But Kailash Vijayvargiya does not agree with this assessment. Vijayvargiya, all India General Secretary of BJP, who has been elected to the Vidhan Sabha is of the view that Modi magic was the only factor behind BJP’s win in MP and two other states.

After BJP swept the MP elections he was asked if the Ladli Behna Yojana played a role in the victory, Vijayvargiya said, “Was Ladli Behna in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan? Some of you ‘darbari patrakar’ are trying to build a narrative. What was common at the three places is Modiji’s leadership”. The BJP won the elections in MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh due to the leadership of PM Modi. We are going to win more than 400 seats in the LS elections next year”. Said Vijayvargiya, who wrested Indore-I constituency from Congress’s Sanjay Shukla by 57,939 votes.

“MP ke Maan Mein Modi” began as a slogan. As polls approached, it became the writing on the wall. And on Sunday it was the reality.

Propelled by the Modi magic, Shah strategy and Mama effect, the BJP won a historic victory on Sunday – It’s second biggest in Madhya Pradesh since the one that brought the saffron camp to power exactly two decades ago.

With a landslide mandate of 162 seats, BJP is all set to form the fifth government in MP. Congress could win only 66 seats. The chief minister, as Union Home Minister Amit shah has said, will be decided by the party but Chouhan, who fought off the perception of anti-incumbency, is one of the frontrunners.

“This tremendous victory shows that people have reposed trust in Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and our double engine government and welfare schemes. MP ke maan mein Modiji hein. Today’s result is proof of that. Party workers put their heart and soul into the elections. The leadership of Amit Shahji, guidance of J P Naddaji, aided by Shiv Prakashji, Bhupendra Yadav and Ashwini Vaishnaw did wonders”. Chouhan told media persons.

Despite winning massively, 12 ministers were defeated indicating there was anti-incumbency. Two of the six MPs fielded in the assembly elections were defeated too. The biggest upset of the day was the defeat of BJP stalwart Narottam Mishra. A five time MLA he lost on his home turf for the first time.

The most powerful minister in the cabined trailed almost all through the day, eventually losing to Congress’s Rajendra Bharti by around 8000 votes. Mishra held the home, jail, parliamentary affairs, law and legislative affairs portfolio. Lok Sabha MP’s Faggan Singh Kulaste, a Union Minister and Ganesh Singh were defeated as well.

There were 34 ministers in the MP cabinet. Two of them – Yashodhara Raje Scindia and OPS Bhadoria did not contest the elections. Of the 32 ministers who were in the fray, 12 (37.5%) lost the polls.

Minister Gauridshankar Bisen lost Balaghat to Anubha Munjare by a margin of nearly 30,000 votes. He was minister for Narmada Valley Development and was inducted in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan cabinet in the last cabinet expansion in August.

Agriculture minister Kamal Patel was defeated in Hards by Ram Kishore Dogne by 1,000 votes. Mahendra Singh Sisodia, a minister from the Scindia camp, was defeated in Bamori by Congress candidate Rishi Agarwal by 15,000 votes. Rajyavardhan Singh, Prem Sing Dattigaon, a close Scindia aide, lost Badnawar to Bhanwarsingh Shekhawat of Congress by 3,000 votes in a tough fight. Prem Singh Patel, another minister from team Scindia was defeated in Badwani by Rajan Mandloi of Congress by 11,000 votes. He was minister for animal husbandry, social justice.

Another highlight of the poll was the victory of two Muslim candidates that too from Bhopal. For the seventh time, Bhopal North constituency has remained fortress ‘Aqueel” six time MLA Arif Aqueel’s son 33 year Atif, defeated former mayor and BJP candidate Alok Sharma. From Bhopal Central seat Congress candidate Arif Masood defeated BJP’s Dhruv Singh by a margin of 15891 votes.

Why Congress lost which was confident to win majority. Answering this question state Congress chief Kamal Nath said at a press conference “We are yet to comprehend that while our voting percentage remained constant at 40% similar to 2018, how did the BJP with all the anti-incumbency manage an increase in their vote percentage by nearly 9% making it close to 50% for the ruling party.” (IPA Service)