Sanjaykaka Patil (extreme left) with Pune's MP Anil Shirole
It looked like a classroom full of students but in reality it was a group of BJP MPs from Maharashtra, gathered together in the conference hall at the swanky new Maharashtra Sadan in the capital on Monday.
The only student among the lot of elected representatives, Dr Heena Gavit, pursuing her MD degree, will join a day later after she appears for her final examination on Tuesday.
Dr Gavit has much to celebrate. At 26, not only is she likely to be among the youngest in the 16th Lok Sabha, she also has to her credit the distinction of beating an eight-term MP, Manikrao Gavit, in a constituency the Congress has never lost since Independence. Her father Dr Vijaykumar Gavit lost his cabinet berth the day his daughter joined the BJP and was given a ticket from Nandurbar in northern Maharashtra.
But Dr Gavit is not the only one who has pulled off a massive win. Poonam Mahajan, daughter of veteran BJP leader late Pramod Mahajan is also a first time MP. "There are a lot of expectations from us and we have to work very hard to make sure we live up to those," she said. She beat Congress' Priya Dutt in Mumbai North central by over one lakh votes like Raksha Nikhil Khadse, also a first-time MP from Raver who's victory margin over NCP's Manish Jain also crossed a lakh votes.
The celebratory 'gulaal' is still visible on his hands as Sanjaykaka Patil breaks into a loud laugh chatting with Pune MP Anil Shirole. The celebrations are clearly not over for him. "I've spent two decades trying to make a mark politically in Sangli, it's only natural to celebrate now," he tells NDTV. And with good reason. Sanjaykaka Patil beat former Minister of State for coal Pratik Patil in a seat the BJP has never won in any parliamentary election.
Then there is Sharad Bansode, engaged in a quiet conversation with other MPs as people point out to him as the man who defeated former Home Minister and Congress veteran Sushil Kumar Shinde in Solapur.
The BJP and its allies, the Shiv Sena, the Swabhimani Paksha and RPI together have decimated the Congress-NCP in the state picking up a total of 42 seats out of 48. For many among them, this will be their first outing in Parliament and their excitement is as high as are the expectations from them.