Assembly elections 2026 | The fall of bigwigs: Way forward for Mamata Banerjee, Pinarayi Vijayan and M K Stalin

Career of three stalwarts of Indian politics are at a crossroads following the results of the Assembly elections.

Post 2026 Assembly election results, a cloud of uncertainty hovers around the political future of three stalwarts — Mamata Banerjee, Pinarayi Vijayan and M K Stalin.

The Assembly election results in West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu stunned pundits and aficionados alike as Mamata's Trinamool Congress (TMC) lost out to the BJP in West Bengal, while Vijayan's bid for a hat-trick as Chief Minister was foiled by a resurgent Congress. The biggest of all surprises came in Tamil Nadu where Stalin had to eat the humble pie at the hands of a greenhorn like actor-politician Vijay, whose fledgling TVK party looks well poised to form the first non-DMK/AIADMK government since 1967.

Let us look at what future holds for the three pillars of Indian politics who are in the autumn of their career.

Mamata Banerjee

For the second time in as many elections, Mamata lost to her one-time protégé Suvendu Adhikari. But unlike 2021, when the TMC had the numbers and Mamata, after being sworn in as Chief Minister, contested from Bhabanipur in a bypoll and made it to the Assembly, the situation is different this time. The TMC has been decimated by the BJP, with the party's tally having been reduced to just 80 in the 294-member Assembly. For Mamata a return to national politics is difficult as the TMC's clout in the I.N.D.I.A. bloc would wane following the party's dismal performance in West Bengal. Next Lok Sabha election is three years away and given the arithmetics, it would be difficult to find the sufficient numbers to send her to the Upper House. As far as State politics is concerned, the only possibility is of someone from the 81 MLAs-elect vacating a seat, thereby necessitating a bypoll where she can contest. But given the circumstances there is no safe seat per se and at 71, given her ailing health, Mamata's career is at a crossroads for now.

Pinarayi Vijayan

The CPI(M) strongman, who broke the tradition of parties from opposite front alternating powers and became the first Chief Minister to retain power in Kerala, has fallen from the pedestal after the crushing defeat of his party in the 2026 Assembly elections. His victory in party fiefdom Dharmadam was with a lower margin this time.

Vijayan's hat-trick bid fell at the hustings as a resurgent United Democratic Front under the Congress handed the Left Democratic Front (LDF) one of its worst defeats in Kerala's political history.

In the hindsight, Vijayan dug up his own grave by building a personality cult around him, something a cadre party like the CPI(M) nor the LDF never promoted. Having come through the grassroots and having held almost all top positions — be it in the party or government — there is nothing more Vijayan can do now than bow a hasty political retreat. Being the Leader of the Opposition in the next Assembly would be a political climbdown for this once firebrand leader.

M K Stalin

Stalin has suffered perhaps the most severe drubbing in his political career as unlike Mamata and Vijayan, he lost the battle to a rookie in actor-tuned- politician Vijay. The Tamil Nadu elections stunned the pollsters as a 'Vijay tsunami' swept across the State. Stalin himself lost from DMK bastion Kolathur to TVK's V S Babu. There were already talks of him handing over the batton to his son Udhayanidhi Stalin considering his health issues. But the loss in the elections to TVK is a mental blow and it remains to be seen if it is the end of road to him. With the TVK falling short of absolute majority, they might need a few seats from other parties to form a government which would be 'shaky' from day one.

Nothing is impossible in politics goes the adage and the possibility of the DMK engineering a defection in the TVK and forming a government with Stalin at the helm may not be ruled out, though it is hypothetical. For now, Stalin might continue as the DMK chief and watch for things to unfold rather than make things happen.