New Delhi:
The BJP was ahead in nine of the 11 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh while the Congress was leading in two, as per the trends available so far.
In the Raipur seat, state BJP vice president Sunil Soni was leading over Congress candidate and Raipur Mayor Pramod Dubey by 21,368 votes.
In Durg seat, BJP's Vijay Baghel was ahead of Congress nominee Pratima Chandrakar by 29,869 votes.
In Rajnandgaon seat, BJP's Santosh Pandeywas leading over Congress rival Bholaram Sahuby 454 votes.
In Raigarh, BJP's Gomtee Sai was leading over Congress nominee Laljeet Singh Rathiya by 16,329 votes.
In Surguja seat, BJP's Renuka Singh was ahead of Congress' Khelsai Singh by 19,621 votes.
In Janjgir-Champa seat, BJP's Guharam Ajgalley was leading over Congress rival Ravi Bhardwaj by 18,669.
In Korba, BJP's Jyotinand Dubey was ahead of Congress candidate Jyotsana Mahant, wife of state Assembly Speaker Charandas Mahant, by 5,524 votes.
The BJP was also leading in Kanker and Bilaspur seats.
In Naxal-hit Bastar seat, Congress' Dipak Baij was leading over BJP's Baiduram Kashyap by 14,759 votes.
In Mahasamund seat, senior Congress MLA Dhanendra Sahu was ahead of BJP's Chunnilal Sahu by 2,609 votes.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won 10 seats and the Congress got one.
In the 2014 general elections, the BJP had bagged 10 seats out of 11 in Chhattisgarh. This election, the BJP dropped former Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh's son and the sitting MP, Abhishek Singh, from its list of candidates who contested the Lok Sabha polls in the state. The party instead fielded Santosh Pandey from the Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat.
