Daijiworld Media Network
Jaipur, Dec 11: The Congress has wrested Rajasthan, a BJP heartland state and has regained its lost ground in the 200-member assembly. Chief Minister M Vasundhara Raje could not win a second term.
Rajasthan, which alternates between the Congress and the BJP, has true to form voted for the Congress, but the victory may not be as easy as predicted by all exit polls. The party is hovering around the simple majority of 100 seats in the 199-seat Assembly.
Among Congress' top candidates were former chief minister Ashok Gehlot in Sardarpura and Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot from Tonk.
Most exit polls had predicted a victory for Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot’s Congress over the BJP, which was facing anti-incumbency and is up against a 25-year-old record. Since 1998, the state has alternated between the Congress and the BJP, and no party had come to power in consecutive terms.