Poll results come as balm for troubled Congress

The results of the Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala and West Bengal may have come as a balm for the Congress that was badly battered by a series of scams in the last few months.

The news of victory in the three states is a matter of cheer for Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ahead of the second anniversary of the UPA-II on May 22.

The image of the Congress and the UPA government had taken a severe beating with scam after scam and controversy after controversy forcing it to go on the backfoot.

The defeat in Tamil Nadu could be a blessing in disguise for the Congress as today's verdict is bound to weaken DMK's at the Centre and that party may have to be dependent on the dispensation in Delhi.

DMK is the third largest constituent of the UPA after Congress and Trinamool Congress and its leader and former Telecom Minister A Raja is currently in jail in the wake of the scam while a special court will pronounce verdict on the bail plea of Kanimozhi, DMK MP and daughter of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.

In West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress-Congress alliance has made history by ending the 34-year Left rule while in Assam, Congress has registered a spectacular win bettering its position by coming to power for the third successive time.

News from Kerala boosted Congress morale despite the fact that the party only managed to a wafer-thin majority in the face of stiff oppposition by the LDF.

Adding to the humiliation in Tamil Nadu, Congress lost power in the tiny Union Territory of Puducherry where it ruled for the past decade.

The damage there came from the exit of party veteran N Rangasamy, who teamed up with AIADMK to oust Congress from power.

Analysts feel that the results of the Assembly elections have given a breathing space to the Congress and the party-led coalition at the Centre to put up their house in order with a number of Assembly polls set for the next year including that in Uttar Pradesh.

Home Minister P Chidambaram described the victory of TMC-Congress alliance in West Bengal and Congress in Assam as "spectacular". He termed the poll results in Tamil Nadu as "disappointing".

In a statement, he said in West Bengal, it was the expected vote for comprehensive change and in Assam, it was the expected vote for continuity.