2026 State Elections in India

Anti-incumbency was a decisive factor in the legislative assembly elections in India with three of four states set for a change in government. In a high-stakes contest in West Bengal, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) scored a massive upset, ending the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress’s 15-year rule. Actor Vijay made a blockbuster political debut in Tamil Nadu, where his party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), outperformed the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Kerala (now Keralam) voted out the Left Democratic Front (LDF), a Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led alliance, in favor of the Indian National Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF). In Assam the BJP retained power for a third term.

West Bengal legislative assembly election results

• Total seats: 294 (votes counted for 293 seats)
• Majority mark: 148

Polling was held in two phases on April 23 and April 29, with a record voter turnout of about 92 percent on both days. The second phase was held amid allegations of electoral malpractice and violent confrontations between workers from opposing parties as well as with security personnel, prompting the ECI to order re-polling in some constituencies. Votes were counted for 293 seats with the result pending for the Falta constituency, where a fresh election will be held on May 21,

Discover how ordinary objects work, and expand your understanding of the familiar.

SIGN UP

" height="20" alt="HEW Logo">

Thank you for signing up!"

Back to homepage

By clicking "Sign Up", you consent to the Britannica Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

In battleground Bengal, the BJP denied Mamata Banerjee a record fourth term as chief minister. Banerjee also lost her own seat to her former aide, Suvendu Adhikari, who defected to the BJP in 2020. The BJP mounted an aggressive campaign against Banerjee’s TMC, which faced anti-incumbency sentiments over rising unemployment and concerns regarding women’s safety after several widely publicized cases of sexual assault. Banerjee had been particularly criticized for her government’s response to and alleged cover-up of the assault and murder of a female trainee doctor at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital. The doctor’s mother, Ratna Debnath, joined the BJP weeks before the election and won from the Panihati constituency.

The Election Commission of India’s controversial special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which required eligible voters to resubmit their information in order to be included in the voter lists, is regarded as having greatly influenced the election. The TMC had accused the BJP of attempting to manipulate the voting demographic in its favor by deliberately disenfranchising minority voters—the revised electoral rolls controversially excluded more than 9 million voters. While many names were later restored, a significant number could not vote on the polling days. The BJP counter argued that the TMC’s motive behind opposing the SIR was to use illegal immigrants for political capital. Both parties crafted campaigns around the perception of “outsiders”; the BJP labeled many of those excluded in the SIR as “infiltrators” from Bangladesh, while the TMC targeted the BJP itself, traditionally regarded as a north Indian party, as an external force threatening Bengali identity.

Tamil Nadu legislative assembly election results

• Total seats: 234
• Majority mark: 118

Polls were held in a single phase on April 23, with a record voter turnout of about 84 percent. The TVK made a landmark electoral breakthrough, emerging as the largest single party in the state against rival alliances led by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). In a shock defeat, DMK party leader M.K. Stalin lost his seat to a TVK candidate. TVK chief Vijay ran for office in two constituencies and won in both. The TVK’s impressive performance marks one of the most dramatic political entries in the history of the state, which has long been dominated by the DMK and the AIADMK. The TVK’s surge points to the intersection of cinema and politics in Tamil Nadu, where some film personalities, including M.G. Ramachandran and Jayaram Jayalalithaa, have successfully transitioned to politics.

The results suggest a reconfiguration of Tamil Nadu’s political landscape, with a new party making headway in a system that has been defined for decades by the rivalry between the DMK and the AIADMK. The scale of the TVK’s performance is being regarded as an indicator of an anti-incumbency sentiment and a shift among younger and urban voters in the state. Although Vijay has emerged as the top chief ministerial candidate, his party is short of the majority 118 votes needed to form the government. This makes post-election alliances a key factor, with the TVK’s choice of allies likely to determine its path to power.

Explore Britannica Premium!

The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.

SUBSCRIBE

Kerala legislative assembly election results

• Total seats: 140
• Majority mark: 71

Polls were held in a single phase on April 9, with a voter turnout of about 78 percent. Kerala’s politics has traditionally alternated power between the Left Democratic Front (LDF), a coalition of left-wing parties led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), and the United Democratic Front (UDF), a coalition of centrist and center-left parties led by the Indian National Congress (Congress Party). Since 2016 the LDF had served for two consecutive terms (2016–21 and 2021–26), with CPI(M)’s Pinarayi Vijayan as chief minister.

The UDF was Kerala’s choice in this election. Although Pinarayi Vijayan won in his constituency of Dharmadam, Kannur, the LDF has been prevented from forming the government for a record third term. Meanwhile, the UDF will return to power after about a decade in the opposition. However, the coalition has yet to decide its chief ministerial candidate, with several veteran Congress Party leaders in contention, including V.D. Satheesan, K.C. Venugopal, and Ramesh Chennithala.

The election season was marked by sharp exchanges between the coalitions, particularly over welfare delivery and the LDF government’s performance over the past decade. The UDF accused the ruling front of administrative drift, corruption, nepotism, and failure to address several issues, including unemployment. The UDF also banked on a perceived anti-incumbency factor in the state. The LDF generally dismissed such criticism and defended its governance record, particularly its welfare policies. Although a smaller force in the state compared with the LDF and the UDF, the NDA criticized both fronts and presented itself as an alternative to the state’s long-standing bipolar political alliances.

Assam legislative assembly election results

• Total seats: 126
• Majority mark: 64

Polls were held in a single phase on April 9, with a record voter turnout of about 85 percent. The BJP won the election and secured a third consecutive term in the state, winning a majority on its own this time. The NDA, the coalition led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, won the state elections for the first time in 2016, following the decline of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), the formation of a new alliance with the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), and infighting within the Congress Party, especially between Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and senior Congress leader Himanta Biswa Sarma, who joined the BJP in 2015 and helped the party gain strength in Assam and other states in northeastern India. The BJP and its allies won a second consecutive assembly election in Assam in 2021, and Sarma became the chief minister. Sarma is expected to be chief minister for a second consecutive term after the 2026 win.

Until 2016 Assam had mostly been a stronghold of the Congress Party, with the Janata Party (1978–79) and the AGP (1985–90, 1996–2001) coming to power for a few terms.

In the 2026 elections, Gen Z voters were expected to be a decisive force, with nearly 29 percent of the state’s total electorate falling in the 18–29 years age group. Political parties introduced several under-40 candidates—including Kunki Choudhury (Assam Jatiya Parishad, or AJP), Pabitra Rabha (BJP), and Tanzil Hussain (Congress)—to appeal to younger voters. In addition to youth-centered politics, the Congress and the BJP traded accusations. Exchanges were particularly heated between Himanta Biswa Sarma and state Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi. The BJP maintained that the Congress was responsible for sheltering “foreign infiltrators,” centering on decades-old concerns in the Assamese community over alleged illegal immigration from Bangladesh (see: Assam Agitation and the Assam Accord), with which the state shares a border of more than 160 miles (260 kilometers). The Congress, in turn, alleged that the BJP (which has held a strong anti-immigration stance) had engaged in corruption and religious polarization for electoral gains.

Senior Congress leaders switched to the BJP weeks ahead of the 2026 election and contested from key constituencies—a setback to the Congress at a crucial time. Other factors that may have worked in the BJP’s favor are achievements in health and infrastructure development. Further, women voters—many of whom the BJP-led government’s schemes sought to support through monthly financial assistance (Orunodoi, 2020) and measures to increase economic independence (Swanirbhar Naari, 2020)—are perceived as key influencers in the election outcome. Regionally diverse groups in the Bodoland Territorial Region (which has 15 assembly seats), the Barak Valley (which has a large Bengali-speaking community), the Upper Assam tea belt (where tea garden workers influence more than 25 percent of the state’s assembly seats), and Muslim-majority regions (whose deciding power, the Congress has accused, has been reduced by a dozen seats following the 2023 delimitation exercise in the state) are some other key influence groups.

Puducherry legislative assembly election results

• Total seats: 30 elected seats (3 others are nominated by the central government)
• Majority mark: 16

Polls were held in a single phase on April 9, with a record voter turnout of about 90 percent. Puducherry is one of three of India’s eight union territories—the other two are Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir—that have legislative assemblies. Politics in Puducherry have traditionally been shaped by alliances between national and regional parties. Since 2021 the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the All India N.R. Congress (AINRC), has governed Puducherry. AINRC leader N.R. Rangaswamy has served as chief minister from 2021 to 2026, heading a coalition that includes the BJP. The NDA and the Indian National Developmental Alliance (INDIA), led by the Congress Party and the DMK, was the main challenger.

The AINRC-led alliance won by a comfortable margin over the Congress Party-led coalition and will form the government for a second consecutive term. The election results also saw the entry of actor-turned-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). Although the TVK could not replicate its performance in Tamil Nadu, its presence added a new dimension to the union territory’s politics.