Rajasthan BJP President Vasundhara Raje waves to supporters on her arrival at Sanganer airport in Jaipur (PTI photo)
Vasundhra Raje Scindia, who delivered a staggering victory for the BJP in Rajasthan, today credited her success to the party's prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, currently the chief minister of Gujarat.
"Modi is a very big factor. People have seen what he has done in Gujarat," said the woman who's likely to be the new chief minister of Rajasthan.
The BJP won 162 of the state's 199 seats.
"This is the semi-final to what is going to happen," she declared , holding that today's results portend a return to power for her party in the national election, due by May.
Ashok Gehlot, the outgoing chief minister whose government was besieged by corruption allegations, attributed the thorough rout of his party, the Congress, to a negative campaign by the BJP.
"There was no reason for us to lose. Our campaign was on the basis of development, but we failed," said Mr Gehlot, who is leading in his own constituency Sardarpura.
Rajasthan saw high-pitched campaigns by the top leaders in both parties. Mr Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, and Rahul Gandhi, the man many see as his chief rival for the top post in the 2014 general elections, toured the state extensively.
The ruling Congress drew flak over its choice of candidates when it fielded the relatives of two politicians in jail in connection with the Bhanwari Devi murder case.