The News Minute | October 22, 2014 | 12.08 pm ISTExpectations were high that the BJP would win the elections in Maharashtra, but the party was cautious when speaking to journalists on the day of the results. Political scientist Suhas Palshikar says that the last two assembly elections, BJP was at third or fourth place. No party, not even the Congress touched the 100-mark on its own since 1995. How then, did the BJP become the single largest party in the state? Here’s a round-up of analyses:Writing for The Indian Express, Palshikar accessed data from the CSDS-Lokniti study to analyse the voting patterns of various social groups. It also looked at what was important to voters, local issues, statehood for Vidarbha, and more importantly how different caste groups voted – OBC, SC, ST, upper castes, Maratha-Kunbi, Muslims and other groups.The Hindu has a report on how 51 candidates “imported†from NCP and Shiv Sena contributed to the BJP’s win. Over 30 of these won the seats they contested. The report also details which areas these candidates won in and why.