The BJP was next in the line in Assam but few thought that the saffron party would get a massive majority of 89 votes in 126-member assembly and the Congress slide down to 22. The BJP had a formidable regional ally—the Assam Gana Parishad (AGP). Added to that the saffron party had the momentum of its performance in 2014 Lok Sabha election when Modi juggernaut had won seven seats. The BJP managed to project Sarbananda Sonowal, formerly of the AGP, as the chief ministerial candidate while drafting Himanta as the election convener.

Victory of Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal was a foregone conclusion. But what was not expected was rout of the CPI-M, which once ruled the state for long years. The Marxists were pushed to third position and the Congress emerged as the main opposition party having secured 44 seats. The CPI-M—Congress alliance was rejected by the people.

Mamata got the second term because of the goodwill and popularity though her party had not done developmental work as expected of her government. Voters behavior defies logic. Price rise was nowhere on the agenda. Nor unemployment. Mamata faced two scams; first Saradha in which poor villagers lost their savings, and then Narda, in which ministers and leaders of the Trinamool Congress were caught in camera, accepting bribe.

The real surprise was in Tamil Nadu, where Jayalalithaa created history, by winning an election twice in succession. Her political mentor M G Ramachandra too had got a second term. Not since MGR won in 1984, has any Chief Minister retained power, winning a comfortable majority despite the close contest. After decades of alliance politics, Tamil Nadu seems to be moving towards polarization between two major Dravidian parties.

The DMK-Congress alliance, which exit polls had predicted, would oust the AIADMK proved off the mark. Jayalalitha’s party secured 132 seats in 232-member house, the DMK reduced to 86 and the Congress got eight. The DMK’s allies fared worse than it did, raising the question whether it gave away too many seats in trying to win new friends.

Although alliance with the Congress seems to have worked in the deep south, where the national party retains a support base, in many other places, the DMK appeared to have made only things easier for the AIADMK by handing over the seats to its allies. Two things seem to have settled the election in AIADMK favour. First, the anti-incumbency sentiment, if it existed at all, was not as strong as observers believed it was. Second, the existence of a multi-cornered contest served to blunt anti-incumbency even further.

Jayalalithaa’s biggest challenge is how to manage her revenue-sapping promise of introducing a phased prohibition without scaling down her populist policies. Also, she will have to contend with a much stronger Opposition than before, with the DMK alliance having won 40 percent of the seats in the Assembly. Election in Kerala was on expected lines with Congress and Left parties alternating after five years. This, in one sense, is a healthy trend and should be repeated in other states’ too and ultimately at the Centre.

The Assembly poll results are further indication that Left is now a regional phenomenon. It won Kerala, which has not repeated an incumbent government since1977, but the left, including its largest and most influential component, the CPI-M, has been relegated to the third place in West Bengal. Evidently, the opportunistic arrangement the Marxists forged with its historic rival-- the Congress—to revive the party in West Bengal, has backfired. Voters preferred the Trinamool Congress that stayed true to its leanings and did not attempt any political or ideological somersaults.

As expected, CPI-M strongman Pinarayi Vjayan, was chosen chief Minister with the party unanimously choosing him over 92-year-old V S Achutanandan, who played a major role in bringing the party back to power. In a bid to placate Achutanandan, the party likened him with Fidel Castro and said he would continue to guide and inspire the party cadres.

CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechuri said the party has decided to propose name of 72-year-old Vijayan as LDF chief minister. Considering Achutanandan’s age and physical limitations, and recognizing his role in elections, the party has requested him to guide the party and the government through thick and thin.

The CPI-M-led Left Democratic staged a fascinating comeback, winning 91 of 140 Assembly seats, as scam hit UDF led by the Congress managed to win 47 seats.

The only consolation for the Congress—DMK alliance was its victory in Puducherry where the combine managed to get 17 seats—15 Congress and two DMK-- in 30-member assembly.(IPA Service)