Thiruvananthapuram - Election Results: Unlike in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, the governments were set to change in Assam and Kerala.
Published: Thu 19 May 2016, 7:36 AM
Last updated: Fri 20 May 2016, 8:40 AM
West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress on Thursday crushed the opposition and Tamil Nadu's AIADMK proved exit polls wrong by retaining power in assembly elections, the biggest popularity test after the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The BJP stormed to power in Assam while the Left made a comeback in Kerala amid a washout in West Bengal.
The Congress was the worst hit in the five-state election, losing power both in Assam, which it had ruled for 15 long years, and Kerala, where it was confident of winning its second term. The Congress-DMK alliance was, however, ahead of the ruling All India N.R. Congress in Puducherry.
The Bharatiya Janata Party also made history in Kerala where its veteran O. Rajagopal, 86, was elected from Nemom in Thiruvananthapuram. He will be the first ever BJP member in the Kerala assembly.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi promptly congratulated West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Tamil Nadu counterpart J. Jayalalithaa.
"Across India, people are placing their faith in (the) BJP and see it as the party that can usher in all-round and inclusive development," he tweeted.
Riding on the development plank, Banerjee led the Trinamool to a landslide win, leading in 214 or more than two-thirds of the seats in the 294-member Bengal assembly.
The Congress-Left combine, which had hoped to unseat Banerjee, was left gasping. The Congress was poised to win 44 seats while the Left, headed by the CPI-M, just 30 seats, a far cry from the times it had vice-like grip over West Bengal.
Image via Hindustan Times /Twitter
As Trinamool supporters celebrated wildly, Banerjee said a campaign of slander and lies led to her party's sweeping win. "People do not like such campaigns. There were all sorts of alliances against us. But people have ultimately made their choice.
Tamil Nadu produced a spectacular result. The AIADMK was set to grab 126 of the 234 seats, leaving the DMK-Congress combine with 102 seats, but far more than what it won in 2011. Almost all other parties were wiped out..
Unlike in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, the governments were set to change in Assam and Kerala.
An elated Jayalalithaa said: "There are not enough words in dictionary to adequately express my feelings of gratitude to the people of Tamil Nadu."
Most exit polls had predicted that the AIADMK would be unseated.
There were noisy celebrations outside Jayalalithaa's residence in Chennai. Holding her portraits, supporters danced to music and burst firecrackers.
But Chennai, battered by floods in December, dumped the AIADMK. Its candidates trailed in 12 of the 16 constituencies. Jayalalithaa, however, was set to win from Radhakrishnan Nagar in the city.
In a much-awaited victory, the BJP was poised to take power in Assam, with its candidates and allies leading in 85 of the 126 seats.
The stunning performance buried the Congress, which is set to win only 24 seats. The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), which had hoped to play the kingmaker if there was a hung verdict, led in 13 constituencies.
A beaming Sarbananda Sonowal, who will be Assam's chief minister, said that sealing the winding India-Bangladesh border to end infiltration would be his government's major challenge.
Left captures Kerala, Congress decimate
The LDF returned to power in Kerala on Thursday, winning 91 of the 140 seats in an election that saw the Congress routed and the BJP entering the assembly after decades of waiting.
As widely anticipated, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) unseated the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in the May 16 battle.
Election officials said the LDF had won 91 seats, with the CPI-M itself grabbing 58. In contrast, the entire UDF tally was 47, a clear sign of the voters' disgust against a government that battled corruption charges.
It was one of the worst electoral defeats for the UDF. The Congress seat tally fell from 39 to 22.
The ministers who lost were Shibhu Baby John (Labour), P.K. Jayalekshmi (Scheduled Tribes Welfare), K. Babu (Ports and Excise) and K.P. Mohanan (Agriculture). Speaker N. Sakthan and Deputy Speaker Palode Ravi (both Congress) were also humbled.
As boisterous Left activists celebrated all across Kerala, CPI-M leaders said the party would meet on Friday to decide who will be the new chief minister.
In the race are two men: Achuthanandan, 92, and his long-time foe within the party, Pinarayi Vijayan, 72.
Although Vijayan is known to enjoy majority support within the CPI-M in Kerala, Achuthanandan is widely seen as the mass leader and he is known to be keen to lead the state again.
Besides the CPI-M's 58 seats, the Communist Party of India (CPI) won 19 seats, the Janata Dal-Secular three, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) two while four other LDF constituents won one seat each.
Five independents backed by the Left were also elected.
In the UDF camp, the Congress led by winning 22 seats followed by the Indian Union Muslim League (18), Kerala Congress-Mani (6) and Kerala Congress-Jacob (1).
The UDF suffered a huge setback in districts like Kollam and Thrissur besides Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram.
Financial Express /Twitter
It was in Thiruvananthapuram that former central minister and BJP veteran O. Rajagopal won from Nemom constituency, defeating two-time legislator V. Sivankutty of CPI-M.
Rajagopal, a well-known face in Kerala politics, becomes the first BJP leader to enter the Kerala assembly. Until Thursday, no BJP candidate had won an assembly or Lok Sabha election in the state.
A visibly happy Rajagopal said his victory would mark the BJP's surge in Kerala.
But the BJP's hopes of getting four to six legislators elected on the strength of some aggressive campaigning by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as BJP president Amit Shah failed.
Independent candidate P.C. George was also elected to the house.
At least five state ministers trailed. Besides Achuthanandan, his party colleague Pinarayi Vijayan, who is also a chief ministerial hopeful, was also leading.
Financial Express /Twitter
A total of 1,203 contestants were in the fray. Most exit polls had predicted a Left victory. But Congress leaders, Chandy included, insisted until the votes were counted that the UDF would return to power.
Finally, the Kerala voter proved that he likes to change the government every five years.
AIADMK to retain power, but Chennai dumps it
Proving exit polls wrong, Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK appeared set to retain power on Thursday, with its candidates on the winning track in 136 of the 232 constituencies.
In contrast to widespread expectations that it may seize power, the DMK-Congress alliance was leading only in 86 constituencies, far short of the half-way mark of 117.
The PMK led in five places and the DMDK alliance in two. Smaller parties were ahead in three seats. Polling was postponed in two constituencies by the Election Commission.
Most exit polls after voting ended on May 16 had predicted a DMK win.
The imminent victory set off noisy celebrations outside AIADMK leader and Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa's residence here as well as at party offices across the state.
Holding Jayalalithaa's portraits, supporters -- many of them women -- danced to music and burst firecrackers. Many distributed sweets and raised slogans hailing the chief minister..
In contrast, the mood was gloomy at the DMK headquarters although it was poised to win many more seats than it did in 2011.
According to counting trends, AIADMK candidates were trailing behind the DMK in 12 of the 16 constituencies in the capital. Jayalalithaa, however, led in the city's Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency.
The DMK had in its election campaign played up the havoc caused by the floods.
The AIADMK fielded 227 candidates, leaving seven seats for its allies. But all of them contested with the AIADMK symbol two leaves.
WATCH: Congress supporters celebrate in Puducherry
Mamata storm sweeps aside all opposition in Bengal
Riding on the development plank, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress seems headed towards a landslide win in the state assembly polls here on Thursday.
Trends available for all the 294 constituencies of the assembly showed the Trinamool was in the lead in 210 seats -- well past the two-thirds majority mark of 196 -- while its main contender Left-Congress alliance was virtually decimated with its candidates ahead in only 75 constituencies.
The Congress seemed to be doing better than the Left Front by leading in 40 constituencies -- Left candidates were moving in the first position in 35.
The BJP was ahead in six and its alliance partner Gorkha Janmukti Morcha in three.
The Trinamool seemed to be sweeping away all opposition in all but two of the 20 districts in the eastern state. It was only in Malda and Murshidabad districts where the Left-Congress alliance candidates were doing well.
In Murshidabad, the alliance was in the forefront in 18 of the 22 seats, while in Malda it led in eight of the 11 constituencies.
Almost all the frontline leaders of the Trinamool, including its supremo Mamata Banerjee, occupied the pole position in their respective constituencies. Power Minister Manish Gupta was, however, trailing behind his rival Sujon Chakraborty in Jadavpur.
The dismal scenario for the Left-Congress alliance was reflected in its unofficial chief ministerial candidate, CPI-M state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra falling behind by over 4,000 votes against his Trinamool Congress opponent.
However, amid all the pervading gloom, one good news for the alliance was that former Congress president Manas Bhunia was leading in his constituency of Sabang.
In Kolkata, the Trinamool candidates had left their rivals far behind in 10 of the 11 constituencies in the city. However, in Jorasanko constituency, former state BJP president Rahul Sinha was in the lead.
The Trinamool virtually knocked out the opposition in the junglemahal area -- comprising forested stretches of mainly three western districts West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura.
It was also sweeping in Birbhum, Howrah and East Midnapore districts.
Mamata Banerjee had based her campaign on the development ushered in by her government and the various social welfare schemes it had launched.
On the other hand, the alliance had canvassed mainly on the corruption issue -- in the aftermath of the Narada sting footage that showed a number of Trinamool leaders accepting wads of currency notes in exchange of doling out favours to a fictitious company.
Sonowal and tribal factor that helped BJP in Assam
Assam was waiting for him ever since he won a major legal victory over illegal immigrants in 2005. And for the next five years, Sarbananda Sonowal will script the state's history, thanks to the mandate handed to him by the people in the assembly polls.
Most exit polls had predicted a BJP victory in Assam, where the Congress has been in power for the last 15 years.
In New Delhi, BJP spokesman Sambit Patra told IANS: "It is historic. We are going to make an entry in Assam."
Authorities counted the millions of votes cast in the assembly elections in 51 centres.
In a high turnout two-phased poll exercise, Assam voted on April 4 and 11. A total of 1,064 candidates were in the fray.
Had a telephone conversation with Jayalalithaa ji and congratulated her on her victory. Also conveyed my best wishes to her: PM Narandra modi
Spoken to Mamata Banerjee ji & congratulated her on the impressive victory. My best wishes to her as she begins her 2nd term.
We accept the verdict of people with humility. My best wishes to the parties that have won the elections: Rahul Gandhi
Today, the country has moved two steps forward, giving impetus to our campaign "Congress mukht Bharat".
BJP has performed well in all five states. I thank the ppl of all states for their support.
In Kerala, BJP's vote share has increased from 6 to nearly 15%. In Puducherry & Tamil Nadu, we have maintained our vote share: Amit Shah
Result are on the expected line, nothing surprising. Want to congratulate everyone: Nitish Kumar
A win is a win, a loss is a loss, you can't define it in a democracy
UDF accepts people's verdict.This loss was unexpected. We'll assess results, will discuss all aspects.
As the chairman of UDF front, I take the responsibility of this defeat.
We did not expect this defeat,a major setback. We are going to discuss all aspects at party level and UDF level-Kerala CM Oommen Chandy
I convey my heartiest thanks to voters who have reaffirmed their faith on me and given me another chance.
Promises made in manifesto will be fulfilled, will continuously strive towards making TN 1st in all spheres of development.
False campaigning by DMK has been defeated. People of Tamil Nadu have rejected family politics carried out by our opponents: TN CM Jayalalithaa
We will take oath on May 27. A session of Assembly will be called before May 29.
If a party loses its ideology, it loses everything. CPI(M)-Cong have lost everything. : CM Mamata Banerjee
It is of course disappointing, we will be a constructive opposition: Shashi Tharoor
Sincerely grateful to ppl of Assam for giving us opportunity to work for development of state: Sarbananda Sonowal, BJP
Want to congratulate BJP. We have lost because of Congress party: Badruddin Ajmal, AIUDF Chief
Thank the people of Assam. It is retitration of faith of the people in leadership of PM Modi: Jitendra Singh,MoS PMO
This is a huge win for LDF in Kerala, will bring development for Kerala & take ppl towards a new direction: Prakash Karat, CPIM
Election 2016 Assembly results clearly show that people of India are intolerant towards Congress.
Results are slap on opportunistic opp alliance,Cooperation in Delhi, operation in states&suppression in b/w hasn't gone well with ppl: Venkaiah Naidu
It's an unexpected verdict but we accept it.We expected a better result for UDF: Oommen Chandy
Results in Assam, Kerala although disappointing for Congress are not unexpected.
Surely in West Bengal we expected to do better, alliance had a strong showing in Tamil Nadu. In Puducherry, we performed well: Jairam Ramesh, Cong
With all humbleness we accept the verdict of people of Assam.
I congratulate Sarbananda Sonowal & BJP for their grand success, we will fulfil our role as opposition: Tarun Gogoi
Work done under PM's leadership,it has developed a hope among ppl,which is why we have been successful: Nitin Gadkari
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