2026 Election Results: BJP's West Bengal Entry, Vijay's Tamil Nadu Debut: 5 Results In 5 Points

Vijay debuted in Tamil Nadu politics as a giant slayer, with his party TVK emerging as the single-largest party but falling 10 seats short of the majority mark - leaving him with two options, which we talk about further.

Vijay won from both Perambur and Tiruchirappalli East constituencies, even as incumbent chief minister MK Stalin lost from the Kolathur seat to a TVK candidate by a margin of over 8,700 votes. He is likely to surrender one seat and retain Perambur in Chennai.

Thanks to TVK's victory, Tamil Nadu may witness its first government outside the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) dominance since June 1977.

As per the final tally on EC's website, Stalin's DMK secured 59 seats while its allies - Congress won 5 seats; the IUML, CPI, CPI (M), and VCK won 2 each and DMDK secured one seat. The opposition AIADMK won 47 seats while its allies the PMK obtained 4 and the BJP and AMMK clinched one seat each.

This brings us to Vijay's options, as his party seeks to cross the majority mark (118) to form the government. The first option is to invite smaller parties - some of which were allies of either DMK or AIADMK - to join hands and plug the shortage.

The other option, as per Chennai-based political analyst Sumanth Raman, is that Vijay can stake claim to form the government without having a majority.“He can be invited by the Governor to form the government and take a floor test and dare the DMK and AIADMK to vote him out,” Raman said in a post on social media platform X.

With this victory, Vijay joins the league of iconic actor-turned-leaders like NT Rama Rao, MG Ramachandran, and J Jayalalithaa.

Congress-led UDF defeated the incumbent LDF government by winning 63 out of 140 seats in state elections. The Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led LDF secured 26 seats, while the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) won 22 seats. This not only marks the end of a decade-long rule of the Left in the state but also a complete wipeout of the Left from India's politics. At the moment, no state or Union Territory is governed by a Left or Left-backed government. The BJP, has for the first time, secured three seats in Kerala including Nemom, where Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar registered a victory.

Meanwhile, Keralam's victory has come for Congress after a series of losses in assembly polls since the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. A UDF victory this time also signals a generational shift in Keralam politics, as the party moves forward without stalwarts like K Karunakaran and Oommen Chandy.

Incumbent chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan stepped down on Tuesday; his resignation was accepted by Keralam Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar. Leadership within the alliance is now focussing around figures such as VD Satheesan as the frontrunner for Keralam's next chief minister.

The BJP-led NDA is set to form the government in Assam for the third consecutive term after securing a comfortable majority, with a record high of 102 seats in the 126-member Assembly.

The BJP won 82 of the 90 seats it contested, while its allies - the Bodoland People's Front (BPF), which contested 11 constituencies, and the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), which fought in 26 - bagged 10 seats each. This was the first election that the BJP fought with Himanta Biswa Sarma as Chief Minister.

Meanwhile, the Congress-led opposition delivered its worst performance in recent times. Congress won 15 seats; Trinamool Congress (TMC) won one seat, and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) won two seats. In a setback for Congress, party leader Gaurav Gogoi lost the Jorhat constituency to BJP's Hitendra Nath Goswami by a margin of more than 23,000 votes.

In the 2021 election, the BJP won 60 seats and Congress 26.

The calm and soft-spoken N Rangasamy is all set to lead Puducherry for the fifth time with his party AINRC-led NDA winning 18 seats in the 30-member Assembly - two more than the majority mark of 16.

The All India NR Congress has now emerged victorious in 12 out of the 16 seats it contested and the BJP won four of the 10 seats it fought. The AIADMK and Latchia Jananayaga Katchi (LJK), other NDA constituents, emerged successful from one seat each. On the other hand, the INDIA bloc has garnered six seats - DMK five and one for the Congress.

The Congress' performance in the April 9 poll has raised many questions about the party that has ruled the UT a number of times in the past. While the party contested from 16 seats, it won only one. Sitting MP and former chief minister Ve Vaithilingam was defeated by Rangasamy in his turf Thattanchavady.

Besides, there would be three nominated members, who don't enjoy rights like the elected ones in areas such as voting during the presidential polls.

Before floating his own party in 2011, Rangasamy had been a Congress CM in 2001 and 2006. In 2011, he joined hands with late Tamil Nadu CM and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa and the combine won the elections then, before ties soured between the two leaders.

- With inputs from wires