Jaipur: Riding a strong anti-incumbency wave coupled with Narendra Modi factor, BJP today wrested power from Congress decimating it by grabbing a four-fifth majority in the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly.
In its worst ever performance in the desert state Congress could manage just 21 seats out of the 199 for which polling was held while BJP secured 162 seats. Election officials said that BJP won 162 seats, Congress 21, Independents 7, NPP 4, BSP 3 and others 2.
All but three of the 19 ministers of the Congress government, bit the dust. State BJP president and party's chief ministerial candidate Vasundhara Raje won from Jhalarpatan defeating Congress candidate Meenakshi Chandrawat with a margin of 60,896.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot won Sardarpura seat by defeating his nearest rival Shambhusingh Khetasar of BJP by a margin of 18,478 votes. Accepting defeat, Gehlot submitted his resignation to Governor Margaret Alva at Raj Bhawan here this evening.
"I humbly accept the defeat and congratulate the winners. We will analyse what went wrong. We will see what were our sins and what were their good deeds which led to the defeat," he said after his party was routed.
Gehlot said, "If there is an undercurrent, there is no counter to it. I feel....the public has voted on the basis of an undercurrent." Congress had won 96 seats in the 2008 assembly polls when it had wrested power from Raje while BJP had 78 seats.
"The people of Rajasthan were tired of non-governance of Congress. It is something that follows from Delhi also. Therefore, Narendra Modi is a very big factor because people have seen what he has done in Gujarat," Raje said.
