Bhopal, December 11: A neck-and-neck contest was witnessed between the BJP and Congress after initial rounds of counting of votes for Madhya Pradesh assembly elections results 2018. Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is set to play the role of kingmaker as Madhya Pradesh may throw a hung assembly. While early trends from counting centres gave Congress an edge over the BJP, the grand old party was not close to the majority mark of 116.

Congress candidates were leading from 109 out of 230 seats of Madhya Pradesh assembly, whereas the BJP nominees were ahead in 108 constituencies. The BSP secured the significant lead on eight seats, while the Samajwadi Party was ahead in three constituencies. In case of a hung assembly, both Congress and BJP will be needing support from BSP and SP's winning candidates. Assembly Elections 2018 Results Live Updates.

The BJP contested all 230 seats, whereas the Congress fielded candidates in 229 seats leaving one seat, Jatara in Tikamgarh district, for Sharad Yadav-led LJD. Mayawati’s BSP and Samajwadi Party contested 227 and 51 seats respectively. In 2013 assembly elections, the BJP had won 165 of total 230 seats, followed by the Congress (58), BSP (4) and Independents 3.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 11, 2018 10:28 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).