Suvendu Adhikari takes oath as West Bengal CM

Rehana Khan is one of India’s few women stunt drivers. She tours the country’s fairgrounds, drawing crowds as she rips around the “Well of Death” on her motorcycle. The danger is matched by challenges to make ends meet.

Actor-turned-politician Joseph Vijay’s bid to become the next chief minister of Tamil Nadu appears to be taking shape as his party finally secured the support needed to stake a claim to power.

Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) emerged as the single largest party with 108 seats in the 234-member assembly, but fell short of the 118 needed to govern without outside backing.

The Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) on Saturday extended their unconditional support to TVK, clearing the final hurdle in the party’s bid to form the government in Tamil Nadu.

TVK already had the support of the Congress party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) and the Communist Party of India (CPI).

A recent spate of sexual violence cases in the eastern Indian state of Bihar has intensified scrutiny of the state’s law-and-order situation and renewed concerns over violence against women in India.

Police have reported multiple cases of rape, gang rape and sexual assault across Bihar in recent weeks, including:

• Buxar: A woman was allegedly gang-raped; police arrested all five accused, according to the Times of India.
• Belaganj: A woman was allegedly gang-raped; five people were arrested, the Times of India reported.
• Patna: A minor girl was sexually assaulted; police arrested two suspects while one remained at large, according to the Times of India.
• Gayaji: In April, a minor girl was allegedly gang-raped; all four accused were arrested, news website Patna Press reported.
• Amas: A minor girl was allegedly gang-raped, Dainik Bhaskar newspaper reported.
• Gopalganj: Two women were allegedly held hostage for three days and gang-raped by six men. One person has been arrested, according to Jagran newspaper.
• Nalanda: Police arrested eight men in connection with the public molestation and attempted rape of a woman, the New Indian Express reported.
• Saran: In March, a minor girl was allegedly gang-raped and murdered by five men. Police arrested one suspect, news website News Gram reported.

The incidents have highlighted persistent violence against women in India. Nationwide, 29,536 rape cases were reported in 2024, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data. The were 441,534 cases ofcrimes against women reported

What does the data show?

In Bihar alone, NCRB data for 2024 recorded:

• Rape cases: 1,165
• Cases of murder linked to rape or gang rape: 9
• Attempted rape cases: 45
• Assaults with intent to outrage modesty: 225
• Cases of sexual harassment: 62

The cases come months after an Indian court sentenced three men to death in February for raping an Israeli tourist and a local woman and killing a man near a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Bihar’s Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, from Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), earlier this month, asked the police to ensure swift action in cases of sexual violence against women and minors.

(Mahima Kapoor contributed to this entry)

An Indian sailor was killed and four others were injured after a wooden cargo dhow caught fire and capsized near the Strait of Hormuz, Indian media reported, citing government sources.

The vessel was traveling from Dubai to Yemen with 18 Indian crew members on board when the incident occurred early Friday near the strategically vital maritime route.

Seafarers’ association representatives said the dhow may have been caught incrossfire between Iran and the United States, though officials said the exact cause of the fire was still under investigation.

The deceased was identified as engine driver Altaf Talab Ker from Gujarat’s Dwarka district.

The remaining 17 crew members were rescued by a passing vessel and taken to Dubai.

The Indian government has appointed Lieutenant General NS Raja Subramani as the country’s next Chief of Defense Staff (CDS), the Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

Subramani will also serve as Secretary of the Department of Military Affairs and will assume office after General Anil Chauhan completes his tenure on May 30, 2026.

The CDS is the senior-most military appointment in India and oversees coordination among the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force.

Subramani will be the third officer to hold the post since it was created in 2019.

BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari was sworn in as chief minister of West Bengal on Saturday. He is heading theparty’s first government in the eastern state after a landslide election victory.

Governor RN Ravi administered the oath of office at a ceremony in Kolkata attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and senior BJP leaders

In the election, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ended the 15-year rule of former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) party.

After Banerjee refused to resign following her party’s poll debacle, alleging irregularities by the BJP, the governor dissolved the state assembly on Thursday.

“I have not lost … I will not tender resignation,” Banerjee told a press conference on Tuesday.

Critics have alleged that mass voter deletions after a monthslong Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise helped pave the way for the BJP.

The BJP won 207 seats in the 294-member assembly, while the TMC secured 80.

Adhikari is a former minister in Banerjee’s government, and his father served as a Union minister under former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

In Tamil Nadu, actor-turned-politician Joseph Vijay’s TVK party, which had appeared on course to form the next government on Friday after days of uncertainty, is now back to shoring up the numbers in a bid to claim power.

The past five days have seen intense political wrangling after Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) failed to immediately translate its sweeping election victory into government formation.

Governor Rajendra Arlekar said the party had not demonstrated the majority support needed to stake a claim to power. Despite precedents to the contrary, the governor maintained that proving majority support was “essential” for government formation.

On Friday, three parties — the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) — were reported to have extended support to TVK, giving the party the requisite numbers to form a government.

However, as of Saturday, there was still uncertainty over the reported support.

What do the numbers say?

• Seats in the Tamil Nadu Assembly: 243
• Seats won by newcomer TVK: 108
• Seats required to form a government: 118
• TVK seats with the support of the Congress party: 113

Meanwhile, Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) leader TTV Dhinakaran alleged that a letter of support from his party’s legislator had been forged by the TVK.

Hello!

This is Shakeel from DW’s New Delhi studio, bringing you the latest news from across India.

You might think political wrangling would take a back seat over the weekend, but that is not the case. In Tamil Nadu, Vijay is working to shore up the numbers for his TVK party in a bid to claim power.

In West Bengal, the BJP is cementing its dominance with the swearing-in of new Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the ceremony.

Meanwhile, in Bihar, a recent spate of gang rapes has put the spotlight on the state’s law-and-order situation.

For all this and more, stay tuned to our India live blog.