Explained: Where did the power return in the elections of 22 states in 5 years and the CM changed, will there be stake on new faces in the election results of 2026?

Elections were held in many big states from 2021 till now. While the ruling party got a chance to form the government again, the Chief Minister was changed. Be it Madhya Pradesh or Rajasthan or Chhattisgarh. Call it anti-incumbency or cultivating the caste equation. Despite this, five big reasons emerge. So in the explainer we will know in which states elections were held in the last 5 years, where CMs were changed and why…

Question 1: In which states elections were held in 2021 and what were the results?

answer: The year 2021 started with election battle. Assembly elections were held in 5 states (West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Union Territory Puducherry) in March-April. All the results were declared together on 2 May 2021.

1. West Bengal (292 seats): Mamata Banerjee’s TMC formed the government for the third consecutive time with 215 seats. She became CM for the third time. This election was extremely violent and full of rhetoric. Mamata Banerjee seriously accused the Election Commission of acting like a ‘spokesperson’ of BJP.
2. Assam (126 seats): The BJP-led NDA alliance (with AGP and UPPL) returned to power with around 76-77 seats. Himanta Biswa Sarma from BJP became the Chief Minister. This was a historic victory for the BJP as the party formed the government for the second consecutive time in a major state of the North-East.
3. Kerala (140 seats): Pinarayi Vijayan’s Left Democratic Front (LDF) formed the government with 95 seats. Pinarayi Vijayan became CM for the second consecutive time. This was a rare example of returning to power for the second consecutive time in Kerala, because here usually the government changes every five years.
4. Tamil Nadu (234 seats): M.K. Stalin’s DMK-led alliance (with Congress, Left, VCK, IUML) won a landslide victory, taking 148-156 seats. M.K. Stalin took oath as Chief Minister for the first time. This is Edappadi K. It was the end of Palaniswami’s AIADMK government.
5. Puducherry (30 seats): NDA alliance (AINRC, BJP, AIADMK) formed government with 14-16 seats. AINRC’s N. Rangaswami became the Chief Minister. This was disappointing for Congress.

This year the CM was changed in Tamil Nadu. In the remaining states (Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Puducherry) the ruling party won and the CM remained the same.

Question 2: In which states elections were held in 2022 and what changed?

answer: Assembly elections were held in 5 states (Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur) in 2022. The results came on 10 March 2022.

1. Uttar Pradesh (403 seats): BJP registered a landslide victory and won more than 250 seats. Yogi Adityanath became CM for the second consecutive time. There was no CM change here.
2. Punjab (117 seats): The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won with 92 seats, a landslide victory. Bhagwant Mann became CM for the first time. The change here happened because the government completely overturned. Bhagwant Mann was chosen because there was a need for a local Sikh face in Punjab.
3. Uttarakhand (70 seats): BJP was successful in forming the government with majority. Current CM Pushkar Singh Dhami lost the election from his seat Khatima. However, BJP was successful in forming the government and later Dhami was made the CM again by winning from the second seat. Former Chief Minister Harish Rawat (Congress) also lost.
4. Goa (40 seats): BJP emerged as the largest party. Pramod Sawant became the CM again. Many stalwarts including former CM Churchill Alemao lost.
5. Manipur (60 seats): BJP was successful in forming the government. N. Biren Singh became CM for the second consecutive time.

Overall, AAP had formed a new government in Punjab by defeating Congress and Akali Dal, hence the CM was changed. Charanjit Singh Channi (Congress) and former CM Prakash Singh Badal (Akali Dal) had lost. BJP remained in power in Uttarakhand and Goa, but there was some leadership instability as Pushkar Singh Dhami lost his seat.

Question 3: Which elections were held in 2023 and how did the picture change?
answer: The election year of 2023 was the most interesting because it took place in 5 big states (Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram). The results came on December 3, 2023 and many surprising trends were seen.

1. Madhya Pradesh (230 seats): BJP registered a landslide victory with 163 seats. Earlier Shivraj Singh Chauhan was the CM, but the party removed him and made Mohan Yadav the Chief Minister. This was a strategy to avoid ‘anti-incumbency’ and give a young face. Shivraj Chauhan was in power for a long time (four times), so the party wanted to give a new generation leader for the next 5 years.
2. Rajasthan (199 seats): BJP ousted Congress from power with 115 seats. Bhajan Lal Sharma became CM for the first time. The party chose a young, Brahmin face. Ignoring Vasundhara Raje was a major strategic move by the party so that they could avoid any local opposition against Raje.
3. Chhattisgarh (90 seats): BJP defeated Congress with 54 seats. Vishnu Dev Sai became CM for the first time. Current CM Bhupesh Baghel (Congress) won his seat from Patan, but his government lost. Here BJP ignored Raman Singh (former CM) and chose Vishnu Dev Sai, who comes from the tribal community. Tribal voters have an important role in Chhattisgarh, hence this was an attempt to correct the caste equation.
4. Telangana (119 seats): Congress with 64 seats. Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) defeated Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). Revanth Reddy of Congress became the Chief Minister for the first time. It was like a ‘consolation prize’ for the Congress as it had lost in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
5. Mizoram (40 seats): Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) formed the government by winning 27 seats. Lalduhoma became the Chief Minister for the first time. Previous CM Zoramthanga (MNF) lost his seat from Aizawl East-1. This was a big reversal. Public anger was clearly visible on anti-incumbency and development issues. People decided to change the 5 year old MNF government.

The most surprising thing here was that in a single election night, Congress was swept in three states (Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, MP), while it won in Telangana. This was a historic victory for BJP.

Question 4: What changed in the elections held in 2024?

answer: The election season in 2024 came at the end of the year. Assembly elections were held in Maharashtra, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Jharkhand.

1. Haryana (90 seats): BJP formed the government for the third consecutive time by winning 48 seats. Earlier there was Manohar Lal Khattar, but the party had made Nayab Singh Saini the Chief Minister even before the elections and he remained the CM even after winning the elections. There were two big reasons behind the removal of Manohar Lal Khattar. First anti-incumbency and second caste equation.
2. Maharashtra (288 seats): The Grand Alliance (BJP, Shinde faction’s Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar faction’s NCP) won with 235 seats. BJP alone won 132 seats. Devendra Fadnavis became CM for the third time. A very interesting reversal happened here. In 2022, Eknath Shinde (Shiv Sena) revolted and toppled Uddhav Thackeray’s government and became the CM himself by making Fadnavis the Deputy CM. But after the election results, BJP had the maximum number of seats in the alliance, hence Devendra Fadnavis was made the Chief Minister.
3. Jharkhand (81 seats): JMM-led INDIA alliance (JMM, Congress, RJD and Left) retained power with 56 seats. Hemant Soren (JMM) was CM earlier also. (He was arrested by ED in January 2024, after which his wife Kalpana Soren became CM) Then he returned. The election took place at a time when Hemant Soren came out of jail and gave the slogan of ‘Save Tribal Identity’. JMM got public support in the fight for regional identity against BJP.
4. Odisha (147 seats): BJP formed the government for the first time by winning 78 seats. Mohan Charan Majhi became the Chief Minister for the first time. The government of Naveen Patnaik (BJD), which was in power for 24 years, fell. Anti-incumbency, lack of jobs and V.K. The issue of ‘Odia identity’ became a weapon for BJP against the growing influence of Pandian.
5. Andhra Pradesh (175 seats): NDA alliance (TDP, Janasena and BJP) formed the government by winning 164 seats. TDP’s N. Chandrababu Naidu became the Chief Minister for the fourth time. YS Jagan Mohan Reddy (YSRCP), who won 151 seats in 2019, got a crushing defeat. Unemployment, Vindictive Politics and Land Titling Act became big issues.

Question 5: What happened in the major elections held in 2025?
answer: Delhi and Bihar assembly elections were held in 2025, which were very important. The results came in November 2025.

1. Bihar (243 seats): The NDA alliance (JD(U), BJP, LJP (Ram Vilas), HAM(S) and RLM) registered a landslide victory with 202 seats. Nitish Kumar (JDU) became Chief Minister for the record 10th time. This was the last tenure of Nitish Kumar. Then in February 2026, he announced to leave the post of CM and go to Rajya Sabha. On 15 April 2026, BJP’s Samrat Chaudhary became the first BJP CM of Bihar.
2. Delhi (70 seats): BJP formed the government by winning 48 seats. Earlier, BJP had formed the government in 1998. Rekha Gupta became the Chief Minister of Delhi for the first time. BJP toppled the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government that was ruling Delhi since 2015. Arvind Kejriwal lost the election from his traditional New Delhi seat. Previous CM Atishi resigned from the post.

Question 6: Why was the CM changed despite winning elections in the last 5 years?
answer: There are 5 big reasons for this change:

• Anti-incumbency: The old CM is removed and a new face of the same party is given.
• Caste equation: To garner votes of a particular caste, the CM of that caste is made.
• Coalition Politics: The one who has more seats in the alliance becomes the CM.
• Overthrow of power (opposition comes): After losing the elections the entire government changes.
• Persistence despite personal failure: CM loses his seat, but the party makes him win from another seat.

Now elections have been held in 5 states (West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry and Assam) in 2026. Today the election festival will end with the second and final phase of voting in Bengal. After this, all eyes will be on May 4, 2026, when the results of these five states will come and decide whether a new CM really comes to Kerala or there is some other upheaval.