged that Kumar was their “puppet”.
“Criminal action should be initiated against Kumar,” he said, adding that the next Chief Election Commissioner should be elected through a transparent process and that civil society should be allowed to participate.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi questioned the Election Commission over changes made to the online Form 6, used for fresh voter registration, alleging that the changes were “illegal”. He asked which EC official ordered Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to make the changes and who at the company approved them, while also questioning whether TCS was pressured to carry them out. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged that the changes were introduced in July to remove young voters from electoral rolls and claimed they were orchestrated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. This comes a day after the INDIA bloc after their meeting announced protests and rallies over alleged irregularities in the electoral process and demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today hailed Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar as a hero for fighting off his co-pilot, who tried to crash a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday afternoon. Despite being seriously injured, Captain Machchhar showed immense courage and helped save hundreds of lives, Modi said, adding that India was proud of his valour.
Eight students from a private coaching class in Pune drowned while swimming at Diveagar beach in Maharashtra’s Raigad district, according to preliminary information.
The students were on an excursion when they entered the sea and apparently misjudged its depth and conditions.
Akram from Bengaluru reported that Karnataka CM DK Shivakumar and others stage a protest at the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka office on Thursday, demanding action against bulk submission of Form-7s for deletion of voters during the ongoing SIR exercise in the state.
Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar stages a demonstration demanding an FIR against those involved in Form 7 misuse.
(PTI)
Mamata Banerjee said she had seen several election commissioners during her political career and recalled an instance when she was defeated, alleging that CRPF personnel had blocked her gate and CCTV cameras.
“We want all CCTV footage. EVMs were hacked. Seema Khanna and Gyanesh Kumar hijacked the election process, from SIR to the counting process,” Banerjee said.
"The EC gave special incentives to the ruling party (SIR). It was done in Haryana, Maharashtra," Banerjee added.
Asad Rehman reports that at the press conference, Mamata Banerjee said the election process, which was earlier decentralised, had now been centralised. She alleged that Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) were not being allowed to work and that data had been “hijacked” from the office of Gyanesh Kumar.
TMC chief Mamata Banerjee questioned the passage of the immunity Bill, saying Parliament pushed it through after suspending 147 MPs.
“You all know when the immunity Bill was passed, when 147 MPs were removed from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. They forcefully passed it. If you minus 147 MPs, then was it passed by a majority? No. Some people don't know. This is reality and it bites,” Banerjee said at a press conference in Delhi.
“You can't take the law into your own hands. In the name of immunity, you are finishing democracy,” she said. On the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, Banerjee said the Congress and RJD had raised the issue of “vote chori” after the exercise was completed, but “it was late by then”.
“This is a subject where you have to see booth to booth. I'm giving some evidence to you,” she said, alleging that 4,000 EVMs were burnt.
“The joke is that the building was nine floors, but only the floors with EVMs caught fire,” Banerjee said.
TMC chief Mamata Banerjee is set to address a press conference in Delhi shortly. She is accompanied by party MPs Abhishek Banerjee, Derek O’Brien, Mahua Moitra, Dola Sen and other leaders.
Ratna Singh, Abhijeet Dipke, and Saurav Das addressed a press conference on Wednesday and announced a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
“There will be an andolan tomorrow, and we will also go to Jantar Mantar until Gyanesh Kumar resigns,” Dipke said. Calling the current situation “tanashahi” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Dipke alleged that Kumar was their “puppet”.
“Criminal action should be initiated against Kumar,” he said, adding that the next Chief Election Commissioner should be elected through a transparent process and that civil society should be allowed to participate.
Ajinkya Shinde said protests would be held in Goa, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Ranchi after Thursday, with the protest eventually reaching Jantar Mantar and continuing until the end of the month.
“Tomorrow, get the national flag. If possible, wear a Gandhi T-shirt and sunscreen,” said Pranay Ahir, the Mumbai coordinator of the CJP.
Rains lashed several parts of Kerala on Thursday, offering relief from weeks of rising temperatures, even as the India Meteorological Department issued an orange alert in Pathanamthitta, Kottayam and Idukki. A yellow alert was also issued in six districts. The IMD forecast thunderstorms, moderate rain and winds of up to 40 kmph in parts of the state, but said rainfall is likely to ease over the next couple of days.
Two elderly priests were allegedly killed and their bodies set ablaze at a temple in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, on Thursday, police said. The accused was arrested and is being questioned. Police said the accused attacked both priest with a heavy object before pouring an inflammable substance on their bodies and setting them on fire. The accused, who had returned from jail in August, had reportedly been staying with the priests and wanted to take control of the temple, as per PTI.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi questioned the Election Commission over changes made to the online Form 6, used for fresh voter registration, alleging that the changes were “illegal”. He asked which EC official ordered Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to make the changes and who at the company approved them, while also questioning whether TCS was pressured to carry them out. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged that the changes were introduced in July to remove young voters from electoral rolls and claimed they were orchestrated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. This comes a day after the INDIA bloc announced protests and rallies over alleged irregularities in the electoral process and demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
https://platform.x.com/widgets.jsThe online Form 6 was changed illegally - as the EC's own Commissioners have recorded.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 1, 2026
Who at the ECI ordered Tata Consultancy Services to make that change?
Who at TCS signed off on it? And were they pressured into doing it?
Train services on Mizoram’s Bairabi-Sairang railway line were disrupted after heavy rain caused waterlogging and muck overflow on parts of the track, particularly between Kawnpui and Mualkhang. Railway authorities short-terminated four trains and cancelled two others as a precaution. Twenty buses were deployed at Bairabi to ferry passengers to Sairang and Aizawl. Officials said there were no reports of landslides or track subsidence and services were expected to resume soon. (PTI)
A case has been registered against unidentified persons after a beer bottle was allegedly hurled at the Kerala BJP headquarters, KG Marar Bhavan, in Thampanoor, Thiruvananthapuram, late Wednesday night, police said. Around 11.30 pm, two people on a scooter allegedly threw the bottle at the office and pushed police personnel who tried to stop them, according to the FIR. Police are examining CCTV footage to identify the accused. The incident came amid escalating political confrontations in the capital, including alleged attacks involving BJP, Youth Congress and SFI workers. Security has been tightened in Thiruvananthapuram amid the possibility of further protests.
Two separate cases have been registered against 80 KSU-Youth Congress and 80 SFI-DYFI activists after a clash near Kerala University hostel in Thiruvananthapuram’s Palayam area yesterday night. The violence broke out when a KSU-Youth Congress march protesting against the Union government and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar reached the hostel.
While the protesters alleged that stones were pelted from the hostel, SFI-DYFI activists claimed that fire torchlights were thrown at hostel inmates. Police intervened and resorted to a lathi charge. The cases have been registered, with police saying the accused will be summoned and arrested as the charges are non-bailable.
SFI has also announced statewide protests at educational institutions today.
The BJP state office, Mararji Bhavan, in Thiruvananthapuram was reportedly attacked by unidentified miscreants on Thursday evening. BJP national secretary K Surendran alleged that Congress workers were behind the attack and said former BJP state president PK Krishnadas was also targeted around 6 pm. “For the last three to four days, Congress workers have been deliberately targeting him… India’s Home Minister, the Hon’ble Amit Shah ji, was attacked by Youth Congress workers in Kerala. This shows that democracy and law and order are being undermined. Therefore, we will protest…” says BJP president.
https://platform.x.com/widgets.js#watch | Keralam | BJP state office, Mararji Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram reportedly attacked by unknown miscreants
— ANI (@ANI) September 30, 2026
Police deployed outside the office premises pic.twitter.com/JiXjjH3AEH
Five people, including 4 from Maharashtra and one from Bihar, were arrested in Cuttack, Odisha, with 115 kg of cannabis worth approximately Rs 57.96 lakh, SP Railways Vivekanand Sharma said. The accused were transporting the smuggled cannabis from Odisha to Maharashtra, travelling by flight to Odisha and returning by train with the cannabis. The arrests were made in connection with a case registered at the Cuttack Government Railway Police Station under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.
