VIJAYAWADA, May 5: Bharatiya Janata Party Andhra Pradesh State president P.V.N. Madhav on Tuesday described the party's victories in three of the five States that went to the polls as historic, and said the results reflected the growing trust of the electorate in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership. He was addressing a press conference at the party's State office in Vijayawada.

Mr. Madhav said Mr. Modi had effectively articulated people's issues during the election campaign, and that voters in West Bengal had rewarded the BJP with a decisive mandate. The party's return to power in Assam and its success in Puducherry, he added, further underscored the expanding reach of the NDA.

Bengal win rooted in history and public discontent

Contextualising the West Bengal result within a broader historical frame, Mr. Madhav said the victory was made possible by the sacrifices of Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, and that winning in the land of luminaries such as Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Swami Vivekananda, and Subhas Chandra Bose lent the achievement special significance.

He was sharply critical of the preceding years of Communist and Trinamool Congress rule in the State, alleging that both had presided over a rise in lawlessness. He further alleged that illegal immigrants from Bangladesh had been encouraged and cultivated as a vote bank by the ruling dispensation. It was public awareness of and anger against these trends, he argued, that had driven high voter turnout and ultimately brought the BJP to power.

Assam hat-trick and Kerala foothold

On Assam, Mr. Madhav said the BJP had achieved a hat-trick by strengthening the spirit of nationalism in the State. He also highlighted the party's performance in Kerala, where it won three seats and entered the State Assembly for the first time, describing it as a significant indicator of the party's geographic expansion.

Commenting on Tamil Nadu, he said the victory of actor-politician Vijay's party over the DMK was a signal of change in the State.

Senior party functionaries including Kapu Ramachandra Reddy, Saligrama Lakshmi Prasanna, Sheikh Baji, Rongala Gopi Srinivas, Uppalapati Srinivas Raju, Adduri Sriram, Syed Basha, Surendra Reddy, and Reddy Pavani were present at the press conference.

VIJAYAWADA, May 5: The Andhra Pradesh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday held a victory rally in Vijayawada to celebrate the party's electoral successes in three States, with State president P.V.N. Madhav leading the procession from the Sujana Chowdary office at Bhavani Puram. Party leaders and workers turned out in large numbers for the celebratory event.

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Madhav said the results reflected the trust that voters across the three States had reposed in the BJP. He singled out West Bengal as particularly significant, asserting that the people of the State had decisively ended the Trinamool Congress government led by Mamata Banerjee. The Bengal verdict, he said, had been received with jubilation across the country.

A journey from one seat to a historic majority

Recalling the party's ideological lineage, Mr. Madhav noted that the Jana Sangh had begun its journey in West Bengal — the birthplace of Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee — with just a single seat, and that the BJP's landmark victory in the State today represented a remarkable political transformation. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he added, NDA governments were now in power in nearly 20 States, which he described as a testament to the country's development trajectory.

Wins across States

Mr. Madhav also highlighted the party's strong performance in Assam under Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, as well as its gains in Puducherry. He pointed to the party's showing in constituencies with a Muslim population of around 60 per cent — where the BJP had won 40 of 63 seats — as evidence that the notion of minorities being averse to the party was a misconception. He also said the BJP welcomed the victory of actor-politician Vijay in Tamil Nadu.

The State president attributed the electoral successes to the organisational efforts of senior leaders such as Amit Shah and Sunil Bansal, as well as the sacrifices of party workers at the grassroots level.

Among those present at the event were NTR District president Adduri Sriram, MLA office in-charge Sridhar, BJP State office in-charge Uppalapati Srinivas Raju, State spokesperson Sheikh Baji, Minority Morcha State president Syed Basha, and OBC Morcha State president Rongala Gopi Srinivas.

Srikalahasti, May 4: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and cadres celebrated the party’s performance in the Assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam and Puducherry, at Srikalahasti under the leadership of Andhra Pradesh BJP president P.V.N. Madhav.

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Madhav said the results reflected the people’s continued support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership. He noted that the BJP had secured a clear majority in Assam, Puducherry and West Bengal, and described the outcome in West Bengal as particularly significant.

Referring to the ideological roots of the party, Mr. Madhav said West Bengal shared a historical connection with BJP’s founding ideologue Syama Prasad Mookerjee. The party’s success in his home State had enthused cadres across the country, he added.

Mr. Madhav congratulated party leaders and workers for their efforts, stating that the BJP’s growth was also evident in States such as Tamil Nadu and Kerala, where the party had registered a notable increase in vote share.

He said the results underscored public support for development, national security and transparent governance. Welfare initiatives of the Union government, infrastructure expansion and digital progress had received widespread appreciation, he observed.

Mr. Madhav attributed the victory to the support of youth, women, farmers and the middle class. He affirmed that efforts would continue to strengthen the party in Andhra Pradesh and reiterated the BJP’s commitment to addressing public issues.

Calling for unity, he urged citizens to work together towards the nation’s development.

NEW DELHI — In the heart of one of India's oldest and most celebrated universities, something remarkable happened on Saturday evening.

A Union Minister stood before a room full of young students from India's Northeast — young men and women who have travelled thousands of kilometres from Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, and Sikkim to study in the capital — and told them something they perhaps needed to hear more than anything else.

Not that the Northeast is important. Not that the Northeast has potential. But that the Northeast is ready. Ready to lead. Ready to drive. Ready to shape the future of a nation of 1.4 billion people.

The occasion was NEtym 2026 — the 15th edition of the annual cultural festival of the Northeast Cell at Hindu College, University of Delhi. The speaker was Union Minister for Communications and Development of North Eastern Region, Jyotiraditya Scindia. And the message he delivered was as bold as it was overdue.

Eight States. One Extraordinary Potential.

Scindia did not come to Hindu College with platitudes. He came with a vision — sharp, specific, and unapologetic in its ambition.

"Eight states, one extraordinary potential," he declared. "The Northeast is India's gateway to the Global South."

It is a framing that redefines the region entirely — not as a peripheral corner of the subcontinent requiring charity and attention, but as a strategic powerhouse sitting at the intersection of South Asia and Southeast Asia, uniquely positioned to drive economic and cultural exchange on a global scale.

For a region that has spent decades being described primarily through the lens of its challenges, Saturday's address offered something different and something powerful — a lens of opportunity.

The Numbers That Demand Attention

Scindia backed his vision with a statistic that stops you in your tracks.

The Northeast, he pointed out, has an average literacy rate of nearly 93 percent — a figure that outpaces the national average and places the region among India's most educated populations. In a knowledge economy where human capital is the ultimate competitive advantage, the Northeast is not behind. In critical ways, it is ahead.

"The region's youth must lead India's growth story across sectors," Scindia said — and given the literacy numbers, it was not an empty exhortation. It was a statement grounded in demographic reality.

Hindu College itself provided a fitting backdrop for the message. As the institution approaches its 125th year, it stands as one of India's great centres of learning — and on Saturday, it was filled with the energy of young people from the Northeast who are very much part of that tradition.

A Minister Who Has Fallen in Love With a Region

What made Scindia's address distinctive was not just its content but its evident personal sincerity.

The minister spoke of his familial ties to the Northeast. He described his frequent visits to all eight states — visits that he said continue to inspire and energise his vision for the region's development. He recalled cultural performances from Assam that left him "mantramugdh" — spellbound — describing how every gesture and movement in the region's classical and folk traditions carries within it generations of accumulated meaning and beauty.

He paid tribute to Bhupen Hazarika — the legendary musician and cultural icon whose voice became the soul of the Brahmaputra — and to Zubeen Garg, the contemporary superstar who carries that tradition forward. In doing so, Scindia acknowledged something that policy documents rarely capture: that the Northeast is not just a geographical entity or an economic opportunity. It is a civilisation — deep, layered, and irreplaceable.

"The Northeast remains a repository of unparalleled artistic and cultural wealth," he said. In the room, heads nodded. These students knew it. They had always known it. It mattered, enormously, to hear it said from a national platform.

From Intent to Implementation: The Programmes Making a Difference

Scindia did not limit himself to inspiration. He came with specifics — three flagship programmes that represent the government's concrete commitment to unlocking the Northeast's potential.

The NE SPARKS Programme — implemented in partnership with ISRO — is already changing lives. Each year, 800 students, 100 from each of the eight Northeastern states, gain direct exposure to space science and cutting-edge technology. Eight batches have already completed the programme. In a region where access to advanced scientific education has historically been limited, SPARKS is opening doors that previous generations could not have imagined.

The Ashtalakshmi Darshan Programme takes a different but equally powerful approach — bringing students from the Northeast into meaningful interaction with students from other parts of India, building the human connections that ultimately hold a diverse nation together. Currently covering 1,280 students across 32 batches, the programme is set to scale dramatically — reaching 8,000 students by 2030.

And then there is the Advancing NER Portal — scheduled for launch in April 2026 — perhaps the most ambitious of the three. A single digital platform integrated with the National Career Service, it will provide access to over 1,000 job opportunities, more than 300 career pathways, over 200 entrance examinations, 3,000-plus courses within the Northeast itself, and connections to more than 800 national institutions. For a young person in Kohima or Itanagar trying to navigate the overwhelming complexity of career options and educational pathways, the portal promises to be transformative.

"Under Prime Minister Modi," Scindia said, "the approach to the Northeast has transitioned from intent to implementation. Opportunity must be defined by access and inclusion — not geography."

What the Northeast Is Becoming

Scindia closed his address with a challenge — and an invitation.

"The conversation must move," he said, "from what the Northeast is to what it is becoming — and what its young people are enabling it to become."

It is a subtle but significant shift in framing. The Northeast has spent too long being defined by what it was — by conflict, by remoteness, by marginalisation. The story that is emerging — of a region with 93 percent literacy, of students topping national examinations, of cricket teams winning Ranji Trophies, of young people from Pulwama and Kupwara visiting Parliament and feeling at home — is a different story entirely.

NEtym 2026, Scindia said, is not merely a cultural festival. It is "a powerful expression of identity, aspiration, and India's collective journey towards a Viksit Bharat."

In the room at Hindu College on Saturday evening — filled with music, dance, colour, and the electric energy of young people celebrating who they are and where they come from — that description felt exactly right.

The Northeast is not waiting to be discovered. It is already arriving. And on Saturday night in Delhi, it arrived in style.

NEtym 2026 was organised by the Northeast Cell of Hindu College, University of Delhi. The event featured cultural performances from across all eight Northeastern states.