The Bharatiya Janata Party swept the polls in Rajasthan, to the surprise of many pollsters and, perhaps, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot himself.
The saffron party won 120 seats; the Congress was languishing behind with wins in just 56 seats (in 1998 it had 153); and others had grabbed 24 constituencies.
For the BJP, the win is truly historic for three reasons: first, it has more than trebled its strength in the 200 member assembly (it had just 33 members in the outgoing assembly); secondly, it is the first time it has got a majority in the state; and thirdly, it will now give the state its first woman chief minister, Vasundhara Raje.
For Raje, it was smiles all the way. She whipped Congress candidate Rama Pilot (MP and wife of the late Rajesh Pilot) in Jhalarapatan by 27,375 votes.
BJP workers greet Raje in Jaipur.