BJP Maintains Comfortable Lead in 10 Seats in Chhattisgarh, Congress Ahead in 1

The Congress has managed a lead only in the Korba seat where its sitting MP Jyotsna Mahant, wife of the incumbent leader of opposition Charandas Mahant, was leading by a margin of 8,304 votes over the BJP's influential woman leader Saroj Pandey.

Counting of votes began at 33 centers at 8 am on Tuesday, and postal ballots were counted in the first half an hour.

In the high-profile Rajnandgaon seat, Congress leader and former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, who was initially leading, was trailing by a margin of 33,512 votes against the BJP's sitting MP Santosh Pandey.

BJP's influential leader, Brijmohan Agrawal, was leading by a significant margin of 2,04,684 votes against Congress' Vikas Upadhyay in the crucial Raipur seat.

In Durg, BJP's sitting MP Vijay Baghel was ahead against his nearest rival, Rajendra Sahu of Congress, by 1,82,933 votes.

In the Naxalite-hit Bastar seat (Scheduled Tribe reserved), BJP's Mahesh Kashyap was leading by a margin of 29,722 votes against Congress firebrand leader Kawasi Lakhma.

In the Bilaspur seat, BJP's Tokhan Sahu, a former MLA, was leading by a margin of 40,594 votes against Congress' Devendra Yadav, an incumbent MLA.

BJP's Chintamani Maharaj, who defected from the Congress before the last assembly polls, has a lead of 78,023 votes over Congress' Shashi Singh in the Scheduled Tribe reserved Surguja seat.

In the tribal-dominated Raigarh, BJP's Radheshyam Rathiya was leading by a margin of 1,51,964 votes against Congress' Dr Menka Devi Singh, who belongs to the erstwhile royal family of Sarangarh.

In the Mahasamund seat, BJP's Rupkumari Chaudhary was leading by a margin of 42,984 votes against Congress' Tamradhwaj Sahu, a former state minister.

BJP candidate Bhojraj Nag was ahead by a margin of 23,736 votes against Congress's Biresh Thakur in the Kanker seat.

In the lone SC-reserved Janjgir-Champa seat, BJP woman leader Kamlesh Jangde was ahead by a margin of 42,716 votes against Congress candidate and former state minister Shivkumar Dahariya.