Two heavyweight constituents of the INDIA bloc, Trinamool Congress and the DMK, failed to protect their turf, shrinking the Opposition's footprint further following the latest round of assembly polls.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) expanded further in eastern India, securing a historic victory in West Bengal and retaining power in Assam.
The Left parties, another constituent of the beleaguered INDIA group, do not have any state government for the first time since 1977 after losing Kerala to the Congress.
The INDIA bloc, started in 2023 to present a combined challenge to the BJP, is now left with six state governments including four led by the Congress.
A senior Congress leader said such a conclusion may be premature, and the Congress' own performance in taking on the BJP, directly or as part of an alliance, in state elections since the 2024 Lok Sabha election, is nothing to write home about.
