The two victories could not have been more contrasting.

Ms Mamata Banerjee's was a bare-knuckles fight with an opponent who had been in power for 34 years on the trot. She did not blink nor was she found wanting in taking to the streets whenever the occasion demanded.

Ms Jayalalithaa's was most often fought through statements from the confines of either her bungalow in the posh residential neighbourhood of Poes Garden in Chennai or the Kodanad Estate in the Nilgiris.

Only in the last few months after the 2G telecom spectrum scam broke out and the DMK's Mr A. Raja as Telecommunications Minister was implicated, did Ms Jayalalithaa become more active though still preferring to issue statements and letting second-rung leaders take to the streets in agitation.

Opinion and exit polls had more or less predicted a sweep for the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. But about the outcome in Tamil Nadu, they were muted in their predictions. Some said the DMK-led front would scrape through, others gave the AIADMK front an edge, but none came close to predicting the kind of sweep that has been seen.

A process that began nearly a month back and one that had the entire nation collectively biting its nails — so aptly captured in a cartoon in The Hindu with all the major politicians padded up as it were a cricket match sitting in front of a television that displayed “Decision pending”, referring to the third umpire's verdict — ended today with Ms Mamata Banerjee single-handedly sweeping the Left Front out of power in West Bengal and Ms Jayalalithaa all set to form the government on her own in Tamil Nadu.

For the 56-year-old Ms Banerjee, it is a culmination of a fight that she began when she broke away from the Congress(I) and floated her own party — the Trinamool Congress — some 13 years back, all along keeping the Communists in her cross-hairs. She flirted briefly with the BJP-led NDA at the Centre, being part of the government, before breaking away and joining hands with the Congress (I). As Railway Minister in the Congress-led UPA, Ms Banerjee may have been accused of being partisan to her State, but she had her priorities right. She realised the Left Front was vulnerable after 34 long years in power and the State itself yearning for a change.

Her critics may have dismissed her as being temperamental and often-times shrill, but Ms Banerjee knew that she and her 13-year-old party had a good chance of getting into Writers' Building, dislodging the Left Front in its last bastion. She gave the Communists as good as she got.

The challenges before her are immense. Even before the euphoria of the win sinks in, Ms Banerjee has to quickly put together a team. She has to change the impression that the nation has of her — of one who was responsible for Tata Motors moving the Nano project out of West Bengal — and work for the industrial inclusion of her State; a tall order indeed.

In Ms Jayalalithaa's case, it could be easily said that the election was handed to her on a platter, especially after the 2G spectrum scam erupted. The scam itself may not have found much resonance in the State's rural areas, but what would definitely have weighed in the voters' minds was the wealth that Mr Karunanidhi's extended family had amassed. That there was much silent anger was known but what was not was whether this would well up to vote out the ruling party so decisively.

For the 63-year-old Ms Jayalalithaa this will be the third term as Chief Minister. Tamil Nadu's people will be hoping that she will not fritter away the mandate. In a brief interaction this afternoon, the Chief Minister-designate made it clear that putting the State's economy back on the rails is her priority. The power situation in the State is appalling, while industry complains of high “transaction costs.” She would do well to address these issues in right earnest.

The AIADMK front's victory has come amid reports of large-scale attempts to bribe voters by the DMK. The voters have expressed their wish. It is now for Ms Jayalalithaa and her team to deliver.

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