Vote counting LIVE: Vijay shocks Dravidian giants; BJP crosses 200 in Bengal; UDF wave in Kerala
The 2026 election story: The fall of bastions, the rise of a superstar, and a saffron breakthrough in the East.
Extending its saffron spread in eastern India, the BJP is set for a decisive win over the TMC in long elusive West Bengal and headed for another term in Assam while actor-politician Vijay’s TVK made a stunning debut in Tamil Nadu as the largest single party in terms of seats won or led. As votes were counted for Assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry, Election Commission trends showed a wipeout of the Left and a solitary win for the Congress that has been battling diminishing electoral returns.
Also Read: Understanding the Vijay phenomenon in Tamil Nadu politics
Also Read: What explains Bengal’s saffron shift? 6 reasons why Mamata was decimated
Also Read: UDF landslide in Kerala: The multiple factors that toppled Left
That silver lining for the opposition party came from Kerala where the Congress-led UDF won or was leading in 101 of the 140 Assembly seats while the CPM-led ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) was ahead in just under 40 constituencies.
The cynosure of Election 2026, however, was West Bengal, the eastern state where the Trinamool Congress was eyeing a fourth straight term in its only bastion. As counting progressed, power for the TMC seemed to be pulling away, further and further. The state’s political landscape was changing with the BJP, its campaign spearheaded by Amit Shah with Modi as its lodestar, pushing ahead in border, tribal and industrial regions, while the TMC held ground in parts of Kolkata and select rural strongholds.
According to the Election Commission, the BJP won or was ahead in 195 of the 294 seats, well ahead of the magic number of 147, power in the state finally within its grasp. The Trinamool Congress tally was 90.
In Assam, where the election was a hot-headed affair too, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma led the BJP to another straight victory with leads in 81 of the 126 seats, leaving the Congress far behind at 19. Congress state unit president Gaurav Gogoi faced his first electoral defeat in Jorhat.
West Bengal was one headline of Election 2026, the other was superstar Vijay, who defied the odds and the taint of a stampede during his rally in September 2025 in which 41 people were killed. That was clearly in the past as his party broke bipolar Dravidian politics and was poised to become the largest single party in Tamil Nadu with wins and leads in 109 of the state’s 234 seats. The ruling DMK that had started the morning at number three position was at 61 and the AIADMK at 44.
Chief Minister M K Stalin lost in Kolathur. According to Election Commission data, 15 other ministers were also lagging behind.
The choice, it appeared, was clear. Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar could well join the pantheon of MGR and Jayalalithaa as the stars who made it big in the political firmament.
In Kerala, Congress broke Left's grip, winning over 100 seats. In Puducherry, the All India NR Congress had won or was ahead in 11 of the 30 seats. The DMK stood at five and the BJP at four. The TVK made its presence felt with three.
In Assam, the BJP-led NDA is set to create history surging towards a landslide victory. Under the leadership of Himanta Biswa Sarma, the party is on track to secure a record third consecutive term, with leads comfortably crossing the majority mark.
As the counting is underway, follow our live updates below:
Live Updates
- 4 May 2026 2:31 PM IST
Latest leads at 2.30 pm
Tamil Nadu
TVK 110
AIADMK+ 61
DMK+ 62
West Bengal
BJP+ 194
TMC+ 94
Kerala
UDF 89
LDF 36
BJP+ 2
Assam
BJP+ 99
Congress 23
AIUDF+ 2
Puducherry
NRC+ 16
Congress+ 10
- 4 May 2026 2:27 PM IST
Gaurav Gogoi defeated in Jorhat
In a major setback to the Congress in Assam, Gaurav Gogoi has lost from the Jorhat Assembly constituency. Gogoi, the sitting MP of Jorhat, polled 46,257 votes, while Goswami secured 69,439 votes, retaining the seat for a third consecutive term.
Gogoi made his assembly election debut this time. On the other side, Goswami represented the constituency thrice as an AGP MLA and twice on a BJP ticket.
The deputy leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha won the Jorhat parliamentary seat in 2024, defeating the BJP's Topon Kumar Gogoi by 1,44,393 votes.
Polling for all 126 assembly segments in Assam was held on April 9
- 4 May 2026 2:24 PM IST
‘Bloody Hell’: Omar Abdullah on Bengal, Tamil Nadu upsets
As election results began reshaping the political map on Monday, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah captured the mood with a brief but striking reaction on social media.
At around 11 am, as counting progressed across West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry, Abdullah posted on X: “Bloody hell,” along with an emoticon expressing shock.
By noon, the scale of the shifting trends was becoming clearer. In West Bengal, the BJP was leading in 199 seats, a dramatic development in a state long viewed as one of the party’s toughest electoral battlegrounds.
In Tamil Nadu, the TVK, the debutant party led by actor-turned-politician Vijay, was leading in 106 seats. The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was leading in 56 seats and had slipped to third position, delivering one of the biggest surprises of the day.
In Kerala, the Congress was ahead in 85 seats, broadly matching exit poll projections.
Abdullah returned to X shortly after, writing that he was watching the “unfolding political earthquake in West Bengal & Tamil Nadu”.
“The aftershocks of these results will be felt far & wide for a long time, probably all the way up to 2029,” Abdullah said.
In Bengal, the BJP had pushed Trinamool Congress into second place, rattling one of its fiercest rivals. In Tamil Nadu, Vijay’s performance has upended electoral expectations and disrupted the long-standing dominance of the DMK and the AIADMK in the state.
- 4 May 2026 2:18 PM IST
BJP's Harshad Parmar wins Umreth Assembly bypoll in Gujarat
BJP candidate Harshad Parmar won the bypoll to Umreth assembly seat in Gujarat on Monday, defeating his nearest rival from Congress, Bhrugurajsinh Chauhan, by a margin of more than 30,000 votes.
Parmar bagged 85,500 votes, while Chauhan polled 54,757 votes, as per data on the Election Commission's website. Four other candidates -- three Independents and one from a lesser-known party -- trailed far behind, failing to even cross the 1,000-vote mark.
The bypoll, held on April 23, was necessitated due to the death of the then-sitting BJP MLA Govind Parmar on March 6 following a heart attack. The BJP fielded his son Harshad Parmar, and this was his first major election.
Congress nominee Chauhan served as the president of the Umreth taluka panchayat for three consecutive terms between 2000 and 2015. He is currently the Opposition party's coordinator for the central zone in the state.
- 4 May 2026 2:16 PM IST
Vijay's father invites Congress for coalition talks: Reports
With VIjay's TVK barely 8-9 seats short of the required 118 seats, his father and film producer V Chandrasekhar has invited the Congress for talks to examine coalition possibilities, media reports said.
Highly placed sources told The Federal that back-channel talks are already on. The Congress may support the Vijay government from outside, even if it doesn't join the cabinet, the sources said. This coalition may be joined by VCK, CPI, CPM, IUML and so on, they added.
- 4 May 2026 2:09 PM IST
'INDI alliance' has no future, says BJP on Assembly poll results
In the lead in West Bengal and Assam, the BJP on Monday said the election results have exposed "deep cracks" in the INDIA bloc and that the opposition alliance has no future. The party also hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying he has failed to effectively steer the alliance and is again absent on the counting day.
The BJP was forging a possible victory path in West Bengal with leads in 192 seats against the ruling TMC's 94. It is also surging ahead in Assam, according to trends on the Election Commission website.
BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said the election outcome has exposed deep cracks within the Opposition bloc. "The biggest takeaway of this election is that the 'INDI' alliance has completely broken and vanished. Rahul Gandhi has failed to lead the alliance. It was shown in the entire election that Rahul Gandhi failed to handle the 'INDI' alliance," Poonawalla said in a post on X.
He also criticised Rahul for not being around on counting day. "Election results are coming today and Rahul Gandhi is again abroad to celebrate holidays. There was no coordination between alliance partners," the BJP spokesperson said, adding that the opposition bloc lacks cohesion and direction. "Now there is no such thing as the 'INDI' alliance in the country. It has no future. RIP 'INDI' alliance," he added.
Poonawalla credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the BJP's growing footprint. "Despite being in power continuously for 12 years in the country, BJP governments are being formed in new states and the BJP's vote share is increasing and people's confidence in BJP is getting stronger thanks to Modi ji," he said.
- 4 May 2026 2:07 PM IST
TVK surge reshapes key races for women candidates in Tamil Nadu
Several prominent women candidates in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections were locked in close contests on Monday as early counting trends pointed to major gains for Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam led by Vijay, reshaping contests across key constituencies.
Leema Rose Martin, the state’s wealthiest candidate, was facing a tough battle in Lalgudi. By the eighth round, she was trailing DMK candidate T. Parivallal by around 5,500 votes, with analysts pointing to TVK cutting into the AIADMK’s traditional support base.
In Mylapore, former Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan was running third as TVK emerged ahead, followed by the DMK incumbent. In Coimbatore South, BJP MLA Vanathi Srinivasan was trailing the TVK candidate by nearly 2,500 votes.
In Perambur, AIADMK’s Porkodi Armstrong slipped to third after initially leading, while Vijay built a strong advantage.
Among those holding ground, Premalatha Vijayakanth was leading in Vriddhachalam by 1,212 votes. TVK’s M. R. Pallavi was also ahead by over 9,000 votes.
Women voters recorded a turnout of 86.2 per cent, the highest in the state, outnumbering male participation. Of the 25.3 lakh new voters since 2021, around 20.8 lakh were women. This election also saw a record 443 women candidates in the fray.
- 4 May 2026 2:02 PM IST
Latest leads at 2 PM
Tamil Nadu
TVK 110
AIADMK+ 65
DMK+ 58
West Bengal
BJP+ 193
TMC+ 94
Kerala
UDF 87
LDF 38
BJP+ 2
Assam
BJP+ 97
Congress 27
AIUDF+ 2
Puducherry
NRC+ 15
Congress+ 11
- 4 May 2026 2:00 PM IST
Kerala polls: Congress' Chennithala wins by over 23,000 votes from Haripad
Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala won by over 23,000 votes against his nearest rival from CPI in the Haripad Assembly seat after 15 rounds of votes polled from there were counted, as per EC figures.
The data on the Election Commission (EC) website, after all 15 rounds of EVM votes were counted, showed that Chennithala secured 68,184 votes, which was 47.08 per cent of the votes polled in the constituency.
The senior Congress leader won with a margin of 23,377 votes against his nearest rival -- CPI's T T Jismon.
Chennithala is reportedly in the fray for the post of Kerala CM.
- 4 May 2026 1:59 PM IST
West Bengal polls: BJP's Rupa Ganguly leading in Sonarpur Dakshin
BJP candidate Rupa Ganguly, a former Rajya Sabha MP of the party, is ahead of her TMC rival in Sonarpur Dakshin constituency, according to the Election Commission.
After five rounds of counting, the actor-politician is leading by 12,633 votes over TMC's Arundhuti Moitra (Lovely), who is contesting for a re-election from the constituency.
The TMC has been winning the Sonarpur Dakshin seat in South 24 Parganas district since 2011.
