(Repeating DI 35, rephrasing second para )

New Delhi, May 11 (UNI) The DMK-led front today dislodged Dr J Jayalalithaa from power in Tamil Nadu while the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee 'mantra' worked magic for the Left Front in West Bengal as the Left Democratic Front registered a landslide victory in Kerala in the assembly election, marking the consolidation of the forces aligned with the Congress in the UPA Government at the Centre.

The Congress appeared set to form its first coalition Government in Asom, where no party could get an absolute majority, and the front led by the Congress retained power in the Union Territory of Pondicherry also.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi won the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha byelection by a record margin of more than 4,00,000 votes, proving her vote-catching ability yet again to her party cadres as well as to her rivals.

Analysts say the results in the assembly poll may not immediately alter the power equation at the Centre where the Manmohan Singh-led UPA Government is heavily dependent on the support of the Left parties from outside.

The feeling in political circles, however, is that the consolidation of the Left forces and the DMK may result in the formation of a 'pressure group', which could prevail upon the Manmohan Singh Government on key economic and foreign policy issues.

The results in the assembly election were more or less on 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,led the Left Front to a record seventh consecutive term in office.

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