The elections to four states and one Union Territory, the most consequential since the 2024 Lok Sabha verdict, have done more than merely reshuffle governments; they have offered a glimpse into the future of Indian politics, one that is steadily, if unevenly, moving towards a bipolar, two-party-like system. The results were, broadly speaking, along expected lines. Yet, the scale of victories and the depth of defeats were nothing short of spectacular, suggesting structural shifts rather than routine electoral churn. At the centre of this transformation stands the Bharatiya Janata Party, which appears increasingly immune to the traditional curse of anti-incumbency. In states where it or its allies held power, the electorate chose continuity over change. This is striking, particularly in a political culture long defined by cyclical discontent. That this verdict came on a day when news broke of yet another bridge collapse in Bihar underscores a paradox: governance failures no longer automatically translate into electoral punishment.

Nowhere was this consolidation more visible than in Assam under Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. A former Congress leader who has seamlessly reinvented himself within the BJP, Sarma has demonstrated a ruthless political effectiveness. The Congress was reduced to a historic low, winning just 19 seats against the NDA’s commanding 102 in a 126-member Assembly. The BJP alone secured a majority well beyond the halfway mark. Sarma’s campaign, marked by sharp........

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