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.

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.

The alliance of Janta Congress Chhattisgarh of former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi and the Bahujan Samaj Party were leading in seven constituencies.

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