The results of the 2026 assembly elections in four states and one Union Territory will be remembered as giant killers, delivering a decisive upset, a staggering BJP footprint on India’s political map and the total annihilation of the Left.
In West Bengal, the people’s mandate was destroyed by Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC), which ruled the state for more than 15 years. In Tamil Nadu, actor-turned-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) not only made a remarkable political debut — winning 108 seats in the 234-member assembly — but also dismantled the duopoly of Dravidian politics in the state.
Meanwhile, Keralam, Puducherry and Assam did not witness any major unrest, with election results in line with what many polls had predicted. So let’s take a five-point look at what the five election results mean:
West Bengal:
According to the final count on the Election Commission’s website, the BJP has secured 206 of the 294 seats, despite the recall in the Falta constituency. In contrast, TMC won 80 seats. In doing so, the Congress managed to win two seats, while the left-wing CPI(M) remained victorious in one seat. The BJP also increased its vote share to 45.84% in 2026 from 38.4% in 2021.
To add insult to injury, Mamata Banerjee lost her stronghold of Bhabanipur to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari by a margin of over 15,000 votes. Adhikari, who also won from the Nandigram constituency, is the frontrunner to become the new Chief Minister of Bengal.
The big question now is – who will be the next Chief Minister? Apart from Adhikari, BJP leaders Samik Bhattacharya, Dilip Ghosh and Agnimitra Paul are in line.
After the BJP’s victory, Adhikari told reporters, “TMC will be finished. It will be destroyed within 24 hours. This corrupt, family-oriented party has no ideology.” Meanwhile, Banerjee termed the BJP’s victory as “immoral” and “illegal”. She alleged that the BJP had “stolen” more than 100 seats and called the Election Commission a “BJP commission”.
Read also | BJP defeats TMC, ends Mamata’s 15-year rule in Bengal – did SIR change votes?
In addition to the political weight, this shift is expected to have significant economic consequences, in detail here.
Tamil Nadu:
Vijay debuted in Tamil Nadu politics as a giant slayer, with his TVK party emerging as the single largest party, but falling 10 seats short of the majority mark – leaving him with two options, which we’ll talk about next.
Vijay won from both the Perambur and Tiruchirappalli East constituencies even as incumbent Chief Minister MK Stalin lost from the Kolathur seat to the TVK candidate by a margin of over 8,700 votes. He is likely to give up one seat and retain Perambur in Chennai.
Read also | Vijay’s key promises to Tamil Nadu: 8 gm gold, 6 LPG cylinders, AI city
With TVK’s victory, Tamil Nadu may witness its first government outside the dominance of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) since June 1977.
According to the final count on the EC website, Stalin’s DMK secured 59 seats, while its allies — the Congress won 5 seats; IUML, CPI, CPI (M) and VCK won 2 each and DMDK secured one seat. The opposition AIADMK won 47 seats while its allies PMK 4 and BJP and AMMK secured one seat each.
Tamil Nadu Assembly Election Partial Results by Election Commission of India.(Screenshot: ECI website)
This brings us to Vijay’s options as his party seeks to cross the majority mark (118) to form the government. The first option is to invite smaller parties — some of which were allies of either the DMK or the AIADMK — to come together and make up the shortfall.
The second possibility, according to Chennai-based political analyst Sumanth Raman, is that Vijay may bet on forming the government without having a majority. “The governor may invite him to form the government and take a ground test and dare the DMK and AIADMK to vote him out,” Raman said in a post on the X social media platform.
With this win, Vijay joins the league of iconic actors-turned-leaders like NT Rama Rao, MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa.
Keralam:
The Congress-led UDF defeated the incumbent LDF government by winning 63 out of 140 seats in the state elections. The LDF-led Communist Party of India (Marxist) secured 26 seats, while the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) won 22 seats. This not only marks the end of the decade-long rule of the Left in the state, but also the complete erasure of the Left from Indian politics. Currently, no state or Union Territory is ruled by a Left or Left-wing government. For the first time, the BJP secured three seats in Kerala including Nemom, where Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar registered a victory.
Meanwhile, the Kerala victory came for the Congress after a series of parliamentary election losses since the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The UDF victory this time also signals a generational shift in Kerala politics as the party moves forward without stalwarts like K Karunakaran and Oommen Chandy.
Read also | Kerala election result 2026: What worked for Congress-led UDF in the state?
Incumbent Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan resigned on Tuesday; his resignation was accepted by Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar. The leadership within the alliance is now centered around personalities like VD Satheesan as the frontrunner to be the next Chief Minister of Kerala.
Assam:
The BJP-led NDA is poised to form the government in Assam for a third consecutive term after securing a comfortable majority, with a record 102 seats in the 126-member assembly.
The BJP won 82 of the 90 seats it contested, while its allies — the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), which contested in 11 constituencies, and the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), which contested in 26 — won 10 seats each. This was the first election in which the BJP contested with Himanta Biswa Sarma as Chief Minister.
Meanwhile, the Congress-led opposition has given its worst performance in recent times. Congress won 15 seats; Trinamool Congress (TMC) won one seat and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) won two seats. In a setback for the Congress, party leader Gaurav Gogoi lost the Jorhat constituency to BJP’s Hitendra Nath Goswami by a margin of over 23,000 votes.
In the 2021 elections, the BJP won 60 seats and the Congress won 26.
Puducherry:
The calm and quiet N Rangasamy is all set to lead Puducherry for the fifth time, with his AINRC-led NDA party winning 18 seats in the 30-member assembly – two more than a majority of 16.
The All India NR Congress has now won 12 of the 16 seats it contested and the BJP has won four of the 10 seats it contested. AIADMK and Latchia Jananayaga Katchi (LJK), another component of the NDA, emerged victorious from one seat. On the other hand, the INDIA bloc won six seats — DMK five and one for the Congress.
The performance of the Congress in the April 9 poll has raised many questions about the party that has ruled UT several times in the past. While the party contested from 16 seats, it won only one. Sitting MP and former Chief Minister Ve Vaithilingam was defeated by Rangasamy on his Thattanchavady turf.
In addition, three members would be nominated who do not enjoy the same rights as those elected in areas such as voting during presidential elections.
Before forming his own party in 2011, Rangasamy was the Congress CM in 2001 and 2006. In 2011, he teamed up with late Tamil Nadu CM and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa and the combine won the elections then, before relations between the two leaders soured.
— With inputs from wires
