Madhya Pradesh Congress leader dies of heart attack at counting centre as results come in

In a tragic incident, the Congress chief of Sehore district in Madhya Pradesh died of a heart attack at a vote counting centre set up for the Lok Sabha elections.

Ratan Singh Thakur, chief of Congress in Sehore district of Madhya Pradesh, was reportedly collecting information on the latest trends when he complained of chest pain and collapsed.

Ratan Singh was rushed to the district hospital but he died at the hospital.

Congress is heading towards another defeat in Lok Sabha elections in Bhopal.

Controversial Bharatiya Janata Party's Sadhvi Pragya has established a lead of over one lakh votes over her Congress rival Digvijay Singh in Bhopal Lok Sabha seat, with the saffron party is leading in 28 of the 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh.

The Lok Sabha trends are staggering for BJP in the Hindi-speaking states, including those where Congress had won in the recent Assembly elections. In Madhya Pradesh, BJP was ahead in 28 out of 29 seats with a vote percentage of nearly 60.

Malegaon blast accused and BJP candidate from Bhopal, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, on Thursday thanking voters for their support.

Speaking to the media outside the BJP office here, she said: "Dharm ki jeet hogi, adharm ka nash hoga (it will be victory of faith and defeat of those who are against it)."

She also thanked the party workers and people of Bhopal for supporting her in the entire election campaign.

The counting of ballots started at 8 a.m. in 51 district headquarters of the state's 29 parliamentary constituencies.

Sadhvi Pragya took a big lead against her nearest rival former Chief Minister and Congress candidate Digvijaya Singh by over 70,000 votes.

Besides Digvijaya Singh, Congress senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia was also trailing from his Guna Lok Sabha seat by over 53,000 votes.

The Congress came to power in the state last December after it won the state Assembly elections against the Bharatiya Janata Party.