DMK dislodged Jayalalithaa; Left wins WB, Kerala; its Cong in Asom

New Delhi, May 11 (UNI) Pro-reforms Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee powered the Left Front to an unprecedented seventh successive victory in West Bengal, the DMK-led front dislodged the Jayalalitha regime in Tamil Nadu and the LDF registered a spectacular win in Kerala while the Congress was set to form coalition governments in Asom and Pondicherry.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi won the byelection to the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat with a record margin of more than 4,00,000 votes, within two months of resigning the seat in the wake of the controversy over the office of profit issue.

Main Opposition BJP suffered a rout in all these places.

The outcome of the assembly poll in 4 states and one Union Territory marked the consolidation of the forces aligned with the Congress at the Centre.

Poll analysts say the results may not immediately alter power equations at the Centre but they argue that the Left parties and the DMK may now form a 'pressure group' to keep the Manmohan Singh Government on toes on key economic and foreign policy issues.

The results in the assembly election were more or less on the expected lines and did not bring about any major surprises as exit polls had already suggested that a rejuvenated M Karunanidhi-led Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA), of which the Congress was a constituent, was all set to remove Dr Jayalalithaa from power in Tamil Nadu.

Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the pro-reform Chief Minister of West Bengal, gave a record seventh term in office to the Left Front.

The DMK is all set to form a government on its own ... picking up para one, line one of DI61, ELECTION-SECOND LEAD RESULTS-NATIONAL TWO LAST NEW DELHI.

UNI Team RP KN1955