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The Jadavpur seat was, for decades, held by the communists. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, former chief minister of West Bengal, used to be the MLA from here between 1987 and 2011. Even after Banerjee replaced him as chief minister, this seat changed hands between her party and the Communist Party of India (Marxist). In 2021, the Trinamool had won this seat while the CPI(M) had finished second. The BJP candidate, who received 53,139 votes, came in third. On the ground in Jadavpur last month, Scroll found that the competition seemed to be largely between the CPI(M) and the Trinamool this time too. The SIR excluded more than 56,000 names in total from the rolls in Jadavpur. The BJP won it for the first time on Monday with a margin of less than half that number: 27,716 votes. Its vote tally in Jadavpur surged past 106,000. In contrast, the sitting MLA from the Trinamool received about 20,000 fewer votes than the last time. The CPI(M) got a little over 41,000 votes. On Monday, many Trinamool strongholds were breached. Some of the party’s most recognised leaders lost from what Bengal watchers consider Trinamool pocket boroughs. Read the full analysis of West Bengal election results on Scroll.in (LINK IN BIO) #Westbengalelections2026 #westbengalelectionresult2026

The Bharatiya Janata Party is not only set to form the government in Assam for a third consecutive time, but on Monday it also notched up its best electoral performance in the state – it was poised to win 82 of the total 126 seats. The saffron sweep was backed up by its allies, with the Bodoland Peoples Front and the Asom Gana Parishad set to win 10 seats each, according to the Election Commission’s website at 5 pm. In contrast, the footprint of the Congress has shrunk drastically since the 2021 Assembly elections, when it won 29 seats. The party has been decimated in almost all areas of the state, with all but one of its 19 leads coming from seats with a significant Muslim voter count. Read Rokibuz Zaman's full analysis of the results on Scroll.in [Link in Bio] #assam #assampolls2026 #bjp #himantabiswasarma #hinduconsolidation #assamwelfareschemes

Till the 1980s, it was difficult to imagine a Hindutva party in power, given the importance of secularism in Indian political life. But over the past four decades, the Bharatiya Janata Party has worked assiduously to wipe out this ideology. Given the election results on Monday, something similar can now be seen to be happening with federalism. In West Bengal, the BJP has, at the time of writing, taken a significant lead over the Trinamool Congress, a party that identifies with Bengali nationalism. And while the Hindutva party is not a major player in Tamil Nadu, it would be chuffed that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has seen crushing defeat. More than any other force, the DMK is the progenitor of federalism and state-based linguistic identity in India. Continue reading Shoaib Daniyal's full analysis on Scroll.in [Link in Bio] #assemblyelections #assemblyelectionsresults #federalism #dmk #trinamoolcongress #hindutva #bjp #stateelections

Scroll’s occasional diarist curates the headlines in the first fortnight of May. On May 3, NIA seeks documents from Mumbai Press Club after gathering attended by Bhima Koregaon accused – Scroll. The National Investigation Agency on Friday sought documents from the Mumbai Press Club related to a social gathering that was attended by some of the persons accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case who are out on bail, the Mumbai Press Club said in a statement emailed to members. On May 7, India’s new sports policy for Pakistan: No to bilateral ties, yes to global events – The Indian Express. In an Office Memorandum issued on May 5, the Sports Ministry stated that ‘Pakistani players and teams will be able to participate in multilateral events hosted by India,’ while also signalling a more supportive visa regime for athletes, officials and international federation representatives. The policy draws a firm line between bilateral and multilateral sport. Continue reading on Scroll.in (Link in BIO) #fortnight #newswrap

The 2026 International Booker Prize shortlist of six novels promises an expansive reading experience. From five languages and four continents, the shortlist is a reasonable starting point for discovering the many remarkable works of translated fiction that are published in the UK (and elsewhere) throughout the year. The books were originally published in these five languages: Bulgarian (She Who Remains), French (The Witch), German (The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran; The Director), Mandarin Chinese (Taiwan Travelogue) and Portuguese (On Earth As It Is Beneath). Two debut novels (The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran; She Who Remains) feature alongside a novel that was published in its original language 30 years ago (The Witch). Author/translator pairings who have previously been nominated for the International Booker Prize are The Director’s Daniel Kehlmann and Ross Benjamin (shortlisted in 2020) and The Witch’s Marie NDiaye and Jordan Stump (longlisted in 2016). Translator Ruth Martin of The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran was longlisted in 2020. Five of the six authors and four of the six translators are women. The shortlist reminds us once again that when literary awards are opened up to languages from around the world, they automatically become diverse and inclusive. Continue reading Sayari Debnath's piece on Scroll.in (Link in BIO/IG Stories) #InternationalBookerPrize2026 #shortlist #womenwriters #literaryawards #thenightsarequetintehran #shewhoremains #thewitch

When we think of Delhi, we think of infrastructure, money, and images of the metro snaking through the city. Hives of humans densely populate this ant of a capital with their comings and goings. Yet there is an undeniable expanse of flora and fauna that breathes alongside its people. Against this backdrop, the city is wild for many reasons. Delhi is many things at once. In the late 2000s, biologist Neha Sinha had just graduated and was working as a journalist in Delhi. Five years in, she realised it wasn’t for her, she wanted to work in conservation. “I was focusing too much on negativity,” she said. “I was only reporting what was wrong in the world but I wanted to be part of the solution.” Almost two decades later, she works with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in New Delhi. Her new book, Wild Capital: Discovering Nature in Delhi, takes on the remarkable task of translating Delhi’s biodiversity to its readers. She writes that she wants to “revel in their non-verbal sense-scape. I must translate what they try to tell me.” What stands out is her awareness that nature has its own agency; she never imposes a rigid meaning upon it, and so her own childhood memories become a tool to resist universality and grant that agency to the natural world. Wild Capital begins with a kind of unknowing, a bildungsroman of a little girl deeply tethered to the landscape she grew up in, especially her garden. She takes us on a journey of her escapades in the wild city. Scroll spoke with Sinha while birdwatching in Sanjay Van when the semal trees were in full bloom. Continue reading Pranavi Sharma's interview with Neha Sinha on Scroll.in (Link in BIO/IG Stories) #ecology #naturewriting #nehasinha #wildcapital #biodiversity #climatechange #conservation #interview

The Union government has told the Delhi High Court that non-governmental organisation Oxfam India was found to be involved in “a negative and malicious campaign against the Assam tea industry” and was a “probable instrument of foreign policy”, The Indian Express reported on Saturday. In its submissions to the court, the Union home ministry alleged that inquiries by central agencies and the Central Board of Direct Taxes found that the NGO was found violating provisions of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. It was purportedly indulging in “activities detrimental to the national economic interest” by entering into an “agreement with another association and funded it to mobilise communities against the coal industry with help of local unions”. In its submissions to the court on Thursday, the ministry alleged that Oxfam India “was found to be corresponding with foreign governments and multilateral organisations in order to put pressure on the Government of India”. Read more on Scroll.in (Link in BIO) #Oxfam #Assamteaindustry #FCRA

Anand Radhakrishnan, known as Anand RK, was already a name to reckon with before the honour of 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary: conjurer of jazz-haunted nightmares, and a draftsman who can switch from the rain-slicked gullies of Mumbai to the outer reaches of a post-apocalyptic radio station without ever losing his grip on the emotional weather inside a panel, he was the first Indian to win an Eisner Award in 2021. The Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary was instituted only in 2022 to accommodate long-form visual reportage. But it has already built a distinctive record: it has honoured graphic investigations into state oppression, data visualisation that maps billionaire wealth, visual essays on incarceration, and editorial cartoons so fearless they cost a veteran her job. That Anand, working from a home studio in Mumbai, sits comfortably in such company says much about the breadth of the career he has built. It also speaks to the steady, under-documented arrival of a generation of Indian artists in the bloodstream of American comics. The comics writer Ram V saw Anand’s early work online in 2015 and reached out. The partnership that followed has been compared by Anand to musical improv. “Having been one of Anand’s earliest collaborators, what was apparent even then was the honesty and authenticity of voice that is ever present in his work,” said Ram. “In an age of pop culture-driven ubiquity, Anand’s narrative art continues to have an earnestness in its way of looking at and representing the world, its people and their truths.” Continue reading Arunava Banerjee's (@haroonava ) piece on Scroll.in (Link in BIO/IG Stories) #digitalarrest #cybercrime #cyberfraud #pulitzerprize #investigativejournalism #graphicstorytelling #anandrk

The Bharatiya Janata Party government in West Bengal has decided to conduct a re-verification of all caste certificates issued in the state since 2011 on account of allegations of large-scale irregularities during the tenure of the previous Trinamool Congress regime, PTI quoted an official as saying on Friday. The official added that the State Backward Classes Welfare Department on Friday issued letters to district magistrates across the state directing them to begin the re-verification process. The order will cover about 1.6 crore certificates issued over the past 15 years, The Times of India reported. The order on Friday said that the “authenticity and genuineness” of several certificates had been challenged by various quarters. The re-verification of the caste certificates will be carried out by the respective issuing authorities as per the prevailing norms, the newspaper quoted the order as saying. Any certificate found to have been issued improperly will invite legal repercussions and strict action, it added. State Tribal Development and Backward Classes Welfare Minister Kshudiram Tudu told PTI that several fake and irregular SC, ST and OBC certificates had been issued during the previous TMC government. Read more on Scroll.in (Link in BIO) #WestBengal #KshudiramTudu #TMC #castecertificates #reverification

In 1897, authorities in Ottawa established the Canadian National India Famine Fund to raise money for victims of famine in India. “There has been consultation between the Governor-General and the Dominion Cabinet with regard to the best mode of evoking and transmitting further practical sympathetic help on the part of all Canada for the relief of the present dire distress in India,” Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier said in January 1897. Relief funds were also collected in Canada during the Indian famine of 1899-1900, which claimed more than four million lives. Continue reading Ajay Kamalakaran's piece on Scroll.in (Link in BIO/IG Stories) #canada #india #history #colonialhistory #britishempire #indianhistory #canadianhistory #empire #famine #indianfamine #wilfridlaurier

The West Bengal Police on Friday filed a first information report against Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee for allegedly provocative speeches he made during campaigning for the Assembly elections, including alleged threats directed at Union Home Minister Amit Shah, India Today reported. The FIR was based on a complaint filed by a man identified as Rajib Sarkar on May 5, a day after the election results were announced, at the Baguiati Police Station. His complaint alleged that Abhishek Banerjee made inflammatory remarks during campaign events held between April 27 and May 3. The speeches made by the TMC’s national general secretary promoted enmity and disturbed public tranquillity, his complaint alleged, adding that it also included threats directed at the Union home minister. Speaking to The Indian Express, Sarkar said that Banerjee “used strong language, challenging Amit Shah to face the public without central security after the election results, and claimed that the Trinamool Congress would finish the game that he alleged was started by the BJP”. Read more on Scroll.in (Link in BIO) #AbhishekBanerjee #TMC #pollcampaign #AmitShah #WestBengal #BJP

The Tamil series Exam on Prime Video poses its knottiest challenge in its very first episode. A Deputy Superintendent of Police is kidnapped before she assumes her new posting, replaced by a woman who looks nothing like her. Viewers must swallow this conceit if they are to persist with the show. Over seven episodes, writer-director A Sarkunam reveals the mechanics of both the scam and Jhansi’s investigation. Backed by creative producers Pushkar-Gayatri, Exam derives its suspense not from Maramalli’s kidnapping but from Jhansi’s precarious position. Exam could have made its points in fewer episodes. The performances are serviceable rather than polished, creating just enough engagement to move to the next tension-filled incident. Continue reading Nandini Ramnath's review on Scroll.in (Link in BIO) #exam #primevideo #ASarkunam #tamilseries