Bhopal: Riding high on pro-incumbency and a divided opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party led by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan returned to power with a massive mandate for the third straight term. BJP won 165 seats in the 230-members seat Assembly, way ahead of the Congress which was restricted to just 58 seats. The BSP got four seats while Independent candidates tasted success with three seats in their kitty.
Chouhan who was contesting from two constituencies- Vidisha and Budhni- won both the seats with a considerable margin. He won the Vidisha seat with 16,966 votes while in Budhni he romped home by a massive margin of 84,805 votes.
As soon as the trends showed the BJP returning to power, Chouhan thanked the people for giving him a fresh mandate and said he would continue to work for their welfare. He attributed BJP's massive victory to the ordinary party workers and leaders.
"The people of Madhya Pradesh, the BJP organisation and a large number of party leaders who guided us in the poll campaign deserved thanks for this victory," he said.
On the other hand the Congress tried to project Union Minister of State Power Jyotiraditya Scindia as a young leader capable to putting the state on the fast track of development. But a divided Congress in the state failed to rally behind the young Scindia as many of its leaders lobbied hard and got their favourites the ticket which ultimately cost the party dearly.
Chouhan gave a special mention to senior party leaders LK Advani, Rajnath Singh, Narendra Modi, Uma Bharti and state BJP President Narendra Singh Tomar. The third-time Chief Minister said it was only in the BJP that an ordinary worker could rise through the ranks and lead a state.
Chouhan said he had tried his best to serve the people after becoming Chief Minister in 2005 and would continue the development and welfare schemes started by his government. He also claimed the Congress-led ruling coalition at the Centre had been discriminating against his government and it was the need of the hour to have a BJP-headed administration in New Delhi.
Expressing confidence that during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections Madhya Pradesh would provide the largest chunk of BJP MPs for the party to form the government at the Centre, Chouhan said that the Congress-led ruling coalition at the Centre had been discriminating against his government and it was the need of the hour to have a BJP-headed administration in New Delhi.
Words of appreciation were showered on him by the party members with party President Rajnath Singh lauding him for his performance and governance in the state. Stating the obvious, Rajnath declared that Chouhan will retain the top post in the state.
While the BJP members appreciated Chouhan for the victory, they also did not miss the opportunity to give the credit of the favourable results to Narendra Modi.
BJP General Secretary and in-charge of Madhya Pradesh affairs, Anant Kumar appreciated Chouhan for the victory and also stated that "government under the leadership of Modi will be formed at the Centre in the Lok Sabha polls in 2014.
However, the Opposition leaders rubbished BJP's claim of any Modi wave in the country. Extending his wishes to Chouhan, Scindia maintained that Modi, who had campaigned in the state aggressively, had no impact in the state.
"I do not think Narendra Modi had any impact. If there has been any impact in Madhya Pradesh it is Shivraj Singh Chouhan," he said adding that the assembly elections results will not have any bearing in the general elections.
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