Agencies :Sarbananda Sonowal will be the new chief minister of Assam with the BJP winning Assam, while West Bengal and Tamil Nadu have chosen to retain their powerful women chief ministers, Mamata Banerjee and J Jayalalithaa. In an emphatic mandate, the BJP is leading in 86 of Assam’s 126 assembly seats, with the Congress, which ruled for the last 15 years, trailing way behind at 24.The two most formidable women in Indian politics, Mamata Banerjee and J Jayalalithaa emerged clear winners in their states on Thursday – and they were incumbents.Mamata Banerjee’s TMC looked set to sweep West Bengal despite being closely associated with two big corruption scandals, the Narada and the Sarada scams. The TMC has won 177 seats of the 294 Assembly seats in West Bengal. Including those wins, the TMC is leading in 212 seats.The Left’s alliance with the Congress was seen for what it exactly was – opportunism. The alliance has won a mere 60 seats and is ahead in 13, which puts it ahead in a paltry 73 seats.The Left-Congress combine’s projected chief minister Surjya Kant Mishra has actually lost his Narayangarh seat for the first time since 1991. Mishra was seen as one of the architects of the Congress-CPM alliance.The Left’s loss was the BJP’s gain. It has actually won 3 seats here and is ahead in 2 – in 2011 it didn’t win a single seat. Its vote share has actually gone up to 10% from 4% in the 2011 Assembly polls.As for J Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK, it didn’t just buck incumbency, it made history by being the first party since 1984 to win two consecutive terms in Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK has won 92 seats and is ahead in 40 seats, giving it an unassailable lead of 132 seats. The DMK won 67 seats and was leading in 32 seats, putting it ahead in 99 seats.Kerala was, in fact, the only state where corruption and anti-incumbency played a role.The opposition CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) won a cool 85 of 140 seats leaving the corruption-tainted incumbent, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) eating humble pie with a mere 46 seats.The BJP, here, got its first seat – ever. O Rajagopal will be the first BJP MLA in Kerala. “The country is two-steps closer to creating a Congress-Mukt Bharat,” said Shah in Delhi. “The verdict is a lesson for the Congress for its obstructionist politics in Parliament,” he added.Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi acknowledged that the party has to work harder as he accepted the verdict “with humility”. “We will work harder till we win the confidence and trust of people,” Gandhi said in a tweet.Prime Minister Narendra Modi called up Jayalalithaa and Banerjee-the two possible sources of support for key legislation for the NDA government.”Had a telephone conversation with Jayalalithaa ji and congratulated her on her victory. Also conveyed my best wishes to her” and “Spoken to @MamataOfficial ji & congratulated her on the impressive victory. My best wishes to her as she begins her 2nd term”-Modi wrote in two tweets.Later, he also spoke and congratulated VS Achuthanandan, the CPI(M) veteran in Kerala.
