Modi wins Gujarat, could launch prime ministerial ambitions

Narendra Modi on Thursday scored a massive win to continue his fourth successive term as the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Modi won 115 of the state legislative assembly's 182 seats against 61 for the Congress party.

Modi won by a massive margin of 86,373 votes from Maninagar, trouncing Congress' Shweta Bhatt, wife of suspended IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt, who has accused the Chief Minister of complicity in 2002 communal riots.

The victory has apparently cemented Modi's chances of being nominated by the BJP for running for prime minister in 2014.

In his victory speech, Modi apologised to the people of the state and said, "if I have erred somewhere, I seek apology from you, the six crore Gujaratis".

"The people of my state know what is good and bad for them. They have risen above caste and religious politics to vote for development. In this, they have set a precedent for the rest of the country to follow."

He further said he did not consider anyone as an enemy in democracy.

"People will forget about what happened. They will rise above everything if they see development and governance," he added.

Amid chants of "PM, PM, PM", Modi, who reiterated his desire to work for state, said," If you want, I will go to Delhi on 27th."

A member of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) since childhood, Modi climbed the political ranks quickly once the BJP came to power in Gujarat in 1995.

Modi first came to power in Gujarat in 2001, and subsequently won elections in 2002 and again in 2007.

Trouble however began for Modi in 2002 when communal clashes led to the killing of between 790 and 2,000 Muslims and several hundred Hindus throughout Gujarat.

Following the riots, there were calls for Modi to resign. Although he resigned, he later took charge of office shortly after the BJP won the state re-elections.

The BJP has won five consecutive elections in Gujarat. Three of them have been under the leadership of Narendra Modi.

Modi holds the record for the longest serving chief minister of the state.