The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress are in a close fight in Madhya Pradesh as trends 230 Assembly seats showed the opposition party having a slight edge over the ruling faction.

At 01:25 pm, the Congress won 101 seats and was leading in 13 seats, while the BJP won 100 constituencies and leading nine. Besides, Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was leading in two seats, while the Samajwadi Party (SP) was ahead in one. Independents were also leading in two seats in Madhya Pradesh.

The Samajwadi Party, which is leading in one seat, has offered support to the Congress, if it fall short of the majority mark.

Madhya Pradesh Congress on Tuesday asked for an appointment with governor Anandiben Patel and claimed stake to form the government in the state.

The Congress had won 58 seats in the last election. A nearly 3 percent swing in votes against BJP hit the party hard in the elections where agrarian unrest, unemployment and the ill effects of demonetisation dominated the campaign.

Congress candidate and chief minister Chouhan's brother-in-law, Sanjay Singh Masani, is in the fourth place in Waraseoni constituency of Balaghat district.

Minister Narottam Mishra was trailing by a margin of 6,200 votes in Datia while Rustam Singh was at the third position in Morena constituency.

Balkrishna Patidar was trailing in Khargone by a margin of 3,792 votes, while Lal Singh Arya was lagging behind by 6,552 votes in Gohad seat in Bhind district.

Minister Om Prakash Dhurve was trailing by a margin of 8,255 votes in Shahpura seat of Dindori district while Antar Singh Arya was trailing by 3,626 votes in Sendhwa seat of Barwani district.

Deepak Joshi was behind by 3,070 votes in Hatpipliya seat in Dewas district, while Rampal Singh was trailing by 3,063 votes in Silvani seat in Raisen district.

Minister Archana Chitnis was also trailing in Burhanpur seat by a margin of 1,055 votes. State finance minister Jayant Mallaiya was behind by 1,336 votes in Damoh seat.

Another minister, Sharad Jain, was trailing by a margin of 7,958 votes in Jabalpur North seat and Jaibhan Singh Pawaiya by 5,489 votes in Gwalior seat.

Former prime minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee's nephew and Morena BJP MP Anoop Mishra, who contested the election on the BJP's ticket, was trailing from Bhitarwar seat in Gwalior district by 2,255 votes, an election official said.

Leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Ajay Singh was also trailing by a margin of 3,032 votes from Churhat seat in Satna district.

The BJP under the leadership of Shivraj Singh Chouhan is seeking a fourth term in office while the Congress is making a determined bid to unseat him.

The 2013 state Assembly's partywise position was:- BJP-165, Congress-58, BSP-4 and Independents-3.

Speaking to reporters, senior Congress leader Kamal Nath said he is fully confident of getting full majority in Madhya Pradesh.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, who spearheaded the Congress campaign in Madhya Pradesh, says the trends reflect people’s desire for change.

Gondwana Gantantra Party (GPP) is leading in Beohari, Amarwada and Junnardeo constituencies. The GPP was formed in 1991 to plead for the rights of the Gondi people and to establish a separate state of Gondwana.

Congress leader Ajay Singh is trailing at Churhat constituency of Satna district against Shardendu Tiwari of BJP.

Brother of former chief minister Digvijaya Singh, Laxman Singh, is also trailing from Chachaura seat against BJP's Mamta Meena.

Congress' Atif Aqueel is leading by 3,000 votes in Bhopal North constituency, a seat from where the BJP fielded its only Muslim face in Madhya Pradesh polls.

BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya's son Akash is trailing from Indore 3 constituency.

Higher education minister Jaibhan Singh Pawaiya trailing from Gwalior. General administration minister Lal Singh Arya also trailing from Gohad.

Congress Madhya Pradesh office in Bhopal. Exit polls predict an edge-of-the-seat battle here, with the BJP and Congress locked in a neck-and-neck race.

As many as 2,907 candidates were in fray for the November 28 assembly polls as Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan of BJP is attempting a fourth term in office, while challenger

Congress expects to return to power after a 15-year gap. Exit polls predicted a close race between the BJP and the Congress, though leaders from both parties have routinely claimed their respective victories.

While Chouhan has called himself the "biggest surveyor" in claiming a win for the BJP, senior Congress leader Kamal Nath said his party would get at least 140 seats to oust the saffron party and form a majority government. The state polls saw a voter turnout of about 75 percent.

Follow Madhya Pradesh assembly elections 2018 live blog here.

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

First Published:Dec 11, 2018 9:15 AM IST