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Date: 29th May, 2026
Shock, Shift & Shake-hands: From Kerala, Karnataka To TN, Is Congress Catching The Southern Express Again?
The Fact: Causing a major power transition on Wednesday, Siddaramaiah resigned as Karnataka’s CM. His exit has now paved the way for Deputy CM DK Shivakumar to take the post almost three years after Congress came to power in the Southern state. This shift marks the end of a long-running leadership tussle in the state between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar. Anticipation of Siddaramaiah's exit began earlier this week, when he was invited to Delhi by the party's leadership for a meeting.
The Context: As per sources, the party wanted a change and a younger face at the helm, which led to the veteran's resignation, who will be turning 80 and had already refused to re-run in the next assembly elections. Thursday morning, Siddaramaiah held a breakfast at his residence with other party workers, including Shivakumar. Photos from the breakfast went viral, in which Shivakumar is seen touching the veteran's feet. A visibly emotional Siddaramaiah has said that he will not accept a Rajya Sabha seat but will remain active in the state’s politics. Back in 2023, both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar were considered strong contenders for the CM post. Siddaramaiah was viewed as a strong leader capable of generating the masses’ support, being an AHINDA face. Shivakumar, on the other hand, was known for rebuilding Congress's organisation, which led to the party's comeback in the state.
The Peek Insight: For years, one of Congress’s biggest criticisms was that it often confused loyalty with strategy. Leadership transitions were delayed, regional satraps were accommodated indefinitely, and alliances were maintained long after their electoral utility had faded. The last few weeks suggest that a different approach may be emerging. In Karnataka, the party has operationalised a delicate power-sharing arrangement between Siddaramaiah and D.K. Shivakumar rather than allow factional tensions to fester. In Tamil Nadu, it has shown a willingness to explore new political equations with TVK, even if that means dumping long-standing ties with the DMK. And in Kerala, the elevation of V.D. Satheesan over figures seen as closer to the high command signals a greater emphasis on local political realities than central preferences. Viewed together, they point to a Congress that may finally be embracing realpolitik over political caution. The larger question is whether the Grand Old Party is finally rediscovering the ability to take radical decisions in the ‘jo jeeta vahi sikandar’ kind of politics unleashed by the BJP?
Running On Fumes: As India Eyes E30, Motorists Foot The Bill For The Ethanol Dream?
Image Courtesy: India Today
The Fact: A LocalCircles survey of over 50,000 respondents across 301 districts found that 1 in 2 owners have reported reduced fuel efficiency since E20 became the national default in April 2025. These were reported in petrol vehicles purchased in 2022 or earlier. A further 29 per cent report unusual engine wear, fuel-line deterioration, or carburettor damage. While the government estimates a 1-6 percent mileage decline, independent surveys indicate real-world losses of 10-20 percent in older vehicles.
The Context: India mandated E20 petrol, a 20 per cent ethanol blend, nationwide in April 2025, advancing its original 2030 deadline. Ethanol, which has a lower energy density than petrol, is inherently less fuel-efficient. Roughly 80 per cent of vehicles sold over the past 15 years were engineered for E5 or E10 blends, rendering them incompatible with higher ethanol concentrations. Premium low-ethanol alternatives persist but remain prohibitively expensive for most consumers. On 15 May 2026, the Bureau of Indian Standards notified standards for E22, E25, E27, and E30 blends under IS 19850:2026, signalling the next phase of the blending programme, though no commercial rollout date has been announced.
The Peek Insight: The burden falls disproportionately on India's middle and working classes. These are households that depend on ageing two-wheelers and compact cars, vehicles calibrated for low-ethanol fuel as their primary means of livelihood and daily commute. Higher fuel consumption directly inflates monthly household expenditure, at a time when living costs are already elevated. Mechanics across cities report a 40 per cent surge in fuel-system failures since April 2025. In one documented case, a Chennai motorist incurred ₹4 lakh in engine repairs attributable to E20-related water contamination. With E20 now the only widely accessible grade and the state preparing the regulatory ground for E30, those who cannot afford new, compatible vehicles face an involuntary and recurring financial penalty imposed by policy, borne by the public.
A Day’s Wage, A Death Sentence: When Earning Bread Means Risking Burial In A Sewer
A Still From Our Ground Report
The Fact: In Noida's New Ashok Nagar, a 55-year-old daily wage labourer, Vinod Kumar, allegedly died after inhaling toxic gases from inside a septic tank. He, along with another man named Dharmender, was engaged in a contract to clean the eight-foot-deep tank. As per the police reports, the two were sent inside the tank without any safety gear or protective equipment that had been mandated by the government. While Vinod was declared dead on arrival in Delhi's Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, Dharmender, 34, is still fighting for his life. Our ground report on the story will be out on our YouTube channel today. You can watch it here.
The Context: Peek TV's Ground report reveals that it was Vinod's neighbour who first informed him of this contractual job. Vinod had recently lost his job of plumbing, and was engaging in such daily wage work to sustain his living. The 55-year-old lived alone with his wife, Rajni Devi, who is a heart patient and is on prescribed medications for the same. The house owner and the man who contracted Vinod Kumar for this job have been arrested by the Noida police. The owner runs a grocery store and lives in a three-storied house in the narrow lane of New Ashok Nagar, which is filled with open drains and sewage. Further investigations are underway.
The Peek Insight: Manual scavenging has been banned in India for more than a decade under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013. And, despite repeated government claims of a “manual scavenging-free India”, sewer deaths continue to expose the brutal reality. Reports suggest that every year, around 72 people die while cleaning septic tanks and sewers. And in most of these cases, no protective gear was provided. These deaths are institutional murders enabled by state apathy, municipal negligence, and a society that continues to depend on marginalised communities for these jobs. Forced to descend into toxic pits filled with human waste and poisonous gases, sanitation workers are stripped not only of safety but of dignity every single day. And unsurprisingly, the overwhelming majority of these labourers belong to Dalit communities. A nation that aspires to global leadership cannot continue to deny humanity to those condemned to clean its waste with their bare hands.
Judging The Judges: Madras High Court Says Time To Ditch The ‘Holy Cow’ Syndrome
The Fact: In an order published on May 27, the Madras High Court dismissed a plea seeking a ban on the Tamil film “Karuppu,” which was accused of portraying the judiciary in a negative light. While rejecting the petition, a division bench of Justice GR Swaminathan and Justice V Lakshminarayanan observed that corruption within the judiciary is a reality and said judges “should not be seen as holy cows”. The bench also noted that “black sheep” within the institution had been removed from service by the full court of the Madras High Court on several occasions. The bench further remarked that corruption in the judiciary is often enabled by members of the bar as well, while stressing that the High Court remains vigilant in identifying and addressing such practices.
The Context: The petitioner had moved the court to ban or regulate the movie. He had submitted that in one of the scenes in the movie, a judge had been shown as being involved in bribery and consuming drugs. He argued that such scenes were against the constitution and damaged the reputation of judges. He argued that the director of the movie, Balaji, had criticised the Indian judicial system without any application of mind. While the court agreed that the system was portrayed exaggeratedly, it also noted that it was usual in Tamil cinema to portray everything melodramatically. Calling it artistic license, the court said that an artist is entitled to present a situation in his own way. The court said that a documentary or presentation could be tested on a stricter standard, but an artistic production would be weighed on a different scale, and in such cases, the artist has greater leverage and freedom.
The Peek Insight: The recent developments surrounding the judiciary — from the NCERT textbook controversy to the Justice Yashwant Varma case and the Madras High Court’s remarks in the Karuppu film matter — collectively underline a difficult but necessary democratic principle. The judiciary, like every constitutional institution, must remain open to scrutiny. In February 2026, the Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of an NCERT chapter discussing judicial corruption, case pendency, shortage of judges, and transparency concerns within the judiciary. Following the backlash, NCERT withdrew the chapter from its website and reportedly considered revising the contentious portions. Yet, only months later, Justice Yashwant Varma’s controversy involving the recovery of huge amounts of cash from his premises triggered an in-house inquiry, political outrage, and calls for impeachment. The episode exposed how questions of transparency and accountability within the judiciary cannot simply be dismissed as attacks on the institution. It is within this backdrop that the Madras High Court’s observations in the Karuppu case become significant. These episodes also reveal an apparent contradiction within institutional responses to criticism. In a constitutional democracy, credibility cannot rest on insulation from criticism. Institutions earn public trust not by suppressing scrutiny, but by demonstrating transparency, accountability, and the ability to self-correct. The judiciary occupies immense constitutional authority and therefore cannot remain beyond public examination.
Image Courtesy: Deccan Herald
Record Breakers, Rickshaw Riders: How India Lowers The Bar After Athletes Raise It
The Fact: On May 24, Dev Meena and Kuldeep Kumar, India’s joint Pole Vaulting National Record holders, were forced to haul their poles and other related equipment in an e-rickshaw on the same day they created history at the National Senior Athletics Federation Competition at the Birsa Munda Stadium, Ranchi. The fibre-glass poles are heavy and require special handling, yet the two were left to arrange them in the congested vehicle without any external help or provisions. This instance has left many questioning India’s sporting culture and the facilities, or rather the lack of them, offered to athletes, eliciting strong reactions on social media.
The Context: Dev Meena and Kuldeep Kumar, both hailing from Madhya Pradesh, cleared the 5.45m mark to claim the National Record. However, despite ending the competition by registering the identical height, Dev Meena emerged as the gold medallist on countback, with the latter settling for silver. The two pole vaulters qualified for the Asian Games and breached the 5.25m Commonwealth Games qualification mark set by the Athletic Federation of India. Furthermore, this is not the first time the two have faced hardships in transporting their athletic equipment. Earlier this year, Dev and Kuldeep were asked either to pay a fine or to get off at Panvel station by the TTE while returning from the All India Inter-University Championships for carrying ‘steel pipes’ on the train.
The Peek Insight: These disparities lead to one inference, and that is: India is a great cricketing nation, but not a good sporting one. When the citizens of our country blame athletes for not performing well at the Olympics and other international tournaments, not many of them realise that these sportspeople do not have strong sporting infrastructure and monetary support from organisations and the Centre to make the desired results a reality. Our government offers them jobs after they achieve something, when real backing is required during the preparation stage, and when fame is not a criterion. Therefore, the sporting culture does not make pursuing any sport other than cricket a viable option in India. Despite all these difficulties, not only do these sportspersons exceed our expectations, but they also bring so many accolades to our country. But what are we, as viewers and supporters, doing for them except criticising or offering support to them on the internet, when most Indians’ attention is taken by cricket? When a local football legend like Sunil Chhetri has to appeal to the public by saying “Abuse us, criticise us, but please come watch us,” or when badminton’s Thomas Cup bronze medallist team comes home to an empty airport, it begs the question, can India ever give other games their due respect amid the extraordinary cricket craze?
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