Dr Vanathi Sethupathi

We expect our political representatives not to speak in Hindi, not out of hatred for the language, but as a mark of resistance against decades of Hindi imposition and in respect for the sacrifices Tamils made to safeguard our mother tongue.

Whether in Kerala, Tamil Nadu or Bengal, the first lesson of any election analysis is not to attack the voter. Instead, try to understand why they voted in the way they did, and learn and adapt.

MK Stalin is 73 years old. He will be 78 when the next Tamil Nadu elections are held in 2031. Suffice to say, he will probably not be CM ever again. Pinarayi Vijayan is 80. Will be 85 in 2031. Even if the Left continues to be a dominant political force in Kerala (it has been declining precipitously in India), he will probably not be CM again. They join a long list of stalwarts of South Indian politicians who have probably served their last day in the CM's office, or are serving their term and will find it hard to get re-elected. - KCR (K Chandrashekar Rao) : He is 72. He will be 75 come the next Telangana elections. Even if BRS manages to win that election, expect him to groom KTR to take over the reins very soon into his term. - N Chandrababu Naidu : He is 76. Will be 79 during the next state elections. Even if TDP wins, will be very hard for him to serve the full 5 years from 79-84 years of age. Expect him to hand over the reins to Nara Lokesh in the next term. - BS Yeddyurappa : He is 83. BJP will go gung-ho to win the 2028 elections in Karnataka come what may, but they are not going to back an 85 year old as CM face. He has had his fair share of conflicts with the BJP high command, so expect him to be pushed to the sidelines as well. - Siddaramaiah: He is 77, going to be 80 by the time of the next elections. DK Shivkumar is dying to be CM of Karnataka, and he would have been had it not been for the Congress high command. He is also going to be "sunsetted" by the time the next elections arrive. - EPS (Edappadi K. Palaniswami) - He is 72. He is not going to become CM this time. Vijay will never align with the BJP-AIAIDMK alliance. He will be 77 by the time the next elections take place in 2031. Surely the AIADMK dispensation would want a fresher, younger face to lead the alliance the next time. We are entering unprecedented territory - several stalwarts of south indian politics who have defined the politics for decades, if not generations will go into the twilight around the same time. "Chaos is not a pit, it's a ladder" said one Petyr Bailish on Game of Thrones not so long ago. This is probably the time when we will see fresh faces emerge, unexpected political events happen, and see younger, talented politicians make hay when the sun shines. We've already seen a massive turnaround in Tamil Nadu with Vijay's superstar showcase. Expect to see even more of that in the coming few years.