Assembly Elections 2026 | Who will be next CMs in Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry?

Results for the assembly elections in four states and one union territory were announced on Monday.

While the BJP registered a landslide victory in West Bengal, winning 206 of the 294 seats, Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) surprised everyone on its debut and emerged as the single largest party in the state. Winning 108 seats in the 234 member assembly, TVK is short of 10 seats to form a majority government in the state.

Assam had a rather one-sided contest as the BJP retained power in the state for the third consecutive term after securing a two-thirds majority, with a record high of 102 seats in the 126-member assembly.

In Puducherry, the NDA alliance won 18 seats, two more than the required majority of 16 in the 30 member assembly.

The UDF retook Kerala after a decade of LDF rule and won 102 of the 140 seats.

After campaigns that stretched over months and the thrill of the counting day, all eyes are now set on government formation in these states and Puducherry. The speculations over the CM post in the respective states has already begun.

Let's take a look at the possible CM contenders in each state.

Second-term for Himanta?

The biggest contender for the chief minister post in Assam is HImanta Biswa Sarma. He won the Jalukbari constituency for the sixth consecutive term, defeating Congress candidate Bidisha Neog by 89,434 votes.

Sarma has quickly risen in the ranks within BJP after joining the party in 2015 — from being appointed the party's Convener of the Election Management Committee for 2016 elections, to cabinet minister in the Sarbananda Sonowal ministry and eventually replacing Sonowal as the CM.

However, the BJP high command is known to spring surprises when it comes to appointing chief ministers. Other names doing the rounds for the top post include senior BJP leader Ranjeet Kumar Dass and BJP MLA Pijush Hazarika.

CM race intensifies in Kerala

There are three major contenders in the state Congress for the CM post--Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan, senior leader Ramesh Chennithala, and AICC general secretary and Lok Sabha MP K C Venugopal.

The strongest contender among them is Satheesan, who has served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly for the past five years and is one of the most articulate among the present leaders.

As per the Congress tradition, the MLAs are likely to pass a resolution which will empower the party high command to choose the next CM.

Rangasamy to lead Puducherry

N Rangasamy is all set to lead Puducherry for the fifth time with his party AINRC-led NDA winning the April 9 elections in the UT with a handsome margin.

The All India NR Congress has now emerged victorious in 12 out of the 16 seats it contested and the BJP won four of the 10 seats it fought.

The calm and soft-spoken Rangasamy had been a Congress CM in the past (2001, 2006) before parting ways with the national party to float his outfit in 2008.

Muthalamaichar Vijay?

The trickiest of all the states whose results were announced on Monday is Tamil Nadu. Though TVK has emerged as the single largest party, it does not have the majority to form a government in the state.

Rumours are abound of different coalition possibilities in the state and Vijay becoming the chief minister is also a probability. Being the single largest party, it will have the upper hand in negotiations with its future alliance partners.

Vijay, earlier on Tuesday, met with his party's winning candidates at party's headquarters in Panayiur to decide on the next steps for government formation.

Giant-slayer Adhikari to finally have his moment

The biggest victory for BJP came from West Bengal where it not only easily passed the majority mark but also managed to breach the 200 mark.

One of the key figures in this resounding win for BJP is Suvendu Adhikari, who is also the most likely to become West Bengal CM.

Leader of Opposition Adhikari emerged victorious from Nandigram, defeating his former aide-turned-rival by more than 10,000 votes.

Adhikari on Monday defeated Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur, puncturing what was long seen as her safest political refuge and delivering a decisive psychological blow to the TMC.

Another possible contender is Dilip Ghosh, who returned to the Assembly from Kharagpur Sadar with a margin of over 26,000 votes, reasserting his relevance after a Lok Sabha defeat in 2024.

The BJP on Tuesday named Union Home Minister Amit Shah as the party's central observer for election of its legislative party leader in the state.