THE results of election for the five assemblies were announced on May 4. The implications are far reaching. Naturally, the challenges arising out of this new situation can be belittled only at our own peril, particularly the future of the secular democratic republic.

Cashing in on what his party has achieved, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been prompt. Celebrating the outcome, he quickly reacted, claiming that “this is not just an electoral shift, but a change in the people’s mindset”. An inseparable aspect of his assertion is based on the defeat of the LDF in Kerala and the first-time assumption of office by BJP in West Bengal, where the Left had an earlier uninterrupted run for 34 long years. Perhaps no less important is the enlargement of the scale of victory for the BJP in Assam where its strength has crossed the century mark.

In Kerala, the LDF had achieved the unthinkable in the 2021 election by returning to office. This was a major break from the traditional voting preferences in the politically vibrant state. Therefore, despite the excellent record of pro-people governance with holistic development of the state, the inherent double anti-incumbency and the inclination for a change came to prevail. The valiant effort of the Left to stave off the challenge could not succeed in winning over additional sections of people from the influence of forces that pursue a narrower identity driven objective. No less was the political opportunism of the Indian National Congress which, for its narrow electoral benefit, stooped so low as to carry out a canard alleging a nonexistent CPI(M)-BJP bonhomie. Therefore, far from how Modi is trying to interpret the electoral outcome, heavily alluding to LDF’s defeat in Kerala, both the Sangh’s self-proclaimed Swayamsevak and the Congress party will find that the Left will muster the strength to rise from this electoral setback. It will prove no less equal to other democratic and secular forces to take on the Hindutva challenge.

In West Bengal, the story was far more sinister. Those who have read the political trajectory, history stands witness to the sinister game that the RSS and Hindutva forces played in the late 1990s to split the Congress and prop up the TMC as a broad platform of resistance to the Left. It is the greatest irony that the extremely strong anti-incumbency of the same TMC led government for the last 15 years had created a fertile ground for the Hindutva forces and BJP to move in to capture power. A powerful campaign was carried out to reinforce communal polarisation based on the question of infiltration from across the border and the developments within Bangladesh to step up a massive anti-minority phobia. This of course could succeed because of the TMC regime’s electoral opportunism of legitimising the role of religion in politics with distinct promotion of communal forces. But the story of West Bengal will remain incomplete unless proper lessons are drawn about the role of the Election Commission of India and its obnoxious Special Intensive Revision of the Electoral Roll.

Without any fear of contradiction, it is now patently clear that apart from securing electoral advantages for the BJP, the SIR exercise has also unleashed questions which will continue to haunt the larger societal and identity issues. It is now proved that 27 lakh people who were mapped with the 2002-03 rolls which was the benchmark for qualification under SIR, hang in a suspended animation. They continue in this weird category of ‘under adjudication’, based on simply the use of an untested software, denied of their constitutional right to vote. The Chief of the Judicial Tribunal, a former Chief Justice of the Kolkata High Court, resigned immediately after the elections with a strong indictment that despite almost 100 per cent validation of approximately 1,500 names, it would take not less than four years to complete the adjudication exercise. What more proof was needed that it was the Election Commission which is squarely responsible for the denial of the constitutional right of so many people – ineptitude at the least and malafide at the most!

Assam also saw an unprecedented level of communal provocation from the incumbent Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, taking recourse to a deeply divisive ploy in the ethnic and communally fragile circumstances of the state. The attempt was so vile and brazen that many constitutional experts and eminent citizens without any partisan political persuasion, were forced to come out with the clearest condemnation.

Tamil Nadu saw a change of a different type where a new force questioning the conventional political alignment sustained by the two Dravidian parties, emerged. How far the new dispensation who despite the popular support was being sought to be denied a shot at the office by the RSS-BJP appointed governor will play out remains to be seen. It was due to the timely intervention of the secular democratic forces including the CPI(M) and the Left, that the mischief could be stopped. Equally, the formation of the new government could be insulated from BJP’s ally, AIADMK, from manipulating the entire process.

There should not be any doubt whatsoever that behind the veneer of claims of ideological hegemony, the Modi government will go no holds barred to pursue its neofascist goals, taking advantage of this post-poll situation. That the working class and other labouring sections will have to bear the brunt of this new offensive, is clear. Actualisation of the new Labour Codes and the closure of MGNREGA with the implementation of the VBGRAMG are clear pointers.

The other dark cloud is the Prime Minister’s admission of the precarious condition of the Indian economy, particularly the state of energy security. They call it by different names – ‘tightening the belt’ and ‘austerity’. Such is the opulent life style of the Prime Minister himself that this reference to austerity appears to be a sick joke! Nevertheless, the new situation after the election undoubtedly poses an extremely serious challenge. The battle will now be fought on the streets, on livelihood and forging the broadest possible unity to salvage our people’s well-being and the Constitution.

(May 13, 2026)