Nearly 96 hours after assembly election results were declared across four states and one Union Territory — West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, and Puducherry — the political picture remains uneven. The path is clear in West Bengal and Puducherry, Tamil Nadu is still negotiating its coalition, and suspense persists in Kerala and Assam over who will lead the next government.
West Bengal
BJP stormed to power, ending the Trinamool Congress’ 15-year rule with a commanding 207 seats in the 294-member assembly. The TMC, which had crossed 200 seats in both 2021 and 2016, collapsed to just 80 — failing to even reach triple digits. The sharpest blow came personally for Mamata Banerjee, who lost her Bhabanipur stronghold to Suvendu Adhikari — the same leader who defeated her in Nandigram in 2021. Once a Mamata loyalist, who switched to the BJP over alleged “parivarwad”, Adhikari will be the new CM of West Bengal and will take the oath today. That is confirmed!
Tamil Nadu
Defying most exit polls, it was not the ruling DMK but debutant Vijay’s TVK that emerged as the single largest party — winning 108 seats in the 234-member assembly but falling short of the majority mark of 118. DMK was restricted to 59 seats, AIADMK to 47. Congress won five, CPI, CPM, VCK, and IUML bagged two each, and BJP managed just one. And this state proves that mandate and majority are poles apart. The TVK chief has been scrambling to collate the desired numbers over the last 48 hours, and smaller parties — who would otherwise be obsolete — are much in demand for their single-digit seats. That’s Tamil Nadu for you!
Kerala
Kerala gave a clear-cut mandate to the Congress-led United Progressive Front (UDF), marking the end of the Left rule in the state. The UDF won a total of 89 seats in the 140-member assembly. Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) was restricted to just 35 seats, while the BJP won only on three seats. But all’s not well in Kerala as well, at least the reports suggests So, three key leaders of the Congress – AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, LoP in the outgoing assembly VD Satheesan, and Chennithala – are competing for the post of chief minister and the matter is now before party ‘high command’. Wait and watch!
Assam
Just like Kerala, Assam also gave a clear mandate to the Bharatiya Janata Party, paving the way for its third consecutive term, backed by a landslide victory. In the 126-member assembly, the BJP plus allies recorded its best-ever performance, winning 102 seats, and restricted Congress to just 21 seats. In all possibility, Himanta Sarma will continue as CM with his winning streak intact, however, the official announcement is likely on May 10.
Puducherry
In Puducherry, the All India NR Congress-BJP alliance retained power, together winning 18 seats in the 30-member assembly. The opposition tally was restricted to just 6, while debutant TVK, led by Vijay, grabbed three seats in the very first attempt. N Rangaswamy has been chosen as the CM face and is likely to take oath on May 13.
