BENGAL VOCAL FOR LOCAL
234 seats. The DMK returns to power after a decade, riding on a degree of anti-incumbency, Stalin’s leadership, alliances, and unease with the BJP. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) performed better than expected with the party and its allies winning or leading in 77 seats, with chief minister EK Palaniswami seen as having performed credibly on Covid-19 management — but this was not enough to neutralise the support for the DMK.
“I hope to work hard and serve the people of Tamil Nadu as well as strengthen the secular forces in our country,” Stalin said as he responded to Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar’s congratulatory post on Twitter. In Kerala, breaking a four-decade-old trend, where power has alternated between the two of the state’s major political formations, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by Pinarayi Vijayan made history by comfortably returning to power for a second consecutive time.
Political observers in the state attribute the win to the government’s focused management of Covid-19 and Nipah, as well as floods, during its term. The Left won 93 of the Kerala assembly’s 140 seats, with the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) a distant second with 40 seats. Former Congress president, Rahul Gandhi, is a parliamentarian from the state and had extensively campaigned for the UDF. Vijayan said the historic victory of the LDF proved there was no room for communal politics in the state.
“This victory belongs to the people of Kerala. I thank you all for reposing faith in the LDF once again. We need to come together more than ever before to tackle this pandemic and to take Kerala forward in the path of development, welfare and secularism!” he tweeted.
The BJP, however, had reason to smile in Assam — where it returned to power despite a united opposition for a second time — under the leadership of chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Himanta Biswa Sarma.
There is, however, speculation about whether the party would stick to the incumbent CM or appoint Sarma as the new leader of the legislative party. The NDA also crossed the majority mark in Puducherry, and the BJP will be a part of the coalition government in the UT for the first time. The results are widely being seen as a setback for both national parties, with BJP failing to achieve its aim in Bengal and the Congress failing to win a single state on its own. “Congratulations to Mamata Banerjee Didi, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan, and Shri MK Stalin for their parties success in the assembly elections. I am sure the state governments will work shoulder to shoulder with the central government for the welfare of the people,” Union minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: “I would like to thank my sisters and brothers of West Bengal who have blessed our party. From a negligible presence earlier, BJP’S presence has significantly increased. BJP will keep serving the people. I applaud each and every Karyakarta for their spirited effort in the polls.”
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said: “I’m happy to congratulate Mamata ji and the people of West Bengal for soundly defeating the BJP.”