Assembly elections result 2026: INDIA footprint fades on Bharat map as allies stumble in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu

NEW DELHI: As BJP appeared to get a lock on a state that sends 42 MPs to Lok Sabha, Mandate 2026 confronted INDIA bloc with a question about how to take on a rival with an ever-expanding footprint in the next LS elections.

The results in Tamil Nadu, Bengal, Assam and Puducherry have virtually seen the decimation of the opposition alliance, with two of its stalwarts - DMK and TMC - who have blocked BJP on key turfs biting the dust.



With the arithmetic of 18th Lok Sabha set to remain the same, DMK and TMC may be nudged to tighten their clinch with the bloc, if only to be seen as unequivocal in their political line with an eye on future revival. This despite Congress drifting towards DMK's nemesis TVK in Chennai. Even TMC, which has often been a spoiler for unity, may be nudged to close ranks with INDIA.

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The tricky dance was evident when Rahul Gandhi posted on X that he had spoken to Mamata Banerjee and M K Stalin about their defeats, and congratulated Vijay on his victory. Rahul also lauded the TN mandate, calling it reflective of "the rising voice of youth".

A schism had opened up between Congress and other regional parties - JMM, RJD, SP, AAP which lined up behind Mamata and Stalin, while Rahul and Congress played truant. With DMK and TMC forecast to win their states, Congress was likely to face the blowback and even some ganging up within the grouping. But, as its spokespersons asserted through Monday, Congress was prescient in its demand that TMC and DMK accommodate the party to take on rivals. The pet barbs of TMC that Congress failed to stop BJP in the heartland is set to be a thing of the past. And a weakened INDIA bloc may have to confront the indispensability of Congress leadership.

The immediate future will be about ensuring coherence in the UP alliance where SP is senior partner to Congress. They have to hammer out better understanding than seen in Tamil Nadu. Even in Bengal, early overtures by Congress and some opposition managers for a tie-up to consolidate popular support were rebuffed by Mamata.

But the big one - 2029 parliamentary polls - looms as the grand challenge With BJP having expanded its footprint beyond its strongholds, opposition faces an uphill task to make up for the big shortfall that would emerge in Bengal. Another challenge is Maharashtra where BJP returned to office by routing Shiv Sena (UBT)-NCP(SP)-Congress.

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For the anti-BJP coalition, the new imperative would be to hammer out joint strategies instead of the prevalent mode of each player deciding its own plan on their turf. The trigger is the growing uniformity of the BJP blueprint to target opposition players, the prime being painting them as "anti-Hindu" - as shown by the arc of BJP's eastern aggression from Bihar to Assam to Bengal. SP-Congress would have to contend with such a possibility in the UP campaign.

Ultimately, if Congress has to be the leader of the opposition, it will have to supplement the partners' effort by being a viable party in states where it is the sole opposition to BJP - the Hindi heartland.

While there is no love lost between TMC and Congress, the latter would feel the heat of the former's defeat.

An alliance is an alliance, even if an uneasy one.
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