NEW DELHI: The ruling NDA led by the BJP had a lot to cheer in 2025 with decisive victories in Delhi and Bihar – the two states where assembly elections were held this year. For the opposition, 2025 was a year of disappointments. While the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP was defeated in Delhi, the Mahagathbandhan of Congress, Lalu Prasad’s RJD and the Left was decimated in Bihar. But 2026 could be an opportunity for the opposition to bounce back as four states and one Union Territory – West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry — will vote to choose their new assemblies. Except Assam, which is ruled by the BJP, the opposition has a dominant presence in the other three states.

With polls due between March and May 2026, parties have already begun calibrating strategies and sharpening their pitch to voters.

In West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress will be defending its fortress as it seeks to hold off a renewed BJP push, while the Congress and Left will make another effort to recover lost political ground.In Kerala, the CPM-led LDF is eyeing an unprecedented third consecutive term — a feat unheard of in the state’s traditional pendulum-like politics.Tamil Nadu is preparing for another round of the Dravidian duel, with the DMK and AIADMK once again anchoring the state’s political battlefield.In Assam, the BJP-led NDA under Himanta Biswa Sarma will fight to hold the state even as the Congress looks to stage a revival.Meanwhile, in Puducherry, N Rangasamy’s AINRC–BJP coalition faces the challenge of holding together a fragile alliance against a DMK seeking to widen its footprint and a weakened Congress attempting a comeback.A key undercurrent across these contests is the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, extended to several poll-bound states including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The 2026 elections will therefore unfold on updated voter lists — a factor that could change a lot of things.

West Bengal

Buoyed by its sweeping win in the recent Bihar assembly elections, the BJP has made its ambitions clear: Bengal is the saffron party’s next battleground.Ahead of the 2026 polls, the BJP is pushing hard to turn momentum into seats. Meanwhile, the TMC, which won 213 of the 294 assembly seats in 2021 with roughly 48% vote share, is back in full campaign mode, defending a fortress it has held for over a decade. With the Congress party struggling to regain its footing, the stage is set for a high-stakes political showdown.

What’s at stake?

BJP’s rising influence

From a modest presence in 2016 with just 3 seats, the BJP surged to 77 seats and approximately 38% of the vote share in 2021. The 2026 elections will test whether this was a temporary surge or the beginning of a sustained challenge to the TMC’s dominance in Bengal.

TMC’s incumbency challenge

With 213+ seats and 48% vote share in 2021, Mamata Banerjee enters 2026 as the incumbent with the widest lead. She has already begun mobilisation and outreach, but the real challenge is holding this high ceiling in the face of anti-incumbency and a more aggressive BJP than before.

Congress fights for relevance

From being a dominant force pre-2011 to being almost wiped out in 2021, Congress is now battling for visibility. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s removal and Subhankar Sarkar’s appointment hasn’t yet translated into a loud political message or campaign repositioning leaving Congress still searching for footing.

INDIA bloc?

With the future of the opposition’s INDIA bloc uncertain and Mamata Banerjee repeatedly hinting that TMC will contest Bengal alone, Congress risks being caught between two compulsions: aligning nationally versus confronting TMC locally.“Bengal is ours, we will fight here alone,” the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has already declared.

SIR factor

Additionally, the 2026 elections will be conducted under a Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Changes in voter registrations, particularly in minority-heavy or urban constituencies, could significantly impact the margins in key swing seats.

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is gearing up not only for another showdown between Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), but also for a potentially game-changing third force.The entry of TVK under Vijay has made Tamil Nadu assembly elections in the state all the more interesting.

What’s at stake?

DMK’s incumbency test

The ruling DMK enters 2026 from a position of strength, having secured 133 seats on its own in the previous assembly election. However, the party faces a tougher political landscape this time, with the AIADMK–BJP alliance regrouped and better aligned than in 2021. Tamil Nadu chief minister Stalin has already announced that the party will contest the state polls as part of the INDIA bloc, calling it an ideological partnership built on shared goals.The real test, however, lies in whether DMK can overcome anti-incumbency pressures, defend its welfare and governance record, and manage voter expectations on issues like jobs, NEET exemption and power tariffs.

AIADMK–BJP alliance

The 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly election is a high-stakes battle for the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), which is desperately looking for a comeback after two consecutive electoral defeats. The big question for 2026 is whether the renewed AIADMK–BJP partnership can translate into seats. In 2021, the AIADMK-led front won 75 seats, while the BJP remained a secondary force. However, together they remain the largest challenger bloc to the ruling DMK. Edappadi K. Palaniswami has already set the tone, vowing that the front will “shatter Stalin’s dream of winning 200 seats” and predicting that the alliance could cross 210.A key factor that complicates the opposition arithmetic is the entry of actor Vijay with his party, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), whose decision to contest alone threatens to split the anti-DMK vote.

TVK factor

The 2026 Tamil Nadu election is the crucial electoral debut for actor Vijay’s TVK, who has boldly declared the contest as a “TVK versus DMK” fight and positioned himself as the alternative to “Stalin uncle”. Vijay has massive youth following and has a potential surprise factor to disrupt the traditional bipolar contest. However, the tragic Karur stampede that claimed 41 lives during one of his pre-poll roadshows casts a significant negative shadow. The incident has been heavily leveraged by the opposition, forcing Vijay and the TVK to defend their competence and win public trust.

Assam

In Assam, the BJP-led NDA under the leadership of chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. who has become one of the party’s most prominent regional faces, will fight to hold the state, aiming to secure an unprecedented third consecutive term.

What’s at stake?

BJP’s regional dominance

Despite the 75 seats won in 2021, anti-incumbency remains a major underlying challenge. Chief minister Sarma, however, has set an aggressive target, confidently claiming the NDA is capable of winning “104 out of 126 seats”.

Congress’s revival test

The Congress, which won 50 seats in 2021, is desperate for a comeback, led by the newly appointed state chief, Gaurav Gogoi. The party is trying to leverage the “10-year anti-incumbency” against the BJP, with Gogoi stating, “After 10 years of BJP’s corrupt and authoritarian rule, the people of Assam want change.”This election is a personal test for Gogoi, who must prove he can translate his Lok Sabha victory into a wider assembly-level revival for the party.

AIUDF’s dilemma

Badruddin Ajmal’s AIUDF won 16 seats in 2021, performing strongly in Muslim-majority pockets. A breakup with Congress or a solo contest could split the opposition vote — benefiting BJP in triangular fights.

Kerala

Kerala heads into 2026 with one of the rarest scenarios in its electoral history — a ruling front attempting to win a third consecutive term. The CPI(M)-led LDF broke the state’s alternating pattern in 2021, winning 99 of 140 seats while the Congress-led UDF slipped to 41, and the BJP once again failed to open its account.

What’s at stake?

LDF’s third-term bid

The LDF has never won three consecutive assemblies in Kerala’s democratic history. For the CPI(M), which leads the front, this election is critical as Kerala remains the only major state where the Left is currently in power on its own strength. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who will again lead the front, is campaigning on the theme of “continuity for progress.” Senior CPI(M) leaders, like KN Balagopal, have publicly stated that “continuity was vital to maintain the momentum” of development and welfare policies. However, the LDF faces a significant anti-incumbency challenge, which the opposition is leveraging to counter the government’s claims of development.

UDF’s existential battle

UDF dropped from 47 seats in 2016 to 41 in 2021, still holding a sizable vote share but struggling to convert it. 2026 is the coalition’s best opportunity to regain ground if anti-incumbency builds. A weak result could push UDF further into inertia, shrinking the Congress footprint in another southern state.

BJP — still on the sidelines?

BJP has contested aggressively for two cycles but holds zero MLA seats in Kerala. If it breaks that barrier in 2026 — even with 1–3 wins — it changes the dynamics of the House. If it fails again, Kerala remains one of the last major states outside BJP’s elected footprint.

Puducherry

In Puducherry, N Rangasamy’s AINRC–BJP coalition faces the challenge of holding together a fragile alliance against a resurgent DMK seeking to widen its footprint and a weakened Congress attempting a comeback.

What’s at stake?

NDA’s fragile coalition

The ruling NDA is led by the All India NR Congress (AINRC) and BJP. In 2021, the AINRC won 10 seats and the BJP won 6 seats. This coalition is under immense pressure due to internal discord and anti-incumbency. The internal rift was brought to the forefront by the resignation of a lone Dalit minister AK Sai J Saravanan Kumar, on the decision of the high command.The move triggered strong reactions and exposed deeper fault lines within the coalition and the local BJP unit.

DMK’s attempt to expand

The DMK entered the 2021 Puducherry polls with limited ground presence but still emerged with 6 seats, overtaking the Congress to become the largest opposition party. For 2026, the main challenge for DMK would be to widen its footprint in the Union territory and convert influence into numbers.

Congress — survival, not dominance

Like in many other states, the Congress is fighting for survival in Puducherry too. Once the ruling party here, it has slipped to the margins since the 2021 election. For Congress, 2026 is not about winning power; it is about preventing irrelevance. A tally of 5–6 seats keeps it alive; anything below that accelerates decline. The grand old party must survive before it can compete.The Election Commission’s SIR of electoral rolls has already raised the pitch in these states, with the BJP strongly backing the exercise while the opposition accusing the poll body of helping the saffron party gain an advantage over its political opponents. 2026 is clearly all set for interesting electoral contests.

NEW DELHI: As another week of December begins, stock markets will also invoke hopes for investors but also caution. Foreign investors, currency movement and global macroeconomic data announcements will drive investor sentiments for the week. Notably, this week will not have the usual five days of trading as Thursday, December 25 will mark a stock market holiday on account of Christmas. This will be significant as it’s the last complete week ending in 2025. However, an expert quoted by PTI said that market activity could be subdued on account of Christmas and New Year.“This week marks the onset of the year-end festive period and will be holiday-shortened due to the Christmas break, which may keep trading volumes subdued. On the domestic front, markets will track infrastructure output data, along with updates on bank loan growth, deposit growth, and foreign exchange reserves. Currency movement and crude oil prices will also remain important variables,” said Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd.Meanwhile, Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm was quoted by PTI saying, “While strong domestic liquidity continues to act as an effective buffer against deeper downside risks, lending resilience to the market structure, the re-emergence of foreign fund inflows is increasingly being viewed as a potential catalyst for the market’s next leg higher, improving overall risk appetite.”Further talking about international factors, he added, “Globally, performance of major markets—particularly the US—will be closely monitored for directional cues.” That said, the durability of the late-week momentum will largely depend on key global macroeconomic indicators, especially the forthcoming US GDP and core personal consumption expenditure (PCE) data, which are expected to provide clearer insights into the health of the US economy amid shifting inflation–growth dynamics, according to Ponmudi R.Last week, the BSE benchmark fell by 338.3 points, or 0.39 per cent, while the Nifty declined by 80.55 points, or 0.30 per cent. Meanwhile, on Friday, the Sensex surged 447.55 points, or 0.53 per cent, to close at 84,929.36, while Nifty advanced 150.85 points, or 0.58 per cent, to end at 25,966.40. “Selling pressure dominated most sessions; however, a recovery in the final trading day—driven by value buying and renewed interest from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs)—helped limit the downside.” Mishra added.Also sharing his insights, Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Research – Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said, “This week, we expect markets to trade in a range with a positive bias, following signs of improving FII participation (buying in two continuous trading sessions offering some relief after weeks of relentless selling) and a marginal recovery in INR vs USD. Several global markets will see subdued activity on account of Christmas and New Year holidays.“Key macro data releases during the week include US and UK GDP, US consumer confidence data. Overall, market is likely to remain sideways, with investor focus gradually shifting towards the upcoming Q3 corporate earnings season,” he added.(Disclaimer: Recommendations and views on the stock market and other asset classes given by experts are their own. These opinions do not represent the views of The Times of India)

NEW DELHI: The flop show of teenage batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi continued in the U19 Asia Cup, as the 14-year-old batter was dismissed at the score of 26 in the tournament final against arch-rival Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday. Sooryavanshi was dismissed in the fifth over of the innings; he was caught behind the stumps by Pakistan keeper Hamza Zahoor off Ali Raza’s bowling. Raza bowled a short of length delivery, angled across. Sooryavanshi looked to loft through the line and got a thick outside edge, Hamza Zahoor took a sharp catch over his head. There was no space to free his hands, and the ball was climbing as well.

With Sooryavanshi’s wicket, India were reduced to 49/3 while chasing a mammoth total of 348. Follow live updatesCaptain Ayush Mhatre (2 off 7 balls) and Aaron George (16 off 9 balls) were also dismissed cheaply, leaving India in deep trouble. Sooryavanshi also failed to score big in the semi-final against Sri Lanka and was dismissed for 9 runs.Earlier, Pakistan opener Sameer Minhas once again gave a glimpse into his precocious talent, striking a brilliant century — his second in the tournament — as Pakistan made a steep 347 for 8 in an engrossing 50-over men’s U19 Asia Cup final here on Sunday.Minhas, one of the standout performers for his side in the event, blazed to 172 off 113 deliveries as he carried the aspirations of his side, which lost the group match to the arch-foes by 90 runs at the same venue.Pakistan, coming into the final on the back of a clinical eight-wicket semifinal win against last edition champions Bangladesh, did not let India, who chose to bowl, settle down.Minhas, whose innings was studded with 17 boundaries and nine sixes, brought up his century off 71 balls with a four in the 29th over off Devendran.This was Minhas’ second hundred in the competition having cracked an unbeaten 177 against Malaysia in the opening group match.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s recent apparent comment that China is winning the AI race made headlines across America. It went so ‘wild’ that the Nvidia CEO had to issue a clarification. During a fireside chat at the Center for Strategic and International Studies this month, Huang directly spoke about his statement on Chinese AI dominance vs America’s. CSIS President John Hamre asked Huang what he termed “very provocative”: You said something recently that was quite provocative. You said that China was winning the AI race, the AI competition. I know that you’ve got a powerful competitor in Huawei, and Huawei has a lot of advantages you don’t have. Why don’t you describe this competition? Are we really losing?In his reply to Hamre, Huang said, “And it apparently caught a lot of attention. As you know with headlines, the disclaimer part, the foundation part was left out of the headline. But the way to think about that is that let me just handicap it right now. If you look at AI and go back to the first thing that we said, AI is a five layer cake. Let’s just always simplify it. It’s not quite this simplistic, but let’s simplify AI into a five layer cake. Energy, chips, infrastructure, models, and applications. And let’s handicap it from bottom to top. At the lowest level, China has twice the amount of energy we have as a nation.”

China dominance in Energy is one of the ‘deal breakers’

“Twice as much energy as we have as a nation. And our economy’s larger than theirs. Makes no sense to me. We also know that one of the most important initiatives, one of the most important policies of this administration. And there was the first thing that President Trump said to me when we met: “Listen, we need to reindustrialize America. We need to do onshore manufacturing again. We need to help America make things again.” It’s going to create jobs. That part of the economy has been offshore and completely gutted the United States. We need to bring that back and he needs my help to do so. And so, that entire sector of the economy is missing,” Nvidia CEO went on to add. Then Huang added the energy problem that America is facing, where China is miles ahead. While talking about the same Huang did give a compliment to President Trump, saying that he is trying his best to solve the problem. “And however, without energy, how do we build chip plants, computer system plants, and these AI data centers? We call them AI factories. We’re simultaneously building three different types of factories in the United States. Chip factories, super computer factories, and AI factories, they all require energy, every single one of them. And so on, the one hand, we want to reindustrialize the United States. How do you do that without energy? And so, the fact that we vilified energy for so long, President Trump sticking his neck out, and taking it on the chin, and helping the country realize that energy is necessary for our growth, is really one of the greatest things he’s done right off the bat,” Huang said.

America is generations ahead in Chips

He said that while America is 50% of China in energy, the country is generationals ahead in Chips. But at the same time warned that the country cannot afford to be complacent. As semiconductors is a manufacturing process and anybody who thinks China can’t manufacture is missing a big idea. “And so, now at the energy level, back to that stack, we’re 50% and they’re growing straight up. We’re kind of flat right now. And so, number one, energy. Number two, chips. We’re generations ahead. We are generations ahead on chips, and I think everybody recognizes that. Number three, infrastructure. If you want to build a data center here in the United States, from breaking ground to standing up an AI supercomputer is probably about three years. They can build a hospital on a weekend. That’s a real challenge. And so, at the infrastructure layer, their velocity of building things, because they are builders. Their velocity of building things is extraordinarily high. Now, really quickly on chips. We’re several generations ahead, but don’t be complacent. Remember, semiconductors are a manufacturing process. Anybody who thinks China can’t manufacture is missing a big idea,” Hunag said.

Devon Conway produced a performance for the ages at Bay Oval, scripting a slice of New Zealand cricket history in the third and final Test against the West Indies. The left-handed opener became the first player from the country to score a double-century and a century in the same Test, a feat achieved by only a handful of batters in the long history of the format. After his monumental 227 in the first innings, Conway returned in the second to compile a calm and assured 100, bringing up the landmark shortly before the tea interval on the fourth day. The effort placed the 34-year-old in an exclusive global list, making him just the 10th cricketer ever to combine a double-hundred and a hundred in one Test match. In doing so, he joined an elite group that includes the likes of Brian Lara, Graham Gooch, Kumar Sangakkara, Marnus Labuschagne, and Shubman Gill.

Conway’s marathon knock in the first innings was the cornerstone of New Zealand’s dominant position in the match, as the hosts amassed 575 for 8. The West Indies showed resilience in reply, battling their way to 420 all out, but remained on the back foot throughout. The second-innings century was Conway’s seventh in Test cricket, further cementing his reputation as one of New Zealand’s most reliable performers at the highest level. The hosts entered the final Test holding a 1–0 advantage in the three-match series, following a draw in Christchurch and a convincing nine-wicket win in Wellington. Conway’s stay in the second innings ended just after tea. Attempting a pull shot, he picked out deep mid-wicket, where Jayden Seales judged the ball perfectly, moving to his left before leaping to complete a sharp two-handed catch off Kavem Hodge. Tom Latham, batting alongside Conway, was also dismissed shortly after reaching his century, with Hodge and Seales again combining to strike for the visitors. With Kane Williamson and Rachin Ravindra both accelerating towards their half-centuries, Latham opted to declare, setting the West Indies a daunting target of 462 to chase in the final innings.