​Lost and found: The Hindu Editorial on the 2026 Assembly elections

2026 Parliament election results inside assam, West Bengal, tamil nadu, kerala And Puducherry Highlight the various factors that influenced India’s course as a secular, democratic, federal republic. While the BJP and its partners retained power in Assam and Puducherry, in three other states the incumbents were swept away by a strong current of changing popular opinion. In Assam, for the first time, the BJP alone crossed half of the 64 seats and along with its partners won 101 seats in the 126-member Assembly. For the Congress, this is its worst performance; even lower than the results achieved in 1985 following the Assam Rebellion. While regional organizations that were part of the Congress-led alliance, including the Raijor Dal and Assam Jatiya Parishad, were routed, those in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) (mainly the Asom Gana Parishad and Bodoland People’s Front) managed to win a few seats but now have little clout given the outright majority of the BJP. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has strengthened his position in the state through a mix of polarizing social discourse and redistribution schemes. Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi lost his own seat.

In West Bengal, the BJP achieved a decisive victory through long-term planning, aided by the state’s political past, the tainted electoral process and the exhaustion of the Trinamool Congress’ (TMC) go-it-yourself politics. Bengal was home to India’s national movement and Hindutva ideas long before they spread elsewhere and carries a strong sense of regional identity. Through years of meticulous organization, the BJP has transformed the State’s liminal population into its totalizing nationalist narrative. Embracing the regional politics of Maharashtra, Assam and Odisha, he set his sights on West Bengal with obsessive determination and won. The TMC faces existential danger as its founding leader Mamata Banerjee is 71 and its cadre and voters are now vulnerable to pressure from the BJP. This election was also the most tainted of all Indian elections: around 27 lakh people were arbitrarily excluded from the voter rolls and the Supreme Court of India took an unhelpful view of this grave attack on the foundations of democracy. If this is a sign of things to come, it is cause for serious concern.