Finally, the ?Raman effect? prevailed upon Ajit Jogi'scharisma for the second consecutive election for the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly, as the BJP won fifty-one seats, thus retaining its power in state. Raman ke chaman mein aman hi aman, phir khil utha hein kamal hi kamal: The BJP headquarters in the state were reverberated with slogans amid bursting of firecrackers and drumbeats. The BJP had promised a ?fear-free state? as one of election issues, besides its main plank? development. For Raman Singh, who spearheaded BJP'svictory campaign in Chattisgarh for the second successive term, it was the organisational skills and the ability to push populist economic programmes that made him stand out among other party leaders. Maintaining its previous record, the saffron party retained power in the state by winning 51 seats, leaving behind Congress which could only secure 38 seats. Asked how he managed to fight the anti-incumbency factor in the state, a jubiliant Singh said, ?It is because of my government'spro-poor policies, including provision of 35 kg rice each at Rs 3 to 35 lakh families.? When Singh earned the distinction of becoming the first elected Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh five years ago, the party did not even projected him as a candidate for the top post after shifting him from the union council of ministers to head the party'sstate unit. However, after leading BJP'semphatic victory in the 2003 assembly election with 50 legislators in the 90-member House, he was the natural choice of the party'scentral leadership to become the Chief Minister mainly because of his clean image.
