Big jolt to BJP, Congress leads in 12 Bastar seats

In a massive blow to the Bharatiya Janata Party in Chhattisgarh, where the Congress has taken a huge leap towards victory, the Opposition Party also gained lead on 12 seats in Bastar, out of which four were BJP strongholds.

Bijapur, which earlier was won by the BJP, Vikram Mandavi of the Congress party is leading against BJP's Mahesh Gadga with a margin of 14069 votes.

The Congress has also taken over BJP's Antagarh where its candidate Anoop Nag is leading against BJP's Vikram Usendi.

Snatching away the reins from BJP, Congress' Rekhchand Jain is leading from Jagdalpur with a margin of more than 18000 votes against BJP's Santosh Bafna.

Following suit, Narayanpur also slipped away from BJP's grasp with Congress candidate Chandan Kashyap leading with 6886 votes against BJP's Kedar Kashyap.

The other seats in Bastar are Dantewara, Bhanupratappur, Chitrakot, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Konta and Bastar.

However, after trailing for a brief period, Chief Minister Raman Singh, seeking a fourth term, is now leading with a margin of over 3000 votes against Congress candidate and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's niece Karuna Shukla from Rajnandgaon constituency.

The Congress has gained a lead on 61 seats while the BJP is on 14 seats as per latest information.

The two-phased Assembly Elections in the state were held on November 12 and 20.