New Delhi:
Two women have brought in Green revolutions - one in the East, the other in the South. That, along with the historic rout of the Left in West Bengal, is today's story.
Mamata Banerjee has made history by throwing out the Communists, who ruled West Bengal for 34 continuous years. Her Trinamool Congress is headed for a landslide win and West Bengal will have a new Chief Minister in
Didi. (
Read: At Mamata's house, celebration begins)
Mamata Banerjee will meet Governor MK Narayanan today at 6:30 pm.
Bouquets are filling the Trinamool Congress office in Kolkata and the green of the party is in the air. So huge is Mamata's win that the Trinamool and allies are position to end up with 218 of the 294 Assembly seats in West Bengal. The huge victory is powered by the Trinamool's stupendous performance - the party is set to get 182 seats on its own way over the half-way mark at 148 - and partner Congress, with its 36 seats, will have to factor this in the equation of the two parties even at the Centre. (
Watch: New Independence Day for Bengal, Mamata tells NDTV)
In Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK's green is all over. J Jayalalithaa too is headed for a big win. In the 234-seat Assembly, the AIADMK and allies have won or are ahead in 196 of the 234 seats. Like the Trinamool, Jayalalithaa's party alone has more than enough seats at 152 to form government. This will be her third stint as Chief Minister. (
Read: Jayalalithaa's massive comeback)
The entanglement of its leaders in the 2G scam seems to have hit the DMK the hardest in this electoral battle, an issue that Jayalalithaa used as her main weapon against bête noir Karunanidhi. The DMK and Congress will manage only 32 seats together, the total DMK alliance about 36 - a far cry from last time's superlative performance or even that of two years ago when they swept the Lok Sabha elections in the state. (
Read: DMK reacts to Jayalalithaa's massive win)
The relationship of the two partners has been tenuous in the wake of the 2G scam and the DMK's poor performance is likely to further hit its bargaining power with the Congress at the Centre.
In Kerala, Congress-led front, the UDF, has managed a wafer-thin majority in the closest battle in three decades. It is set to win 72 seats with the CPM-led LDF bagging 68 in the 140-seat Assembly. (
Read: Kerala goes to Congress-led UDF, but only just)
In the 30-member Assembly in Puducherry, the N Rangaswamy Congress-led combine looks comfortable placed leading in 19 seats, while the Congress-led alliance is ahead in 11.
Assam brings the Congress more cheer, with the party making a comeback and bettering last time's performance. Tarun Gogoi will be Chief Minister again with 75 seats in the 126-seat Assembly. (
Watch: Gogoi spells out success mantra)
Where the Congress' smile will flag is in Andhra Pradesh. Jagan Mohan Reddy has won the Kadapa Lok Sabha bye-election by a whopping by 5 lakh 43,000 votes. This is the seat that YSR Reddy's son had vacated when he rebelled, left the Congress and floated his own party. His mother, Vijayalakshmi, is contesting the Pulivendula Assembly seat bye-election. She's ahead of her rival, Jagan's uncle, Vivekananda Reddy, who is the Congress' candidate.