Stalin was born March 1, 1953. Stalin died March 5, 1953. He was 74 years old.

It sounds confusing. It isn't. This is the story of the first Stalin.

A boy was born in Madras (now Chennai) 73 years ago. His father wanted to call him Ayyadurai, to honour two of Tamil Nadu's most revered leaders - EV 'Periyar' Ramsamy and CN Annadurai. One was a fiery activist whose intellectual legacy still defines the Tamil social and cultural identity, and the other was his trusted lieutenant who created a political force built around that legacy - an anti-Brahmin social awareness campaign that birthed the Dravidian movement.

Instead, at a condolence meeting at Marina Beach, the father spontaneously named his son for Joseph Stalin, a 'man of steel', a dictator feared and revered who died just days before.

On the shores of the Bay of Bengal, Tamil Nadu welcomed Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin.

Today, he is Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister and the leader of the Dravidian Munnetra Kazhagam, the party Annadurai founded, Periyar guided, and his father - MK Karunanidhi - led as a five-time Chief Minister until his death in 2018.

And he is set to steer the DMK to another election win.

A weaver's son from a coastal village in what was then the Madras Presidency, Pinarayi Vijayan has spent decades rising up the ranks in Kerala's politics before he became the chief minister in 2016. Born in 1944 in Kannur district's Pinarayi village, he is the 14th child of Mundayil Koran and Kalyani, a family that struggled with poverty. His father died early. Pinarayi Vijayan, then a teen, had to take up handloom weaving after he finished school education. Eventually, he got admission into Government Brennen College in Thalassery, where he completed a pre-university course and subsequently a Bachelor's degree in Economics.

Pinarayi Vijayan gained his first experience of student politics during this period, and he graduated as a highly capable student organiser.

The actual political journey began inside the Kerala Students' Federation, the predecessor to the Students' Federation of India, where he served as both president and secretary. He also led the Kerala Socialist Youth Federation, participating in the agitational politics of Kerala's communist movement before most of his contemporaries had found what they wanted to do.

He was taken into the Kannur district committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), at 24 and was a key member of the party's district secretariat by 28.

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Bengal has 294 Assembly constituencies, and many of them are expected to see a close contest. Predicting who will win becomes very tough, but poll experts point to 37 "bellwether seats" which may help determine the eventual winner.

Since 1977, whichever party has won the majority of these seats has always gone on to form the government in the state.

These 37 seats make up about 13 per cent of the total 294 Assembly constituencies. They are spread across the state and include all types of seats - general, Scheduled Caste (SC), and Scheduled Tribe (ST).

#ResultsWithNDTV | Tamil Nadu 2021 results decoded: DMK, Congress and AIADMK @PadmajaJoshi @TMVRaghav pic.twitter.com/wwUCwRRzAD

— NDTV (@ndtv) May 4, 2026

Pradyut Bordoloi, BJP candidate from Dispur assembly constituency, said the people of Assam have voted "overwhelmingly for the BJP and BJP-led NDA. I'm sure that by evening today, the people of Assam will have given a very firm mandate that there'll be a successive BJP-led government and Himanta Biswa Sarma will be the chief minister again."

#WATCH | Guwahati, Assam: BJP candidate from Dispur assembly constituency Pradyut Bordoloi, says, "The counting of votes is going to start very soon now. You can feel it throughout Assam that people have voted overwhelmingly for the BJP and BJP BJP-led NDA. I'm sure that by… https://t.co/1CKd4873Xo pic.twitter.com/3LY6UVHW1L

— ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2026

In the BJP's poll campaign, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma dwelt on driving out illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and protecting "Jati-Mati-Bheti" - the Assamese culture, language and identity. The Congress targeted Sarma, the BJP's strategist in the northeast, claiming the chief minister and his wife had undisclosed assets abroad, an allegation the ruling party denied.

Ballot boxes are out at Loyola College, where votes for six Tamil Nadu Assembly constituencies will be counted today.

#WATCH | Tamil Nadu Elections 2026 | Visuals from the counting centre set up at Loyola College, where votes for several key Assembly constituencies will be counted today.
According to officials, counting at Loyola College covers the following constituencies:
Thousand Lights… pic.twitter.com/ZszSZtY6E8

— ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2026

Suvendhu Adhikari came to be seen as the second-most powerful person in the Trinamool Congress, but found his power diminishing as the stature of Mamata Banerjee's nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, grew within the party. He also had differences with political strategist Prashant Kishor, who began working with the party after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and slowly began gaining influence.

The Trinamool Congress made several attempts to placate Adhikari when he started making his displeasure clear, and things came to a head in November 2020, when he quit as the minister for transport and irrigation. He left the party soon after, and joined the BJP in December 2020, just months before the Assembly elections the following year.

Following in his father's footsteps, Suvendu Adhikari began his political journey with the Congress and was elected as a councillor in the Kanthi municipality of East Midnapore. He joined Banerjee's Trinamool Congress in 1998 and entered the Bengal assembly as an MLA from the Kanthi Dakshin constituency in 2006.

A year later, in 2007, Adhikari made a name for himself and emerged as Banerjee's chief organiser when he spearheaded the Nandigram agitation alongside the Trinamool Congress chief. Violence had broken out in the area, also part of the East Midnapore district, during protests against the Left Front-led government's plan to create a chemical hub run by the Salim Group of Indonesia. The hub was part of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which would require the acquisition of 10,000 acres of land.

Adhikari led the Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee (Committee Against Land Evictions), which was at the forefront of the agitation. On March 14, 2007, an attempt to break up the protests led to 14 demonstrators dying in police firing, which sparked outrage across the state. The project was shelved soon after. 

The Nandigram controversy and the protests against the Tata Motors plant in Singur in the neighbouring Hooghly district catapulted the Trinamool Congress to power in the 2011 Bengal Assembly elections, ending the Left Front's 34-year rule in the state. 

Standing in the political field this time are Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is contesting from his traditional stronghold Jalukbari and is hoping for a hat-trick. Having earlier served as a Lok Sabha MP, State Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi hopes to make his electoral debut in state polls by winning from Jorhat.

AIUDF Chief and perfume tycoon Badruddin Ajmal, who lost his long-held Dhubri Lok Sabha seat in 2024, is returning to state-level politics with a contest in Binnakandi. Raijor Dal Chief and MP Akhil Gogoi is looking to retain Sibsagar, while Assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary hopes to see victory in Tamulpur.

#WATCH | Thiruvananthapuram: Ahead of counting of votes for Keralam Elections 2026, BJP candidate from Kazahakootam, V Muraleedharan says, "In the elections to the Kerala Assembly, BJP presented before the people the need for a change and presenting the 12 years of PM Narendra… pic.twitter.com/7hskNLXaCI

— ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2026

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin visited the Karunanidhi memorial last night - ahead of the counting of votes. Ministers Sekar Babu and A Raja accompanied him.

#ResultsWithNDTV | TVK chief Vijay - Will he prove to be the 'surprise' factor in Tamil Nadu polls?
NDTV's @dpkBopanna reports from outside the actor-turned-politician's residence pic.twitter.com/4eBSNfJgpJ

— NDTV (@ndtv) May 4, 2026

In a post late at night, hours before the counting of votes is set to begin in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee urged party workers to "be vigilant. Keep watch." Banerjee also asked Trinamool Congress workers to stay awake and night and file complaints.

সতর্ক থাকুন। পাহারা দিন। রাত জাগুন। অভিযোগ করুন।
বিভিন্ন জায়গা থেকে খবর পাচ্ছি, পরিকল্পিতভাবে লোডশেডিং করে দেওয়া হচ্ছে। হুগলির শ্রীরামপুর, নদীয়ার কৃষ্ণনগর থেকে বর্ধমানের আউশগ্রাম, কলকাতার ক্ষুদিরাম অনুশীলন কেন্দ্রে এরকম ঘটনা সামনে এসেছে যেখানে দফায় দফায় লোডশেডিং করা হচ্ছে,…

— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) May 3, 2026

BJP counting agents and Trinamool Congress workers clash in Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Bhabanipur Assembly constituency in Kolkata.

#WATCH | Kolkata, West Bengal: A verbal argument broke out between the counting agents of TMC and BJP outside the counter centre at Sakhawat Memorial School in Bhabanipur assembly constituency.
Counting of votes for 293 Assembly constituencies of the state will begin at 8 AM… pic.twitter.com/cvJOrqHC6i

— ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2026

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is contesting from Dharmadam in Kannur district, aiming to win this seat for the third time in a row. This is his seventh time contesting in the assembly elections. Earlier, he won from Kuthuparamba three times and from Payyannur once. In Dharmadam, he is facing VP Abdul Rasheed from the UDF and K Ranjith from the BJP.

Following allegations of voter intimidation, unauthorised presence inside booths and possible tampering, the Election Commission ordered a repoll in the Falta Assembly constituency of the South 24 Parganas district.

The repolling will be held on May 21 under stringent security arrangements to ensure a free, fair and transparent exercise, and the counting of votes for the constituency will take place on May 24.

In Falta, TMC's Jahangir Khan is pitted against BJP's Debangshu Panda and Abdur Razzak Molla of the Congress. CPI(M )'s Sambhu Nath Kurmi is also in the fray.

#ResultsWithNDTV | Hours Before Bengal Counting, Poll Body Clarification On VVPAT Slips Recovery - Is It Possible To Tamper With EVMs?@jayanta_ghosal1 @BoriaMajumdar pic.twitter.com/ghCzyCK8Wc

— NDTV (@ndtv) May 4, 2026

August 25, 1975: Resistance against the Emergency imposed by the Indira Gandhi government is growing. Jayaprakash Narayan, the face of this resistance, is in Kolkata. The car he is sitting in is on College Street, a hotbed of student politics, when some Youth Congress activists block its way. Suddenly, a young woman in a cotton saree climbs onto the car's bonnet. She raises slogans against the veteran Gandhian. Press photographers spot the enthusiastic 20-year-old and capture the moment, unaware of the political journey that awaits this gutsy woman. The woman's name is Mamata Banerjee, and between that day and this, the street has been her stronghold.

As Bengal gears up for a high-voltage election, many think Mamata Banerjee faces a tough fight this time. Now 71, the Trinamool's founder-chief has been Chief Minister for three terms. Her party faces anti-incumbency and allegations of large-scale corruption. The main opposition, the BJP, is going all-out to turn the tables and the Special Intensive Revision has only added to the uncertainty and confusion. But her political journey is a testament that she is at her most ferocious when she faces a difficult battle.

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The counting of votes in four states and one Union Territory - West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, and Puducherry - will begin at 8 am.

Heavy security arrangements have been put in place at the counting centre set up at Loyola College in Chennai, where votes for several key Assembly constituencies will be counted today.

#WATCH | Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections | Heavy security arrangements have been put in place at the counting centre set up at Loyola College in Chennai, where votes for several key Assembly constituencies will be counted today. pic.twitter.com/JEQmLTjLhh

— ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2026

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has claimed deliberate power cuts near strongrooms and called for vigilance.

In a post late last night, Banerjee said she has received reports that "load-shedding is being deliberately imposed. From Hooghly's Serampore, Nadia's Krishnanagar, to Burdwan's Ausgram, and Kolkata's Kshudiram Anushilan Kendra, such incidents have come to light where load-shedding is being done in phases, CCTV is being turned off, and vehicles are moving in and out of strong rooms."

She accused the opposition party, the BJP.

🔴#BREAKING | West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleges deliberate power cuts near strongrooms, flags tampering fears, seeks vigilance
NDTV's @VedikaS reports more details#ResultsWithNDTV pic.twitter.com/AQLwOicmMR

— NDTV (@ndtv) May 4, 2026

In 2016, the Congress's 15-year rule ended in Assam, catapulting the BJP to power for the first time in the northeastern state. The BJP, then led by Sarbananda Sonowal, won the election following a strong campaign focused on issues such as illegal immigration. The BJP won 60 of the 126 seats. The majority mark is 64. The BJP had the support of its allies, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bodoland People's Front (BPF), to form the government, bringing an end to Congress rule.

The BJP contested 89 seats and won 60, with a vote share of about 29.5 per cent. The AGP won 14 seats, and the BPF won 12. Together, the BJP alliance won 86 out of 126 seats.

Sarbananda Sonowal became the first BJP chief minister of Assam.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleges manipulations in strongrooms, urges party workers to stay vigilant.

NDTV's Vedika Sood and Sreyashi Dey share more details from outside the Chief Minister's residence in Kolkata.

#ResultsWithNDTV | West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleges manipulations in strongrooms, urges party workers to stay vigilant
NDTV's @VedikaS, @SreyashiDey report more details from outside the Chief Minister's residence in Kolkata pic.twitter.com/9v65GobZWN

— NDTV (@ndtv) May 4, 2026

In the Puducherry assembly elections 2026, there is a direct contest between the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the All India NR Congress and the BJP, and the opposition alliance comprising the Congress and its regional partners. The NDA is hoping for a second term.

However, this year, Puducherry saw the entry of actor Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in the electoral contest.

Looking to follow other actors with successful political careers - MG Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa among them - Vijay has made it clear he will have no truck with the ruling DMK or the Bharatiya Janata Party, whose muscular brand of nationalism has never really gone down well with the Tamil people. One is his political enemy, the other his ideological foe, he has said.

The TVK's first election campaign has been nothing if not dramatic, with the controversy over the Karur stampede and the furore over Vijay's 'Jana Nayagan', reportedly his final movie as he makes the cinema-to-politics jump, grabbing the headlines.

Vijay's verbal sparring with the DMK has also been a feature of this election campaign, underscoring the tension between the king and his nouveau challenger. The actor has been as unsparing in his criticism of the BJP, accusing it of belittling Tamil pride and discriminating against the state with respect to administrative and governance issues.

But he has been more circumspect with the AIADMK for various reasons, likely the biggest of which is that attacking both Dravidian parties risks alienating almost the entire vote bank.

The contest in Puducherry is primarily between two blocs. The NDA is led by the All India NR Congress, which is contesting 16 seats, and has the BJP, with 10 constituencies, and the AIADMK and Latchiya Jananayaga Katchi (two each) as the other key constituents. The INDIA alliance has the Congress at the helm, contesting 16 seats, while 14 were allotted to the DMK.

The NDA, with All India NR Congress (AINRC) chief N Rangaswamy as chief minister, is in power in the Union Territory, which has not re-elected a government since the Congress in 2006.

N Rangaswamy, who had served as a chief minister under the Congress, quit the party in 2011 and formed his outfit the same year. The AINRC tasted success immediately and won a majority in the 2011 Assembly elections in an alliance with the AIADMK.

Kerala counts today and a change in government is likely to happen, according to most exit polls. But, health warning: exit polls often get it wrong. The verdict on 140 constituencies and 883 candidates begins at 8 am, with counting across 43 locations.

A rough sketch of the likely winner should start taking shape by afternoon. Of the state's 2.71 crore voters, 79.63 per cent had turned out on April 9.

Exit polls gave the Congress-led UDF a narrow but consistent edge with some predicting it winning 80-90 seats, up from 41 it won in 2021. The UDF has been out of power since 2016, and within the alliance discussions over a chief ministerial candidate have already started, in a sign of how confident some in the UDF are feeling.

The ruling LDF faces the counting day without the comfort of clear exit poll forecasts in its favour. Retaining its 2021 tally of 99 seats looks unlikely as the front is internally pegging its expectation at 75-80.

Most exit polls have predicted a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) victory in the Tamil Nadu assembly election, with at least three agencies forecasting Chief Minister MK Stalin's party would get between 122 and 145 seats. Tamil Nadu has 234 assembly seats.

However, Axis My India predicted actor Vijay's TVK in its first election contest would win 98-120 seats. If so, TVK and its chief would play a big role in the results.

One exit poll shows the AIADMK and allies winning with 128-147 seats.

Key parties fighting to lead Tamil Nadu:

Voting in West Bengal was held in two phases this time, with a record 92.47 per cent voter turnout, the highest in the state since Independence. Two days after polling, the Election Commission issued a repoll order for 15 booths following complaints of irregularities. Repolling was conducted in 11 booths in Magarhat Paschim assembly constituency and four in Diamond Harbour, where voting was held on April 29 in the second phase of the assembly elections.

The ruling Trinamool Congress is concerned that the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise had removed 89 lakh voters, or roughly 11.6 per cent of the state's electorate. The figure is slightly more than the winning margin of the Trinamool Congress in 2021.

In 2021, Mamata Banerjee's party had 10 per cent more votes polled - 48 per cent to the BJP's 38 per cent. The SIR impact has pared down the voter list by more than 11.6 per cent in multiple districts where the Trinamool's winning margin is slim, data shows.