Kashmir Impulse Desk

New Delhi, May 4 

Ballots broke bastions.

India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stormed to a historic victory in West Bengal on Monday, while its alliance retained power in Assam and Puducherry, the Congress-led bloc swept Kerala, and actor Vijay’s new party emerged as the single largest force in Tamil Nadu, redrawing the country’s political landscape.

The results across West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry signal a fragmented but sharply shifting electoral map, with the BJP expanding in the east, Congress regaining a southern foothold, and regional players disrupting entrenched state-level rivalries.

In West Bengal, the BJP won 202 seats in the 294-member assembly, ending the Trinamool Congress’s 15-year rule. 

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lost the high-profile Bhabanipur seat to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, while the TMC secured 73 seats.

In Assam, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 102 seats in the 126-member assembly, including 82 for the BJP, returning to power for a third straight term and securing its first standalone majority in the state.

In Kerala, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) swept to power with 102 seats in the 140-member assembly, ousting the Left Democratic Front (LDF), which won 35. The BJP secured three seats.

In Tamil Nadu, actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) won 89 seats and was leading in 18 in the 234-member assembly, emerging as the single largest party in its electoral debut. The DMK won 48 seats, while the AIADMK took 41.

In Puducherry union territory, the NDA retained power, with the AINRC winning 11 seats and the BJP four in the 30-member assembly, ensuring a second consecutive term for Chief Minister N Rangasamy.