Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today scored a hattrick as the ruling BJP comfortably coasted to a stunning victory over Congress - the third consecutive term for the saffron party.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party won 32 seats and was leading on 123 seats, breaching the half-way mark in the 230-member assembly and ensuring for the soft spoken Shivraj Singh Chouhan a third term as the chief minister.
The Congress won from 10 constituencies and was leading in 57.
Chief Minister Chouhan said, he would give the maximum seats for the BJP in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls from his state.
Chouhan said, it was only in the BJP that an ordinary party worker can become a chief minister.
He described the Bharatiya Janata Party's victory in Madhya Pradesh as a triumph of its ideology.
BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi congratulated Chouhan.
"Called Shivraj ji to congratulate him for BJP's wonderful performance in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections!," tweeted Modi , even as BJP chief Rajnath Singh announced in Delhi that Chouhan will be made the chief minister again.
BJP workers celebrated across the sprawling state that has a population of 72 million.