The Congress has conceded defeat in the assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, according to former chief minister Ajit Jogi.
Needing 46 seats to secure a simple majority in the 90-member state assembly, Bharatiya Janata Party was leading in 50 seats, pushing the Congress to second place with a lead in 38 seats, as per the official website of the state election commission.
If the trends are translated into final results, BJP is expected to retain almost the same number of seats -- 50 -- it had won in the previous assembly polls in 2003. Congress had won 37 seats last time.
The BJP forged ahead in the race after being initially locked in a neck to neck race with the Congress.
In the 2003 assembly election, BJP had secured 39.26 votes while Congress had been the runner up with securing 36.71 percent votes in the last election.
Shukla is younger brother of the former Madhya Pradesh late Shyama Charan Shukla.
Political pundits say that BSP factor has, however, damaged the Congress considerably in a number of seats in the tribal states and much of gains expected by the alliance with NCP were lost due to BSP capturing good number of votes in Congress strongholds.