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Informist, Monday, May 4, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The Bharatiya Janata Party wrested West Bengal from Mamata Banerjee's All India Trinamool Congress while retaining Assam by a wide margin as the results of the assembly elections held in four states and one Union territory in three phases on Apr. 9, Apr. 23 and Wednesday poured in Monday. While the victory of the Indian National Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala did not come as a surprise, in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, the newbie Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam led by actor-turned-politician Vijay Joseph Chandrasekhar thumbed its nose at a majority of exit polls and political pundits and inched closer to forming the next government in the state.

 

By 2030 IST, results for almost all 140 seats in Kerala, 126 in Assam, and 30 in Puducherry were declared. In West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, counting of votes was still going on, but the BJP and the TVK had gained an insurmountable lead in the two respective states. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam President M.K. Stalin lost the election in Kolathur to the TVK's V.S. Babu by 8,795 votes.

 

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was trailing by more than 6,000 votes in Bhabanipur against the BJP's Suvendu Adhikari, leader of the Opposition in the outgoing state assembly, after 17 of the total 20 rounds of counting. Adhikari also won in Nandigram by more than 9,000 votes. In Assam, state Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi lost to the BJP's Hitendra Nath Goswami in Jorhat by a big margin of 23,182 votes.

 

At 2030 IST, the BJP had won 146 of the 294 seats in West Bengal and was ahead on 62 others. Banerjee's TMC had won 53 seats and was likely to win another 26. The Election Commission of India countermanded the election in one constituency, Falta. A repoll has been ordered on May 21.

 

The saffron party retained Assam for a third consecutive term by winning 82 seats while the Congress won only 19.

 

In Tamil Nadu, the TVK had won 82 of the 234 seats and was ahead on another 25, set to emerge as the single largest party in the state. The DMK, with 44 seats won and leading in 16, was marginally ahead of its traditional rival and National Democratic Alliance constituent All India Anna DMK, which had bagged 34 seats and was leading on another 13. Media reports said Vijay's father S.A. Chandrasekhar had reached out to the Congress for an alliance to cross the magic figure of 118.

 

In Kerala, the UDF won a handsome victory, winning 92 seats, with the Left Democratic Front far behind at 34. The Congress alone won 63 seats, the majority mark in the state assembly. In Puducherry, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance had won 16 of the 30 seats with the All India N.R. Congress getting 12 and the BJP four.  End

 

Reported by Asim Khan

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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