Narendra Modi, who will be sworn in as Gujarat chief minister for the third time, has created a record.
By leading Gujarat for a second successive and spectacular win in the assembly polls, the 57-year-old leader has achieved a feat unparalleled in the saffron brotherhood.
No other BJP chief minister had so far been able to beat the anti-incumbency factor for the second time in a row and senior party leaders like L K Advani had been emphasizing over years that this lacunae needed to be addressed.
Modi, who has already earned the distinction of being the longest serving chief minister of the prosperous western state, faced the first polls in 2002 just one year after taking over the helm of affairs from Keshubhai Patel.
The victory at that time was credited to the atmosphere created in the wake of the Godhra train incident.
The only parallel could be the one in Rajasthan where Bhairon Singh Shekhawat could manage a return to power once in 1993 but with the support of independents, including Congress rebels.
Incidentally, the BJP had failed to emerge as the winner in all the four states except Rajasthan held by it in 1993.
The BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh were dismissed in the wake of the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992.
