KOLKATA: BJP has delivered a sweeping blow to TMC across eight districts of Bengal — the scale of the victory underlining not just anti-incumbency, but also the saffron party’s growing ability to convert social coalitions, local grievances and organisational strength into a decisive electoral machine.The most dramatic story came from East Midnapore, where BJP completed…
KOLKATA: The Kolkata fortress of Trinamool Congress was breached on Monday, leaving a trail of high-profile casualties that included party chief Mamata Banerjee.In a staggering reversal of 2021 – when it swept all 11 Kolkata seats – Trinamool was reduced to a mere five. The city’s southern suburbs voted for change, handing over its strongholds…
PUDUCHERRY: : A fragmented opposition, All India NR Congress (AINRC) founder and chief minister N Rangasamy’s charisma and his govt’s freebies ensured NDA retained office inPuducherry. Opposition parties failed to present a unified front against the AINRC-BJPAIADMK-LJK combine. Congress fielded candidates in five constituencies allotted to DMK, causing confusion among functionaries, cadres and voters. NDA…
The big shock was his party’s defeat; the bigger shock, his own drubbing in Kolathur in north Chennai, which is considered part of the DMK heartland. For M K Stalin, the ‘Vijay effect’ is arguably the most unsettling political moment of his career.DMK had banked on Stalin’s governance record in terms of industrial growth and…
Delimited seats give saffron party a multiplier effectDelimitation proved the wild card in Assam’s first assembly poll since the boundaries of constituencies were redrawn in 2023, cutting the number of Muslim-majority seats from 35 to 22 to leave BJP’s two main rivals — Congress and AIUDF — fighting an existential battle against each other. Although…
Throughout the campaign, Mamata Banerjee leaned on her 2021 playbook, asserting that she was the ‘sole candidate’ across all 294 seats. This time, however, the strategy that had fended off anti-incumbency backfired. Voters were not going to make the same mistake again.In a political earthquake that ended 15 years of Trinamool Congress dominance in Bengal,…
NEW DELHI: BJP’s stellar performance in West Bengal will give the party an advantage in the Upper House only after the next parliamentary polls as the earliest vacancies from the state would be reported in Aug 2029.Similarly in Tamil Nadu, the impact will be seen two years from now. The state assembly election results will…
KOLKATA: : An uncharacteristic silence descended upon the otherwise bustling arteries of central and north Kolkata. As TV screens flashed saffron, signalling a historic and decisive victory for BJP, the chaos of Smith Lane, Dedar Baux Lane and Abdul Hamid Lane in central Kolkata was replaced by a watchful, heavy silence, report Zeeshan Javed &…
NEW DELHI: “Banglaye poriborton hoye gechhe (change has happened in Bengal),” said a triumphant PM Narendra Modi, clad in traditional Bengali attire of ‘dhuti-panjabi’, in his victory speech at BJP headquarters here on Monday, hailing the party’s maiden win in state as a new dawn in Bengal.“This is a declaration of the country’s bright future,”…
NEW DELHI: Bengal and Assam poll results have thrown up a challenge for the Muslim community, which has been pushed into a political whirlpool post-2014 by BJP’s ‘communal card’ to polarise the majority community, coupled with controversial measures like delimitation and SIR.BJP’s success in damping the largest minority community in Assam has followed the 2023…