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Impressive win for BJP in Madhya Pradesh

Special Correspondent

Bags 143 seats as Shivraj Singh Chauhan readies for second term in office

— Photos: AP, PTI

It’s their day: BJP’s Shivraj Singh Chauhan responds to supporters after his party’s win in the Assembly elections in Bhopal on Monday. (Right) Flashing the victory sign is his wife, Sadhna Singh, at their residence.

BHOPAL: Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan led the Bharatiya Janata Party to an impressive victory in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, securing a successive second term in office. The party comfortably bagged 142 of the 230 seats (when reports last came in, it was leading in another constituency). In the 2003 polls, the BJP scored a landslide and bagged 173 seats.

The Congress, which raked up allegations of corruption against the BJP government and made it as its main poll issue, won 71 seats. The party won 38 seats in 2003.

The Uma Bharti-led Bharatiya Jan Shakti Party, which made its debut in the State, won win only five seats. Ms. Bharti herself suffered defeat in her own home turf at Tikamgarh in the Bundelkhand region. She was defeated by Yadvendra Singh (Congress).

Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party, which won two seats in 2003, increased its tally to seven. Mulayam Singh’s Samajwadi Party secured one seat. Independents won three seats.

Half a dozen of the BJP Ministers suffered defeat. Prominent among them were Himmat Kothari; Gauri Shankar Sejwar; Chaudhary Chandra Bhan Singh; Rustam Singh; Akhand Pratap Singh and Nirmala Bhuria. However, Speaker Ishwardas Rohani won from the Jabalpur Cantonment and Revenue Minister Kamal Patel bagged the Harda seat.

Similarly, Tourism Minister Tukoji Rao, who had stirred a controversy by allegedly misbehaving with a woman returning officer, managed to win from Dewas.

Senior Congress leader Subhash Yadav lost, but Leader of the Opposition Jamuna Devi won from Kukshi.

The Congress also did well in the tribal belt of Jhabua, bagging nearly half a dozen seats. It also scored victories in the stronghold of the former Chief Minister, Digvijay Singh, bagging the Chachoura and Raghogarh seats.

Mr. Chauhan won from Budhni in Sehore district, defeating his Congress rival, Mahesh Singh Rajput, by nearly 41,000 votes.

The 49-year-old star campaigner for the BJP emerged the sole party leader who identified with the masses and their problems.

The party too threw its weight behind Mr. Chauhan, whose single-point poll plank was quickening the pace of development and building a “Swarnim Madhya Pradesh.”

Results have shown that Mr. Chauhan’s magic worked and he managed to endear himself to the people. Mr. Chauhan dedicated his and the BJP’s victory to the people.

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