Raipur, Dec 11 (TIWN / IANS) As predicted by exit polls, the Congress on Tuesday appeared headed for a landslide win in Chhattisgarh, dealing a major blow to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has ruled the state for 15 long years, officials said.

After the third round of vote count, Congress candidates were ahead of their rivals in 58 of the 90 seats in the battle for an Assembly where the half-way mark is 46.

BJP candidates were ahead in 24 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.

There will be a total of 22 rounds of vote count.

In the outgoing Assembly, the BJP had 49 members and the Congress 39.