Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia lost the party bastion of Guna in Madhya Pradesh to Bharatiya Janata Party’s Krishna Pal Yadav, according to figures released by the Election Commission on Thursday. He lost to Yadav by a margin of 1,25,549 votes.

“I humbly accept the mandate,” Scindia tweeted in the evening. “For me, politics is only a means of doing public service, and I am always committed to public service. I offer my heartfelt thanks to the voters and every Congress worker.” He also congratulated Yadav for winning the seat.

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This is a big setback for Scindia, who was seeking a fifth term and had comfortably held the seat since 2002. The seat has earlier been represented by his grandmother Vijaya Raje Scindia and father Madhavrao Scindia. However, the BJP wave torpedoed Scindia’s re-election chances. At 8.55 pm, the Congress had won one seat. The BJP had won 13 seats and was leading in the 15 other constituencies.

Scindia played an important role in bringing the Congress to power in the state in December. The party had been out of power in Madhya Pradesh for 15 years. Out of the eight assembly seats in the Guna parliamentary constituency, four each were won by the BJP and the Congress then.

Earlier this year, Scindia was appointed the All India Congress Committee general secretary in charge of western Uttar Pradesh. With the Congress leader’s attention in the battleground state, his wife Priyadarshini Raje campaigned in the constituency during his absence.

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“I have created a web of good roads for you like a spider...not a single voter should be left out this time and you should ensure that this area creates history not only in MP but the entire country,” Scindia had said on the campaign trail, emphasising that development was his main agenda in his election campaign.

Yadav, who was seen as a lightweight candidate, joined the BJP last year after the Congress denied him a ticket in the Assembly polls.