West Bengalturned saffron,Tamil Naduentered a new era of electoral politics, Kerala saw theCongresscomeback, Assam assuredBJP’s hat-trick, and Puducherry chose continuity, as Assembly election 2026 results unfolded on May 4. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a landslide in Bengal with 206 seats out of a total of 294 (counting held on 293 seats since the Falta election was termed void), while the TMC was restricted to just 81, a complete reversal of results from 2021.
Tamil Nadu turned out to be a complete surprise, though exit polls gave some hint, as Joseph Vijay’s TVK emerged as the single largest party in its debut election, exceeding expectations of political analysts (barring a few), and outperforming regional satraps including the DMK and AIADMK. Though Vijay’s party fell short of an absolute majority, there is no doubt that it is not forming the next government in the state, with the support of alliance partners. Some have announced support, and some lined up in queue.
In Kerala, the results fell on predicted lines as projected in exit polls. Though the direction of the mandate unfolded as predicted in post-poll projections, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) performed way better in terms of number of seats. Kerala results also marked the end of Left party rule, as it was the only state where it was in power but that too has gone. Now, there is no Left government in the country, a political camp that once ruled Bengal for decades.
Assam results also turned out exactly as predicted in the exit polls, as the BJP-led NDA stamped its victory ‘hat-trick’ with a century - if it has to be said in the words of Himanta Biswa Sarma - winning a total of 102 seats, while restricting the Congress to just 21 seats.
Puducherry stayed with where it began - meaning, another term for the All India NR Congress-BJP led government under the leadership of incumbent Chief Minister N Rangasamy. The opposition led by the Congress was restricted to just 9 seats.
As the May 4 mandate is all out and clear, let’s take a look at the big winners and losers in this round of Assembly elections.
In a result laden with symbolism, political theatre and historical resonance, BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari defeated West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur, puncturing what was long seen as her safest political refuge and delivering a decisive psychological blow to the TMC amid a sweeping saffron surge across West Bengal.
The margin -- 15,105 votes after all 20 rounds of counting -- told only part of the story. The real narrative lay in the arc of the contest: a commanding early lead for Banerjee, a steady erosion, and a late surge by Adhikari that mirrored, almost frame by frame, the dramatic script of Nandigram in 2021.
If Nandigram marked the rupture of a mentor-protege relationship and the first electoral defeat of Banerjee in decades, Bhabanipur has now cemented Adhikari’s emergence as the BJP’s principal challenger in Bengal-- and the man who can beat her on both hostile and home turf.
“This is a historic victory… a victory of Hindutva, a victory of Bengal, a victory of Modiji,” Adhikari said, holding his winning certificate outside the Sakhawat Memorial School counting centre, invoking both ideological and political triumph.
Source: India Latest News, Breaking News Today, Top News Headlines | Times Now
