(1) TVK president C. Joseph Vijay sworn in as Chief Minister after hung assembly drama unfolds in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu’s Assembly elections resulted in a hung assembly for the first time after actor-politician Vijay’s new party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) swept polls to win 108 seats in the 234-seat Assembly, and became the single largest party by a significant margin over Dravidian majors and the State’s duopoly parties DMK and AIADMK.
Since the TVK did not have a pre-poll alliance in place despite reaching out to other parties, it fell short of the 118-seat majority. While long-time DMK ally Congress (five seats) allied with TVK later, other parties continued to remain undecided. Here are key developments in the State regarding government formation.
The DMK and its allies have expressed support for the TVK’s claim to form the government given to the Governor, calling the Governor’s refusal to allow the same without confirming requisite support as BJP’s ploy to stop TVK from forming the government. On the other hand, precedents say that it is within the Governor’s powers to seek such prima facie confirmation of party or coalition majority.
(2) Suvendu Adhikari sworn in as BJP’s first Chief Minister in West Bengal after party sweeps elections
Suvendu Adhikar was sworn in as the first BJP Chief Minister of West Bengal at a grand ceremony at Brigade Parade Grounds on Saturday (May 9, 2026). The senior BJP leader was unanimously elected the leader of the BJP Legislature Party in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the party’s top State leadership.
He has been one of the principal architects for the saffron party’s rise in the State. The BJP swept the West Bengal Assembly Elections by winning 207 of 294 seats, ousting the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), which has been at the helm under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee since 2011.
Along with Mr. Adhikari, five winning candidates of the BJP, shown in the graphic below, were sworn into the State cabinet as well.
Of the 292 winning candidates, a party-wise analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) showed that 152 of 206 winning candidates (74%) from the Bharatiya Janata Party have declared criminal cases, followed by 34 out of 80 (43%) from the All India Trinamool Congress.
In all, 65% of the elected MLAs were found to have criminal cases against them.
(3) Which party rules which State/UT: India’s changing political footprint
The results of the recently-concluded Assembly elections in four States (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Assam) and the Union Territory of Puducherry marked a shift in the political footprint of the country with changing governments in three of the five contested regions.
The maps below show the changing political landscape. At present the BJP or the NDA are governing 20 States and 2 Union Territories (Puducherry and Delhi), as compared to governing 16 States and 1 UT (Puducherry) in January 2024.
In the maps below, allies at the State-/UT-level are mentioned when either the BJP or Congress are a part of the government formed. Thus, Sikkim — which is part of the NDA — is marked as ‘Other’ as no BJP candidate has won a seat.
(4) Bengaluru has country’s highest suicide rate among metros
Bengaluru has recorded the country’s highest suicide rate among major metros
According to the National Crime Records Bureau’s Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India (ADSI) reports, Bengaluru recorded over 2,313 suicides in 2022, 2370 in 2023 and 2430 in 2024, with the city’s suicide rate remaining close to 20 per lakh population through the three-year period.
Delhi reported higher absolute suicide numbers, crossing 3,204 cases in 2024, but its suicide rate remained far lower — 9.8 — because of its much larger population base.
Mental health experts have repeatedly linked urban suicides to isolation, work pressure, migration stress, rising living costs and weakening social support systems — all increasingly associated with Bengaluru’s rapid urban expansion.
(5) Rise of cybercrimes in 2024 in the country
A total of 1,01,928 cases were registered under cybercrimes in 2024 over 86,420 such cases in the previous year.
“During 2024, 72.6% of cybercrime cases registered were for the motive of fraud (73,987 out of 1,01,928 cases) followed by sexual exploitation with 3.1% (3,190 cases) and extortion with 2.5% (2,536 cases),” the report said.
Published – May 12, 2026 11:00 am IST