The Hindu Editorial Analysis : 29th September 2026

The Hindu Editorial Analysis

We understand the significance of reading The Hindu newspaper for enhancing reading skills, improving comprehension of passages, staying informed about current events, enhancing essay writing, and more, especially for banking aspirants who need to focus on editorials for vocabulary building. This article will explore today’s editorial points, along with practice questions and key vocabulary.

Cong. Says EC Failed to Reverse ‘Disenfranchisement’

• A day after the Election Commission (EC) announced several steps to deal with the concerns raised about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the Congress on Sunday called the move a “desperate attempt at damage control” and said that it “hides all and reveals nothing.”
• Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said that the measures announced by the EC showed that the SIR exercise had been a “disaster.” He warned that the “piecemeal” steps being taken for voters whose names had been deleted or were at risk of deletion would do very little to stop what he described as “mass disenfranchisement.”
• Ramesh questioned several assurances given by the Election Commission. These included the EC’s proposal to review the ECINet software and its plan to ask booth-level officers to visit voters who had received notices, instead of asking them to attend public hearings.
• He said that, in actual practice, these visits had been few and irregular. He therefore questioned what benefit there would be in promising a second round of visits when the earlier visits had not been carried out properly. He said that the idea of repeating a process that had already been poorly done once needed to be examined.
• Ramesh also questioned the reason for carrying out the entire SIR process. He called it a “colossal waste” of resources and said that nearly 14 crore voters, whose names had been removed from the electoral rolls during the three phases, were now being asked to apply again to get their names included.
• He alleged that the targeted removal of voters from marginalised sections was meant to benefit the BJP.
• Ramesh said that the Election Commission had still not properly addressed the concerns related to ECINet. He claimed that the software had been used to remove the names of eligible voters and to override electoral registration officers.
• He said that the EC’s decision to review whether the software follows existing laws showed that there were already questions about whether its use was legally valid.
• He also asked whether the problems that had been pointed out in Goa had happened in other places as well, including West Bengal.
• He questioned why there was not enough transparency about how ECINet works and about the way artificial intelligence (AI) was being used while preparing electoral rolls.
• Ramesh also alleged that an illegal change made to Form 6 had not been properly explained by the Election Commission.
• He said that the EC had used a Supreme Court judgment dated May 27 to defend the change. According to him, the judgment allowed the EC to add a new declaration to Form 6.
• However, he argued that in July, this change was made to the online Form 6 for all voters, instead of being limited only to voters covered under the SIR exercise.
• He said that the same Supreme Court judgment also made it clear that the Election Commission could not, by itself, move away from the procedure laid down by law unless there was a proper and reasonable basis for doing so.
• Ramesh also said that the non-SIR Form 6 option being given to voters was misleading. He explained that the Special Summary Revision (SSR) had remained frozen since 2024, and therefore voters did not have a non-SIR electoral roll being published through which they could get their names added.
• He further argued that the assurances given by the Election Commission about meeting procedures and following the required rules effectively showed that the existing procedures and norms had not been properly followed.
• He described the entire situation as deeply troubling for a constitutional authority.

Protests Break Out Over Punjab Campus Rape Case

• There were allegations that a student was raped on the campus of Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Punjab. These allegations led to a protest on Sunday, in which mainly students took part and blocked National Highway-44 near Phagwara.
• The protest happened a few hours after the protesters allegedly went on a rampage and damaged university property. The protest affected traffic on the highway and later led to clashes between the protesters and the police.
• The police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against unknown persons, including charges related to rape. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was also formed to investigate the matter.
• The protesting students alleged that a female student living in the hostel had been raped by a plumber three days earlier. They claimed that no action had been taken in the matter until then.
• LPU, which is a private educational institution, denied the allegations made by the students.
• Even after the FIR was registered and LPU Vice-Chancellor Jaspal Singh Sandhu gave assurances to the protesters, the students continued their protest throughout Sunday.
• The students demanded that LPU founder-chancellor and Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal personally come to the protest site and assure them that proper action would be taken in the case.
• In April, Ashok Mittal was one of seven Rajya Sabha MPs who left the State’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party and joined the BJP.
• A clash took place between the police and the protesting students on Sunday evening. According to the police, some protesters allegedly threw bottles and stones at the police.
• The police responded by using batons against the protesters.
• After the clash, some police vehicles were set on fire.
• Jalandhar Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Harvinder Singh Virk told journalists that a few police personnel were injured during the incident.
• The SSP also said that some police vehicles were damaged during the clashes.
• LPU later released a statement denying the allegation that a rape had taken place on its campus. The university said that the allegation was not true.
• LPU Registrar Monica Gulati said that the rumours being spread on social media were false and misleading. She also said that these rumours had been spread by mischievous sources.
• The university also released a video statement showing three female students from room number 504 of the GH-3 hostel.
• In the video, the three students said that no such incident had taken place. They also said that they had been staying in that hostel room for the past two months.

Bank Unions Postpone Three-Day Nationwide Strike Following Meeting

• Bank unions decided on Sunday to postpone the planned three-day nationwide strike after holding a meeting with bank management representatives.
• All banks will now remain open and work as usual because the strike has been postponed after discussions between the bank unions and bank management.
• The bank unions had three main demands, and all three were discussed in a meeting held at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday.
• H. Venkatachalam, general secretary of the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), told The Hindu that a decision had been taken to form a high-level committee immediately. This committee will include members of the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU).
• One of the main demands of the bank unions was to introduce a five-day working week in banks. The newly formed committee will discuss this demand and look at how it can be put into practice.
• Seven representatives from the bank unions and six bank executives took part in the online meeting. The meeting lasted for about one hour.
• Late on Saturday night, the UFBU issued a circular stating that an agreement had been reached with the IBA after discussions on the issues raised by the bank unions.
• Regarding the Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for officers in Scale IV and above, the circular stated that discussions could begin with the IBA to suggest changes to the government in the scheme. These changes would aim to address the concerns and points raised by the unions and associations.
• The circular issued by the UFBU also stated that the remaining issues listed in the meeting minutes dated March 8, 2024, would be discussed by both sides so that they could be settled as soon as possible.
• Devidas Tuljapurkar, chairperson of the All India Bank of Maharashtra Employees’ Federation, said that he was satisfied with the outcome of the meeting.
• He said that the demand for a five-day working week had been pending for a long time. He added that the decision to form a committee was a positive step towards finding a way to introduce it. He also said that the matter would be discussed with all the people concerned, especially bank customers, so that they would not face any problems or inconvenience.
• The UFBU is an organisation that represents seven bank employees’ and officers’ unions.
• The UFBU had earlier announced a three-day nationwide bank strike from September 28 to September 30.
• Apart from the demand for a five-day working week in banks, the bank unions had also raised several other issues that needed to be resolved. These included updating and improving pension benefits.
• The bank unions had also demanded that employees covered under the National Pension System (NPS) should be given the choice to switch to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).

Important Questions

1. What did Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh call the Election Commission’s steps to deal with concerns raised about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls?
2. What did Jairam Ramesh say about the nearly 14 crore voters whose names had been removed from the electoral rolls during the three phases of the SIR?
3. What did the protesting students allege about a female student living in the hostel at Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Punjab?
4. What did LPU Registrar Monica Gulati say about the rumours being spread on social media regarding the alleged rape case at the university?
5. Why did the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) postpone its planned three-day nationwide bank strike from September 28 to September 30?
6. What decision was taken regarding the bank unions’ demand for a five-day working week in banks after the meeting between the IBA and UFBU?

Important Vocabulary

1. Disenfranchisement — The removal or denial of a person’s right to vote.
2. Piecemeal — Done in small parts rather than as a complete action.
3. Colossal — Extremely large or great in size or amount.
4. Marginalised — People or groups treated as less important or pushed to the edge of society.
5. Allegations — Claims that someone has done something wrong, without proof yet.
6. Rampage — Violent or uncontrolled behaviour causing damage.
7. Mischievous — Causing trouble or harm in a dishonest or troublesome way.
8. Clashes — Violent fights or conflicts between groups.
9. Postpone — To delay something until a later time.
10. Representatives — People chosen to speak or act for a group.
11. Incentive — Something that encourages a person to do something.
12. Convenience — The quality of being easy or suitable for a particular situation.