Raging speculation about Congress’s probable Chief Minister seemed to consume the party in Kerala on Tuesday (May 5, 2026), even as the Congress high command comprising Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, and All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K.C. Venugopal, was reportedly poised to commence preliminary discussions in Delhi to settle the nagging question. 

Mr. Venugopal seemingly added to the political theatre by telling reporters that the high command’s decision on the party’s Chief Minister candidate was “imminent” before leaving for Delhi for discussions from Kochi. 

Meanwhile, veteran leader A.K. Antony signalled that the names of Mr. Venugopal, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan, and senior leader Ramesh Chennithala were in play for the Congress Chief Minister’s post. 

N. Rangasamy is all set to lead Puducherry for the fifth time with his party AINRC-led NDA winning the April 9 elections in the UT with a handsome margin.

The All India NR Congress has now emerged victorious in 12 out of the 16 seats it contested and the BJP won four of the 10 seats it fought. The AIADMK and Latchia Jananayaga Katchi (LJK), other NDA constituents, emerged successful from one seat each and the combine has 18 seats in the 30-member House, two more than the magic number of 16 required to form government. Besides, there would be three nominated members.

Mr. Rangasamy had been a Congress CM in the past (2001, 2006) before parting ways with the national party to float his outfit in 2008. - PTI

BJP president Nitin Nabin offered prayers at the Kalibari temple in Chittranjan Park in south Delhi, a day after his party registered a massive victory in West Bengal and Assam polls.

Mr. Nabin was accompanied by Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, State president Virendra Sachdeva and other BJP leaders.

“People compensated us this time for the 2024 Lok Sabha results which had fallen short of expectations,” he said. He thanked the people of Bengal, Assam and other States where Assembly elections were held. - PTI

Thiruvananthapuram: A day after the Left Democtratic Fund (LDF) suffered a rout in the Assembly polls, the outgoing Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan arrived at the airport in Thiruvananthapuram from Kannur and travelled to Cliff House, his official residence, in a private vehicle without his usual security cover.

As he came out of the airport, accompanied by his wife, daughter and Left leaders V. Sivankutty, V. Joy and A.A. Rahim, Mr. Vijayan smiled and briefly raised his hand at the media, which tried to speak to him.

He then left for the Cliff House in a non-official vehicle and was accompanied by a police pilot jeep and escort as he left the airport, according to visuals on TV channels. The usual huge cavalcade of security vehicles and commando cover were absent when he arrived at the airport and left for Cliff House. - PTI

Chennai: MDMK leader Vaiko said the responsibility to implement the promised welfare schemes for the people now rests with the winning party.

MDMK contested in four Assembly constituencies as part of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) and was defeated in all of them.

Talking to the reporters after meeting DMK chief M.K. Stalin, Vaiko said it is now the duty of the “victorious” party to continue to implement all the welfare schemes, which were being implemented by the DMK government. “I hope they will continue it”, he added.

To a question on parties in SPA extending support to the TVK to form government, Vaiko said, “Our alliance is intact, and the unity has been proven all the time”, he said and expressed confidence in the coalition’s stability, claiming that no party would attempt to disrupt it.

With regard to the election results, he said: “In democracy, we have to respect the verdict given by the electorate. I respect them”. - PTI

Kolkata: The Election Commission is recounting votes in West Bengal’s Rajarhat New Town Assembly constituency, the only seat where the result has been withheld, after a candidate raised questions on the slender leading margin.

“The recount is under way today, and once it is completed, we will announce the results,” the poll panel official said.

According to the Election Commission’s website, Tapash Chatterjee of the Trinamool Congress was leading by 323 votes over his nearest rival, BJP’s Piyush Kanodia, after the penultimate 17th round of counting.

The official said, according to the latest trends, Mr. Chatterjee is leading in the seat. “The trailing candidates include Kanodia of the BJP, Firdaus Ali Molla of the Aam Janata Unnayan Party, and Saptarshi Deb of the CPI(M),” he added. - PTI

Kolkata: The BJP whitewashed the Trinamool Congress in nine of the 23 districts of West Bengal, racking up all 68 seats these regions had to offer on its way to paint the State saffron in the watershed election.

As the party marched to power in the State for the first time, the mandate in these nine districts - from north Bengal’s hills to the central part of the south - has shown that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had correctly predicted in his campaign trail that TMC would fail to open its account in multiple districts.

The BJP won 206 seats to secure more than a two-thirds majority in the West Bengal Assembly polls, ending the TMC’s 15-year rule as it was decimated to around 80 in the 294-strong Assembly.

The result also marked the BJP’s decisive breach of its last major eastern bastion, completing its saffron arc across ‘Anga, Banga and Kalinga’ (Bihar, Bengal and Odisha).

At the very top of the BJP’s performance chart is the Purba Medinipur district, where its most prominent poll achiever, Suvendu Adhikari, ensured the party’s dominance was complete. - PTI

Expressing heartfelt gratitude to the people of Tamil Nadu, M.K. Stalin reflects on the mandate and the path ahead. With 1.54 crore votes and only a 3.52% vote share gap, Mr. Stalin called the people’s support a strong mandate, and asks cadre to reach out to voters.

The Sivaganga district with four constituencies witnessed the loss of sitting MLAs in all four constituencies. Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam candidates emerged victorious in all segments.

The four constituencies – Sivaganga, Karaikudi, Tiruppattur and Manamadurai (SC) - which had AIADMK, Congress and DMK MLAs, fell to the TVK wave which has swept the State. 

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There were no surprises in the traditional strongholds of the United Democratic Front (UDF), including Piravom, Aluva, and Angamaly, in Ernakulam.

Anoop Jacob of the Kerala Congress (Jacob) registered an emphatic victory as he romped home for the fourth consecutive time by an impressive margin of 44,681 votes against Sabu K. Jacob of the Kerala Congress(M). Jibi Abraham of Twenty20 failed to make any dents in this United Democratic Front (UDF) bastion as he ended up third with 14,861 votes.

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The eastern region of the district sided completely with the United Democratic Front (UDF) in the Assembly elections, with the front retaining Muvattupuzha and Perumbavoor constituencies and wresting the Kothamangalam seat from the Left Democratic Front (LDF).

In Muvattupuzha, the Congress’ Mathew Kuzhalnadan recorded an emphatic victory by a margin of 42,829 votes against N. Arun of the Left Democratic Front (LDF). While Mr. Kuzhalnadan polled 89,914 votes, Mr. Arun, the CPI’s Ernakulam district secretary, came a distant second with 47,085 votes. The National Democratic Alliance’s Sunny Kadoothazhe could pocket only 9,840 votes.

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In a day of tectonic surprises, it may seem superfluous to talk of upsets. And yet, the defeat of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in Kolathur, and the painting of Chennai in the recently familiar red-and-yellow colours of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) must be part of record.

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin lost to former DMK partyman V.S. Babu of the TVK, a party that Mr. Babu recently migrated to. Mr. Stalin who started trailing early fell behind by about 8,700-odd votes.

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Former Chief Minister and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami won for the sixth time in the Edappadi Assembly constituency.

Mr. Palaniswami secured 1,48,933 votes and beat the TVK-supported Independent candidate K. Premkumar by 98,110 votes.

Mr. Palaniswami won in Edappadi in 1989, 1991, 2011, 2016, 2021, and 2026. He lost twice in 1996 and 2006. - The Hindu Bureau

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Two contradictory things have happened for the Congress in the latest round of Assembly polls. While it is a warning sign for the party, reflecting its failure to read the tea leaves in Assam or smell the coffee in Tamil Nadu, nationally, it helps the party cement itself as the sole node of any challenge to the BJP.

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A day after actor-politician Vijay and his party upended the bipolar political landscape of Tamil Nadu, his fans were seen celebrating at the Tirumala temple in Andhra Pradesh. 

Stray incidents of arson and vandalism at offices of the Trinamool Congress were reported across West Bengal on Monday (May 4, 2026) as BJP workers celebrated their landslide victory in the State.

Police said TMC offices in Tollygunge, Baruipur, Kamarhati, Baranagar, Baharampur, Howrah, and Kasba were vandalised by unruly mobs since Monday (May 4, 2026) afternoon.

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With its defeat in the Kerala Assembly election, the Left parties are not in power in any State for the first time since 1977. The setback has sharpened questions over the political strategy of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)]. During its campaign, the Congress had accused the ruling party of colluding with the BJP, with the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, branding the CPI(M) as the “Communist Janata Party”.

Sobhana K. Nair explores more on this here:

Violence was reported in Kannur following the announcement of election results, with a Congress office attacked in Keezhatoor in the Dharmadam constituency. 

The Rajiv Bhavan office at Keezhatoor in Vengad panchayat was allegedly vandalized by a group of assailants in the early hours of Tuesday. 

Window panes and the flagpole were damaged and furniture inside the office was found destroyed. 

Local Congress leaders alleged that CPI(M) workers, angered by the election defeat, were behind the attack.

Police reached the spot and have begun an investigation.

- The Hindu Bureau

The ruling DMK, which faced severe reversal in the Assembly elections 2026, managed to poll 24.2% of the vote share constituting over 1.18 crore votes, as of available ECI figures on Monday night. In terms of seats, the party had won or was leading in 60 seats ending up as the principal opposition party but its allies the Congress, Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi (VCK), the CPI(M), the CPI, and others, fared poorly.

Click here to read how t he party was eclipsed by TVK not only in Chennai — long considered its stronghold — but also in Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu, and Kancheepuram districts:

Kerala’s outgoing Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was seen leaving his residence in Kannur, as he heads to Thiruvananthapuram. 

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Visuals from Chennai show that heavy security has been deployed outside the TVK office

The ball set rolling by the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) with four bypoll wins since 2021, followed by a stellar showing in the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, and the local body polls last December has catapulted the alliance back to the treasury benches of the State Assembly from a decade-long political wilderness.

S. Anandan writes:

The victory of the Congress-led United Democratic Front is matched in intensity and depth by the defeat of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front in Kerala. 

The winners have an immediate lesson to draw from the loser: that Kerala is characteristically disapproving of an über-leader who outshines his own party and keeps the spotlight firmly on himself. The outgoing Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had made this election all about himself. The tagline of the LDF campaign was “Who Else, but LDF,” with Mr. Vijayan as its sole face, looming in imposingly large hoardings across the State. The UDF campaign, by contrast, was a teamwork of unprecedented synergy among its leaders — a fact that all of them underscored after the victory. The UDF and its supporters must now resist the temptation to imitate the Pinarayi model of leadership.

Varghese K. George writes:

On May 4, 2026, a tsunami of sorts swept across the State of Tamil Nadu and one man crested the wave – C. Joseph Vijay. An actor, once known as ‘ IllayaThalapathy’, or young commander, amongst his fans, he transitioned a decade ago to the title Thalapathy(commander), a moniker prescient enough, for he did lead his people through one of the most historic debut political appearances in the history of elections in India. In 2026, he was the hero of a full-length feature film starring the Dravidian duopoly and vanquished them.

C. Joseph Vijay, once known as ‘ IllayaThalapathy’ or young commander among his fans, transitioned a decade ago to Thalapathy(commander), a moniker prescient enough, for he has led his people through one of the most historic debut political appearances in the history of elections in India

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