9 out of 13 ministers in the Bhupesh Baghel's government trailing including T S Singh Deo

Raipur: Nine out of 13 ministers in the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government in Chhattisgarh were trailing after the initial rounds of counting on Sunday in the state Assembly polls.

They included Deputy Chief Minister T S Singh Deo, Home minister Tamradhwaj Sahu, both key leaders who were chief ministerial aspirants after the Congress' thumping win in the 2018 polls, and state unit chief Deepak Baij.

Singh Deo is trailing from Ambikapur by 366 votes against the Bharatiya Janata Party's Rajesh Agrawal after the third round of counting.

Sahu was trailing in Durg Rural seat by 5123 votes against BJP's Lalit Chandrakar after the 3rd round of counting.

Baij was trailing in Chitrakot seat by 2809 votes against BJP's Vinayak Goyal after the sixth round of counting.

Amarjeet Bhagat was trailing in Sitapur seat by 3,262 votes against BJP's Ram Kumar Toppo after the fourth round of counting, while minister Jai Singh Agrawal was behind in Korba seat by 7,249 votes against BJP's Lakhanlal Dewangan after the fifth round of counting.

Shivkumar Dahariya was trailing in Arang seat by 4,336 votes against BJP's Guru Khushwant Saheb after the fourth round of counting.

Minister Ravindra Choubey was trailing in Saja seat by 1,093 votes against BJP's Ishwar Sahu after the third round of counting, while minister and an influential SC community leader Guru Rudra Kumar was behind in Nawagarh seat by 998 votes against BJP's Dayaldas Baghel after the fourth round of counting.

Minister Mohammad Akbar was trailing in Kawardha seat by 9,281 votes against BJP's Vijay Sharma after the fifth round of counting.

Mohan Markam was behind by a paltry 66 votes against BJP's Lata Usendi in Kondagaon seat after the fourth round of counting.

Chhattisgarh Assembly Speaker Charan Das Mahant was behind by 1,919 votes against the BJP's Khilawan Sahu after the fourth round of counting in Sakti.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel was leading in Patan seat by 1,452 votes against BJP's Vijay Baghel, a Lok Sabha MP, after the fifth round of counting.

Baghel's cabinet colleagues Umesh Patel was leading in Kharsia seat by 5814 votes against BJP's Mahesh Sahu after the 8th round of counting and Anila Bhendia was ahead in Dondi Lohara seat by 8,083 votes against BJP's Devlal Thakur after the 7th round of counting.