LIVE | No numbers? No clarity on Vijay's swearing-in yet

LDF will overcome electoral setback, make strong comeback: Jayarajan

Senior CPI (M) leader EP Jayarajan on Friday said the party-led LDF would overcome its unexpected electoral setback in the Kerala Assembly polls and make a strong comeback after correcting its shortcomings.

In a Facebook post, Jayarajan said the scale of the defeat suffered by the Left Democratic Front in the Assembly election was completely unexpected. "We never expected such a huge setback. Kerala had witnessed exemplary governance during the last 10 years. Yet the setback happened," he said.

Referring to former Chief Minister EMS Namboodiripad, Jayarajan said that while functioning within the framework of "bourgeois democracy", lapses could occur and the CPI(M) and the Left would correct them.

"If there were any such lapses, the CPI(M) and the Left have the strength to correct them and move ahead. We will make a strong comeback by bringing back sections of people who moved away due to misunderstandings and other reasons,” he said.

Jayarajan said the communist movement in Kerala and India had not progressed through uninterrupted victories alone, but through analysing setbacks and making corrections.

Recalling political history, he said the 1957 Namboodiripad government had implemented several welfare measures but was dismissed through what he termed the misuse of constitutional provisions and democratic subversion.

M. Thambidurai says AIADMK will return to power as Tamil Nadu numbers tighten

AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP M. Thambidurai on Friday projected confidence, saying his party could return to power in Tamil Nadu as political negotiations continued. “So many discussions are going on. I cannot say anything now,” he told reporters, keeping coalition arithmetic open.

AIADMK, with 47 seats, trails TVK on 108 and DMK on 57, yet remains central in a fractured Assembly. Congress has already added five seats to Vijay’s numbers, though the bloc still sits short of a majority.

“We hope good things will happen. My party, my leader will come back,” Thambidurai said, linking the moment to public sentiment.

Meanwhile, CPI(M), CPI and VCK are weighing support, while CPI(M) leader P. Shanmugam maintained, “According to the Constitution, it is TVK that should be allowed to form the government.” If those parties align, Vijay could cross the threshold and claim power in his first electoral test in state politics today.

VCK chief Thirumavalavan to announce decision on TVK support tomorrow

VCK chief Thol. Thirumavalavan will hold a meeting with party leaders this evening and said he will announce his decision on Saturday. He also reiterated MK Stalin’s earlier statement that he will not be a hurdle to the formation of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam government.

Smacks of low political opportunism: Aiyar slams Cong's TVK tie-up

Terming his party's decision to ally with the TVK in Tamil Nadu as "dreadful", veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on Friday said it smacked of "low political opportunism" and asserted that if the move facilitates the backdoor entry of a "communal BJP" into the Dravidian state then it would prove to be the worst own goal in the history of political football.

Aiyar said he cannot imagine the fathers of the Indian National Congress blessing such a "politics of expediency".

Speaking with PTI, Aiyar said the Congress' decision to jump ship immediately after an election fought with the DMK to plunge into a relationship with the very TVK that took "us on in the 23 assembly segments we lost and the five we won only days ago", was "dreadful".

"This is an unforgivable violation of Mahatma Gandhi's 1925 maxim, 'Swaraj should be a government based on morality'," Aiyar told PTI.

In an article published in the Hindu Tamil, the veteran Congress leader asked whether Chankya has prevailed or Mahatma Gandhi in the Congress switching partners in Tamil Nadu.

"The Congress won five seats, not because of itself but entirely on the strength of its decades-old junior partnership with the DMK. Indeed, my former parliamentary constituency of Mayiladuturai proved to be such a stronghold of the DMK-led alliance, that five out of its six assembly segments voted against Vijay's TVK in favour of a galaxy of the members of the alliance with two seats going to the DMK and one each to alliance partners DMDK, IUML and the Congress," Aiyar said in his Tamil piece.

Shah arrives in Kolkata to attend BJP's legislature party meeting, swearing in of new govt

Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Kolkata on Friday morning to attend the BJP's legislature party meeting, in which its leader will be elected, and the swearing-in ceremony of the party's first government in West Bengal.

Shah was received at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, among others. In the afternoon, Shah will attend the legislature party meeting of the BJP at the Biswa Bangla Convention Centre.

On Saturday, he will be attending the swearing-in ceremony at the Brigade Parade Ground, along with PM Narendra Modi, BJP president Nitin Nabin, and the chief ministers of all NDA-ruled states.

The BJP registered a historic victory in the just-held assembly elections, ending the TMC's 15-year rule and dealing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee one of the biggest setbacks of her political career.

Governor RN Ravi dissolved the Assembly on Thursday, paving the way for the formation of the new government. 

VCK likely to back TVK as talks on support underway

TVK leader Aadhav Arjuna met VCK chief Thol. Thirumavalavan and sought support for Vijay to form the government. Thirumavalavan is reportedly demanding the post of Deputy Chief Minister, and sources say the VCK is likely to extend its support to TVK.

Left parties hold key talks as Vijay pushes to form Tamil Nadu Govt

As the Communist Party of India (Marxist) executive committee met in Chennai on Friday, parallel consultations were also underway at the Communist Party of India office, where the party’s state leadership convened amid mounting uncertainty over government formation in Tamil Nadu. Both Left parties hold two seats each in the Assembly and are expected to meet leaders of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi later in the day.

Earlier, CPI(M) leader P Shanmugam confirmed, "TVK Chief sent a letter to our party. Our State Committee meeting will be held tomorrow morning; we will make our decision in it." He added, "According to the Constitution, it is TVK that should be allowed to form the government."

The CPI, in a separate statement, said, "It is not appropriate for the Governor to insist that TVK prove its majority before the swearing-in ceremony." With Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam holding 108 seats, support from smaller allies could decide the government.

D Raja says Governor should invite TVK to form government

CPI general secretary D Raja said the Left parties and VCK believe the mandate in Tamil Nadu favours TVK as the single-largest party. He said the Governor should invite TVK to form the government and allow it to prove its majority on the Assembly floor instead of creating hurdles through discretionary powers.

Family of injured driver in murder of Suvendu's aide seeks exemplary punishment

The family of Buddhabeb Bera, the driver injured in the shooting that killed BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari's close aide Chandranath Rath, demanded exemplary punishment for those responsible and urged the new government to ensure such incidents do not happen in West Bengal.

Rath was shot dead in Madhyamgram near Kolkata on Wednesday night, triggering a political storm in the state. Bera, who was driving the vehicle at the time of the attack, sustained gunshot wounds and is currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital.

Family members said they learned about the incident through television and immediately left for Kolkata. "We came to know from TV reports that my nephew had been shot. We still do not know who carried out the attack or why it happened," Buddhabeb's uncle Biswajit Bera said.

"Our only wish now is that he recovers and returns home safely," he added.

Buddhabeb, 25, hails from Majnaberia village in the Chandipur police station area in Purba Medinipur district.

BJP legislature party meet to elect new West Bengal CM

The BJP legislature party is scheduled to meet in Kolkata on Friday in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to formally elect its leader, with Suvendu Adhikari emerging as the frontrunner to become the party's first chief minister in West Bengal.

The BJP registered a historic victory in the just-held assembly elections, ending the TMC's 15-year rule and dealing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee one of the biggest setbacks of her political career.

Though the BJP has not officially announced its chief ministerial choice, Adhikari has emerged as the frontrunner after securing two of the most politically significant victories -- retaining Nandigram, where he defeated Banerjee in 2021, and now wresting Bhabanipur, long regarded as the TMC supremo's pocket borough.

The swearing-in ceremony of the state's first BJP government is scheduled to be held at Brigade Parade Ground on May 9, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah, BJP president Nitin Nabin and chief ministers of all NDA-ruled states expected to attend.

Once among Banerjee's closest associates and a key architect of the TMC's organisational expansion in rural West Bengal, Adhikari joined the BJP in December 2020 and went on to become the party's most aggressive campaigner in the state.

"His sustained political battle against the TMC, organisational reach and electoral victories against Mamata Banerjee have strengthened his claim," a senior BJP leader said.

According to party insiders, Adhikari's victory from Bhabanipur by over 15,000 votes is being viewed within the BJP as both a symbolic and strategic turning point in Bengal politics.