CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI ■ ■ KANNUR l tuesday l may 05, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l city EDITION Assembly elections 2026 (wins + leads) Assembly elections Kerala BJP Big-hitting in WB, Cong in Kerala If a Vijay wave led by Gen Z voters blew away the DMK in Tamil Nadu, the BJP crushed the ruling TMC in West Bengal, registering a two-thirds majority. Likewise, the UDF wrested power in Kerala with a two-thirds majority. Assam and Pondy stayed with the NDA Seats: 140 UDF 102 LDF 35 03 Oth Seats: 234 TVK 107 DMK+ 74 AIADMK+ 53 Oth CHANGED 00 Tamil Nadu HOW THE MAP 00 BJP 2014 West bengal Seats: 294 BJP 208 TMC 79 INC 02 CPM 01 Oth 03 Assam Seats: 126 BJP+ 102 TMC 83 INC 19 Oth 05 Puducherry Seats: 30 NDA 17 DMK 05 TVK 02 INC 01 Oth 05 UDF workers celebrate the front’s victory in the assembly elections, outside Indira Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday | Albin Mathew Vijay yatra by actor-turned-neta’s party in TN, Cong in Kerala, BJP in West Bengal I am proud of the way we worked together as a family — a true example of coalition politics V D Satheesan Leader of Oppn PIC: Parveen Negi turning point for bjp: pm m u k e s h r a n j a n @ New Delhi PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday declared BJP’s West Bengal victory a “historic turning point” for Indian politics, saying the lotus was now blooming “from Gangotri to Ganga Sagar.” Addressing jubilant party workers at the BJP headquarter, PM Modi arrived dressed in traditional Bengali attire, a deliberate cultural gesture that drew immediate attention. The win completes what Modi called the party’s “Rise of the East” (Purvoday) vision, with BJP now governing all three eastern states — Bihar, Odisha, and West Bengal. “Today’s win is truly historic. When years of silent dedication and relentless hard work finally translate into such monumental success, the joy on BJP Karyakartas’ faces is incomparable,” he said. PM Modi highlighted Bengal’s nearly-93 percent voter turnout as “historic in itself,” crediting the Election Commission for free and fair polls. He promised that Bengal’s new BJP cabinet would immediately green-light the Ayushman Bharat scheme, take strict action against infiltrators, ensure women’s safety and , generate employment. Paying tribute to BJP founder Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Modi said his soul must be at peace seeing Bengal’s transformation. The PM said communists no longer govern a single state, calling it “not merely a political shift but a shift in mindset.” From 77 to 208, BJP aces Bengal Congress leaders V D Satheesan, K C Venugopal, Shashi Tharoor, Ramesh Chennithala and Sunny Joseph celebrate UDF’s victory at Indira Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday | B P Deepu mukesh ranjan and Preetha Nair @ New Delhi the results of the five state Assembly elections have delivered more than just a verdict for the contesting parties, especially the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which pulled off an emphatic and historic feat to end the 15year uninterrupted rule of the Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal. For the saffron party, the spectacular victory is more than electoral arithmetic, as it conquered the last major eastern bastion that had resisted its expansion for over a decade. The impressive and very difficult win in West Bengal after years of electoral planning and strategy, will help the BJP enter the next cycle of elections with aplomb. In 2027, the key states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh will go to polls. TMC supremo and three-time chief minister Mamata Banerjee lost her Bhabanipur bastion to the BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari by a margin of 15,000 votes. The saffron wave made deep inroads into several TMC bastions, suggesting a deeper realignment rather than a transient swing in favour of the BJP The Bengal loss means the TMC . will lose its ability to assert primacy within the INDIA bloc, potentially recalibrating internal equations in favour of the Congress. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu delivered another surprise with debutant TVK led by actor-politician Vijay creating a record of sorts in the electoral history of the state and emerging as the single largest party . While TVK’s victory is seen as a verdict for change, the defeat of incumbent chief minister M K Stalin came as another shocker. NDA ally AIADMK was pushed to a distant third spot. While the TVK has fallen short of the majority mark of 118 seats, it is learnt SU B HEN D U MAITI @ Kolkata BJP’s landslide victory in West Bengal marked a dramatic political shift as the Trinamool Congress citadel came crashing down on Monday with , Chief Minister and party supremo Mamata Banerjee losing her seat to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, who has now emerged as the frontrunner for the chief minister’s post. With a comfortable lead in 208 of 294 assembly seats during counting, the BJP is set to form a government for the first time in West Bengal. Trinamool Congress, which had won 215 seats in 2021, is leading in 79 seats. In a repeat of the 2021 result, Adhikari defeated Banerjee from her home turf, Bhawanipore constituency . that the party is in talks with smaller parties, as well as the DMK’s long-time ally Congress. This was the first time since 1967, when the first non-Congress government (DMK) came to power in Tamil Nadu, that a party other than the two Dravidian heavyweights emerged victorious in the state. The TVK also reversed the trend of alternating the two Dravidian parties DMK and the AIADMK since 1967. The setbacks for the TMC and the DMK, key players of the Opposition and the third- and fourth-largest contributors to its Lok Sabha strength, are expected to dent the Opposition INDIA bloc’s morale, already strained by a string of electoral reverses in the recent past. However, the results came as a breather for Congress-led UDF in Kerala as it stormed to power after a gap of 10 years. The BJP also got a breakthrough in the state by ending its long-standing electoral drought by winning three seats. For the grand old party, the stunning victory has added the third southern state to its kitty. The party is in power in Karnataka and Telangana. The UDF won 102 seats, while the CPI(M)-headed LDF secured 35 seats. The results also mark the absence of the Left parties from governance in any Indian state for the first time in five decades. Although Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal saw a vote against the incumbent governments, the electorate chose continuity in Assam as the NDA is set to form the government for the third time in a row after securing a two-thirds majority . The alliance won 101 seats in the 126-member assembly In a major blow . to the Congress, its state president Gaurav Gogoi lost in Jorhat to veteran politician and sitting BJP MLA Hitendranath Goswami by more than 20,000 votes. Banerjee lost by 15,114 votes, compared to her narrow defeat by around 2,000 votes in Nandigram in 2021. The BJP’s lotus bloomed across the state as not only Banerjee but more than 15 ministers, including senior cabinet members, suffered defeats. Counting of votes in 293 constituencies at 77 centres began on Monday and indicated a steady march by the BJP towards a clear majority over the Trinamool Congress. In 2021, the Trinamool Congress had formed the government for a third term with 215 seats, while the BJP had secured 77. Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya said people had rejected the Trinamool, while also urging supporters to maintain peace and harmony . The party and LDF will introspect on the people’s mandate, after which required corrections will be made M V Govindan, CPM state secy This historic victory is a triumph of the patience of those families who, even while enduring violence, never abandoned the saffron flag. Amit Shah, BJP BJP’s landslide victory in the state polls is immoral ... the mandate in more than 100 seats in Bengal was “looted”. Mamata Banerjee, TMC chief CPM citadels crumble in Kerala revolt 2026 Of the total 28 states and 8 Union terroritories in India, NDA is now in power in 22 states/UTs, one more than last year Left powerless in India after 49 yrs After the Congress-led UDF wrested Kerala, the Left does not have power in any state for the first time since 1977 A n i l S @ T’Puram Ending a decade-long wait, the Congress-led UDF swept to power in emphatic fashion, securing an unprecedented 102 seats in the Kerala Assembly Riding . a powerful anti-incumbency wave — sharpened by a clear anti-Pinarayi sentiment — the UDF reduced the incumbent LDF to a humbling 35 seats, down from 98. The front fell just short of clinching a three-fourth majority The Congress registered its best-ever per. formance, surging from 22 to 63 seats, while the CPM suffered a sharp decline, falling from 62 to just 26. The BJP too, carved out a moment of its own, reo, pening its account with an impressive three seats. Beyond reclaiming Nemom, the party wrested Kazhakoottam and Chathanoor from the Left. With the UDF’s emphatic victory attention now turns , to who will be the next chief Crucial Cong minister. The Congress Legmeeting islature Party, to meet on T’Puram: All eyes are Wednesday or Thursday, is on the Congress expected to elect its leader. leadership as the Leader of the Opposition V first legislature party D Satheesan and senior meeting is set to leader Ramesh Chennithala be held on May 6 or 7 are frontrunners, though to elect the parliathere are indications that mentary party leader, AICC organisational generwho will be next CM. al secretary K C Venugopal could also be in contention for the top post. With its crushing defeat in Kerala, the CPM has now lost its last remaining citadel in the country It’s . the first time in the last 49 years that the party is not in power at least in one state in the country In an elec. tion where the Left pinned its hopes on development and welfare to secure a third consecutive term, a surge of public anger—compounded by discontent within its own ranks—proved decisive. Thirteen of the 20 ministers in the fray were defeated, and even Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan saw his winning margin shrink sharply from over 50,000 , in 2021 to just 19,247 votes. The verdict has also left several LDF allies in an unenviable spot. The Kerala Congress (M)—which switched sides ahead of 2021 polls—drew a blank. Other Left allies, including Janata Dal (Secular), Nationalist Congress Party Con, gress (Secular) and Kerala Congress (B), also failed to ● More on P6 open their account.  TOP WINNERS Ramesh Chennithala (Cong) won by a margin of 23,377 votes from Haripad V D Satheesan (Cong) won by margin of 20,600 votes from Paravur P K Kunhalikutty (IUML) won by a margin of 85,327 votes in Malappuram V Muraleedharan (BJP) won by a margin of 428 votes in Kazhakootam TOP LOSERS P Rajeeve (CPM) lost by 16,312 votes in Kalamassery M B Rajesh (CPM) lost by 8,385 votes in Thrithala Sobha Surendran (BJP) lost by 13,147 votes in Palakkad K K Shailaja (CPM) lost by 14,453 in Peravoor pondy: Rangasamy retains power, nda wins 18 of 30 seats The NDA led by Chief Minister N Rangasamy has retained power in Puducherry, with the alliance winning 18 out of 30 seats. AINRC won 12 seats, BJP secured four, and AIADMK and LJK won one each. INDIA bloc managed to win only six seats, three independents also emerged victorious. TVK won two seats; ally NMK got one Jananayagan era begins in Tamil Nadu P r a b h a k a r Ta m i l a r a s u @ Chennai Don’t leave counting centres: Didi Mamata Banerjee asked TMC polling agents not to leave counting centres, stressing vigilance until final results are out and urged workers to follow the rules. Actor-turned-politician C Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has pulled off a stunning poll debut by winning 108 (as of 10pm on Monday) of 234 assembly seats, emerging as the single largest party . Vijay secured a double bonanza, winning both the Perambur and Tiruchy (East) seats that he contested by a margin of over 50,000 and close to 30,000 votes, respectively Results were de. clared for 212 seats and counting was on in 22 seats. The verdict has ended the seven decades of Dravidian duopoly, with the debutant pushing the ruling DMK to the second place and AIADMK, the principal opposition, to the third spot. By securing 34.91% vote-share, Vijay has surpassed the 30.4% votes secured by MG Ramachandran, the found- er of AIADMK, in the party’s first assembly election in Tamil Nadu in 1977. TVK’s performance has cut across regions and voter demographics, breaching constituencies that have been DMK and AIADMK bastions for decades. Voters have embraced the me ga star’s promise of clean and efficient governance, signalling their desire to end corruption and dynasty politics.