The Congress appeared to be heading for a landslide victory on Tuesday in Chhattisgarh, dealing a major blow to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Election Commission officials said.

The Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) of former chief minister Ajit Jogi was ahead in two seats in Bilaspur division, they said.

Counting for all the 90 seats started at 8 am at the district headquarters.

The counting of postal ballots was first taken up followed by counting of votes from the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), an election official said.

Ajit Jogi was leading in Marwahi seat while his wife Renu Jogi was ahead in Kota constituency, he said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is seeking a fourth straight term in office under the leadership of Chief Minister Raman Singh, while the Congress is aiming to stage a comeback after being in the opposition for 15 years.

The state had recorded 76.60 per cent voter turnout.

After the first round of voting, Congress candidates were ahead of their rivals in 61 of the 90 seats in the battle for an Assembly where the half-way mark is 46.

BJP candidates were ahead in 21 constituencies. While Chief Minister Raman Singh managed to reverse the trend after initially trailing to the Congress, all his cabinet Ministers were way behind their rivals.

In the outgoing Assembly, the BJP had 49 members and the Congress 39. The BJP has ruled Chhattisgarh since 2003..

A total of 90 seats are up for grabs with the party gaining 46 seats winning the election in the state.

Assembly election 2018 in Chhattisgarh took place between November 12 and November 20, 2018.

Follow Chhattisgarh assembly elections 2018 live blog here.

This is a developing story. Please check back later for more details

First Published:Dec 11, 2018 8:37 AM IST