Assembly Polls: Congress wins C'garh, TRS bags Telangana; suspense in MP

New Delhi: Congress has flaunted a brilliant show in the five states assembly elections by returning to power in Chhattisgarh and nearing towards victory in Rajasthan.

In Madhya Pradesh too, there is a neck-to-neck fight between Congress and BJP. Congress, however, has been mauled in Telangana and Mizoram. The results are also crucial observing the Lok Sabha elections next year.

Congress candidates were set to bag 60 of the 90 seats, an increase of 24 seats, leaving the BJP gasping at 23 seats. The BSP-Janta Congress Chhattisgarh alliance of former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi got five seats.

But in contrast to the initial signs of a clear victory in Rajasthan, the Congress was within shaking hands of the half-way mark but short of it by a couple of seats, counting trends showed.

As Election Commission officials gave the Congress the lead in 101 of the 199 seats and put the BJP ahead in 71, Congress leader and former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that his party was confident of forming a government with help from independents.

An exciting see-saw battle is on in Madhya Pradesh with the trends from counting centres at times putting the Congress in the lead and at times behind the ruling party, keeping everyone guessing.

Congress and BJP candidates were each leading in 110 of the 230 constituencies.

The Congress loss of face was stark in Telangana, where the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which went for early elections, crushed the Congress-led combine which included the Telugu Desam Party to sweep the elections.

The Congress also lost Mizoram, the last state in the northeast where it was in power. The MNF was expected to win 26 of the 40 seats, leaving the Congress way behind in six seats, a sharp decline of 27 seats.

Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla lost both the constituencies he contested.