The incumbent chief minister of the state, Raman Singh of BJP, is leading Karuna Shukla of the Congress in the Rajnandgaon constituency in Chhattisgarh by 1,375 votes in a close contest.

Singh has secured 8,990, while Shukla has received 7,615 votes at 13.40 pm, according to information trickling out of the Election Commission. The voting in the Rajnandgaon was held on November 12.

This was the third term for Singh as the chief minister of Chhattisgarh. He was first elected as the chief minister in 2003. Previously, he was elected to Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly consecutively in 1990 and 1993.

In 1999, he was elected to the 13th Lok Sabha from the Rajnandgaon constituency in Chhattisgarh. He also served as the union minister of state for commerce and industry from 1999 to 2003 in the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Bajpayee.

Shukla is niece of Vajpayee, former Prime Minister of India. Shukla was earlier elected in the 14th Lok Sabha from the Janjgir constituency of Chhattisgarh.

Chhattisgarh is one of the five states where elections were held between 12 November 12 and December 7. These polls are seen as a bellwether of the 2019 general elections.

First Published:Dec 11, 2018 2:05 PM IST