The Assembly election results on Monday delivered major upsets in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, where incumbents were routed by a mix of traditional rivals and surprise challengers, signalling a sharp churn in key regional strongholds.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi analysed the results as a civilisational and ideological turn, pointing to the “purge” of the Left which is not in power in any state in India for the first time in five decades.
At a function to celebrate the BJP’s victory in West Bengal and Assam, the PM said the election verdict marks more than a routine churn of incumbents, signaling a deeper reconfiguration of India’s political field wherein the BJP has expanded while Congress-led Opposition’s federal pillars have collapsed.
“India has summarily rejected the politics of the Left parties. But the Congress has not understood the people’s verdict. They have welcomed the Urban Naxals whose comrades have been decimated in the jungles of India. This is an India on the move and the Congress is a hinderance,” the PM said, stressing that all the parties – TMC, DMK and Congress – which voted against the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 for delimitation before women’s reservation – have been “punished by the women”.
Tamil Nadu
In Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister M. K. Stalin suffered a personal setback, losing his own seat in Kolathur, as the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) was pushed to the margins in a wave election.
The debutant Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), led by actor-turned-politician Vijay, emerged as the principal gainer, riding a surge of first-time voters and anti-incumbency sentiment.
TVK fell just short of a clear majority in the 234-member Assembly, but its dramatic debut has upended the State’s long-standing Dravidian duopoly.
At 107 seats till the time of going to press, the TVK was still short of majority in the 234-member Assembly. A social media post by Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi in which he congratulated Vijay for “TVK’s spectacular result” set the political circles abuzz about the possible composition of the next government.
West Bengal
In West Bengal, the ruling All India Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee faced a decisive defeat, with the BJP making deep inroads across regions to emerge as the dominant force.
The scale of the shift marks a watershed moment in the State’s political trajectory, ending the dominance of a powerful regional formation.
Till the time of going to press, the BJP had cornered a vote share of 45.85 per cent and was ahead or winning a whopping 208 seats in the total 293 seats for which elections were held. The incumbent TMC was at 79 seats with a vote share of 40.77 per cent.
Assam
In Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma seemed set to steer the NDA to a resounding over three-fourths majority of 102 seats with the BJP alone accounting for a simple majority of 82 in the 126-member Assembly till results last came in.
The Congress was set to be reduced to merely 19 seats with its prominent campaigner Gaurav Gogoi losing from Jorhat. The BJP had a vote share of 37.86 per cent while the Congress’s vote share was 29.80 per cent till the time of going to press.
Kerala
In Kerala, the Congress (63 seeats)-led United Democratic Front, which includes Indian Union Muslim League ((IUML with 22 seats), Kerala Congress (KEC with 7 seats), Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP, 3 seats), Kerala Congress Jacob (1 seat) and Communist Marxist Party Kerala State Committee (CMPKSC, 1 seat) accounted for a majority of 97 seats in the 140-member Assembly.
The CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front with 26 seats and its partner CPI with 8 seats was ousted, restoring the State’s familiar pattern of alternating governments. The BJP managed to win 3 seats and a vote share of about 11.42 per cent.
Puducherry
In Puducherry, the NDA alliance was headed towards a majority with the AINRC set to win 12 and the BJP four out of the total 30 seats in the Union Territory. The DMK was ahead in five seats while TVK marked its presence with two seats.
Published on May 4, 2026