A new saffron geography: BJP’s Bengal breakthrough extends its eastern dominance

The BJP has swept West Bengal and cemented Assam. The trends now point to something larger: a continuous saffron arc running from the northeast to Gujarat’s coast.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the National Democratic Alliance has formed governments in more than 20 states and that with the Bengal election verdict, the “lotus is blooming from Gangotri to Gangasagar”.

In West Bengal, the BJP has won 156 seats and leads in 52 more, putting it well past the majority mark. The Trinamool Congress, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has won 55 seats and leads in 24.

Mamata Banerjee herself lost to Suvendu Adhikari in Bhabanipur with a wide margin of over 15,000 votes. In Panihati, BJP candidate Ratna Debnath – mother of the R G Kar Hospital case victim – holds a lead. In Jhargram, a traditional TMC stronghold in the Junglemahal region, BJP’s Laxmi Kant Sau has won, signalling the party's deepening reach into previously hostile territory. Congress has won 2 seats; CPI(M), 1.

Bengal has long resisted the BJP, and the election was fought in the shadow of a bitter dispute between Mamata Banerjee and the Election Commission over its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, which removed 89 lakh voters – roughly 11.6 per cent of the state’s electorate – from the rolls. That figure is slightly higher than the TMC’s winning margin in 2021.

Assam: BJP wins clear majority

In the 126-seat Assam assembly, the BJP has won 82 seats, comfortably crossing the majority threshold. Congress trails far behind with 19 seats. The Bodoland People's Front and Asom Gana Parishad have each won 10 seats. AIUDF and Raijor Dal have secured 2 seats each, while TMC has won 1.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who won with a huge margin in Jalukbari, thanked the people and urged “good” Hindu Congress leaders to join the BJP to secure the state’s future and fight the “aggression” of “Bangladeshi Miyas”.

Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi himself lost to BJP’s Hitendranath Goswami by 23,182 votes in Jorhat.

Tamil Nadu: Vijay’s TVK stuns all predictions

In a result that has confounded pollsters, the Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) – actor Vijay’s party contesting its first-ever election – has won 106 of 234 assembly seats. The governing DMK has slipped to second place with 60 seats, a stunning reversal from what most exit polls had projected.

Chief Minister M K Stalin has lost his Kolathur seat to TVK’s V S Babu by over 8,000 votes. His son, Udhayanidhi Stalin, narrowly held on in Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni by roughly 7,000 votes. Vijay himself leads in both Tiruchirappalli (East) and Perambur.

TVK will face the immediate challenge of stitching together a workable majority. The arithmetic suggests that the party may not need an elaborate coalition. Support from a handful of smaller parties could be enough to push it past the 118-seat mark.

Apart from TVK, DMK, and AIADMK, the other parties currently in the fray with a small number of seats include Pattali Makkal Katchi, Congress, IUML, CPI(M), Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, and CPI.

For decades, voters in the state have delivered decisive verdicts, largely alternating between the two Dravidian giants, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), and rarely leaving room for post-poll arithmetic. That is what makes the 2026 result extraordinary.

Kerala: UDF returns to power

The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has won a decisive mandate in Kerala’s 140-seat assembly. Congress leads the alliance with 63 seats, followed by the Indian Union Muslim League with 22 and the Kerala Congress with 7. On the opposition side, CPI(M) won 26 seats, CPI 8, and the BJP 3. The RSP, RJD, RMPI, Kerala Congress (Jacob), and Communist Marxist Party Kerala each won 1 seat. Four independents also triumphed.

It took seven rounds for Pinarayi Vijayan to establish a lead over his Congress rival VP Abdul Rasheed in the Left citadel of Dharmadam. Though Pinarayi won from Dharmadam, 13 ministers from his cabinet suffered losses, including ministers holding key portfolios.

The BJP, which had opened its account in 2016 with one seat but drew a blank in 2021 despite a vote share of 11.3 percent, won three seats this time. However, the party’s vote share saw only a negligible increase at 11.42 percent.  

In Puducherry, the NDA secured victory in the 30-member assembly, with the All India N.R. Congress (AINRC) winning 12 seats. The BJP won 4, while the DMK won 5, TVK 2, Congress 1, and other parties 6 collectively.

Counting is still ongoing in some constituencies. Final figures may change. Watch our full electoral analysis.

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