2026 in India
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following is a list of events for the year 2026 in India.
Incumbents
National office bearers
| Position | Portrait | Name | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| President of India |  |
Droupadi Murmu (Age 67) |
25 July 2022 |
| Vice-President of India/ Chairman of Rajya Sabha |  |
C. P. Radhakrishnan (Age 68) |
12 September 2025 |
| Prime Minister of India |  |
Narendra Modi (Age 75) |
26 May 2014 |
| Chief Justice of India |  |
Surya Kant (Age 64) |
24 November 2025 |
| Speaker of the Lok Sabha |  |
Om Birla (Age 63) |
19 June 2019 |
| Chief Election Commissioner of India |  |
Gyanesh Kumar (Age 62) |
19 February 2025 |
| Chief of Defence Staff |  |
N. S. Raja Subramani (Age 60) |
30 May 2026 |
| Governor of Reserve Bank of India |  |
Sanjay Malhotra (Age 58) |
11 December 2024 |
| Lok Sabha |  |
18th Lok Sabha | 4 June 2024 |
State governments
Union territory governments
| State | Lieutenant governor and Administrators | Chief Minister | Party | Political alliance | Chief Justice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands | Devendra Kumar Joshi (Lieutenant governor) |  |
|
|
T. S. Sivagnanam (Calcutta High Court) |
| Chandigarh | Gulab Chand Kataria (Administrators) | |
|
|
Sheel Nagu (Punjab and Haryana High Court) |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | Praful Khoda Patel (Administrators) | |
|
|
Alok Aradhe (Bombay High Court) |
| Delhi | Taranjit Singh Sandhu (Lieutenant governor) | Rekha Gupta | BJP | N.D.A. | Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya (Delhi High Court) |
| Jammu and Kashmir | Manoj Sinha (Lieutenant governor) | Omar Abdullah | JKNC | I.N.D.I.A | Arun Palli (High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh) |
| Ladakh | Vinai Kumar Saxena (Lieutenant governor) | |
|
|
Arun Palli (High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh) |
| Lakshadweep | Praful Khoda Patel (Administrators) | |
|
|
Nitin Madhukar Jamdar (Kerala High Court) |
| Puducherry | Kuniyil Kailashnathan (Lieutenant governor) | N. Rangaswamy | AINRC | N.D.A. | Kalpathi Rajendran Shriram (Madras High Court) |
Events
January
- 2 January – At least 14 people die and several people are hospitalised after drinking contaminated water in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.[1][2][3]
- 5 January – A magnitude 5.1 earthquake hits Assam, injuring three people.[4]
- 9 January –
- Fourteen people are killed and over 30 others are injured when a bus falls into a gorge near Nahan, Himachal Pradesh.[5]
- At least 20 people are reported killed after being attacked by a single wild elephant roaming the forests of West Singhbhum district, Jharkhand since 1 January.[6]
- 19 January –
- Nitin Nabin is elected as the National President of the Bharatiya Janata Party.[7][8]
- At least nine people are killed and 80 others are injured when a bus overturns in Latehar, Jharkhand.[9].
- 20 January – At least two people are killed in clashes after a youth's murder in Kokrajhar, Assam.[10][11]
- 21 January –
- An outbreak of Nipah virus is reported in West Bengal, with at least two cases recorded in Barasat.[12]
- A Pipistrel Virus of the Indian Air Force crashes into a pond after an engine failure in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. No injuries are reported.[13]
- 22 January – A Casspir of the Indian Army falls into a gorge in Doda, Jammu and Kashmir, killing 10 soldiers and injuring 10 others.[14]
- 24 January – A fire at a four-story building in Hyderabad, Telangana, kills six people.[15]
- 26 January – Protests break out across the country over the UGC Bill 2026.[16]
- 27 January – India and the European Union reach a free trade agreement.[17]
- 28 January – 2026 Baramati Learjet 45 crash: Five people, including Maharashtra deputy chief minister, Ajit Pawar, are killed after a Learjet 45 crashes and explodes at Baramati Airport in Maharashtra.[18].
- 29 January – The Supreme Court of India stays the implementation of the UGC Equity Regulations, 2026 citing misuse by specific groups.[19].
- 30 January – At least 25 people are killed in a fire at a Wow! Momo restaurant in Kolkata.[20]
February
- 2 February – US president Donald Trump announces a trade agreement with India that sees the reduction of US tariffs on Indian exports to 18% in exchange for India stopping purchases of Russian oil.[21]
- 4 February – Yumnam Khemchand Singh takes oath as the Chief Minister of Manipur after President's rule ends in the state.[22]
- 5 February – Eighteen people are killed in an explosion at an illegal coal mine in East Jaintia Hills district, Meghalaya.[23]
- 7 February – 8 March – 2026 Men's T20 World Cup.
- 10 February – Six people are killed after a car collides with a truck in Dausa district, Rajasthan.[24]
- 16–20 February – AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.[25]
- 17 February – A woman and her infant child are burned to death by a mob after the former is accused of witchcraft in Kudsai, Jharkhand.[26]
- 21 February – Brazil and India sign an agreement to strengthen cooperation on critical minerals and rare earth elements.[27]
- 23 February – A Beechcraft C90 air ambulance operated by Redbird Airways crashes into a forest shortly after takeoff from Ranchi during a medical evacuation mission, killing all seven people on board.[28]
- 27 February – A special court in Delhi discharges Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, K. Kavitha and 22 others in the Delhi liquor scam case.[29]
- 28 February – Twenty-one people are killed in an fireworks explosion in Vetlapalem village, Kakinada district, Andhra Pradesh.[30]
March
- 1 March – At least 15 people are killed and 18 others are critically injured in an explosion at an explosives factory in Nagpur district, Maharashtra.[31]
- 2 March – Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announce that Canada and India have agreed to a deal that would strengthen their economic partnership, in a move aimed at boosting ties after two years of strained relationship between the two countries.[32]
- 4 March – The United States allows India to buy Russian oil until 4 April.[33]
- 5 March –
- Nitish Kumar announces his resignation as chief minister of Bihar to run in the 2026 Rajya Sabha elections.[34]
- An Su-30MKI fighter jet of the Indian Air Force crashes shortly after takeoff for a training flight in Karbi Anglong district, Assam, killing its two pilots.[35]
- 7 March – The government allows the Iranian Navy vessel IRIS Lavan to dock in Kochi on humanitarian grounds amid the 2026 Iran war.[36]
- 8 March – India beat New Zealand in the final match and win the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup in cricket.[37]
- 11 March –
- Farooq Abdullah, the former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, survives an assassination attempt in a marriage function in Jammu.[38]
- The Supreme Court rules in favor of removing life support from Harish Rana, who had been in a vegetative state following a fall in 2013, marking the first time that passive euthanasia has been allowed by an Indian court.[39]
- 14 March – Sonam Wangchuk is released from jail after the government quashes the National Security Act (India) against him in aftermath of the Ladakh protests.[40]
- 16 March – At least 10 patients are killed in a fire at SCB Medical College in Cuttack, Odisha.[41]
- 18 March –
- At least seven people are killed after a short circuit at an EV charging station in Indore.[42]
- At least nine people are killed in a building fire near Palam metro station in Delhi.[43]
- 19 March – The Government of India constitutes the National Dental Commission (NDC), replacing the Dental Council of India established under the Dentists Act, 1948, to align dental education and regulation with global standards.[44]
- 19–21 March – President Droupadi Murmu undertakes a three-day spiritual tour of Uttar Pradesh, visiting Ayodhya, Mathura and Vrindavan, where she offers prayers at the ISKCON Temple and Prem Mandir, Vrindavan.[45][46]
- 23 March –
- At least five people are killed and nine people are injured in a building collapse in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.[47]
- A special court in Madurai convicts all nine police personnel involved in the 2020 Sathankulam custodial death case.[48][49]
- March 2026 – India is awarded hosting rights for the 2028 World Athletics Indoor Championships, with Bhubaneswar selected as the host city, making India the fourth Asian nation to host the event.[50]
- 24 March – A special NIA court sentences Kashmiri separatist Asiya Andrabi to life imprisonment for her involvement in terrorist activities in Kashmir.[51]
- 25 March – At least 14 people are killed and 20 people are injured in a fire following a bus collision with a lorry in Markapuram district, Andhra Pradesh.[52][53]
- 26 March – At least nine people are killed and around 30 others are injured when a bus collides with a truck and overturns in Chhindwara district, Madhya Pradesh.[54]
- 27 March – Lawmakers from the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference protest outside the legislative assembly of Jammu and Kashmir, in solidarity with Iran and against the assassination of supreme leader Ali Khamenei amidst the Iran war. Additionally, a major confrontation breaks out between INC lawmaker Irfan Hafiz Lone and BJP lawmaker Yudhvir Sethi during the protest.[55]
- 28 March – The Noida International Airport is inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.[56]
- 30 March – India says it has ended the Naxalite insurgency after home minister Amit Shah reported that most of the remaining Naxal fighters had been killed, arrested, or had surrendered following intensified security operations.[57]
- 31 March – At least eight people are killed in a crowd crush in a temple in Nalanda, Bihar.[58]
April
- 4 April – One person is killed and at least six others are reportedly trapped after a four-story hotel collapses in Anuppur, Madhya Pradesh.[59]
- 6 April –
- A special court in Madurai sentences all nine policemen accused in the 2020 Sathankulam custodial death case to death.[60]
- Telangana makes cancer a notifiable disease, and mandates one-month reporting timeline.[61]
- 7 April – 2023 Manipur violence: Two people are killed and five others are injured in protests following a bombing that kills two children in Bishnupur, Manipur.[62][63]
- 8 April – At least 60 people are injured in clashes between police and tribal villagers over a bauxite mining project in Rayagada district, Odisha.[64]
- 9 April –
- 2026 Assam Legislative Assembly election: The BJP retains its majority in the Assam Legislative Assembly.[65]
- 2026 Kerala Legislative Assembly election: The UDF wins a majority of seats in the Kerala Legislative Assembly.[66]
- 2026 Puducherry Legislative Assembly election
- 2026 Noida workers protest
- 10 April – At least 10 people are killed after a boat capsizes in the Yamuna river near Mathura, Uttar Pradesh.[67]
- 11 April –
- The India-flagged LPG gas tanker Jag Vikram crosses the Strait of Hormuz, becoming the first Indian vessel to cross the Hormuz since the Iran war ceasefire. It is expected to arrive in Mumbai on April 15.[68]
- A bus crashes into two trucks in Katihar district, Bihar, killing 13 people and injuring 30 others.[69]
- 13 April – A cement mixer truck collides with a van in Thane district, Maharashtra, killing 11 people.[70]
- 14 April –
- Nitish Kumar resigns as the Chief Minister of Bihar with Samrat Choudhary succeeding him.[71]
- 2026 Manipur bombing: At least 18 people are injured in violent protests against the killing of two children in a bomb blast in Manipur.[72]
- Thirteen people are killed in a boiler explosion at a power plant in Sakti district, Chhattisgarh.[73]
- The Uttar Pradesh government announces increase in wages of some workers following the 2026 Noida workers protest.[74]
- 17 April – The Delimitation Bill, 2026 and the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 proposing the increase in Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 850 to implement Women's Reservation Bill fails to pass in the Parliament of India due to a lack of a two third majority in the Lok Sabha.[75][76]
- 19 April – At least 23 people are killed and six others are injured in an explosion at a firecrackers factory in Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu.[77]
- 20 April – A bus falls into a gorge in Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir, killing 21 people and injuring 45 others.[78]
- 21 April – At least 13 people are killed and more than 40 people are injured in an explosion at a firecrackers unit in Thrissur, Kerala.[79]
- 23 April – 2026 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election: The TVK emerges as the single largest party in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.[80]
- 23–29 April – 2026 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election: The BJP wins a landslide majority of seats in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.[65]
- 28 April – The New Zealand–India Free Trade Agreement is signed in New Delhi.[81]
- 30 April – A boat operated by the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation capsizes in Bargi Dam, killing 13 people.[82]
May
- 9 May – The BJP's Suvendu Adhikari is inaugurated as Chief Minister of West Bengal.[83].
- 10 May – Vijay takes oath as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.[84]
- 12 May – The National Testing Agency orders the cancellation of the 2026 National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) held on 3 May, citing a leakage of test questions.[85]
- 13 May – At least 96 people are killed in rainstorms across Uttar Pradesh.[86]
- 14 May – V. D. Satheesan is elected as the Chief Minister of Kerala.[87]
Scheduled Events
- April – June – November – 2026 Rajya Sabha elections.
Deaths
January
- 2 January –
- Shyam Bihari Lal, 60, politician, MLA, Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly (since 2017).[88]
- Ashok Gajanan Modak, 85, politician, Maharashtra MLC (1994–2006) and academic.[89]
- 4 January –
- L. Ganesan, 91, politician, MP (1980-1986, 2004-2009).[90]
- Jitamitra Prasad Singh Deo, 79, historian and archaeologist.[91]
- 6 January –
- Suresh Kalmadi, 81, politician, MP (1982–2014) and president of the IOA (1996–2011) and sports administrator.[92]
- V. K. Ebrahimkunju, 73, politician, Kerala MLA (2011–2021).[93]
- 7 January –
- Madhav Gadgil, 83, ecologist.[94]
- Kabindra Purkayastha, 94, politician, MP (1991–2014).[95]
- 8 January –
- Vijay Singh Gond, 68, politician, Uttar Pradesh MLA (1980–2007, since 2024).[96]
- Meinam Bhorot Singh, 75, politician, Manipur MLA (2002–2007).[97]
- Khawlhring Lalremruata, 38, cricketer (Mizoram).[98]
- 10 January – Davinder Singh, 73, field hockey player, Olympic champion (1980).[99]
- 11 January –
- Prashant Tamang, 43, singer (Indian Idol) and actor (Paatal Lok).[100]
- Samir Putatundu, 73, politician.[101]
- 12 January – Jayashree Kabir, 73, actress (Pratidwandi, Simana Periye, Rupali Saikate).[102]
- 13 January –
- Indira Devi Dhanrajgir, 95, poet and socialite.[103]
- Bir Bhadra Hagjer, 75, politician, Assam MLA (2016–2021).[104]
- 16 January – Bheemanna Khandre, 100, Karnataka MLA (1962–1972, 1978–1985).[105].
- 18 January – Raj K. Purohit, 70, politician, Maharashtra MLA (1990-2009, 2014-2019).[106]
- 25 January –
- Sir Mark Tully, 90, journalist (BBC).[107]
- Dominic Kokkat, 93, Syro-Malabar Catholic prelate, bishop of Gorakhpur (1984–2006).[108]
- 28 January – Ajit Pawar, 66, politician, deputy chief minister of Maharashtra (since 2024).[18]
February
- 19 February – Ricky A. J. Syngkon, 54, MP (since 2024).[109]
- 20 February – Vungzagin Valte, 61, Manipur MLA (since 2012).[110]
- 23 February – Mukul Roy, 71, MP (2006–2017), minister of railways (2012), and West Bengal MLA (since 2021).[111]
- 25 February – R. Nallakannu, 101, politician.[112]
March
- 6 March – Govind Parmar, 72, Gujarat MLA (1995–2003, since 2017).[113]
- 12 March – Harimurali, 27, actor (Rasikan, Amar Akbar Anthony, Annan Thampi).[114]
- 29 March – Rahul Banerjee, 42, actor (Chirodini Tumi Je Amar, Pati Parameshwar, Zulfiqar).[115]
April
- 3 April – Prashant Bose, 82, Maoist militant.[116]
- 5 April – Mani Kumar Chetri, 105, cardiologist.[117]
- 10 April – Sonam Wangchuk, 61, military officer.[118]
- 12 April – Asha Bhosle, 92, playback singer.[119]
- 22 April – N. Bhaskara Rao, 90, MP (1998–1999) and chief minister of Andhra Pradesh (1984).[120]
May
- 5 May –
- R. B. Choudary, 77, film producer (Pudhu Vasantham, Raja, Aanandham).[121]
- Santhosh K. Nayar, 65, actor (Nishedhi, Kurishuyudham, Vasantha Sena).[122]
- 8 May – Ravi Pandit, 75, businessman.[123]
- 10 May – D. Sudhakar, 66, Karnataka MLA (2004–2018, since 2023).[124]
- 12 May – Swapan Sadhan Bose, 78, politician[125]
- 13 May – Dileep Raj, 47, actor[126]
- 14 May – Sudhangshu Seal, 81, politician.[127]
- 17 May – K. Rajan, 85, film producer (Doubles, Ninaikkatha Naalillai) and director (Unarchigal).[128]
- 19 May – B. C. Khanduri, 91, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand (2007–2009, 2011–2012), minister of road transport and highways (2000–2004), and three-time MP.[129]
