Sukhbir Singh Badal Injured in Kirpan Attack in Nanded; University Waives Drought-Hit Students' Fees

Nanded in Maharashtra's Marathwada region dominated national headlines in October 2026 when Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal was injured in a kirpan attack during a visit to the city, even as the district grappled with drought-driven hardship that prompted Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University to waive examination fees for students from drought-affected talukas.

Sukhbir Singh Badal Injured in Kirpan Attack During Nanded Visit

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president and former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal was injured when a man attacked him with a kirpan — the ceremonial Sikh dagger — during a visit to Nanded in Maharashtra. DD News and other outlets reported the incident on October 11, 2026. Badal sustained injuries but the extent was described as non-life-threatening. The attack is significant politically: Badal had been facing internal party pressure and public criticism in recent months, and his presence in Nanded — a city with a historic Sikh connection as the site of Sachkhand Sri Hazur Sahib, one of the five Takhts (seats of Sikh temporal authority) — added layers of religious and political symbolism to the event. Security personnel at the scene overpowered the attacker and he was taken into custody for questioning. The Maharashtra Police and the Punjab government both commented on the incident, with political leaders from multiple parties condemning the attack and calling for a thorough investigation. The security arrangements around Badal during his Nanded tour were also put under scrutiny following the breach. [2]

🎓 Nanded University Waives Exam Fees for Students from Drought-Hit Talukas

Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University (SRTMU) in Nanded announced a waiver of examination fees for students belonging to talukas officially designated as drought-affected in Maharashtra's 2026 assessment. The Economic Times Education report noted that the decision was taken in response to the severe agrarian distress gripping Marathwada, where multiple talukas in the Nanded district and surrounding areas had received significantly below-average rainfall, decimating kharif crops and deepening rural household financial stress. University officials said the waiver would cover students enrolled in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes whose families were registered as drought-hit under government records. The move was applauded by student organisations in the region who noted that in previous years, many rural students had been forced to defer or skip examinations due to inability to pay fees during periods of family financial crisis. Nanded's drought response also included a prohibition on burning crop residue, which was being preserved instead as fodder for livestock that had lost grazing access, while river sand excavation enforcement was also tightened as reported by ThePrint, reflecting multi-front civic governance stress in the district. [6]

Drought Forces Nanded to Protect Crop Residue as Fodder; River Sand Smugglers Caught

Nanded district authorities took direct action to protect fodder supplies for livestock amid Maharashtra's 2026 drought by restricting the burning of crop residue across affected talukas. Rediff reported that farmers who would normally set fire to stubble after the harvest were being asked to preserve it as feed for cattle and other animals that had lost access to green pasture, as water bodies and grasslands dried up under persistently deficient rainfall. Officials from the district agriculture department conducted awareness camps in rural areas, urging farmers to bale the residue or leave it in the fields for livestock. Simultaneously, Nanded police and revenue officials cracked down on illegal sand mining operations: ThePrint reported that a truck loaded with illegally excavated river sand was seized and the driver arrested. Such operations, which damage riverbeds and water-table recharge zones, are especially harmful during drought years when every unit of groundwater matters. The combined pressures of drought-induced fodder shortage, student financial stress and the high-profile kirpan attack painted a picture of a district under considerable civic and social strain in October 2026, even as local institutions mobilised to protect their most vulnerable residents. [5]

Sources: [2] DD News · [6] ET Education · [5] Rediff