Madhya Pradesh election results: BJP wins two-thirds majority

Prominent Ministers those who bit the dust were Public Relations and Culture Minister Laxmikant Sharma from Sironj;

Medical Education Minister and a nephew of BJP patriarch Atal Behari Vajpayee, Anoop Mishra (Bhitawrar); Tourism Minister, Brajendra Pratap Singh (Pawai); Labour Minister Jagannath Singh (Chitrangi) and Revenue Minister, Karan Singh (Icchawar).

Minister of State for Tribal Welfare Harishankar Khatik (Jatara), Agriculture Minister Ramkrishna Kusumaria (Rajnagar), General Administration Minister Kanhaiyalal Agrawal (Bamori), Animal Husbandry Minister Ajay Vishnoi (Patan), besides Dashrath Singh Lodhi (Jabera) too fell by the wayside.

BJP leaders said these ministers have lost because of an anti-incumbency factor prevailing against them.  

In the run up to the polls, BJP General Secretary Inchagre of Madhya Pradesh Anant Kumar had admitted that there was an “anti-incumbency wave” against some ministers and MLAs.

The party had denied tickets to 44 sitting MLAs.  

Ministers in the Chouhan government including veteran Babulal Gaur, state's Urban Development Minister and a former Chief Minister, besides Kailash Vijayvargiya, Sartaj Singh, Narottam Mishra and Rajendra Shukla were among those who retained their seats.

Gaur created a record by winning his traditional Govindpura seat for 10th time in a row, trouncing state Congress General Secretary Govind Goyal by a margin of 70,644 votes.

BJP's Yashodhara Raje Scindia, a sitting MP from Gwalior, won the Shivpuri seat.

First-time winners include Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh's son Jaiwardhan from Raghogarh.  

Among prominent losers from Congress was Suresh Pachouri, a former Union Minister and state party chief, from Bhojpur.