The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction created by late Ajit Pawar is witnessing certain traumatic developments over the past fortnight with top leaders Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel at the centre of the controversy. Now led by Pawar’s widow Sunetra, the suspense over the future of Tatkare and Patel is repeatedly in question. According to the documents submitted to the Election Commission earlier, Patel is no longer the working president of the party. Sunetra, Maharashtra deputy CM, has tried to defuse the tension by declaring that all will be well soon and every misunderstanding will be removed. Nonetheless, at a meeting of senior party leaders held on May 26 at her official residence, Devgiri, fireworks were galore, some party workers have claimed. According to them, Tatkare was most outspoken and demanded to know why he and Patel were isolated when the party was passing through a crisis following Ajit Pawar’s death in a plane crash. Tatkare maintained that he and Patel were instrumental in installing Sunetra as party chief. Despite this, the duo had to face unfair criticism from within the party, he lamented. Though he was in Mumbai, Patel was not present for the May 26 meet, in which OBC icon Chhagan Bhujbal tried to calm the atmosphere by appealing to all to forget the bygones. But Tatkare was not placated. There is a feeling of uneasiness in the party since election for the 17 seats of the state legislative council is around the corner but that matter is almost sidelined due to the internecine clashes. The tension in the NCP (Ajit) is palpable and concerns are raised about its future.

A massive racket to issue birth certificates has come to light following a complaint filed by former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya. The racket reportedly involves over 87,000 bogus records issued between 2024 and 2026. As it may have national security repercussions, investigations have been launched by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). So far, these have revealed that the officials concerned allegedly bypassed the mandatory Central government portal to manipulate a defunct internal system. The fraudulent birth certificates were flagged as being generated through an unauthorized SAP system rather than the official Civil Registration System (CRS). The racket was mostly operative in the M East ward (Govandi and Deonar) and Malad (Malvani) areas, previously under scrutiny for sheltering illegal immigrants. A SIT led by the Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) was established on 5 May 2026, to investigate the perpetration. At least three Medical Officers of Health (MOH) have been suspended by the BMC and FIRs have been registered against some former officials for approving certificates without verification. Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde directed the BMC to cancel all such illegal certificates and initiate criminal cases against those officials involved. The scammers exploited technical gaps by continuing to use an old SAP system that lacked the security protocols of the newer CRS portal, allowing unauthorized “corrections.” Somaiya has announced that a special meeting will be held soon with the state government’s health authorities regarding this issue.”Bangladeshi immigrants are obtaining these birth certificates online by using forged documents, he has charged.

For once it was senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi who emerged as the mover and shaker in Karnataka politics as she came to taking the right call. She took the initiative of calling off Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah’s bogey that majority of the 137 Congress MLAs were backing him. She made it clear that there would have to be a regime change in Karnataka, no matter what. This tough message could not be conveyed to Siddaramaiah via her son Rahul Gandhi or AICC Gen Secretary K C Venugopal. She was clear that the promise to install deputy CM D K Shivakumar as Karnataka CM in this assembly had to be kept. She also made it clear that troubles that DKS had endured for the sake of the party — he was arrested in a money-laundering case in 2019 by the ED and was lodged in Tihar Jail. That was enough to prove his loyalty and commitment to the party. He has also been looking after son-in-law Robert Vadra’s realtor interest in Bengaluru. For these reasons and more DKS had to be rewarded. Party sources said Sonia was also firm that if any change in the CM were “to affect the Congress prospect in 2028 Karnataka assembly elections”,  the party leadership should not be unduly worried.  This message somewhat disturbed party stalwarts. But then it was this big push from Sonia that got the Congress to make the big move on Siddaramaiah. Of course, it is not clear if Siddaramaiah will accept a role in Delhi as Rajya Sabha LoP. He had out right refused a deputy CM role for his son Yathindra in the next govt. It is not clear what will be Mallikarjun Kharge’s role? Will he just remain Congress President and a Rajya Sabha MP?

There is a lot of speculation about who will Tamil Nadu chief minister Joseph Vijay send as his first member to the Rajya Sabha as the Election Commission has announced the by-elections for the lone Tamil Nadu seat vacated by former AIADMK minister C V Shanmugam after he won the Assembly elections. TVK is expected to win the seat comfortably.  Speculation is that Vijay is most likely to make a pick between his two political advisors – Vishnu Reddy and John Arogyasamy. Vijay desperately needs a person in Delhi to interact with the Centre. His choice will be firmed up when he visits the national capital for the first time on May 28 to call on PM Modi and other Union Ministers. Last date for filing nominations is June 8. TVK which currently has 107 MLAs is the single largest party, with support of 22 rebel AIADMK MLAs. Four AIADMK MLAs have resigned are hoping to seek re-election on a TVK symbol; this could increase TVK’s numbers in the assembly. The Congress is not happy with the TVK’s this approach of augmenting its numbers. At the same time, the Congress is keen to augment its own presence in the Rajya Sabha and hopes Vijay will allot the Rajya Sabha seat to it. If TVK allots the seat to the Congress, the party’s next chance to enter Rajya Sabha independently will only come in 2028 when six members from the state retire. Rahul Gandhi’s aide Praveen Chakravarty has been hoping to make an early entry into RS even it is only for two years. Of course, these issues Vijay will perhaps thrash out when he calls on Sonia and Rahul Gandhi at 10 Janpath on May 29.

Incumbent 1998 batch IPS officer Odisha DGP YB Khurania is set to retire on August 31. Who will succeed him? Going by the Supreme Court’s directive, the Odisha government has already sent sent 21 short-listed names to the UPSC to fill up the administrative vacuum. The rumours doing the rounds is that Sudhanshu Sarangi and RP Koche who also holds rank of DGP are the strong contenders. Besides, names of ADG Sanjeeb Panda head of anti-naxal operations and Yashwant Kumar Jethwa, Director Vigilance are also being discussed. Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi will take the final decision after discussing with his trusted official advisor Prakash Mishra a BJP leader and former retired CRPF DG. Khurania’s claim to fame now is that he has made Odisha officially free of active Left-Wing Extremism. Majhi government is saddled with a crisis of filling the 32,000 police vacancies. Out of this, 20,000 constables and Sub Inspectors will be direct recruitment from the market. The police manpower crises is so acute that it is learnt that the State government may opt to recruit 800 ASI/SI’s on contractual basis henceforth.

When Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah received a call from the Congress high command to visit New Delhi on May 26, it brought a lot of cheer in Congress top brass in the state. It was felt the high command was finally providing clarity on the leadership dispute between Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar (DKS). Siddaramiah’s visit to Delhi reignited a state Cabinet reshuffle and transition of power. He was informed about the meeting by AICC General Secretary (org) K C Venugopal. He dismissed as speculation his visit to Delhi as “an imminent leadership transition”. Though there was buzz that he was being called for a Cabinet reshuffle, party sources were still hoping that there would be some change; a new CM, possibly DKS aided and assisted by 3-4 deputy CMs. Of course, sources close to the Sidda camp felt the CM will resist it by pushing for Parameshwara, a Dalit as CM. Congress sources were hoping that DKS could pull off what veteran BJP leader B S Yediyurappa had managed in 2019 with three deputy CMs. “From CM’s son to Kharge’s son, our list of deputy CM hopefuls is quite large”, said a party source. It is possible, Siddaramaiah is being called for deliberations on the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. Given its legislative majority, Congress is comfortably positioned to win three of the four seats heading into the polls. Four Rajya Sabha vacancies have risen upon the completion of the terms of AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, Janata Dal (Secular) supremo H D Deve Gowda and BJP MPs Iranna Kadadi and K Narayana. While the Congress will certainly re-nominate Kharge seat, the BJP is likely to re-nominate the former PM. Meanwhile, there is much speculation that the Congress may bring in former MLA Dr Anjali Nimbalkar into the Rajya Sabha. A physician, she is much remembered for saving the life of an American passenger last year on Goa-Delhi flight.

Post election rout, defeats and shock outcomes quickly turn into licking the wounds’ wake, often a motivational catharsis to get back the lost power. In Tamil Nadu the DMK’s rout is particularly powerful, a body blow that could take years to mend. The DMK’s first family is adept at rising from the ropes to fight back viciously. On May 23, Udhayanidhi Stalin called a Youth Wing meeting under the guidance of his father M K Stalin, who is still recovering from his personal defeat at his pocket borough Kolathur. Udhayanidhi and his brood went hammer and tongs at the Congreve turncoats, calling them backstabbers and time servers with greed as the main propellant. Stalin recalled that “for years the DMK had carried the Congress burden on its back, but did not expect to be ditched like this with no gratitude. The greed for power without any hard work on the ground, riding on our back is a typical trait”. The father-son duo also highlighted that the three other parties that gave support, did so after taking the cue from the DMK. Udhayanidhi also spoke about his party cadres scrambling for booking tickets … air, train, bus to reach Chennai on vote counting day…but the so-called allies of the ruling party were busy booking resorts. A mere 17 lakh votes cost the DMK serious harm and body blow. The Congress, used to riding piggyback on the DMKs back for over a decade now did a lightning ditch and eased into power. Was this the ultimate Et Tu Brutus moment for Stalin?

Much stock taking, brutal analyses and self-searching has happened post election results in Tamil Nadu. Rightly so, as this electoral outcome has wrought severe personal loss to many DMK ministers, the party power considered invincible, wiped out. Most striking, the Dravidian Model of a 60-year stranglehold has been voted out to give way to new youthful energy and change. Even as the old cool veshti-clad guard hold hot tempered meets, Dr P Thiaga Rajan or PTR, the Madurai-based strong man, highly educated, work experience of US mega Corps, who never gave cash for votes was defeated by TVK’s Madhar Badhurudeen, a 10th pass. Now, PTR has authored a tell it all four pages document …his interpretation of the well-known Cultural Lag theory of American sociologist William Ogburn…society, polity and culture often lag behind fast paced technology change that society yearns to adopt and adapt. PTR warns that the extensive propaganda of DMK and others stuck to an outdated model of status quo are no longer relevant. The 2026 election was driven, inundated by Instagram reels targeted at Gen Z who literally overpowered voting elders to vote for the Tamil film superstar Vijay’s party. The bipolar era of the two Dravidian parties is over. If Vijay had garnered 15 % of the votes it was the fire alarm blaring for the two…if he weaned away25%, it would have been the last election for the existing powers …but 35% sounded the death-knell. “I was shocked by this percentage. Now we need to learn new skills. TN is fast moving into the $1 trillion economy, which not many countries can even boast about.” PTR announced a temporary break, walking away from the embers of the old reality. He has a busy schedule of overseas presentations.

Soon after returning from his 5-nation foreign tour PM Modi on May 21 chaired a marathon meeting of the Union Council of Ministers at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. The high-level meeting, which began around 5 pm, lasted nearly four and a half hours and focused on governance reforms, administrative efficiency and the government’s long-term “Viksit Bharat 2047″ vision. Ministers whose departments disposed of files at the fastest pace were specially highlighted during the review exercise. Of course, while wrapping up the discussions PM Modi didn’t want the ministers to rest on their laurels. He told ministers that the time had come to focus on the future instead of revisiting past achievements. Emphasising on “Viksit Bharat 2047″ as national commitment, he directed ministers to ensure quicker decision-making and reduce bureaucratic delays. A key highlight of the meeting was that for the first time the high-level ministerial meeting organised by the PMO struck an austerity note. Endless cups of chai and bottled mineral water were of course served. What was missing were the usual round of snacks — biscuits and cashew nuts Imagine having endless cups of chai through the four hours. Ministers who were hoping that the meeting would end up with a dinner with PM Modi were clearly in for a shock. They didn’t expect PM Modi to administer a dose of austerity on his own Council of Ministers. Perhaps, PM Modi must have been aware that the ministerial meeting was being held amid the conflict in West Asia, rising fuel prices and the government’s efforts at mitigating these challenges. On May 11, PM Modi had appealed to the people to save the country’s foreign exchange reserves by cutting down on the use of fuel, postponing foreign travel and purchases of gold. He must have thought it is best to begin at home.

Maharashtra is rapidly emerging as India’s foremost energy powerhouse, backed by massive investments, strong industrial demand and an ambitious clean-energy transition. According to the Central Electricity Authority, Maharashtra’s total installed power capacity crossed 60,900 MW by February 2026, making it one of the country’s largest energy-producing states. Renewable energy alone accounts for over 31,600 MW, including nearly 19,364 MW of solar capacity, 5873 MW of wind power and significant hydro and biomass generation. The state has also unveiled an aggressive roadmap to meet 65% of its electricity demand through renewable energy by 2035-36. Thus, Maharashtra aims to create nearly 100 GW of renewable capacity along with large-scale battery and pumped-storage infrastructure. Its biggest landmark step is the recent Rs 6.5 lakh crore nuclear energy agreements signed with major companies such as Reliance Industries, Adani Power and NTPC Ltd. These projects alone are expected to add 25,400 MW of new power generation capacity and create more than 1.23 lakh jobs. With expanding thermal, solar, wind, hydro and nuclear sectors, Maharashtra is uniquely positioned to become India’s leading state in reliable, diversified and future-ready energy generation, strengthening its march towards a trillion-dollar economy. While Gujarat and Rajasthan currently lead in overall and renewable installed capacity, Maharashtra’s recent infrastructure push aims to fundamentally reshape its energy dominance. The state has rolled out an overarching plan to scale its total generation capacity 81,000 MW by 2030, drastically increasing the share of green energy.