BJP sweeps assembly polls; Sheila sole Congress survivor
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) scored 3-1, and imagine it was a long and ardous journey: from 0-4. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is the lone survivor — in Delhi. Notwithstanding hectic campaigning, Congress president Sonia Gandhi managed to lose three major states: Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh — to the arch rival BJP. Due to some good governance provided by Dikshit, the Congress was able to hold on to the assembly in Delhi.

The victory for the BJP, which Prime Minister A B Vajpayee said came as a surprise, came as an anti-incumbency wave which dislodged the decade-old Digvijay Singh government in Madhya Pradesh, blunted the cash-on-camera scam in Chhattisgarh and gave the party its biggest victory in Rajasthan. MP and Rajasthan are all set to get women chief ministers for the first time with BJP candidates Uma Bharti and Vasundhara Raje winning with huge margins in Bada Malhara and Jalrapatan, respectively.
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