Chhattisgarh polls: Raman Singh leads, five ministers trail

Raipur: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh was leading by 1,200 votes over Congress nominee and former prime minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee's niece Karuna Shukla in Rajnandgaon Assembly seat, as per the latest poll trends. However, five ministers in Singh's cabinet were trailing after the end of fourth round of counting, a poll official said. Three ministers were leading, he added. 

State minister Rajesh Munat was behind Congress' Vikas Upadhyay in Raipur City West Assembly seat, Amar Agarwal was trailing behind Shailesh Pande of the Congress in Bilaspur segment, while Brij Mohan Agarwal was behind Congress' Kanhaiyya Agrawal in Raipur city south segment. Besides, minister Kedarnath Kashyap was closely behind Narayan Kashyap of the Congress in Narayanpur segment while Dayal Das Baghel was trailing behind Congress' Gurudayal Singh Banjare in Navagarh segment. 

Another minister Mahesh Gagdha was also trailing behind Congress' Vikram Mandavi in Bijapur segment. Minister Prem Prakash Pandey was ahead of Congress candidate Devendra Yadav in Bhilainagar seat, while Lal Rajwade was leading over Ambika Singh Dev of the Congress in Bainkuthpur. BJP minister Ajay Chandrakar was also leading over Laxmikanta Sahu of the Congress in Kurud seat, as per the latest trends. Following is the party-wise position in the outgoing Assembly: BJP-49, Congress-39, BSP-one and Independent-one.