Kerala Chief Minister Announcement Live: KC Venugopal is the frontrunner to become the Chief Minister of Kerala as several Congress leaders supported him for the post during an important meeting on Tuesday.

CLP meeting on 14th May

According to the statement issued by KPCC chief Sunny Joseph on Wednesday, the CLP meeting will be held on May 14 at 1 pm.

The announcement came as the Congress high command indicated that the suspense over the next Chief Minister of Kerala is expected to end on Thursday, almost 10 days after the assembly election results were declared.

Kerala Government News | key points

-Ever since the Congress-led faction in Kerala won 102 of the total 140 seats in the state assembly, several names have emerged as potential candidates for the post of chief minister – the most prominent: KC Venugopal, VD Satheesan and Ramesh Chennithala.

-After the meeting held at the residence of Rahul Gandhi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge in New Delhi, party general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that the leadership has completed discussions on this matter.

Ramesh told reporters, “As authorized by the CLP members in Kerala, the Congress high command has completed all discussions and the decision on who will be the next Chief Minister of Kerala will be announced tomorrow.”

-The Congress-led UDF won more than two-thirds majority in the Kerala Assembly elections, but the party has been engaged in a long-running debate on the leadership issue amid lobbying by various camps and opposition from grassroots workers.

-AICC general secretary KC Venugopal, outgoing Kerala Assembly opposition leader VD Satheesan and senior party leader Ramesh Chennithala are among the prominent names being considered for the post.

-Rahul Gandhi has held separate discussions with several Kerala leaders and former state Congress chiefs in recent days to assess the political situation before the high command moves towards a final decision.

The state has lost 32 tigers in the first five months of 2026. Poaching is under control, but electrified fencing outside core areas has emerged as a major threat to the big cat. Canine distemper virus has killed a tigress and four cubs, raising concerns KanhaFive months, 32 dead tigers and not nearly enough answers. The recent incident of death of big cats, including a tigress and her four cubs, in Kanha in Madhya Pradesh has once again put the famous tiger reserves of the state in the spotlight. However, the real story behind the increasing numbers of big cats may not be inside their protected boundaries, but outside them. Forest officials said the most recent deaths have occurred outside the main reserve areas, where growing tiger populations are increasingly clashing with human-dominated landscapes. Here, crude electric wire traps – often laid illegally to kill wild boars and other animals for bushmeat or to protect crops – are emerging as one of the biggest threats to the big cats.Poaching networks that were once linked to international wildlife trade syndicates have been largely dismantled, officials said. However, in their place, a more localized and difficult to monitor threat has spread across the state. Electric shock is now at the center of changing patterns of tiger deaths.treacherous terrainAccording to the latest tiger estimation done in 2022, Madhya Pradesh is home to 785 out of India’s total tiger population of 3,682. The state has seen the fastest growth in tiger numbers in the country, recording an increase of 49% between 2018 and 2022 – almost double the national growth rate of 24%.But although the number of tigers has increased, their habitat has not expanded at the same pace. The result, officials said, is the increasing spread of big cats into protected forests and beyond reserve boundaries. Tigers are highly territorial animals and often come into conflict with members of their own species, often forcing weaker, older or younger tigers to move out in search of new territories.As sanctuaries become increasingly overcrowded, many tigers are increasingly moving into buffer forests, agricultural areas and village outskirts in search of space. Officials estimate that about 40% of the state’s tigers now roam in areas located outside protected areas, while about 20% move through heavily human-dominated landscapes surrounded by roads, farms and power lines.

Forest officials said the pattern of tiger deaths in the state is changing due to the increasing overlap between tiger movement routes and human settlements. Nearly 80% of tiger deaths reported this year have occurred outside protected areas, with many of the carcasses recovered several kilometers away from reserve forests. Dispersion activities often bring tigers into direct conflict with villages, while they also face threats in agricultural areas where electrified wires are used illegally to deter or kill herbivorous animals such as wild boars and nilgai.Samita Rajora, MP’s chief wildlife warden, said electric shock has emerged as one of the most significant threats in these marginal landscapes. “Our analysis shows that seven tigers died this year due to electric shock, mainly from wire traps set up to protect wild meat or farm animals,” he said.Officials said many such traps involve illegal tapping of traditional 11kV power lines used for domestic and agricultural supply in villages on the fringes of forests. According to Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF) chief Ritesh Sirothia, poachers or those hunting for meat of wild animals often trap them using overhead lines using bamboo poles and create crude live-wire traps by extending the wires in the path of the animals.“When an animal comes in contact with the wire, it receives a severe electric shock, causing burns, paralysis and, in most cases, death,” Sirothia said. “Electric line tripping records become vital evidence in such cases. Whenever a person, animal or object touches a live wire, it causes the line to short out to ground, triggering tripping of the power supply. These records record the exact time, date, duration and location of the interruption, and often help establish timelines and confirm incidents of poaching.“According to officials, areas along the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve and Pench Tiger Reserve are currently emerging as particularly sensitive areas. “We are focusing on these high-risk areas and strengthening coordination with the power and revenue departments. Efforts are underway to analyze power-line trip data along with GPS locations to identify lightning strike hotspots,” Rajora said.numbers tell a storyComprehensive mortality data reflects the changing nature of threats facing Madhya Pradesh’s tiger population. In 2025, the state recorded the death of 55 tigers – meaning the mortality rate is about 7%, slightly higher than the national average of 5%, though officials said this is within ecological limits given the state’s density and growing tiger numbers.According to state forest department data, about 69% of these deaths were due to natural or accidental causes, including territorial fights, disease, age, road and train accidents and injuries sustained during conflict. At least 13 deaths involved cubs under one year of age – a category known to have a naturally high mortality rate and, therefore, is excluded from national tiger estimates.But officials acknowledge that more worrying trends lie elsewhere. Nearly one in every five tiger deaths recorded in the state last year was linked to electrocution, mainly from illegal electrical wiring. However, officials said most of these incidents did not involve evidence of deliberate tiger hunting or illegal trade of body parts. About 11% of deaths fall into the category of confirmed poaching cases – instances where tiger body parts were recovered and accused persons were identified or arrested.Officials highlighted that MP’s comparatively high detection rate of tiger deaths also shapes the numbers. Based on 2025 data, the national tiger mortality detection rate was around 54%, while MP recorded a higher detection rate of around 84%. Officials attribute this to intensive patrolling and monitoring systems that ensure that most tiger deaths occurring in remote regional divisions and buffer areas are ultimately detected and documented.Wire Traps, Deadly by DesignWhile poaching networks have weakened over the years, officials say the threat has increasingly shifted to decentralized actors – bush poachers and farmers who use crude electrified wire nets and fences to protect crops.Recent cases show how brutal and difficult to trace these deaths can be. In Seoni, a tigress died after being electrocuted by an illegal live-wire setup near a farm. Its body was dumped in a well, in what investigators suspect was an attempt to destroy evidence. Burnt wires were recovered from the spot and forensic investigation conducted under National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) protocol confirmed the cause of death to be electric shock.In another case, in Chhindwara, a radio-collared tiger shifted from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve to Satpura Tiger Reserve was reportedly poisoned and buried, while its collar was burnt to avoid identification. Investigators suspect that the murder may be linked to illegal activities, including opium cultivation, in the area. Officials also acknowledged that delays in responding to caller signals exposed flaws in surveillance systems.The risk is not new and the warnings are not new. In 2018, the then Additional Chief Secretary (Forest) and Principal Secretary of the Energy Department had jointly issued instructions to all field officers, calling for coordinated action to prevent the death of wildlife due to electric shock, including joint patrolling, monitoring of power lines and real-time response to line faults. But there has been very little change on the ground.Wildlife activist Ajay Dubey said the electricity department has been reluctant to share the responsibility. “If they had come forward for joint patrolling and immediate data sharing, the problem of electric shock could have been prevented,” he said.However, officials said preventive efforts are now being intensified through coordinated patrolling in sensitive areas, monitoring of illegal electricity connections, awareness campaigns in marginal villages and action under the Electricity Act, 2003.Danger of ‘killer’ virusIf lightning is increasingly becoming a major threat outside reserves, disease outbreaks are highlighting the risks within core habitats. Recently, the Kanha Tiger Reserve has been battling an outbreak of canine distemper virus (CDV), a highly contagious disease spread from domesticated dogs to wild carnivores. The outbreak killed five tigers from the same family – a tigress and her four cubs.In response, forest officials initiated emergency containment measures in the buffer villages adjacent to the Kanha Reserve. Around 100 dogs in eight villages have already been vaccinated, while a 2 sq km forest area linked to the outbreak has been sealed.Rajora said the department has activated a multi-layered response to prevent further spread. “Since the virus spreads through dogs, vaccination in buffer villages is important. We have initiated quarantine measures, vaccination drives and intensive surveillance in the affected landscape,” she said.Officials said water bodies inside the quarantine zone were drained, disinfected using lime and bleaching powder, and temporarily sealed to prevent other wildlife from accessing potentially contaminated sources. Forest teams have also restricted the movement of tourists and closed entry points into the area.

The previous two matches had cost RCB ₹3.15 crore through Kohli’s slot in our model. His match allocation stood at ₹3 crore across those two games, but his adjusted output had gone below zero. For a player priced and judged at the level of Kohli, the damage was sharp because the returns had not merely dried up. They had turned negative.

Against the Kolkata Knight Riders, he repaired the whole block in one night.

Kohli’s unbeaten 105 off 60 balls in RCB’s six-wicket win was worth ₹4.75 crore in our model. His match fee was ₹1.50 crore, which gave RCB a profit of ₹3.25 crore from his performance alone. The three-match equation changed completely. The two ducks had created a ₹3.15 crore loss. The hundred generated a profit of ₹3.25 crore. Across the three-game stretch, Kohli moved from a liability to a marginal positive of ₹10 lakh.

That is the cleanest measure of the rescue. One innings erased the full financial damage of two failures.

Kohli killed that danger early.

He moved to 17 off six balls by the end of the second over after attacking Vaibhav Arora. RCB ended the powerplay at 66/1, with Kohli already on 30 off 14. That opening burst changed the chase’s shape. The required rate stayed under control, the dressing room avoided panic, and KKR could not use his recent ducks as pressure fuel.

The next phase gave the innings its weight. Kohli did not turn the start into a short-impact cameo. He stretched it into control. His stand with Devdutt Padikkal gave RCB the central platform of the chase. Kohli reached his fifty off 32 balls, with RCB placed at 101/1 after 10 overs. The equation had come down to 92 off 60, large but manageable with set batters and wickets in hand.

That is where the innings became expensive for KKR and profitable for RCB.

Virat Kohli arrived in Raipur carrying more than two ducks. He arrived with a two-match monetary hole in Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s season ledger.

The previous two matches had cost RCB ₹3.15 crore through Kohli’s slot in our model. His match allocation stood at ₹3 crore across those two games, but his adjusted output had gone below zero. For a player priced and judged at the level of Kohli, the damage was sharp because the returns had not merely dried up. They had turned negative.

Against the Kolkata Knight Riders, he repaired the whole block in one night.

Kohli’s unbeaten 105 off 60 balls in RCB’s six-wicket win was worth ₹4.75 crore in our model. His match fee was ₹1.50 crore, which gave RCB a profit of ₹3.25 crore from his performance alone. The three-match equation changed completely. The two ducks had created a ₹3.15 crore loss. The hundred generated a profit of ₹3.25 crore. Across the three-game stretch, Kohli moved from a liability to a marginal positive of ₹10 lakh.

That is the cleanest measure of the rescue. One innings erased the full financial damage of two failures.

Kohli killed that danger early.

He moved to 17 off six balls by the end of the second over after attacking Vaibhav Arora. RCB ended the powerplay at 66/1, with Kohli already on 30 off 14. That opening burst changed the chase’s shape. The required rate stayed under control, the dressing room avoided panic, and KKR could not use his recent ducks as pressure fuel.

The next phase gave the innings its weight. Kohli did not turn the start into a short-impact cameo. He stretched it into control. His stand with Devdutt Padikkal gave RCB the central platform of the chase. Kohli reached his fifty off 32 balls, with RCB placed at 101/1 after 10 overs. The equation had come down to 92 off 60, large but manageable with set batters and wickets in hand.

That is where the innings became expensive for KKR and profitable for RCB.

Kohli absorbed the chase through the middle, then hit the release points at the right time. The model’s biggest scoring moment from his innings came in the 17th over when he launched Anukul Roy for six. RCB’s equation moved from 30 off 21 to 24 off 20. The required rate dropped, KKR’s defensive window narrowed, and Kohli’s match value surged.

The next major blow came against Kartik Tyagi. Kohli’s six at 17.3 overs reduced the equation from 20 off 16 to 14 off 15. At that point, the chase had slipped out of KKR’s grip.

The innings finished at 105 not out off 60 balls. RCB reached 194/4 in 19.1 overs, winning with five balls left. Kohli did not leave a tail-end scramble behind him. He completed the job.

The monetary layer then converted the innings into ₹4.75 crore of rating-adjusted worth. Against a match cost of ₹1.50 crore, Kohli generated a ₹3.25 crore profit. His recovery percentage in the match was 316.67%.

The turnaround becomes sharper when placed against his previous two games.

Before this hundred, Kohli had produced two damaging returns. In Match 50, his output was worth – ₹0.12 crore against a cost of ₹1.50 crore, resulting in a loss of ₹1.62 crore. In Match 54, his worth was – ₹0.03 crore, against the same cost, resulting in a ₹1.53 crore loss.

Those two matches left a combined loss of ₹3.15 crore. Raipur changed the ledger in one stroke.

Across the previous two matches, Kohli had cost RCB ₹3 crore and returned – ₹0.15 crore in adjusted worth. Against KKR, he cost ₹1.50 crore and returned ₹4.75 crore. The three-match block, therefore, moved to a cost of ₹4.50 crore and a value of ₹4.60 crore, leaving a net profit of ₹10 lakh.

That is the story without decoration. Kohli had been running below his cost. The century dragged the whole three-match period back into profit.

Also Read: Virat Kohli sets a new bar in Indian cricket with record-extending IPL century to all but confirm RCB’s playoff berth

The bowling match-ups also show the range of his control. Kohli took 36 off 16 balls from Vaibhav Arora, including seven fours. He scored 22 off 13 against Anukul Roy, with the key 17th-over six. He took 18 off nine from Kartik Tyagi, including two sixes. He also handled Sunil Narine without getting stuck, making 13 off 12 against him.

That spread is central to the performance. The innings did not depend on a single bad over. Kohli hit the new ball, managed the middle, and closed the chase. The value came from full-innings ownership.

For RCB, the recovery was both numerical and competitive. A player with Kohli’s salary burden cannot afford long periods of under-recovery in this model. Every low output widens the gap between cost and return. Two ducks had already dragged his season ledger into a deep negative zone. This hundred repaired the short-term damage and softened the season picture.

Virat Kohli’s two ducks had made his slot expensive. His Raipur hundred made it productive again. In one chase, he recovered the full ₹3.15 crore damage, gave RCB a ₹4.75 crore performance, and turned a damaging three-match period into a net gain.

The century not only won RCB a match. It restored value to their most scrutinised investment.

The next major blow came against Kartik Tyagi. Kohli’s six at 17.3 overs reduced the equation from 20 off 16 to 14 off 15. At that point, the chase had slipped out of KKR’s grip.

The innings finished at 105 not out off 60 balls. RCB reached 194/4 in 19.1 overs, winning with five balls left. Kohli did not leave a tail-end scramble behind him. He completed the job.

The monetary layer then converted the innings into ₹4.75 crore of rating-adjusted worth. Against a match cost of ₹1.50 crore, Kohli generated a ₹3.25 crore profit. His recovery percentage in the match was 316.67%.

The turnaround becomes sharper when placed against his previous two games.

Before this hundred, Kohli had produced two damaging returns. In Match 50, his output was worth – ₹0.12 crore against a cost of ₹1.50 crore, resulting in a loss of ₹1.62 crore. In Match 54, his worth was – ₹0.03 crore, against the same cost, resulting in a ₹1.53 crore loss.

Those two matches left a combined loss of ₹3.15 crore. Raipur changed the ledger in one stroke.

Across the previous two matches, Kohli had cost RCB ₹3 crore and returned – ₹0.15 crore in adjusted worth. Against KKR, he cost ₹1.50 crore and returned ₹4.75 crore. The three-match block, therefore, moved to a cost of ₹4.50 crore and a value of ₹4.60 crore, leaving a net profit of ₹10 lakh.

That is the story without decoration. Kohli had been running below his cost. The century dragged the whole three-match period back into profit.

The bowling match-ups also show the range of his control. Kohli took 36 off 16 balls from Vaibhav Arora, including seven fours. He scored 22 off 13 against Anukul Roy, with the key 17th-over six. He took 18 off nine from Kartik Tyagi, including two sixes. He also handled Sunil Narine without getting stuck, making 13 off 12 against him.

That spread is central to the performance. The innings did not depend on a single bad over. Kohli hit the new ball, managed the middle, and closed the chase. The value came from full-innings ownership.

For RCB, the recovery was both numerical and competitive. A player with Kohli’s salary burden cannot afford long periods of under-recovery in this model. Every low output widens the gap between cost and return. Two ducks had already dragged his season ledger into a deep negative zone. This hundred repaired the short-term damage and softened the season picture.

Kohli’s two ducks had made his slot expensive. His Raipur hundred made it productive again. In one chase, he recovered the full ₹3.15 crore damage, gave RCB a ₹4.75 crore performance, and turned a damaging three-match period into a net gain.

The century not only won RCB a match. It restored value to their most scrutinised investment.