Assembly Elections 2026 | Kerala win boosts Congress despite I.N.D.I.A bloc allies’ loss in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu

New Delhi: The Congress has something to cheer for in this round of Assembly elections after dismal performances following the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. It has an emphatic victory in Kerala and an enhanced space in the I.N.D.I.A bloc following the fall of the Trinamool Congress and the DMK.

The results have left the Opposition bloc with questions about how to move forward when two of its top partners — considered a bulwark against the Hindutva forces — bit the dust to anti-incumbency while the BJP managed to circumvent it in Assam.

The Congress’ Rahul Gandhi could ironically be considered a winner alongside the BJP, as he read the tea leaves better by choosing not to share the stage with “elder brother” M K Stalin, instead backing a section that wanted to go with Vijay’s TVK, and leaving no stones unturned in attacking the TMC and the Left.

The results will embolden Vijay's supporters in the Congress, who have been brandishing internal surveys to argue for a tie-up with the TVK. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was said to be instrumental in not disturbing the status quo in Tamil Nadu.

A section in the party also finds fault with senior leader P Chidambaram and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar for insisting on going with the DMK while Rahul was said to be inclined to explore the possibilities of going with Vijay, who was keen to join the Congress in early 2010s.

The Tamil Nadu CPM leadership was also in favour of going with the TVK, but, like the Congress, its leaders in Delhi vetoed the idea. It is to be seen how parties like the VCK — a DMK ally — see their future and how the Congress plays its cards.

The TMC's defeat means that it will not be able to seek a more prominent space for Mamata Banerjee at the national level.

As in the past, whenever Congress floundered, The TMC prepared to project her as the I.N.D.I.A bloc's if she won this time as well.

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Meanwhile, the Kerala victory has come as a lifeline for the Congress, as a defeat would have resurrected questions over its ability to lead an anti-BJP front at the national level.

While the Congress leadership will have to now decide on the competing claims of K C Venugopal, V D Satheesan, and Ramesh Chennithala for the leadership role in Kerala, the results will also raise the oft-repeated question about the party’s record on taking on the BJP in a one-on-one contest. 

In Assam, the party could not unseat the BJP, amid a misfired campaign where it failed to consolidate the Ahom community and could not improve its performance in the Upper Assam region. 

Puducherry also saw troubles in alliance as the Congress and the DMK fought each other, which appeared to have helped the AINRC regain power.