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    COVER STORY                                                               MAY 15, 2026     |  The Indian Eye                    6

            sising humility and personal struggle
            helped create a direct emotional con-
            nection with younger voters. “I am not
            some divine messenger or prophet,”
            he said. “I am just an ordinary human
            being living a normal life.”
                Congress  played  a  crucial  sup-
            porting role in the alliance, with Ra-
            hul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge
            attending  the  swearing-in  ceremony.
            For Congress, the Tamil Nadu result
            offers proof that alliances with strong
            regional forces remain its best path to
            political relevance.
                The  BJP,  despite  making  incre-
            mental gains in Tamil Nadu over re-
            cent  years,  remains  unable  to  break
            through structurally in a state where
            Dravidian politics and secular region-
            al identity continue to dominate elec-
            toral behaviour.
                       KERALA:
              Congress Finds New Energy             Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) Chief C. Joseph Vijay during the oath taking ceremony of Tamil Nadu CM, in Chennai on Sunday.

               f  Tamil  Nadu  offered  symbolic                 Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi also present. (ANI Photo)
               momentum,  Kerala  gave  Con-
            Igress something even more valu-  sion.  Meanwhile,  the  south  remains   confront in the years ahead.  inaccessible.
            able: organisational confidence.  resistant to BJP dominance, with re-  For  Modi  and  the  BJP,  the  vic-  At  the  same  time,  the  southern
                The Congress-led United Demo-  gional parties and Congress alliances   tories  in  West  Bengal  and  Assam   results  are  a  warning  that  the  BJP’s
            cratic Front (UDF) secured a sweep-  continuing to hold ground.     reinforce  the  party’s  transformation   national  dominance  still  has  clear
            ing victory with 102 seats, ending years   India’s  political  future  may  in-  into a truly pan-Indian political force.   geographical limits. Tamil Nadu and
            of frustration and internal uncertainty   creasingly depend on which of these   Bengal, in particular, gives the BJP a   Kerala showed that regional identity
            within the party’s Kerala unit.   two models proves more durable.   symbolic breakthrough that had elud-  politics, welfare-based coalitions and
                The  post-election  meetings  in                                ed it for decades. The party has now   secular opposition alliances continue
            Delhi  involving  Mallikarjun  Kharge   What the Future Holds?      demonstrated  that  it  can  dismantle   to  remain  powerful  barriers  against
            and Rahul Gandhi reflected the im-      he results from these four states   entrenched  regional  powers  even  in   Hindutva-driven politics. The rise of
            portance the Congress leadership at-    carry consequences far beyond   states  with  strong  linguistic  and  cul-  Vijay in Tamil Nadu also suggests that
            tached to the victory.            Tregional politics. Together, they   tural identities. That success strength-  charismatic regional leaders can still
                Congress  leaders  described  the   offer an early glimpse into the politi-  ens Modi’s image as the only leader   disrupt national political calculations.
            result as “spectacular,” even as inter-  cal landscape that Prime Minister Na-  capable  of  expanding  the  BJP  into   For  Congress,  the  elections  of-
            nal discussions continued over the se-  rendra Modi and the opposition will   territories once considered politically   fered  badly  needed  political  oxygen.
            lection of the next Chief Minister.                                                                   The  victories  and  alliances  in  the
                “We are all workers of the party                                                                  south  give  the  party  organisational
            and we got a good victory,” said Ra-                                                                  relevance  and  demonstrate  that  co-
            mesh Chennithala.                                                                                     alition  politics  remains  its  strongest
                The  Kerala  victory  matters  be-                                                                weapon against the BJP. Rahul Gand-
            cause  it  demonstrates  that  Congress                                                               hi’s  visible  presence  in  Tamil  Nadu
            still retains strong electoral machinery                                                              and  Congress’s  strong  performance
            in parts of southern India despite its                                                                in  Kerala  will  likely  strengthen  the
            national decline. Unlike in Bengal or                                                                 party’s  argument  that  regional  part-
            Assam,  where  the  BJP  has  replaced                                                                nerships,  rather  than  direct  national
            Congress  as  the  primary  challenger,                                                               confrontation,  are  the  best  route  to
            Kerala continues to operate within a                                                                  countering Modi.
            bipolar Congress-Left framework that                                                                      Nationally,  the  elections  under-
            limits BJP expansion.                                                                                 line a deeper shift in Indian politics.
                The result also strengthens Rahul                                                                 The  country  is  increasingly  split-
            Gandhi  politically.  Kerala  remains                                                                 ting into distinct political zones — a
            one of the few states where Congress                                                                  BJP-dominated  north  and  east,  and
            still possesses a motivated cadre base                                                                a  more  fragmented  but  competitive
            and a stable social coalition.                                                                        south. That divide could shape coali-
                Taken together, the results from                                                                  tion-building,  parliamentary  strategy
            Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Ker-  Kerala legislative assembly LoP V D Satheesan with Kerala Congress President Sunny Joseph,   and federal politics in the coming years.
            ala  reveal  a  country  politically  split                                                               For Modi, the message is both en-
            between  two  competing  trajectories.   party General Secretary K C Venugopal and Congress senior leader Ramesh Chennithala speak   couraging  and  cautionary:  the  BJP’s
            The BJP is rapidly consolidating east-  to the media as they leave from the party president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence after the   expansion  continues,  but  India’s  po-
            ern  India  through  nationalism,  wel-      Kerala Congress meeting, in New Delhi on Saturday (ANI Photo)  litical  diversity  still  resists  complete
            fare politics and organisational expan-                                                               national consolidation.

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