What's common in Modi, Sheila and Patnaik

Narendra Modi, who won the Gujarat mandate emphatically on Thursday, joins an elite club of politicians who have been in power for three consecutive terms.

Modi was first called upon by the Bharatiya Janata Party to lead the Gujarat government in October 2001.

Despite his chequered secular credentials, Modi was on December 22, 2002, once again sworn-in as the chief minister.

Let's take a look at the others who are part of this league.

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Sheila Dikshit has been serving as Delhi chief minister since December 3, 1998.

Whether or not she is able to retain the CM's seat will be decided in 2013 when Delhi goes to polls.

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Tarun Gogoi was elected chief minister of Assam in 2001 after he led the Congress to victory in the state elections.

The Congress chief minister has since led the party to three consecutive electoral victories

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In 1998, Naveen Patnaik founded the Biju Janta Dal which in alliance with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance performed well in Odisha. He was selected the Union minister for mines in the cabinet of Atal Behari Vajpayee.

However, as the BJD won the majority of seats in alliance with the BJP in the Orissa assembly elections in 2000, Patnaik resigned from the Union cabinet and was sworn in as the chief minister of Odisha.

Till date, he continues to govern the state

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Okram Ibobi Singh has been the most successful chief minister in Manipur's political history.

The Congress chief minister has been a helm of the state since 2002

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Manik Sarkar became the chief minister of Tripura for his first time in 1998. He was re-elected in 2003.

In 2008, he contested the assembly elections for the fifth time and led his party to a stunning victory, crushing the Congress in the state. The Communist Party of India-led Left Front won 49 seats out of the 60 assembly seats.

Will he be able to repeat his feat? Only time will tell.