NEW DELHI: BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Tuesday took on Rahul Gandhi over his allegation of electoral malpractices against the govt, saying EVMs were introduced by former PM Rajiv Gandhi to curb poll irregularities, and blamed “pro-Muslim” politics of Congress and regional parties for their opposition to SIR, as he cited disproportionate rise in Muslim population in states like West Bengal to back the exercise.Dubey rebutted Gandhi’s allegations – including over “vote chori” and govt’s decisive say in appointment of election commissioners – saying Congress put its favourite bureaucrats in poll bodies and rewarded them with berths and party tickets. As member of the selection committee, the LoP is now part of the process and can file his dissent which was never the case when Congress was in office, he said.Cong involved in ‘vote chori’ since 1952, claim BJP netasIntervening in the discussion on election reforms in the lower House of Parliament, law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said the special intensive revision of electoral rolls has been held multiple times since 1952 & was necessary to clean up rolls, which change due to migration and rapid urbanisation.Meghwal accused Congress of engaging in “vote chori” since the first LS elections, including in the defeat of B R Ambedkar. He emphasised that the Modi govt did not change the law regarding appointment of the CEC and fellow election commissioners, but created a framework following a 2023 SC ruling. Nishikant Dubey said former CEC TN Sheshan was given a Congress ticket to contest against BJP’s LK Advani, while another CEC, MS Gill, became a minister in the Manmohan Singh govt after “favouring” Sonia Gandhi in the “office of profit” row. “They talk of transparency. Congress worker Batuk Singh was made UPSC chairman,” he said.He said Parliament’s select committees dating back to the 60s and 70s recommended SIR and voting machines for reforming polling process, while a joint committee that included MPs from Jana Sangh, BJP’s forerunner, favoured in 1972 reducing the voting age to 18 from 21. Rajiv Gandhi implemented this in 1988, and Congress is claiming it to be the biggest polls reform, he said.Batting for SIR, he named a number of districts, including Kolkata and Murshidabad, in poll-bound West Bengal and Jharkhand, and cited 2011 Census data to flag disproportionately high rise in the Muslim population compared to their national growth since independence to claim the presence of Bangladeshi infiltrators. BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal said Congress did “vote chori” by picking Nehru as PM over Sardar Patel, who was favoured by most party units, while Indira Gandhi did it by imposing Emergency.

Hardik Pandya plays a shot during the first T20 International cricket match between India and South Africa in Cuttack, India, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP)

Ace all-rounder Hardik Pandya returned to competitive cricket with a half-century that helped India reach 175/6 in the first T20I against South Africa on Tuesday.Playing his first match after 74 days, Pandya came back following a left quadricep injury that had ruled him out of the Asia Cup. He walked in at No. 6 and changed the pace of the innings.

India lost six wickets across the powerplay and middle overs. Pandya, who had shown his fitness earlier by scoring an unbeaten 77 off 42 balls for Baroda in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, took on the South African bowlers and finished on 59 not out off 28 balls.This was his sixth fifty in T20 internationals.Pandya began by hitting two sixes off Keshav Maharaj after Tilak Varma was dismissed for 26. He then scored 17 runs in an over from Anrich Nortje, including a four off a 149kph delivery. Marco Jansen bowled short balls, but Pandya responded with a pull shot before moving close to his half-century. He later hit a six and a four off Lutho Sipamla, who finished with figures of 2/38, in the 19th over.Pandya reached his fifty in 25 balls with a six over third man off Nortje in the final over. He acknowledged the milestone with a brief raise of the bat.India scored 53 runs in the final five overs. Nortje, playing his first match after injury, gave away 41 runs in four overs, including 12 in the last over.

Pandya becomes fourth Indian to smash 100 T20I sixes

Pandya’s innings included six fours and four sixes. With this knock, he became the fourth Indian batter to hit 100 sixes in T20 internationals.He joined Rohit Sharma (205), Suryakumar Yadav (155), and Virat Kohli (124) on the list. KL Rahul is next with 99 sixes.

Sourav Ganguly, Mohammed Shami, and Ajit Agarkar

Mohammed Shami‘s recent performance in domestic cricket has been exceptional, with 11 wickets in his last three matches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. His latest achievements include figures of 3/34 against Puducherry and 4/34 against Haryana, following his impressive 4/13 against Services.Despite being absent from the Indian national team, Shami continues to demonstrate his prowess in domestic tournaments, including the Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has raised questions about Shami’s exclusion from the national team. The situation has highlighted tensions between Shami and the chairman of selectors, Ajit Agarkar, with the pacer expressing concerns about a lack of communication. “I’m sure the selectors are watching. I’m sure there is communication between Mohammed Shami and selectors; I don’t know. But if you ask me, in terms of fitness and skills, it’s the Mohammed Shami we know of. So I really don’t see any reason why can’t he keep playing Test matches and one-day and T20 cricket for India because the skill is enormous,” Ganguly stated during an event.Shami’s international career has faced uncertainty following his ankle surgery after the 2023 World Cup. His recovery was complicated by subsequent injuries, preventing his return to the squad.The experienced pacer missed the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia despite being considered for selection. His last appearance for India was during the Champions Trophy, where he claimed nine wickets in five matches.At 35 years old, Shami’s cricket future requires careful consideration. The Indian pace attack currently features Jasprit Bumrah, who is being managed carefully, and Mohammed Siraj, who needs support.A potential return to international cricket could help ensure a smooth transition in India’s bowling lineup. While Test cricket might present challenges due to its demanding nature, Shami’s inclusion in the ODI format could provide him with valuable playing time.Shami maintains his ability to deliver impactful performances with the ball. His experience and skill set could still benefit the Indian cricket team across different formats.

‘Dhurandhar’ which released in cinemas on December 5 has turned out to be the biggest opening film for Ranveer Singh, and beaten his previous releases like ‘Padmaavat’ and ‘Simmba’. The film directed by Aditya Dhar, also stars Akshaye Khanna, Sanjay Dutt, R Madhavan, Arjun Rampal and marks Sara Arjun’s debut. ‘Dhurandhar’ managed to create a lot of buzz since the film released and thus, there was a huge growth in the Sunday numbers as compared to Friday. On Monday also, the film managed to hold well and remained in the Rs 20 crore range which is quite good. Though, the Monday drop is natural and happens for all movies. Dhurandhar Movie ReviewIt had an opening of Rs 28 crore on day 1. On Saturday, it saw a growth of around 14 per cent and made Rs 32 crore. Meanwhile on Sunday, the jump was phenomenal as the film made around Rs 43 crore which was 34 percent more than the Saturday numbers. On Monday, the collection is Rs 23 crore . This was a drop of more than 50 percent when compared to the Sunday numbers but if the film manages to stay in the same range all through the week, it would be great. On tuesday, it has started on a decent note and made Rs 3.44 crore till afternoon. The total collection of the film in India so far, according to Sacnilk is Rs 129.69 crore. The film is expected to continue in the double digit range atleast all through the week, and going by the buzz it created on social media with now the songs also catching up and going viral, it should be able to live up to the expectations.

Day wise collection of the film:

Day 1 [1st Friday] Rs 28 Cr –Day 2 [1st Saturday] Rs 32 CrDay 3 [1st Sunday] Rs 43 CrDay 4 [1st Monday] Rs 23 Cr ** –Total ₹ 126 Cr

The ministry of civil aviation on Tuesday directed senior officials to conduct on-ground inspections at major airports to assess the situation firsthand and review the challenges passengers are facing.This comes as the operational breakdown at IndiGo continues to cause chaos at airports around the country. Officials at the rank of deputy secretary, director and joint secretary have been instructed to reach the designated airports within te next day. The locations under inspection include Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Guwahati, Goa and Thiruvananthapuram, a list reflecting the airports worst affected by passenger distress and repeated cancellations.The DGCA will also cut the IndiGo schedule by 5%. As the airlines has 2,200 daily flight, the reduction means 110 flights daily.“Airline has been told. Which all flights to be cut being worked out,” officials told TOI. The ministry, along with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has been monitoring the situation in real time, since December 3, treating the disruptions to IndiGo operations as an extraordinary situation. A statement from the office of Union minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu confirmed that a high-level review meeting involving top officials was held to take stock of conditions across airports. Every senior official deployed to airports has been tasked with physically verifying airline functioning and the quality of passenger-related services. Feedback gathered directly from travellers have to be addressed and rectified immediately, the Ministry said in a statement cited by ANI. The crisis was also addressed in Parliament. On Monday, Union civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu told the Rajya Sabha that the hardship faced by passengers has no connection to the Aircraft Maintenance and Scheduling System (AMSS) and was, rather, the outcome of the airline’s internal crew rostering and operational planning.He also pointed out that consultations on Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) were held with all stakeholders and reiterated that safety standards remain non-negotiable. He further noted that stringent Civil Aviation Requirements (CARs) exist to safeguard passengers hit by delays and cancellations. Regulatory scrutiny has intensified in parallel to the government intervention. On December 6, the DGCA issued show-cause notices to IndiGo Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers and Chief Operating Officer Isidro Porqueras.

Amidst ongoing flight disruptions, the government is weighing the option of cutting IndiGo’s flight schedule by 5%, with plans to redistribute these time slots to other carriers. IndiGo has acknowledged the issues, attributing them to recent duty requirements and changes in their winter travel timetable.

NEW DELHI: IndiGo may have its schedule cut by 5% and the same – roughly about 110 daily flights – could be given to other airlines that have the resources to add capacity. A livid government is mulling incremental cuts to the schedule starting with 5%, followed by another 5% in coming days if need be, say sources, adding that other actions are also being considered in the wake of the severe disruptions caused by flight cancellations.Meanwhile, a “profusely apologetic” IndiGo has in its reply to the DGCA’s show-cause notice blamed a combination of five factors, including new flight duty time limitation (FDTL) rules and winter schedule-related changes, for its massive flight disruptions.The airline said given the scale of its operations, it is “realistically not possible to pinpoint the exact cause(s)” in the time given. It sought more time for a “comprehensive root-cause analysis”, citing DGCA’s manual that allows a 15-day response time.

DGCA may scale down IndiGo ops to make room for others

DGCA is in the process of examining the response and enforcement action as deemed appropriate will be taken in due course,” the aviation ministry said regarding the responses submitted at 6.01pm Monday by CEO Pieter Elbers and COO Isidre Porqueras, who is also the accountable manager.Given the public anger at aviation authorities, it remains to be seen whether IndiGo will be granted more time. The DGCA could now scale down IndiGo’s flights in proportion to its crew strength and make the slots available to other airlines depending on their resource availability. Apart from a hefty financial penalty, the top executives, who are approved by the DGCA, including the airline’s accountable manager (the COO), may face action. The airline, too, may either seek resignations or sack key people seen as responsible for the huge mess.The airline has attributed the disruption to the “compounding effect of multiple factors which coincided in lesser or greater measure” in an “unfortunate and unforeseeable confluence”. It listed these as minor technical glitches; schedule changes linked to the start of the winter season; adverse weather conditions; increased congestion in the aviation system; and implementation of and operation under the updated crew rostering rules (FDTL phase II) that came into force on Nov 1, 2025.“IndiGo notes they had been engaging with the DGCA regarding challenges in implementing FDTL phase II and were seeking variations, exemptions or extensions. The disruptions began in early Dec when the compounding factors resulted in a lower on-time network performance, which affected crew availability,” the aviation ministry said.IndiGo termed the Dec 5 large-scale cancellations, when over 1,000 IndiGo flights – almost half its daily schedule – were affected, as a “drastic measure” of “rebooting” the network “to recover stranded customers, ease airport congestion, and reposition crew/aircraft”.Meanwhile, the four-member DGCA panel probing IndiGo disruption, headed by joint DG Sanjay Brahamane, could summon CEO Pieter Elbers and COO Isidre Porqueras. This panel has been mandated to pinpoint the root cause of this disruption and will examine manpower planning, rostering and IndiGo’s preparedness to implement the new FDTL rules.