Congress, allies score a resounding win in Bengal and Assam, set to form govt in Kerala; AIADMK posts a huge win in Tamil Nadu.

UPA gets muscle to steer reforms

Business Standard

In a reminder of what went wrong for the Left Front in West Bengal, all top four champions of industrialisation in the state lost in these elections.

Industry poster boys lose ground

The J Jayalalithaa-led All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) swept the 13th Tamil Nadu legislative assembly elections, decimating the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. The party had won 132 seats till late tonight and was cruising towards a conclusive sweep.

Jayalalithaa sweeps DMK out of power

The massive return to power, after five years in opposition, of J Jayalalithaa&rsquo;s AIADMK in Tamil Nadu &mdash; officially, still to be declared, as 76 of the 234 results are still to be declared, counting not being over &mdash; comes against an interesting background.

Jayalalithaa govt faces stiff agenda

Change is here. I had expected the Left Front would lose, but I didn't think the loss would be this huge. This is a massive defeat. Economics also played a part in the defeat. To a large extent, the kind of policies the Left-Front government followed ever since it came to power were wrong. They rightly emphasised on agriculture, and the Left did rescue a lot of people from hardships.

Comment: Dipankar Dasgupta

The Congress has scored an impressive hat trick in Assam, bystorming back to power with a thumping mandate for a third time in succession, falsifying predictions of many political pundits of a hung assembly. The opposition camp has been almost demolished.

Cong scores impressive hat-trick in Assam

The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) narrowly came to power in Kerala, securing 72 of the 140 seats in the assembly.

Cong-led front barely makes it in Kerala

The All India NR Congress (AINRC)-All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) alliance has won 20 of the 30 constituencies in Puducherry, setting stage for the alliance to forge a government.

AINRC, allies wrest Puducherry from Cong

Mamata Banerjee says she plans to equip West Bengal to lead the country&rsquo;s next revolution in manufacturing over the next 200 days. Her priority list. Once this is done, a major part of the implementation would happen over the next 1,000 days.

West Bengal plans manufacturing, infra initiatives

The much awaited paribartan (change), preceded by bloodshed and ground battles fought on political lines, has arrived in Bengal.

Mamata's long struggle pays off, handsomely

The new Assam government under Tarun Gogoi will inherit a debt of Rs 21,000 crore, which is around 27 per cent of Assam&rsquo;s state gross domestic product (GSDP). However, with the Congress being in power in the last two terms, it would be like inheriting its own legacy.

Assam to inherit its own debt legacy

The J Jayalalithaa-led All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has a lot on its agenda going by the promises made in the manifesto &mdash; free green houses, 20 kg of free rice every month, marriage assistance of Rs 25,000 for poor women, four gm of gold for Thali (mangalsutra), free mixers, grinders, fans, 20 litres free drinking water, free laptops to class XI and XII students, and the list goes on.

Way forward for Jaya

A close look at the growth rate of gross state domestic product (GSDP) of different states, where elections have taken place in recent times, throws up interesting facts.

Economic performance becomes deciding factor

Exit poll surveys have a history of going wildly awry, but in the assembly elections just past, their strike rate was better than before. Bloomers by exit polls are not unknown. In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, for instance, all exit polls gave the BJP-led national Democratic Alliance Lok Sabha between 230 and 270 seats. In fact, the BJP got 185 seats. In the same election, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was expected to get anywhere between 176 and 197 seats.

Exit polls perform marginally better

Many have toiled hard under her leadership and they are now likely to be rewarded.

Meet the faces behind Mamata 

The CPI(M) never believed in personality cult, depending more on its cadre-based organisation. But now, after the electoral debacle, a section of the party is banking on its fallen heroes to take on General Secretary Prakash Karat and Co.

Fallen heroes in Left's facelift

Ending a brief spell of pro-incumbency electoral outcomes (Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections in 2009 and Bihar in 2010), the Indian voter returned to the long-standing anti-incumbency posture in four out of the five state Assembly elections last week. For over two decades, the Left Front in West Bengal boasted that it was the only political formation that bucked the national trend. When Bengal finally decided to catch up with the rest of India, the political tsunami that hit the state proved devastating for the Left Front. That Assam stood apart is a tribute to the Tarun Gogoi government and was perhaps also a gift from the people of the state to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has remained loyal to Assam as a member of Parliament. The results of last week&rsquo;s elections reinforce a common message coming from the elections in the past few years that &ldquo;regional&rdquo; or state-level leadership can play a significant role in electoral outcomes.

The return of anti-incumbency

Set to take over as Chief Minister of West Bengal on Friday, Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee today indicated that Congress will join her government in the state.

Mamata to take over as Bengal CM on Friday 

Press Trust of India

New Cabinet boasts of 24 new faces, minister for poll promises, too.

Jaya sworn in as CM for third tenure

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) chief J Jayalalithaa has appointed a minister to implement the schemes promised by her party in the election manifesto.

Jaya appoints minister to implement poll promises

On the first fday of assuming office, chief minister J Jayalalithaa signed seven files related to the welfare schemes announced in the party&rsquo;s election manifesto.

Jayalalithaa signs seven files

Assembly Election 2026 News: Check Latest News on Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Assembly Election Poll at  Business Standard

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