May the fourth be with Bengal, Tamil N, and new choices

Hindsight in the form of final poll results brings 20/20 vision that no punter, pundit or exit pollster can bring. But that doesn't mean that interpreting causes for victory and defeat won't be varied and contested. In the latest season of the latest episodes of assembly polls, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu delivered not just memorably surprising - and surprisingly memorable - verdicts, but also results that will reverberate far beyond their borders. In West Bengal, voters, who were not SIR-ed out, have done what they did 15 yrs back: end status quo, and bring about 'poriborton', or change, by replacing a TMC government that took the electorate for granted the same way the Left Front did till 2011. Mamata Banerjee's TMC, forever brandishing variants of the Sholay line, 'So ja beta, warna BJP aa jayegi,' has found that people - with protection of central forces - could, and did, opt for an alternative - including defeating Didi in her constituency of Bhabanipur. They have eked out a new choice. With 200+ seats in the 294-member Bengal assembly, BJP will now have to put its proverbial money where its mouth has been since it became the de facto opposition party in 2021, and pitch bringing Bengal out of economic morass and 'law and disorder'.

If Bengal's verdict was historic, Tamil Nadu's was theatrical. Actor Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) surged ahead as a 'first-day first show' vox office hit, making it not just a kingmaker as some had predicted, but king. Stunning both DMK and AIADMK, TVK brings an alternative to an old equation for a new aspirational class. The duopoly that has defined Tamil Nadu politics for half a century lies shattered, as does the notion of celebrity popularity never being able to cross over to actual votes. Vijay's rise recalls N T Rama Rao's debut in Andhra Pradesh in the 1980s - cinema charisma transmuted into political capital. Voters, weary of dynastic politics, have embraced a fresh face promising renewal.

Together, these twin verdicts mark a profound reordering of India's political map. BJP's expansion eastward strengthens its national footprint ahead of 2029, while Tamil Nadu's reset introduces a new player capable of reshaping southern alliances. Both results underscore a restless electorate, willing to punish complacency and gamble on new leadership.


Yes, challenges loom. West Bengal's entrenched political violence and welfare populism will test BJP's administrative capacity beyond its political one. On Monday, the Supreme Court refused to entertain a plea to deploy central forces to prevent post-poll violence, asking the approaching party to refer the matter to Calcutta High Court as it was a state matter. Despite a strong message from Union home minister Amit Shah to BJP rank and file not to indulge in post-poll retaliatory violence, there already has been troubling instances of 'badla' (revenge) along with the 'badal' (change). The new dispensation must see to it that it doesn't follow the past, and injects a new political atmosphere - necessary for a new social and economic order - in the state. Meanwhile, Vijay's job in Chennai is to prove to his critics that lack of political experience, which raises questions about governance beyond charisma, is rebutted by a smooth transition.

May 4 will be remembered as the day the 'fish belt' of West Bengal and 'Dravidian-obsessed' Tamil Nadu decided to move beyond their self-imposed gridlocks. With Assam voting for continuation of a BJP government and Kerala 'revolving door' back from CPI(M)-led LDF to Congress-led UDF, voters have rewritten the script in Bengal and TN, highlighting that there will be more verdicts based on performance, for which it will find - if necessary, prise out - credible alternatives.