EDITORIAL
Four-state elections and Puducherry polls reshape India’s regional political balance
The recent assembly elections held in the four states—West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Keralam, and Assam—and the Union Territory of Puducherry witnessed some major political metamorphosis. The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress lost power in West Bengal after ruling the state for three consecutive terms, while the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) was defeated by a new political party in Tamil Nadu. In Keralam, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) recorded an overwhelming victory ending the decade-long rule of the Left Democratic Front (LDF). Although these three major states experienced transformation, the Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power in Assam and Puducherry, with incumbent BJP governments winning a strong mandate from voters.
The BJP has secured an overwhelming mandate in West Bengal and is set to form a government in the state for the first time. The TMC, which seemed to be hit by the anti-incumbency factor, has trailed far behind, managing to win 80 seats in its first election after Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral roll in the state. On the other hand, the debutant Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) has emerged as the largest party in Tamil Nadu. The DMK lost due to something larger than the routine anti-incumbency; the Tamil Nadu voters were looking beyond the two traditional political parties in the state, namely the DMK and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). The Chief Minister, M K Stalin faced a shocking defeat in his Kolathur bastion, as also of the 32 out of 34 DMK ministers who contested the poll, 15 were defeated, with 17 managing to retain their seats. In the entire electoral rigmarole, the BJP has emerged victorious in two states and a Union Territory.
The TMC defeat is the biggest surprise in the recent electoral exercise. TMC had effectively dismantled the 34-year rule of the Left Front in West Bengal and come to power in the eastern state in 2011. At one time it appeared impossible even for the BJP to ouster Mamata Didi’s party from power. However, the BJP leaders framed the election as a war against fear, and the strategy seemed to have worked. The DMK misfortune repeated in the TMC, with 22 out of 35 ministers, including Mamata Banerjee, who contested the polls, 22 facing defeat. Besides the SIR factor that was carried out across West Bengal to clean the voters list and remove bogus voters, the massive voter turnout also worked in favour of the BJP. The BJP’s vote share too climbed from 38 percent during the 2021 assembly elections to 46 percent this time. The shift proved decisive, pushing the party’s seat count to 206, up by 129 from the 77 it held earlier. The atrocities on the Bengali women, including rapes and murders, also acted against the TMC.
In the Keralam assembly election, the Congress-led UDF, which returned to power after a decade, achieved a decisive victory with several new or rising faces emerging within the coalition’s leadership. The Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who went on to campaign extensively for the party across the entire state, and another party leader, Madhusudan Mistry, who poured his entire wealth of experience into the ticket distribution process, also had a lion’s share in the phenomenal victory.
These polls have marked a major shift in the country’s political landscape, especially with the BJP conquering India’s toughest political frontiers. The forthcoming assembly polls in Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh are now keenly awaited. The BJP, no doubt, would be firing on all cylinders to continue its unbeaten streak of success.
