Indian prime minister's party wins controversial and contentious state election

In a resounding victory Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's nationalist Hindu party has wrested control of the key state of West Bengal.

It was one of the most controversial and contentious elections as the Bharatiya Janata Party has been attempting to dislodge the incumbent Trinamool Congress party for more than a decade.

A regional outfit led by a stubbornly fierce Mamata Banerjee, who has ruled the state for 15 years. Ms Banerjee has been a prominent critic of Mr Modi and led the charge as one of the main opposition parties.

Describing the victory as "historic", Mr Modi addressed his supporters at the party headquarters in Delhi, saying: "A new chapter has been added to Bengal's destiny. With the BJP win, not retribution but change needs to be talked about. Not fear but the future should be spoken. Let us end this cycle of violence."

The elections this time have been the most polarised ever, with communal overtones in campaigns by Mr Modi and leaders of his party.

The main focus of the campaign has been against infiltrators - a term largely referring to Bengali Muslim migrants from Bangladesh and their threat. The communal narrative paid dividends, with the majority of Hindu voters consolidating.

The elections have also been under the shadow of the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) conducted by the Election Commission. The opposition alleges partiality by the commission in favour of Mr Modi's Hindu party in determining the electoral rolls.

In its endeavour to clean its list of fraud, deceased and duplicate voters, the commission struck off nine million voters, about 12% of the electorate. An overwhelming majority were from the Muslim community that had to prove their status in tribunals, but not before voting day.

Muslims form about a third of Bengal's population, making it the second largest state in the country. And almost three million were disenfranchised in these elections.

Ms Banerjee denounced the results, saying "it is an immoral victory," and accusing the commission of widespread irregularities and partiality.

"More than 100 seats have been looted. It is loot, loot, loot. We will bounce back," she said after losing her own constituency.

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Modi's party wins overwhelming majority in tea state

Mr Modi's party also won an overwhelming majority in the tea state of Assam, a crucial northeastern state that borders Bangladesh, for the third consecutive time.

Here too there were overt communal tones to the campaign. The incumbent chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma gave vitriolic speeches against "Miya Muslims", a term disparagingly used against Bengali Muslims, although it was always in the garb of protecting the majority Hindu voters against illegal Bangladeshi immigrants who would be a threat to the majority if not checked. It helped him consolidate the majority of Hindu votes.

The consolation for the opposition against Mr Modi's juggernaut was the win by the Congress party in the southern state of Kerala. The Congress-led coalition dislodged the only Leftist party in the country with an overwhelming majority.

Movie star's party win disruptes dynastic rule

In Tamil Nadu a spectacular win by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), formed just two years ago by popular movie star Joseph Vijay. TVK's stunning victory disrupted the dynastic rule of the two mainstream parties that have ruled the southern state for five decades.

With its win in Bengal and Assam, Mr Modi's party and its allies are in power in 22 states, which covers about 1.1 billion Indians and almost 78% of the country's land.

The victory will give Mr Modi a fillip in the other upcoming state elections and the general elections slated for 2029. His stature has grown immensely while that of the opposition parties has diminished considerably.

(c) Sky News 2026: Indian prime minister's party wins controversial and contentious state election