Victory by a whisker

Victory wasn't announced the way the Congress had expected it, but it was a triumph nonetheless. This, after almost 18 hours of nail-biting suspense over December 11 and 12 in which the BJP and Congress were engaged in the closest electoral battle they have seen in almost 60 years. There were moments when the BJP raced ahead, but couldn't hold the leads. Eventually, Congress emerged as the single-largest party with 114 seats in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly, unseating the BJP from government after 15 years. The man who led the Congress charge, Chhindwara MP Kamal Nath, after taking over as Pradesh Congress Committee president on May 1 this year, emerged from his PCC office around 2 am on December 12 to announce that he had the numbers and had staked claim to form the government.

Congress leaders had been extremely optimistic about the party's prospects at the hustings, with even exit polls suggesting a close fight