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    COVER STORY                                                               MAY 08, 2026     |  The Indian Eye                    5

                                                                                                        Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma celebrates the
                                                                                                       party’s victory in the Assam assembly elections at BJP State
            BJP Bhabanipur candidate Suvendu Adhikari speaks to the media as he wins the Bhawanipur seat in Kolkata on Monday (ANI Photo)  office in Guwahati on Monday (ANI Photo)

            seats, the vote share gap between   Reports of clashes between party    This election was particularly sig-  Asom Gana Parishad, each securing
            it and the TMC remained relative-  workers and incidents of vandalism   nificant as it was the first fought un-  10 seats, also underscores the impor-
            ly narrow—45.84% versus 40.80%.   indicate that political tensions remain   der  Chief  Minister  Himanta  Biswa   tance of coalition politics in Assam.
            This suggests that the electoral shift,   high. The BJP, for its part, has framed   Sarma. Sarma’s leadership has been   The NDA’s ability to maintain and
            though decisive in institutional terms,   the result as a rejection of what it calls   central to the BJP’s strategy in Assam,   manage these alliances has been a key
            does not entirely erase the TMC’s   the TMC’s “politics of chaos.”  blending governance with a keen un-  factor in its sustained success.
            social base. Instead, it points to the   Analysts  point  to  deeper  struc-  derstanding of regional dynamics. The   Assam’s  result  is  significant  not
            BJP’s  superior  efficiency  in  trans-  tural shifts underlying the result. The   improved performance compared to   just in itself but in what it represents.
            lating votes into seats, a hallmark of   fragmentation of TMC’s  traditional   the 2021 election suggests that his ap-  It shows the BJP moving from expan-
            well-executed electoral strategy.  vote base, particularly among minori-  proach has not only retained but ex-  sion to entrenchment in the North-
                The most symbolic moment of   ty  communities,  played  a  significant   panded the party’s support base.  east. Unlike Bengal, where the party’s
            the election came in Bhabanipur,   role. Smaller parties such as the All   The BJP’s success in Assam rests   rise is  recent and  contested, Assam
            where Banerjee herself was defeated   India Secular Front split crucial vote   on a combination of development-ori-  reflects  a  mature  phase  of  political
            by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari by   banks, weakening the TMC’s elec-  ented governance and identity poli-  consolidation.
            over 15,000 votes. This was not merely   toral  arithmetic.  At  the  same  time,   tics. Infrastructure projects, welfare   Tamil Nadu: The Disruption of
            a constituency loss but a psychological   the BJP’s consolidation of urban and   schemes, and a focus on law and order   Dravidian Politics
            blow to the TMC’s leadership. Baner-  suburban voters, combined with its fo-  have been key elements of its appeal.
            jee, who had dominated Bengal poli-  cus on issues like illegal immigration,   At the same time, issues such as ille-  f Bengal and Assam highlight dif-
            tics for over a decade, suddenly found   broadened its appeal.      gal immigration and cultural identity   ferent facets of the BJP’s trajec-
            herself on the defensive. The defeat   In many  ways, Bengal encap-  continue to play a significant role in  Itory, Tamil Nadu introduces an
            underscored the depth of anti-incum-  sulates the contradictions of India’s   shaping voter preferences.  entirely different dynamic: the disrup-
            bency and the effectiveness of the   current political moment. It is a sto-  Prime Minister Modi interpreted   tion of a long-standing regional po-
            BJP’s narrative.                  ry of decisive change coexisting with   the victory as an endorsement of this   litical order. Actor-turned-politician
                Prime Minister Narendra Modi   persistent division. The BJP’s victory   dual strategy, stating that it reflected   Vijay has emerged as a transformative
            framed the victory in sweeping his-  is historic, but the contest for political   “unwavering support” for the NDA’s   figure, with his party Tamilaga Vettri
            torical terms, linking it to the legacy   and social legitimacy in the state is far   emphasis on development and positive   Kazhagam (TVK) winning over 100
            of Syama Prasad Mookerjee. Calling   from over.                     change. His remarks highlight the par-  seats and reshaping the state’s politi-
            it  a  “historic  fulfillment,”  Modi  em-    Assam:                ty’s broader narrative: that effective   cal landscape.
            phasized governance, development,     Consolidation of Power        governance can coexist with, and even   For more than six decades, Tamil
            and  the  promise  of  a  “fear-free”                               reinforce, identity-based mobilization.  Nadu’s politics has been dominated by
            Bengal. He also struck a conciliatory      hile Bengal represents dis-  The Congress, in contrast, strug-  the Dravidian parties—the DMK and
            note, urging party workers to focus on     ruption, Assam tells a story   gled to present a coherent alternative.   the AIADMK. This duopoly created
            “change, not revenge” and to end the  Wof consolidation. The BJP-   The defeat of senior leader Gaurav   a relatively stable but predictable po-
            “endless cycle of violence” that has of-  led National Democratic  Alliance   Gogoi in Jorhat symbolized the par-  litical environment. Vijay’s entry has
            ten marred elections in the state.  (NDA) secured its third consecutive   ty’s broader challenges in the state.   upended this equilibrium. His party’s
                However, the aftermath of the   victory in the state, crossing the 100-  With just 15 seats, Congress remains   performance, far surpassing that of
            election suggests  that reconciliation   seat mark in a 126-member assembly.   a distant second, unable to match the   both DMK and AIADMK, signals a
            may not be immediate. Banerjee re-  The BJP alone won over 80 seats,   organizational strength and strategic   profound shift in voter preferences.
            jected the results, alleging large-scale   marking its highest-ever tally in As-  clarity of the BJP.     Vijay’s appeal lies in a combina-
            irregularities and describing the out-  sam and reinforcing its dominance in   The role of  allies such as the   tion of factors. His popularity as a film
            come  as  “immoral”  and  “illegal.”   the region.                  Bodoland People’s Front and the          Continued on next page... >>

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