The Scindia Factor: How BJP Crushed Congress To Win Madhya Pradesh

Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan, in line to become a five-time leader of Madhya Pradesh, told NDTV the BJP's mega win in the state was due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The BJP has swept the Madhya Pradesh Assembly election, brushing aside the challenge of a Congress party that hoped fervently to mount a comeback in a state it won in 2018 but was ousted from in 2020. At 2 pm the BJP is ahead in 161 seats and the Congress in 66. These numbers represent a staggering gain of 52 seats for the BJP and a loss of 48 for the Congress, relative to the 2018 results.

Then Chief Minister Kamal Nath's government fell after Jyotiraditya Scindia's revolt; the now Union Aviation Minister led 22 Congress MLAs into the BJP, leaving his former party sharply in the minority.

A big reason for the Congress' 2018 win - by 114 to 109 - was its performance in Mr Scindia's stronghold - the Chambal-Gwalior region. The party won 26 of 34 seats on offer to flip the results of the past two elections; it won 12 seats in 2013 and 13 in 2008, compared to the BJP's 20 and 16.