It was a disappointing eve of the New Year for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Chhattisgarh with the rival Congress party's candidate winning the much coveted Mayoral post for Bhilai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
In a fiercely contested BMC polls, the BJP Corporators managed to capture 30 wards out of 70 while Congress party's corporators managed to win in 26 wards.
Congress candidate Devendra Yadav who is believed to be State Congress Chief Bhupesh Baghel's loyalist managed to register victory over BJP candidate Vidya Ratan Bhasin by a sizeable margin of 45,779 votes.
Independent candidates also managed to pull off by winning 14 seats which according to poll pundits could play a decisive role in deciding the election of the Speaker of Mayor-in-Council (MiC).