The results of the Assembly elections in four States and a Union Territory, which were announced yesterday, had path-breaking developments as well as those on expected lines.

In West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee's TMC bucked anti-incumbency and fended off a massive fight from the BJP to retain power for a third term. However, the Chief Minister herself lost her battle in Nandigram against former aide Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP. While analysts had predicted a tight finish with the TMC just scraping through, the final results gave the party a resounding 213 wins from the 292 Assembly seats that went to the polls. The BJP, which had vowed to take power in West Bengal, won only in 77 seats. However, this is a massive jump from its previous tally of 3 seats and has come at the cost of the Left and the Congress in the State, which have been wiped out.

In Tamil Nadu, the DMK is back in power after 10 years, though not in the sweeping fashion that was predicted. The 159 seats won by the party and its allies will finally put M.K. Stalin, son of the party patriarch the late M. Karunanidhi, in the Chief Minister's chair. This also removes an allied State government from the calculations of the BJP at the Centre. The leadership of the ruling AIADMK managed to avoid an absolute rout, but how the party that has several fissures within its fold manages out of power remains to be seen.

The ruling LDF in Kerala pulled off a rare electoral success for a sitting government in the State. The win came on the back of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's image as an able administrator in multiple crises. The BJP, which had hoped to increase its tally of one member in the Legislative Assembly, ended with none. Its trump card, 'Metroman' E. Sreedharan, failed to make it in Palakkad.

These political shifts in some of the key States in the country are what make these stories important.
 

Today's Editorials

Clear and distinct: On verdicts in Assembly elections

A timely warning: On Supreme Court intervention against clampdown on information

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