Assembly elections 2026: Giant slayers who changed the face of results

The May 2026 mandate is proving to be a day of historic firsts and surprising exits, as voters across four states and a Union Territory have largely rejected the old scripts. From the BJP finally breaching the long-guarded gates of West Bengal to the cinematic surge of Vijay’s TVK in Tamil Nadu, the trends suggest an electorate that is no longer content with traditional political duopolies.

While some incumbents are seeing their bastions crumble, the common thread across the map is a decisive push for "something new," turning what were expected to be routine counts into a series of high-stakes political thrillers.

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The broader takeaway is a major shift in how regional power is being contested. In Kerala, the "alternate" tradition has returned with a vengeance as the UDF prepares for a thumping majority, while Assam remains a solid fortress for the NDA, highlighting that "anti-incumbency" isn't a universal rule but a local reality.

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List of giant slayers of state assembly elections 2026

1. V.S. Babu: In one of the most dramatic results of the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, V.S. Babu, a seasoned politician with a turbulent career spanning multiple parties, has defeated Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in the Kolathur constituency, marking a watershed moment in the State’s political history.
2. Hitendra Nath Goswami (BJP): The veteran "Giant Slayer" of Jorhat who defeated Congress State Chief and CM-face Gaurav Gogoi by a commanding margin of 23,182 votes.
3. Suvendu Adhikari (BJP): The man who once defeated Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram (2021) has now "slain" her government’s 15-year majority. By leading the BJP to a historic victory in Bengal, he has officially dismantled the TMC’s "invincibility" narrative.
4. Sabarinathan R (TVK): He is currently leading against DMK’s Prabhakara Raja. This is being hailed as the ultimate symbol of the TVK’s "grassroots” disruption.
5. Sarbari Mukherjee (BJP): BJP’s Sarbori Mukherjee leads with massive vote share, ahead of TMC’s Debabrata Majumdar in Jadavpur.


6. Subrata Maitra (BJP): Subrata Maitra defeated Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in his home turf of Baharampur in West Bengal's Murshidabad district, according to the Election Commission.