A vote for change, and continuity: BJP swept West Bengal and retained Assam

Superstar Vijay's TVK dazzled in Tamil Nadu, while UDF reclaimed Kerala, and the NDA held on to Puducherry

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) breached the West Bengal fortress of the Trinamool Congress on Monday, securing a decisive and long-elusive victory, while retaining Assam for another term. In Tamil Nadu, actor-politician Chandrasekaran Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) stormed the political stage in its first election, emerging as the single largest party. At the BJP headquarters, Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed the verdict an endorsement of “performance politics” and enduring faith in democracy.

 

In West Bengal, voters brought down the 15-year rule of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who lost Bhabanipur to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari. The result marks a historic eastern push for the BJP, coupled with a third straight and strongest win yet in Assam. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) also held on to Puducherry.

 

 

In Tamil Nadu, a wave of change carried 51-year-old Vijay’s TVK to the forefront -- just 11 seats shy of a majority in the 118-member House -- outperforming Chief Minister M K Stalin and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).

 

In Kerala, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by Pinarayi Vijayan was unseated by the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), leaving India without a Left Front government for the first time since 1977, an inflection point in the Left’s long decline.

 

Puducherry’s accessible 75-year-old CM, the chief All India NR Congress, N Rangaswamy, who continues to play tennis and ride his old Yamaha bike to meet his constituents, bucked the trend. 

 

The results deepen the BJP’s post-2024 recovery arc, after missing a Lok Sabha majority, with successive state gains in Haryana, Maharashtra, Delhi, Bihar and now West Bengal. In Kolkata, Mamata Banerjee called the BJP’s landslide “immoral”, alleging “looting” in over 100 seats, and vowed a comeback.

 

For West Bengal, the shift could unlock closer Centre-state alignment under a “double engine government”. Several railway projects, including the Chadil-Purulia-Anara-Burnpur line, Naihaty-Ranaghat line, Tarakeshwar-Bishnupur project and the Deshpran-Nandigram line, have long been stalled over land and law-and-order hurdles. Central schemes such as Ayushman Bharat and Swamitva have also lagged in rollout.

 

In Tamil Nadu, where welfare delivery has been comparatively robust, the equation between a potential TVK-led government and the Centre may prove decisive in shaping the next phase of federal dynamics.

 

The BJP’s victories in Odisha in 2024, its “hat trick” in Assam and Monday’s win in Bengal have shown the party’s ability over the last one decade to expand beyond its traditional strongholds in the Hindi heartland, and western India. “The time is not far when the lotus will bloom in southern India,” said Nitin Nabin, the BJP's 45-year-old national president, on Monday at the party's national headquarters.

 

The results were a jolt to the Congress-led INDIA bloc. However, with the Vijay-led TVK falling short of the majority mark, the Congress -- which has won five seats in Tamil Nadu -- especially its state unit, is keen to support that party in the government formation. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called up Vijay to congratulate him on his party's victory.

 

In his victory speech, the PM reminded everyone that he had predicted the BJP’s win in Bengal on November 14, the day the results of the Bihar Assembly polls were announced. Modi said the lotus is now blooming from “Gangotri (in Uttarakhand) to Gangasagar (in West Bengal)”. He said women have exacted revenge on the INDIA bloc for “opposing” the constitutional amendment to implement the 33 per cent women’s reservation in Lok Sabha and state Assemblies by 2029 .

 

When the BJP has won in Bengal, there should be talk of “badlav (change) not badla (revenge), and bhavishya (future), not bhaya (fear)”, he said.

 

The PM congratulated the Election Commission, all its employees, all the personnel involved in the voting process, especially the security forces, for conducting the assembly elections without violence.

 

Modi said that the people voted for stability at a time when the world was confronted with anarchy and instability because of the conflict in West Asia. He noted that the Left Front does not rule a single state in the country. He accused the Opposition of indulging in the politics of “divide and rule” on the basis of language, and food habits. He said the BJP is a party that fulfils national ambitions along with regional aspirations. He said the BJP’s win in Bengal was historic since it was the birthplace of the founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Syama Prasad Mukherjee.

 

With the current round of elections over, the BJP has set its sights on returning to power in Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Uttar Pradesh, and winning another non-BJP bastion — Punjab. The Assembly polls in these five states are scheduled for February-March next year. The conclusion of the elections will also see the BJP’s new national chief, Nabin, rejig the party office bearers, entrusting younger leaders with key organisational roles.