New Delhi: Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi on Monday said their victory in Jharkhand Assembly elections was of "extreme contemporary importance". She congratulated the alliance partners Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), after the three-party alliance stormed to power in Jharkhand yesterday, ousting the BJP in yet another state in the Hindi heartland after the saffron party's stupendous performance in the Lok Sabha elections, a development that could have profound implications for the country.

She thanked the people of Jharkhand for expressing their substantive faith in the people-centric Congress-JMM-RJD alliance while rejecting the divisive agenda of BJP. "The victory is special and of extreme contemporary importance, and the people of Jharkhand deserve special gratitude and congratulations for summarily defeating the BJP and its divisive agenda," Gandhi said in a statement. "With this mandate, the people have defeated BJP's attempts to divide the society on caste and religious lines," she said.

JMM-led alliance, which includes Congress and RJD, won an absolute majority by winning 47 seats following the counting of votes today. JMM won 30 seats, Congress 16, RJD one, BJP 25, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) three, AJSU two, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation) one, NCP one and independents two.

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The Raghubar Das government's feat of providing a stable government that lasted a full five-year term in a state where chief ministers changed faster than seasons did not cut ice with the electorate which decided to repose faith in a coalition that fought over seats and broke up five years ago.