Rahul leads Opposition's 'Bharat Bandh' protest against fuel price hike
New Delhi, Sep 10: A united Opposition, led by Congress President Rahul Gandhi, on Monday staged a foot march here in support of a nationwide shutdown protest or 'Bharat Bandh' called by his party against rising fuel prices.
The 1.8-km march was held between Rajghat and Zakir Husain College.
Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), Trinamool Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD), Rashtriya Lok Dal, All India United Democratic Front, Revolutionary Socialist Party and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were among the opposition parties that participated in protest.
The Congress President paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at his memorial at Rajghat.
He also offered water at the memorial which he brought from Kailash Mansarovar yatra before joining other opposition leaders including Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ashok Gehlot, Anand Sharma, Ambika Soni, Ahmed Patel, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Shailja Kumari, Meira Kumar, Jairam Ramesh; NCP's Tariq Anwar, LJD's Sharad Yadav and RJD's Manoj Jha in the nationwide shutdown.
This was Gandhi's first public appearance since he returned from the yatra. He had embarked on the yatra on August 31.
Delhi's ruling AAP, which had refused to join the shutdown, also sent its leader Sanjay Singh.
The protest has been called by Congress and Left parties against the spiralling petrol and diesel prices which have reached record levels.
After the end of the march, all the opposition leaders gathered at an Indian Oil petrol pump near the Ramlila Maidan where UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh joined them.
Later, over 200 political leaders and supporters gathered at the ground from where Manmohan Singh and others spoke against the Central government over its failure to curb the price hike.
"The runaway prices of fuel and the free fall in the value of the Rupee shows that the Modi government has completely failed in managing the economy," the Congress had tweeted earlier in the day.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Second PUC results: Life convict clears exam with distinction, DGP lauds effort
_vb_63.jpeg)
Bengaluru: A life convict lodged in Ballari Central Prison has successfully cleared the second PUC examination.
Ashok Kumar S, who appeared for the examination under prison escort, secured 481 marks out of 600, registering 80.1 percent.
Director General of Police (Prisons and Correctional Services), Alok Kumar (IPS), shared the development on his official ‘X’ handle, commending the inmate’s achievement.
In his post, he stated that it was heartening to see a life convict score over 80 percent in the examination, adding that the inmate had appeared from Ballari Central Prison under escort.
It’s heartening to see that one of our life convict prisoners Ashok has obtained 80.1% marks in PUC exam. He appeared under Prison escort from Ballari Central Prison for his exams.
— alok kumar (@alokkumar6994) April 9, 2026
Glad to see that Walls of the prison has not subdued his hopes for a better future. pic.twitter.com/Nzlcy076SR
He further noted that the achievement reflected that the “walls of the prison have not subdued his hopes for a better future.”
Alok Kumar in his post also shared the result sheet of Ashok.
The Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) declared the second PUC results for 2026 on April 9.
A total of 6,32,200 students appeared for the examination across all streams, of whom 5,46,698 passed, recording an overall pass percentage of 86.48 per cent.
