Cabinet nod to increase SC judges strength Union Cabinet on Tuesday cleared a proposal to increase the strength of the Supreme Court from 34 judges to 38, including CJI Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said a Bill will be brought in the next Parliament session The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act 1956, as originally enacted, provided for a maximum of 10 judges (excluding CJI) This was increased to 13 by an amendment in 1960, to 17 in 1977, and to 25 (excluding CJI) in 1986 A fresh amendment in 2009 further augmented the strength to 30 The last time SC judges strength was enhanced was in 2019, to 33 (excluding CJI) THRISSUR l wednesday l may 06, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Kerala CM parleys begin in Delhi KC stakes claim to post, asserts backing of 47 MLAs; party sources say public sentiment in favour of Satheesan R a j e s h A b r a h a m a n d K S Sr e e j i t h @ Kochi/ T’Puram As a triumphant V D Satheesan was accorded a hero’s welcome in Kochi on Tuesday evening, a parallel power play unfolded in New Delhi, where AICC general secretary K C Venugopal staked his claim to the chief minister’s post, asserting the support of 47 Congress MLA-designates at a meeting held at party ch i e f M a l l i k a r j u n K h a r g e ’s residence. Top sources said a decision on the new CM is most likely to be taken on May 11 or 12, and the swearing-in will be held before May 15. Venugopal joined the discussions in New Delhi, which were attended by Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary in charge of Kerala, Deepa Dasmunsi. Sources said KPCC working president A P Anilkumar and Muvattupuzha MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan proposed Venugopal’s name to the high command. A close confidant of Rahul, Venugopal has emerged as the frontrunner for the CM post. “Of the 63 newly-elected MLAs, Satheesan has the backing of 10, while Ramesh Chennithala has the support of six. The rest will back KC,” a Congress source in Delhi told TNIE. However, this figure was contested by the Chennithala and Satheesan camps, who claimed the backing of 22 and 30 MLA-designates, respectively . Congress sources said backing Venugopal risks running against popular sentiment within the party , with grassroots workers widely crediting Satheesan as the architect of the Congress’ historic victory. Congress leader V D Satheesan being accorded a rousing reception by party workers upon his arrival at the Ernakulam South Railway Station on Tuesday | A Sanesh Vijay may take oath tomorrow TN Cong meet to take call Chennai: A day after a historic victory where his party secured 108 seats in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, TVK president C Joseph Vijay has formally staked his claim to form the government. While sources said the swearing-in ceremony could take place on May 7, Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar has not yet issued an official invitation. P5 New Delhi: The Congress is actively considering a power-sharing arrangement with Vijay’s TVK in Tamil Nadu, sources said. An urgent meeting of the TN Congress Political Affairs Committee was convened at 10.30pm on Tuesday to take the final call. The announcement came soon after the Congress central leadership said it has directed the state unit to decide. P5 “The high command would do well to heed the mood on the ground before taking a decision,” a source said, pointing to Assembly the strong support for elections Satheesan, who, as leader of the opposition, set the campaign’s narrative. “If Satheesan is not rewarded for his hard work and winning strategy it will be a histor, ic blunder,” another source warned. They said key allies, including the IUML and Kerala Congress-Joseph, also back Satheesan, though they may not openly oppose the high command’s decision. “After all, it’s Satheesan who has done the hard work,” a UDF leader told TNIE. Sources said Venugopal’s organisational experience and proximity to the national leadership give him a clear ● More on P4 edge.  Shah BJP observer in Bengal Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be the BJP’s central observer for the election of its legislative party leader in West Bengal. For Assam, the party appointed Union minister J P Nadda as its central observer. Post-poll violence in Bengal A Trinamool Congress worker was killed in a clash in Birbhum district on Tuesday as stray incidents of post-poll violence were reported across West Bengal a day after the BJP’s landslide victory in the assembly elections, the police said Didn’t lose, won’t resign, says Mamata S U BHEND U MAITI @ Kolkata a day after election results showed a landslide victory for the BJP with 207 seats in the 294-member West Bengal assembly TMC supremo and out, going CM Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday refused to resign, alleging conspiracy behind her party’s drubbing. “There is no question of my resignation... I did not lose,” she said. While the TMC managed to win 80 seats, against 215 in 2021, Banerjee lost her Bhabanipur seat to the BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari. Banerjee alleged large-scale irregularities in the counting process, claiming there was deliberate delay in counting to demoralise her party cadre. She also claimed she was assaulted while visiting a counting centre. “I was kicked in the belly and back,” she said. While Banerjee’s refusal to resign has opened up a constitutional grey zone, experts point out that her term ends on May 7 and the governor has the authority to intervene. Fragile Iran truce not over yet: US A G EN C IES @ Dubai/Tehran THE fragile truce in West Asia appeared to crumble on Tuesday with the US trying to force open the Strait of Hormuz by escorting stranded tankers through the narrow waterway and Iran launching fresh attacks in response. The UAE, a staunch US ally on Tuesday said its air defences , were engaging missiles and drones from Iran for the second consecutive day On Monday an Ira. , nian drone attack caused a fire, inday juring three people at an energy installation in Fujairah, the UAE’s main oil export terminal bypassing the Strait of Hormuz. Attack on civilians On Tuesday the US military said , unacceptable: Modi two US merchant ships made it through the strait, escorted by its Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attacks on UAE navy Defence Secretary Pete Heg. port city of Fujairah that left seth said the US prefers a peaceful three Indian nationals injured, effort to escort more than 22,500 calling it “unacceptable” | P7 mariners stuck on 1,550 vessels due to the closure of the strait. While Iran denounced the US move as a ceasefire violation, Hegseth called it a ‘temporary mission’, adding the ceasefire “is not over”. Trump refused to give an example of what would trigger a truce breach, instead saying: “They know what to do, or what not to do more importantly Iran’s parliament speaker .” and top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned the US P9 that Tehran is ready to escalate the war.  67 E x p r e s s Re a d Put petty politics aside, Rahul tells partymen New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slammed his party colleagues on Tuesday for “gloating” over the Trinamool Congress’s loss in West Bengal and warned them to put petty politics aside. “Put petty politics aside. This is not about one party or another. This is about India,” he said.P8