Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have been fiscally stressed for a considerable period of time, and there are no easy ways to mobilise revenues to meet the cost of the promised freebies, particularly in the prevailing difficult economic scenario, points out M Govinda Rao.
Polling for West Bengal's remaining 142 assembly seats will be held in the second phase on Wednesday, April 29, 2026.
The Election Commission will examine a complaint filed by opposition parties alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation violated the Model Code of Conduct for elections.
'They want to know more about him. They want to see his films. Even those who were earlier not interested in his films want to see him now.'
Crorepati Candidates: Congress (61). BJP (52). CPM (52).
'I repeatedly contacted the party leadership, but they didn't take my calls. The District Congress Committee offered no assistance.' 'I waited for a long time, and when no response came, I decided to quit the party.'
'If Congress had aligned with the TVK before the election, we would have won almost a two-thirds majority.'
Cash remains dominant for many transactions despite continued expansion in digital payments across the country.
This election is different. It is no longer simply about governance or welfare. It is about identity, fear, and who belongs. The BJP has successfully shifted the terms of the debate from what the government has delivered to who the real Bengali is and who is an outsider, points out Ramesh Menon.
The extent of doubts over the fairness of this election can be assessed by juxtaposing two figures: Total votes polled by the two principal parties and the number of people who were disallowed from voting this time, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
'Look at the way SIR that was implemented in Bengal. They wanted to entirely curate the voter list in order to suit their purposes and victory.' 'Look at the targeted deletions and the targeted voting list.' 'The difference between the TMC and the BJP was only about 4% but that 4% vote was done so selectively that the difference ultimately showed up as 100 seats!'
142 assembly seats will go to the polls on April 29 in phase 2.
As Vijay prepares for his next innings as chief minister of Tamil Nadu, he would do well to learn from the life lessons of NTR.
'On the day of the results itself, Vijay personally requested Rahul Gandhi for support from the Congress.'
'The AIADMK front comes second, and then the TVK.'
'Tamil Nadu has 42% of its population in the 18 to 39 age group. The bulk of the population in this age group voted for Vijay and women voters too voted for him in big numbers.'
If West Bengal does not begin to reclaim its lost pride, the state would have lost -- perhaps irreversibly, this time, notes Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta (retd).
Glimpses of the stars who voted in the Tamil Nadu assembly election on Thursday...
The polling for the Tamil Nadu Elections will take place on Thursday, April 23, 2026. Out of the 294 assembly seats, 152 seats in West Bengal will go to polls in the first phase on Thursday.
Launched in 2024, the TVK has Vijay's shift into politics was not sudden as he had been doing groundwork since 2009, when he launched his fan club, the Vijay Makkal Iyakkam.
In Puducherry, where constituencies have fewer than 30,000 electors on average, it is usual for N Rangaswamy to call out people he knows by name during his roadside election meetings.
Out of the 294 West Bengal Assembly seats, 152 will go to the polls in the first phase on Thursday, April 23, 2026.
The only thing that might make the BJP stop trying to isolate Muslims completely will be if substantial numbers of the community vote for the party that flaunts its animosity towards it, notes Jyoti Punwani.
Bangladesh held its 13th general election on February 12, 2026, with voters across Dhaka casting ballots in a significant democratic exercise.
The Election Commission reports that poll-related seizures, including cash, drugs, and liquor intended to sway voters, have surpassed Rs 1000 crore in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced that the state has secured investment proposals worth approximately Rs 50 trillion over the past nine years, attributing this economic revival to the enforcement of the rule of law and strategic policy changes. He affirmed UP's trajectory towards becoming a $1 trillion economy by 2029-30.
'...especially pressure on the rupee, the current account deficit, and foreign exchange outflows.' 'The key question over the next several months is whether the government can prevent external turbulence from feeding into domestic economic pessimism.'
'If you read the TVK manifesto, it is doles and much more doles. But the state has been habituated to this.' 'In no way is he distinct or different from the DMK regime.'
Hopefully, the BJP will realise that it's the right time for parivartan (change) in its polarising poll strategies after achieving the impossible-looking goal of winning West Bengal, argues Sheela Bhatt.
'Looking at the situation purely on its Constitutional merits, the governor's conduct is defensible.' 'He is saying: You do not have a majority, so prove it. That is not an unreasonable position even if the timing and the political context make it deeply controversial.'
'Even if they align with the TVK now, I don't think the AIADMK leadership will completely surrender to the dominance of Vijay.'
The polling for the Tamil Nadu Assembly's 234 seats will take place on Thursday, April 23, 2026.
Courts cannot be the only hope for those fighting hate speech. Countering its effects on the ground takes more effort. With our political parties unwilling to put in that amount of effort, it's left to citizens to do so, points out Jyoti Punwani.
'Vijay did not defeat Dravidian politics from outside. He entered the Dravidian field and claimed ownership of it. 'His argument was not that the room should be destroyed. It was that the present occupants no longer deserved to remain in it.'
Amid the arithmetic of subsidies, consumption and capacity, whichever government assumes office in Tamil Nadu after May 4 is likely to inherit a growing debate over how far the state can continue to expand welfare promises without placing additional strain on public finances and the power sector.
'The TVK might form a minority government.'
'This is a major rupture in Tamil Nadu's political order.' 'For the Dravidian parties, the message is clear: The old DMK-AIADMK binary is no longer guaranteed a future.'
'Vijay entered politics at a much better age compared to Rajnikanth and Kamal Haasan. His fans are young and he has at least 2-3 decades ahead of him.'
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay has made a historic debut in the Tamil Nadu assembly polls, securing a landslide victory in the Perambur constituency and leading his party to a strong performance across the state, with congratulatory messages pouring in from fellow film personalities.
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