Last year between March 27 and April 29, elections were held in the States of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam and the Union Territory of Puducherry amid a surge in COVID-19 cases across the country. While the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress pulled off a spectacular victory in West Bengal to form the government for a third consecutive term, the DMK-led alliance wrested power from the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu. The Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF got a record second term in Kerala, while the BJP retained power in Assam. In Puducherry, the All India NR Congress (AINRC) which contested part of the NDA along with the BIP and AIADMK, emerged victorious. While Mamata Banerjee returned as CM in West Bengal and Pinarayi Vijayan in Kerala, M.K. Stalin became the CM of Tamil Nadu for the first time. However in Assam, the BJP chose Himanta Biswa Sarma over incumbent Sarbananda Sonowal to head the State. In Puducherry, AINRC founder N. Rangasamy took over as CM. heading a coalition government.
Change of guard: in a departure from tradition, the BJP changed CMS even before their term ended in three of the four States-Uttarakhand Assam, Karnataka and Gujarat-for non-performance, dissidence or other reasons. On March 10, Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat was replaced with Tirath Singh Rawat, who within a few months passed the CM’s baton to Pushkar Singh Dhami aged 45 on July 4. Karnataka CM B.S. Yediyurappa. 78, resigned on July 26, and Basava Raj Bommai was made the CM. In Gujarat, Vijay Rupani was replaced by Bhupendrabhai Patel in September. In a surprise move, the Congress also changed the CM of Punjab mid-term-Amarinder Singh was replaced by Dalit leader Charanjit Singh Channi as Punjab CM in September. After his unceremonious exit as CM, Amarinder Singh formed his own party. Punjab Lok Congress, and announced that his party would contest the coming state polls in alliance with the BJP.
Picture Credit : Google
