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    COVER STORY                                                               MAY 15, 2026     |  The Indian Eye                    4

                                                     ASSEMBLY POLLS

             NEW POLITICAL

                     MAP OF INDIA

              Election results in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala reveal a sharply divided political landscape,

                  with the BJP expanding in the east while the Congress-led opposition regains strength in the south

            OUR BUREAU

            Kolkata / Guwahati / Chennai
                  he 2026 Assembly election cy-
                  cle has redrawn India’s political
            Tmap in dramatic fashion. Four
            states, four new governments and four
            very different political messages have
            emerged  from  the  results.  Together,
            they reveal a country increasingly di-
            vided not simply by ideology, but by
            geography and political identity.
                In  eastern  India,  the  Bharatiya
            Janata  Party  (BJP)  has  consolidated
            itself as the dominant political force
            by achieving a historic breakthrough
            in West Bengal while retaining power
            comfortably in Assam. In the south,
            however,  the  Congress  and  broader
            opposition  bloc  have  demonstrated
            renewed  relevance  through  a  major
            comeback in Kerala and by aligning
            with  actor-turned-politician  Vijay’s
            rise in Tamil Nadu.
                The contrast could shape Indian
            politics well beyond 2026.
                For the BJP, the victories in Ben-
            gal  and  Assam  reinforce  the  party’s
            long-term  strategy  of  expanding  be-
            yond  its  traditional  Hindi  heartland.   Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves during the swearing-in ceremony of the new West Bengal government, in Kolkata on Saturday. Newly
            For  the  opposition,  especially  Con-
            gress, the southern gains offer proof    elected West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and state BJP President Samik Bhattacharya also present. (ANI Photo)
            that  regional  alliances  and  anti-BJP
            coalitions  still  remain  politically  po-  paigns that revealed how Indian pol-  its eastern campaigns as movements   national movement rather than a state
            tent.                             itics  is  entering  a  new  phase  where   of political “liberation” and stability,   election.  Modi  repeatedly  invoked
                The  election  outcomes  also  re-  narrative, identity and political story-  while opposition parties in the south   the sacrifice of BJP workers and por-
            veal another reality: India’s politics is   telling matter as much as organisation   transformed their campaigns into re-  trayed the election as a historic cor-
            becoming  increasingly  regionalised,   and ideology.               sistance narratives centred on secular-  rection after decades of decline. The
            personality-driven  and  fragmented,   Across four crucial states — West   ism, welfare and regional pride.  result gave the BJP not only a victory
            even  as  national  narratives  continue   Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kera-  In West Bengal, the BJP built its   but also ideological legitimacy in one
            to dominate public discourse.     la — political parties framed the elec-  campaign  around  political  violence,   of  India’s  most  politically  symbolic
                The  2026  Assembly  elections   tions not simply as battles for power   governance  fatigue  and  what  Prime   states.
            were not fought like traditional state   but as defining struggles over culture,   Minister Narendra Modi described as   In Tamil Nadu, the campaign un-
            contests.  They  became  highly  per-  governance  and  the  future  direction   the “pain” of Bengal. The campaign   folded  in  an  entirely  different  style.
            sonalised,  emotionally  charged  cam-  of  their  regions.  The  BJP  projected   carried  the  emotional  intensity  of  a   Continued on next page... >>

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